Basketball from a fans perspective

Laker news 

The Lakers are finalizing a deal to hire a replacement coach for Jason Kidd. Coming on board is David Fizdale. You might remember Fizdale was head coach at two stops, the Grizzlies and Knicks. Good luck to Jason Kidd as he departs and welcome to David Fizdale as he joins the Laker staff. It also should be of note Fizdale has a LeBron connection; he was an assistant coach when LeBron played for the Heat. In other Laker news this is yet to be confirmed, it appears Andre Drummond is reported amenable to a Laker return despite fan complaints.

You remember the objections don’t you, “Drummond was clogging the lane” or “he wasn’t allowing proper spacing for Anthony Davis and LeBron to drive.” Part of that might be no training camp with the trio, could these and other issues be worked out? We shall closely monitor this possible future move. In the case of Dennis Schroder, the report is somewhat different. You might remember last February the team offered him an $84 million 3-year contract; the word is Schroder wants at least $100 million for the same amount of time. Can we say it, BYE, BYE it’s been nice knowing you but the best move for both parties is to leave one another? On the other hand, perhaps it’s all a ploy on Schroder and his agent to increase the payday. 

Surprise, surprise

No matter the length of time I’ve witnessed NBA basketball I always manage to be surprised. Tuesday night was certainly a prime example of that, earlier afternoon came news the Hawks Trae Young would not play. An injury Young suffered would sideline him for Game three, boy was I surprised. I failed to watch the game believing the outcome would be in the Bucks favor. In addition, when valued players are missing during the playoffs I’m always bothered and that was the case here. I decided in favor of baseball and the Royals game (which was also turned out to be a mistake).

Somewhere in the 3^rd quarter I checked my phone for the Bucks-Hawks score and was shocked. The Hawks were supposed to lose this game with no Young in the lineup, someone forgot to inform them of the plan. The mistake I made expecting the Hawks to win missing Young in the lineup, we could make the same statement about Giannis Antetokounmpo. Can the Bucks close this series out without their talented forward in their lineup? Tuesday evening, I made two mistakes, 1. choosing the Royals-Red Sox game over the playoffs. 2., Missing the Hawks-Bucks was the second. The plan is to check out the Clippers-Suns despite the fact I know ahead of time Kawhi Leonard is missing, I refuse to repeat my mistake. 

He remains in place

You might have read the story Penny Hardaway was supposed to be under consideration for the Orlando Magic job. He did interview for the head coaching position however the former NBA player decided he’d remain in place. On Tuesday Penny announced his intention to remain at the University of Memphis despite meeting with representatives of the Magic. If not for a childhood friend Penny might not even be coaching basketball but that’s another story for later.

His Memphis Tigers missed the cut for the NCAA tournament but earn an invitation to the NIT which they won. Penny is adding to his coaching staff bringing on board 80-year-old Larry Brown. The longtime veteran coach has quite an extensive resume. It includes coaching stops with the Clippers, Sixers, Spurs, Pacers, Pistons, Knicks and Bobcats (Hornets), in addition he served as head coach at UCLA, Kansas and SMU. Brown remains the only head coach in history with an NCAA tournament championship (Kansas) and one in the NBA (Pistons). Should we expect great things from Memphis Tiger basketball? 

Bits n Pieces 

UConn, I believe was an original member of the Big East Conference. They left the conference for the American Athletic Conference, after 7 years UConn returned to the Big East. There might be others but that was the first school that came to mind, what’s the purpose of this column? Recently we discussed the Big XII Conference and the fact it now consists of only 10 teams; would the conference entertain adding 2 teams? I suggested Mizzou as one of the teams to return, my view was met with plenty of boos and hisses. Moves of this type are generally based on finance, that was the case here. The University of Texas was the culprit back then and might retain that role. It appears finance of the Big XII was not equally divided, Texas receiving the largest portion of conference funds.

In North Little Rock Arkansas, we have Kel ‘el Ware, he’s a 7-foot 215-pound center. He’s a Class of 2022 prospect and you know Eric Musselman Arkansas coach has reached out to the young man. Texas Tech is reported to have the inside track on Ware but that’s certainly not sat in stone. He’s received a total of 21 offers across the nation including Mizzou. No decision is forthcoming however as soon as we know you will be made aware.

The Big 12/SEC Challenge in 2021 has Mizzou facing Iowa State, the date and time of the game have not been finalized as this account is published. Mizzou had been missing for the last few years but is now facing a Big 12 opponent for the second year in a row. Last season SEC Mizzou was a winner over Big 12 TCU 102-98. Mizzou was led in scoring by the departed Xavier Pinson (36 pts) and Jeremiah Tilmon with 33 points and 11 rebounds.