Basketball from a fans perspective

Published Monday through Friday

Mizzou season

If we explore the Tigers upcoming season there are three games that standout for most Mizzou fans. They are games against Kansas City (UMKC) on November 15, November 26 versus Wichita State. This would conclude with the first regular season match versus Kansas since the 2011-12 Big XII season. All three of the schools are regional which could create new and, in another instance, renew old rivalries. The first one to review is the game versus Kansas City, we have two University of Missouri schools one in Columbia and the other in Kansas City facing each other.

This is not new because the teams have played previously however not every season, this would appear a natural rivalry both schools affiliated with the state. Next up the Wichita State Shockers, this south-central Kansas school is less than 400 road miles from Columbia. These schools have also played previously but not every season. Finally, the big one, the game against the Kansas Jayhawks a rivalry of epic proportions. The first game played between Kansas and Mizzou occurred back in the 1906-07 season, Kansas leads the all-time rivalry with 172 wins versus 95 losses. This proposed rivalry would be great for students, alumni and fans of all the programs.

Did you know?

Prior to the National Basketball League’s merger with the Basketball Association of America it was the larger league. The NBL once consisted of 39 teams before most teams went out of business prior to the 1949 merger with the NBA.  Original NBL teams still playing today include the Minneapolis Lakers, Rochester Royals (Sacramento Kings), Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons (Detroit Pistons), Buffalo Bisons (Atlanta Hawks) and Syracuse Nationals (Philadelphia Sixers). The NBL had several teams lost to history as the reason for their demise. World War II saw countless players in military service, two teams the Toledo Jim White Chevrolets and Chicago Studebakers signed black players. 

Breaking the color barrier in basketball occurred 5 years prior to Jackie Robinson however professional basketball was major league in name only. The Nuggets or at least the name associated with the present-day team existed previously, in 1948 they began play in the NBL and later came into the NBA with the merger but lasted but one season. Chicago had 3 NBL teams over the years the league ran but none of these franchises functioned at the same time. Detroit also had 3 teams and one of them the Gems would later move to Minneapolis. Once found in Minnesota they were renamed the Minneapolis Lakers. A brief look back at the history of professional basketball in America. 

This is still funny one year later

Actor, comedian Michael Rapaport a NYC guy has been a life-long Knicks fan, after a discussion on his Knicks the conversation turned to the Sixers and their coach. Rapaport made this statement about the hiring of Doc Rivers as head coach of the team, Rivers had moved from the Clippers to the Sixers and this from Rapaport which still is funny. “He (Doc) is now Glenn, there can be only one Doc in Philadelphia.” Of course, he was referring to Hall of Fame forward Julius “Doctor J” Erving. We might guess other than Wilt Chamberlain Dr. J. might be the second most popular to play for the Sixers. As for others the doctor might be at the top of the list.

An update to an earlier story

Imagine this story a newly hired coach registers a 38-47 record after his first three years on the job. In the third year at the school the team finishes 11-17; you suppose that coach might still have a job? In this microwave/internet/twitter age we wish, no we demand instant results or answers. Depending on the state of a basketball program a coach must be allowed adequate time to recruit “his” players and implement his coaching philosophy.

It’s possible the coach might be forced to cut players recruited by his predecessor although that might not be frequent practice. On the other hand, a player or two might decide to leave unable to adapt to the new coach or his program. By the way the 38-47 won-loss record was registered by Coach Mike Krzyzewski of Duke. Coming into the season Coach K’s record at Duke is 1097-302 (.784), his joint record at Army and Duke is 1170-361 (.764) at); we could guess what might have occurred if Coach K. had begun his career in today’s highly volatile stage of college basketball. The word of the day might be patience, patience and more patience.

I guess we’d better pay attention

We in the Midwest or those of you on the East Coast often miss Pacific Time games and for a good reason. Weeknight games in these time zones begin at 9:00 p.m. Central 10:00 p.m. Eastern time, most games conclude at 12:00 or 1:00 a.m. That’s far too late for folks east of the Rocky Mountains who must be in bed asleep preparing for the following day’s work. The pre-season polls place the UCLA Bruins in the Top 5, the CBS poll places them second in the nation.

Last season the Bruins didn’t win their own conference ending 4^th in the Pac-12. Mick Cronin’s team finished with a 22-10 record but made a run in the NCAA Tournament, they were eliminated by Gonzaga which battled Baylor for the national championship. The Bruins have a veteran team returning for the 2021-22 season which should place them in the national picture for this upcoming season. Despite the late nighttime issue, we ought to make sure we don’t overlook the Bruins as we did this past season.