Basketball from a fans perspective   

Published Monday through Friday

You owe me an apology

This is aimed at Mizzou Coach Cuonzo Martin; you owe me an apology for the loss. Heading into the Monday night game the University of Missouri-Kansas City was rated number 262 among Division I schools. Cuonzo’s Mizzou Tigers were rated 100 yet lost to UMKC and It was not by a little bit, UMKC came into Columbia and blew the sides out of Mizzou Arena winning 80-66.  It is early in the season but this loss stings big time, now if you attend or have attended UMKC or a member of alumni you are probably most pleased. Those of us who are part of Mizzou Nation are totally embarrassed, that is all.

The Empire Strikes Back

No, this is not a reference to the Star Wars movie rather the imperialist view the NCAA has of itself. We mentioned Oklahoma State basketball was ruled ineligible for post season play by the NCAA. This was based on a 5-year-old incident in which the school was found responsible. To clarify the issue further OSU was guilty, a former assistant coach was the culprit in the matter which found the school at fault, there is no attempt to negate that part of the story.

This next part is the further result of actions by the NCAA. Coach Mike Boynton and AD Chad Weiberg met with the media after the news was made public to voice their objections to the NCAA ruling so what occurred thereafter? From the perspective of the NCAA “Do these mortals who stand for Oklahoma State dare to question the NCAA on a decision we’ve concluded”? The NCAA in its response used terms such as “unacceptable”, “inappropriate”, “unethical” and “potentially dangerous.” So, we have a body that claims it is responsible yet cannot cope with being criticized. Reminds us of the motto of President Harry Truman, “If you can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen.”

Bits n Pieces

At Off the Dribble it’s always the hope to supply you early notification of a prospect. That is the case here, his name is Somtochukwu Cyril and he’s receiving offers as he enters his junior year of high school. Not that unusual to have offers on the table but Cyril is new to these shores having arrived last year from Nigeria. The 6-foot 11-inch 240-pound Cyril is enrolled at Hamilton Heights Christian Academy in Chattanooga Tennessee. Currently Florida, Kansas, Georgetown, Memphis, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss and Tennessee have offers for Cyril a Class of 2024 prospect. A YouTube search for Cyril in action proved unsuccessful. Despite the emphasis on small ball there is still a requirement for Big Man basketball.

Early season bigtime matches, State Farm Champions Classic number 1 Kansas beat unranked Michigan State 87-74. In other action it was number 9 Duke in Coach K.’s last season over number 10 Kentucky 79-71. Saturday evening found two ranked teams playing with number one Gonzaga facing number 5 Texas with Gonzaga the winner 86-74. Generally, we find college teams playing tune up games, generally they don’t schedule top notch competition this early in the season.

The Memphis Tigers have a perfect record thus far with 2 exhibition wins and 2 regular season wins. The two regular season games have not come against top notch competition however they were Division I opponents. We had a great deal of interest how first-year student Emoni Bates would adjust to the college game. In the three games Bates has managed to blend his on-court game with those of his new teammates. The season is young and there will be tough games ahead for Bates, as we said earlier Memphis basketball in 2021-22 should be outstanding.

He’s The Man

Despite being the NBA Deputy Commissioner, few know Mark Tatum. He’s got a unique heritage; his mom is Chinese who grew up in Vietnam and his dad is from Jamaica, Mark was born in Vietnam too. As a youth his family moved to the United States where Tatum would continue his growth and academics. He would graduate from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1987 and later graduate from Cornell University and the Harvard Business in 1991 and 1998, respectively.

He worked in corporate America before joining the NBA in1999, Tatum’s held various roles in the league prior to becoming deputy commissioner. Tatum assumed the role of deputy to Adam Silver on the same date of Silvers hire. We are only familiar with Tatum from his duties as host for the second round of the NBA Draft and the draft lottery, he’s got more roles than simply conducting these two events. As the NBA continues to extend its international footprint what better person to have in charge than Tatum with his international heritage. One of those key roles held was negotiating the television contracts for ABC/ESPN/TNT. This but a thumbnail sketch of the guy we usually see only twice a year, the Draft Lottery and NBA Draft.