Basketball from a fans perspective   

Published Monday through Friday

Thanksgiving  

This morning’s edition is the last daily for Off the Dribble until Monday November 29, we are taking a pause for the Thanksgiving holiday. Unfortunately for me unlike the Big Boys when I decide to take off there is no method in place to continue publication. With that said please check back with us next week and thereafter. Thank you for being a loyal reader of this blog and those who celebrate Thanksgiving please enjoy your family and the holiday.

"Can anybody play this game?"

The longtime Yankee manager Casey Stengel was well known as a quote machine, I borrowed his quote because it certainly fit the first half of Mizzou's Sunday night game. Mizzou Nation witnessed the team sleep walk through the first half of their game against SMU. At the half Mizzou had scored but 18 points, in the second half the Tigers came alive, they managed an 80-75 win in OT and will now face Florida State tonight in the Jacksonville Classic.  Mizzou did not shoot particularly well from the floor (37%) but was a sizzling 42.9% from three. I'm still not sure what to make of this team except they sure have grit. 

Bits n Pieces 

The Kings have fired head coach Luke Walton. He will be replaced by interim Alvin Gentry who’s been a head coach at two NBA stops. The firing is certainly not surprising news since Walton has been on the hot seat for at least two seasons. It’s not always the coaches fault anytime a team reaches this stage, but the Kings have not been wise in the NBA Draft. In addition to the draft Walton’s fallen into disfavor with members of the team. You know the old adage, “It’s far easier to fire the coach than a team.”

He might be the next big name basketball star on the horizon. His name is Sterling Henderson however he’s better known by his nickname, it’s Scoot. Scoot is a 6-foot 2-inch 195-pound point guard and instead of play at Kell High School in Marietta Georgia it’s Team Elite in the G-League for this 17-year-old. He decided in favor of the G-League over college, Australia or somewhere else. His age makes him the youngest professional in American basketball history. As for the future despite the early accolades bestowed on the young man it will be 2023 before we see his name in the NBA Draft. Keep the name Scoot in your memory for the future.

NBA Blackout Rules is this story, my confusion from last NBA season extends into this new season. My hometown Kansas City Missouri sits almost geographically in the middle of the nation. Denver is roughly 604 road miles west of here, as for Oklahoma City it’s a little bit closer 350 miles south and west of us. Nugget and Thunder games are blacked out on NBA TV but if the games are scheduled on ESPN/TNT/ABC we in Kansas City can see them. Here Bally Sports Midwest enters the picture, we can view selected Thunder games on Bally but no Nuggets. Most interesting blackout rules have been done away by the NFL, as for baseball and hockey I’m unsure of their rules.

Hall of Fame Coach Jim Calhoun is retiring once again, if you remember the history the 79-year-old Calhoun retired from UConn where he won three NCAA Championships. Calhoun had unretired in 2017 and went back to work at Division III St. Joseph. Calhoun would become the first men’s coach at this formerly women’s institution, his teams went 47-17. In other college news Dick Vitale has been released from the hospital, he’s been given permission by his medical team to resume work. 82-year-old Dickie V. will be the analyst for ESPN tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m. Central as number one Gonzaga faces number two UCLA.

Watching the UMass-Army game on Saturday I mentioned this story to my wife. If a discussion is held on NBA players from the school few names come to mind and there is a reason. UMass is an afterthought any time we are discussing the best, despite that outlook few realize one of the NBA élites played the game at UMass. Basketball enthusiasts know the name, it’s Julius “Dr. J.” Erving. When Erving graduated from high school he enrolled at UMass and played at the school two outstanding seasons before he applied for “hardship” entry into the ABA in 1971. In those two seasons he scored at a 26.3 point per game clip and despite being 6 foot 7 averaged 20.3 rebounds a game. 

Who is the next Euro player to arrive?

Due to the difficulty of viewing Euro game’s, we must depend on mock draft sites to find possible targets for NBA teams. Euro basketball promotes no more snickers among fans as it might have done at one time, far too many players have arrived on this continent and proven their worth. We could make the same statement about those arriving from the African continent, for now the focus is Europe. Was Stephen A. Smith being his bombastic self when Kristaps Porzingis was drafted? Was the ire at his Knicks for drafting Porzingis or did he really know who the guy was?

Those of us reading mock sites knew of the name, we didn’t know he could play in the NBA, but we knew the name. Later we could make a similar statement about Luka Doncic, the name was familiar to us, but could he play? The days of laughing at the prospect of Euro players is long gone, a number can play just as a crop of American players. Keep in mind every single American player drafted is top notch talent, we can detail three or four high picks who are no longer in the NBA. With that said let us check out a couple of mock sites for Euro names. These names offered at the beginning of the 2021-22 NBA season.

Nikola Jovic 6 foot 10-Serbia

Carlos Alocen 6 foot 5-Spain

Ousame Dieng 6 foot 9-France

Tristan Vukcevic 6 foot 11-Serbia

Jayson Tchicamboud 6 foot 5-France

Ibou Dianko Badji 7 foot 1-Senegal

I’m giving this story more space than needed

Those who follow the NBA game are familiar with the name Enes Kanter. He is presently a member of the Celtics, but he’s got one other job…chief critic of LeBron James. There is really no requirement to place myself in the middle of this verbal battle, but I will. Kanter’s latest effort is to attack LeBron for his association with Nike and how the shoes and apparel are manufactured. It’s probably a good thing Kanter didn’t decide on Michael Jordan rather than LeBron. As for the story on production that’s for another post right now we focus on Kanter and his persistent verbal attacks on LeBron. The question for us is why Kanter has taken on the role of becoming the chief LeBron hater? By the time you read this it’s quite possible the verbal feud between the two might have been concluded, we certainly hope that is the case.