Basketball from a fans perspective   

Published Monday through Friday

The new record holder

This is written half an hour prior to the start of the Warriors-Knicks game, this record-breaker will be played in the basketball mecca…Madison Square Garden. Who’s record, well the new all-time 3-point shooter in the NBA is now Steph Curry. We know ahead of time he will become the NBA’s all-time 3-point scoring leader although the game is yet to be played. You think at the time Ray Allen set the record, he probably never believed it would be approached or even be broken.

If you asked me at the time the record was established by Allen, I might have thought the same thing. Now here we are December 14, 2021, we are but minutes from the start of the game and a new NBA 3-point shooting record. Curry admits he’s been nervous over the last few weeks as he inched closer to the record. Del Ellis sets the record that Reggie Miller broke then Ray Allen shattered Miller’s record, tonight Curry sets the new standard which will last for quite a while. Did you hear that Trae Young, it’s your turn now?

Who is the decider?

I’m asking the question because I have no answer. Recently I attended a Mavs-Wizards game in Dallas’s American Airlines Center. You’ve heard the term mentioned “A late arriving crowd” partially true, but it wasn’t for lack of effort. Our party along with thousands of Mavs fans were battling the rain plus parking in our attempt to gain entrance but that’s another story. Although I’ve done a great deal of travel until this game, I’d never attended an NBA game except in my hometown. Municipal Auditorium only holds a little over 10,000, the former Kemper Arena held about 17,000.

Seating for Kemper basketball increased to 19,500 years prior to the arena being sold to private interest groups. Rebranded as Hy Vee Center it only accommodates 8,500 in its present role as host for youth sports. Sprint Center (now T-Mobile) holds slightly over 18,000 fans for basketball. Back to the question, who is the decider…who or rather what goes into stipulating the number of seats for an arena? Thanks to the effort of Chris when I asked the question, he began a research project for me. The answer on the number of seats in a stadium or arena is far too involved to list here but thanks to him I have the answer. By the way there was no announced attendance for the Mavs-Wizards game, so I was forced to check the box score. The figure released showed there were 20,000 in attendance for the game, and I believe that to be correct.

Be careful what you ask for

The NCAA announced on Friday Auburn basketball will be placed on probation for four years. In addition to the probation Coach Bruce Pearl will be suspended for two games, the penalty the usual charge anytime the NCAA is in the mix. “Pearl failed to adequately monitor assistant coach Chuck Person and did not promote an atmosphere of compliance.” Pearl was hired as head coach in 2014, the incident involving probation occurred after the coach experienced similar issues with the NCAA while serving as head coach at Tennessee. There’s a little Mizzou connection with this story.

In 2014 Mizzou was searching for a coach to replace the departed Frank Haith, Pearl’s name was one of the names circulated by a number in Mizzou Nation. Would Pearl have been the better choice was the word after Kim Anderson was hired? Anderson a former Mizzou player and assistant coach had ties to the Mizzou program, unfortunately he would prove to be unsuccessful in the winning department. Despite this issue the Mizzou program was never dinged for improprieties by the NCAA while Anderson was at the helm. This latest incident involving Pearl becomes strike two. Lost in all this is what occurred with Kansas basketball? Didn’t this Auburn incident occur around the same time the NCAA accused Bill Self and the Kansas program? As usual the NCAA is always late in punishment for the Big Guys (Kansas).

From an unknown to the NBA

Well, the headline is a little misleading in that we are unsure if Ochai Agbaji is headed to the NBA. This we know Agbaji will certainly be a pro player somewhere in this world. As for the headline Agbaji was an unknown talent headed into his senior year at Oak Park High School in Kansas City Missouri. How about this bit of information Agbaji did not receive an offer from a single Power 5 school until his senior year of high school? Agbaji grew in height to his present 6 foot 5 inches, in addition he matured in his skill by training hard.

A clear demonstration of the talent, Bill Self intended to redshirt him, it was an unusual thing for Kansas basketball as his talents were needed at once. Off came the redshirt as he proved his skill to those who saw his play, there were negatives however the positives he showed far outweighed those errors in play. Agbaji improved slightly as a sophomore and by his junior season the talent was quite clear. As a senior he is Kansas basketball supplying the leadership and athleticism needed for this talented team to blossom.

This is different

We are accustomed to hearing Charles Barkley, Shaq, Kenny Smith and others. They come across nightly on our television sets offering opinions and observations of the NBA and more especially today’s players. We never hear from Dave Bing so on the occasion he makes a comment our ears perk up. Just in case the name is unfamiliar to you a little background on him. Bing spent 12 years in the NBA the majority with the Pistons but also played for the Bullets and Celtics too.

He’s enshrined in the Naismith and College Basketball Hall of Fame, in addition was selected a member of the 50^th and 75^th Anniversary NBA teams. Bing entered politics and for a term served as mayor of Detroit. That should provide enough evidence of his credentials so we can say Bing speaks with the voice of authority. This former Piston point guard interviewed said this and I paraphrase “Cade Cunningham is a valuable player but not one you build a team around.” If we look at the Pistons roster, they need another player to move the team over the top according to Bing.