Basketball from a fans perspective   

Published Monday through Friday

Braggin Rights

Tonight, the annual basketball game between Mizzou and Illinois will be played in St. Louis, the game will be telecast on the Big Ten Network. Despite the play of Mizzou, the Enterprise Center should be evenly divided between fans of both teams. The history appears to be dominated by one team as an example. Mizzou has won the last three games played, before that Illinois was a winner in five consecutive games. From 2009 to 2012 Mizzou was the victor, based on the present we should be certain of an Illinois win. This assumes a down year for Mizzou basketball. As for the history Illinois leads all-time with 32 wins and 19 losses. This game ahead of time is always difficult to predict so far be it for me to give you a winner I have no idea.

NBA or professional future?

Jamarion Sharp of Western Kentucky doesn’t score much (8.2 ppg) but he can certainly block shots. He leads the NCAA in blocked shots with 58 in 12 games (4.83 per game) this season. Talent aside his height might be a key factor in effectively blocking shots or at least altering them. Sharp tips the scales at 235 pounds but stands 7-foot 5, is the NBA or at least a pro career in his future? Consider this fact, do you remember 7-foot 6 Tacko Fall who played at UCF?

Few of us believed the NBA was in his future for Fall, despite this widely accepted opinion it did occur in in 2019. The Celtics signed Fall as a free agent and during the season he played for the Celtics and Red Claws. This play followed through last season, in September 2021 Fall signed with the Cavs and it was converted to a two-way contract. Fall is currently playing for the Cavs G-League affiliate the Charge. Despite the emphasis on small ball change in the game of today, we can still conclude height might continue to play a role in an athletes future in basketball. Of course, that taller player must have a degree of potential.

Bits n Pieces 

They continue the march…Duke basketball that is. It was mentioned in December alone the school received two verbal commits from Class of 2022 prospects. They are Mark Mitchell 6-8 forward and Christian Reeves 7-1 center, these two join four others signed earlier. It should be of note 247Sports rate four of the six as 5-star prospects one is a 4-star and the other 3-star. Stars don’t mean squat if you can’t play or adjust to Division I basketball, it does supply us a clue because Duke’s been recognized as having the top class of recruits for the 2022-23 college season.

This metro Dallas-Fort Worth city’s high school basketball has always been outstanding, and it continues early in the 2021-22 season. Transferring from California for his junior year is Ashton Hardaway a 6-foot 7 small forward. If the last name sounds familiar it should, his dad is former NBA player and current Memphis head coach Penny Hardaway. Ashton has two years of high school lingering to decide on a college for the future.

Three NBA games were postponed on Sunday evening due to covid-19. This might be the most cancelled games in one date due to the virus. The NBA is supposed to be revising its policy regarding covid however the policy is confusing at this time. Players are health and safety protocol one day and the next they are cleared to play; the restriction is clearly confusing. LeBron James has been one of the players lodging a complaint.

Recently we read former Laker Alex Caruso and current Bulls player said this. “Austin Reaves is ahead of me when I first arrived in the NBA.” That’s an interesting comment from the former Laker reserve, apparently, he sees the potential of Reaves and believes it wasn’t as much of a step up for Reaves as it was for him adjusting to NBA play.

I am wasting your time (and mine too)

A website stadiumtalk.com had a headline pop up on my FB page. It read: “NBA players who shouldn’t be in the Hall of Fame”, I laughed out loud reading the headline never bothering to click on the story.  There are substantial numbers of players in the NFL, baseball and Naismith Hall of Fame most of us barely know. They played prior to our birth or during our childhood, in other words the name might be more familiar to us than anything. This is the area the problem begins, and we’ve seen it especially with the choice of the 75^th Anniversary All-Star team. We have scores of fans claiming because Joe Jones played in1950 he can’t be on the same level as Joe Smith who plays currently or at least beginning in 2000.

I return to Babe Ruth who retired from baseball in 1935 and died in 1948. Historians of the time wrote “He wasn’t much of an athlete” yet Ruth held the career home run record from 1935 until Hank Aaron broke it in 1974. The names that stand out are Lenny Wilkins and Paul Arizin, fans wrote they believed neither belonged on the team. There was no explanation other than Wilkins retired in 1975 and Arizin even further back 1962. We’ve got to take into consideration the evolution of the game be it football, baseball or the NBA. If we enter a discussion of athletes I am at the front of the line, today’s athletes are better conditioned and might be light years above those in the past. With that said does it disqualify the athlete of the past just because he played in a different era?