Basketball from a fans perspective

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Christmas games

This is always interesting, have you noticed the Christmas games (December 25) are always announced ahead of the regular season schedule? In any event, here are the teams involved:

Lakers at Mavs

Sixers at Knicks

Suns at Nuggets

Bucks at Celtics

Grizzlies at Warriors

Game times schedules were not indicated, the best guess east coast teams will probably play early games. They will likely be followed by the Suns and Nuggets and then Grizzlies and Warriors will be the late game. Naturally if the times are known you will be advised. As for television coverage it will be spread between ESPN, TNT and ABC.

We’ve discussed that talent thing previously

Reading the headline, you will remember talent is an issue we’ve discussed from time to time in this blog. There is no one reason why talent prevails in one athlete over that of another. In this instance we are discussing basketball however it could apply to any sport where an athlete plays at a higher level than his or her competitors. Luka Donic’s father Sasha believes he’s got an answer for the accomplishments of his son thus far in the NBA, his belief is below and might provide us a different thought. 

1.“Other kids have talent, too, but dream of millions of dollars and lose focus on basketball. Sasa explained that will other hoopers his age got excited about money and fame, Luka was focused on adding skills to his arsenal by studying the game of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and the likes.”

On the other hand, someone might argue with this view, they might say Luka’s not won anything which is certainly true. Leading your team into the playoffs is an accomplishment however it’s not the ultimate reward. I can see this, there is a magic (catch that word) in the manner he plays the game, he is driven to excel. Is Sasa correct, his son is succeeding because he is focused on accomplishing a task at the highest level in the game he loves? If you think about it Sasa might be on to something after all if you hit the mark the millions of dollars will come your way as a reward…right?

1. basketballnetwork.net   

This is interesting

Those in Mizzou Nation have no idea if Dennis Gates is a winner. We believe that to be the case based on his record at Cleveland State, of course that school is a mid-major basketball program versus Power Five Mizzou. We’ve covered the tremendous strides Gates’s made since his spring hire but let’s look ahead. Worth repeating are the names Aiden Shaw, Trent Pierce and Anthony Robinson II. The distinctive recruiting feature of these prospects all appear to be highly qualified based on their rating. Awarding stars are no clue to excellence however it’s the only measurement of talent we have. Technically 4-star and 6-foot 8 wing Aiden Shaw is a Cuonzo Martin recruit, that changed with the coach being fired.

Shaw de-committed but after meeting with Gate’s was arrival and meeting with the youngster convinced him to remain pledged to Mizzou. Next up was point guard Anthony Robinson II, a 3-star Class of 2023 prospect and we add the name Trent Pierce another Class of 2023 athlete, he’s a 4-star small forward. Everything being equal 5 scholarships remain for the 2023-24 collegiate season. Can the group of 5 plus the trio profiled blend their game to that of Mizzou’s present roster? It should be of further interest rivals.com ranks the 2023 Mizzou recruiting class 20^th in the nation. For those who follow Duke, Kentucky or some other traditionally ranked team might not see this as a big deal. For us in Mizzou Nation we are unaccustomed to be ranked this high and certainly nowhere close to the Top 20 in recruiting.

Yes, a plumber actually did play in the NBA

Some of you reading this might remember the debate former player JJ Redick had on ESPN recently, the debate began over the legacy of Suns point guard Chris Paul. When Mad Dog Russo brought Bob Cousy’s name into the debate Redick went full blast, he claimed “Cousy couldn’t dribble with his left hand, he was being guarded by plumbers and fireman.” Redick might not have been aware there actually had been a plumber in the NBA at one time.  

The late Normie Glick spent the 1949 season as a member of the Minneapolis Lakers, Glick played his college basketball at Loyola Marymount. According to basketballnetwork.com Glick didn’t receive a scholarship after high school. What did he do, he became a plumber before beginning play at Marymount and then the NBA. As for Glick possibly guarding Cousy he stood 6 foot 7 so it probably didn’t occur unless it would have been on a switch, Glick was a forward. Despite Redick attempting to make his point in the form of a joke he actually provided us an interesting bit of NBA trivia.

Say it ain’t so

There was a point in time the National Invitation Tournament had almost as much prestige as the NCAA Tournament in the minds of basketball fans. Those days are gone and for a variety of reasons, chief among them the NCAA increasing the number of participating teams. By doing this the NIT was deprived of competition. As an example, back in the Lew Alcindor days UCLA’s cross town rivals Southern Cal had an exceptional season. They would lose only two games and both losses were to UCLA, the NCAA hadn’t expanded at the time, so they accepted an invitation to play in the NIT. Today that Southern Cal team would play in the NCAA Tournament.

It should also be of note there was no post-season tournament play at the time. More and more with NCAA expansion the NIT became known as the Not Invited Tournament or not extended an NCAA invitation. As for the history, the tournament was cancelled in 2020 due to covid, in 2021 all the games were moved to the Dallas-Fort Worth metro. Now comes word the NIT is moving from venerable Madison Square Garden and New York City. In 2023 Las Vegas will serve as host, the following season 2024 it will be Indianapolis. Opening rounds will continue to be held on college campuses across the nation. Few are aware of this fact; the NIT actually predates the NCAA Tournament having been held in 1938 for the first time. In 1939 the first NCAA Championship Tournament was held, will the NIT Tournament ever return to New York, that question remains unanswered for now?