Basketball from a fans perspective

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Attention KU Nation

After reading this account consider this an opinion and not fact, it is not necessarily a projection of the future. Late winter or early spring Kansas City native and KU athlete Ochai Agbaji was projected to be drafted, Agbaji had moved from undrafted to a possible 2^nd round draft choice into the first round. June 23 the Cavs made him the 14^th pick in the first round of the 2022 draft. While I was pleased, he was drafted there was a concern almost immediately regarding the Cavs who chose him. The Cavs looked young and deep especially in the position Agbaji would be projected to play. This past Thursday my concern may have become even more difficult due to the trade. 

Agbaji was included in the huge Donovan Mitchell trade which sent him and others to the Jazz. I decided to check the Jazz depth chart on ESPN’s NBA page, and it doesn’t look good in fact it might look worse than Agbaji’s place with the Cavs. He’s listed as 4^th on the chart at the small forward position, he could be buried at the end of the Jazz bench. What does the NBA future hold for Agbaji might be the question. His NBA career could begin on a high note, he arrives with the Jazz and supplants a veteran in the lineup. The unfortunate part Agbaji’s got far too many veterans and especially young vets in front of him with the Jazz. This might be a case of the two’s, 1. being drafted by the wrong team and then 2. being traded to the wrong team, I hope I’m wrong on this.

Generational athlete

It seems lately we’ve heard the term ‘generational athlete’ used to describe an individual. Hundreds of thousands play the game…few are able to play at an exceptional level or an improved method. For me this is an athlete who changes the game in some aspect, let’s check out a few. If we look at his career numbers, you might question Kenny Sailors being included in this account. Sailors only averaged 12.6 points a game during his Basketball Association of America career, but it was the jump shot. Reading this today it would appear difficult to believe but in the 1940’s and earlier everyone shot the ball with both hands and with their feet firmly planted on the floor. How did Sailors originate the jump shot, it began in his youth playing against an older brother. The 5 foot 10 Sailors had difficulty shooting the ball over his brother who stood 6 foot 4.

Basketball players have probably blocked opposition shots since the beginning, nobody accomplished it in the manner of Bill Russell. His ability to accomplish this task began at the University of San Francisco and continued on to a Hall of Fame career with the Celtics. In 1964 the NBA widen the lane from 12 to 16 feet due to Wilton Norman Chamberlain. One publication even claims Chamberlain was responsible for ‘Offensive goaltending, defensive goaltending, free throw shooting and inbounding the basketball’ The impact of Lew Alcindor’s been mentioned previously. The 7-foot 2-inch athlete was so dominate when dunking the ball, it caused the NCAA to ban the shot for 10 season. This is but a brief look at four basketball players who changed the game. Keep in mind thousands of outstanding basketball players have impacted the game since 1891, rest assured it is highly likely I missed including some. Think on this a bit, who is included in your number?    

Who says you can’t go home?

Those of us in Mizzou Nation are familiar with the name Isiaih Mosley, he was a local having attended Rock Bridge High School. Rock Bridge located in Columbia Missouri home of the university. Former coach Cuonzo Martin and his coaching staff probably had a short drive anywhere to witness Mosley in action. For reasons which remain unclear at this writing rather than remain home and play for Mizzou he journeyed down the road to attend Missouri State in Springfield. Once Dennis Gates was hired as head coach things changed quickly. 

Coach Gates would travel the length and breadth of the state recruiting when first hired. Mosley would answer the call after rejecting an offer when he graduated high school. Mizzou will only have Mosely for one season since he arrives as a graduate transfer. The 6-foot 5-inch shooting guard put up good number while competing in the Missouri Valley Conference. Mosley’s overall numbers, nearly 21 points a game shooting 50% from the floor and 43% from the three line. Mizzou Nation is fully aware one of the key problems last season was lack of effective shooting-scoring the ball at time. It’s hoped Mosley can bring a scoring mentality to a Mizzou squad that was totally lacking offensive capability at times this past season.  

Sport of choice 

The announcer mentioned to the television audience the Royals pitcher on our television screen played college basketball. This athlete must have been forced to make a decision, ‘do I pursue a baseball or basketball career?’ In this time, it’s difficult to find athletes playing multiple sports in college, as for high school that’s a different matter. Yankee outfielder Aaron Judge and Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes are outstanding athletes in their respective sports, both played three sports in high school. We don’t know about the basketball talent of Mahomes, but we do with Judge, he was a 17 point per game scorer in high school. Former All-Pro NFL player Antonio Gates had an outstanding career with the Chargers. The information is not clear however we know he played football in high school; at Kent State it was basketball only.

Despite this fact Gates would choose football although he went undrafted in the 2003 NFL Draft. Probably the most amazing might be Dave Winfield the Baseball Hall of Fame athlete. Winfield holds a unique distinction, being drafted by teams in three sports. He played baseball and basketball at the University of Minnesota. In 1973 Winfield was drafted by the baseball Padres, the NBA Hawks the ABA Utah Stars, despite not playing football since high school the NFL Vikings also drafted Winfield. As mentioned previously Winfield is enshrined in the Hall of Fame, Aaron Judge and Patrick Mahomes remain active players. This is no statement indicating they will become Hall of Fame candidates but says they chose their best sport. Besides Judge and Mahomes there might be others who made the ‘correct sport of choice.’