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Basketball from a fans perspective

A win

Mizzou won its first game under the watch of Dennis Gates. The final score read Mizzou 97 Southern Indiana University 91. Details of the game will be available in the Wednesday edition of Off the Dribble. 

Too many turnovers

Russell Westbrook had 7 turnovers, that was the bad news for him, got to reduce that number. The good, he turned in another effective game in a reserve role. What did he accomplish, I’m pleased you ask? Westbrook contributed 19 points and 10 assists; even more interesting he managed to shoot 60% from the 3 line. All are aware his shooting especially from 3 has been ineffective. Unfortunately his outstanding game as a reserve didn’t translate into a win for the Lakers, they were losers to the Cavs 114-100.

Where do we go from here might be the next question, the Cavs have been a much better team than we expected. The addition of Donovan Mitchell and other changes have made this an entertaining team, we could make the same statement for the Jazz. The team that decided in favor of trading Donovan Mitchell, the Lakers lost to them as well. Losing to any team is still bad, the Lakers must figure out a method to shoot the ball much better. I know, that’s easier said than done…despite the loss I remain optimistic regarding Westbrook’s future with the Lakers.

Bits n Pieces

Most of us are familiar with the prolific rebound machine Dennis Rodman was for the Pistons, Bulls and for a short period the Spurs and Lakers. It was rare for him to even take a shot from the floor, he led the NBA in rebounds for 7 consecutive seasons. The legendary Wilt Chamberlain passed away in 1999, despite this fact The Dipper had an opportunity to see and read of Rodman’s exploits on the court. I came across an interesting article recently, the writer claimed Chamberlain detested the fact some compared Rodman to him. I can only speculate which I will do at this point, Rodman had it “easy” by comparison. Teams needed Chamberlain to score as much as rebound the ball, this was not a requirement for Rodman. Rodman played on teams which didn’t place emphasis on him scoring, he could concentrate on rebounding the basketball.

As one might say sometimes “It’s as clear as mud” which of course doesn’t make sense. That’s another story for another time, this is cbssports.com. Recently the site posted what it considered the best college basketball team in each state. My eyes focused on the State of Missouri, and I saw a Billiken covering the state. Some of you might have a puzzled look, “What is a Billiken you are asking.” According to the website of St. Louis University “The Billiken is a mythical good-luck figure who represents things as they ought to be.” Although we are discussing an imaginary figure the men’s basketball team at this school are for real. They finished 23-12 last season, 12-6 in the Atlantic 10 Conference. They are the best men’s basketball team in the State of Missouri, this from a member of Mizzou Nation.

A news report circulated on Thursday indicating Gonzaga was looking toward aligning itself with the Big XII Conference. From a basketball standpoint this makes a great deal of sense, as for the other issue let’s discuss. Gonzaga began playing football in the same manner as most colleges in the late 19^th Century, 1892 to be specific. The school played the sport until the outbreak of World War II in 1941, once the war concluded the football program went away…it was never revived to this day. Gonzaga competes in all competitive sports with the exception of football, would the Big XII consider adding this prolific basketball power with no football program?

Sports architects

Although Kansas City no longer has an NBA franchise there is connection throughout the league. This connection extends to many of the colleges and universities across the nation. We begin with Paycom Arena in Oklahoma City, this was not designed by a firm here however a KC sports architecture group was selected for the renovation, naturally Sprint Center (now T-Mobile Arena) in the city was designed by a local firm. For our purpose we are only covering basketball arenas although KC firms have been in the forefront for football and baseball designs as well. By no means should this list be considered complete I just stopped my count. Nearly half the arenas in the NBA were designed by local firms that call my city home.

NBA arenas

Golden I Center – Sacramento

United Center – Chicago

Ball Arena – Denver

State Farm Arena – Atlanta

FTX Arena – Miami

Wells Fargo Center – Philadelphia

TD Garden – Boston

Gainbridge Fieldhouse – Indianapolis

Capital One Arena – Washington D.C.

Moda Center – Portland

AT&T Center – San Antonio

Little Caesars Arena – Detroit

FedEx Forum – Memphis

Fiserv Forum – Milwaukee

College arenas

Mizzou Arena – Columbia

Enterprise Center -St. Louis

T-Mobile Arena – Las Vegas

HyVee Arena – Kansas City (redesign & renovation)

Xfinity Center – College Park Maryland

KFC Yum Center – Louisville

Rupp Arena – Lexington

Matthew Knight Arena – Eugene (Oregon)

Galen Center – Los Angeles

Breslin Student Events Center – East Lansing (Michigan)

Auburn Arena – Auburn (Alabama)