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Basketball from a fans perspective

Attention boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen

A change at the top, although nbadraft.net is the only mock site to reflect a change thus far. I call your attention to the draft site there is movement, I say surprising movement. The December 26 update by the site places Victor Wembanyama in second place, we have a new number one…drum roll please. The new number one by this site is Scoot Henderson of G-League Team Elite. This change is interesting on several levels, most are probably not aware Henderson’s missed a number of games recently.

The 6-foot 2 Scoot is listed as a point guard but in the vernacular of today’s NBA he’s more a combo. He suffered a nose fracture was in concussion protocol as well. Despite the nose issue Henderson assured us there is no intention on his part to shutting it down in anticipation of the NBA draft. Scoot will not make the rounds demonstrating his talent for several NBA teams as some draft choices. Whatever develops in the future expect the commissioner on June 22 to announce Scoot’s name be it the top choice or the second one.

“Build it and they will come”

In the movie Field of Dreams Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) hears a voice over and over. The voice convinces him to change a portion of his cornfield into a baseball diamond. Legendary baseball players from the past emerge from the edge of the baseball field to begin playing a game. Okay Larry Laker how does that relate to basketball? The University of MO announced the Wednesday game against Kentucky is a sell-out. This represents the second sell-out game in a row and provides us proof If you build it, they will come. In this instance the build represents a competitive team on the basketball court. I’m quite sure there are some reading this stating “Two sold out games in a row…big deal.”

It is a big deal because the students and fans are present, but you must give them an acceptable product. Much as I hate to admit it Mizzou basketball has not been very praiseworthy over the past few years. Since movies are ever present for me, I leave you with The Matrix. Remember when Neo was trying to figure out if he was The One? All through the movie those of us seeing the movie were not sure. In the end it was revealed, he was who they believed he was. I think that statement can be made about coach Dennis Gates, is he The One? Mizzou Nation’s seen several coaches come in the front door and leave by the back door. The 11-win start is no guarantee of future success. Will Mizzou be able to beat Kentucky…I don’t know, the hope is they play a competitive game. A game that demonstrates Mizzou is a winner.

The importance of scouting…maybe

2017 the NFL Chiefs struck the mother lode in the draft. That draft saw the Bears select Mitch Trubisky with the second pick, the Chiefs on the advice of a scout moved up in the draft to acquire Patrick Mahomes. Since then Mahomes has been a consistent touchdown maker, he’s led the Chiefs into two Super Bowls. As for Trubisky he’s now with the Steelers, he was unable to play at the level projected. In the NBA Damian Lillard a.k.a Dame recently broke the team scoring record of Hall of Fame player Clyde Drexler. Lillard played his college basketball at Weber State in Ogden Utah, I’m quite sure in 2012 the question might have been asked…who? Was he simply overlooked by scouts based on where he played? That may have been a question about his ability however Lillard was pick number 6 in that draft.

We could add Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson to our list. Playing at Tulsa and later Mizzou he became the 46 player in the second round of the 2014 draft. Last season Clarkson was the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year, this season has seen him move into the starting lineup. One more player for us to check out is now in the Naismith Hall of Fame. Without confirming I’m sure he’s the only NBA player Division II West Texas State A&M has ever produced. His name is Maurice ‘Mo’ Cheeks the brilliant point guard for the Sixers of Dr. J., Moses Malone and others, the Sixers drafted him in 1978 with the 36^th pick in the second round. There are other NBA players these are but two who may have been overlooked by scouts at a point in time. One more consideration, we have no ability to see inside someone and their desire to succeed. In the instances detailed these players clearly had talent however scouts assessing their potential talent couldn’t see the drive or will to achieve.

Who listens

A relative indicated she no longer listens to local sports talk radio. I must admit I haven’t completely divorced myself; it often depends on the day of the week and my mood. I thought it was just me but it’s clear she has a problem too. As an example this past Friday I turned on one of the locals and they spent roughly 5-6 minutes discussing the Mizzou-Illinois basketball game plus K-State basketball. They moved swiftly into a discussion of the NFL Chiefs game which was played Christmas Eve. I can’t speak for my cousin, but it appears the Chiefs inside and outside the season dominate their blab. The baseball Royals and football Chiefs are certainly of interest to me as a fan.

With no NBA or NHL here those sports are rarely discussed but I understand the why. With the World Cup being completed recently I heard lively discussions on which teams were winning, the ones who advanced etc. Do I expect talk about the NBA, of course not we have no team. That also entails for NHL hockey or other sports, but I wouldn’t expect the host to ignore basketball completely. One of the local stations has Mike DeCoursey of the Sporting News on weekly. Driving recently to work the sub host introduced him and because he also is the radio voice of Sporting Kansas City did this. He spent the next 15-17 minutes discussing the World Cup with a media member more associated with his coverage of college basketball. I realize this rant is going nowhere except to those who bother to read it, but it’s got to be my number one gripe with local sports talk radio.