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Basketball from a fans perspective

Only 1 assist

The Lakers Anthony Davis had only 1 assist in the teams win over the Wizards, as for the other numbers. AD had 55 points 73.3% shooting from the floor and 66.7% from three, there were also 3 blocked shots in the 129-115 win over the Wizards. A week or so ago LeBron pronounced this Lakers team as AD’s, was he relinquishing the leadership role on the team?  Oh, that other guy, LeBron scored 29 points 8 rebounds and 6 assists. Russell Westbrook didn’t shoot well coming off the bench, he only scored 6 points however his 14 assists were outstanding. Are the Lakers serving notice to the rest of the league they are ready to compete? They are now 2-0 on this road trip, we need to check their record at the end of the trip to provide a partial answer.

An ugly win

Mizzou is now 9-0 after the 96-89 win over Southeast Missouri State. Mizzou shot a sparkling 55.7% from the floor but the SEMO team managed to equal Mizzou especially in the second half of the contest. They shot 54% from the floor and 50% from the 3-line. The balance of the numbers from SEMO and Mizzou were pretty much even. So out of 358 Division I teams Mizzou is one of 13 that currently remain undefeated.

Forward Kobe Brown led the way with 25 points and was assisted by Sean East with 21 and D’Moi Hodge with 15. Mizzou will now take the week off as they wait to host the Kansas Jayhawks for the first time in ages. I guess an ugly win counts in the same manner as one played brilliantly. I’m unsure of which was the ugliest the game or the coverage. The ESPN+ coverage was tiling throughout the game; the video issue made it really difficult to watch the game. A player would take a shot and the ball was frozen for a moment in mid-flight. This video problem continued throughout the telecast.

A funny story

Jon Sunvold told this story about the late Jim Valvano basketball coach and its quite funny. Sunvold former NBA player turned television analyst played at Blue Springs High School in metro Kansas City before Mizzou and later the NBA. Sunvold claims I’m a Midwest kid I had no idea back then of Iona or where it was located. “I returned from a tournament and the telephone rang and it was Jim Valvano on the phone. The call went like this, “High I’m Jim Valvano from Iona,” Sunvold claims he heard “High I’m Jim Valvano and I own a team.” Valvano managed to clear up the confusion indicating he was calling to offer him a scholarship and he was the coach for Iona not an owner.

Hall of Fame

Frank Selvy turned 90 years old on November 9^th, despite the age there is another reward. Selvy was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame November 20th. Selvy’s play for 5 NBA teams was good but it’s his college exploits which placed him in the Hall of Fame. It was Furman University in Greenfield South Carolina, and it was the 1950’s. There was no shot clock back then, teams could stall or hold the ball for the length of a game if they desired. Selvy’s sophomore year saw him score at a 24.6 per game clip, he raised that his junior year to 29.5. In his senior year Selvy (1953-54) averaged an astounding 41.7 points a game.

Selvy’s scoring total of 1,209 points led the NCAA in scoring for the second year in a row. In a February 13, 1954, game a significant event occurred, Selvy scored 100 points against Newberry College. This is a significant scoring event in NCAA history, it established the record for a Division I player. The late Bevo Francis and much later Jack Taylor actually exceeded Selvy’s total however for Francis it was at the NAIA level and Division III for Taylor. Just in case you wondered about his size Selvy was a 6-foot 3 inch 180-pound guard, after a 10-year NBA career he retired in 1964. With retirement from the NBA Selvy went to work for a paper company and retired from that job 25-years later. Frank Selvy another name from basketball’s rich past you should become acquainted with. 

He wears number 77

I saw a photo of the Mavs Luka Doncic’ and his iconic jersey number 77. I had reported this story at one time previously just in case you missed it or maybe you were already aware. For the most part NBA players generally have numbers ranging from 0 or 00 up through the 60’s. The only exception to this policy might be former NBA player Ron Artest a.k.a. Metta World Peace. With the Pacers, Kings and Rockets Artest wore 91, 93 and 96.

As for Doncic’ the story goes he grew up wearing number 7 for his favorite Euro player. At the time he began play for Real Madrid a player on the roster already wore the number, so he just added a 7 becoming 77. The fact Doncic’ couldn’t sport his favorite number continued this reoccurring pattern when he was drafted by the Mavs. This time it was new teammate Dwight Powell, who had jersey number 7, so once again Doncic’ was prevented from wearing his favorite number 7. Doncic’ decided in favor of continuing his routine of wearing number 77.

A noteworthy win

One of the weekend basketball scores saw Jackson State University edge Southern Methodist University 69-68, the significance of the event, an HBCU win. JSU is coming off an 11-19 record last season, in addition this is the first season as head coach for former NBA player Mo Williams. HBCU schools such as Jackson State, Grambling, Prairie View, Texas Southern and others once produced a wealth of talent to the NBA.

All that’s changed now, it’s been mentioned a number of state institutions once closed to black athletes are now available. The landscape change has seen a greater number of black athletes to attend state and private schools. Talent that once flowed freely to HBCU schools became a trinkle. In recent years anytime an HBCU registers a win it becomes newsworthy. It was mentioned Makur Maker enrolling at HBCU Howard University might change some minds but there is little evidence three years later. Hopefully in the future there will be no requirement for wins of this type to become newsworthy.