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Basketball from a fans perspective

He’s playing football

Zion Williamson against the T-Wolves, 43 points and one posterized dunk over Rudy Gobert. A dunk on Gobert who blocks practically everything in sight. If you check the video from the game, you will see once Zion went up and dunked Gobert can be seen bending at the waist to avoid getting hit by the ball as it exited the net. The best line might have been stated by D’Angelo Russell after the game. Russell said, “He’s playing football and we are playing basketball.”

 Zion’s scoring binge led the way as his Pelicans beat the T-Wolves 119-118. Standing 6 foot 6 and 284 pounds it might be a good idea to avoid Zion as he’s driving to the basket. He’s finally healthy for an extended period of time we see his talent and value to the Pelicans. Over his last 10 games Zion is averaging 31 points a game and certainly the Pelicans and the fan base hope he can continue at or near this same level. These are outstanding numbers for Zion, 26.2, 6.9 rebounds and 4.6 assists while shooting 61% from the floor.

They do it different 

You may have been aware of this already, it was noted the latest cbs.com college poll moved the Mizzou Tigers to number 18. This was likely based on their upset win over Kentucky this past Wednesday. The movement prompted a question from a writer. “I thought the poll was conducted on a weekly basis.” This was the answer by another, “The CBS poll is conducted on a daily basis.” Interesting so that’s how Mizzou was missing from the AP Top 25 last week yet by Thursday they are 18 on the CBS poll. Mizzou is off until Wednesday when they face Arkansas in always difficult Fayette. 

The Razorbacks were ranked 9 in the weekly poll but will probably drop based on their loss to LSU 60-57. As for KenPom they now place 12-win Mizzou number 34 in the nation. One thing for sure with the win over Kentucky “the door has been kicked in.” The Tigers have caught the attention of the nation and especially the other SEC programs. From this point going forward Arkansas, Vanderbilt plus Texas A&M will be fully prepared to face them. I continue to say “It’s only a beauty contest, the results will come the first Monday in April." That’s the date the NCAA champion will be determined. I only have one remaining statement; Isaiah Mosley why is he not playing? I had high hopes the 6-foot 5 guard would be able to add offensive prowess to this Tiger team.

“Two men enter one-man leaves”

The headline is the chant of the crowd in the movie Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. You know by now I love to use movie references and connect them to basketball accounts. This is that time, the Lakers have placed Anthony Davis along with Thomas Bryant in the Thunderdome (use your imagination). One guy (AD) doesn’t really want to be there i.e. the center position, the other guy Bryant’s been given little opportunity to play. What do you do if you are Darvin Ham, well I’m not however pretend I am for a few minutes. Laker Nation, I confess up front I haven’t seen enough of Bryant to know if he’s the answer at the five. He’s certainly got the size (6 foot 10) and bulk to contend with NBA centers of today.

In the recent past the Lakers had problems at the position but managed to get by. JaVale McGee, DeAndre Jordan, Dwight Howard and Marc Gasol were all found lacking for a variety of reasons. Last season the Lakers acquired Andre Drummond and played him at the five. Because his arrival came at the trade deadline Drummond might not have acquainted himself with Anthony Davis in the lineup. It was said his presence kept AD from moving to areas he preferred to operate on the court. In closing my chief concern is Bryant’s defense, his offense is light years ahead of those centers named earlier. I’m just sitting back in my Man Cave providing you my view, maybe it won’t work. On the other hand it might be worth a try who knows.

Are you sure

I’m going to provide you the link for your personal judgement. Hoops Reference.com provides us the name of 4 players NBA teams might regret drafting. Three of the names we could debate Chet Holmgren is a different matter. Number one, as most are aware Holmgren is injured and sitting out the season. This website looks at the timetable for the rebuild versus the fact it’s going to take time for Holmgren to adjust from injury.

The first part of their contention is bogus, the second part his recovery is valid. In fairness to the website they are claiming the belief they maintain its not a talent issue rather the Thunder re-build. I can sort of understand their take however to simply state the Thunder are regretting the draft is false in my view. If this were January 2024, we still couldn’t conclude the selection of Holmgren was suspect with an opportunity to see him in action against NBA talent. With that half a season remains a limited amount of time to determine a rookies talent level.

Competition for the sports dollar    

Does it exist, are the NFL Commanders competing with the NBA Wizards to sell tickets? What about the NHL Bruins and NBA Celtics, is there a rivalry there as well? Could population figure into the equation and we can use my city as an example. It’s been mentioned Kansas City had four professional sports teams when the population base was much smaller than it is currently. The NHL Scouts left and later the Kings however in both instances attendance was a factor. Having a major league anything does no good if there is consistent failure to win games.

It was said at one time in St. Louis the arrival of the NHL Blues forced the NBA Hawks to move to Atlanta however I have my doubts. I believe die heart fans are just that, you love the Lakers but might attend a few Dodger games or vice versa. In this instance my view could be off base, but I fail to believe one can be loyal to all the teams in a particular city. How about New York with its multiplicity of teams, I’d bet money Knick fans or not rooting for the Nets. The same in Los Angeles, most likely Laker fans despise those who root for the Clippers. This account is one of those everyone’s view matters…what do you think?