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Basketball from a fans perspective

A winner

Mizzou was back on the winning track with a road victory 89-77 over the Ole Miss Rebels. Shooting was outstanding for the Tigers. Although he wasn’t the game’s high scorer Isiaih Mosely with 53% shooting from the floor scored 20 points and dished out 5 assists. D’Moi Hodge emerged from his shooting slump to lead the team in scoring with 24 points, Kobe Brown added 18 points for the winners. Big Man Mohamed Diarra came off the bench scoring 11 points along with 6 rebounds. Mizzou shot a sizzling 55.4% from the floor and 53.3% from 3. Mizzou is now .500 in the SEC with a 4-4 record and 15-5 overall, more on the game in the Thursday edition.

The last time

As the game clock ticked downward it appeared Kansas was about to lose its third game in a row. The Jayhawks have tasted such success it’s difficult to imagine any Bill Self coached team losing a game at all. I wondered about the loss this past Saturday, Monday’s game would be played on the road and the question could they beat a competitive Baylor team. The final score read Baylor 75 Kansas 69 and the Jayhawks went down to defeat for the third time in a little over six days.

I thought for a moment, has any Kansas team lost that many games in a row? I had to check the archives because in truth I had no idea of Kansas suffering three losses in a row. It was the 2012-13 season and Kansas in succession lost to Oklahoma State, TCU and Oklahoma. Just in case you might be curious how the season turned out. Kansas finished with a 14-4 Big XII record and 31-6 overall. That Kansas team was defeated in the Sweet 16 by Michigan, you see a losing streak does not always equate to a poor season.

A change at the top

First the controversy and then the report, Magic Johnson has gone on record pronouncing Victor Wembanyama “The best basketball player in the world.” Naturally a quote like that even from Magic Johnson solicited a great number of negative comments by fans. My intent is to not detail any of the letters just say they occurred. The real news at least for me is the fact nbadraft.net’s made a change at the top for January 20. Wembanyama has moved into second place on their mock draft, Scoot Henderson’s supplanted him in their eyes and is now listed in first place.

This is certainly no intent on my part to state the draft will turn out in this manner, this is only a mock at that. The coin flip is the ultimate determinator of where a team might draft. Of course with the manner it’s conducted the teams at the bottom are more likely to have the opportunity at the top pick. At the time this is written that would be the January thought, but it does make for a question. If the season currently ended the Rockets, Hornets, Pistons and Spurs would appear to be the leading contenders for the number one and two draft picks. Don’t believe the draft to be final, how many times has the draft rights been traded to another team.

Who is this guy

On Monday came word the Lakers made a trade with the Wizards. Headed west to the Lakers is Rui Hachimura a 6-foot 8 230-pound wing, Kendrick Nunn is on his way east to the Wizards along with three second round draft choices. Laker Nation might be asking what do we know about this guy? He played his college basketball for Mark Few at Gonzaga, he was made the 9 pick in the 2019 NBA draft. Prior to Gonzaga Hachimura was born in Toyama City a five-hour drive west of the Tokyo capital. His mother is Japanese, and his father is from Benin a nation on the African continent. At the time Hachimura was selected he became only the second native born Japanese player drafted into the NBA.

Hachimura’s career scoring average mostly as a reserve is 13 points along with 5 rebounds a game, his 3-point shooting has risen over his three plus years in the NBA. Last season in 42 games he shot nearly 45% from three. Hachimura will turn 25 years old in February, the Lakers are continuing to look at youngsters rather than acquiring grizzly veteran players. This I believe is a good move in a number of ways, at the top of the chart the Lakers are guard heavy, trading Kendrick Nunn frees space in the backcourt. I believe acquiring a youthful wing player should relieve LeBron to a degree. Please note I’m not saying Hachimura is replacing LeBron. There might be an argument the Lakers might have given up too much to acquire Hachimura with the three second round draft picks. I’m okay with the move believing he can play immediately over yet to be drafted talent.

“Just Win, Baby”

The late owner of the NFL Raiders made that headline famous for his team. It certainly makes sense on several levels, winning (no matter the sport) is encouraging for fans to attend games. As proof I offer the revitalized basketball program evident at Mizzou. I’m not sure of the network, a short video was shown of Kobe Brown in action during a game last season. Mizzou Arena looked so empty I believe you could have tossed a rock into the stands, and it might not have hit anyone, that’s just how vacant the arena looked.

Contrast that with Mizzou Arena in January 2023, the last five games played has seen the building rocking. Four of those games were sellouts and the other was listed as 96% capacity (14,448). Mizzou’s not in first place in the SEC, as this is written they reside at 9 in the conference race. The difference between last year and this, Mizzou is competing this season even in the games they lost. Someone reading this might conclude I’m stating the previous Mizzou team failed to contend…not true. I will continue at least for the time being maintain Dennis Gates has made a world of difference between last season and this.