Published Daily  

Basketball from a fans perspective

Get it right

What has 6 eyes, 6 legs and 3 brains, give up? That would be the three officials working the Lakers-Celtics game on Saturday night. LeBron James driving for the basket, he penetrates and is about to lay the ball up and Jayson Tatum hits him on the forearm. Don’t get this twisted the hand is part of the ball, the forearm is a different matter. No foul called and I don’t remember what occurred thereafter. I can inform you of this the Lakers lost in OT 125-121.

I believe this to be the case, I rarely complain about officiating believing they make mistakes. The problem for me the NBA issues a communication on Sunday indicating “Game officials missed the call.” I say to you what good does it do at that point, it’s a win for the Celtics and a loss for the Lakers. Who knows, LeBron might have gone to the line and bricked both free throws and they lose anyway. I would have preferred that ending versus the one I saw. A friend of mine responded in this manner, “That’s what happens when you cry wolf for every call.” His point is valid, how many times have we seen NBA players yell and scream about legitimate fouls that are called?

They have assurance

Mizzou will lose a game or two before the conference race ends, don’t bother with informing them they wouldn’t believe you. The Tigers are underdogs almost every time they walk out on the court. They are outrebounded due to their lack of height; they are rarely out hustled. Mizzou Nation had no idea what to expect on Saturday as the Tigers faced Iowa State the number 12 team in the nation. Mizzou finished the Cyclones off 78-61 but what about the nuts and bolts of the game? Mizzou outshot the Cyclones from the floor 49% to 44%, from three it was a sizzling 46.7% to 40% for the Cyclones. Mizzou lost the rebound battle, 38 to 25 which certainly was not a surprise.

Kobe Brown led the scoring for Mizzou with 20 points and pulling down 12 rebounds, he was assisted in scoring by D’Moi Hodge (17 pts) and Nick Honor (12 pts). What’s the story on Mizzou basketball, we have a basketball team comprised of transfers from several mid-major programs, one junior college player and freshman Aidan Shaw. I’m going to close this out by once again praising the effort of Dennis Gates and staff. There should be no argument from any quarters, three blow out wins over Top 25 teams. The head coach and staff have managed to assemble a cohesive team that’s blended into a winner. I certainly hope Mizzou finishes this season on a high note however I cannot help but become excited for the 2023-24 season.

Load Management

This term has come into common usage related to the NBA. It’s the practice of teams deciding to rest players during the course of the season. In the past players were sidelined due to illness or injury they never skipped games for rest. The NBA season is long, if a team plays deep into the playoffs, they could play over 100 games. I’m counting exhibitions, 82 games of the regular season and the possibility of 20-30 playoff games. Although there’s been an effort to limit back-to-back games, they are part of the equation too.

If we toss in the travel, it’s easy to see how players could become worn down doing especially during the regular season. In the playoffs scheduled games are not as compacted as the regular season. Everything mentioned up to this point is from a players perspective. What about the view of a fan, NBA tickets are expensive. The fan plops down $75.00-$90.00 for a ticket and another $25.00 for parking, if we figure in concessions another $25.00. Joe Smith drives to Ball Arena in Denver, he’s a fan of the Nuggets but wants to see LeBron o Steph play. Shortly before tipoff he discovers the star he expect to see is not playing, the player is not ill or injured, he’s seated due to load management. 

Corporate names

Practically every stadium and arena now has a corporate name in front. It’s not always been that way; Dr. Jerry Buss owner of the Lakers might have been the first to begin a trend which is now standard. In 1988 the arena then known as the Forum had a name change. Striking a monetary deal with the Great Western Savings & Loan Company the arena was re-named the Great Western Forum. With few exceptions since that date practically every new stadium and arena built has a corporate name attached to it.

In the NBA the most recent openings saw the Golden 1 Center 2016 in Sacramento, Little Caesars Arena 2017 in Detroit and Chase Center 2019 in San Francisco continue the trend. If you check the entire list of arenas, you will see a corporate name spread from one end of the nation to the other. In Los Angeles Staples Center has been re-born as Crypto.com Arena. The Clippers will soon have their own building, Intuit Dome which is under construction and will open in 2024.

Bits n Pieces

Tickets across the NBA can vary based on the city and who the home team might play. As an example a recent Knicks-Nets game tickets could be had for $85.00 each. On the other hand a ticket to the Lakers at Celtics will cost you $301.00 each. In Oklahoma City a Thunder ticket could also be purchased for as little as $25.00 apiece while Bulls at Magic tickets were available for $85.00 each. I just checked a few outlets and as you see pricing varies.

Jerseys are never the basis for a win, It’s the body inside the jersey that results in a win or loss. Despite my statement some jerseys have special meaning. With former old foe Iowa State from Mizzou’s Big 8 and Big 12 days we saw a revival of sorts. Mizzou decided in favor of throwback jerseys on the left from the 1990’s. Contrast that with the present-day jerseys.

                         

Has Tom Izzo ever left the State of Michigan? Of course he’s left the state however based on his resume that might not appear to be the case. He was born in Iron Mountain Michigan located in the upper peninsula of the state. After playing basketball for Northern Michigan (1973-1977) he began coaching the game at the high school level. His first head coaching position (1977-1979) was at Ihpeming HS in Ishpeming Michigan. From 1979-1983 Izzo returned to his alma mater Northern Michigan as an assistant. In 1983 he went to Michigan State where he first served as an assistant coach, in 1995 Izzo was elevated to head coach were he’s remained to date. His record going into this season at Michigan State 680 wins and 274 losses. Now look back on this article and see how all the moves of Izzo occurred in Michigan.

The NBA comes a calling, do you say yes or no to them? Allow an explanation, Kobe Brown and Isiaih Mosley of Mizzou have a “covid” exemption. All athletes who missed play due to covid were granted an extra season of eligibility. The play of Mizzou has seen the stock of Brown and Mosley rise in the eyes of the NBA. Is one or both guaranteed to be drafted, that would be an unknown? In all likelyhood they would be drafted in the second round but that might not be terrible depending on the team. On the other hand they do an “Austin Reaves”, inform teams to not draft them, they would decide on which team they wish to play.