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Basketball from a fans perspective

Gotta rebound the rock

I’m convinced, Mizzou is a better basketball team than most of us envisioned last March 22 when coach Gates was hired. If we checked the box score from the 85-82 victory over Vanderbilt yesterday the numbers are for the most part even. The only area that leaps off the page at us is rebounds; the Commodores outrebounded the Tigers 31-22. You are going to read in another installment about the short frontline of this Mizzou team. Kobe Brown the all-everything athlete stands 6 foot 8 and he’s the tallest player who plays major minutes. Ronnie DeGray III is 6 foot 6 and from there the Tigers become considerably smaller. Mizzou essentially plays four guards along with DeGray at forward.

More on that later, despite the rebound discrepancy other aspects of the game contributed to the win. In spite of foul trouble four players finished in double digit scoring with two of them coming off the bench. As for the rebound issue, there is height in 6 foot 10 Mohamed Diarra and 7 foot 2 Mabor Majak who never play. Diarra last played at the junior college level while Majak arrived from Cleveland State with coach Gates. In any event I’m going to leave the rebound issue in the hands of the coach and his staff. If I can see the deficiency sitting in my Man Cave, I know they can, let’s see how capable they are in making adjustments for the future. Speaking of the future the Tigers have been fully “exposed”, SEC foes are prepared to face Mizzou.

The Battle for Los Angeles

Laker and Clipper Nation were optimistic at the beginning of the season, both fan bases believed their favorite team would compete however the Clippers were projected to be the better team. In fact some in the media picked the Clippers as the possible 2023 NBA Champions. This is written January 7; the standings will have changed slightly however what has been seen thus far is not what both fan bases expected. The Lakers got off to a horrendous start but currently find themselves 3 games below .500 (18-21), the Clippers with a 21-20 record certainly don’t scream NBA champs.

Can we state with conviction both franchises have underwhelmed thus far? Injuries appear to be the chief cause of less than spectacular play for both teams. The Clippers Kawhi Leonard returning from no play last season has missed close to the same number of games of Laker Anthony Davis this season. Both players are key to any hoped-for future success of the Clippers and Lakers. What was expected to be a battle for the hearts and minds of Angelenos has turned into a small skirmish at best. Finally this bit of information I located online. I guess when you have a 38-year-old on your roster the assumption might be you have an old team, that is not the case. The average age of the Lakers roster is 27.6 including LeBron James, the Clippers are 28.6. I realize one year is not a big deal except in the minds of those who believe the Lakers are elderly. As for the oldest that would be the Bucks whose average age is 30.1.

We are yet to reach the middle of January, there remains plenty of time for both teams to improve their position in the standings. As for a possible championship we shall see what unfolds in the future for both Los Angeles teams. At this point it might be a longshot for either team to be considered a contender. The Clippers and Lakers have an ongoing history of key players missing in action due to injury and the 2022-23 season appears to be no different. Maybe there really is no battle for fans, until the Clippers are able to at least play for a championship they will remain the number two NBA team in these parts. It’s not like they haven’t had an opportunity it seems injuries, coaching and sometimes the roster has combined forcing the Clippers to come up short time after time after time. It’s difficult at this point to determine which team has the clearest path ahead beyond this season.

Scoring binge

Recently I went on record indicating how difficult it was to keep up the pace. The pace of reporting high scoring games by NBA players, in recent weeks we’ve seen an explosion in scoring. It’s not just individual players its teams as well, some of you might remember back to the day. We had 3-5 teams any season holding the opposition to under 100 points a game. The Bad Boy Pistons, the Jordan led Bulls and others I might have overlooked.

Those days are in the rear-view mirror of the NBA, it’s now score…then score and score some more. As this is written the NBA contains not a single team holding the opposition below the threshold mentioned. The Cavs are the best in the NBA, they hold opposing teams to 106.4 points per game. 7 teams in the Eastern Conference are scoring more points than they give up Celtics, Bucks, Nets, Cavs, Sixers, Knicks and Pacers…that’s it. In the Western Conference we have 5 the Nuggets, Grizzlies, Pelicans, Mavs and Kings. Is there an explanation for the prolific scoring binge, I’ve read nothing to date? I guess in today’s NBA the hope is to outscore your opposition no matter the total.

We don’t know

If we check the bio of Patrick Ewing, we’d discover it’s outstanding. His stellar basketball career beginning at Georgetown and in the NBA with the Knicks have seen him enshrined in the College and Naismith Hall of Fame. From Ewing’s retirement up to the present there have been mixed results on his career. For those who follow the NFL they are aware offensive coordinator Eric Bienemy has been mentioned as a potential head coach but is yet to be hired. This action has occurred over the past two years or so with no positives to speak of. Back to the NBA, Ewing after retirement served at several stops as an assistant coach. Every time a head coaching job opened just like Bienemy; he would interview but not hired.

Finally in April 2017 Georgetown where he distinguished himself on the basketball court would hire Ewing as head coach. The three-time All American was back where a portion of his outstanding career had begun. Ewing’s first Hoya team finished the season 15-15, since that point his Hoya teams have been less than spectacular. The high-water mark for Ewing thus far has been his second season at the helm, his team finished 19-14. So far this season’s Hoya team has 5 wins and 11 losses, 0-5 in the conference. After fighting so hard to gain a head coaching job maybe he might be among that number. The number who are great basketball players but only so-so as a coach. In year 6 there is a question just how long will the AD continue to remain in Ewing’s corner? The Hoyas have lost a record 25 conference games in a row.