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Basketball from a fans perspective

Friends

No, this is not a reference to the long running television series Friends. This is a description of a friendship between a coach and his former player. “He’s a very good friend. He will always be. So you feel for people who get caught up into a situation. But I’m not a judge and jury and our friendship will continue.” The words of Gregg Popovich Spurs coach describing his relationship with former player Ime Udoka.

Depending on the circumstances we often lose friends when a self-induced tragedy occurs in our life. In this instance I’m not saying you hold them up as heroes or heroines, but the circumstances must be doggone drastic to cut someone out of your life completely. I continue to believe Udoka deserves a second opportunity to coach in the NBA and it will come someday. The firestorm surrounding him will continue to exist because many of us have difficulty forgiving. We have no idea what lies in the back of their “closets” do we? 

I suppose I could be wrong

Currently the two mock draft sites I utilize have the Hornets projected to draft Victor Wembanyama. If they secure the top slot, there is no doubt he will be chosen by them it’s the number two spot under review. Recently I stated if the Hornets have the opportunity to draft Scoot Henderson, they might choose him with the prospect of a trade. After hearing from others I wonder if I could be off base, allow an explanation. LaMelo Ball might have some flaws in his game, but he is a good young point guard. He was named Rookie of the Year in 2021 despite his limited play at the pro level. Henderson appears to be an outstanding point guard in the G-League, he will be a lottery pick, likely number two. 

A portion of my earlier evaluation was reading about Norm Nixon and Magic Johnson, both excelled as point guards. Truth is the Lakers won that first championship with both in the backcourt. It was said “You need a single primary ball-handler to run a team”, that would be Magic thus Nixon was traded. What I might not have taken into consideration is changes in the game. We have combo guards now rather than pure point guards. We often discuss the lack of Big Man post play in today’s NBA we could look at the point guard also. Chris Paul is a dinosaur; he might be the last pure point guard in the league all the others for the most part are combo guards. If the opportunity presented itself could Scoot and LaMelo operate as backcourt partners? I don’t have an answer for the question but after a revisit on the subject I’m certainly not going to say it couldn’t work.

Give me a reason to spend my money

The Saturday Mizzou victory over Vanderbilt represented the third consecutive sellout game. Recently tickets for basketball have become a hot item. I haven’t seen any figures, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Mizzou’s exceeded last season’s attendance already. Of course I’m counting the non-conference portion of as well. I guess the question might be why the sellouts are shocking, Mizzou fans were just waiting for the opportunity to become enthralled with basketball again.

As for the cost I’m unsure of student ticket prices, although they are discounted no one wants to spend money without the reward of a win. As for those in the working class they remain in the same mindset too, they could find other areas to expend their disposable income. Mizzou Arena seats 15,000 for basketball so that gives you an idea how many have been in attendance the last three games. The next two Mizzou games are on the road so we must wait until the January 18 against Arkansas to determine if the home sellout streak continues. That’s all the student body and others are saying, “Give me a reason to spend my money.”

Not in the beginning

The American Basketball Association or ABA began play in 1967 the 11 teams considered themselves major league but that wasn’t true. Those who played in the league thought of themselves as professionals, and they were…they were paid. The only issue ABA play was no way close to that of the older established NBA. In 1976 by the time four teams moved into the NBA they might have been on equal terms except financially. The ABA teams which went out of business a number of players from those teams were placed in a dispersal draft and they came into the NBA too.

Did you notice I didn’t use the term “merger”, that’s what it was labeled however I beg to differ. How do you merge when only four of your teams move into the NBA? Try as they might ABA owners were money losers over the time the league operated. Teams moved it seemed routinely, players changed teams because of monetary issues, with no national television contract you can see the issue. At the end of operations many of its players were equal to or exceeded the talent of NBA players of the era. Of course with a smaller number of teams overall there were not as many. Unless you are a student of the game you will only recognize the names of Dr. J., Moses Malone, George Gervin and Artis Gilmore but there were other equally talented players.

Could an equivalent of the ABA come into existence today, it could although I seriously doubt it the landscape has changed significantly. In 1967 there was a smaller NBA and the Eastern League which operated similar to today’s G-League. I know there was no Australian Basketball League, Euro League play might have existed but would have been in it’s infancy. Today we have the G-League as mentioned earlier, Overtime Elite and maybe other leagues I might have overlooked. No, a revised ABA could not exist today in my view there is far too much competition for players in 2022.