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Basketball from a fans perspective

A reflection of the coach

Mizzou was on the road against number 6 Tennessee, what did I expect…a win naturally. Just kidding, I was prepared to write this down as a loss. Mizzou would inbound the ball with seconds remaining in the game, the ball was passed to DeAndre “Ice” Gholston, and he takes the shot, I was prepared for it to be a miss, Tennessee 85 Mizzou 83 would be the final. Great effort Tigers you came up just a little short, boy did I miss this one, Gholston’s ball barely move the twine as time expired…final score Mizzou 86 Tennessee 85. I’ve seen enough of Dennis Gates to clearly see this team is a reflection of him in this manner.

His demeanor during games never changes, he doesn’t pound tables jump up and down in fact he’s rather stoic. I believe that calm manner translates to his team. They are a reflection of Gates, he’s confident and that confidence rolls down to his team. I hope Todd Lebo of 810 WHB seeing the score will come to the realization sometimes you lose road games you should have won and Saturday night the opposite occurred. The Tigers won a road game in all likelihood they would have lost last season. Just a sidebar, that’s the second game winner for Gholston at the buzzer. He sank a three-point basket at the buzzer in December against UCF.   

Bits n Pieces 

There are reports circulating Paul George and Marcus Morris have reached out to Russell Westbrook to join the Clippers should he secure a release from the Jazz. Part of this is understandable, George and Westbrook were teammates as members of the Thunder. There is a question on my part to be determined, what constitutes tampering? We have witnessed in the past NBA teams being fined for “tampering” i.e. contacting players not on their roster. I don’t have the answer, does tampering only apply to teams and not players? Allow me to clear up your concern, I have no issue with whatever team Westbrook might decide on.   

Everything should be in place now; I borrowed the headline from a friend because I thought it best fit CP3. Everything is in place now for the Suns to win it all, they have DeAndre Ayton at center, Devin Booker at shooting guard and Kevin Durant at power forward, this trio along with perennial All-Pro Chris Paul have it all. Shooting, defense and quality reserves…wait a moment can they win with the reserves on hand? The Suns have a collection of veteran players in reserve roles I wonder if they scare anyone or capable of stepping up. Before you begin tossing rocks in my direction check the Suns roster besides the starter’s mentioned. Coach Monty Williams has a masterful task in front of him blending Durant and others with the collection of reserve players remaining.

Discussing buyouts this is going to be shocking to those of you reading this. Should Patrick Beverley become available I’d have no problem if the Lakers chose to pick him up. Why now versus previously you ask, I’ll be happy to explain. I didn’t like the idea (still don’t) of Beverley in the role of a starter, his defense for the most part is above average. As the first reserve off the bench I would imagine him in the role of shutting down (or limiting) that hot shooting opposition guard. Maybe it won’t work, perhaps the Lakers might be looking at someone else to fill that last roster spot. As for me that spot should be filled by Beverley.

This caution about the manner of a fellow player coming from Draymond Green of all people. Looking at the moves made by the Lakers Green was optimistic however this one left me wondering what was he trying to say? ‘I think the thing that I will watch in this trade is DLo’s fit next to LeBron James. That’s going to be a big thing because DLo plays at a certain pace. And so just to see that fit and how that’s all going to come here I think that’s important to how this trade will be judged.’ “You have to note that Green played alongside Russell for a bit during the latter’s brief stint with the Warriors, so you know that Draymond has some insider knowledge here. He is also well aware of LeBron operates, so one could argue that he’s somewhat of an authority on this subject.” * Is he saying the two teammates will butt heads or something else?

*Clutchpoints.com