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Basketball from a fans perspective

Sometimes you must take the bad when you’d prefer the good

The A&M game is not over yet as I’m writing this, I’m already reading complaints about Mizzou’s poor performance. After the blowout loss to Auburn all Mizzou Nation could hope for would be improved play at home. That would not be the case Saturday afternoon and evening as A&M got off to a fast start, Mizzou was playing “uphill” all game long.  The final score read A&M 69 Mizzou 60, they actually outscored A&M in the second half but it would be too little too late.

The game contained an interesting stat line, A&M committed 21 TO’s to Mizzou’s 12. The real culprit was the poor shooting, Mizzou usually good from the floor shot but 39%, that measure of shooting is not going to win very many games. This is for Nick Negative; he was applauding Mizzou until recently and now is at the top of the list of complainers. Mizzou is now .500 in the SEC however their total will eclipse last season’s numbers that I feel comfortable stating. While Nick is complaining I have a suggestion, look at Mizzou’s win-loss total this season versus 2021-22.

Quick before it changes

The headline is clearly an attempt at humor by me, the Laker roster is set after the flurry of trades before the trading deadline. It seemed every few hours up till the February 9 deadline the Lakers were pulling one trade after another after another. The departures have been noted, just in case you missed the arrivals their names and other information follows:

D’Angelo Russell PG

Malik Beasley SG

Jarred Vanderbilt SF

Rui Hachimura PF/SF

Davon Reed SG

Mo Bamba C

2025 Nuggets second round pick

2026 Nuggets second round pick

2029 Nuggets second round pick 

The Lakers have acquired 1 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 new teammates for the stretch run of 20+ games. NBA teams are able to establish a continuity with training camp what about this collection? Will coach Ham be able to achieve a mini-training camp over the balance of the season? All I can say is good luck with that, there are bunches of moving parts with these February additions to the roster. Finally it’s my contention we fail to see the Big Picture, example Russell Westbrook. His numbers certainly looked improved, but he might not have been the help needed. There are others who contend LeBron James “forced” the Lakers to acquire Westbrook, that might be true, but I believe even James could see after a time this move was not going to work as smoothly as might be expected. 

Is a court fight looming

The question is asked based on the recent dismissal of charges against Chris Beard.  Background, the University of Texas fired Beard in January based on a criminal charge of battery against his fiancée in December. I conducted some quick research, and this is what I uncovered. From the Austin American Statesman, “Beard’s contract contained a standard clause among agreements with UT-Austin that allow the university to suspend or fire him with cause for any behavior that is ‘unbecoming’ or leads to a criminal charge ‘involving a felony, or any crime involving theft, dishonesty, or moral turpitude,’

Since Beard was fired for cause, the university does not need to pay out the remainder of his contract, according to UT-Austin senior communications manager Brian Davis. Beard was in his second season of a seven-year contract with Texas that paid around $5 million annually, as well as additional perks. He was one of the university’s highest-paid employees.”

This is the legal dilemma, the charge against Beard were dismissed by the court last week. According to the court the dismissed indictment was based on the recanted testimony of the fiancée. So what occurs now might be the next question? What transpires should Beard decide to sue the university, after all the charges were dismissed by the court? Can you say, “slippery slope”, that’s what this case amounts too in my view. Despite being fired I cannot imagine Beard walking away with no financial restitution coming his way because of not being criminally charged.

Bits n Pieces

At least one former Laker is pleased with the team acquiring D’Angelo Russell. Shaq spoke in positive tones about the combo guard, don’t think it’s just him being nice. In the past he’s been critical of several Laker moves. This from Shaq, “His shot is a little prettier than the other guy, no disrespect.” Without naming him we know the other guy Shaq was referring to was Russell Westbrook traded to the Jazz at the deadline. “He will be smarter with his decisions and a lot smarter with the ball.” Just because Shaq said it in a positive tone fails to consider it might not work. It’s my contention it will work IF DLo and LeBron can manage to co-exist.

To clarify a portion of what I wrote yesterday. I have no issues with the NFL Chiefs, 2 Super Bowl wins in the last 4 years allows them to dominate sports in this town be it print, radio and television. I’m okay with that, I love my Chiefs but at the same time I’m a basketball guy. I believe many of us have the capability of following both sports equally for this reason alone. The Chiefs only play once a week, my focus is on that single game. As for basketball I could have games of interest Monday through Sunday although that rarely occurs. The point I’m attempting to make I’ve got basketball to fill in the gaps when the Chiefs are not playing.

I offer you proof how ole skool I am, I quit watching the All-Star Game at the time the East-West contest was eliminated. I continue to watch the events…slam dunk, 3-point shootout and others. I don’t know if this will be a match but let’s say it’s no enjoyable for me to see LeBron James and Julius Randle on the same team. These two and others should be on competing teams, they shouldn’t be teammates. In closing that’s okay if you don’t agree with me, you are certainly entitled to your view.