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Basketball from a fans perspective

The trade went down

Russell Westbrook is headed to Utah, the Lakers will receive from the Wolves D’Angelo Russell, from the Jazz Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt. More on this in the Friday edition of Off the Dribble. It should be of note Russell was originally drafted by the Lakers in 2015 and is now 26-years old.

You must play the game(s)

If I’d told you 6 months ago Kansas basketball would have one more win than Mizzou, I’m sure you might have found the statement outrageous? Despite the manner the ball bounces that’s exactly our location. What does this imply for Mizzou Nation, we expect every time the Tigers hit the floor again…a win naturally. On Tuesday evening what I didn’t expect was an uphill fight all evening long as Carolina was able to sink three-point baskets which kept them in the game. The box score (Mizzou 83 South Carolina 74) details the ugly win for Mizzou.

The Tigers shot 51% from the floor and 48% from three however on the other end of the court saw Carolina shot 52% from the floor and 36% from three. Mizzou managed to match Carolina in rebounds 28, key might have been timely scoring from four Tigers. Kobe Brown led the way with 19 points 8 rebounds and 6 assists, Sean East had 15 points and Nick Honor scored 14 D’Moi Hodge chipped in with 12 points. The ugly win becomes number 18 for Mizzou and moves them closer to 20 wins. The last time a Mizzou team was able to win that total would have been the 2017-18 season, the Tigers finished the season 20-13. In closing a point for WHB 810 Sports radio, KSU was also a winner beating TCU 82-61.

By the way 810 Sports guys we don’t award grades by hires. We don’t decide one guy is an A hire and the other a B grade when their win totals are only one game apart. I’m really curious, the criteria used by your station alone to determine Tang was the better hire, absolutely no one is every awarded a grade based on whatever scale utilized. Dennis Gates and Jerome Tang have both had outstanding seasons so far. Mizzou was predicted to finish 11 in the SEC while KSU was projected 12, both programs have exceeded expectations. Now it’s on, two difficult road games, Tennessee on Saturday followed by Auburn you’ve probably never heard of.

I know it’s just me

Much later you are going to read my critique of Kansas City Sports Talk radio. I believe on a scale of 1-10 it’s only a 5 unless the discussion centers on the Chiefs. That’s the basis of my Wednesday morning rant, I didn’t set the bar too high for this one. This is no NBA town, so I certainly didn’t expect to hear what I heard at 6:00 a.m. this morning. I’m going to paraphrase the words of a local host because I didn’t record them. He reported LeBron breaking Kareem’s scoring record in a hum-ho manner. The conclusion by this host, “Basketball’s a team sport so a point total record by an individual is not that significant” or something similar.

This would be my response to that statement, did you feel the same way as Aaron Judge was chasing the Roger Maris home run record, once broken that was an individual record? What about locally, you praise the fact Patrick Mahomes threw for over 5,000 yards that too is an individual record. You then go on to close out the discussion by stating “The prospect of the Super Bowl pre-occupied your thoughts.” An NBA scoring record that’s been in place 39 years and you offer a less than enthusiastic observation. Me ceasing to listen to your station offers little in the manner of impacting your ratings however that is the path I have chosen for the immediate future.

Black History Moment

Earl Lloyd passed away in 2015 at the age of 86, most even some in the NBA don’t know his story. After playing high school basketball at Parker-Gray in Alexandria Virginia, he would move on to compete at West Virginia State University an HBCU school. Lloyd was drafted into the NBA in 1950, three years after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball. Lloyd was one of three black players drafted that year but was the first to play in the NBA. Game scheduling sent Lloyd into his first game one day ahead of Chuck Cooper of the Celtics and four days prior to Nate “Sweetwater” Clifton drafted by the Knicks. Lloyd would play only 7 games for the Washington Capitals before the team folded. The nation engaged in the Korean War at the time and Lloyd was drafted into the Army. He would return to the NBA in 1952 after experiencing combat during the conflict.

He suffered racial bigotry and ill treatment, but it was nowhere near what Robinson experienced in baseball. Lloyd indicates much of the public was accustomed to seeing black and white players on the same team in many colleges. This portion from Wikipedia. “Regarding the racism black players faced in the early years of the NBA, Lloyd recalled being refused service multiple times and an incident where a fan in Indiana spit on him. However, Lloyd persevered and said that these instances only pushed him and made him play hard. Saying he didn’t encounter racial animosity from teammates or opposing players, Lloyd said of fans’ antics, My philosophy was: If there weren’t calling you names, you weren’t doing nothing. If they’re calling you names, you were hurting them.” If you check his career scoring and rebound numbers, they appear average and they were, Lloyd was a defensive specialist during his career. It should also be noted he; Clifton and Cooper have all been enshrined in the Naismith Hall of Fame. 

He was Colin Kaepernick before Kaepernick    

Some stories require them to be told as precisely as possible. Leaving out any portion of the story might lead one to come to a different conclusion, the story is too demanding to communicate in a shorten version. That’s what I have here, the story of Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf born as Chris Jackson. It’s claimed while at LSU he was the best basketball player on an LSU team that contained Stanley Roberts (7 foot 285) and Shaquille O’Neal (7 foot 1 250). Shaq says without pause Abdul-Rauf was the best basketball player on that LSU team.

Others make the claim Rauf was “Steph Curry before Steph” which provides you an idea of his shooting ability and basketball skill. Raul also accomplished this while suffering from Tourette Syndrome a condition of the nervous system. From Wikipedia, “TS causes people to have “tics.” Tics are sudden twitches, movements, or sounds that people do repeatedly. People who have tics cannot stop their body for doing these things. For example, a person might keep blinking over and over.” Check the listings for the Showtime documentary Stand which provides additional detail on one of the best basketball players you’ve probably never heard of.