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I might feel a little different tomorrow…today not so much. I believe it is time for the Lakers to blow this thing up. Trade Anthony Davis for what they are able to acquire, allow LeBron James to pick where he wants to conclude his career. Why am I so upset, the trade deadline moves had me believing the Lakers were ready to compete for a playoff berth. Then it occurred, after a few games with the “new” Lakers LeBron goes down with an injury. What we hoped might be a few games will now turn into weeks.

LeBron will not even be evaluated until the middle of March…unbelievable. Okay I thought maybe AD and the group could hold on until LeBron is able to return and then it occurs again. The right foot stress injury that sidelined him earlier in the season became an issue again. He would miss the Wednesday game against the Thunder, at this point there is no indication who much time AD will miss. I’m sure it’s me along however I am ready to move on from the LeBron-AD duo. Neither can seem to remain on the court for an extended period of time.

Here I go again

Marquette is in first place in the Big East, they are headed for the NCAA Tournament although we are not yet at selection Sunday. Shaka Smart is 45 years old now not the fresh-faced coach who took over at Virginia Commonwealth in 2009. It was VCU we set up and took notice of this young (he’s still young) basketball coach. In the 6 years he was head coach the program never won fewer than 26 games. VCU was in the NCAA annually and then Texas came a calling. The University of Texas wanted Smart, and he wanted them, I remember my statement at the time as if it was yesterday. Based on his VCU accomplishments I said, “There is no requirement for him to leave Texas, with all the talent in that state he could fill the roster with no problem.”

Smart’s success at Texas was not so great, with VCU it was the tournament every season. Texas would be far different; his team’s only reached the tournament 3 out of the 6 years he was there, it should be noted in 2019 his Texas team was NIT Champions. Although Smart had a winning record at Texas it wasn’t close to his days at VCU. Smart had two years remaining on his contract when he decided to leave in March 2021. Later in the month Marquette would hire Smart to replace Steve Wojciechowski. His first season at Marquette the team earned an NCAA invite, year two has witnessed Marquette rising to the top of the Big East. I have no explanation for the apparent success at two mid majors (VCU & Marquette) and only a tepid record at Texas. All I can say Shaka Smart remains in the number of young upward bound coaches.

The asterisk

In 1961 Yankee Roger Maris hit 61 home runs breaking the established record of 60 Babe Ruth set in 1927 but wait there was an issue. Ford Frick who was then baseball commissioner was personally acquainted with Ruth from the period he covered sports. Frick suggested since Maris set the record in an expanded number of games over Ruth an asterisk should be placed beside the mark. I have always believed records were meant to be broken but I had problems in two instances. Russell Westbrook exceeding the triple-double mark of Oscar Robertson or LeBron James passing Kareem Abdul Jabbar in point total. In both instances I eventually said okay the record is broken except in this pending attempt. Allow me to set the stage, Pistol Pete Maravich holds the NCAA record for most points in his career.

Two keys, back then players were only eligible to play three seasons. In addition there was no three-point line although Maravich certainly could shoot from distance. Detroit Mercy guard Antoine Davis is scoring at a 28 point per game clip this season. Davis is a graduate student in year 5, he was granted an extra year due to covid. Maravich scored 3,667 points in three seasons; Davis is at 3,064 points beneficiary of four seasons played plus a three-point line. You could look at it in this manner, Maravich set the record in 83 games, Davis has played 143 games as this is written. I would refer to myself as the “Ford Frick” of 2023, when Davis exceeds the Maravich record an asterisk should be placed beside it based on the issues I’ve raised. If you don’t agree with my take that’s okay, whatever occurs going forward there will be multiple groups upset with the decision.

Bits n Pieces 

For those of you trashing the Lakers for trading Russell Westbrook feast on this bit of information. I took a look at individual turnover numbers for the 2022-23 NBA season. Our Top 10 leader is Hawks guard Trae Young, in minutes played its Wolves guard Anthony Edwards at 36.4 minutes a game. Nine players on the list participated in more than 30 minutes a game except one…Russell Westbrook. Westbrook was in action 28.8 minutes a game in his reserve role with the Lakers. As for the number as this is written its 197 turnovers so far this season. Westbrook sits 6 places behind Jordan Poole who’s playing starter minutes this season.

Gary Parrish of CBS Sports indicated he’d placed Mizzou number 26 in his Top 25 plus one. More and more I’m not seeing the value of these polls. I guess it looks good for students, administration, alumni plus fans of any school’s program. Outside of those folks polls provide little in the way of useful information. Kenpom, Quad wins along with analytics and other tools maybe provide far more valuable facts than a popularity poll. It’s now March 1 and teams are anticipating that invite to the NCAA Tournament. Many are awaiting selection Sunday for the announcement.

This story is far too complicated for me to do it adequate justice. I have decided to provide a few bits of information and you can research further if you desire. As most are aware Madison Square Garden is the oldest NBA/NHL arena in use currently. This fourth arena with the same name opened its doors in 1968, since that date it’s been renovated twice the last occurring in 2013. Why are we here, the lease arrangement expires in July 2023 so that’s where we begin. It appears the governor’s office wants the land the arena currently occupies. What occurs in the future is an unknown at this point, I don’t know this to be a fact just speculation. I would imagine real estate cost in Manhattan are quite expensive. This is interesting, the first MSG opened in 1879 was named after James Madison the fourth president of United States.

Mizzou signed 6-foot 4 shooting guard JV Brown from Rolling Hills Prep in Los Angeles. Brown will join the Tigers in August as a preferred walk on. Brown becomes the second walk on arriving in the fall class. If you are unsure the meaning of a “walk on” I located detail, and it follows. “Being a preferred walk-on is the highest status a recruit can get outside of receiving an athletic scholarship. No athletic aid is offered, but preferred walk-ons will go into college with a roster spot secured, receive a uniform an have a strong chance of competing for playing time their first year.” Brown becomes the number five recruit in the Class of 2023.