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Basketball from a fans perspective

Now I understand

The thing I figured is the thing is not actually the thing! All season long KC Sports talk radio has been singing the praises of Jerome Tang at K-State. 610 and 810 A.M. Sports Radio has dish out complimentary statements about Mizzou’s Dennis Gates but nowhere near the amount Tang’s received. At first, I thought we had several things working causing the imbalance. KC is Big XII country I thought, we are 40 some miles from Lawrence Kansas home of the Kansas Jayhawks that must be it. Well maybe it’s the fact Mizzou plays in that conference the state has no significant geographical connection except maybe Arkansas. Yesterday the light bulb (my brain) finally figured it out or at least I believe this to be correct.    

The radio station played tape of a post-game interview with Tang, as it finished, they were laughing and discussing how entertaining Tang was. Next up they played a recording of a Bruce Pearl interview conducted after a recent Auburn game, both agreed Pearl’s character was entertaining to the all the student body as well. After listening to their back and forth banter I figured “I’ve got it, I finally understand.” Gates interviews are good, but he fails to create entertaining sound bites, that’s what these radio guys love. I’ve watched and listened to a number of Gates interviews, he’s informative and friendly but that’s all. Now I don’t want you to get ahead of me, I’m certainly not comparing Gates to Coach K. by any stretch of the imagination but I’d like to pose a question. Do you remember any interviews with the former Duke coach? They were certainly factual but not entertaining at least from my perspective. Coach K. certainly didn’t create great sound bites.  

It’s still a team game

The Warriors stormed back from an 11-point half-time deficit to the Clippers. The final score read Warriors 115 Clippers 91 and not only do the Clippers have a problem so do I. Have you heard them, much of the media continuing to pump up Clipper basketball. They persist in discussing how much talent is on the roster, I cannot successfully argue talent I can argue wins and losses. I believe Russell Westbrook fans trusted adding him to the roster meant a deep playoff run, that outlook is possible however there is an issue.

So far adding Westbrook has proven nothing except a 4-game losing streak, don’t misunderstand he alone is not responsible for the losses. Elements in the media are clearly trying to paint this a Westbrook problem which is not true. The Thursday night loss leaves the Clippers with a 33-32 record, in their last 10 games they are 4-6 which proves Westbrook is not the sole problem. Tyronn Lue certainly knows how to coach basketball; he’s proven it in the past as a championship winner. Unless this team gets their act together owner Steve Ballmer should demand a refund, Kawhi Leonard and company owe if they cannot get their act together.

I remain confused

Kansas City is 313 air miles from Oklahoma City, about 47 minutes travel time wheels up, wheels down. It’s 557 air miles to Denver an hour and 55-minute flight. The NBA claims both cities games are blacked out in Kansas City but only “some.” If either team is telecast on NBA TV the game is not available here but if either team is on the ESPN, ABC or TNT Networks the blackout rules don’t apply. This blackout rule is difficult to comprehend for me.  

I think it might be advisable

We read Victor Wenbanyama is now officially 7 foot 5 inches in shoes. He doesn’t want to play center in the NBA which is probably okay for whichever team drafts him. For every NBA player be they former or present who sings the praises of this prospect. We have 6-7 guys none whoever played the game at the NBA level have focused on negatives they perceive. You’ve heard them for the past few weeks and months. You will hear them in June and here after. They say, “He needs to gain weight”, this from his agent. “It wouldn’t be a good idea for his feet if he gained too much weight.” Okay that makes sense to me, how about this one, “They will break him apart once he begins play in the NBA.”

There is no doubt the NBA is undoubtedly more physical than the Euroleague Wenbanyama plays in at present. Let’s just say it might be an advantage for Wenbanyama now versus the NBA of 10-15 years ago. “Look what happened to Chet Holmgren, injured he’s sitting out the year.” We do this because it’s what appears to be the right thing, compare player A to player B. Wenbanyama’s body thin as he might be totally different than Holmgren’s. Please, please stop using this as your evidence. Finally I’ve yet to read a single present or past NBA player claim Wenbanyama’s ceiling is stratospheric. Maybe the guy can’t play at the NBA level but at least give him an opportunity. I have a tendency to believe those who claim, “He’s the best NBA prospect since LeBron James.” Don’t you generally agree with someone who’s been there, I know I do?

The ball bounces in the same manner

For yet unexplained reasons many believe the ball bounces differently in Allen Fieldhouse over CFSB Arena home of the Murray State Racers. In all honesty that was a play on words, somehow, we tend to believe Division I play is well above that of Mid-Major schools. That is far from the truth, and I will offer evidence proving that belief wrong. There are probably numerous examples, but Mizzou is close by so let’s check out their roster. Key contributors to the success at Mizzou so far have been Tre Gomillion and D’Moi Hodge, Cleveland State transfers. How about Sean East II who might be further down having arrived from John A. Logan Community College.

Mohamed Diarra has played an increasing number of minutes in recent games. More recently Diarra been moved into the starting lineup, he arrived on campus from Garden City Community College, also named are Noah Carter Northern Iowa and DeAndre Gholston University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. There are other roster members, but the names mentioned are the standouts, they have been key to Mizzou victories. Each of the players have been key to much of the success Mizzou’s experienced this season. All of them transferred from what one might consider Mid-Major schools, in the case of East it was a community college. What does all this prove you ask; this is what it shows. Talent plus a willingness to work on one’s game or more important than what level of competition you might have competed against in the recent past.