Published Monday thru Friday    

Basketball from a fans perspective

“Don’t poke the bear”    

I attempt to look at competition whatever the sport as just that. Naturally the desire is for my team to win, despite that might not occur all the time I’m still okay. There are few teams especially in the NBA I can claim a dislike…the Grizzlies have become that team. Why you might ask, well it’s the media thing for me. As this is written in this series the Lakers have won 3 games and the Grizzlies 2. The Grizzlies, especially Dillon Brooks did a great deal of talk prior to the series, Ja Morant later joined him. Now we hear from the Grizzlies Desmon Banes, by the way this is written before Game 6 on Friday. Banes has said the series is going back to Memphis for a Game 7, that might indeed be the case I’d like to say the Lakers close it out but I don’t know.

The issue why these Grizzlies have become so unlikable to me is TALK, they seem to have no problem talking to the media when they win a game. In this series at least it appears whenever they lose the media must place an all-points bulletin for them, they cannot locate any of them willing to discuss the loss. Defenders will claim it’s their youth which has impacted them, I can agree with that statement to a point. The Grizzlies are the youngest or second in average age team in the NBA. I am anxious to discover who talks to the media on Saturday morning. As for the game with 3 or 4 minutes remaining in the second quarter the outcome was clear, the only question was the point differential.     

The final Lakers 125 Grizzlies 85; can we refer to it as a beat down? It was a team effort as the Lakers held the Grizzlies to 30.2% shooting while blocking 15 of their shots and intimidating countless others. AD took a low number of shots (9) but scored 16 points and pulled down 14 rebounds and blocked 5 shots.  D’Lo broke out of his shooting slump leading the way with 31 points on 12-17 shooting. Dillon Brooks evidently can “talk the talk but fails to walk the walk”, he scored but 11 points on 4-7 shooting. The 11 points represent his max total in the 6-game series against the Lakers. Brooks forgot about the 3 B’s, there is always someone Bigger, Bolder & Better than you. This was the first game Jack Nicholson attended in over a year, hopefully he is available for more Laker victories through this playoff season. LeBron left the court with 14 seconds remaining and will likely be criticized for not shaking hands with Grizzlies players.

Will there be others?

I’m not sure when the story first broke, however Bally Sports filed bankruptcy late last season. With the multitude of sports how is this business downturn going to affect telecasting going forward? In Kansas City there was some concern about the baseball Royals. Bally Sports Midwest has a contract with the Kansas City Royals and so far, games are still being telecast. As for the NBA it appears change is in the air at the conclusion of the regular season for the Suns and Mercury. The new ownership group for the Suns/Mercury has struck a deal beginning next season which just might change the NBA landscape.

The Bally contract has expired and will not be renewed according to reports. I’m guessing they still intend to operate despite the bankruptcy. Next season Suns and Mercury games will be available on local broadcast stations and a new streaming service. The report indicates ownership believes they will lose millions of dollars on this change, however there is an upside to the new venture. There were about 800,000 viewers under the Bally contract, this change will see the number of potential viewers expand to 2.8 million. This move is certainly earth shattering however it appears Suns/Mercury ownership is willing to take a bold step forward, with Bally’s issues is the landscape changing once again?

Mizzou’s backcourt

I reported recently Mizzou added Caleb Grill from Iowa State to an already crowded backcourt. Also arriving in the off-season due to transfer is guard Tamar Bates from Indiana along with John Tonje inward bound from Colorado State.  Curt Lewis, John A. Logan College and freshman Anthony Robinson are included in the count along with preferred walk on JV Brown. Five Mizzou players have expired eligibility but this next part is an unknown.  Sean East and Nick Honor using their covid exception return to Mizzou’s backcourt. The two guards saw plenty of action for Mizzou last season. Even with the question marks Mizzou’s backcourt could be the teams strongest position.

We should see how this development plays out over the course of the summer. I have no confirmation of my next statement; I believe with these moves Isiah Mosley probably is looking elsewhere. This sharpshooter from Missouri State was expected to provide firepower to Mizzou’s backcourt, unfortunately he was rarely on the court. Why was he absent is the great mystery here? NOTE: Prior to publishing this story Mizzou announced guard Kaleb Brown was entering the transfer portal. The younger brother of Kobe didn’t receive a great deal of playing time so it’s not exactly surprising. On second thought the backcourt for the upcoming season might not be as crowded as I first believed.

Walk a mile in my shoes

Sometimes it takes but a few words to get your point across. There is no requirement for a great number of words, just a minimal number will accomplish the task at hand. As an example recently ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith made this statement on First Take “Kawhi Leonard should retire.” Smith came to this conclusion based on Kawhi Leonard’s history of injuries. Former NBA player turned analyst JJ Redick had an interesting yet insightful response to the Smith statement. 

“It’s very obvious you (Smith) have played zero high-level basketball.” It’s okay for anybody including Smith to have an opinion however sometimes if you haven’t been there, you have no clue what “it” involves. You can view the game; you can study it but until you play it at the level of Kawhi Leonard what do you really know? There were defenders of Smith regarding his statement so everyone is not on my side and that’s okay.