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Basketball from a fans perspective

Maui relief

It’s hoped this will just be the beginning of sports teams aiding Maui to recover from the devastating fire. The “title wave” of funds will began rolling in just like the Hawaiian surf. 1. “The LA Clippers’ preseason opener against the Utah Jazz will be played at the University of Hawaii at Manoa on Oct. 8, with all proceeds from the game being donated to the Hawaii Community Foundation’s Maui Strong Fund to benefit wildfire relief in Lahaina, Hawaii.” Later in the month, October 29 Kansas will face Illinois in an exhibition game to be telecast on the Big 10 Network. The proceeds for this game will also be designated for the Maui Strong Fund. To my knowledge these are the first two sports benefits intended to aid Maui in its recovery from the devastating fire that swept the island and more specifically Lahaina. 

1. ESPN.com NBA page Sept 24, 2023

Norm Nixon

After apologizing to Jeff Pearlman for my mistake I’m back on his case again. This time I am echoing the words of former Laker guard Norm Nixon. Nixon indicates his portrayal in the HBO series Winning Time is only partially correct. Nixon claims he did indeed have a problem with Magic Johnson but certainly not in the manner depicted in the series. Once again we have another former Laker of the era claiming this production was untrue. As I attempted to point out it is clear some of the dialogue occurring must be scripted but the question again, why embellish the events?

I would guess for dramatic purposes it makes sense. We are more likely to watch something promoting controversy over a vanilla story. I am making a pledge at this point I hope to honor for the future. This will be my last entry regarding Winning Time and Pearlman. It’s clear by this point despite Pearlman’s concern about lack of viewers in season two there will be no change, he will continue to promote this production. I hope to not give readers of this blog a basis for viewing the series. For Laker fans it’s not worth much in accuracy.

“Not on my watch”

It had been several weeks since I reported the efforts in San Antonio to build a new arena and baseball complex. I searched the net and uncovered only one story by a local television station but that’s not the news, the real news is the comments on the story. This planned complex would be located in downtown San Antonio, it would continue a trend of sports palaces moving into downtown portions of a city. There were only two letters however the second one was quite biting. “If they want a downtown arena the Spurs and Missions need to pay for it,” for informational purposes Missions is the city’s minor league baseball team. It would appear the sentiment of many in San Antonio matches that of several in Kansas City. 

The key difference between the two cities, the future looks booming in San Antonio not so much in Kansas City. The Spurs are bad however they have the promise of Victor Wembanyama, for the baseball Royals the future is a little murkier. There is no intent on my account to poo-paw the stadium effort in San Antonio or Kansas City. Whatever occurs in San Antonio won’t affect me, as for Kansas City that’s a different matter. The letter written provided for you only represents a statement by a single individual. Despite that fact don’t be lulled into believing that is the only objection to the planned San Antonio complex. Taxpayers in San Antonio and Kansas City are stating their objections, “Not on my watch” is their shout out.

Bits n Pieces 

Analytics has permeated the sports world baseball, the NFL and NBA. There is no requirement to worry this might be the one place where there is no requirement for you to read or even understand analytics in Off the Dribble. There is a clear reason, I don’t get it! Actually it’s more to the story, if I desired to understand analytics formal study would take part for me. I guess you could say I don’t have the desire…that’s it I lack desire because of this key reason. Proponents claim it’s important to know what the outcome might be. In this instance I will remind you of the Mike Tyson statement because it might apply. The former heavyweight boxing champion said, “Everyone has a plan until they are punched in the mouth.”

Most but not all of the non-con portion of Mizzou’s schedule has been finalized. As most expected its going to be slightly tougher in the second season of Dennis Gates. We knew in advance Kansas and Illinois were on the schedule but what else was ahead for Mizzou? November 9 the Memphis Tigers will play at Mizzou Arena, December 3 and 9 Wichita State and Kansas. Mixed in the schedule are Seton Hall and Pittsburg, this might provide Mizzou Nation an early idea how competitive the team might be in the 2023-24 season. No doubt the games against Kansas and Memphis will probably be the toughest. Kansas is ranked number one in most pre-season polls and Penny Hardaway Memphis coach always produces competitive teams.

Hype, what hype 

Cooper Flagg announced his first three visits as a high school senior. Flagg, who reclassified into the Class of 2024 is now the number one prospect by most sites. His mother indicated his list will be UConn, Kansas and Duke, none of the schools are surprising or shocking, the dates are yet to be announced. You might remember this story, at some point after the June NBA draft several media sites began to ask the question was there too much hype surrounding Victor Wembanyama? This from one website, “Cooper Flagg’s legend grows in New York City showcase.”

I underlined legend for a specific reason by asking the question, how can a 16-year-old be a legend unless the media makes that declaration. The subject becomes who is responsible for hyping prospects basketball fans or the media? From a YouTube video titled Ball Boy Bob, “Coldest white boy since Larry Bird!!” This from NBC Boston in July, “Who is Cooper Flagg? Meet the next NBA great”, the headline read. NBA great when he’s not set foot on an NBA court yet. You can see where I’m going with this account, the statement is made again by me. Young Flagg is not creating the hype, who is the guilty party, we know the answer?