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Basketball from a fans perspective

There is always someone

Just as I rid myself of the one who shall remain unnamed another pops up. I’m reluctant to mention his name because you will go scrambling to find him print or podcast…but here goes. I’ve mentioned this previously Gilbert Arenas was a good basketball player, his NBA career was cut short by injury and stupidity. Although he’s been retired for a while suddenly through podcast or print he’s become quite vocal. I’ve got no problem with expressing one’s opinion until that person says something incredibly ridiculous, Arenas has suffered oral diarrhea recently. This is just the latest example, “Duke was trash before one and done” was the latest pronouncement from Mr. Arenas.

That statement is totally off base however former NBA player Arenas has a platform much greater than mine, hundreds perhaps thousands of readers will hang onto every word uttered by Arenas believing it to be correct. As for the stupid part, Arenas and former teammate Jarvis Crittenton. In 2009 these teammates got into an argument over money owed with both bringing guns into the Wizards locker room. January 27, 2010, Arenas was suspended for the balance of the season (50 games) by the NBA. Check me out, don’t just take my word for this incident. In closing allow me to say everybody deserves a second chance, Arenas got one despite this error. As for me this was the first time since writing this blog I’ve reported on the incident. In addition hopefully this will be the last time the name Gilbert Arenas will be mentioned.

It was expansion and not a merger

Time brings about a different outlook on the matter. You might remember a few weeks ago I mentioned the point totals scored by Julius “Dr. J.” Erving, Moses Malone, George Gervin and others failed to migrate over to the NBA. Certainly it was a question that required additional research and this is what I uncovered. In 1976 the public was led to believe a merger had taken place between the ABA and NBA. This was not the case as the established NBA “forced” two teams, Kentucky Colonels and Spirts of St. Louis out of business. As I reported earlier the merger in 1970 between the American Football League and the National Football league was a true coming together. 

Not a single AFL team was dissolved, all became part of the new National Football League. Most AFL teams became the AFC Division while the existing NFL teams became the NFC Division, cosmetic change mostly. As for professional basketball all these years later we discover the truth of the matter, the four ABA teams added to the NBA were considered expansion teams. As expansion teams technically no records of any type existed prior to the season they first began play in the NBA. Although the two leagues had been fighting over talent the NBA was clearly in the lead. As an example there was no cable back then but the NBA had a national television contract something the ABA never had. 

This contract was certainly a revenue stream plus the NBA operated in more cities throughout the nation, the ABA had no such ability to generate income. Only local broadcast television and radio contracts existed for the ABA at the time. Owners of the Spurs, Nuggets, Pacers and Nets certainly must have been aware of the principles of this merger (expansion) prior to signing any binding documents. Truth of the matter ABA teams had been hemorrhaging money for several years, inclusion of stats was likely secondary. Perhaps the owners at the time were unwilling to fight for ABA records to be included with the existing NBA records. This is how it went down, money became the decider, a “merger” between the ABA and NBA was presented to the public however in truth it was actually expansion.

The schedule is complete

Mizzou’s 2023-24 schedule is now complete, the conference portion was finalized much earlier. The non-conference portion of a schedule is always incomplete until around mid to late August. With that said here goes:

Arkansas Pine Bluff (Mon Nov 6) home

Memphis (Fri Nov 10) home

SIU-Edwardsville (Mon Nov 13) home

Minnesota (Thur Nov 16) away

Jackson State (Sun Nov 19) home

South Carolina State (Wed Nov 22) home

Loyola (MD) (Sat Nov 25) home

Pitt (Tues Nov 28) away ACC/SEC Challenge

Wichita State (Sun Dec 3) home

Kansas (Sat Dec 9) away Hy-Vee Border Showdown

Seton Hall (Sun Dec 17) neutral site T-Mobile Kansas City

Illinois (Fri Dec 22) neutral site Braggin’ Rights Game

Central Arkansas (Sat Dec 30) home

Last season the first for Dennis Gates Mizzou was 10-0, the first loss was to Kansas in early December. What do I expect in the 2023-24 season, improved play all around. The area I’d like to see the most improvement is team rebounding. The schedule is more imposing than last season however its possible we could see a repeat, Mizzou possibly not losing a game until December…it could happen…maybe.

Nobody loves them…except family members   

Are you similar to me, love the game just never good enough to play. How about becoming a game official, no I’m not talking at the high school or college level. I’m talking about the big guys at the top of the food chain, NBA officials. I hear you loudly, player complaints about the officiating, hostile crowds plus the fact you are never at home. Yes, home is but a memory during the 82-game regular season and into June for those selected to officiate NBA playoff games. Are the issues raised enough to say, “no way do I want that job.” Let’s take a look at the financial side of the picture, NBA game officials are well compensated in my view for the issues they must deal with. This is no overnight process one desiring a role in the NBA must work their way to the top.

Have you noticed in the G-League and NBA Summer League there are officials working those games who are being critiqued if they have the ability to officiate in the NBA? With that check out the salary scale, an entry level or rookie official earns $600 a game about $250,000 annually. In 3-5 years they could earn as much as $3,500 a game or $550,000 a year. If an official is fortunate enough to be selected for working post-season games they earn between $800-$5,000 per game. Currently there are 10 officials with 17 years and more in the NBA so you can see what occurs. Unless one becomes ill or some other tragedy transpires NBA officials remain on the active role for an extended period of time. Ken Maur is in year 36 while Tom Washington has 31 years on the job. As you can see despite the negatives there are certainly financial rewards officiating games. As for the headline I believe despite the schedule game officials are able to be home at times.