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Basketball from a fans perspective

“Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard”

Unknown 

I’m fired up again

A disclaimer must always be taken into consideration especially at the amateur level, high school talent adjusting to Division I play is always a question. I present that in front of you prior to the forthcoming information. With that out of the way allow me to inform many of you Dennis Gates and Mizzou received a commitment on Friday. Annor Boateng a 5-star 6-foot 5 wing from Little Rock Arkansas announced he intends to head for Columbia Missouri next fall. To update you Boateng becomes the fourth prospect added to Mizzou’s 2024 commitment list.  In late June and continuing into summer Coach Gates and staff were recruiting.

The coaching staff was rewarded receiving commits from 6 foot 4-point guard T.O. Barnett along with 6 foot-6 forward Marcus Allen plus Peyton Marshall a 7-foot 300-pound post player. As you can see by the headline as a member of Mizzou Nation I’m unsure whether it’s the upcoming season or 2024-25 I’m most excited about. The four are pledged, they are yet to sign and could change their mind between now and graduation. I am going to suppose this time next season all will be in Columbia Missouri. It’s not just me flaunting Mizzou basketball check out these scouting sites. 247Sports.com indicates they now have the top recruited class in the nation while Rivals.com places them at four. On3.com has Mizzou as the number 7 team.  

This is interesting

Late last week current Laker owner Jeanie Buss provided us a degree of insight into an occurrence in the recent past of the team. Few if any of us were aware of the news Jeanie was about to reveal. She indicates her father Jerry told her of this incident. After the 3-peat season in 2003 or 2004 Jerry was offered $1 billion from a prospective buyer for the Lakers. Today with billion-dollar sports palaces and billion-dollar teams it’s not that unusual to read or hear of monetary offers exceeding even that figure.

At that time it was an unheard-of amount for anything connected with sports, according to daughter Jeanie her father’s response was strictly Jerry Buss. She claims he said, “People would ask me what would I do with all that money? The first thing I would do is buy the Lakers.” Two things, either he didn’t inform her where the offer originated or she knows but will not confirm the prospective buyer. As most of you are aware the late Jerry Buss was responsible for much of the success the Lakers experienced during the 1980’s and 1990’s. Buss passed away in 2013 at the age of 80.

Is he on the hot seat

Although Kansas City is home I have a friend with Carolina connections. Truth is he graduated from North Carolina and at one time was president of the Kansas City chapter of Carolina alumni. William is Carolina Blue to the bone so I believe he might not be pleased with the following account. Let’s do a quick history check, Roy Williams, longtime coach retired in 2021. William told me at some point “A coach with Carolina connections would be hired to replace Williams. That would become Hubert Davis, he played for the Tarheels and had an average NBA career. Prior to the start of the 2012-13 Williams hired Davis as an assistant coach and it was assumed he would be the next head coach.

In 2021 the school announced Davis would be hired to assume leadership over the Tarheels basketball program. His first season at the helm saw the Tarheels finish the season with a 29-10 record and were NCAA Division I Runner up. They were the preseason number one team for 2022-23, despite the lofty beginning things didn’t turn out quite as expected. The Tarheels finished the season with a 20-13 record but 7Th place in the ACC, even worst after the preseason selection as the number one team they finished out of the Top 25. The Tarheels became the first pre-season number one team to be omitted from the Top 25 poll in its history. I have no idea who left or who returns, this I believe, there is more expected for Carolina basketball.

I watched the build

Okay I admit it, I’m a manner of speaking I’m a nerd if the term is still in usage. Thanks to YouTube I’ve been able to track the construction progress of the Intuit Dome. For those who might not be familiar with the name this arena will become the home of the Clippers once completed, it’s scheduled to open in the fall of 2024. Thanks to construction cameras and video I’ve watched a number of arena builds in my Kansas City Man Cave. Below are names of the arenas, dates they opened and location:

Amway Center 2010 (Orlando)

Barclays Center 2012 (Brooklyn)

Golden 1 Center 2016 (Sacramento)

Toyota Center 2016 (Houston)

Little Caesars Arena 2017 (Detroit)

Fiserv Forum 2018 (Milwaukee)

Chase Center 2019 (San Francisco)

Intuit Dome planned opening 2024 (Inglewood)

There are arenas to be constructed in Philadelphia, Oklahoma City, San Antonio and Las Vegas. Of the four cities named two have possible hurdles in front of them that might impact a start date, they are in  Philadelphia and San Antonio. I’ve mentioned business interest in Philadelphia have voiced strong opposition to the project. In San Antonio the issue of building a new arena have been less vocal although they exist as well.