Basketball from a fans perspective

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Gold for them as well

For the first time ever the Men and Women’s teams vying for Gold represented the same two nations, France and the U.S. As reported yesterday Team USA Men beat France 98-87 in a tough contested game. On Sunday, the same could be said of the women’s game as Team USA slid past France 67-66. Again this game by the final score says the world is catching up in the women’s game as well. Although the game was certainly close this win represented the 8th Gold winning USA team in a row, it was also the 61 consecutive win for Team USA Women. Congratulations are certainly due Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner, A’ja Wilson, Sabrina Ionescu and the entire team including the coaching staff.

Sneak up on SEC foes

No one except SEC coaches are paying attention to Mizzou basketball. The media and fans are looking at last season’s record and deciding “There’s nothing here to see.” Oh but there is, will Mizzou rise to the top of the conference in the 2024-25 season…I doubt it. This I am sure of they will be considerably better than the winless season experienced in the 2023-24 SEC. Why am I so optimistic, for one the incoming recruiting class…yes I realize high school freshman don’t immediately adapt to the college game.

Without looking it up most scouting sites had the Mizzou class listed number 5 or 6 in the nation. That’s an area Mizzou has never seen in it’s history, Dennis Gates and staff must have blown away the travel budget. The second reason for my optimistic outlook players arriving in the transfer portal. Mizzou had 7-5 Conner Vanover and a 6 foot 6 inch power forward Noah Carter sometimes in the post, both failed to consistently rebound the ball or defend the basket. This season they have 7 foot 265 pound Josh Gray formerly of South Carolina, he’s joined by “Shaq junior” freshman Peyton Marshall all 7 feet and 300 pounds. Marshall is expected to play some minutes at the post.

In addition 6 foot 6 small forward freshman Annor Boateng is reported ready to play at the collegiate level. There is also Mark Mitchell 6 foot 9 power forward from Duke and 6 foot 4 point guard Tony Perkins from Iowa. I’ve skipped over some players but I hope you get the general idea. It will take time to mold this “new” Mizzou team into a cohesive unit but I believe by late January or early February there will be a loud boom as this team sprints toward the conference finish.

Chuck Taylors

If you sport Chuck Taylors these days you are making a fashion statement. That’s not always been the case, if we look back at the history Converse Chuck Taylors were the Maybach of basketball shoes. The shoe along with Team USA appeared in 1936 the first-year Olympic basketball was played. Who wore them, a better question might be who didn’t? Wilt Chamberlain wore them the night he scored 100 points, in addition whenever Bill Russell blocked a shot or grabbed a rebound he accomplished the feat in Chuck Taylors. Up till 1970 Converse Chuck Taylors was the shoe of choice by the vast majority of NBA players. You might find this surprising there was no monopoly.

Pro Keds were introduced in 1949 but never made the inroads expected although a number of NBA chose them. I will stand corrected on this however I don’t believe there were shoe deals back then. Wearing Pro Keds at the time were Pete Maravich, Bob Lanier and “Tiny” Archibald and several others not named here. As for the Converse Chuck Taylors imagine this, the shoes mostly cotton canvas must have been hazardous for some. Perhaps that might be the basis for stories of players taping their ankles, the tape might have provided the support lacking in the shoe. As improvements were made we began to see basketball shoes manufactured in mesh, leather and suede. Despite the apparent “problem” with shoes of that era they continue in use today only as a statement of fashion.

He's a new name

Team USA won Gold for the 5th consecutive time, the days of dominance by USA basketball is going to subside someday. I know that’s not a prime topic of conversation for many Americans. What is the basis, the ever increasing number of Euro players in the NBA? I’ve mentioned previously there are several in this country that have a problem with the change. My response is simple, those in the process increase training and other stuff related to the growth of the game. Without offering you any proof I will boldly state the NBA is more popular in Europe, Asia and Australia than the NFL.

You are probably screaming that’s heresy on my part to make such a statement, the NFL is king everywhere. I have no method to test my theory except on you the reader, this is the test. Stop someone on the street in Paris, France, Berlin Germany or Sidney Australia. You have two photos, one of NFL quarterback Patrick Mahomes and one of Steph Curry or LeBron James. Now I love me some Mahomes but he doesn’t have the world-wide status of the others. I believe the NBA players would be identified more easily than one playing in the NFL. Basketball internationally is going to do nothing but continue to grow. What do we need to do in the U.S. as stated previously train and develop youth basketball to its fullest. We as a nation can no longer roll a basketball on the court and expect to win a game we must compete…compete…and compete.

Our southern neighbor   

The nation on our southern border Mexico has produced basketball talent but nothing close to that of Canada. I cannot count Heat guard Jaime Jaquez Jr., he’s a third generation Mexican born in Irvine California. For these purposes, our concentration are athletes born in Mexico and we have a potential good one here. His name is Karim Lopez, Lopez is a 6 foot 8 195 pound wing, this 17 year old is headed to Australia and the NBL rather than college here. Due to his age and NBA rules Lopez must play two years in order to be draft eligible, the year is 2026. Lopez played this past season for Club Joventut Badalona in Spain. Because Lopze is already playing professionally now why the move to the NBL? My best guess, his agent must believe the play in NBL is superiority to Euro League.