Basketball from a fans perspective

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I was determined

On more than one occasion I’ve mentioned the difficulty in me viewing west coast games. In the Central Time Zone where I live NBA night games are usually not over till 12:00 a.m. and in some instances even later. I was aware there was a double-header on Thursday evening, I decided to check it out while it was in progress. The Warriors were hosting a young Rockets team, the game appeared quite competitive. Tuning in late I noticed Steph Curry on the sidelines, at some point I also saw Draymond Green on the bench. I discovered both were sitting out the game due to injury and my thought, this should be interesting.

Could the “baby” Warriors secure the victory without Curry and Green in the lineup? I would soon find out Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga introduced himself to the Rockets. The third year forward is playing good basketball, on Thursday it was outstanding as he experienced an NBA career evening. Kuminga led the way to the 99-93 win over the Rockets scoring 33 points shooting 60% from the floor with 50% behind the 3P line. As with a team sport Kuminga was not alone there was help especially from Andrew Wiggins (23 points). This is a report on the Warriors and Kuminga but I immediately thought about my Lakers in so much trouble at present. LeBron James and Anthony Davis are reported injured, can somebody-anyone on the Lakers step up in a comparable manner to the level we saw Kuminga on Thursday evening?

The SEC

This statement embodied the Southeastern Conference at a point in time. It was said as a joke however it was true, “there are two seasons in the SEC, football season and spring football.” That mindset is a long ago view because the conference once thought of as a “football” conference only can play basketball with the best conferences in the country. A recent example was the ACC/SEC Challenge, this saw SEC teams win 14 games while losing only 2. The ACC is competitive in football but has a rich long history in basketball.

Michael Jordan and James Worthy in the past, today its Jason Tatum along with Scottie Barnes and a host of others. They represent a number of former SEC players who played and are now in the NBA. Under a succession of hall of fame coaches Kentucky long dominated play in the SEC, even though that’s changed now. Athletic directors of conference schools hired young and upcoming coaches and in other instances hired a few who tasted success elsewhere. If we look at current standings we find 8 of the SEC schools are highly ranked in various polls around the nation.

Those days are gone

Tomorrow afternoon the Mizzou Tigers will serve as host to the Kansas Jayhawks. Each team will view it as a regularly scheduled game but it wasn’t always that…it was WAR! From the days of the Big 7 to the Big 8 and then the Big XII Missouri-Kansas basketball was an intense rivalry. Once Mizzou moved to the SEC in 2012 the grudge match was replaced by Illinois-Missouri. Legendary coach Norm Stewart hated Kansas so badly he refused for his team to spend a single penny in the state. For those unfamiliar with the geography Kansas City MO is actually closer to Lawrence KS than it is Columbia. Stewart would have his team bused to Kansas City where they would stay overnight in a hotel.

On game day the Mizzou team would board a bus for the 50 minute drive to Lawrence. Whether this animosity existed with the football teams is an unknown however it sure existed in basketball, as for the all-time win loss record it’s held by the Kansas Jayhawks. The only holdover from the rivalry days is Kansas coach Bill Self, Dennis Gates becomes the latest Mizzou coach unfamiliar with the history. Rest assured Kansas will face a hostile crowd from the assembly however nowhere near the level of past meetings. There is an obvious reason why the student section of Mizzou is likely comprised of those who were 6-8 years old at the time Mizzou departed for the SEC. Despite what some might say there is no more rivalry with these two schools in my view despite the geography.

Mysteries

A number of mysteries have existed throughout time, does the Yeti or Abominable Snowman exist…What about Big Foot sightings. Hundreds of people over the years claimed to have seen the Loch Ness Monster in Scotland, how about visitors from other planets? Many have seen UFO’s and these were piloted by beings not of this earth. There are some who claim they were abducted by these beings from other worlds. Then we arrive at the mystery of the 100 point Wilt Chamberlain game, it belongs with those already mentioned. Why do I make that statement, there are many who claim it never occurred or it’s a mystery. If we travel back in time the world of 1962 was quite different from today. No video of this game exists back then television coverage was practically non-existent compared to the present day.

Several years ago a portion of the radio broadcast of the last few minutes are so of the game was discovered and has been placed in the Smithsonian Institute. The only other proof we have is a photo of Chamberlain holding a placard with the number 100 scribbled on it. A number of conspiracy theorist claim the game never occurred because there is no video proof. So this game just like the Yeti, Big Foot and ET remain a mystery for some. It’s up to you to believe it or not on March 2, 1962, Chamberlain playing for the Philadelphia Warriors scored 100 points in a game against the New York Knicks. This mystery game occurred in Hershey Pennsylvania a town located a little over 100 miles north and west of Philadelphia. In those days, the NBA would often play games away from their home arenas and that was the case here. If the event occurred as reported the box score indicates 5,000+ fans were witness to this game that might have never occurred.