Basketball from a fans perspective

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Most haunted franchise

This was a topic of discussion on one of ESPN’s family of channels this morning. The most haunted franchise in sports, almost always having good teams but just not good enough to win a championship. One caller suggested it was the NFL Cowboys another said the baseball Brewers, a third mentioned the NFL Bills. One caller claimed the team’s got to be the Los Angeles Clippers, before reading this is not intended to be 100% complete however it’s as accurate as possible from memory. 

Steve Ballmer one of the richest persons in the world now owns the Clippers. Teams on occasion change ownership, the Clippers are one of the rarest professional teams, the former owner was fired. The NBA literally forced Donald Sterling out of business due to racist remarks he’d made but that might have been the final detail. Perhaps a portion of this is the manner the team arrived in Los Angeles. After relocating from Buffalo to San Diego owner Sterling decided to move the team, understand this Sterling moved the team to Los Angeles without NBA approval. The Clippers were a poorly run franchise in those days almost always a loser. Then a change did come about, how it occurred I’m unsure but it did.

The Clippers became contenders but always managed to come up short, from the Lob City crew going forward they were good even better some years than the Lakers. Steve Ballmer decided to build him a palatial sports arena and to get out from under the shadow of the Lakers. We are in the middle of the 2024-25 season and the Clippers record is good, is it good enough to contend for a championship? If at some future date they win an NBA Championship I could no longer consider them the most haunted franchise in professional sports. 

Bits n Pieces  

Checking most NBA Mock Draft sites immediately behind Cooper Flagg are two Rutgers players, Dylan Harper (son of former NBA player) Ron and Ace Bailey. A basketball team is more than two members of the roster however these two have me scratching my head. As this is written the Scarlet Knights have a 10-10 record and 3 wins and 6 losses in the conference. I’ve only seen bits and pieces of Rutgers however check this out, Harper is scoring at an 18.6 point per game while Bailey is 19.8 points. Wonderful things were expected from these 5 star freshman and I’m unsure of what might be the issue.

As this is written it appears there are four teams capable of drafting Duke’s Cooper Flagg. Of course this is not set in stone and the team with the worst won-loss record is not guaranteed the top pick in the draft. Based on the current standings the Jazz, Pelicans, Blazers and Spurs will have an opportunity to choose Flagg in the June draft. Should the pick fall to the Spurs it will prove quite interesting. Drafting Wemby two years ago and adding Flagg to the roster for next season. Of course this is pure speculation on my part however it could occur.

Are the Lakers improved with JJ Redick as head coach over last season? Consider this first, two games were postponed due to the tragic fires in the Los Angeles metro. With that in mind, last season the Lakers were at .500 with a 24-24 record. This season they have 26 wins versus 18 losses so consider this fact. Worst case scenario If they lose both games their record would be 26-20.

Mizzou will earn an invitation to the NCAA Tournament this year unless the roof falls in. As this is written I am unable to project injury which might ultimately be the decider, in the meantime check this out. The rankings beginning January 27 place Mizzou on the top end as the number 30 team in the nation, on the low end at 21. Here are the rankings, AP 25, Coaches 21, NET 25 and KenPom 30. This presents evidence Mizzou basketball is light years above that of last season. Are these Tigers capable of beating the Tigers from Auburn for conference supremacy?  Gary Parrish of CBS Sports claims “This Missouri team The is better than NC State last season, if you remember NC State was a Final Four team.

Name, Image & Likeness

As I see it, there is no requirement for you to agree with me. When I first heard of NIL, I was concerned my thought was simple, these athletes being paid makes them pros. Then I began to think over past events that affected college athletes. I’m unsure how the conversation began but I held a discussion with an acquaintance who played college football. Keep in mind this fact, Jim played football at a Division II program.

He informed me from time to time he’d open his locker and there would be a wad of cash, no note or any clue where the money came from. Keep in mind Jim’s was a small Division II school, imagine what boosters might provide a Michigan or Alabama player. It was said without offering any proof UCLA basketball dominated back in the day because players were “steered” to the schools with money promises. Howard Porter was not paid while at Villanova however he’d signed a professional contract with an ABA team, this would have made him ineligible and his school. Years later when the news was finally revealed Villanova had to forfeit its 1971 NCAA Championship. Coach Larry Brown at Kansas had a player with a family emergency, he needed to fly home. The student-athlete didn’t have the airfare so Brown reached into his pocket and gave the player money for the flight home. Later when the incident was uncovered Kansas basketball was hit with a penalty and placed on probation.

Finally we close this out with the Ed O’Bannon story, after playing for UCLA he discovered his likeness on a video game. Despite the manufacturer making millions off the resemblance O’Bannon hadn’t received a penny. O’Bannon filed a lawsuit against the NCAA and EA Sports. EA Sports settled with O’Bannon for $15 million dollars which might lead one to assume a hefty sum must have gone in the coffers of EA Sports. For those who believe NIL money will ruin football and basketball it was already there…it just wasn’t visible