Basketball from a fans perspective

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Difficult to comprehend

Mizzou secured their 19th win of the season with an 87-74 victory over Georgia, this marked their 8th SEC win. What is most interesting for me last season the Tigers won only 8 games the entire season. They have continued to follow this strategy, "win all the home games and steal a few on the road," this was a team effort. All that is required is to check the box score and you will find out this was a team victory. Anthony Robinson II was tied with team high honors with his 15 points and 7 assists.

Robinson II has had problems the last two games staying out of foul trouble, he managed to remain on the court for this game. In addition Caleb Grill added 15 points off the bench, Mark Mitchell scored 14, and Tamar Bates contributed 13. Notably, Mizzou has improved in the rebounding department, outpacing Georgia in that department 36 to 27. In addition they turned it up a notch scoring 19 points off of Georgia TO’s. This season, Mizzou’s only been outrebounded 3 or 4 times in 25 games. In the tough SEC there is always a tough game ahead and that is the case on Wednesday. The Tigers will face number 2 Alabama, it’s a home game for the Tigers.

Bits n Pieces of Information 

Sometimes people make statements they later regret. They think “Boy that was dumb, I wish I hadn’t said that I’m unsure about you I certainly have. This occurred this past week with the drive-time guy on sports talk radio. As most of you are aware Missouri is currently in contention for an NCAA tournament invite. This radio host asked the CBS guest, “Is there any way Missouri falls out of contention for a tourney invite?” There was no need of asking the guest, I could have easily answered the question. If for example Missouri were to lose 4 or 5 of their next 7 games, they would likely fall out of contention. I almost fell out of my chair laughing…I wonder if he heard what he said?  

Shaquille O’Neal extended his contract with Turner Network Television, and Charles Barkley announced he’s stopped negotiations with NBC the new broadcast partner for the NBA. The Inside the NBA team will stay together, as the show will be leased to ESPN. In return, TNT will broadcast a number of college football games. This change will start next season, those of you who may have expressed concern if all would return. Shaq, Ernie, Kenny “The Jet” and Barkley will be available to critique the games and the NBA for you at least for the next several years.

Have you heard the expression “Where there is smoke there is fire?” For those unfamiliar with the term it simply states although there has been no official announcement perhaps change will occur or something similar. Brad Stevens announced in a press conference he was not a candidate for the Indiana head coaching job, as some are aware Mike Woodson has announced he is stepping down at the end of the season. Stevens was a successful coach at Butler University for a number of years prior to accepting the NBA Celtics head coaching position in 2013. He would move to the Celtics front office in the 2021-22 season.

No answer just a statement

The colossal trade that sent Luka Doncic and teammates to the Lakers for AD and accompaniment is the result of an agreement between the parties. This next portion should be interesting, trades are made in baseball, the NFL, NHL and MSL but for unknown reasons more trades seem to occur in the NBA over other professional sports. Free agency exists in these other sports although it might be tailored somewhat differently. In any event it’s been said this Laker-Mavs trade was stupendous and it was for this era, let’s check the history of just a few that occurred in years past.

Several of the names who are part of the trade might be unfamiliar to many younger readers but in this instance the key individual of the trade you are familiar with his name. There were trades made prior however I’m going to begin in 1965 and move forward. That was the year the Warriors traded Wilt Chamberlain to the Sixers for Connie Dierking, Paul Neumann, Lee Shaffer and cash. In 1971 the Cincinnati Royals traded Oscar Robertson to the Bucks for Charlie Paulk and Flynn Robinson. Four years later, 1975 saw the Bucks trade Kareem Abdul Jabbar to the Lakers for Junior Bridgeman, Dave Meyers, Elmore Smith and Brian Winters. Charles Barkley with the Sixers was traded to the Suns for Jeff Hornacek, Andrew Lang and Tim Perry. Each of the underlined names we now consider superstar athletes.