A fans perspective

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It’s that time of the year

One of the events Missouri and Illinois basketball fans look forward to at this time of the year is the Annual Braggin’ Rights game between the two schools. This year the game will be more of a test for Missouri over Illinois which is ranked number 18 in the nation. This is not an end of the world scenario for Missouri however it is very important they compete with Illinois, there are questions surrounding Missouri and its ability to compete against high profile teams. Illinois the number 18 team certainly qualifies as a high profile team. The game will be played at its usual location the 18,000 seat Enterprise Center Arena located in St. Louis. It's a sellout as it usually is however its available on several television outlets, Fox One, Fox Sports, FUBO and Sling TV, game time is 7:00 p.m. Central Standard Time. At the end of the evening I will be in as celebratory mood or down in the dumps.

No further explanation necessary

Before the renewed Battle of Los Angeles, I knew in advance the Lakers would be missing key players while the Clippers had their full roster available for the game. As for the Lakers Rui Hachimura and Deandre Ayton were both out, and earlier Austin Reaves had already been listed with an injury. In the first half, Luka Doncic sustained a left leg contusion and was unable to play in the second half of the game. With these injuries, the Lakers struggled to compete and ultimately suffered a disappointing defeat.

The final score read Clippers 103 Lakers 88, as for LeBron James he continues to defy Father Time leading the way with 36 points. At this stage it’s a bit difficult to determine who is available to play for the Lakers in upcoming games. In the meantime let’s talk trade. I will go on record, I really dislike the prospect of losing Austin Reaves in a trade but that is a real possibility. As I’ve mentioned in the past the Lakers can score with any team in the NBA, the chief issue for them is defense. The headline above says it all, no explanation necessary or no excuse is offered for what you witnessed on NBA TV or League Pass.

Duke…who

That might have been the comment by the Texas Tech Red Raiders going into their match. After being down by 16 points at a time they came roaring back for an 82-81 win over the Duke Blue Devils. The game was played at neutral court Madison Square Garden nevertheless Duke was the prohibited favorite. Texas Tech registered 8 wins ahead of this one while Duke was undefeated with an 11-0 record. From the middle of the first half until roughly the mid portion of the second half it appeared the Blue Devils were on the road to their 12th victory instead the game became their first loss of the season.

There are bits and pieces of every game I believe can change the outcome, a missed shot…a turnover or failure to properly box out the opposition. I’ve only named a few there are many other occurrences that can cause one team to be victorious over another and that’s what occurred Saturday. Duke was led by Cameron Boozer with his 23 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists, as for Tech it was the combination of JT Toppin (19 pts, 10 rebs) plus LeJuan Watts and his 20 points. Christian Anderson contributed 27 points to the Tech effort leading to the victory. If the two teams meet a couple of days later would the outcome be the same? That is a question I cannot answer however we certainly could expect a similar type of game. It was an excellent game which came down to the final few seconds, Duke had a winning shot miss as the clock expired.

Maybe I was wrong 

I’m unsure how often I’ve made this statement, it goes something like this. “Cooper Flagg will not wow anyone with his scoring, he will do the little things which will allow the Mavs to win.” That’s partially correct except for the scoring part, the 19 year old scored 24 points on Saturday although his team lost to the Sixers 121-114. Flagg’s last ten games have seen him average 24 points a game while shooting 51.8% from the floor. Despite the pluses there is always someone around to reduce in importance the success one might attain.

In this instance I am referring to Ace Bailey of the Utah Jazz but more on that later. Recently the Dallas Mavericks succumbed to the Utah Jazz in an OT game 140-133, the Mavs would likely have won in regulation if not for the outstanding game registered by the Mavs Cooper Flagg. Days short of his 19th birthday he became the youngest player in NBA history to score more than 40 points in a game. He exceeded the record established by LeBron James, consider these key issues for the Mavs. There was no Anthony Davis in the lineup, Kyrie Irving remains sidelined due to injury and the Mavs refuse to play D’Angelo Russell. There were others left to pick up the slack but I hope you see where I’m headed.

Despite the Herculean effort by Flagg it turns out Bailey of the Jazz wasn’t impressed. This from the Jazz rookie, “I’d rather score seven points in a close win than drop 42 in a loss. You can pad the stats all you want, but winning is what matters.” On the surface that statement makes sense except for the fact Bailey was the one with 7 points and Flagg had the 42. The Mavs missing key players needed all those points Flagg managed to score however they came up short at the end. Baileys’ point is somewhat valid but not completely in my view.