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One game fails to make a season

The final score read Mizzou 86 Texas A&M 85, the Tigers managed to escape with a road win on Wednesday night. It was a much needed victory for Mizzou to punch its ticket to the NCAA Tournament, prior to the game Joe Lunardi NCAA guru indicated Mizzou was on the bubble. Can I say it was a badly needed win, yes it was. If we check the box score the Tigers shot outstanding from the floor (54%). The only negative was the three point shooting and the free throw line…but you cannot have everything.

The winning basket was a lob from Mark Mitchell to Shawn Phillips (12 points) who dunked the ball, in addition Phillips had a key block preserving the win. Trent Pierce led the way scoring 23 pulling down 9 rebounds and 2 assists. One of the concerns expressed about the coach was his in game adjustments, this is what we often heard. “Dennis Gates can recruit but what about his in game decisions?” As indicated by the headline the win goes on the left side of the page versus the right, for me it was more than the outcome of a game. Gates provided for all to see he and the staff can design winning plays plus they were able to set up an appropriate end of the game defense.

Face of the NBA

From time to time the subject of who is the face of the NBA has been discussed. Maybe this subject might have first occurred in the 80’s with the Magic/Bird rivalry, the Lakers and Celtics seemed to face one another in the playoffs annually. Later it would become Michael Jordan and those Bulls teams which dominated the NBA. Although there was plenty of exposure I’m unsure if Kobe Bryant or anyone else for that matter became the Face of the NBA. With the NBA less visible in the public eye the Bill Russell led Celtics were never considered.

It wasn’t just them the same might be said for the Elgin Baylor/Jerry West Lakers plus the Wilt Chamberlain dominance. Truth be told it wasn’t Chamberlain, he once said; “Nobody roots for Goliath.” Now the discussion has begun once again and we’ve heard from parties with differing views on the subject. One camp claims; “It’s  Victor Wembanyama” while another says, “He’s an international player, he can’t be the face of the NBA.” I would take this discussion one step further, is there a requirement for anyone to be symbolized as the Face of the NBA? The answer is yours to answer, IMO the NBA is the NBA, there is no requirement for anyone to be titled. Often winners go a great distance for any type of decision who might become that face.

The dilemma of Darryn Peterson

All but one of the four NBA mock draft sites I normally use list the name of Darryn Peterson at Kansas as the number one pick in the June draft. Some are aware Peterson’s been in and out of the lineup due to injury and illness a total of 11 games. We’ll briefly check NBA draft history for a look at Andrew Wiggins and Michael Porter Jr. First, Wiggins, he was also at Kansas arriving in the fall of 2013, few believed the heralded Wiggins was going to play his sophomore year. I remember the comment of my former barber, “He’s (Wiggins) playing to not get hurt,” pointing to the fact he believed Wiggins was looking toward June. In 2014 he was made the top pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers and the rest of his story continues to evolve.

Although I compared Peterson to former Mizzou Tiger Michael Porter Jr. a friend indicated “It wasn’t the same because MJP was injured,” he would appear in only three games.” Later MPJ declared for the NBA draft after his freshman year, despite the injury history the Nuggets made him the 14th pick in the first round of the 2018 draft. The Nuggets were willing to wait a year for MPJ to fully heal before he first played for them. He’s since been traded to the Nets and his NBA career has continued to develop. For Peterson, things have changed---Name, Image & Likeness is now the standard practice. With large sums of money being paid to basketball players and other college athletes fans and alumni expect more in return. Is Peterson a malingerer, I don’t have that answer. Is the athlete influenced by family to play or not play? In both instances I have no answer, your opinion is just that…yours.

The game is suspect

If you’ve read this blog any length of time you are aware I’m a big fan of Victor Wembanyama. There is only one time I root against him, anytime he faces my Lakers. Now, there is a second time for me, anytime there is an occurrence similar to Tuesday evening. Just in case you were unaware, although the game was played at Crypto.com arena a group of players showed up pretending to be the Lakers. Missing from the Laker lineup was Luka Doncic, LeBron James, Marcus Smart, Austin Reaves and Deandre Ayton.

Wow, that’s all five starters for the Lakers…final score would detail a Spurs victory. It was Spurs 136 Lakers 108 Spurs which is certainly embarrassing for all. Of course the Spurs are justified in the win especially Wemby with his outstanding game. Jaxson Hayes wasn’t matched against Wemby all night but there was little he or anyone could accomplish to slow the giant. 40 points on 65% shooting, 66.7% was from three plus 83% from the line and 12 rebounds. Despite Wemby being the NBA’s leader in blocked shots, he managed to record only one block in this game.