A basketball fans outlook

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Dawn of a new day

Mark Turgeon former Maryland coach was introduced on Monday as Kansas City’s new head coach. For those unfamiliar with the name the school is actually the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Several years ago it was decided UMKC was an unknown name to those across the nation, just identifying the school as “Kansas City” it was believed name association would make the school more nationally known. As for Turgeon the question asked of several, is the school ready to compete on a nationwide basis for the best talent?

Since moving from NAIA to Division I Kansas City has not met with a great deal of success on the court. Hiring a coach of Turgeon’s stature indicates the administration is serious about its future basketball effort. To my knowledge there’s been no attempt to change conferences. It would seem to me the MO Valley or Atlantic 10 conference might be a better fit over the Summit League. Is it possible to duplicate the efforts of St John’s, Louisville or St. Louis University. Those schools and others are located inside the boundaries of large urban cities and certainly have turned out successful basketball programs over time.

They are 9-2

For those of us in Laker Nation it’s been difficult at times this season, despite the fact the team has occupied the top spot in the Pacific Division the fit didn’t feel right. Beginning about the middle of December we’ve witnessed the Lakers “miss more than they hit.” The quick explanation IMO they have little if any difficulty scoring the ball their issue is the opposite, they have given us the opinion defense is only a word not what they do. On Sunday, the Lakers clearly demonstrated they can play defense. Team shooting was the same for both the Knicks and the Lakers (48%) however the Knicks were stifled from three.

The last time these teams faced one another three point shooting proved to be the downfall for the Lakers. Sunday was different, the Knicks missed a number of shots while the stifling Laker defense prevented others from finding the cup. For the second game in a row LeBron James was a spectator kept on the sidelines by ankle and elbow issues. That win forces me to further reveal my beliefs. The headline says; “They are 9-2” and the explanation is this. Without LeBron in the lineup the team has won 9 games while losing only 2. What might have occurred if more time was missed by LeBron, that question cannot be answered however it certainly is food for thought. Again playing defense based on Sunday’s outcome there is no telling how far this Laker team could advance in the playoffs.  

He’s got the opposite issue

Much has been written about KU’s Darryn Peterson and the number of games he’s missed. BYU’s AJ Dybansta has been the opposite, as this is written he’s played all 30 of the Cougars games. Can I say he’s having an outstanding freshman year…yes that would indeed be the case. Our focus is on the offensive side but more on the other portion of his game will follow. He’s scoring nearly 25 points and pulling down 7 rebounds along with 4 assists a game. The 6-foot 9 210 pound Dybansta is shooting 52% from the floor and 35% of it from the three line.

As for the NBA a significant number of mock draft sites have Dybansta very high on their list, several have him listed ahead of Peterson. This from nbadraft.net: “While he’s great at drawing fouls, he tends to flop a lot, ending up on the ground looking for a foul call, rather than the simple and strong finish-both on jump shots and drives. He’s capable of utilizing his size and adept at hitting tough shots, he would benefit going up strong to finish.” If those are the only weaknesses at present they are minor compared to what Dybansta brings to the table. Whoever might draft Dybansta would appear to have added an NBA ready small forward.

Meanwhile….

Jalen Rose began play in the NBA in 1994 for the Denver Nuggets, based on the present day NBA you probably had no idea of the following fact. There was not a single player in the association named Jalen no matter how the name was spelled. At the beginning of the 2025-2026 NBA season there were 19 Jalen(s) throughout the league spelled in the following manner: Jaylin, Jalen, Jaylon and finally Jaylen. Not only was the NBA impacted by this name but so was the NFL, there are countless numbers of Jalen’s in the NFL as well. This former NBA player turned broadcast analyst is the culprit behind the name, of course his mother is ultimately the responsible party. The question might remain, how many variations of spelling for the name?

Did you realize that this has never happened before over the course of the NBA's televised history? All of us are aware cable networks (TNT, TBS & USA) have been included in TV packages for well over 25 years, in addition they were significant in the growth of the NBA on television. Despite this history the broadcast side was far different. Over time the network broadcast partners changed, this is not in order but it would be CBS then NBC or ABC each serving time as the network for NBA telecasts. The new contract which went into effect for the 2025-26 season was different in this manner. Broadcasters NBC and ABC would both air games, sometimes occurring on the same day or evening. Missing from the family is TNT replaced by streaming services Peacock (NBC) and Prime.

The Texas Triangle, that is the definition for a road trip that takes a team to play the Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs. The Houston Rockets began as the expansion San Diego Rockets in 1967, they played in California four years before moving to Houston in 1971. The Mavericks were an NBA expansion team who began play in the 1980-81 season. Finally “The San Antonio Spurs were born in 1973 when a group of local investors purchased the Dallas Chaparrals of the American Basketball Association (ABA) and moved them to San Antonio.” The Chaparrals/Spurs began play in 1967, they are the oldest of the Texas teams.