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Curiouser and curiouser

Perhaps you read the book or saw the Disney movie, the headline is from the Lewis Carroll classic, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland or shorten to Alice in Wonderland. There really is no such word as curiouser, it’s believed Carroll wrote it to detail the bewildered state Alice found herself in. This might be the view of much of Mizzou Nation and maybe basketball fans in general, Mark Mitchell is returning to Mizzou. If you continue to read you will uncover the why Mitchell’s outlook has changed from just a few weeks ago, we must return to June 2026 to begin this investigation. Mitchell had extinguished his eligibility, he was not drafted but played for the NBA Nuggets in Summer League.

More recently Mitchell along with others were granted a 5th year of eligibility by the courts but here the issue becomes tricky. Mitchell indicated he was headed to Kentucky to play for Mark Pope and BAM, just like that he’s not. He can play, however, not for Kentucky, SEC rules indicate he didn’t submit his name in time for the transfer portal. Mitchell is ineligible to play at Kentucky but could play for Mizzou. Now the waters become murky, Mizzou’s roster is full, a player must be red-shirted in order for Mitchell to return. The question becomes on August 31, 2026, will Mitchell return to Mizzou and if so who is red-shirted? Without including the 6-foot 9 Mitchell in the count consider this fact, the team has 5 players on the roster 6-foot 10 or taller. The tallest roster member is 7-foot 5 260 pound Trent Burns, there should be few games Mizzou might be outrebounded.

Is this the current roster     

The Lakers have been quite active over the summer, in some instances players such as LeBron James, Jaxson Hayes and Marcus Smart decided to depart on their own through free agency. In other instances the Laker front office signed free agents or made trades adding talent. The Laker roster is just about finalized, the list of players with the exception of rookies appears to be somewhat complete. Among the last of the acquisitions is Zaire Williams, a 6-foot 9 inch 3-and-D wing who played this past season for the Nets.

Also added was Matisse Thybulle a defensive guard from the Blazers to a 1-year agreement as well. There are holdovers whom I believe will be traded or released before the beginning of the season. This is speculation only so I am going to omit the names I believe might be history with the Lakers. JJ Redick and the coaching staff have a monumental task in front of them, they must coach this squad of new players to the Laker play book. Expect bumps early in the season but I would anticipate by January they should be a cohesive team and all on the same page. Of the additions only Walker Kessler in the post is likely a starter, as this is written power forward remain a mystery to me as to who starts versus who sits.

The keys of course, who scores and who plays lockdown defense off the bench which is vital for a deep playoff run by these Lakers. Despite the fact several in the media appear to not be impressed with the “new look” Lakers, I am however and this is the basis. The Lakers have become a revitalized version of themselves and this was accomplished without adding aging talent. At present the oldest player on the roster are the aforementioned Matisse Thybulle who turned 29 years old in March and Kevon Looney who had birthday 30 in February. The roster is comprised of players the Lakers believe they can develop for the future, despite many of the naysayers I’m ready in September for the NBA season to begin.

Did you cry

Although it’s rare for me anymore, I listened to a discussion on sports talk radio about decisive college basketball games. The conversation surrounded games played in the NCAA tournament, after all during the regular season a team could have a heartbreaking loss on Saturday and a big time win the following Monday or Wednesday. As for the tournament it’s always been win or go home. What about the opening games, teams have played all season only to be eliminated and forced to return home after a loss. How about the big time programs upset by smaller, less well known schools?

March 20, 2010, Northern Iowa a number 9 seed beat the number 1 seed Kansas Jayhawks 69-67 in the second round. How about this one, in 2023 number 15 seed Princeton beat number 2 seed Arizona 59-55 or a year earlier 15 seed Saint Peters over number 2 Kentucky 85-79. There are probably scores of others I omitted that have occurred over time. As a Mizzou fan my Tigers have not tasted much success in the tournament, one year they had a really good team. This is unlike many of the earlier stories, both Mizzou and UCLA were well known plus UCLA was the higher seed. In 1995 the two faced each other, UCLA a number 1 and Mizzou number 8. To this day the loss in this game is too difficult for me to describe, check out the YouTube video of the closing action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKrWAeYGRrg

It’s unknown

This account is prompted by a story I saw on one of the many social media platforms. The focus was NBA career block shot leaders, at the top of the list was Hakeem Olajuwon with 3,830 blocks followed by Dikembe Mutombo and his 3,289. Missing from the list was the name of Wilton Felton Chamberlain and there is a reason why. Chamberlain one of the most prolific scorers and rebounders arrived in the NBA in the 1959-60 season.

The last season Chamberlain played was 1973-74 making a total of 14 seasons. The following season (1974-75) the NBA began tracking blocked shots, as for rebounds it was Chamberlains last season. Unofficially the league researched 112 games from later in his career, he was measured at 8.8 blocks a game. Researchers claim Chamberlain would have recorded 9,000-11,000 rebounds, of course that is a projection and is unproven. He’s become the man of myth and legend, did he score 100 points in a single game? Did Chamberlain snatch down a minimum of 9,000 rebounds? We have no method to accurately detail what the totals might have been in those 14 seasons.