The NBA returned to St. Louis with some exciting preseason action Monday night at Scottrade Center. For many hardwood aficionados, it was a welcome return for the NBA. St. Louis was the host of an annual preseason game back in the day, but as interest and/or profits dwindled in the Gateway City, the league packed up and left the city high and dry in terms of NBA action. Kudos to the Chicago Bulls for hosting a “home” game here in the city.
The Bulls were rewarded by droves of fans decked out in Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Derrick Rose jerseys and cheering on the Windy City ball club. Speaking of Rose, the former MVP saw just his second game action since tearing his ACL nearly one-and-a-half years ago. Rose looked OK. The crowd got glimpses of his relentless, attack-the-basket style but overall he played a subdued and safe game, finishing with 13 points on 3-of-8 shooting in 23 minutes. Rose reached down to fiddle with his knee braces several times, leading me to believe that he’s still thinking about his prior injuries. Give him a month or two to regain his confidence and get adjusted to his new hardware and we should see the D-Rose of old.
There was no Marc Gasol or Joakim Noah, but no problem. The big star of the show was Benny the Bull. One area where the NBA reigns supreme is the break time entertainment. Even when the court was full of unknown players on both sides, Benny and the LuvaBulls did a remarkable job of entertaining the fans. Trampoline dunkers vs baby Bulls, tic-tac-toe, giveaways and a hilarious prank on a Pittsburgh Pirates fan who apparently lost his coordinates all exemplified why the Bulls are one of the most popular teams in the league.
The official attendance was 13,497, which was pretty good considering the lack of effort put into promoting the game. With Memphis and Chicago being within a reasonable driving range, they would be ideal candidates to return to the STL in future years. Throw the Indiana Pacers into the mix and the league could keep area hoops fans happy by returning our area preseason game. I won’t talk about St. Louis getting its own NBA team because that’s not happening anytime soon. Still, a fun time was had by all.
Wlad stinks up the joint
When many people attack boxing or leave it for dead, a primary reason is due to the dearth of the heavyweight division. The heavyweights were traditionally the most glamorous and they pounded each other for world supremacy. The division has lost luster in recent years, largely because America hasn’t fielded a viable contender in years and nobody can knock off the giant, robotic Klitschko brothers.
Saturday, Wladimir, the younger KlitschBro, defended his conglomeration of titles against Alexander Povetkin in an awful bout. Povetkin did his part in pushing the action and pressured Klitschko for much of the bout. Unfortunately, Klitschko channeled his inner-John Ruiz and did more grabbing, wrestling and shoving than punching. After nearly every punch, the champion put the challenger in a headlock and leaned his massive 6’6” 241 lb. frame onto his smaller opponent.
Despite an early warning by the terrible referee, the ugly-but-effective strategy was allowed to continue for nearly the entire fight. Klitschko also shoved and slammed his smaller opponent onto the mat several times only to be rewarded with rulings of legitimate knockdowns. Klitschko may have won easily, but it was not easy to watch. Until boxing can find consistent and competent judges and officials, it will continue to struggle to be taken seriously by the common fan.
Khan ducking Alexander?
While we’re talking boxing, word on the street is that Amir Khan, who has been long-rumored to face STL’s own Devon Alexander in his next bout, will be side-stepping our homegrown champ to face Floyd Mayweather Jr. Nothing is official, but it makes sense for both parties. Mayweather has already stated his desire to fight in the U.K. The proposed bout between Alexander and Khan would have been with the idea that the winner would have their ticket punched in the Mayweather lotto.
I had very little doubt that Alexander would shatter Khan’s fragile-as-china chin in the ring so now I understand why the bout was never finalized. If the rumors are true and the bout falls through, hopefully Devon “The Great” can find a suitable and exciting replacement for his next bout.
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