Men’s NCAA

Picking Up the Pace [originally posted on sportsblog.com 2/17/14]

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What more is there to say about the TCU game that hasn’t been tackled? It’s really hard to learn anything from a blowout when you are the winning team. The first half didn’t look so great. Kyan Anderson had 21 first half points (he only score 2 buckets in the second half). Perry Ellis only missed 2 shots the whole game on his way to getting 32 points. He also threw a couple of sick oops to Andrew Wiggins. TCU is terrible and it wouldn’t surprise me if they get relegated from the Big 12 in a couple of years. It seems like the sports program still hasn’t recovered from the “drug scandal” it had a few years back. Kansas goes down to Lubbock to face the “Tortilla tossers.” It could be a long and ugly night. It’ll be interesting to see how they play in that dusty environment. Hopefully cooler heads will prevail en route to a win. It would be unfortunate for them to lose that game because they were looking ahead to Saturday’s rematch with Texas.

The All Star Break is over and the lack of notable games (well except for Kentucky-Florida–which was a pretty good game–with the way UF plays D and their efficient offense, I wouldn’t be shocked to see them in the Final Four) this weekend allowed me to recuperate some of the sleep my body has been lacking. Three quarters of no defense was all that I could endure of the All Star Game (it may as well have been the official dunk contest with all the uncontested dudes were banging away at the rim). I turned the game off and caught up on some sleep (sort of).

The 3 point contest was meh, though I was happy to see Marco Belinelli win it. I like that the NBA is trying new things, but I was not feeling the East vs. West format. Seemed a bit corny to me. The dunk contest was WEAK SAUCE, but the dunk/dancing by champion John Wall was almost worth the $ 4.00 beer I had to buy to watch at a local bar.

Overall, I was a little underwhelmed with the festivities and presentation of the whole weekend. I think it would have been cool to have a local brass band do a NOLA rendition of “America the Beautiful”, and maybe Harry Connick Jr. do the national anthem. I would have loved to have seen Juvenile, Manny Fresh, and Lil Wayne do a Hot Boyz reunion rather than see Pharrell during the pre game ceremony. It just seems like the NBA failed to take advantage of all the local flavor that was available to them (Then again, I don’t know what kind of contractual obligations they had with sponsors. And there is a reason someone is getting paid to make those decisions, and I’m writing a sports blog for free).

Probably my favorite item from the whole thing was the “Happy Birthday” wishes for Bill Russell. It was so cool to see NBA ALL Stars all pay their respects to the greatest winner to ever suit up in an NBA uniform. I couldn’t help but tear up as it was happening. It was pretty touching.

Some really good games coming up this week:

That really nice Syracuse backcourt heads into Cameron Indoor on about 30 minutes before the Texas- Kansas (which will probably determine the Big 12 regular season title) game Saturday night. Michigan-Michigan State matches up on Sunday,if there is nothing better to do, I will probably watch that too. Oh yeah, Duke and North Carolina play on Wednesday, if you’re into that sort of thing.

In the NBA, the Spurs look to finally beat a winning team when they play the Clippers on Tuesday night. Most likely, “Pops” will sit his starters the next night against Portland. If that is the case I’ll just flip to the Warriors and Kings game which is on at the same time.

Thursday will be great viewing, as KD and Lebron face off again, then the Brooklyn Nets come to Oracle arena to face the Warriors.

Sunday evening gives us a John Wall vs. Kyrie Irving match-up, while the matinee game is Thunder-Clippers. Two items about this game. Russell Westbrook might be back as early as Thursday, so this could be two fully equipped squads going at it. The other part is that Blake Griffin will be coming home to Oklahoma City, and he always brings it when he plays at the Ford Center. Oh man. What was that I said about catching up on some sleep?

Stretch Run [Originally posted on sportsblog.com 2/20/14]

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A big day today for this hoops fan. It is Sir Charles Barkley’s birthday (my nephew also born on this fine day 3 years ago). The NBA trade deadline ends in roughly 2 hours. Duke and North Carolina play tonight at 8pm, but the big boys throw down in OKC. KD vs. Lebron II: The return of Russ. If that isn’t enough, Golden State and Houston face off at 9:30 pm. I’m clearing off my schedule and unless there is an emergency, I’m not leaving my bedroom past 7 pm central time, except to eat and use the bathroom.

N.U.T.S (Never Underestimate The Spurs)

I should know by now that even if the big 3 of the Spurs aren’t playing, that Popovich will have his team ready to compete. The highlights were awesome and the game went down to the wire. I’m actually less surprised about the Spurs winning as I am that the Blazers still played relatively well without Lamarcus (out for a week with a groin injury). I’m sure Damien Lillard chipping in 31 points helped keep them in the game.

I had the choose between the 9 pm tip-offs of the Golden State and Sacramento game and Spurs-Blazers. No “Boogie” no problem right? Maybe I should have watched the Portland game, but the Dubs are one of my favorites (I kind of feel like the Kings are this surrogate delinquent child that I want so badly to see succeed) Isiah Thomas had a nice heat check moment (he put up 26 points 7 assists) that made me text my old roommate a University of Washington alum, and he responded that the Spurs game was amazing.

The Kings kept coming at the Warriors, but by the last minutes, the game was practically over, with Warriors up by 10. Curry wasn’t even the star of the game; it was David Lee with a “ho hum” 23 and 11. The most memorable part of the game was Jermaine O’Neal getting T’d up by the refs because he chose to let a ball (one he could have easily grabbed and retained possession of) go out of bounds, and the refs awarded it to Sacramento. I thought this was silly because the refs judgment would not have entered the picture had he just grabbed the board, but his tech allowed Sac to help cut down a shrinking Warriors’ lead, and got the Sacramento crowd into the game.

It was during the game that I saw that the Dubs had traded Kent Bazemore and Marshon Brooks for Steve Blake. I’ve always been kind of cold on Steve Blake ever since he missed a breakaway dunk that cost Maryland a sweet sixteen game back in 2003. He’s a good backup, I think I had my heart set on Golden State acquiring Andre Miller–no matter how unrealistic that was. He will definitely help the Warriors down the stretch. If they can find another big man on the cheap to play defense, they might be able to sneak into the Western Conference Finals.

Suddenly Everything Has Changed

There are 5 games left on the regular season schedule.

Kansas has 2 games on the road, one in Stillwater, the other in Morgantown. With the 3 home games against Texas, Oklahoma, and Texas Tech. I think if they beat Texas on Saturday and go at least 4-1, the conference title streak is easily intact. 3-2 will be pushing it, and KU fans may be rooting for other teams to lose. Backing into a regular season title doesn’t leave me feeling good about the Jayhawks chances of making the Final Four. I never thought it would be easy, but I also didn’t think the Jayhawks would struggle this much to score either.The offense this year has been just as ugly as last year’s squad, where it seemed like players didn’t know what to do. I do have to admit that I found the Andrew Wiggins baseline dunk amusing, for no other reason that invoked that scene from “Friday” (a wise Jaye Crockett moved out the way –making him Pooh’s dad–cut to 1:29 on that scene). Embiid’s baseline move early in the second half was pretty ill too. This hasn’t been the most cohesive unit ever put together, but you’re almost guaranteed a Sportscenter moment or two every game.

Texas could really put some pressure on the Jayhawks with a victory on Saturday. Their remaining games are Baylor and TCU in Austin, and games in Lawrence, Norman, and Lubbock. Even with a win in Allen Fieldhouse, they would still have a tough road ahead of them.
Iowa State is still a dark horse, but they have 3 of their last 5 games on the road, and would need a lot of help considering that KU already beat them twice, and they split the games against UT. Oklahoma would need a LOT of help as well, with a 4-2 conference record. I didn’t realize they were 19-7 for the year. I would be surprised if they didn’t make the tournament.

I’m still trying to talk myself out of going to the game on Saturday. If the atmosphere is anything like the OSU game on Januray 18th, then its going to be loud. There is a lot more on the line than revenge for this Saturday’s game. I wonder how the Longhorns are going to respond when they walk into the Fieldhouse and feel all that pressure. Saturday is simply the denouement of a hype week for hoops. Tonight is the apex. Enjoy!

Woodenesque? [Originally posted on sportsblog.com on 2/25/14]

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20 years from now, how will Bill Self’s legacy be perceived? Ten straight conference titles in ANY sport is a major accomplishment–especially in the post Wooden era of “one and dones”. I would put Bill Self up there with Coach K, Jim Boeheim and Rick Barnes (just kidding) as best coaches in the game right now. I got into the Texas game on Saturday (for a pretty reasonable price) and if you had told me the Horns would get smashed by 30 I would have looked at you crazy. But that’s what happened isn’t it? Of course, I knew there was the possibility of an emotional letdown come Big Monday; even with the chance to clinch the Big XII title in front of the home crowd. OU came with it, but it wasn’t enough. One major goal down, now its time to finish the season strong, remain healthy, and gear up for the Madness of next month. Here are a few random observations from the past few days:

Reintegration

Everyone knows that the Thunder need a healthy Russell Westbrook to be a legitimate threat to the Miami Heat, but the Thunder have lost the last two (big) games with him back in the starting lineup. Keep in mind that Westbrook has missed almost two months of hoops action due to his knee injury. Anybody who has even just played pickup ball can tell you that even a two week layoff can make you feel rusty. So imagine what 2 months can do to someone’s game. I’m curious about the thought process with Russ, Coach Brooks, and the front office about how to get him back involved with the team. He has been playing on a 25 minute limit basis, but with the way the team and Reggie Jackson have been playing, it makes you wonder if they considered bringing Russ off the bench with the second unit, until Russ got his legs and timing back. It is one thing to be out of sync against the Celtics or Bobcats, but the World Champs? Kinda dicey to throw Russ in there with such high expectations. Glad you’re back Russ. Can’t wait to see you at full speed.

While we’re at let’s talk about KD vs. Lerbon II

The stats from this game are a bit deceiving. Lebron had 33 points (15-22), 3 assists 7 boards and 4 steals (he also had 8 turnovers), while KD had 28 points (10-22) 8 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals (5 turnovers for Durant). You could tell Lebron was locked in from the tip, he made the first 10 points for the Heat and didn’t let off the throttle until Serge Ibaka Blocka Flame broke his nose. You could jump to either conclusion that a) Lebron outplayed Durant. or b) that the numbers were a pretty much a wash.

But either conclusion would be insufficient without taking into account that Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade scored 24 points a piece. KD’s crew of Ibaka (14 points) and Westbrook (16 points) could barely muster 30 points between them.

The Heat looked more locked in, they shot 54 % and Oklahoma City only made 2-20 from 3 point land. The passing just wasn’t there for OKC, and settled for way too many jumpers (which is practically begging Miami to fast break on your team).

Let’s also put to bed this whole “OKC has the best crowd in the NBA” myth. I have been to many games at the Ford Center. They do get loud. But from my experiences the OKC faithful get loud at to start of the game, then they quiet down until something cool happens to get them loud. The Warriors fans out in the bay are a bit more involved, and sometimes directly affect plays with the level of noise they create (one can even use this same corollary with the Duke fans vs. Jayhawks. Cameron Indoors is always going HAM, while Allen Fieldhouse seems so dead sometimes when I’m there–though I don’t think it was always this way).

Boeheim Going Fed

I’m feeling this newly borne rivalry between Syracuse-Duke. The level of play of both games has been extremely high, and the pedigree both schools bring to the table amp the games up to a higher intensity. Its like watching a Final Four game without a neutral setting. Dick Vitale says that the first meeting this year was one of the five greatest games he’d ever been associated with. I cannot wait until they meet in the ACC tournament.

As for Boeheim losing his s#$% over that call, I can see why he did it (I got a chance to watch the replay last night). There was a lot of inconsistency in the officiating. One particularly error was a missed bump on CJ Fair that resulted in a traveling violation being called. The blocking call that gave Jabari Parker the AND1, was the exact same situation that went against Syracuse when Rodney Hood got the benefit of the charge. All that being said, Syracuse still had a chance to foul and get the ball back with a chance to tie it (depending on if Duke makes the ensuing one in one free throws). His ejection gave Duke four points plus the ball and thus ended the game. A tough way to end such a highly competitive game. If I’m a ref I don’t think I make a call that late, and let the game get decided on the court.

I went away from the game thinking that perhaps Syracuse is the best team in the nation, and even though the Jayhawks are the most talented, Syracuse would be a nightmare matchup for KU. Syracuse’s backcourt and disciplined big men could create a frustrating night for the Jayhawks and Bill Self. KU fans better pray this match up doesn’t happen until the Final Four in Dallas.

Jayhawks of the week:

Andrew Wiggins for his monster first half against Texas

17 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists to begin the game on Saturday. The game was all over by halftime.

Tarik Black

There is no way to describe what it felt like to be there in person when EVERYONE collectively lost their minds.

Thomas Robinson
In a game where he put up 14 points and 18 rebounds. It was this block that made Jayhawks fans oh so proud.

This week is a real lull in the basketball week. KU goes down to Gallagher Arena on Saturday. Friday night Steph Curry goes up to MSG (not sure if you know this but players love to play in Madison Square Garden). Other than that, there isn’t much I’m hype for. I guess this means instead of watching basketball, I’ll be playing it instead. It never stops………….

Nuclear Winter??? [Originally posted on sportsblog.com 3/5/14]

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Senior Night tonight at Allen Fieldhouse. Texas Tech comes to town. It will be undoubtedly be an easier game than the last one. Home court advantage has to be worth at least 5 points (If I were betting on the game), I personally think it’ll be a double digit victory.

The regular season title has been won outright, and even if the loss in Gallagher Arena wasn’t a surprise, it still was disappointing that they didn’t nut up and wrestle that game away from Oklahoma State on Saturday–in front of Danny Manning and half the OKC Thunder team. It would have been a big statement to go into Stillwater and rip the heart out of everyone wearing black and orange. Instead, they let the Cowpokes hang around, and once it got close, Marcus Smart took over. Once again, the difference between a veteran team and a young squad. As I said before, there is no reason to panic, but when the Jayhawks aren’t hitting from the outside, it just gets ugly. I think no matter what, the season is a success. Teams rarely lose all five starters from a season ago and then go on to win conference–not in this era of college hoops. From the way they have looked all season, nothing outside of a first round knockout would surprise me. It’ll be interesting to watch for sure.

Maybe it’s this whole Ukrainian uprising/invasion that has me feeling sour. But I’m tired of fighting it and I’m just gonna be negative for a few paragraphs:

I’m not digging on Wiggins’ flailing his arms out every time he drives the lane. I wish he’d just play basketball and get stronger–quit worrying about the refs and just start banging on fools son! Every time I see someone slap the ball out of his hands, Wiggins attempt at getting to the line makes me think of this.

As happy as I am about Joakim Noah’s play the last few weeks, I still can’t bring myself to watch the Bulls play. The ugly offense they throw out there reminds me of those old school,early 90’s Knicks’ squads. Lots of heart and effort, but not at all aesthetically pleasing. On Sunday a twitter update showed that Noah was well on his way to a triple double, and I still couldn’t bring myself to turn on their game. I just couldn’t do it.

I’m not digging recent talk by media heads that the MVP award is suddenly Lebron’s again because he scored 61 points against the Charlotte Bobcats Hornets. Yes he is the Best Player in the League. But it isn’t the “Best Player in the League” award, its the MVP award. Without Kevin Durant’s ice cold January, the Thunder would have fallen back into the back once Russell Westbrook (He’s baaaccccccccck) went down with that knee injury. Durant plays in a vastly superior conference, where there are rarely any nights off, and he has done it without his top 5 point guard. When Lebron takes a night off, Miami still has Bosh, and sometimes Wade. Just stop it already folks, and give KD what he deserves. Oh and by the way, KD only played 3 quarters last night and put up 42 points (on 20 shots), 9 Rebounds, 3 assists, 2 stls and 1 block. Lebron played almost the whole entire game the other night when he got his 61 points (on 33 shots–THOUGH admittedly James was extremely efficient).

Good Games This Week Dawg

Tonight of course there is the KU-TTU game which may not be as good as the SMU vs. Louisville game. But in the NBA, I might stop in on Golden State-Boston, just to watch Rondo pass to a bunch of scrubs.

Thursday gives us Spurs-Heat; Thunder-Suns

Friday is Portland-Dallas, and Indy-Houston

Sunday is Phoenix-Golden State (my favorite of the day)Indy-Dallas, Miami-Chicago, and OKC-LAL.

For the college kids we have:

UCONN-Lousiville, Duke-UNC, and Kentucky-Florida. All on Saturday.

Hopefully developments in the Ukraine won’t look as bleak by then. If only they could just settle the territorial/governmental disputes by a series of home and away games, instead of all this recent and potential bloodshed. Shoot baskets,not people.

Shocking the World [originally posted 3/11/14 on sportsblog.com]

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I must apologize for the tone of last post. Current events can be such a bummer sometimes. So in the spirit of the human race avoiding a World War III scenario (for now), I’m going to embrace the things that I love about basketball (and life in general). Let’s go!

1) I love that I got the opportunity to see Tarik Black play for Kansas. I knew he’d be a great senior presence on the team, but hearing all the positive things said about him is heartwarming and inspiring. He describes his time here in Lawrence as life changing, and coach Self has said that “it would be hard to find a better teammate” than Tarik. At the beginning of the season I thought he was just going to be a defensive presence, but there have been a few games where he has made an impact down on the offensive block (not to mention a few memorable rim rattling dunks). How more perfect could he have played (9 of 9 with 6 rebounds, 2 blocks and only 2 personal fouls) in his last night on the Allen Fieldhouse Floor?

2) I love the defensive effort the Jayhawks displayed on senior night against Texas Tech last Wednesday. That was arguably the best they have looked on D all year.

3) I love the fire that Andrew Wiggins showed during the regular season finale against West Virginia. There wasn’t much to like about the game. The flow was klunky (I felt like I was at the local community building waiting for next–praying that a team finally goes on a run and gets 15th point), and the officiating (for both teams) was some of the worst I’d seen all season long. Missed traveling calls are one thing, but over judicious whistles disrupt the flow of the game. Let em play! But I digress. What Wiggins did on Saturday put the rest any of that silly talk about him being overrated (12-18 shooting 41 points 4 blocks, 5 steals, and 8 rebounds).

The cold blooded part about was that he wasn’t beating his chest and yelling “Let’s go!” He had the same stoic look he always has when he’s mashing on dudes. The basket, the steal on the ensuing in-bounds pass and dunk sequence was one of those “uh oh he about to take the game over” stretches. No matter what happens to the Jayhawks, I will consider his season a success, and that was even before his performance on Saturday. He has scored the most points ever by a Jayhawks freshman, has the highest total points in a game by a Jayhawk (a record formerly held by the guy who punched Mitch McGary in the gnads), and he won Big 12 Freshman of the Year. Can the haters let my boy live?

4)I’m loving how the Shockers are the best basketball team in Kansas and the reactions from Jayhawks homers when I mention this to them. Go to any bar in Lawrence and you will hear people saying how much they hope to land in the same bracket as Wichita State so “they can run them.” I’m not sure Kansas fans feel quite as cocky now that Embiid is on the shelf indefinitely. There is a great article by Grantland’s Jordan Conn (who besides Jonathan Abrams,Zach Lowe and Andrew Sharp is one of those cats who always seem to come with it when they write) discussing how dismissive KU fans are of Wichita State’s run.

I hear the same regurgitated arguments, “They would be middle of the pack if they were in the Big 12,” or “they hadn’t played anybody yet.” 34-0 is 34-0. John Wooden said it best when he said (and I’m paraphrasing) “the only opponent is yourself.” That means that no matter who you play, as a team you are playing against a standard and it doesn’t matter who the other team is. How many times have the Jayhawks lost to an inferior team this year? How many times has this happened to the Shockers? Exactly. That means every game they played, they have been mentally prepared and didn’t allow for any letdown games.

No one talks about Arizona being overrated (for the record, I don’t think they are); playing in an over glorified softball, flag football, volleyball, track and field conference. The “Wack-12” has been irrelevant for years, but because the conference makes a lot of money for the NCAA, people disregard this fact. I would have taken Wichita State over KU before the Embiid injury, now I feel even more confident that the Shockers will have a deeper run than the Jayhawks.

5) I’m loving James Michael McAdoo’s rugged look these days. He’s rocking the “I’m going through some thangs, it may be time for me to do things differently” kind of look. It makes him look less like a petulant pretty boy, and more like a dude ready to put in some work on the boards. I’m sure by the time tournament play starts, he’ll have cleaned his look up. But it’s a good sign when a dude is coming to practice everyday looking like “Eff it. We need these wins. I ain’t got time to worry bout nothing but hoops and making grades. Eff everything else.”

6) I’m loving that in addition to Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker put in some work to get Duke a much needed W against their bitter rival, UNC. His 30 points and 11 rebounds put the stamp on the narrative for his career at Duke; on his last night in front of the Cameron Crazies. I think he’ll be the real deal in the pro’s. He may or may not be an all-star, but he can’t be any worse than Glenn Robinson or Vin Baker can he? And while I’m talking about the UNC-Duke rivalry, with UNC not being as good lately, it almost seems like UNC is in danger of feeling like the odd man out, as the rivalry between Syracuse and Duke quickly develops.

I imagine UNC and Duke as two neighborhood kids who have known each other all their lives, and then right before high school starts, an older, cooler kid moves in across the street; hits it off splendidly with Duke, thus causing some friction between Duke and Carolina. Syracuse and Duke don’t have the history, but it certainly has the intensity.

7) I’m loving the Los Spurs jerseys that the team rocked against “El Heat” (doesn’t quite roll off the tongue does it?) Sure they supposedly hinder the shots of players like Lebron James, but I don’t care. I don’t need excuses, I need to see more reasons to spend my money on NBA swag.

8) I love not watching the Rockets play. Geez their games are way too long. It feels like Rockets games last at least 15-30 minutes longer than games from any other teams in the league. The high number of fouls, flopping, and Dwight Howard’s bricks make Rockets games nearly un-watchable. I feel like Patrick Beverley is another cheap shot away from becoming this generation’s Bruce Bowen. Damien Lillard is the latest to get annoyed by Beverley’s overzealous play. This spawned an interesting analysis on Grantland about Beverley’s affect on the team

9) I love that Jalen Rose has a job in the media. Having worked both as a professional ballplayer and now as an analyst, Jalen has a unique perspective. He peels back the curtain and offers a glimpse into both worlds. With so many different media outlets trying to create a narrative when there isn’t a story to report, Jalen’s analysis is one of the few places where you’ll get the real deal. He gives the people what they want.

10) I love watching Phoenix and Golden State play. Back when I lived in the Bay Area (without a college degree), I always wanted–but couldn’t afford–to be in attendance for this match-up. Back 2007, it was Steve Nash and company vs. Monta Ellis and Baron Davis, but it was an uptempo game that would sometimes get up in the 120’s. The current Golden State roster is better than that mid-aught’s squad, with Don Nelson tinkering with lineups like a chemistry experiment. I can’t argue that this year’s squad is better than the “7 seconds or less” Phoenix teams, but they are fun to watch again. I like the Morris boys way more than I ever did while they were in college. I thought they were bullies back in their KU days, but now they just seem like really tough enforcers. They add a much needed physical dimension to Jeff Hornacek’s roster. I hope the Morris boys play their whole NBA careers together.

11) Lastly, I love the idea of the NBA shortening its season. 82 games is too many. It felt like many of the good teams hit a serious lull after the All-Star Break. I know there is a lot of money to lose by reducing the season, but is there really a need for 12 extra games? Players get tired, players get hurt, and then the game suffers for these periods where key players are recovering, and rehabbing for the playoffs. I’d even be into an extra round if its about making up the lost money.

I think the NBA playoffs is long enough as it is, but if you took away 12 meaningless games in exchange for an extra round, at least the games would be of consequence. But if that happens, I’d like to see the top overall 18 teams get in, rather than this whole Eastern/Western Conference thing. Its not fair (to the players or fans) that a team can play mediocre ball all season and get rewarded simply because of geography. What sense does that make? Why we’re at it, I agree with Sir Charles Barkley’s simple solution to tanking. Lottery teams get one ping pong ball apiece. Why reward failure and bad management decisions? Philadelphia, Sacramento, Toronto, Cleveland, and Milwaukee have been perennial losers, and the lottery picks haven’t done those franchises any good. I believe in you Adam Silver. Make it happen captain!

Enjoy the conference tournaments. You best believe I’m dropping everything on my schedule to watch Syracuse and Duke if they happen to meet up again.

Peace.

Playing Catch Up [Originally posted at sportsblog.com on 3/20/14]

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It’s finally here. Games tipped off about an hour and a half ago. I’m in a greyhound terminal in Oklahoma City, only miles away from Chesapeake Energy Arena where the Oklahoma Thunder play. I’ve been on the road for a week; catching up with old friend and family and my internet access has been spotty at best.

I had planned on writing a post-conference tournament wrap up column earlier in the week. Had things gone according to plan, I could have bestowed a congratulations to Deandre Kane (man I hope the Thunder, Pacers, Warriors or Spurs draft him) and the rest of the Iowa State Cyclones for winning the the toughest conference I have seen in years. Coach K disagrees with me I’m sure, but I think Duke would be a double digit loss team had they played in the Big 12 this year.

Iowa State was due to finally beat Kansas. They had been so close to winning against them the last couple of years (the hard fought games reminded me of those epic Duke-Maryland battles from 2000-2002). You could tell that the Ames faithful, Fred Hoiberg, and company wanted that W badly. I thought the first half of the KU-ISU game was one of the best halves of basketball I’d seen all year, and incredibly hard fought. I was wondering how they would have anything in the tank for the second half. It was a physical game and a poorly officiated one as well. Refs need to learn how to let the boys play and worry more about traveling and palming violations than calling fouls.

It sucked to see KU lose the way they did. Iowa State was too big to play small ball against them. The ball movement in the 2nd half was damn near non-existent. Besides Perry Ellis, no one on the team played well enough for the Jayhawks to win. Wiggins had scored 71 points the last 2 games, so it was unrealistic to expect an otherworldly performance against the Cyclones without Embiid to take focus away from him. I cringe every time Jamari Traylor puts the ball on the floor. Things just get ugly. He was trying to do too much(maybe he been watching too many Morris Chestnut movies?)–someone should tell him to chill on the hero ball–there’s no need for it.

Selection Sunday has come and gone. I’m sure you’ve heard all the analysis by now and I don’t need to to go back into why I think Kansas will lose to Syracuse in the Sweet Sixteen. All I am going to say is that if i’m a Wichita State player I’m licking my chops at the challenge that is awaiting them. This is their “prove it” moment. They get to face the best in the toughest bracket to ever be set up for an undefeated team. They can silence the critics just by making it to the Final Four. Anyway, enough talk, I’m going to let my bracket do the talking for me. The madness is already upon us.

First Round Knockout/Second Round Hangover [originally posted on sportsblog.com 3/25/14]

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Well my bracket is officially F@#$ed. And the two teams I were rooting heavily for are both out like fat kids playing dodgeball.

Shout outs to Wichita State’s Cleanthony Early (12-17 shooting 31 pts 7 rebounds 1 steal, 1 block) and Kansas’ Tarik Black ( 18 points 6 rebounds) for giving it their all, and leaving nothing on the court for the last games of their college careers. It was a pleasure to watch both of them play this year.

Sunflower Season State Wrap Up

Let’s start with the Jayhawks. I said before the tournament started that the season would be a success no matter what happened, but I had figured that the team would be able to make the Sweet Sixteen even without Embiid. I am willing to admit that I was probably wrong about my assessment of the Pac-12’s talent. The only team I had advancing was Arizona. I had Stanford, Arizona State (who I’m sorry to say goodbye to their cheerleaders–I mean I thought UCLA had the baddest stable but I’m happy to be wrong about that) UCLA and Oregon getting knocked out in the first round. I need to pay more attention to their conference obviously, because they were representing. Zona, UCLA, and Stanford are still playing, while Oregon made me look foolish picking against them in the first round.I had New Mexico beating Stanford and in hindsight, that looks pretty awful as well. I thought for sure Syracuse would be playing Kansas this week, but the tournament gods had other plans.

KU ran up against the perfect match-up for an early exit. Stanford’s front court was the perfect foil for KU, and the lack of outside shooting and inconsistent guard play for Kansas did them in (5-16 from 3 point land; 14 turnovers).

Just like that, the KU boys season was over and Andrew Wiggins finished his college career with 4 points on 1-6 shooting in his last game. Offensively, the whole team looked stagnant. There was very little movement without the ball; players were standing around. No one was setting up picks for other players either. Was this a coaching thing, or were the players just tired? I’m racking my brain to think of the last balanced offensive squad that Self has put out on the floor, and I can’t think of any after the ’08 championship squad. It was a disappointing way to see them go out, but it was a good season.

Big ups to Stanford for playing great defense and holding the Jayhawks to 57 points on 32 % shooting. Big ups to Johnny Dawkins (who looks so much like the guy who played the honorable Elijah Muhammad in “Malcolm X” ) for a great game plan. Last but not least, big ups to the Stanford band for bringing joy and pageantry to this weekend’s madness.

I hadn’t been too impressed with Kansas State at all this year, but my desire for a K-State and Wichita State second round (and outright disrespect for Kentucky) led me to pick with my heart. Wichita State draws Kentucky (which everyone concedes may be the best #8 seed in tournament history from a talent stand point alone) in the second round. From just watching the game, it felt like the Shockers were the underdog and Kentucky was the # 1 seed (while we’re at it, can we all admit that putting the Shockers in the same region as Duke, Michigan, Kentucky, Louisville, and Texas was a big middle finger to Wichita for being in the Missouri Valley Conference? If the NCAA selection committee really wanted to be fair, they would pick the seeds but then draw the teams out of a hat for regional placement–kind of like soccer. This would take alleviate some of the accusations of regional and conference bias).

I’ve read many people call the Kentucky-Wichita State game the best so far this season, and I’m not one to disagree. The intensity was high, the flow (besides a whistle happy officiating crew–though not quite as bad as the Stanford-KU game) was up tempo and exciting. There were big dunks, great shots, and amazing passes. Even though the Wildcats were bigger, longer, and deeper than the Shockers, the MVC champs were one shot away from beating Kentucky, or sending the game into overtime. I’m sorry that I won’t get to watch this lineup anymore. Cleanthony Early and Fred Van Fleet will be handing the controls over to guard Ron Baker.

Despite what some of the haters have said, this season won’t be remembered as a disappointment. In fact, the Shockers played an unprecedented stretch of basketball (first team to go 35-0), where even in defeat, they played at ridiculously high level. The “mediocre” Kentucky team that has at least 5 possible NBA players (Willie Cauley-Stein arguably the best prospect), shot lights out and out-rebounded Wichita State by almost ten rebounds and still only won by 2 points. I think if they had somehow managed to win against UK, then a rematch against Louisville this year would not be decided by the “fastest jump ball whistle” in college basketball history. Wichita State had a better team this year than last, while Louisville regressed a little.The fans (who were louder than the KU fans were up in St. Louis) from Wichita should be extremely proud of what this team accomplished, and no matter what anyone says, they are winners in my book. Even in defeat, the Shockers proved that they could play with any team in the nation.

Big Daddy Kane

DeAndre Kane put in work when his team needed it the most (24 points 10 rebounds and 7 assists). I have been saying all year that he’s a grown ass man, and last night’s performance proved that he is the “real deal”, as Kenny Smith put it. I had Iowa State going to the final four, but pretty much wrote them off after Georges Nang broke his foot. Cyclones had some timely shooting from Naz Long (4-8 shooting from 3), but when they needed someone to put the team on his back, DeAndre answered the call.

Napier going FED

Speaking of putting the team on your back, Shabazz “Palaces” Napier put in 21 of his 25 points in the second half;pretty much doing the Villanova Wildcats in by himself. There were a couple of times where Napier would put up a deep shot and my stream would freeze in mid air, one of those times the ball looked well short of the bucket, and somehow it hit nothing but net. I lost my s&%$ right then and there.

This weekend brought us one of the best opening rounds of hoop I have seen in years. The close games, exciting match ups, and bracket busting upsets helped this year’s tournament live up to the hype (so far). Stephen F. Austin and Mercer are just two glaring examples of why the tournament is so exciting, because contrary to what people think, the best team rarely wins the whole thing–it is normally the hottest team that does. Once the tournament is over, we’ll examine the Jayhawks’ season as a whole, but out of respect for the teams still playing, we’ll focus on the rest of the field. Good luck with the rest of your brackets.

Winding Down [originally posted 4/1/14 on sportsblog.com]

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The life has been sucked out of this town since the Sunday of round 2. It’s amazing to see how many people living here in Lawrence don’t really care about basketball– just KU basketball. Everyone I talked to said “wait until March Madness, the town is so fun around that time.” I guess that was assuming the Jayhawks would make a deep run in the tourney. After what I have seen out of Naadir Tharpe the past few weeks, I’m no longer as confident about Kansas’ title chances come next year. Am I out of line for questioning this guy’s judgment?

We’re down to the Final Four. If you picked Wisconsin, Florida, Kentucky, and UCONN in your final four, then congratulations, you’re a liar…. the sweet sixteen was anything but sweet for my bracket, and now I only have one team left standing. The dream is over. I had KU taking it all last year, and my bracket then wasn’t anywhere near as disastrous as this year (and this is the MOST college hoops I have watched in a very long time). Regardless of how I picked ’em, I’m very happy with the match-ups for next weekend. The last two rounds brought some phenomenal games–especially the ones involving Kentucky. Let’s pause for a minute and reflect on the run UK is on. K-State, an undefeated Shockers team, Louisville in an epic game, then Michigan in a barn burner–you gotta give Coach Calimari props.

Poor officiating aside (been a long running story all season), its been a heck of a tournament. I really enjoyed the Iowa State -UCONN matchup. Shabazz Napier went ham, and has made me a believer. He was in control of the game the whole time, and got to the rack whenever he wanted. Deandre Kane only got 16 points on 18 shots, but it was only a matter of time until they ran out of steam after losing their starting center. Props to Iowa State for the season they had. With the “Mayor” running the helm up in Ames, I feel confident that they will push KU next year for that Big 12 regular season title.

Frank Kaminksy and the Wisconsin Badgers have made me question my beliefs about the Big Ten conference. Even though they are so boring to watch, they still find ways to win. They play defense and they are well coached. I’m not sure if they’ll have enough to keep Kentucky from making it an all SEC final. The same can be said for UCONN and Napier.

I really enjoyed Grant Hill’s analysis and insight this tournament. He has a great sense of humor and wears awesome suits. It’s hard to freely give so many compliments to a Duke guy, but man the cat is as smooth off the court as he was on the court. I hope I can raise a son to grow up to be that classy.

Lastly, I’m sorry to say goodbye to the last set of really hot cheerleaders. University of Arizona is a close third to UCLA and Arizona State for hottest cheerleaders in the nation. I see now how they get recruits down to that part of the country. If I were a scout for the Los Angeles Lakers, Pac-12 games would be my bread and butter. It’s probably a good thing I’m not one, because you’d probably find me on Reddit, with a selfie of me and two of Arizona’s finest. Some good games this week, and I’m not just talking about the tournament. Don’t get too excited about the Spurs-Thunder on Thursday night. It’s a back-to-back for San Antonio and “Pops” will probably rest the starters. Just saying.

What tha Kentuck? [Originally posted 4/7/14 on sportsblog.com]

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Since I started watching college basketball back in 1991, I have never correctly predicted a tournament winner. This year was the most perplexing field to predict this year because there was no clear cut favorite and the region that had my favorite teams to watch, was also the toughest one to win. What Kentucky has done to emerge from the Midwest is nothing short of incredible. Aside from the opening round (in which I incorrectly picked K-State beating them), every game they ended up being the most entertaining game each round. As much as I dislike the history of Kentucky hoops, I find it hard to root against Texas boys, Julius Randle, and Aaron and Andrew Harrison. I don’t see them spitting the bit in what amounts to a home game for those three young men. Now with Myles Turner and Emmanuel Mudiay both stepping onto the scene for next year, Texas hoops has to be on the map for putting ballers out into the spotlight.

I watched the game on Saturday with a die hard Kentucky fan, and hanging out with him, reminded me of the downside of blind fan loyalty. Instead of enjoying what was a classic game, the guy sat on the couch, red faced and screaming, agonizing over every possession. It didn’t look like fun. After he went nuts over the Aaron Harrison game winner (again????), he slumped down onto his sofa in relief. I’d forgotten how nerve wracking rooting for your favorite team can be (because it seems like forever since I’ve watched a Jayhawks game). I had a brief flashback of the Christian Laetnner shot back in 1992, and instantly wanted to inch out of his apartment in case, another one of those miracle endings happened. I don’t feel sorry for people very often, but I would have if that Traevon Jackson shot had gone in. As exciting as buzzer beaters can be, but you can’t help but feel for kids who lose in such heart breaking fashions.

I remember the ulcer I nearly gave myself during game 2 of the 2011 NBA Finals, when I sat up in LOUD CITY, screaming at Danny Crawford as the refs gave Miami the W, in one of my more frustrating basketball experiences. My buddy invited me over to watch the championship game and I wonder if I should go. I think if it were me, I’d be so stressed out, that I would want to watch it alone. My dude was almost in tears when Traevon Jackson for Wisconsin, got fouled at the end of the game to set up his three free throw attempts. I asked my buddy if he was going to buy some bubbly, but he’s too superstitious to set up a post game celebration. Frankly, unless its a blowout, it doesn’t sound very enjoyable, and isn’t that the whole point of championships–to enjoy the experience? The more I think about it, the better off I am going up to Henry T’s and eating some wings and drinking a cola beverage. I don’t want to watch him crying after a defeat, and I don’t want to celebrate a Kentucky win.

Even if UCONN wins I won’t be happy. I’m still smarting over their win on Saturday against the Gators. I didn’t think I need another reason to dislike the University of Florida, but their loss on Saturday derailed my last chance at winning the house money from my bracket. A Florida win would have put me over the top in points, but thanks to Shabazz Napier (who was in control of the whole game despite only taking 6 shots) with his 12 points, 4 steals and 6 assists, a guy who picked his bracket winners based on the strength of every school’s mascots won the pot. I hope that UCONN wins, but watching tonight will be like monitoring the 2008 presidential election, I don’t care for either party, but it just so happens that the blue state represents the lesser of two evils.

At about 10:30 tonight, people will either be writing about 5 freshman putting together an unprecedented run, or they will be writing about how a senior point guard put a team of average ballplayers on his back, and willed them to an unlikely championship. Either story line works well for the tournament. No matter which teams prevail, Jerry Jones will be the real winner. Despite my dislike for basketball games being played in huge domed football fields (with elevated courts that can lead to players injuring themselves on loose balls and fans being so far away from the action), there is not a bad seat in the house. The place is gigantic, but every seat is tailor made for good viewing, AND there is a enormous screen that makes it impossible to miss any action (you might even find yourself just watching everything on the big screen–which seems a little silly). The city of North Texas (Arlington gets no love do they?) will be in for a treat tonight. Hopefully there won’t be a lot of drinking and driving or shootings at the strip club tonight.

Wrap it Up B [Originally posted 4/9/14 on Sportsblog.com]

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Believe it or not I’m quite happy to see the end of the college basketball season. I now have time for other things in my life, like learning guitar, taking walks, chasing tail, or watching NBA hoops. I’m going to take a little break from basketball until the playoffs start, but before I do, let’s have a quick run down of the season in whole; in addition to an entertaining campaign by the 2013-2014 Jayhawks.

First I have to give a shout out to the NCAA Champions UCONN Huskies. What a run. I still can’t believe they pulled it off. If you think about how many potential future NBA players are on the Wildcats roster and how many are playing for UCONN, forget about the seedings, that was a major upset.

People have been bubbling about how great of a tournament it was, and for the most part I agree, but the second half of the final was some of the worst ball I saw all tournament. Both teams were sloppy and careless, and besides the dunk by James Young, the second half was damn near unwatchable. Had that game been anything but the final, I would have turned it off. UCONN more outlasted the Wildcats than beat them. It seemed like both teams were tripping over themselves to give that game away.

That being said, UCONN’s backcourt was ill, and seeing what they did pretty much affirms what I have been saying all year about guard play being the key to winning the tournament. Despite some intermittent struggles, Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatright carried the Huskies to a win. I’m not convinced that either will be more than NBA backups, but that takes nothing away from what they accomplished. Lebron thinks Napier should be the first pg taken in the draft; so maybe I’m wrong–it just seems like he’ll be too slow for the NBA, his dribble seems a little too high and his release point looks like his shot will get blocked consistently at the next level. It will be interesting to see him consistently face players who are as long and as quick as this year’s Kentucky team.

As for Kentucky, well who knows what is in store for them. They only have two guys who I feel confident will be immediate impact guys, James Young (who really impressed me with his play Monday night–I feel like he was only one who didn’t play scared) and Julius Randle (who I’m curious how he will adapt to playing against men his size, when he gets to the next level).

I think Dakari Johnson might be Andrew Bynum 2.0. I was on the fence about the Harrison boys. They need more time to develop but with their size (didn’t realize they were 6’6) they should be decent players.

Overall though a good tournament and a pretty good season. I wish Wichita State would have been given a fair shot , just so we could see what kind of team they really had, but I’m satisfied with the way things played out. And now, let’s move on to the local team.

2013-2014 Jayhawks

It’s hard to predict what a team what a team will do when they are as young as the Jayhawks. As up and down as Kentucky’s season was, they still made the championship game. Kansas had a better regular season than UK, but come tourney time, Calimari’s squad made more noise. So who had a better season? I guess that’s a matter of what is more important to a team, the regular season, or the tournament. So in the name of academics, let’s give these kids the first honest grades they have probably had all year.

BENCH C +

The bench play was more inconsistent than what I expected. I expected the older cats to make a bigger impact. Andrew White was a non factor, Justin Wesley’s biggest contribution was taking on the role of Wilt Chamberlain in a movie. Connor Frankamp and Brannon Greene were hard to count on from game to game. Frank Mason started out challenging Naadir Tharpe for his starting position, but Tharpe came on during conference play, and Mason couldn’t get enough minutes to get in a rhythm. Landen Lucas, Jamari Traylor, and Tarik Black improved as the year progressed (go figure; the bigs would get better while the guard play suffered–please Coach Self hire Aaron Miles as an assistant).

Guards C

I won’t get into Tharpe’s off the field play (get it? cause you know he was getting play), but now things totally make sense as to why he sometimes seemed….distracted maybe? Starting point guard for the Kansas Jayhawks is bigger than than starting quarterback for the football team. I imagine it may have gone to his head. He is going to have to do some soul searching this off season and decide how serious he is about playing, and how he wants to be remembered after his career here is done.

Wayne Selden played great at times and gave everyone a glimpse of how good he can be. If he decides to be to be the defensive leader next year, he is going to be a boss. I assume his shot will improve and he will be aggressive taking the ball to the rim. As good as the guard play will be next year (I expect Frankamp and Mason will play bigger roles in the offense next year), the offense will still need someone to focus on distributing the rock to the playmakers. This will be the biggest question going into next season. You know the Jayhawks will be stacked on wings and bigs. Speaking of……

Forwards A

Andrew Wiggins met and surpassed any expectation I had for him this year. He was the real deal. His performance alone (despite the final game against Stanford) this season deserves merit. Wiggins set the freshman scoring record, won Big 12 Newcomer of the Year award, and has the highest points scored in a game by ANY KU player.

Perry Ellis had a solid season. He took over when the team needed him to, and he was pretty solid offensively. He wasn’t much of a defensive player and I wonder if he’ll get better next year in that area. I’d also like to see if he will be more aggressive next year on the offensive end. I also wonder (depending on whether Embiid returns or not–he announces his plans for next year at 2 today) if he’ll be starting next year over Cliff Alexander. There is a serious logjam at power forward and someone is going to have to be the person to come off then bench and immediately go into beast mode.

Center A

Besides having some of the illest dunks this season, Tarik Black managed to be a calming presence in the locker room and on the floor. At the beginning of the season he fouled too much, but man did he come on as the season progressed. His play alone would have gotten this position a B.

Joel Embiid progressed faster than anybody could have imagined. He’s almost become a basketball prodigy in his three years. He’s so good, quick, smart, and fluid. He’s also a ferocious rebounder and defender. If he comes back, suddenly the hype jumps back up to full tilt. If he leaves, the Jayhawks may have a chance to fly under the radar for a little while. Whether he stays or he goes, I hope his back is able to hold up.

Overall, it was a fun year. I’m extremely happy about the time I have devoted to watching this team, and it has definitely been one of the more memorable squads in a while. I can’t wait to see how they will look when Kelly Oubre and Cliff Alexander get to town. Despite the ending, Jayhawks fans should be satisfied with the progress the team made. Despite the high expectations year in and year out, there can only be one champion, and this year its the UCONN Huskies. See you in a couple weeks when the big boys start playing.