Sports Notes

Tuesday was a fun sports day, for multiple reasons.

HS Hoops

It was home opener night for the Irish, taking on our Jesuit sisters from up the block.1 For the first time since L’s freshman year we have three teams, and all three were playing. I watched the JV A game where our girls jumped out to a 20-0 start before winning by 40. In the upstairs gym the B team won big, too. A good start to the night.

The dad I’ve been sitting with for four years checked in with me before the first game last week to see when I would be there, and we both admitted it’s just in our blood to watch the JV game even if our girls won’t play in it. Our JV team has some promise, a lot of good freshmen who know what they are doing. They are fun to watch.

On to varsity. BJPS beat us by 15 last year, after we led by 12 early. They just killed us from behind the 3-point arc. Their best player, who lit us up, is back for her senior year.

No such issues this year.

We led from the start, got the lead to as many as 30, and cruised to a 23-point win. It was a complete effort. We carved up their zone press for easy buckets behind it. We limited their stud to just one made 3 in the first three-plus quarters. We dominated on the boards.

The best thing I saw was how we are compensating for the best senior we lost from last year. She was a pure athlete, not necessarily a high IQ basketball player. She was our most consistent shooter, but often forced things. That said, she could also bail us out of any stretch where the offense was bogged down and the ball wasn’t moving. I was worried that we don’t have a player like her to fill that role.

Last night, at least, we moved the ball beautifully. We cut better than we’ve ever cut. Our offense isn’t super complex, which drives me a little crazy sometimes, but we made it look very good last night. It seems like everyone has stepped up their game in that girl’s absence.

L played about 10 minutes. I talked with her about how, with varsity going 11 deep this year, some nights will be like this. It won’t be because she played poorly or the coach was mad at her; there just aren’t a ton of minutes and if other girls are playing well, she’ll only get brief spurts. I think she understands that, because she’s a smart kid. She’s also a little bitter that being hurt most of the past two years has robbed her of some speed while allowing teammates to get better and pass her. Fortunately she compartmentalizes all that for off-the-court. She remains a great teammate, and is still arguably the vocal leader on the team.

L got her first bucket of the year, finding a seam, Euro-stepping a girl onto her butt, and then finishing. An assist, a turnover. As in our scrimmage, she made two gorgeous entry passes to our big girl, who blew the layup both times. She had a couple other dimes that teammates couldn’t convert either.

Not much in the box score, but I thought she played well.

A nice win, and a statement win at that. BJPS moved into our sectional this year, so there is a chance we could play them again in February.

Oh, worth noting the team that beat us last week lost by 40 in their next outing. Now, it was against a really good team. But that was concerning.

KU Hoops

Thankfully we were home in time for the KU tip. The rest of the family always laughs at me when I get home from L’s game and am able to turn on a KU game. “These are your favorite nights ever, aren’t they?”

When both teams win they are.

After a slow start and a quick timeout, KU was really, really good. Although I’m not sure how good Kentucky is, at least at the moment. I don’t remember the last time 1) KU moved the ball like that, 2) KU was this athletic, 3) KU was this fun to watch. I know, I know, it’s one game…

People got concerned when Melvin Council Jr. broke his foot on Monday. I thought it might be a good thing, as it forces Taylen Kinney to be the primary point guard. I love his game. He is aggressive and unafraid. He can play himself into bad spots and takes some poor shots. Those moments are from over-aggression or youthfulness, not lack of skill or confidence.

There was a play late in the game, when Kentucky was trying to make a run, that impressed me so much about TK’s game. It was a ragged possession where KU kicked the ball around a couple times and missed a bad shot, but kept hustling and getting the ball back. A bit of a mad scramble, where everyone was in the wrong spots and getting frantic. The loose ball came out to TK at the top of the key. What does a freshman do in this situation eight times out of ten? Either hoists a quick, bad shot or drives the lane and gets called for a charge. I’ve seen it 1000 times. But TK did a quick ball fake to move the defense, held the ball for a beat, let his teammates reset, then fired a pass that turned into a bucket. It was a brilliant understanding of the moment.

He’s still going to have plenty of “Settle Down Freshman” moments, but I love his potential. And being the main PG for two months is really going to help him. As a bonus, if Council comes back healthy in January, he won’t be totally gassed like he was last March when he was asked to play 39 minutes a game because of other roster issues.2

Oh, TK shot it horribly last night and it still felt like he had a great game!

I was pleased Leroy Blyden Jr. looked comfortable even though he shot it poorly, too.

I think every KU fan is already in love with Trey Kaufman-Renn. That dude changes the ceiling for this team as much as any single player has in recent KU history. Too bad Self didn’t peel him away from Purdue three years ago instead of getting Hunter Dickinson from Michigan. Self might be a retired, three-time national champion if he had.

Oh, and Tyran Stokes and Tre White were fantastic. White enters the Champions Classic pantheon by dropping 30 points.

A great night for the Jayhawks. Hopefully they can keep it going when they get to Las Vegas next week.

cLots

Yes, I’m reviving the intentional typo. I never should have dropped it.

It was good that the Colts moved four players for a bucket-full of draft picks over the past couple weeks. I think a lot of fans are frustrated Daniel Jones wasn’t one of the players moved. Come on, though, who wanted him? He hasn’t proven he’s either healthy or worthy of moving to a contender. The best hope for the Colts is he plays better in the second half of the season and someone wants him in the offseason. Since he basically has no one to throw to, that seems pretty unlikely.

I’m torn on Jonathan Taylor still being a Colt. It’s clear other teams weren’t willing to meet the Colts’ asking price. I get not wanting to let him go for too little. But it felt like they wanted to balance out the Sauce Gardner trade and get at least one first round pick in return, which is not what RBs will get you these days. A few national commentators suggested the Colts would get the maximum value for him if they waited until the spring to trade him. Others have said that is silly, now is the time to trade him or you have to keep him until next year’s trade deadline.

The Colts can’t keep playing Taylor if they want to trade him in April, right? They can’t risk him blowing up an ankle or knee and being unable to move him. With the offensive line weakened and no one for Jones to throw to, I’m not sure how Taylor is going to put up any numbers when the defense can focus on shutting him down anyway.

This is a lost season. Time start thinking about who wants to come in and clean up this mess. Nothing the organization did the past couple weeks suggests they will get off the treadmill of mediocrity and dumbness any time soon.

Bring on the Hammond Bears!

  1. BJPS is about 15 minutes west of our house. CHS is 20 minutes to the southeast. Our girls never had any interest in even looking at BJPS. A lot of Indy Catholics will tell you BJPS isn’t even a “real” Catholic school. Guess who a lot of those people vote for and what their reasons are… ↩︎

  2. I.e. a weak bench and Darryn Peterson’s constant status questions. ↩︎