Day: January 30, 2023

A lot of sports this weekend.

Kid Hoops

L’s team played one game Saturday night. They were matched up with a team that we think were all soccer players in a hoops league for winter conditioning. We play at least one of these teams a season. Sometimes these teams are really good.

This one was not.

It took awhile for our girls – only eight this week – to find their groove but eventually they got it going. They led 23–2 at halftime and won 40–9. Their coach said he was going to make them run for giving up nine. I think he was joking.

L had a great game. She scored 13, all on drives (plus 1–2 from the line). She also completely dominated the girl she was guarding, which happened to be one of S’s patients. L didn’t know that during the game but giggled when S told her afterward.

They were original supposed to play two Saturday, but their second game got moved to tonight for some reason.

KU

The losing streak is over! And it couldn’t have happened in a better setting, against a more worthy opponent.

Three weeks ago most people would have thought KU would destroy Kentucky. Then the Jayhawks hit their losing streak, the Cats seemed to finally figure their shit out, and I was hoping it wouldn’t turn into a replay of last year’s blowout in Allen.

It seemed like it was headed that way for about four minutes, when UK jumped out to an easy 9–4 lead that could/should have been a couple baskets bigger.

But the next 35-ish minutes were a masterclass in coaching by Bill Self. He limited Oscar Tshiebwe’s touches and the Jayhawks gang-rebounded to limit the toughest rebounder in the nation to only nine for the night. Self ran smart stuff on offense, moving the UK defense around to give KU open looks. And the Jayhawks did their jobs, with Jalen Wilson being his usual stud self, Kevin McCullar shaking off an ankle injury to dominate on the boards and hit the biggest shot of the game, while Gradey Dick battled and finally hit a huge three late.

Meanwhile John Calipari was too busy stomping his feet like a baby and screaming at the refs to tell his team to throw the ball to Oscar every possession. It was hilarious watching Jacob Toppin post up and turn it over while Oscar was sadly watching from the other side of the lane.

Seriously, Kentucky wins, maybe easily, if Oscar touches the ball five more times each half. KU could not stop him. But the Wildcats apparently aren’t well coached enough to recognize a huge mismatch and use it as the first option on every possession.

Self is now 3–1 in Rupp Arena, which is pretty damn impressive.

Thank goodness the losing streak is over. Not sure how I would have reacted to KU’s first four-game losing streak since, checks notes, I was in high school?!?!

Now it’s back to the Big 12 bloodbath, hopefully with a nice dose of confidence. Also saying prayers and lighting candles for McCullar’s ankle.

Other College Hoops

I watched a lot of the other Big 12-SEC games Saturday, in little chunks while switching around. I could not believe Oklahoma hammered Alabama by nearly 30. Seems a little flukey, like the Crimson Tide didn’t take OU seriously on a day OU was red hot. Still a legit-ass win.

Baylor-Arkansas was probably the most entertaining game of the day, although we had to leave before it ended.

Iowa State-Missouri, with Mizzou in their Norm Stewart era jerseys, made me think I was watching from my room in McCollum Hall in 1990 or 1991. I told my best Tiger and Clone fan friends that all we needed was Jay Randolph and “former Big 8 All American” Gary Thompson on the call and it would have been perfect.

BTW, I owe Mizzou fans an apology. I wasn’t trying to be snarky when I suggested they would fall apart after KU pounded them in December. It just seemed like an easy prediction, given MU hadn’t played anyone tough before KU, got worked over, and then had a brutal stretch of games immediately after. The Tigers have proven me wrong since then with a series of nice wins.

I laughed when I saw some bracket prediction last week that had MU playing Indiana in the first round, and both in KU’s bracket. It would be crazy for either a KU-MU or KU-IU rematch in the Sweet 16 in Kansas City. The Border War bonus game would obviously be a little more crazy.

It ended up being a nice day here, with the sun out and it approaching 50 – S and I even took about a 45 minute walk mid-afternoon – but the quality of the hooping would have been ideal for a more typically cold, snowy January day.

Pacers

The Pacers made big news last week by re-signing Myles Turner, who was going to be a free agent in the off season. Turner is playing the best basketball of his career, and the rumors popped up a few weeks ago that the Pacers made him a contract offer, which included a bunch of their free cap money for the remainder of this year, something no other team could do if they traded him. But when Tyrese Haliburton got injured two weeks ago and the team lost nine of ten,[1] it started to feel like they would again look to move Turner before the trade deadline.

I think this is a smart move. It’s only a two-year extension, so the Pacers aren’t hitching the franchise’s future onto a massive contract that could go bad in three years. Plus it gives Turner a chance to be a free agent after the next NBA national TV contract is signed and revenues take another jump. Win-win.

As long as Turner stays healthy, which is always the question with him.

Now the focus needs to be on finding a way to get a big wing onto the roster, either through a trade in the next two weeks, or more likely over the summer. The team has a great, young core of Haliburton, Turner, and Bennedict Mathurin with a bunch of other smallish wings. They should bundle that bench depth with some of their three first round picks this year into a package to get someone in the 6’8” range who can defend and score.

NFL

So Chiefs-Eagles in the Super Bowl. Not the matchup I wanted, but not like I had strong interests in the outcomes of the conference title games. I causally watched both games, often with the sound down while also consuming other media. I think M was upset that Joe Burrow lost. He is the first pro athlete she has ever expressed any independent interest in. I can’t imagine why.

I still have to constantly explain to people here, even ones I’ve know for years, how I’m not a Chiefs fan. It can be exhausting, let me tell you.