{"id":12379,"date":"2023-12-11T10:35:04","date_gmt":"2023-12-11T15:35:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/?p=12379"},"modified":"2024-08-28T08:48:31","modified_gmt":"2024-08-28T12:48:31","slug":"weekend-notes-87","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/2023\/12\/11\/weekend-notes-87\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekend Notes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We had a super-busy Saturday that featured a lot of L\u2019s for our family. Fortunately, for me, the one dub was a big one.<\/p>\n<p>Throwing hoops and real life together, our family went 1\u20137 for the day.<\/p>\n<p>Cathedral lost JV and varsity games. More on that tomorrow.<\/p>\n<p>S\u2019s Hoosiers lost to Auburn.<\/p>\n<p>M\u2019s previously undefeated Bearcats lost to Xavier.<\/p>\n<p>The Pacers lost to the Lakers in the IST championship game.<\/p>\n<p>And L was nominated for, but did not win, Ice Princess at the CHS winter formal.<\/p>\n<p>The win\u2026<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Jayhawk Talk<\/h3>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/144A7643.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>Well, we finally got a competitive game between Missouri and Kansas for the first time since the series re-started. Even then, Missouri never got it down to a two-possession game in the second half, so we can call it a comfortable KU win. Comfortable, acceptable, yet somehow unsatisfying. Simply because the Jayhawks were once up 18 and another ass-kicking appeared imminent until Mizzou sliced 10 points off that lead and the final few minutes were a little nervy.<\/p>\n<p>I think it officially qualifies as a Weird Game. Mizzou was better early, and held KU off for about three-quarters of the first half before a huge KU run allowed them to take control. Then the second half had a couple mini-KU runs balanced by steady Mizzou counters. There was never any real rhythm to the game. Mizzou played terrific defense, but couldn\u2019t put together the offensive performance you need to pull an upset in Allen Fieldhouse. KU seemed low-energy much of the game outside of the last five minutes of the first half. Then the ending felt like it could have stretched on forever and the margin would never get outside a 7\u201311 point range. Like I said, weird game.<\/p>\n<p>One concern for KU is that Mizzou showed that until someone on the Jayhawks starts forcing defenses to respect them from behind the arc, teams will just pack defenders around Hunter Dickinson, both taking him out of the game and preventing cuts to the rim by his teammates. I don\u2019t see anyone on this year\u2019s roster turning into a consistent deep threat, at least not this season. So I think Bill Self\u2019s challenge is to find a way to generate mid-range looks, which this team has the potential to be quite good at, to open up the lane. I\u2019m confident he\u2019ll figure something out.<\/p>\n<p>As is often the case, KU\u2019s schedule is kind of hurting them. They need to develop a couple guys from the group of Elmarko Jackson &#8211; who was quite good Saturday &#8211; Johnny Furphy, Nick Timberlake, and Jamari McDowell as complementary players that Self can trust. A schedule packed with close games against high level opponents makes that difficult. Worse, KU has played kind of like ass in their guarantee games sprinkled in amongst the MU, UConn, Kentucky, and Hawaii games, preventing mop-up minutes for the young\/new guys. Conference play is just a few weeks away, and that\u2019s when guys that Self doesn\u2019t trust usually disappear.<\/p>\n<p>One positive for KU is how well KJ Adams played. He was the best player on the court Saturday. It\u2019s remarkable how he keeps finding ways to add to his game. I joked Saturday night that he may just develop a 3-point shot over the Christmas break to solve KU\u2019s shooting woes. I doubt that will happen, but I also wouldn\u2019t ever count that kid out.<\/p>\n<p>Oh, and he had the signature play of the year so far for KU, one that will be in the pregame video for years.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">making T-Rob proud with this one \ud83d\udd25<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/LevelUp?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#LevelUp<\/a> x <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/kj_atx?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@kj_atx<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/rutN82xxYz\">pic.twitter.com\/rutN82xxYz<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Kansas Men\u2019s Basketball (@KUHoops) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KUHoops\/status\/1733635266881949864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 9, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>I also noticed that Self seemed pretty chill throughout the game. I guess this is a post- heart attack thing? It confuses me a little. I mean, I want the guy to be healthy and able to coach for another decade or so. But it also helps my mood considerably when he rips into the team when they are playing like ass.<\/p>\n<p>I love how petty rivalry games make people. MU coach Dennis Gates made a comment in his postgame press conference about how not many teams come into Allen Fieldhouse and lead for 14 minutes. I get what he was saying, and it was 100% valid. I don\u2019t think he was suggesting the game was a moral victory in any way. Just pointing out there was something his young team could build on.<\/p>\n<p>But since it was a rivalry game, naturally KU people made fun of it, generating fake banners about close losses to hang at Mizzou Arena or referencing Bruce Weber and his Try Hard chart. I didn\u2019t necessarily buy into those arguments, but they made me laugh.<\/p>\n<p>Along those lines, I was watching the UC-Xavier game later in the evening and saw a sign in the XU student section that said \u201cHell Is Real And It\u2019s Three Miles Away.\u201d Rivalries are the best.<a id=\"fnref:1\" class=\"footnote\" title=\"see footnote\" href=\"#fn:1\">[1]<\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Pacers<\/h3>\n<p>After a dream run to the championship game &#8211; during which they beat Philadelphia, Boston, and Milwaukee &#8211; the Pacers played their worst game of the inaugural NBA In Season Tournament in Saturday night\u2019s championship game. They missed sooooo many open shots they had hit over their previous games. Myles Turner was really bad. A lot of people took shots at him forgetting he had played wonderfully in every game before the final.<\/p>\n<p>Oh, and 157 year old LeBron James played like he was 25 and Anthony Davis remembered he is one of the best, and least guardable, players in the game and could not be stopped. Two transcendent players showing out usually get you the win in the NBA.<\/p>\n<p>And even then the Pacers were right in it until about 2:00 were left and the Lakers went on a final surge.<\/p>\n<p>A terrific run, a coming-out show for Tyrese Haliburton, and some rare national attention on the Pacers.<\/p>\n<p>The Pacers have a lot of flexibility moving forward thanks to expiring contracts, some team-friendly short-term contracts, and full control of their future draft picks. Might they make a splashy move to bring in another proven scorer to put next to Haliburton, either between now and the trade deadline or over the summer?<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Winter Formal<\/h3>\n<p>As I mentioned, L was nominated for Ice Princess at the CHS winter formal. Their winter formal is weird. It is the biggest deal for freshmen, who dress up and get nominated for stuff. Some sophomores go. Almost no juniors go. And seniors show up briefly, but wearing ugly sweaters rather than suits and dresses.<\/p>\n<p>Anyway, L was one of five girls nominated. I hoped she would cross enough demographic lines to be in the running, but it was a girl who is kind of Tik-Tok famous, is a model, and the daughter of a former local celebrity that won. L isn\u2019t a huge fan of the kid who won Ice Prince and she was relieved they didn\u2019t have to stand\/dance together. So she really won I guess?<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Colts<\/h3>\n<p>What a shit game. A couple terrible calls went against them, but the Colts basically rolled over after the Bengals scored an early touchdown. And on a day when the Jags and Texans both lost. This team really isn\u2019t playoff worthy, and will lose in the first round if they make it. But that was still a super-dumb loss.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Indiana Fever<\/h3>\n<p>I doubt I\u2019ve ever written about our local WNBA team here before. The Fever won the WNBA draft lottery yesterday. Meaning if Caitlin Clark decides to go pro, as expected, she will likely be playing here in Indy this summer. We already have tickets to watch her play in Bloomington in February. I\u2019m guessing this means L will be going to her first-ever Fever game sometime in 2024.<\/p>\n<div class=\"footnotes\">\n<hr \/>\n<ol>\n<li id=\"fn:1\">M was very excited about the game\u2026but went to see a movie with her friends. <a class=\"reversefootnote\" title=\"return to article\" href=\"#fnref:1\">\u00a0\u21a9<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We had a super-busy Saturday that featured a lot of L\u2019s for our family. Fortunately, for me, the one dub was a big one. Throwing hoops and real life together, our family went 1\u20137 for the day. Cathedral lost JV and varsity games. More on that tomorrow. S\u2019s Hoosiers lost to Auburn. M\u2019s previously undefeated Bearcats lost to Xavier. The Pacers lost to the Lakers in the IST championship game. And L was nominated for, but did not win, Ice Princess at the CHS winter formal. The win\u2026 Jayhawk Talk Well, we finally got a competitive game between Missouri and Kansas for the first time since the series re-started. Even then, Missouri never got it down to a two-possession game in the second half, so we can call it a comfortable KU win. Comfortable, acceptable, yet somehow unsatisfying. Simply because the Jayhawks were once up 18 and another ass-kicking appeared imminent until Mizzou sliced 10 points off that lead and the final few minutes were a little nervy. I think it officially qualifies as a Weird Game. Mizzou was better early, and held KU off for about three-quarters of the first half before a huge KU run allowed them to take control. Then the second half had a couple mini-KU runs balanced by steady Mizzou counters. There was never any real rhythm to the game. Mizzou played terrific defense, but couldn\u2019t put together the offensive performance you need to pull an upset in Allen Fieldhouse. KU seemed low-energy much of the game outside of the last five minutes of the first half. Then the ending felt like it could have stretched on forever and the margin would never get outside a 7\u201311 point range. Like I said, weird game. One concern for KU is that Mizzou showed that until someone on the Jayhawks starts forcing defenses to respect them from behind the arc, teams will just pack defenders around Hunter Dickinson, both taking him out of the game and preventing cuts to the rim by his teammates. I don\u2019t see anyone on this year\u2019s roster turning into a consistent deep threat, at least not this season. So I think Bill Self\u2019s challenge is to find a way to generate mid-range looks, which this team has the potential to be quite good at, to open up the lane. I\u2019m confident he\u2019ll figure something out. As is often the case, KU\u2019s schedule is kind of hurting them. They need to develop a couple guys from the group of Elmarko Jackson &#8211; who was quite good Saturday &#8211; Johnny Furphy, Nick Timberlake, and Jamari McDowell as complementary players that Self can trust. A schedule packed with close games against high level opponents makes that difficult. Worse, KU has played kind of like ass in their guarantee games sprinkled in amongst the MU, UConn, Kentucky, and Hawaii games, preventing mop-up minutes for the young\/new guys. Conference play is just a few weeks away, and that\u2019s when guys that Self doesn\u2019t trust usually disappear. One positive for KU is how well KJ Adams played. He was the best player on the court Saturday. It\u2019s remarkable how he keeps finding ways to add to his game. I joked Saturday night that he may just develop a 3-point shot over the Christmas break to solve KU\u2019s shooting woes. I doubt that will happen, but I also wouldn\u2019t ever count that kid out. Oh, and he had the signature play of the year so far for KU, one that will be in the pregame video for years. making T-Rob proud with this one \ud83d\udd25#LevelUp x @kj_atx pic.twitter.com\/rutN82xxYz &mdash; Kansas Men\u2019s Basketball (@KUHoops) December 9, 2023 I also noticed that Self seemed pretty chill throughout the game. I guess this is a post- heart attack thing? It confuses me a little. I mean, I want the guy to be healthy and able to coach for another decade or so. But it also helps my mood considerably when he rips into the team when they are playing like ass. I love how petty rivalry games make people. MU coach Dennis Gates made a comment in his postgame press conference about how not many teams come into Allen Fieldhouse and lead for 14 minutes. I get what he was saying, and it was 100% valid. I don\u2019t think he was suggesting the game was a moral victory in any way. Just pointing out there was something his young team could build on. But since it was a rivalry game, naturally KU people made fun of it, generating fake banners about close losses to hang at Mizzou Arena or referencing Bruce Weber and his Try Hard chart. I didn\u2019t necessarily buy into those arguments, but they made me laugh. Along those lines, I was watching the UC-Xavier game later in the evening and saw a sign in the XU student section that said \u201cHell Is Real And It\u2019s Three Miles Away.\u201d Rivalries are the best.[1] Pacers After a dream run to the championship game &#8211; during which they beat Philadelphia, Boston, and Milwaukee &#8211; the Pacers played their worst game of the inaugural NBA In Season Tournament in Saturday night\u2019s championship game. They missed sooooo many open shots they had hit over their previous games. Myles Turner was really bad. A lot of people took shots at him forgetting he had played wonderfully in every game before the final. Oh, and 157 year old LeBron James played like he was 25 and Anthony Davis remembered he is one of the best, and least guardable, players in the game and could not be stopped. Two transcendent players showing out usually get you the win in the NBA. And even then the Pacers were right in it until about 2:00 were left and the Lakers went on a final surge. A terrific run, a coming-out show for Tyrese Haliburton, and some rare national attention on the Pacers. The Pacers have a lot of flexibility moving forward thanks to expiring contracts, some team-friendly short-term contracts, and full control of their future draft picks. Might they make a splashy move to bring in another proven scorer to put next to Haliburton, either between now and the trade deadline or over the summer? Winter Formal As I mentioned, L was nominated for Ice Princess at the CHS winter formal. Their winter formal is weird. It is the biggest deal for freshmen, who dress up and get nominated for stuff. Some sophomores go. Almost no juniors go. And seniors show up briefly, but wearing ugly sweaters rather than suits and dresses. Anyway, L was one of five girls nominated. I hoped she would cross enough demographic lines to be in the running, but it was a girl who is kind of Tik-Tok famous, is a model, and the daughter of a former local celebrity that won. L isn\u2019t a huge fan of the kid who won Ice Prince and she was relieved they didn\u2019t have to stand\/dance together. So she really won I guess? Colts What a shit game. A couple terrible calls went against them, but the Colts basically rolled over after the Bengals scored an early touchdown. And on a day when the Jags and Texans both lost. This team really isn\u2019t playoff worthy, and will lose in the first round if they make it. But that was still a super-dumb loss. Indiana Fever I doubt I\u2019ve ever written about our local WNBA team here before. The Fever won the WNBA draft lottery yesterday. Meaning if Caitlin Clark decides to go pro, as expected, she will likely be playing here in Indy this summer. We already have tickets to watch her play in Bloomington in February. I\u2019m guessing this means L will be going to her first-ever Fever game sometime in 2024. M was very excited about the game\u2026but went to see a movie with her friends. \u00a0\u21a9<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[31,52,73,41,70,58,36,66,14,43],"class_list":["post-12379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-basketball","tag-college-sports","tag-indiana-fever","tag-indiana-pacers","tag-indianapolis-colts","tag-kansas-jayhawks","tag-nba","tag-nfl","tag-parenting","tag-wnba"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12379"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12379\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12381,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12379\/revisions\/12381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dsnotebook.me\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}