My observation from another week of basketball and retirement.
Upsets Are Good- Predictability in sports is boring. Baseball borders on that, the richest teams win. The NFL is the other extreme, it strives to for equity and anyone can win a given week.
I have to admit as a youth, I was a big UCLA fan. I didn’t mind predictability in that case, but it really is not good for the sport. Today with the transfer portal and the NIL, it is more and more predictable.
Duke losing in men’s basketball and UConn losing in women’s basketball were both very good for college basketball in my opinion. Illinois or Arizona winning in men’s would be good for basketball. I don’t feel that way about Michigan because with their money, they will soon be in the same league with Duke, Kansas, UConn, etc.
I am pulling for UCLA in the women, it will be good for the women’s game.
Gamecocks Impressive- Watching the S.Carolina vs UConn, the Gamecocks were so impressive. SC looked so much quicker and athletic, and if there was a loose ball, SC players were diving for it and Huskies were watching.
UConn’s defensive transition was horrible. My theory is that UConn was used to playing the weaker teams in the Big East, and UConn was probably scoring on over 50% of their possessions so they could get back and set up their defense. Vs. SC, UConn was having to get back on misses and turnovers, which they were not used to doing and they obviously were not good at doing.
Wooden is Watching- John Wooden once said he liked the college women’s game because it was more finesse game. If Coach Wooden watched UCLA vs Texas, he would not have said that. With a scoring explosion at the end of the game, they were able to make it a 57-44 game.
I wonder if when the refs went into their lockeroom after the game if they said to each other, “Man, those teams were sure bad offensively tonight.” Or did they go into the lockeroom and say, “Do you think how we called the game had an impact on offenses?”
Running the court, Lauren Betts at 6’7” doesn’t look athletic. Around the basket, she seems like has great anticipation and instincts. She is not another Bill Walton or Lew Alcindor, but she is definitely in the family of great UCLA post players. Kiki Rice seems to be able to do whatever is needed.
Lobo, Bilas, & Herbstreit- All three of these people do a good job as the color commentators for broadcasts in the sports they cover. I would not say any of them do a great job. None of the three give the same level of analysis as Jeff VanGundy, Nick Saban, Rick Neuheisal, Stephanie White, P.J.Carlesimo, or Robbie Hummel.
I think it would provide a breath of fresh air if Lobo didn’t do UConn games, Bilas didn’t do Duke games, and Herstreit didn’t do either Ohio State or Michigan games. There is just too much love by them.
Stain on Reputation- I purposely waited to the end to talk about Geno’s multiple rants and multiple failures to acknowledge any error.
1- Bad Loser- The expletive exchange after the third quarter where he complained about foul disparity, SC tearing his players jersey, and Coach Stanley being vulgar and out of control was quite a laundry list of grievances.
2- Rain on Your Parade- I remember as a coach after we pulled a huge upset, in the hand shake line, the opposing coach said, “You were lucky, the refs gave you the game.” It is tough when you lose not to be mad, but the losing coach should find it in themselves to give the winners at least a moment in the limelight.
Geno’s grievance with Coach Stanley was petty and childish but if it was important to him, it could have been handled by talking to her on Monday after the tourney was over.
3- Walk Off- His walking off is unacceptable. I have heard of coaches who decided they had a reason not to shake hands with the other players or the other team- they were wrong and Geno was wrong to leave the court without congratulating the winning players.
4- Geno did not have that ability after the game to apologize, instead he doubled and tripled down on his behavior. A day later, he apologized in writing but his actions were a stain on his reputation.
Carter & Ogwumike- Anraya Carter and Chiney Ogwumike were outstanding handling the Geno controversery. So often the half-time commentators become promoters vs being true analysists. On this night, they were professional commentators.
WNBA Free Agency- Take note over the next few days or weeks as almost all the WNBA players are free agents.
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