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Armadillo: Sunday's six-pack
Odds to win this year’s World Series:
19-5— Chicago Cubs
7-1— Cleveland Indians, Los Angeles Dodgers
8-1— Boston Red Sox
12-1— Houston Astros, New York Mets, Washington Nationals
14-1— San Francisco Giants
30-1— Detroit, Bronx, Seattle, St Louis, Texas, Toronto
**********
Armadillo: Sunday's List of 13: Wrapping up a sports Saturday……..
13) Gonzaga 83, Xavier 59— Would be a fun night to be in Spokane, with Gonzaga making the Final Four for the first time. Clock struck midnight for Xavier, which went further than they should have, considering their point guard last played on January 29. Gonzaga made 12-24 on the arc, and when the favorite makes their 3’s, they often win big.
This is first time since 2002 a double digit seed made regional finals and didn’t cover the spread; they’re now 3-3 SU, 5-1 vs spread in last six tries.
12) Oregon 74, Kansas 60— Wherever Bill Walton watched this game, he had to be gushing; the Ducks were up 11 at the half- they made 11-25 on the arc, Kansas was 5-25. Jordan Bell blocked eight shots, was dominant inside. Jayhawks played only six guys (a 7th guy played 4:00)- this was the fewest points they scored in a game all season.
Must be fun to play for Oregon; tons of free sneakers when your #1 booster is Phil Knight.
11) It bothers me to type this because the guy is one of the best coaches ever, but Bill Self is now 2-7 in Elite 8 games; he’s been a #1-seed in the tournament seven times, and made the Final Four once in those seven years. He’s also won the Big X regular season 13 years in a row, which no other coach has ever done in any league, not even John Wooden.
When you don’t win the national championship there will always be naysayers, and Kansas has won “only” one national title under Self, but for the love of God, Kansas is lucky to have him.
10) Devin Booker scored 70 points Friday night in the Suns’ loss in Boston, their 7th loss in a row and first of the seven losses where they even covered the spread. They’re a very young NBA team that is obviously looking forward to the season ending.
After the game, the team took a pic in the locker room, celebrating Booker’s 70-point night, which is one of the best scoring nights in NBA history, but did all the players have to look so damn happy? Does winning/losing even matter? They’re all young, they’re all rich- I’m just wondering what veteran NBA people think about all that. The pic just didn’t look right. Winning and losing should always matter.
9) I’m curious when NBA scouts are watching a game like Kentucky-UCLA Friday night, and De’Aaron Fox scores 36, how much (if at all) does that one game move the needle as far as their opinion of that player, or the players they were playing against?
8) Indiana hired Dayton’s Archie Miller as its new basketball coach; looks like the AD is trying really hard to distance the Hoosiers from their past, if he didn’t hire Steve Alford, who is beloved in Indiana. Reality is that Alford isn’t as good a coach as Archie Miller.
7) Michael Porter Jr makes the expected move and signs with Missouri, because they hired his father as an assistant coach. My questions are these:
When Michael Jr jumps to the NBA after next season, does Michael Sr get to keep his job?
Why sign with Cuonzo Martin? He had an NBA player in Leon Rabb this year and didn’t make the NCAA’s; he had Rabb and Jaylen Brown last year and lost to Hawai’i in the first round- what makes you think he is the best guy to coach your son?
6) Rough couple of days on the Las Vegas Strip; some genius robbed a jewelry store at Bellagio last night; he actually parked in the parking garage and was nabbed. Then Saturday, there was a shooting on a bus. Get the nonsense out of your system— I’ll be out there soon!!!
5) Minnesota Timberwolves have lost nine games this year that they led by 15+ points, the most in the NBA this season.
4) Apparently TV networks are now in the race to sign Tony Romo, who if he keeps this up much longer might become a candidate for the 2020 Presidential race- everyone seems to want the guy, but not enough to trade a draft pick for him.
3) When ESPN broadcast a Gonzaga game this season, ESPN’s Jay Bilas told Gonzaga big man Przemek Karnowski that he would grow a beard if the Zags made the Final Four, so now he has to grow a beard. Hopefully during next season, not during the summer, when he isn’t on TV.
2) Foul or defend? When your team is up 3 in last 0:15 of a game, this is a genuine gray area of coaching. Some of the best coaches in the country differ on this- there is no right answer.
People say Florida messed up when they didn’t foul Wisconsin when they were up 3 Friday- the Badgers hit a 3-pointer, sent the game to OT, but Florida won, so how did they mess up? Not everyone believes fouling there is the correct play.
What if you foul, and they miss the free throw and get the rebound? It has happened. If you believe in fouling, it has to be practiced. I’ll be very curious to see what Florida does in these situations next season.
There used to be a guy on Twitter, Steve Finamore, a high school coach in Michigan, who tracked as many of these situations as he could. Reaction was mixed on what proper strategy is.
1— One of my favorite parts of Saturday’s regional finals? Mark Few and Dana Altman were the winning coaches; neither one of them played Division I college basketball. Playing and coaching are different things that require different skills. Non-players can be excellent coaches.
Odds to win this year’s World Series:
19-5— Chicago Cubs
7-1— Cleveland Indians, Los Angeles Dodgers
8-1— Boston Red Sox
12-1— Houston Astros, New York Mets, Washington Nationals
14-1— San Francisco Giants
30-1— Detroit, Bronx, Seattle, St Louis, Texas, Toronto
**********
Armadillo: Sunday's List of 13: Wrapping up a sports Saturday……..
13) Gonzaga 83, Xavier 59— Would be a fun night to be in Spokane, with Gonzaga making the Final Four for the first time. Clock struck midnight for Xavier, which went further than they should have, considering their point guard last played on January 29. Gonzaga made 12-24 on the arc, and when the favorite makes their 3’s, they often win big.
This is first time since 2002 a double digit seed made regional finals and didn’t cover the spread; they’re now 3-3 SU, 5-1 vs spread in last six tries.
12) Oregon 74, Kansas 60— Wherever Bill Walton watched this game, he had to be gushing; the Ducks were up 11 at the half- they made 11-25 on the arc, Kansas was 5-25. Jordan Bell blocked eight shots, was dominant inside. Jayhawks played only six guys (a 7th guy played 4:00)- this was the fewest points they scored in a game all season.
Must be fun to play for Oregon; tons of free sneakers when your #1 booster is Phil Knight.
11) It bothers me to type this because the guy is one of the best coaches ever, but Bill Self is now 2-7 in Elite 8 games; he’s been a #1-seed in the tournament seven times, and made the Final Four once in those seven years. He’s also won the Big X regular season 13 years in a row, which no other coach has ever done in any league, not even John Wooden.
When you don’t win the national championship there will always be naysayers, and Kansas has won “only” one national title under Self, but for the love of God, Kansas is lucky to have him.
10) Devin Booker scored 70 points Friday night in the Suns’ loss in Boston, their 7th loss in a row and first of the seven losses where they even covered the spread. They’re a very young NBA team that is obviously looking forward to the season ending.
After the game, the team took a pic in the locker room, celebrating Booker’s 70-point night, which is one of the best scoring nights in NBA history, but did all the players have to look so damn happy? Does winning/losing even matter? They’re all young, they’re all rich- I’m just wondering what veteran NBA people think about all that. The pic just didn’t look right. Winning and losing should always matter.
9) I’m curious when NBA scouts are watching a game like Kentucky-UCLA Friday night, and De’Aaron Fox scores 36, how much (if at all) does that one game move the needle as far as their opinion of that player, or the players they were playing against?
8) Indiana hired Dayton’s Archie Miller as its new basketball coach; looks like the AD is trying really hard to distance the Hoosiers from their past, if he didn’t hire Steve Alford, who is beloved in Indiana. Reality is that Alford isn’t as good a coach as Archie Miller.
7) Michael Porter Jr makes the expected move and signs with Missouri, because they hired his father as an assistant coach. My questions are these:
When Michael Jr jumps to the NBA after next season, does Michael Sr get to keep his job?
Why sign with Cuonzo Martin? He had an NBA player in Leon Rabb this year and didn’t make the NCAA’s; he had Rabb and Jaylen Brown last year and lost to Hawai’i in the first round- what makes you think he is the best guy to coach your son?
6) Rough couple of days on the Las Vegas Strip; some genius robbed a jewelry store at Bellagio last night; he actually parked in the parking garage and was nabbed. Then Saturday, there was a shooting on a bus. Get the nonsense out of your system— I’ll be out there soon!!!
5) Minnesota Timberwolves have lost nine games this year that they led by 15+ points, the most in the NBA this season.
4) Apparently TV networks are now in the race to sign Tony Romo, who if he keeps this up much longer might become a candidate for the 2020 Presidential race- everyone seems to want the guy, but not enough to trade a draft pick for him.
3) When ESPN broadcast a Gonzaga game this season, ESPN’s Jay Bilas told Gonzaga big man Przemek Karnowski that he would grow a beard if the Zags made the Final Four, so now he has to grow a beard. Hopefully during next season, not during the summer, when he isn’t on TV.
2) Foul or defend? When your team is up 3 in last 0:15 of a game, this is a genuine gray area of coaching. Some of the best coaches in the country differ on this- there is no right answer.
People say Florida messed up when they didn’t foul Wisconsin when they were up 3 Friday- the Badgers hit a 3-pointer, sent the game to OT, but Florida won, so how did they mess up? Not everyone believes fouling there is the correct play.
What if you foul, and they miss the free throw and get the rebound? It has happened. If you believe in fouling, it has to be practiced. I’ll be very curious to see what Florida does in these situations next season.
There used to be a guy on Twitter, Steve Finamore, a high school coach in Michigan, who tracked as many of these situations as he could. Reaction was mixed on what proper strategy is.
1— One of my favorite parts of Saturday’s regional finals? Mark Few and Dana Altman were the winning coaches; neither one of them played Division I college basketball. Playing and coaching are different things that require different skills. Non-players can be excellent coaches.
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