Thoughts while waiting in line to pee at Wrigley Field:
- The National Championship is being played as I type this but I want to talk about Saturday’s main event between undefeated Kentucky and Wisconsin. I talked about it on Twitter that night and then Charles Barkley reiterated it on the postgame show – Calipari cost Kentucky the game. Now, don’t get me wrong – Wisconsin deserved to win. It’s not easy to capitalize on every mistake, especially against the best defensive team in the country who also happened to be undefeated at the time. Kudos to Wisky. But at one point late in the second half, UK had the ball, momentum and a four-point lead. It was then that Calipari made the crucial mistake. He decided to run the shot clock, in essence, take the air out of the ball. It’s something they haven’t done all year and it showed. On three consecutive possessions Kentucky had shot clock violations. Three chances to extend their lead and they couldn’t even hit the rim. That was the sequence that cost them in my opinion.
- Shaka Smart accepted the head-coaching job at Texas this weekend. It’s a great job: great facilities, big conference money, and a fertile recruiting territory. It would make sense to leave a quality mid-major job for the big time of the University of Texas. Only this wasn’t the first time he was offered a job that rules a state like the Longhorns do in Texas. Three years ago Smart was tendered an offer to the head coaching position at the University of Illinois. I know – you’re thinking “sour grapes”. Sure, I was a little peeved he didn’t accept the position. But look at the U of I – it’s the only major sports program in the state (we don’t count Northwestern) and you’ve got an unbelievable area to recruit from in the greater Chicago area. So why didn’t he take it? The story we’ve been told is that he didn’t particularly care for the Athletic Director, Mike Thomas. So what can Illinois do to raise the level of their major athletic programs and keep kids in state to play at the school? Good question. We’ll see…
- As I was preparing to go hang out with some new friends from Twitter and watch Opening Night (more on that in a minute) I got word of some MAJOR news in the bigs. AJ Preller was at it again for the San Diego Padres and traded for the best closer in all of baseball in Craig Kimbrel. What? They’ve already made a trade with the Braves that included Justin Upton earlier this winter. Preller has really been making waves, not only in the NL West, but also in all of baseball. And to make this trade on the eve of Opening Day, it was stunning. I immediately thought that this particular move put them clearly in the playoff hunt. Their starters are solid and the bats they got this winter (Kemp, Upton and Myers) were great, but you need the stopper in the bullpen. Once Preller made that move I changed my own pick and took San Diego over Miami for the second Wild Card pick. Of course, my picks don’t mean much but…
- Speaking of Opening Night – as I mentioned earlier I got a chance to hang out with some new Twitter friends at Scotty’s Brewhouse and watch the Cubs take on the Cardinals in the very first game of the year on….ESPN2? The Women’s NCAA Final Four was on the main ESPN channel. Absolutely no problem with that at all. The women should get their due. So why would ESPN and MLB decide to put the very first game of the MLB season on their secondary channel? ESPN decides that splitting the audience from the women’s showcase event of the year, which is bad marketing. At the same time, MLB lessens its product by allowing ESPN to take a grand event like Opening Night and put it on their secondary channel. Bad marketing again. Sad.
- Finally, Paul George returned to the Pacers on Easter Sunday. It was a fantastic return as he pulled a Willis Reed, knocking down his first shot and finished with 13 points. But as I’ve said all year – at what cost? The Pacers are fighting down the stretch for the final playoff spot and a chance to get sent home by the Atlanta Hawks. What has any of this accomplished? They’ll end up picking in the late teens in the draft and not getting the impact player they need. David West is old, Roy Hibbert isn’t good and Paul George was out almost all year. I realize that it’s not in Larry Bird’s DNA to “tank” and rebuild. However, that is the path this Pacers team needed to go down to rebound quickly and get back to the top of the Eastern Conference. He has hamstrung this team and organization and mired them in mediocrity. It will continue unless they get VERY lucky in the NBA Lottery. That doesn’t happen often. So what now for Indiana? Good question. I still believe they need to jettison West and Hibbert and try to build back their low post through free agency and a home run in the draft. Can Larry do it? I believe so.
Until next time,
Shawn
No comments:
Post a Comment