More coaching changes, some spring training bits, automobile racing (should I call it that, as a bit?), the Matt Ryan trade, and, of course, on-court college basketball. We’ll start with Iowa State. Get it over with for you Wisconsin people.
Gabe Kalscheur???
Of all the heroes.
Granted, Kalscheur’s efficiency numbers weren’t out of this world, but on a day when the Izaiah Brockington offense and the Tyrese Hunter side quest weren’t clicking, somebody scoring was desperately needed, and Kalscheur delivered. It was an ugly, ugly game, and Iowa State unquestionably benefited from Chucky Hepburn’s injury (haven’t seen any update on his ankle, hopefully that’s a quick recovery, that absolutely sucked), but at the same time, they forced Wisconsin into uncomfortable situations all over the place, and that was happening even before Hepburn went down. He had two turnovers himself, and he missed all three of his shots from the floor. He didn’t record an assist. Iowa State made Wisconsin work for it, and the Badgers couldn’t hold onto the ball under that kind of pressure.
The officiating was a big story, and it’s worth addressing. After a bit more than 24 hours of thinking on it, my best conclusion is that, as many others have said, college basketball officiating as a whole is rather bad. Some of this is probably because there are so many games that you need a ton of officials. Some of it might be because powers that be (conferences, the NCAA) aren’t adequately investing in quality officiating, both on the development side and through raw wages. Some of it, though, might be that this is just hard. It’s hard to officiate a basketball game, especially games as frequently messy and ugly as college ones.
There are two things one can do with this. Either one can push for a change—some alteration to college basketball that improves the officiating—or one can just accept that refs are a big source of randomness. In a sport that thrives off of the most randomness-friendly championship structure of anything out there, I find the latter more likely. They stink. Yes. Let’s move on.
On that topic, it was interesting to watch Brad Davison’s last college game. Davison was, ‘til the bitter end, an uncomfortable guy to watch. Indisputably a good player, he played the game with a shameless disregard for right and wrong that’s rare in collegiate hoops, only equaled so prominently in recent memory by Grayson Allen. I mean, look at this play. He looks like a video game character running repeatedly into a stationary object.
I wonder, with Davison, if he would have benefitted from better refereeing. Not in terms of his production, but in terms of his own ability to play within the rules. Had refs been good enough to crack down on his shit earlier in his career, he would have either had to adjust or get benched. The annoyance (and occasional white-knuckle ride for opponents’ ankles and testicles) that was Brad Davison was not the referees’ fault. But Wisconsin had few incentives to teach him how to play as anything other than a juvenile wolverine out there. Taking a zillion charges is great. Being an annoying little bastard is not.
The Other Games
I watched a lot of Notre Dame/Texas Tech, and was surprised how close Notre Dame made it. Their defense held together well, and that probably speaks poorly at some level of Texas Tech’s offense, which could give Duke’s own poor defense a bit of a reprieve. Back to refs, Texas Tech’s defense against the officials in Coach K’s potential last game is an obviously bonkers matchup, so obviously bonkers that one wonders if it might actually break Tech’s way, as refs try to avoid being caricatures of themselves. Solid win for Duke over Michigan State. Nothing to be ashamed of as far as letting that get close goes.
Also watched a lot of TCU and Arizona, and goodness, that was a great game. Heartbreaking for TCU, who should’ve called a timeout there once the trap was set at the end of regulation, but what a performance. Eddie Lampkin is so much stinking fun, and it’s a shame Arizona didn’t get to play more premier games in the Pac-12, because Bennedict Mathurin is a dude and a half and I wish his star had ascended sooner.
Some Texas people were complaining about the free throw disparity in their game with Purdue, and I don’t know. Watching a good bit of that, it felt more like Texas just plays aggressive defense and Purdue doesn’t, and Purdue was getting good use out of their bigs, for whom Texas didn’t have an answer. Anyway, ten points is a lot in the end, and that shot by Jaden Ivey…wow.
Ohio State gave Villanova all it could handle, that technical foul on Illinois was rough but it didn’t look like the Illini were going to get Houston anyway, Miami beat Auburn so thoroughly that there’s little to say about it except that the ACC chant was funny and would have been funnier had it not been Duke fans. Still funny, though. It’s dangerously easy to make too much of the NCAA Tournament, but it’s not meaningless. The ACC has climbed a good distance in KenPom over the course of this thing, and could still end up closer to the Big East than they are to the Pac-12 if things break right over the next two weeks. Down year, yes, but not as bad as it appeared a week ago, and that’s not based on how many teams they’ve put in the Sweet Sixteen.
Plenty more college basketball talk on the way this week. Moving on, though, to the coaching part of things:
Kevin Willard to Maryland
Maryland made a seemingly great hire in Kevin Willard, taking a guy who’s had success on the East Coast and bringing him just a little bit south. It’s an interesting hire from a college-basketball-hierarchy perspective, as Willard leaves the greater New York City area for the first time in a long, long time to take the gig down at Maryland. He’s not from Maryland. He has no formal ties to Maryland. But Maryland’s the better job (or at least willing to pay more than Seton Hall).
Willard was slow to find success in South Orange, taking six years to make an NCAA Tournament and eight years to win an NCAA Tournament game. By the end of his tenure, though, it wasn’t unusual in the slightest for Seton Hall to be a competitive team in the Big East, and that hadn’t been the case for the decade-plus before his arrival. There were good years, but tournament berths were few and far between. Willard made them normal. Now, at Maryland, the goals are much bigger.
We’ll see what happens with Seton Hall. Shaheen Holloway’s a name that’s been thrown around (by Willard), and Holloway’s done great work at Saint Peter’s, but it’s bold to make a move based on one great run in March. A lot of times, it works, but it’s a bold stroke. Overall, Seton Hall probably isn’t as stable as Xavier, but they should be similarly fine. Not too bad a floor for either, and should they really sink, the opportunities will be there to slide back up quickly.
SEC Jobs Fill Up
LSU got Matt McMahon from Murray State. South Carolina got Lamont Paris from Chattanooga. Mississippi State got Chris Jans from New Mexico State. All proven successful head coaches at mid-majors (is Chattanooga a mid or a low?), all pretty palatable for their fanbases. With McMahon, I’m curious what the recruiting reputation is on the ethics side, backfilling Will Wade. Is this a safe move? With Paris, I’m curious if he can grab transfers and compete right away in Columbia, given his transfer recruiting success at UTC. The portal is filling up. With Jans, I’m curious if he can get a stagnant, not-unsuccessful-but-stalling program to step forward the way he did in Las Cruces. The schools are in very different states, but they hold the same identity within their respective states. Three more fun characters to add to the mix down there.
Major Leagues, Minor Moves
Jorge Soler signed with the Marlins the other day. Don’t think we ever mentioned that. The Rockies extended Ryan McMahon. The Cubs have officially signed Steven Brault as a starting pitching lottery ticket.
In other Cubs news, top prospect Brennan Davis was hit in the knee with a pitch. He has a bruise, hopefully nothing more.
Matt Ryan to Indianapolis
The quarterback shuffle continued, with Matt Ryan traded to the Colts in a move that has people talking about Matt Stafford. I don’t know. I’m not the one to judge. But there was a moment today where I thought about how wild it would be if now, after everything, Aaron Rodgers was unexpectedly traded, and I know that’s not happening in any universe but it is a busy quarterback market, with Baker Mayfield the most notable still to find a home. As of now, it looks like all this might mean for the Packers is that with more teams finding their guys (the Falcons signed Marcus Mariota, whom I’d forgotten was still in the league), it’s less likely Jordan Love will be successfully traded and more likely he’ll enter the fall as the backup, still.
Elsewhere in Packer-land, Rasul Douglas is locked in for three more years. What a find that was. Hopefully it’s a successful defensive investment. Again, I’m probably not the one to judge.
We Hit a Motorsports Bet
We finally connected on one of our motorsports bets, about breaking even yesterday between F1, IndyCar, and NASCAR when William Byron took the checkered flag. In F1, we were close, but Leclerc was for real. In IndyCar, we’re the most lost, which makes it good that their season starts so slowly. That’s where we could use a model the most. We just know the sport the least.
***
Plenty to come tomorrow, as NCAA-run postseason basketball begins anew with the NIT quarterfinals. See you in a few hours.
