Running 2023-24 NCAA Basketball Thread

It took Pitino a week to run off a Jersey kid named Yaxel Lendeborg who was set to transfer in after setting the juco career rebounding record. Now he’s averaging 13 and 10 a game for UAB, getting better every week and ought to make first team all-AAC. If Pitino hadn’t run him off I promise that kid would have been good for an extra couple of wins to date and they’d be sitting on the happy side of the bubble. But hey, the genius coach had his own plan.

 

Did NC give you power of attorney to post about UAB?

 

Even when he goes into damage control mode, he sounds whiny and passive-aggressive.

https://nypost.com/2024/02/20/sports/rick-pitino-takes-responsibility-for-st-johns-season-spiraling/

 

He's probably right about this ...

“I tell them all the time, if you’re in Europe right now and you have two bad games they will cut you, not pay you, you will take them to FIBA court,” he said. “I want them to understand that this [Name, Image & Likeness] world that they live in is not reality. They’re getting ready to move on, six of them, they all want to play overseas.

“My players get a lot of love, my players get a lot of attention, my players all have great NIL deals. I’m preparing six guys for a very difficult time that lies ahead for them in the basketball world, and I want to prepare them the right way to be mentally and physically tough, to be able to handle any situation.”

... but he comes at it from such a bitchy, me-me-me place that the message is lost in the messenger.

 

He’s getting ready to murder me for fear of awakening the portal goblins.

 

Just getting this out of the way now:
Caitlin Clark and Pete Maravich are/were great basketball players in their own right.

Not sure why it's become mandatory to include both men and women when talking about setting college records, especially in basketball. Can't they just top the list in their respective category?

I'm not advocating either way but there are some people who are never going to consider Clark a better scorer than Maravich. That's even if she averages 50 points the rest of this season or even the greatest women's scorer if she surpasses Pearl Moore's all-time women's record of 4,061 points set in the late 1970s for Francis Marion.

Different eras. Different games.

 

Agree with that take very much. The women's game of the 1990s/2000s is completely different than the women's game of today. Not saying that Geno or Pat or Tara aren't great coaches, but it was a hell of a lot easier to pile up wins when you didn't face legit competition until the Elite 8 or Final Four. The women's game was incredibly shallow for a long time. It's gotten a hell of a lot better and deeper, to the point where you can legitimately call up to 10-12 teams national title contenders. Just seems weird to compare K or Dean Smith against Geno or Pat. Different games.

 

I guess. But South Carolina is a bigger favorite to win the women's title --- by a lot --- than any single men's team.

 

Anyone considering a Purdue national champion wager should just donate to charity instead. Somehow, someway, the Boilermakers will shit down their legs long before the national title game.

 

Glanced up at the TV in this pizza place and wondered why the Creighton co-ed in the stands was going nuts. Then I realized I’d been reading the score backwards and UConn was down 21, not up.

 

I didn't need to. The kid's a walking double double, and he's been good all season and got even better around midseason. He's played in all 25 games. Leads the team at 13.1 ppg, 10 rebounds, 1.8 assists, .7 steals, 2.1 blocks. 50% FG, 80% FT, 39% 3 pt. More than that, he's a really humble and squared away kid. He was a high rated JUCO transfer.

Last five games: Yaxel Lendeborg - UAB Blazers Forward - ESPN

Yeah, we're praying he stays, because they'll be coming for him.

 

My local college has the longest win streak in the nation right now…look out Purdue!!