Author: Mike

Even though UConn is a prohibitive favorite to repeat as national champions this has been a compelling NCAA Tournament so far. I have never watched as many of the first and second round games as closely as I did this past week.

I was literally captivated by some of the games. I did nothing but watch the tournament and only left the house to work out a couple of times.

And evidently…I’m not the only one who felt this way as CBS reported this year’s March Madness set or nearly set viewing records all four days of the tournament so far.

This is starting to setup a bit like 1983 when Houston was an overwhelming favorite with their Phi Slamma Jamma group which was picked to easily win the tournament. Instead…of course, what we as basketball crazies got was an epic finish with NC State winning on that last second shot by the Wolfpack when a Derek Whittenberg shot airballed near the rim and Lorenzo Charles calmly put it through the net as if it were a designed pass.

Win, Survive, and Advance….by far the greatest ESPN 30/30 film ever made. Maybe…based on what we just witnessed….. something similar is lurking down this Final Four road.

Some of the games this past week were simply incredible. I’d have to rank them in this order of greatness…1 Houston’s win over A&M, 2 Oakland’s win over Kentucky, and 3 NC State’s win over Oakland.

Bravo. Even the NCCA Selection Committee couldn’t screw up those games.

Each one of those games reminded us of the fact that even in the NIL/Transfer Portal era of college basketball there is still a greatness to the concept of a 68 team single elimination tournament to decide the national champion.

My basketball heart at this point two days away from the beginning of the Sweet 16 is with Kelvin’s gritty bunch and with the NC State Wolfpack.

Both teams with compelling paths just to get this far. Houston along with Iowa State the only two Big 12 teams to get this far. And NC State having to win seven straight games in twelve days to reach the Sweet 16…pretty much much like UConn’s improbable late season run in 2011 with Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lamb.

So many ironies with NC State and Houston at this point of the tournament.

Could either one of the teams derail the OConn monster down the line?

We don’t think there’s any way they could do it in a best of a seven format.

But could happen in one game…on a day or night is what makes this tournament the most compelling basketball tournament we have in place…even in the NIL/Transfer Portal era.

Enjoy the Tournament.

MJ

A disaster for SEC basketball as Kentucky, Miss State, and South Carolina all made first round exits. SEC had eight teams selected. Miss State had no business in this tournament. I’m making a list…..Virginia, Miss State…and BYU so far. Those three should all have had the priviledge of declining to play in the farcical NIT as others besides OU did.

Kentucky basketball needs to discover a new model. The one and done in the day of NIL and the Portal has become a dinosaur as evidenced by Kentucky’s 1-3 record in these past four years. Those kids may be talented, but they look like JV kids as far as basketball smarts and poise.

The best thing which could collectively happen to improve the quality of the college game beyond controlling the Portal, would be to make kids play two years of college basketball. Period.

Even though OU’s leaving the Big 12, my basketball heart will always have a place for the Big 8/Big 12 teams. I hope Houston, Kansas, Iowa State, and maybe Baylor can make a run this year and beyond as well.

What a great game by the Oakland players! This is what the tournament is about. And NC State continued its magical run with its sixth straight unexpected win with a surprisingly easy win over Texas Tech in the night game in Pittsburgh.

I would think the Big 12 commish Bret Yormark has to be very down as to the way both BYU and Tech played yesterday. OU beat BYU 82-66 in Norman. OU lost to Tech in Norman by a score of 85-84 in a game in which the Sooners were wretched at the free throw line. I’m firmly convinced if OU hadn’t blown that nine point lead to Tech in the final seven minutes they’d be playing in this tournament.

Que sera.

I’m making out a list of players OU should pursue in the portal for next season with some common sense attached. Porter…please be looking for my email… El Prez.

I love this Middleton kid for NC State who backs up Pork Chop Burns…the darling of the ACC Tournament. I bet we could get him at a reasonable price. We should also inquire on the Williams youngster from Texas Tech. I rode in the courtside elevator just before tip and his mother informed me her son and Milos (OU’s point guard) played AAU ball together in Vegas during their high school days.

I assume talking to another human isn’t tampering in these days of the Wild West, right? But to all you kids out there looking to play hoops next season….There’s Only One Oklahoma, baby! ONLY ONE!!!!

The SEC is not nearly as tough as Big 12 hoops. It is laughable they landed eight teams in this tournament. Auburn has the best roster by far, but they have UConn looking them in the eyes if the Tigers get that far.

I’m getting ready to settle in for Day 2 of the first round while listening to the Lady Sooners’ first game in Bloomington, Indiana getting ready to tip at noon.

Have a wonderful Day 2 of the Big Dance.

MJ

I finally took some time from my serious NBA basketball watching to catch a Thunder game last night and to say I was underwhelmed is an understatement. I almost fell asleep watching the Thunder sleepwalk their way to a misleading 119-107 win over a JV Utah team which is in essence tanking.

But the Thunder are a nice young team which I have ranked maybe No. 5 or No. 6 in my overall NBA Power Poll with fourteen games in the regular season.

The three dudes are clearly very good players and I’ve always loved Dort, but we’ll just have to see how this team reacts once the games are for real in the playoffs.

I have Chet second in my Rookie of the Year Award to Wemby. I have Coach Mark as my Deveopmental Coach of the Year. I have Shai third in the MVP race behind 1 Anthony Edwards and 2 Jokic.

As far as Shai goes we know nothing about him as a serious NBA Playoff player because the Thunder have basically done nothing in post season play since Shai became a Thunderer and was a member of the team which lost to Houston in seven games in the first Covid season and then just last season got trashed by the TimberWolves in the second round of the play-in games.

It just depends on who the Thunder end up playing in the first round is how I see it. I think three teams off the top of my head would give the Thunder problems…those being the Lakers, the Mavericks, and the Pelicans…assuming all three are healthy heading into the playoffs.

Shai at this point needs to stop hunting stats the rest of the season because I don’t think he’s going to win the MVP. He was hobbling around out there last night and just getting another 30 point game means nothing if he isn’t ready to go in the playoffs.

I hate the stat hunting like Westbrook grabbing away rebounds from other teammates to get a tawdry triple double in a regular season game against a bottom half team or Durant not taking half court heaves to protect his shooting percentages. I was hopeful this part of the Thunder culture would change.

One other thing… as this season has moved along and Shai has gotten more natioal pub ( which he derserves) he seems to always be arguing for calls even though he’s on the line more than any player in the league.

I was hopeful as a fan of the game this wouldn’t happen with Shai as it did with Durant and Westbrook. The Thunder culture I would hope corrects itself this time around as we witness Boom Town II soon to be a sequel by Sam Anderson or maybe a Michael Lewis book.

But here’s my bottomline with these three dudes…if Sam Presti can honestly correct all the cultural mistakes he along the way during Boom Town I….I could very well see the Thunder in another NBA Final if I’m lucky enough to still be around.

I think tomorrow I’ll post my favorite book review of Boom Town so as to tie it up nicely with this post because I would guess 95% of the Thunder fan base haven’t even read the book.

March Madness has shown me nothing so far. The game I’m wanting to see tonight is NC State vs. Texas Tech. Plus, of course all the games in the East Region.

One of the best sports days of the year. Have a nice March Madness.

MJ

Let’s me blog this before I explain why I have Anthony Edwards as my regular season MVP with 14 games left in the season. And…this is one of the primary reasons I love having my own blog. So as I can vent write f–k everey now and then with no possible repercussions.

The idiots who drew up this NCAA field are clueless. Which dumbasses decided the f—king Virginia Cavaliers had any business whatsoever being in this field over either Indiana State or OU or maybe six other teams have no business whatsover of ever being in the position of drawing up another NCAA Tournament.

Do you know why I know how bad Virginia is or was? I don’t mean to be cruel, but here’s why. Because Jacob Grove who played for the Sooners the previous two seasons was in the rotation for this Virginia team allegedly coached by Tony Bennett.

You know why Jacob transferred after last season? Not to be cold…but he transferred because he wouldn’t have seen the floor on this season’s OU team.

Yesterday…in one of the play-in games, Virginia scored forty-something points and got blitzed by the Colorado State Rams. Steven A Smith…my ultimate brother said today on air that Tony Bennett should be fired….AND I CONCUR.

Now…here’s why I have Anthony Edwards as my MVP so far over Jokic and Shai. Please keep pace with me on this…because Anthony Edwards has kept his team either in first place or near the top of the West without guys named JDub, Chet, Lu, Jamal Murray, Michael Porter, KCP and Aaron Gordon.

Quite frankly…Anthonly Edwards is the new Bad Little Dude. ‘Ant’ is to the Minnesota Timberwolves as to what Russell Westbrook was to the post Durant-era Thunder. Both…. by the way to date have ever won a playoff series in OKC or Minnesota being the main guy.

But for this regular season so far…Anthony Edwards is my MVP.

I don’t watch play-in games in the NCAA Tournament…so as I was last night… tonight I’ll be locked in on the NBA and maybe write something about the Thunder tomorrow morning while it’s raining.

But for now…I have to go burn that dead tree I cut down the other day. I love burning limbs out here at the ranch. It’s truly therapeutic every time a Donald Trump thought tries to cross my mind.

Below is my pre-the day before my workout song now. I feel it best stirs up in me the desire to stay focused and BEAT CANCER. This one never fails me.

Peace.

MJ

Even with OU out…I love March Madness. But this year is different because the Committee in my eyes put the four hottest, most dangerous teams in the same region for some absurd reason.

In all my years as a bracketologist I’ve never seen a region as stacked as is the East Region this March. It’s stunning.

As a completely objective viewer with no horse in this race the four teams I would have not wanted to see in OU’s region are all in the East region.

Even with OU slumping at the end of the season….I in no way would have felt bad about the Sooners playing either North Carolina, Houston, or Arizona on a neutral court. I don’t think any of those three teams on a neutral court can handle any of the top four teams in the East.

So…for me… the question in this tournament is who comes out of the East… UConn, Iowa State, Illinois, and Auburn. Those are my Final Four. Unfortunately, this Committee put all four in the same region which makes no sense whatsoever unless they figure this somehow gets the Tournament more viewers with the EST zone.

To me, the best championship game for the entire tournament taking into consideration athleticism, styles of play, and who peaked just right…would be UConn vs. Auburn.

But alas, the enept NCAA has already ruled that possibility out for Championship Monday. Somebody beyond the NCAA needs to select the next March Madness bracket…and this has nothing to do with OU missing the tournament.

It has more to do with protecting the integrity of the Tournament as far as a reasonable drawing of seeds.

I’m picking UConn to repeat.

MJ

I’m sitting here in my ‘studio’ now ready to opine on OU being knocked out of the NCAA Tournament this week-end…..and here’s the way I see it.

OU in a mythical way…. my Sooners were NC State’s sixth victim this Saturday night when the 11th seeded Wolfpack routed North Carolina to win their fifth game in five days in the ACC Tournament.

OU being on the bubble as they were because of their own inabililty to beat Texas Tech and Texas at home came home to roost. OU in fact…should have been a 22-10 team and firmly off the bubble, but they weren’t because they didn’t take care of their business at home against two second tier Big 12 teams this season.

As a brackateer myself….I gave the Sooners some slack on losing at home to Kansas and Houston, but against two middle of the road teams like Texas and Tech were this season….no way.

That week…when OU lost those two home games was when the trajectory of OU’s season changed. I was there. I could feel it. The loss of cofidence the OU players themselves started to display in the uber physical Big 12. BTW was palpable. After seeing the bracket yesterday….I don’t think one Big 12 team will make the Final Four since Iowa State is paired in the Eastern Regional with UConn, Illinois, and Auburn.

When DJ Burns handled the vastly overhyped Tarheels….the Sooners were done by my calculations given their NCAA Net ranking of 46. Two years ago in Porter’s first season in Norman…the Sooners missed the tournament with a Net of 31. So, yeah, what the Committee did with the Sooners did not shock me. I was prepared for it.

Now, what the committee did with UConn and the Eastern Region did in fact blow my mind. I would even say it appears a group of drug addict derelicts drew up that bracket.

What the Committee did was in fact pair the clear No. 1 seed and defending champs with the winners of the Big 12, SEC, and Big 10 tournaments.

If I’m an Auburn, Iowa State, or Illinois fan…I’m livid. But as a Sooner who had a ball sittting on the floor this season….I have no problem with the way OU was handled by the Committee. I had a gas following the Sooners from the floor and healthy permitting…plan on doing it again next season as the Sooners play their first season of SEC basketball.

Now..in closing..as far as not playing in the NIT…in this age of the Portal and NIL… the NIT shouldn’t even exist any longer. How in the world can any program in reality even commit to this after thought’tournament’?

The Portal opened today. Who even knows who is going to be playing on any of these teams by Thursday?

Porter and Joe C, but here’s the thing you two guys have decide this week. You have to decide how much and far you can go with your mens’ basketball program acting like NIL and the Portal don’t run the world of college basketball.

Get yourself a basketball NIL/Guru and and make OU basketball what it should be.

Good luck to Coach Jennie and the women. They’re going dancing as they should be.

MJ

My son was a hockey player….so this always touches my heart.

Two weeks ago was the one year anniversary of my Stage 4 cancer diagnosis. I was given two months to live and advised to get my affairs in order. I did so.

But Dr. Showalter did tell me there were some very innovative drugs being used to treat prostatic bone cancer and basically said, “Let’s see what happens.”

Another words… he didn’t completely tell tell me to go home and die…at least for two months.

We talked about me taking my life more seriously and taking on a holistic approach to prayer, meditation, diet, and exercise.

I did.

And lo and behold I got better every day, every week, every month…and here I am a year later. My cup has runneth over. It truly has.

I never ask Dr. Showalter the awkward question of “How much time do you think I have left?” I never do that and I won’t wear a Cancer Survivor T-shirt either. It’s a very personal thing. But writing about it here on the blog help me because in reality I’m a somewhat soft spoken Libra of all things.

So now… other than using a cane to mitigate the fact I still haven’t had the right knee replacement surgery….. I pretty much am leading a normal life for a retired guy my age.

My monthly blood labs results have been excellent and my hemoglobin count has literally doubled since last March when I ‘almost’ allowed myself to be wheel-chaired through the front doors of the Integris Cancer Canter.

It’s been a journey. I’ll never be the same again. The way I view the world. The way I view other people. The ways in which I hoped I’ve increased my empathy and compassion towards others. Even if they voted for Donald Trump twice.

Yesterday….I took my chain saw and cut down a dead redbud tree out here at the mini-ranch in Deer Creek. A year ago…I literally didn’t have the strength to hold up the saw and pull the starting cord. I have another dead tree to take down later today….and then burn once the winds die down.

My wife came out and asked, ” You sure you should be doing this?”

I answered, ” Absolutely. Walk in the park.”

Spring is almost officially here in Oklahoma.

A song would be nice.

MJ

I like Mike Boynton.

He seems like a genuinely good human being. In reality… he never had a chance at Oklahoma State because he got the job after Mike Holder chased off Brad Underwood to the University of Illinois because of money.

Mike Boynton didn’t win enough at a school which hasn’t won much at basketball since the glory days of Coach Eddie Sutton.

Sean Sutton didn’t win enough. Travis Ford didn’t win enough. Mike Boynton didn’t win enough.

Brad Underwood won enough in his one season in Stillwater, but opted to head to Illinois because AD Mike Holder went the cheap route.

It is what it is.

In the era of NIL and the transfer portal you better have a couple a mini-Boones or Stan Clarks or donors who are passionate about Oklahoma State basketball.

The same could be said for Porter Moser and his NIL program at OU. These are different times in football and mens basketball. A coach needs the tools to be competitive.

So what now needs to take place in Stillwater in regards to mens’ basketball is a serious committment to the sport. Period.

I have no idea who that coach should be unless Bill Self has the ultimate mid-life awakening and decides there’s more to life than trying to feed the Monster in Lawrence.

I mean, yeah, Bill Self would be excellent coming back to his alma mater, but other than that scenario…I haven’t a clue on the next head coach at O State.

Mike Boynton will be fine.

Not a doubt in my mind.

MJ

I love Chris. He almost became a neighbor of ours back when the New Orleans team played here two years after Katrina. OMG… that would have been cool.

Instead… we got a sychotic young married couple across the street. Whenever they had a fight…the wife would crank up the John Deere tractor and in her nightgown start mowing the lawn at two in the morning. Swear to God.

I probably made a mistake in telling her I was a graduate of the Bob Jackson School of Law in that she actually followed some of my advice. Que sera.

I love the fact Chris t’ed up the zebra. I could see myelf doing this in a heartbeat if I were NBA Hall of Famer.

I’m sure Chris is frustrated in the way this season has gone for the Warriors. With Steph sitting due to the ankle and Draymond getting a night off for no reason I can asertain….the Dubs finally wore out at Dallas and lost.

The Warriors now stand 34-31 and appeared destined to be either the 9th or 10th seed in the West. I read some bullshit about some recent comments from Draymond on his podcast in regard to comparing Steve Kerr’s handling of Steph in relation to Mark Jackson when he coached the Dubs.

Really…. Draymond…you stupid motherfucker! You’ve sabotaged the last two Warrior seasons and that’s your hot take on your piece of shit podcast.

I watched four NBA games simultaneously last night on NBA Centre Court and am very pround to announce that ‘my’ hometown Denver Nuggets, the hottest team in the NBA since the All-Star break…won at Miami to pass the still developing Oklahoma City Thunder as the No. 1 seed in the West.

Note to Sam Presti and his little leashed puppy dog coach….please keep playing Josh Giddy and Gordon Hayward togther as much as possible down the stretch.

Have a beautiful Thursday.

MJ

We had a great week-end with the grandchildren. It was exhausting, yet awesome. It’s taken me two days to recoup, but I think I’m okay now. Now…I’m ready to get in my March Madness Hoops state of mind. But for this week as the basketball landscape is littered with conference tournaments which don’t interest me…..I’m watching NBA games only in an effort to get in a groove heading into the goal acheiving portion of the NBA season.

What I mean by goal acheiving….that time of the year when winning matters.

So… I’ve watched two games this week already. Last night, I watched the Thunder get handled at home by the Indiana Pacers. Indiana is a nice little team which thrives playing up tempo, but the Thunder in reality aren’t good enough to beat this team without the uber-athletic JDubb Williamswho was missing due to an ankle injury.

That’s it. Plus…it appeared Shai pressed with the absence of JDubb and had one of his worst games of the Thunder games I’ve actually taken the time to watch since they’re my sixth favorite team in the NBA as of this writing.

I’ve listened a bit to the Thunder fanbase lament this loss on the Sports Animal this morning…..and here’s what I would say, “Yes…Gordon Hayward and Josh Giddy are both white guys who are laterally slow defending players and probably should never be on the floor together, but I wouldn’t let this loss keep me awake at night.”

Fact of the matter is…JDubb is a freak and in reality might be the Thunder’s best player.

As far as the second game I’ve watched this week…it was my Golden State Warriors beating the Spurs on the road by a 112-102 count without Steph. Great game to watch with Johnny Kuminga, Klay, Chris Paul, and Brandin P leading the way.

Steph should be back for ABC’s Saturday Game of the Week vs. the Lakers. The Warriors are actually a nice little team to watch right now. Nothing great for certain, but a fun team to watch with all the kids on the roster beginning to carve out their roles.

What a poster of Wemby by Trace in this game! Maybe the play of the year for the Warriors considering all of which has transpired.

Tonight…I think I’ll watch the Warriors without Steph versus the Dallas Mavs.

Have a nice day of spring warmth in Oklahoma.

MJ