Well, we decided to bring back SportsTube to inject some life into this place, so I thought I’d go big for the first one. It was either that or go home, and even though I’m already at home, I thought I’d just go ahead with this.
These are my top three dunks of the NBA season so far. Hopefully, if you’re an NBA person like me, you’ve seen all of these. If you’re not an NBA person, you should be, and hopefully this will get you started. Enjoy.
3. Excuse Derrick Rose while he kisses the sky (and dunks on it with both hands)
I’d like for this to be number one, and honestly it’s the nastiest dunk I’ve seen from the Bulls since I was in elementary school. “Mama, there goes that man.”
2. Carmelo Anthony claims block on Paul Millsap
Oh, Mike Tirico, you’ve made me so happy. I liked Carmelo Anthony coming into the season, but this play made him my favorite non-Bull.
1. I don’t know even know what to say
I thought Dwyane Wade was joking, at first. My goodness. The “OH! A FACIAL!” seals the deal for me. And on the second time you watch this one, make sure to keep your eyes on Anderson Varejao.
Check back tomorrow for another installment of SportsTube.
Really a nice weekend for women’s basketball. Check out Ryan Tryzbiak’s article over at ChicagoMaroon.com: “Offense shines in wins over Rochester, Emory”
That first half against Emory was one of the most absurd halves of basketball I’ve watched at Chicago. Honestly, it was an unbelievable performance. The transition game was rolling, and the Eagles really had no solution to the Maroons’ defense. A few thoughts:
Found in transition
The way this team is running would make Nofi Mojidi proud.
The box score has just nine turnovers for Emory, but the way Chicago capitalized there made it seem like way more. It wasn’t “seven seconds or less,” but this isn’t the same offense we saw last year. The guards are really pushing the pace, and even the posts are getting in on the transition game.
Here’s what Aaron Roussell had to say about that part of Chicago’s game recently: “We probably made a more concerted effort over winter break to get out in transition. The kids enjoy the faster style and they’re really excelling in it.”
With aggressive players like Meghan Herrick on the floor, it’s no wonder Chicago’s gone to a running game, and the benefits show in the numbers. Consider: In the first 12 games, Chicago went 8–4 and averaged about 60 points per contest. That’s skewed by the Wash game, but they also broke 70 only three times over that span. In the last eight games, they’ve gone 7–1 and averaged about 72 points per game.
You have to of course take into account the effects of a quicker pace on the defensive end. Opponents’ scoring has risen about seven points per game, from 53 to 60. Still, I’ll take that five-point improvement in margin of victory any day of the week.
The Fairly Normal-Sized Aristotle
Molly Hackney has been unstoppable over the last eight games. Jordan and I were talking about how she’s one of the best players in program history at newspaper production, and as I went to say “…in program history,” Jordan cut me off with “…in Division III.” I don’t see any way to argue against that.
Friday night was ridiculous; I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a statline that started with “11 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 blocks, 0 turnovers” and ended with “in 16 minutes of play.” My goodness. Have you ever heard of anyone getting that close to a triple-double in that short a time?
Roussell put it like this: “Molly Hackney on Friday was as good a well-rounded performance as I’ve seen here…. She easily could have had 20, but she was unselfish with the ball, she made the extra pass…. When she plays like she did this weekend, we’re a scary team.”
Since scoring two in the Wash U debacle, Molly has gone for 12 points and 7 rebounds a game. For those of you scoring (or record-keeping?) at home, her career total is now at 1,050 points, 39 away from seventh all-time.
Kicked while they’re up
Dana Kaplan suffered a pretty bad looking shoulder injury on Friday as she and a couple of Emory players tangled for a loose ball at halfcourt in the first half. It looked pretty bad right away, just the way she got up and had to get off the court immediately.
Roussell said he’s hopeful that she’ll be back this weekend, but it could be much more serious. Pending some x-rays, Kaplan’s separation/dislocation could mean the end of the her season.
That’ll be tough for even a team as deep as Chicago to lose her toughness on the floor if the injury does turn out to be serious.
The Jenna Lillemoe Show
I would be remiss to leave the first-year out of a discussion of this weekend.
Boy, can this kid play. We haven’t seen a ton of her this year, whether due to her bout with mono at the start of the season or just due to Chicago’s long bench. Either way, this weekend looked like a sign of things to come.
She knocked down 7 of her 11 shots this weekend, scoring 22 points to go with a combined 8 rebounds. The 14 points Friday night were by far her career high, and the 6 rebounds also set a career mark.
Said Roussell: “She’s going to be a really good player here…. She’s been doing it in practice all year. She stands out all the time. It just hadn’t happened on the court.”
Play-by-play of the day
Probably the coolest part of that 53–23 first half:
In a perfect world, everything would fit into the newspaper. In a perfect world, the newspaper would be able to print more than eight pages. Until the world becomes perfect, Maroon City is going to try to make its sports coverage a little more perfect by filling you in on what should have gone in but didn’t. Today, it’s Track & Field. read more…
Headlines from around the UAA in basketball, track, and swimming. read more…
Mitch Bruno and I have been working on a podcast over the last few months. Well, that’s misleading: We’ve made four episodes over the past two months. But, we’ve decided to start doing it regularly, and here is our first official episode. Let us know what you all think we can do to make this thing good.
Longtime Listener: Episode 4 (January 23, 2010)
Also, we’re going to get back to making this thing a real blog, so be sure to check back often for the latest news on whatever Jordan and I feel like posting. Or U of C sports news. You know, whichever.
Every night should be Beach Night.
The ladies had quite a bit to ponder this week, as they set season lows in points, field-goal shooting, assists, and rebounds against Wash U.
But a good crowd at the Ratner Center and some inflatable palm trees made the difference Friday night, as the women topped NYU 71–61. Well, some all-around quality basketball might have played a role, but just in case, let’s make those palm trees permanent.
Posted by Kevin Gunnerson
The University of Chicago Men’s Basketball (6-5) closed out the non-conference schedule in heartbreaking fashion on Saturday afternoon at the Ratner Athletic Center, losing a close contest to the Milwaukee School of Engineering Raiders (6-6). The game was a tale of two halves that saw MSOE erase a 14 point first-half deficit to secure the two point victory, 64-62. read more…
Emerald and I are coordinating work schedules and hope to have awards announced Wednesday night. We’ll also wrap up two great soccer seasons. What a year.
Thank you for all your support of Go Maroons LIVE this year. We had record listenership and also enjoyed some very kind e-mails. It was a great time and narrative for all of us.
Are you interested in full archives of the season? We have them and will be prepping DVDs to send out. Stay tuned for details coming tonight.
Keep in touch: gomaroons@gmail.com.
Second round matchup. Two VERY familiar opponents about to start. Click the Go Maroons LIVE banner in the top right to listen in.
We’re playing highlights right now. We’ll be on air about 10 minutes before kickoff with a full pregame.
In addition to today’s live audio broadcast of the Aurora game, we’re maintaining a live blog with lineups, formations, goal descriptions, and occasional zippy commentary. (Should you miss any of the game, you can check the live blog transcript to catch up.)
This year, our live blogging software also includes a scoreboard widget, which we’ll update in real time so that you can see the current score and minute at any point. And on top of all that, you can post comments, questions, and shout-outs to the liveblog; some of these we’ll share on air, and all of them will be seen by other followers of the live blog, so come in and say to hi to your fellow Maroons (or Spartans; we’re excited to hear from Aurora fans too!).
To access the live blog, follow this link. The live blog should open in a separate tab or browser window, so you may need to temporarily allow pop-ups.
The audio broadcast will begin at 10:15 a.m., CST. We’ll start live blogging ten to fifteen minutes before kick off.
All of us at GoMaroons! Live are twitching with excitement over the day’s games (the Chicago men play their first round game against Wartburg at 5 p.m., and we’re broadcasting that one too). At a time like this, it’s hard to think of a fitting end to a blog post, so I’ll defer to some wisdom riceeved from American footballer Terrell Owens: Getcha popcorn ready.
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