NBA (and NCAA!) Recap: Good Monday
Wassup family! Ya boy (it me, ya boy) is back with another recap of the recent hoops, both in college and the pros. Last time, we were getting ready for the respective tournaments with so much uncertainty. Now, as a new month begins, we have more clarity and detail about who could possibly be the next NCAA and NBA champion while still having much left to be decided. As you are reading this, both the men’s and women’s Final Four will be set. Like most of the basketball world, I’d like to fixate on the women’s side for this post—particularly, April 1st’s Elite Eight games.
Those games saw a rematch of last year’s National Championship game between LSU and Iowa as well as USC taking on UConn (Editor’s Note: while I wanted to see USC win, I do support Connecticut at a tangential level). Both games had their share of storylines. With the first game, in addition to the rematch, saw the dynamic of LSU’s Angel Reese and Iowa’s Caitlin Clark expressing their respective swaggers as competitors. In the second game, USC freshman sensation took on one of the more storied programs in UConn, who was looking to return what feels like their birthright: a place in the Final Four. In the end, it was Iowa and UConn who triumphed, joining undefeated South Carolina and surprise team NC State in the National Semifinal in April 5th.
Sure, I can add you the discourse surrounding things like how athletes conduct themselves or the racial undertones that were particularly prevalent in the LSU-Iowa game, but that isn’t necessary right now. What I would like to focus on instead of the fact that a good portion of the basketball world (read: a lot of the casual hoop watchers) were locked in to watch those games because we believed they were going to be good. There has not been a game since the 2023 WNBA Finals where the anticipation was as high as it was for these two women’s college games. It was appointment viewing because of the star power, the talent and yes, the various tensions as well. But more people aren’t tuned in if we do not believe the games will be entertaining. We didn’t expect shenanigans. We expected what we got: real good hoop.
Like most people, I’m glad women’s basketball is getting more shine and support. While it may come with all the other annoyances that come with more popularity and exposure such as hot takes and highly insulting opinions aimed at the players, the product is better for it overall. Hopefully, this is a monumental moment in the trajectory of how beloved and supported women and women’s sports grows to become. And we can avoid future mistakes like incorrect three point lines. Not even that could take away from the quality of basketball and competition these young women provided. Here’s to an incredible lady weekend of college basketball.
Some Till Takes ahead of my birthday (it’s April 9th if you’d like to send a gift):
The same of the women’s Elite Eight games, I had a thought that there was a chance there’d be an amazing NBA performance because not as many of us would be watching. Sure enough, Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns scored 52 points against the New Orleans Pelicans. It was his third straight game of at least 50 against New Orleans, and he performed with a few family and friends in attendance, as he’s from nearby Mississippi. The Suns needed the win as the bottom half of the Western Conference playoff picture gets even more congested with less than a couple weeks left in the regular season.
Luka Doncic took and made one of the most ridiculous shots ever don’t in an official NBA game. Stick between good defense and the shot clock winding down, Luka flipped an underhanded shot from a step inside the three-point line and it went in. It was the most spectacular bucket of his 47-point night, but perhaps not the most impressive shot he made that day. Playing in his 65th game makes him eligible for the NBA supermax extension that he’d get off her makes an All-NBA team. That is so but assured, so he’ll look to likely become somewhere around $364 million richer once he signs. Oh, he just turned 25.
That’s it for this week’s recap. I’ll be back with the start of the NBA postseason as well as some WNBA Draft thoughts.