Some random thoughts for this Sunday...
1. Kim Anderson is kind of pulling a Gary Pinkel at the moment. It appears he's in the market for another point guard, and he's looking for one in three different ways. He hosted a JUCO point guard -- 6'1 Casper CC point guard (and friend of Jakeenan Gant) Jay Wright (Jay Wright!) -- this weekend, and he's sent out two other offers recently: four-star one-time Wake Forest signee Shelton Mitchell and tiny two-star South Carolina guard Brandon Chauca. That's a pretty Pinkelish way to mix the blue-chip and diamond-in-the-rough offers. We'll see which one he lands.
2. Gotta love this series of tweets from Missouri's other Kim. He's definitely preparing for his next career.
I watched the Blazers/Rockets final possession 20 times. So much can be learned from that play. On both sides of the ball.
— Kim English (@Englishscope24) May 3, 2014
My Basketball Bible has grown immensely since I started it, in my JR year. I've documented 3 plays from each coach I've faced since then.
— Kim English (@Englishscope24) May 3, 2014
With the limited spacing available in European basketball. The coaches devise very clever ball screen tactics to get guys open.
— Kim English (@Englishscope24) May 3, 2014
In ball screens: Bigs low hands. Guards high hands. Deflections make defense a little bit easier.
— Kim English (@Englishscope24) May 4, 2014
3. Say this much for #TeamStubble: they've been tested. This wonderfully young team came up short against Alabama this weekend, winning one nip-and-tuck game before losing two similarly tight ones, and while that's disappointing, Mizzou enters the postseason with two seasons' worth of drama in one. The Tigers are 41-15 for the season against a brutally tough schedule, and nearly half of those games (27) have been decided by either one or two runs. The Tigers are 18-9 in the tight games and 23-6 in the others. They almost never get beaten easily, and thanks mostly to Tori Finucane (and some timely offense), they ended up with a very good record in these tight games despite a relatively tough start. That they got to the second-to-last game of the regular season with a shot at the SEC title is phenomenal considering the youth on this team. Not sure what to think about the team's postseason chances considering the recent struggles of the pitching staff beyond Finucane, but I can't wait for next year.
4. I really don't think Alabama's SEC title celebration was "bush league," but I love that both Ehren Earleywine and his team have the ability to get that much of a bitter taste in their mouths. That can serve them well.
5. Hell of a week, NBA.
6. I was pretty tired of IPAs before spending a week in bars on the East Coast ... now I'm really tired of them. I love that having a diverse beer selection is growing more and more trendy, but "diversity" loses its meaning if 14 of the 20 beers you have on tap are pale. More amber, please.