Here are some highlights of Russell and here are his career stats.
1) WINNING (Part 1): The Celtics were ho-hum right before Russell joined the team, pretty bad right after he retired, and even worse when he missed games during his career, but when he was there they were the most dominant title-winning franchise in sports history, which proves how ludicrous the “He was simply the best player on a loaded team” comment is. DETAILS: a) Boston won 2 total playoff series in the 10 seasons before Russell arrived, and both were short best-of-3 series (‘53, ‘55), b) Boston went 34-48 and missed the playoffs in ‘70 right after winning the title in Russell’s final season, and c) when he missed games during his career, the Celtics were 10-18 (.357), and 18 of those 28 missed games were against teams with losing records, so there was no excuse for a “loaded” squad to be so bad. When Russell missed 3 or more games in a row --meaning his teammates really had to adjust & couldn’t just “get up” for one game without their leader-- the Celtics were a pitiful 1-12. They were horrible without him. There is NO evidence the Celtics were any good when Russell wasn’t on the floor, rather a ton of evidence to the contrary.
2) WINNING (Part 2): It's been commonly reported that Russell was 21-0 in winner-take-all games, but that’s incorrect …. he was 22-0. If Russell's team played even with an opponent throughout a series or got to the same place in a tournament, Russell's team was ALWAYS going to pull it out in the end.

At USF, his '55 team was 5-0 in the tourney on the way to the title.
At USF, his '56 team was 4-0 in the tourney on the way to the title.
In the '56 Olympics, the US squad was 2-0 when it came to the winner-take-all Final 4 for gold after the group stage.
In the NBA, the Celtics were famously 10-0 in Games 7's throughout his career.
In the '66 playoffs, the Celtics won Game 5 in the best-of-5 series with Cincinnati (link).

3) WINNING (Part 3): The Celtics didn’t win the title only 2 times during Russell’s 13-year career, and both were (very likely) due to difficulties experienced by Russell.

In 1958, the Hawks topped Boston 4-2 in the Finals (winning by 2, 3, 2, & 1 points), during which Russell missed 2 games and played at far less than 100% with a horribly sprained ankle when he was available in the series. It’s safe to say Boston would have won that title with a healthy Russell.
In 1967, the aging Celtics, fresh off of 8 straight championships, lost to the loaded and younger Sixers in the ECF. This was the first year Russell was Boston’s player-coach, which is significant since he faced horrendously stressful & over-the-top racism as the first black coach in major US pro sports history. He played so much and so intensely (43.3 min/gm in the playoffs) that he often forgot to sub players which hurt his team. The next season, the Celtics were older & considered “done”, but he added a bench coach to handle subs, and they beat the favored defending champion Sixers in the playoffs, and then won the title. Then the “seriously, they’re done now” 1968-69 Celtics clawed their way into the Finals & beat the loaded West-Wilt-Baylor Lakers 4-3 in Russell’s final season. Two giant asterisks have to go beside the only two championships Boston didn’t win during Russell’s career.

4) WINNING (Part 4): Russell went to college at the University of San Francisco which had just suffered through 3 straight losing seasons before he joined the varsity team. He lead an unranked USF team to 2 consecutive NCAA titles during his junior and senior seasons, going 57-1 along the way, and he could have won a title all 3 seasons he played at USF if not for losing teammate K.C. Jones one game into their sophomore season; they smashed the #17 team 51-33 in game 1 with Jones who was hospitalized that night with a burst appendix, but Russell still lead them to a 14-7 record before going on to those 2 titles. Even at the college level, he could lead players who weren’t supposed to win to the ultimate heights; it wasn’t just in Boston. Also, he was the leading scorer, rebounder, and defender on the 1956 gold medal winning US Olympic team, which had an average margin of victory of +53, the highest ever (’92 Dream Team was +44).
5) CLUTCH: I already mentioned how dominant Russell’s teams were when it was all on the line, but I’ll add that his list of clutch games, series, and moments is ridiculously long, plus his ppg, rpg, and apg averages all rose in the playoffs. I’ll simply point out that he had the greatest Game 7 performance of all-time in the 1962 Finals, scoring 30 points & grabbing 40 rebounds to win the title in a super-tight Game 7. If you didn’t know, the NBA Finals MVP award is officially called the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP Award.
6) INTELLIGENCE: Part of what made Russell so unbelievable in big games and moments was that his IQ and level of manipulating opponents is unparalleled historically. On defense, he’d often intentionally “just miss” blocking a particular star player’s shots earlier in a contest, but late in the game when the opponent was lulled into thinking they could get a certain shot off over Russell that night, he’d extend the extra inch and come up with clutch blocks & defensive plays they weren't expecting. I’ve never heard of another player doing stuff like this. The stories about his IQ are legendary & numerous; here are some clips about his hoops IQ. At least watch the 3rd one on that list ("Some more mindgames") to see a short interview with him talking about manipulation of a star opponent in a way I’ve never heard another player articulate; he truly was thinking on a whole different level to create advantages for his team.
7) VERSATILITY: Bill Russell was so versatile on the floor because he trained and played all 5 positions on offense. The only other players in history who could maybe do this are Maurice Stokes and Giannis Antetokounmpo, but Russell’s results were quite different, plus immediate & sustained. His value to the Celtics’ offense is WAY underrated, especially on the fast break where he arguably had a bigger influence than Steve Nash did for the Suns’ fast break due to how well he could start, run, and finish it.
8) PASSING & OFFENSIVE INFLUENCE: Speaking of his versatility on the fast break, Bill Russell was a great passer, both in the half-court & full-court, and put up insane assist numbers for a center, especially in the playoffs (averaged >5 apg in the playoffs during 7 different seasons, far more times than any other center).
John Havlicek, in his 1977 autobiography, said the following about Russell's effect on Boston's offense when specifically discussing their first post-Russell season ('70):

"You couldn't begin to count the ways we missed [him]. People think about him in terms of defense and rebounding, but he had been the key to our offense. He made the best pass more than anyone I have ever played with. That mattered to people like Nelson, Howell, Siegfried, Sanders, and myself. None of us were one on one players ... Russell made us better offensive players. His ability as a passer, pick-setter, and general surmiser of offense has always been over-looked.”

I’ll add that Bill Russell finished 4th in MVP voting with an 18% vote share in 1969, his final season (‘69 MVP voting). I believe this is the best MVP finish by any player in their final season.
9) MORE ABOUT HIS OFFENSE: Fans often knock Russell for not being a high scorer. He played on a team that spread around the scoring, so very few Celtics ever had big scoring numbers, and he often had the best FG% on the team. Russell was top-5 in FG% in the league 4 times, while more recent dominant-scoring centers Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, and Patrick Ewing all did it once. Russell understood what individual sacrifices to make and how to improve his teammates so they collectively would be winners, which is why he won the 1962 MVP (voting) over Wilt Chamberlain (his epic 50 ppg & 26 rpg season) and Oscar Robertson (his epic triple-double season). By the way, Russell holds the record for the most consecutive MVP awards (3), most consecutive top-2 MVP finishes (6), and has the 2nd most MVP’s of all-time (5). It was clear that Russell’s approach was far more valuable to his team’s success than that of other superstars with monster stats.
10) DEFENSIVE IMPACT: There is no hyperbole in saying Russell was unquestionably the most impactful defensive player ever. The Celtics consistently & regularly had the #1 defense in the NBA throughout his career, yet they were FAR worse before he joined the team, and they immediately dropped in the ‘70 season right after he retired. Here are Boston’s annual rankings in Defensive Rating, starting in the ‘54 season: 8, 8, 6, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 1, 8 (the highlighted parts represent Russell’s career). He had an overwhelmingly positive influence on the entire team’s defense to a degree we’ve never seen from any other player.
11) ATHLETICISM: Watching film of Russell, it’s clear he was extremely fast and active, elite even by today’s standards. He also possessed Olympic-level leaping ability (7th ranked high jumper in the world in 1956). For the record, he was measured as 6-ft-9-and-⅝ without shoes, taller than both Dwight Howard and Alonzo Mourning. This incredible athleticism is what allowed his defense to be a cross between Tim Duncan & Kevin Garnett, covering everything everywhere with phenomenal explosiveness, plus impeccable timing & decision-making.
12) LEADERSHIP: Bill Russell had the best combination of elite on-court impact on team synergy plus elite locker-room unity & positivity. Very few guys are even in the discussion of having this type of elite combo: Tim Duncan, Jerry West, Larry Bird …. not many more, especially when you also consider a player’s impact on his team’s defensive synergy.

February 12, 1934: Bill Russell was born. No one did more to ensure his team’s success & win championships. Russell won 11 NBA titles, 2 NCAA titles, and Olympic gold with his elite defense, athleticism, versatility, passing, rebounding, leadership, intelligence, clutch play, etc.

Here are some highlights of Russell and here are his career stats.
1) WINNING (Part 1): The Celtics were ho-hum right before Russell joined the team, pretty bad right after he retired, and even worse when he missed games during his career, but when he was there they were the most dominant title-winning franchise in sports history, which proves how ludicrous the “He was simply the best player on a loaded team” comment is. DETAILS: a) Boston won 2 total playoff series in the 10 seasons before Russell arrived (he was a rookie in '57), and both were short best-of-3 series (‘53, ‘55), b) Boston went 34-48 and missed the playoffs in ‘70 right after winning the title in Russell’s final season, and c) when he missed games during his career, the Celtics were 10-18 (.357), and 18 of those 28 missed games were against teams with losing records, so there was no excuse for a “loaded” squad to be so bad. When Russell missed 3 or more games in a row --meaning his teammates really had to adjust & couldn’t just “get up” for one game without their leader-- the Celtics were a pitiful 1-12. They were horrible without him. There is NO evidence the Celtics were any good when Russell wasn’t on the floor, rather a ton of evidence to the contrary.
2) WINNING (Part 2): It's been commonly reported that Russell was 21-0 in winner-take-all games, but that’s incorrect …. he was 22-0. If Russell's team played even with an opponent throughout a series or got to the same place in a tournament, Russell's team was ALWAYS going to pull it out in the end.

At USF, his '55 team was 5-0 in the tourney on the way to the title.
At USF, his '56 team was 4-0 in the tourney on the way to the title.
In the '56 Olympics, the US squad was 2-0 when it came to the winner-take-all Final 4 for gold after the group stage.
In the NBA, the Celtics were famously 10-0 in Games 7's throughout his career.
In the '66 playoffs, the Celtics won Game 5 in the best-of-5 series with Cincinnati (link).

3) WINNING (Part 3): The Celtics didn’t win the title only 2 times during Russell’s 13-year career, and both were (very likely) due to difficulties experienced by Russell.

In 1958, the Hawks topped Boston 4-2 in the Finals (winning by 2, 3, 2, & 1 points), during which Russell missed 2 games and played at far less than 100% with a horribly sprained ankle when he was available in the series. It’s safe to say Boston would have won that title with a healthy Russell.
In 1967, the aging Celtics, fresh off of 8 straight championships, lost to the loaded and younger Sixers in the ECF. This was the first year Russell was Boston’s player-coach, which is significant since he faced horrendously stressful & over-the-top racism as the first black coach in major US pro sports history. He played so much and so intensely (43.3 min/gm in the playoffs) that he often forgot to sub players which hurt his team. The next season, the Celtics were older & considered “done”, but he added a bench coach to handle subs, and they beat the favored defending champion Sixers in the playoffs, and then won the title. Then the “seriously, they’re done now” 1968-69 Celtics clawed their way into the Finals & beat the loaded West-Wilt-Baylor Lakers 4-3 in Russell’s final season. Oh yeah, Russell was the only player-coach in NBA history to win a championship, and he won two.

Two giant asterisks have to go beside the only two championships Boston didn’t win during Russell’s career.
4) WINNING (Part 4): Russell went to college at the University of San Francisco which had just suffered through 3 straight losing seasons before he joined the varsity team. He lead an unranked USF team to 2 consecutive NCAA titles during his junior and senior seasons, going 57-1 along the way, and he could have won a title all 3 seasons he played at USF if not for losing teammate K.C. Jones one game into their sophomore season; they smashed the #17 team 51-33 in game 1 with Jones playing who was then hospitalized that night with a burst appendix, but 1st-year Russell still lead them to a 14-7 record without the HOF PG before going on to those 2 titles. Even at the college level, he could lead players who weren’t supposed to win to the ultimate heights; it wasn’t just in Boston. Also, he was the leading scorer, rebounder, and defender on the 1956 gold medal winning US Olympic team, which had an average margin of victory of +53, the highest ever (’92 Dream Team was +44).
5) CLUTCH: I already mentioned how dominant Russell’s teams were when it was all on the line, but I’ll add that his list of clutch games, series, and moments is ridiculously long, plus his ppg, rpg, and apg averages all rose in the playoffs. I’ll simply point out that he had the greatest Game 7 performance of all-time in the 1962 Finals, scoring 30 points & grabbing 40 rebounds to win the title in a super-tight Game 7. If you didn’t know, the NBA Finals MVP award is officially called the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP Award.
6) INTELLIGENCE: Part of what made Russell so unbelievable in big games and moments was that his IQ and level of manipulating opponents is unparalleled historically. On defense, he’d often intentionally “just miss” blocking a particular star player’s shots earlier in a contest, but late in the game when the opponent was lulled into thinking they could get a certain shot off over Russell that night, he’d extend the extra inch and come up with clutch blocks & defensive plays they weren't expecting. I’ve never heard of another player doing stuff like this. The stories about his IQ are legendary & numerous; here are some clips about his hoops IQ. At least watch the 3rd one on that list ("Some more mindgames") to see a short interview with him talking about manipulation of a star opponent in a way I’ve never heard another player articulate; he truly was thinking on a whole different level to create advantages for his team.
7) VERSATILITY: Bill Russell was so versatile on the floor because he trained and played all 5 positions on offense. The only other players in history who could maybe do this are Maurice Stokes and Giannis Antetokounmpo, but Russell’s results were quite different, plus immediate & sustained. His value to the Celtics’ offense is WAY underrated, especially on the fast break where he arguably had a bigger influence than Steve Nash did for the Suns’ fast break due to how well he could start, run, and finish it.
8) PASSING & OFFENSIVE INFLUENCE: Speaking of his versatility on the fast break, Bill Russell was a great passer, both in the half-court & full-court, and put up insane assist numbers for a center, especially in the playoffs (averaged >5 apg in the playoffs during 7 different seasons, far more times than any other center).
John Havlicek, in his 1977 autobiography, said the following about Russell's effect on Boston's offense when specifically discussing their first post-Russell season ('70):

"You couldn't begin to count the ways we missed [him]. People think about him in terms of defense and rebounding, but he had been the key to our offense. He made the best pass more than anyone I have ever played with. That mattered to people like Nelson, Howell, Siegfried, Sanders, and myself. None of us were one on one players ... Russell made us better offensive players. His ability as a passer, pick-setter, and general surmiser of offense has always been over-looked.”

Peyton Pritchard is number 4 among rookies this year per hoops habit -

Build a Bear Dynasty Week 2: Modern Offense and Positionless Basketball; The Center of Jega

Welcome back to Build a Bear Dynasty, the least lit series about the most lit team in the NBA. This week I will be discussing Jonas Valanciunas.
Before I get to that, there are a few topics I need to discuss to give context to what I consider Jonas’ strengths and weaknesses. I realize that in the introduction I had brought up alternating player profiles and analysis of modern NBA terminology, but in planning for this first player piece I quickly realized that it would be helpful to be ‘on the same page’ so to speak when using certain words and terms to discuss his game.
So before getting to the analysis, there are a couple of the more vague terms used to describe basketball that I would like to break down first: Modern Offense, and Positionless Basketball.
Modern Offense
Broken down to its simplest terms, the game of basketball from a team’s perspective is played in two distinct phases: offense and defense. In the fewest words possible, offense is the team’s attempts to score points by putting the ball through a basket, and defense is the team’s attempts to prevent the other team from doing the same.
What makes basketball unique amongst North American major sports, and in my personal opinion makes it the most intriguing and beautiful sport, is the fact that it is the only one where the rules are written so that every player on the floor is allowed to perform every single legal action. All players are allowed access to every spot on the floor, and when the ball is in theirs or their defender’s hands they are allowed to do the same things every other player is.
Through a combination of the fluid nature of the sport, the inherent advantages both size AND speed can bring, and various changes to the ruleset, the game of basketball has evolved over time, valuing certain traits and attributes over others as they prove more or less useful in the changing landscape.
If you are at all familiar with competitive video gaming, you might refer to this concept with the term ‘Meta.’ In esports players develop optimal strategies through time and experience, and due to games often having fixed values for things like ‘damage’ and ‘health,’ players quickly find the statistically most ideal strategies, and the best teams spend hours and hours honing very specific skills and counters to give themselves the best odds of winning based on the rules of the game.
To counteract this rote memorization of inputs, modern game companies that produce multiplayer titles will often continue to update the game periodically after its release, not only to fix bugs and glitches, but to also change the game’s ‘meta’ to prevent the game from getting stale. They do this primarily through improving or worsening the values of certain items or characters in a practice known colloquially as ‘Buffing’ and ‘Nerfing,’ or by introducing new characters and gear all together. Players get used to the new changes, adopt new strategies, and the cycle continues as long as the developers continue to update, or as the players continue to uncover new strategies that provide further optimization.
WARNING: Incoming extensive history of the game Super Smash Bros. It does relate to later content, but is unnecessary if you wish to skip ahead to the next section about basketball.
An Unlikely Comparison
In theory, if the values of a game remain fixed, given enough time the players will develop the optimal strategy to play the game. A popular meme referring to the game Super Smash Brothers is the phrase ‘no items, foxes only, final destination’ referring to the presumed ‘optimal’ way to play the 2nd game in the series, Super Smash Brothers Melee. No items that might randomly give a player an advantage, the character many veterans of the game consider to be the all around best when combining his speed, attack power, and ability to survive, and a completely flat and empty stage that quite literally levels the playing field.
It took a very unique history for the game Super Smash Brothers Melee to get a point where there’s an almost universally held belief that there is a single ideal way to play the game. Before companies had the ability to update games over the internet thereby giving them the power to adjust the game after its release, one on one style fighting games like Tekken, Soul Calibur, and Street Fighter would release a new installment every few years. They would usually keep the majority of the same character roster and mechanics, while updating graphics, movesets, and the values of things like health and damage to keep the ‘meta’ game fresh between installments.
Unlike the directors of those other game series, the creator of Super Smash Brothers, Masahiro Sakurai, prefers the elements of a game that are fun for everyone, over those that make for an ideal competitive experience. Things like powerful items appearing next to players out of nowhere, and certain parts of some stages randomly hurting players all add to the chaos of Smash Brothers that makes it a fun party game.
But as with any game, whether it’s intended for fun or competition, players came along that wanted to adjust the rules to make it more challenging and skill based. By turning off the in game items and picking only certain stages agreed on by the competitors, a whole community developed to play an intrinsically anti-competitive game in a way that was more skills based.
In 2001 Nintendo released the Gamecube and Sakurai released the second Super Smash Brothers game, Super Smash Brothers Melee. The new game not only introduced new characters, but also massively changed the speed and feel of the game, making use of the new console’s better processor to create a more dynamic and fast paced game. The competitive community grew some more, but Nintendo as a company is very protective of their intellectual property, and at the time would go to extreme lengths at times to shut down grassroots tournaments and consumer created content, so it remained small in comparison to other fighting game communities.
Though a large number of players enjoyed the new gameplay, Sakurai felt that an overly competitive game was taking away from his vision of a fun and friendly game, and in the third installment he released, Super Smash Brothers Brawl, he slowed down the gameplay a bit, and added in random mechanics like tripping players that moved too quickly.
Unable to turn off those mechanics like they could with items in previous games, the competitive scene rejected the new game with large sections of the community sticking with the older Melee, and some going to incredible lengths to actually rewrite the code to modify the properties of the game itself.
Through a combination of a failure of the third game to capture the hearts of the players, and Nintendo focusing most of its efforts on shutting down the fan modified versions of Super Smash Bros Brawl, the competitive Melee scene exploded in a way unprecedented for a decade old fighting game. To this day, across the country tournaments are held fielding hundreds of players from here and abroad. Players new and old spend hours scouring over statistical data and practicing to hone the most optimal skills to give themselves an edge in tournaments with huge cash prizes. And it all culminates in a silly internet joke about Fox being the statistically optimal character.
If you’d care to know more about the ‘golden age’ of competitive Melee, there is a very well done, fan-made, 9 part docu series on youtube called ‘The Smash Bros’ that follows one of the most unique fandoms and cultures of any group that I’ve encountered.
But as I am sure most of you are thinking, what in the hell does a 20 year old Japanese video game played by a bunch of nerds have to do with basketball?
BACK TO BASKETBALL
Well, when it comes to sports in general, I feel that the term ‘meta’ is an excellent way of framing how basketball has changed as a sport over time. Players work on specific skills they feel give them an edge, coaches come up with plays that have more chance of success, defenses work to adapt to those and the league evolves.
New players enter the league every year, rosters change through trades and free agency signings, and league management ‘updates’ the game with occasional rule changes that they feel will balance the game better for the players and viewers.
Sometimes the changes are poorly received, like when they removed dunking from the college level of basketball from 1967-1976 as a result of a young Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s NCAA dominance. Other times they drastically affected the entire fabric of the sport.
In 1979 when the league introduced the 3 point shot during Magic Johnson and Larry Bird’s rookie seasons, it changed the sport more drastically than anyone at the time may have realized. In the previous 87 years of the sport’s existence, having every shot during play have the same value of 2 points meant that the shot that went in the most is by default the best shot. This obviously led to taller players having an advantage, and a natural tendency for players to work as hard as possible to get as close to the rim when they can for an easier shot. If you looked at an overall ‘heatmap’ of an NBA court of how successful players were at shooting from certain spots, it would loosely look like a smaller hot circle centered on the basket, that cools in all directions the further from the basket it gets.
But with some shots being worth 3 points, a player could shoot a worse percentage while adding more value to the offense. A player that could shoot 50% while 20 feet from the rim would add 6 points for every 6 shots, and compared to other players in NBA history would be a midrange god. But a player shooting just 34% from just a few feet further away would add a slightly better 6.04 points for every 6 shots, and would have been considered a below average 3 point shooter in the league last season.
Kevin Durant, known as one of the greatest scorers of all time, over his career has shot 44.5% from between 3 and 10 feet from the basket, effectively 0.89 points per shot. On the other hand, the 2019-2020 league average 35.8% shooting from 3 is worth 1.074 points per shot. If you looked at a heatmap shot chart from today’s league, it would now have a ring that is the 2nd hottest part of the floor, behind the efficiency of the space immediately around the rim.
Suddenly there was a spot on the floor that theoretically had the same offensive value as a spot much closer to the basket. In a sport dominated by long limbed giants, any time a team gets to spread out the defenders makes it a little bit easier to get off clean looks. We refer to this trend in modern terms as ‘Spacing’ which I’ll focus on a bit more in next week’s piece.
It essentially boils down to that ‘spacing’ is all about generating separation between an offensive player and a defensive player. The more separation a player has from their defender, the more likely they’ll make their shot.
If you’ve ever seen NBA players warm up before a game, you’ll notice very quickly that they almost never miss when shooting a wide open set shot. By the time most of these players get to the league, they’ve played thousands of hours shooting from all over the floor. The hard part of the sport for most of them isn’t being able to shoot well, it’s shooting well while being defended by 7 foot monsters that can reach above the height of the rim without leaving the ground.
But the disadvantage that most 7 footers have that shorter players can potentially take advantage of is foot speed. Until 1979 this wasn’t a huge concern outside of transition basketball, as the goal of most players was to get as close to the rim as possible and taller players could camp out and wait, instead of chasing smaller, faster players around. But now there was an area of the floor that offers good value and covers a comparatively huge area. It’s easy to play defense when you know the team is working towards one direction and you don’t have to move as much, but when the offense can now move forwards AND backwards to get a better shot, it opens up a completely new realm of possibilities for offensive and defensive strategy.
Since that point and unless the league removes the 3 point line, all strategies and players have worked towards optimizing that potential. Modern Offense is the culmination of all of those efforts. But what strategy has evolved from all of this combined talent and effort? It took the Smash Brothers community more than a decade of study and practice to come to the conclusion that Fox is the best character. What type of ideal player archetype has the past 40 years been building towards? The trend I personally feel the NBA is moving towards is another vague but oft repeated term.
Positionless Basketball
It's an intriguing pair of words that is often used when discussing players that don’t fit the historic trends. Giant playmakers like LeBron and Ben Simmons that make point guards of look tiny, PJ Tucker playing the center position full time despite being a good 4 inches shorter than most other centers, 7 foot shooters like Jaren and Kristaps Porzingis that play more like a traditional small forward on offense.
But this loose definition feels like it’s only halfway there to me. There still seems to be this underlying assumption that positionless basketball is the positions themselves still existing, but players don’t have to play a specific role based on their size or skills. People will describe an idealized team of a 6’8 point guard with 3 6’8 wings and a 6’10 guy to play center and they all switch on defense. But they still expect the point guard to make most of the plays, the center to get most of the rebounds, and to generally run traditional NBA sets, just with a larger group of guys that are closer to a median height so they can all defend each other on the other end.
But a few recent things lead me to believe that it’s more than that. Could positionless basketball actually mean the end of the concept of positions in the sport of basketball? While I’m not sure we’ll ever get to a point where every player does every skill equally well, I do think we are starting to see a fundamental change in the way NBA teams across the league build their rosters around this idea of positionless basketball, and nothing is more responsible for it than the combination of Steph Curry and YouTube.
Breaking the Game
From the start of his career, Steph Curry has worked his way to breaking nearly every record you can think of when it comes to 3 point shooting. For his career he has shot 43.5% from 3 on over 8 attempts a game. That kind of shooting is not only unprecedented, it is statistically dominating when it comes to winning games. At an absurd 1.305 points per shot, a player would have to shoot 65.3% from inside the 3 point line to match that kind of scoring output per shot. When you consider that the true shooting percentage of the average NBA champion over the last 10 years is around 57.5%, Steph is hands down the best player in league history when it comes to adding offense through 3 point shooting, and he does it at a level that can win championships.
When the league average for 3 point shooting hovers around 35%, the value it provides is mostly from spacing the defenders, as though it’s efficient it’s not enough to beat scoring at the rim over the course of a game. The fact that Steph can shoot that volume, that efficiently, and maintain that performance against championship level defenses is game changing. He essentially proved that it’s possible to focus your game entirely around the 3 point line and still lead an NBA offense in scoring, something never done before.
In terms of positionless basketball this might have changed everything. If a player can shoot from 3 better than most can from 2, then ideally you’d want players that can shoot from 3 more than players that score inside unless they’re truly elite at scoring inside.
But not every player is Steph Curry, or Klay Thompson. Those two were raised by former NBA players that were above average 3 point shooters. You could argue that it might be that genetics gave them the shooting gift, but I think it’s more likely that they just practiced shooting more than any other kid playing basketball, and the part of genetics they benefited from most is their above average height.
Just look at Jaren Jackson Jr. another player raised by a former shooting specialist. He has a completely different form and build from his dad, but because his dad likely had him practicing like a shooting guard he naturally spent more time shooting 3’s than most kids.
Of course the vast majority of players coming into the league don’t have former players to teach them from a young age. But for players entering the league in this decade this might not be as big of a hindrance as it has been for players in the past.
Unlike every other kid to grow up and play in the NBA in the past, any player born this millennium has access to YouTube from the time they are physically able to manipulate a touchscreen. Across society this has had far reaching consequences that I think we were entirely unprepared for, and are only just now starting to come to fruition.
If you or someone you know is heavily into makeup as a hobby and artform, you might have jokingly said or heard them talk about the fact that “there are 13 year olds on YouTube that are experts at contour, and why don’t 13 years look like cabbage patch kids in overalls like when we were younger?” And it’s not just makeup. You look at any hobby, talent, skill, activity and you will see a bunch of experts expressing incredulity at the number of young people demonstrating master level skill in all these things that took them decades to hone.
The internet, and specifically streaming video is still in its infancy as a human technology, so there isn’t a ton of long term research of the effects of things like social media. While some it is likely bad for humanity as a whole, I don’t think we’ve considered just yet how positive it could be as well. We have instant access to every bit of information you could think to find, and videos posted by talented people of every interest that want to share that interest with others.
When you consider the fact that kids brains are at the height of their plasticity when it comes to learning new things, and that on average they have more free time to obsess over their interests, it seems like we have a combination specifically tailored to create super talented kids that seek out more and more advice from as many experts as they can. They watch videos, read, practice, and train until they themselves are experts, learned from the greatest minds on the planet in their chosen interest.
Ja Morant didn’t have a superstar dad. He played AAU, but usually on teams in secondary gyms. He didn’t go to a major blue blood university with an elite basketball mind head coach to teach him the important things other star players would be taught coming through their programs. All Ja had was a loving and supportive family that pushed him as hard as he wanted to go, a natural abundance of athleticism, and the internet.
Is it just happenstance that Ja Morant’s game reminds people so much of so many different great point guards? Westbrook, Wall, Chris Paul, and Rose have all been used dozens of times in Ja comparisons. Is it coincidence all 4 of those players had their primes overlap with Ja’s formative years?
From whatever age his parents let him get online, he could look up highlight videos and film of any player he wanted to, whenever he wanted to, studying and breaking down all their movements to recreate them himself. He didn’t need to be taught, as much as he taught himself through pure motivation and drive.
And it’s not just Ja. International players like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid have both talked about watching film of American players while they were learning the sport of basketball. Growing up across the Atlantic ocean they didn’t have access to all the coaches and leagues young players here have, but they could still watch the best of the best whenever they wanted to.
The first players to grow up this way are now into their NBA careers, and the results haven’t gone unnoticed even if the means aren’t talked about. Players like Luka, Trae, Tatum, Ja, Jaren, Mitchell, Murray, Jokic, and Giannis have all displayed skill far beyond their years when compared to other NBA superstars of the past.
But it’s not just the star players. John Konchar recently made local media laugh a bit when asked what player he compares himself to, and he said ‘Pat Connaughton.’ Almost every player that enters the league has been the best player on every team they’ve played on for maybe a decade and rookies will usually compare themselves to stars that they watched and idealized growing up. So for Konchar to compare himself to an NBA role player that’s still in the league and only a few years older than him seems silly.But if you go back and look at their college numbers and their physical profiles, you start to realize that John Konchar might just be the single most self actualized player in the entire league.
Both 6’5, 210 pound guys, played all 4 years at schools that aren’t traditional basketball powerhouses. Efficient scorers that score in the paint and from 3, incredible at rebounding for their size, above average passing for off ball players, very solid defense, and advanced numbers that blow most players out of the water, though against weaker competition than most NBA recruits. John Konchar was never heavily recruited and always played against weak competition, even if his own numbers suggested he was incredibly good. Is it possible that he went out and found the best possible player that looks and plays like him, and did everything he could to emulate that player knowing it would be his best shot of making the NBA? I don’t think it’s that far fetched.
If this trend continues for all the young players entering the NBA for the foreseeable future, it might mean that we are right on the edge of a new era in the sport, where the best players come into the league ready to lead within the first year or 2, and role players perfectly comfortable with their smaller roles on NBA rosters. Players that hit early growth spurts won’t necessarily be regulated to center positioning, and a lifetime of paint scoring and rebounding. If a taller player wants to work on their 3 point shot, independent of coaching or parenting they can now study videos of the best 3 point shooters ever and add that element to their game if they choose to. And the most motivated players, the ones that live and breathe basketball, they have limitless teachers and lessons to watch with as many hours as they can spare.
Flirting with the Future
A future where maybe basketball truly is positionless, where players all know how to box out when they're in the paint and a shot goes up, that can all shoot the 3 when open, drive the paint if they see a lane, and pass to the open man when the defense slips up. Of course smaller players will on average tend to have an easier time creating separation on the perimeter through their speed, and taller plays in the paint through their verticality, though both types of players may at least be able to do both well when the opportunity presents itself.
Some teams have already experimented with this concept to some extent, but right now the majority of the players in the league are not ready for that type of offense. For the majority of players over the age of 25, they grew up in a basketball culture that placed certain focus on their game based on their size. Most aren’t capable of playing all aspects of basketball at an NBA level because they didn’t get the practice in all the necessary skills as they developed.
The Houston Rockets might be the most aggressive team when it comes to molding the team to this mindset, with them refusing to sign players that aren’t capable of all those aspects of basketball. With a lack of players above 6’8 meeting all the criteria to be a truly good basketball player, this limited them to playing PJ Tucker, the largest such player on the roster, against other teams playing true 7 foot centers. It’s not that the Rockets overvalue smaller players, there just aren’t many players that are tall and capable of meeting those requirements, and the Rockets valued the concept of positionless basketball offense above getting players capable of defending elite frontcourts in a playoff setting.
Miami might be the best recent example of a team that has gone ‘full positionless’ when it comes to their roster. Pretty much every player on the roster in the recent playoffs was capable of making the right play on the offensive and defensive ends, and though they weren’t very efficient compared to other playoff team offenses, their ability to change roles on a moments notice got them all the way to the NBA finals against one of the strongest teams in NBA history.
If you go back even further, take a look at the playoff numbers of the 2014 Spurs that ended the Heat’s chances at a third title under the dominance of LeBron, Wade, and Bosh. An incredible balance of scoring, playmaking, and overall basketball talent from all the players to get significant minutes in the playoffs led to a sum greater than the whole, and a team that went down in history as playing ‘the beautiful game.’
But where does that leave the Grizzlies with their current roster? While other young star studded teams went after vets that they felt would compliment their current talent, the Grizzlies continued to go young and replaced the open spots on the roster with more players on their rookie deals, and resigning young players coming off their first contracts. Most of these young guys have more in common than you might expect.
To give you an idea of what kind of players the Grizzlies have focused on acquiring, here is every player that in their final year of college play had an above average assist, rebound, steal, and block rate when compared directly to players roughly their height and weight, a true shooting percentage that was above the NCAA average for that season, but did NOT lead the team in shot attempts. Listed by their season, along with their box plus minus rank of all college players from that season (minimum 500 minutes played) In other words, these are the players that were above average in almost every NBA counting stat we track to measure a players success:
Xavier Tillman (1st - 19/20)
Killian Tillie (5th - 19/20)
Desmond Bane (19th - 19/20)
Brandon Clarke (2nd - 18/19)
John Konchar (91st - 18/19)
Jontay Porter (42nd -17/18)
De'anthony Melton (102nd - 16/17)
Justise Winslow (33rd - 14/15)
Kyle Anderson (13th - 13/14)
Grayson Allen met all the requirements except rebound rate and block rate, but was still 62nd overall in box plus minus.
Ja and Dillon (yes, Dillon too) met all the requirements except they both led their respective teams in shot attempts in their final seasons. Ja was 29th overall in 2018-19, and Dillon was 42nd in 2016-17.
Jaren met all the requirements except an above average assist and rebound rate, and was 4th overall in 2017-18.
Notably, every player saw their assist rate and 3 point attempt rate increase dramatically each year they returned to play in college.
If you asked me, the FO is 100% bought into the idea of positionless basketball, and they've got a whole group of some of the best all around players to come out of college in the last 5 years with the proper skillset for it. I don't think the fact that so many players on the list played with each other in college is coincidental or something as simply as appeasing the star players by signing their friends.
The Grizzlies FO has gone out and gone after elite all around players, that played at some of the programs in the country with the most long term success. Coaches like coach K and Izzo are basketball geniuses that instill smart play into any player that comes through their program, and between 5 players on the roster we have over a decade of collective experience under those guys, on top of their own individual talent and expertise.
I think the team will hit the ground way faster than anyone expects. Don't be shocked if they blow past expectations this year. The Grizzlies as a whole seem very forward thinking when it comes to the ‘meta’ of the NBA, and their plays have all paid off so far. But where does that leave a player like Jonas Valanciunas?

Key Areas for the Boilermakers VS. Iowa Tonight

Hey all...figured I'd share for anyone who may be interested in reading in the hours leading up to the game. The stuff posted below was originally written as part of an article and not a Reddit post so it's a bit lengthy.
EDIT: Full article is up and can be read on the Boiler In Texas site.
https://www.boilerintexas.com/boiler-basketball-articles/2020-mbb-at-iowa-preview
I'll be contributing a few write-ups and opinion pieces for Boilermaker basketball over the course of the season and highly recommend the site if you're a Purdue sports fan. I'll leave the excerpt below for those who prefer to read directly on Reddit.

Solid Play from the 4 Position

It felt like Purdue had Iowa’s number last year and Evan Boudreaux had a big part in that. In the two times the teams squared up, the graduate transfer Senior averaged 16 points on 11/21 shooting from the floor and 6/10 from 3. He also averaged 11 rebounds with a monster 14 rebound outing in the first matchup that included an insane 7 offensive rebounds. Examining the rest of the stat sheet shows 5 assists, 2 steals, and a block to 4 fouls and only ONE turnover between both games. To further emphasize how impressive Boudreaux’s performances were against Iowa, let’s compare these averages to his season’s.

Evan Boudreaux	VS. Iowa	Season
Points	16	5.4
FG%/3P%	52.4/60	39.7/30.6
Rebounds (Off.)	11 (4)	4.6 (1.6)
Assists	2.5	0.7
Blocks	0.5	0.1
Turnovers	0.5	0.7
Minutes	29.5	17

As impressive as his outings were, you may be wondering why I am focusing on a player who is no longer on Purdue’s roster in advance of a matchup tonight. To put it simply, it’s because I see a lot of the same opportunities at the 4 spot this year when reviewing the film on Iowa and looking at their roster while looking back at our own. As stated earlier, this is an Iowa team that brings back a ton of key players. Much like last year, Iowa has opted (so far) to feature a lineup that surrounds star Luka Garza with 4 versatile guards that are capable of threatening from deep. The Hawkeyes relied primarily on an experienced big in Ryan Kreiner to fill in the ~8 minutes/game Garza wasn’t on the floor last season as well as to provide size and depth in matchups that called for a larger lineup. Iowa struggled mightily to contain Boudreaux while also keeping tabs on Trevion Williams or the 7’3” Haarms. Their typical ‘smaller’ lineup couldn’t keep Boudreaux off the glass or take advantage on the other end of the floor. The 6’10 Kreiner (who averaged 21 minutes in these two games) couldn’t hang with Williams or Haarms defensively, being on the wrong end of a few and-1 calls trying to guard either of them 1-on-1, and didn’t do that much better in keeping Boudreaux off the offensive glass.
This year is looking like more of the same as they roll out with virtually the same exact starting lineup as last year. The Hawkeyes welcome back Senior guard Jordan Bohanon who returns from season-ending hip surgery that cut his last season to only 10 games (missed both of the matchups vs. Purdue) while his replacement last year in Joe Toussaint now comes off the bench leading the non-starting guards in minutes and points. In place of Kreiner is a bit of committee featuring freshmen Keegan Murray and Patrick McCaffery while being headed by 6’11” Sophomore Jack Nunge. I expect Painter to continue rolling out with a starting lineup that slots Mason Gillis alongside Trevion Williams in the frontcourt with Aaron Wheeler playing anywhere between 16-24 minutes whenever Gillis isn’t on the floor. Both Gillis and Wheeler will be dangerous crashing the glass against Iowa’s smaller lineup and I like their odds against the big men coming off the bench for Iowa. Nunge is more versatile than Kreiner and a notable threat on the offensive end, averaging double figure points and nearly 4 offensive rebounds in under 20 minutes of action per game this year. That said, I’ll take our guys over the Freshmen with limited experiences against strong opponents and think that our centers will force their share of double teams in the paint to open up the weak side for easy looks and prime offensive rebounding position.
In my opinion, the big question mark this game is whether or not the Boilers can handle the smaller Hawkeyes lineup on defense and this really starts with the 4 position. Last year, we were able to bring the double team on Garza and rotate adequately across the board to prevent many wide-open looks elsewhere. A big key to our success was not only solid play by Boudreaux but a lineup that featured elite defender Nojel Eastern, senior transfer Jahaad Proctor who rarely lapsed on defense, and a legit rim protector in Haarms to shore up instances of dribble penetration. The Miami and Notre Dame games exposed some serious holes in our perimeter defense with Miami seemingly driving at will in the 2nd half and Notre Dame shooting 39% from behind the arc en route to sinking 16 3’s despite missing several wide-open looks. In short, it is absolutely crucial that the Boilermakers put up a strong, disciplined performance defensively as Iowa is really the first team we have faced that can beat us with both the 3 point shot and dribble-drive if our rotations off double teams in the post and general perimeter defense is lacking.

Contain Their Offense

In case it wasn’t plainly obvious that this Iowa team is an offensive juggernaut, here are some stats. According to KenPom, Iowa leads D1 in adjusted offensive efficiency so far this season averaging 119.5 points per 100 possessions. Their 98.7 points/game and 22.9 assists/game are good for 2nd and 1st respectively in the league, and their FG% of 50.3% is good for top ~30 overall and fringe top 10 when only considering major conference schools. To round out this stellar resume, the Hawkeyes also shoot a very respectable 37.4% from deep even after a cold 4-for-22 performance in their last match against Gonzaga. Oh, I also forgot to mention their insanely low turnover rate, coughing the ball up on just 12.7% of offensive possessions (4th best in D1). A big part of this stems from Luka Garza and what he contributes himself and indirectly by freeing up his teammates.
At the time of writing this, I am seeing a few outlets that are covering this game assert that one of the important ‘keys’ to a Purdue victory is being able to find an answer to Garza. Overall, this is a take I actually disagree with. In his two games this year against ranked opponents, Garza has averaged 23 points/game on 50% shooting overall. When examining his performance in the two quality Purdue wins last year, we see the big man put up 26 points both times on a combined 55.9% from the floor whereas the rest of his team shot under 33%. In summary, the longer and more experienced frontcourts of UNC and Gonzaga couldn’t effectively shut down Garza and a Purdue team with notably better interior (and overall for that matter) defense couldn’t do it either last year. Looking at the 3 Iowa losses in these 4 games, the common denominator has been limiting the rest of the team. As stated before, Iowa shot a paltry 18.2% (4/22) from behind the arc as a team against Gonzaga. I already mentioned how the team outside of Garza shot <33% from the floor in the two losses against Purdue last season, but I’ll tack on that the Hawkeyes only managed to convert on ~25% of their shots from deep in those games as well (3-9 for Garza). While the clear Big 10 PoTY candidate and arguable frontrunner for national PoTY should merit plenty of attention, it’s clear to me that the key to victory here is containing everyone in an Iowa jersey whose name isn’t Luka Garza.
This will be easier said than done of course. In the loss to the #1 Zags, a decent chunk of Iowa’s cold shooting from 3 came off of quality looks. When you consider the fact that they only shot 14-26 from the line as a team, it feels like the shooting woes this game stemmed more from the Hawkeyes having an ‘off night’ as opposed to anything Gonzaga did defensively. Last year, we had the benefit of two of the best defenders in the conference in Nojel Eastern and Matt Haarms to anchor a Boilermaker squad that had plenty of experienced upperclassmen that were generally sound and mistake-averse defensively. Eastern was primarily tasked with guarding second leading scorer Joe Wieskamp. Wieskamp, who averaged 14 points/game his Sophomore year, was held to just 8 and 10 points in the two losses against the Boilers with just 1-7 shooting from behind the arc and 5 turnovers compared to his season average of 1.6. Wieskamp is once again the second option behind Garza, averaging 15.9 points on a very efficient 54.2% from the floor and 46.9% from 3. We do not have a Nojel Eastern to clamp down on him this time around and to be honest... we don’t really have a clear matchup for him that doesn’t pose it’s own set of issues. As a 6-6, 220 guard who has averaged over 6 boards a game and is more than capable of crashing the lane for offensive rebounds, I don’t see any of our guards outside of Stefanovic being ideal. Doing this likely means putting Gillis against a much faster guard at several points of the game, and I don’t love the idea of Gillis or Wheeler being tasked with guarding Wieskamp directly for obvious reasons. Outside of this particular assignment, Iowa still features several guards that are more than capable of knocking down an open shot. C.J. Fredrick is shooting 52.2% from deep this year, Joe Toussaint and Connor McCaffery are not volume shooters from 3 but are more than capable of sinking shots in catch-and-shoot situations, and senior Jordan Bohannon is far better from behind the arc than his current 28.3% from that range on the season would indicate. Oh, did I mention Garza is coming in shooting 61.9% here on 3 attempts per game? This will be a game that has a lot of similarities to Notre Dame in that the Hawkeyes will be able to spread the floor and put as many as 5 guys on the floor that can threaten from 3-point range. The difference here is that Iowa also brings nearly 30 points a game in the form of the best offensive center in the NCAA to provide a complimentary interior threat. Iowa will be a daunting challenge for the young Boilermakers squad on defense to say the very least. While it is clear that this will have to be a team-wide effort, I would lean on our Juniors to provide high quality, fundamentally-sound defense and look for high energy, physical play in bursts while limiting turnovers and silly fouls from our younger guys coming off the bench.

Come Out Swinging and Crash the Glass

Purdue wasn’t (and still isn’t) a team known for pushing the ball and leaning heavily on a fast break offense last year. We were and are a team that favors setting up different variations of Painter’s primary “4 out, 1 in” motion offense and working to find quality shots. We may typically rank near the bottom in offensive pace, but this doesn’t mean that we are a team that doesn’t play heavily on momentum. In the first meeting last season against then-ranked #17 Iowa, Purdue went from surrendering a Garza jumper on the first possession to score 17 unanswered points before coach Fran McCaffery opted to burn a much needed timeout just 4 minutes into the game. His Iowa squad gradually recovered but was never really close after this initial run, going on to finish the half down 25 and eventually lose by 36. Playing at a packed Mackey at a time where an inconsistent Purdue squad desperately needed this ranked win to avoid falling out of relevance halfway through the year definitely helped as the Boilers came out of the gates sprinting and giving it 110%. The 17-0 run over roughly three and a half minutes of play saw consecutive high-effort steals from big men Boudreaux and Williams and several offensive rebounds each from Eastern and Boudreaux that more or less resulted entirely from hustle and effort.
Perhaps the most discouraging moments during this early run for Iowa and their fans was when Trevion Williams missed an and-1 free throw after a made layup only to have Eastern snag the rebound over the undersized guard trying to box him out. Eric Hunter Jr. would proceed to miss the kick-out 3, and several Purdue players would scramble and end up on the ground to recover the miss. A Sasha 3 would also miss a short while later, and Eastern would again sprint for the basket and this time snag the rebound in stride, smoothly "outletting" to Hunter again on a kick out. This time Hunter would sink the 3 to make the lead 10-2, capping off what ended up being a 5 point play that saw 3 Purdue offensive rebounds. The two very next Purdue possessions saw a Boudreaux put back on a missed 3-pointer and then Eastern snagging yet another offensive rebound on a missed 3 and immediately finding an open teammate on the wing for another try (this time Stefanovic, who would bury it as the crowd went absolutely wild). The final headlines for this game were all variations of “Boilermakers go hot from 3 in win!”, but I felt the untold story was the insane level of energy we came out with to arguably put the game out of reach mentally in mere minutes. In the aforementioned stretch, Purdue technically missed 6 out of 8 attempts from 3 but walked away with points on every possession because of their offensive rebounding and hustle.
While our 2020-2021 squad has had its share of lapses on both ends of the court, we have certainly not been lacking in spirit with a ton of high effort plays from all our guys resulting in many instances of huge momentum swings in our favor. Going on the road to play in Iowa City instead of Mackey isn’t ideal, but the lack of crowd should hopefully mitigate the normal home court advantage. An Iowa squad that returns a vast majority of its key players from last year will likely come out hungry looking for revenge, so it is important that the Boilers rival it with their own energy coming out of the gates. The recent win over Notre Dame gives me a lot of confidence that this team can weather rallies from opponents and answer with runs of their own and an early lead on this tough Iowa team would put us in a great spot.

Avoid Unforced Turnovers

I’ve spent enough time talking about the past 3 topics, so I’ll try to keep this last one brief. If the Purdue squad that only turned it over 6 times against Notre Dame shows up, we’ll probably win. If the version that turned it over 22 times against Clemson, 19 times against Indiana St., and 14 times against Miami (with many of them being at key moments in the 2nd half collapse) shows up instead, the question will be not if we lose but how much we lose by. The good news is that Iowa isn’t a team that’s known for defensive prowess. They do a phenomenal job taking care of the ball themselves and key piece Luka Garza is very good at avoiding fouling for how much he is on the floor. Their guards may not be the ball-hawks of Clemson, but they’re more capable and aggressive than Notre Dame’s. The key here will be to have us continue to run the ball through Juniors Eric Hunter and Sasha Stefanovic and lean on Trevion Williams to both produce points himself or open up the floor for everyone else. Hunter in particular seems to have rebounded from some rust stemming from missed time due to an early injury while Stefanovic continues to show the same sound, fundamental play with a knack for great lob passes and pick-and-roll feeds that his predecessors Mathias and Cline were known for as well. Purdue needs to keep it simple and not beat themselves in a matchup against a team that is as good as any at making use of any extra/free possessions we hand them.

Thursday Night College Hoops: Back the Under in Lubbock

The college basketball season continues to march on as many teams across the country continue to kick off their conference schedule with many other teams starting to end their non-conference slates.
The Thursday Night college hoops slate looks to be the lightest schedule of a loaded week of games, but despite the smaller slate of action, there are still enticing games to jump in on.
Here are the plays I am backing tonight, including a pick from tonight’s Big 12 heavyweight matchup between 5th ranked Kansas and 14th ranked Texas Tech.

#5 Kansas at #14 Texas Tech

Spread: Texas Tech -3.5 Total: O/U 135.5 Time/TV: 7:00 PM ET, ESPN
The game of the evening takes us to Lubbock, Texas where 5th ranked Kansas meets 14th ranked Texas Tech in the Big 12 conference opener for both schools. Each team enters tonight’s contest with matching 6-1 records, with the Jayhawks playing the tougher schedule to date.
Rock Chalk Jayhawk has rattled off six straight wins after their opening loss to #1 Gonzaga, headlined by victories over #9 Creighton and a Kentucky team still finding their way, while Texas Tech lost their lone test of the season 64-53 to then #17 Houston and has wins over teams with a combined 9-20 mark to begin the new year.
While each team enters tonight’s game boasting offenses averaging 75 points per contest, the two teams are likely to play at a much slower pace tonight and defense will almost surely be the focal point of each team.
Texas Tech enters tonight’s Big 12 opener with the best defensive unit in the country, and Chris Beard’s crew has landed in the Top 10 for defensive efficiency in each of his four seasons in Lubbock. Their defensive numbers are downright beautiful through the first seven games of the schedule, as the Red Raiders are forcing turnovers on 30% of their opponent’s possessions and are holding teams to just 25% shooting from downtown. The Jayhawks are not lacking for defense either. So far this season they stake claim to the 6th overall defensive unit in college basketball and have held their opponents to just 29% shooting from three-point range.
This has all the makings of an all-out slugfest tonight and what else would you expect from two of the best teams in college basketball?

Kansas Players to Know

While Kansas lost a lot of talent when it watched Devon Dotson and Udoka Azubuike leave for the NBA, Bill Self has once again restocked his cupboard of talent this time with highly-touted freshman Jalen Wilson.
Wilson leads the Jayhawks in scoring with 15.3 points per contest and is shooting the three-ball at a 38 percent clip. Junior Ochai Agbaji (14.1 ppg, 46% 3PM) and Christian Braun (11.9 ppg, 44.4% 3PM) give Self even more range from outside, while 6-10 junior David McCormack is Kansas’ best rim protector and fourth Kansas starter currently averaging double digits in scoring at just over 10 points per game.
The most important player this evening, however, is likely to be that of senior Marcus Garrett. While Garrett is not the most dangerous scoring threat on the floor (8.6 ppg), he is Self’s best perimeter defender and a complete pest for the opposition to deal with.
Why will he be so important? Well, that’s a wonderful segue into the next section!

Texas Tech Players to Know

The Red Raiders’ best player of the young season has been that of former Georgetown product Mac McClung (14.1 ppg, 33.3% 3PM). McClung is the catalyst for the entire Texas Tech offensive attack, and how he’s able to handle the relentless defense from Marcus Garrett will tell us a lot of how this matchup figures to go.
If Garrett can lock down McClung in the same manner he’s locked down many other guards across college basketball, the onus to score will fall on the shoulders of sophomore Terrance Shannon (11.8 ppg) and junior Kyler Edwards (11.3 ppg, 38% 3PM).
Edwards is currently the teams’ most consistent shooter from long range, but collectively Texas Tech is a very poor outside shooting team (35% 3PM, 104th overall). And they’ve been poor against teams that they are noticeably far inferior to the talent Beard has on the floor.
The Red Raiders are also a smaller team, with no one in Texas Tech’s regular rotation being taller than 6-8 (Beard has a 7-1 freshman center who has only seen action in garbage time), but Kansas also has a roster comprised mostly of smaller players so their disadvantage in the frontcourt will not be as pronounced in this matchup as it could be further down the road.

Kansas-Texas Tech Prediction & Best Bet

With Baylor looking like the clear favorite to win the Big 12, this matchup will go a long way towards figuring out who the second-best team in the conference is. Both Kansas and Texas Tech should reside in the Top 15 of the polls for the majority of the season, and each team will once again be a very difficult out in March.
Tonight, however, is a total toss-up in terms of who will come out victorious. If I had to pick a winner I would lean with the oddsmakers here and take Texas Tech as home favorites, but I feel like the temperature of this game screams “under” as Texas Tech’s smothering defense should slow down the Jayhawks bevy of outside shooters, while Kansas’ tough perimeter defense will make offense for the Red Raiders hard to come by.
I will be taking the under and looking for windows to bet the game live. If you love defensive basketball, this will be the matchup for you.
Prediction: Texas Tech 68, Kansas 64 Best Bet: UNDER 135.5

#9 Creighton at St. John’s

Spread: Creighton -6.5 Total: O/U 157.5 Time/TV: 7:00 PM ET, FS1
If two Big 12 teams shooting sub 40% percent on the evening isn’t your thing, the Big East has a game for you.
9th ranked Creighton (4-2 overall, 0-1 Big East) looks to bounce back from an 89-84 home loss to Marquette when it pays a visit to conference foe St. John’s (5-3 overall, 0-2 Big East) tonight.
The Red Storm are also looking to bounce back from a recent skid, as they have dropped their first two conference games of the season, most recently a 97-94 OT loss to Georgetown this past Sunday.
The scoreboard should light up all evening as St. John’s plays at a blistering pace (14th overall tempo in the country per KenPom) under coach Mike Anderson, while Creighton has the 5th most efficient offense in college basketball, shoots nearly 60 percent from the floor and is averaging 85 points per game.
Neither team figures to play much defense tonight, hence why the total is pushing the 160 range, but that should keep the game entertaining, to say the least.

Creighton Players to Know

As we’ve discussed at length in recent pieces highlighting Creighton, the Bluejays have a treasure trove of three-point shooters that they unleash on their opposition seemingly from start to finish.
Greg McDermott’s Bluejays have five players averaging double-figures in scoring and all five players can shoot the three, each shooting better than 34% from distance. The catalyst of their offensive attack falls on the shoulders of senior guards Denzel Mahoney (16.2 ppg, 42.1% 3PM) and Mitch Ballock (10.7 ppg, 38.6 3PM). Marcus Zegarowski is the teams’ best distributor and is also a sniper from long range (13.8 ppg, 34.1% 3PM), and Christian Bishop is a 6-7 forward that is shooting the three-ball at a 50 percent clip.
It shouldn’t be a huge surprise that the team that has a roster of outside shooters is not exactly a team that also believes in relentless defense. The Bluejays enter tonight’s game with the 249th overall three-point defense and are outside of the top 160 in forced turnover percentage and offensive rebounding.
Teams also average about 17 seconds a possession when going against the Creighton defense (265th overall in college basketball), indicating that an open shot is not hard to come by when playing against the boys from Omaha.

St. John’s Players to Know

Mike Anderson is slowly rebuilding the Johnnies after the disastrous Chris Mullin regime, and while they struggle shooting the three (231st overall in NCAA), they have a stable of athletes that can shine in Anderson’s torrid style of basketball.
The main component of the Red Storm attack is sophomore guard and the team’s leading scorer and rebounder, Julian Champagnie. Champagnie is averaging nearly 21 points a game with eight rebounds chipped in, and he’s been especially dependable from the free-throw line where he’s converted on nearly 87 percent of his free throws.
Junior tandem Vince Cole (12.5 ppg, 35.5% 3PM) and Greg Williams Jr. (12.1 ppg, 36.8% 3PM) give the Johnnies their best role players and threats from outside, while 6-10 junior Isaih Moore (10.6 ppg, 6.1 rpg) is Anderson’s most dependable rim protector down low.
As could be expected with Anderson’s frenetic style of basketball, St. John’s is downright miserable on defense when they are unable to force a turnover. While the ’40 minutes of hell’ mantra does have St. John’s forcing turnovers on 25% of their opposition’s possessions (28th overall in NCAA), and the 8th best steal rate in the nation, when they do not force a turnover it typically ends in an easy bucket for the other side.
St. John’s boasts the 250th ranked three-point shooting defense and gives up a basket on 56% of their opponent’s possessions (285th in NCAA). That could post a great number of challenges for a team that happens to be facing one of the best offensive teams in the country.

Creighton – St. John’s Prediction & Best Bet

Everything about this matchup screams a prime bounce-back spot for the Bluejays. Despite the two recent setbacks to Missouri and Marquette, Creighton still very much remains as one of the most dangerous teams in all of college basketball.
St. John’s is gradually improving under Mike Anderson, but this is just a bad matchup for them all around. I am taking Creighton to cover the spread and also sprinkling some on the over as, despite the eye-popping 157.5 number, I think that’s kind of low for these two teams.
Prediction: Creighton 87, St. John’s 78 Best Bet: Creighton -6.5; OVER 157.5

Omaha at Wyoming

Spread: Wyoming -10.5 Total: O/U 146.5 Time/TV: 9:00 PM ET, N/A
For our final game on the Thursday betting card, we’re going a little off the beaten path for some quality Summit League vs. Mountain West action.
Omaha (2-6 overall) plays its sixth-consecutive road game, and second game in as many nights, when they visit Wyoming (5-1 overall) in Laramie.
The Mavericks are coming off of a 91-49 blowout at the hands of Colorado last night and have dropped five of their last six games with their lone victory being a two-point win over SIU Edwardsville (331st overall KenPom).
Meanwhile, Wyoming has been a pleasant surprise to date with a 5-1 record, but they have played the 306th overall schedule so that record is likely a bit misleading at this point in the season. Nonetheless, they do get another favorable draw tonight with an Omaha team that doesn’t do much of anything well.

Omaha Players to Know

The Mavericks best player and leading scorer through the first eight games of the season are that of bench player Marlon Ruffin (11.8 ppg), with starters Matt Pile (9.3 ppg, 9.1 rpg) and Wanjang Tut (8.1 ppg) being Omaha’s best secondary players. It’s rare to see the talent flipped to where their best bench player is outperforming every starter, but this is the Summit League and there are no rules here.

Wyoming Players to Know

Through the first six games of the season, the Cowboys boast a Top 50 program in both three-point shooting (46th overall) and shots inside the three-point stripe (48th overall), and they’ve shown a great ability to limit turnovers with the 18th best turnover rate in college basketball.
While Wyoming has certainly played a schedule full of cupcakes, they’ve made the most of it and are quietly one of the most efficient scoring units in all of college basketball, at least in these games against the bottom feeders of the college basketball world.
Wyoming is led by their trio of guards: Marcus Williams (18.3 ppg), Kenny Foster (15.8 ppg, 67% 3PM), and Hunter Maldonado (15.5 ppg). Collectively, the Cowboys as a whole love to create open looks from the outside, with three key contributors shooting the ball from the perimeter at better than a 40 percent rate from downtown.
That does not bode well for an Omaha team that has been away from home for a while and does not defend the three-ball whatsoever.

Omaha – Wyoming Prediction & Best Bet

Typically, I would be hard-pressed to lay a double-digit line on a team that went 7-23 in the regular season a year ago, no matter who they may be playing. But Omaha is in a very tough spot playing in their second game in as many nights in a place that’s hard enough to get a road win under normal circumstances, much less in the middle of a season being held during a pandemic.
Omaha only has one more non-conference game after this and then they can return to the comfort of playing Summit League teams at home. Tonight, however, they will endure yet another blowout. I will take Wyoming to cover the 10.5-point spread.
Prediction: Wyoming 84, Omaha 69 Best Bet: Wyoming -10.5
How

Which game should I watch today (12/7/2020)? A guide to 5+ games that you should tune into.

Ex-Reddit General Manager, Erik Martin interview discussing managing Reddit, free speech and the time Obama was banned from /r/politics

Came across an interview titled Longtime Reddit GM, Erik Martin, Discusses Managing “The Front Page Of The Internet,” Free Speech And The Time Obama Was Banned From /Politics from KnowYourMeme (KYM) which people might find interesting.
I've provided most the text below, but it's probably easier to read on the KYM site directly than with Reddit formatting.
When Reddit emerged in the mid-2000s, it was a bare-bones startup with big dreams and an uphill battle. In 2008, Erik Martin joined the team as its first-ever community manager, eventually becoming general manager where he saw the site through some of its most crucial growing pains. As GM, Martin acted as a bit of a jack-of-all-trades, managing communities, operations, sales and even the famous AMAs with prominent people like Barack Obama. Although one of Reddit’s most well-liked staffers, he ultimately parted ways with the site in 2014 and moved on to continue his endeavors elsewhere. Now, Martin is chief community officer at a new startup called Teal where he helps job-seekers to develop their careers. We caught up with him to learn more about his time at Reddit, see what he makes of the recent debate surrounding free speech and share a few of his favorite memes and moments from over the years.
Q: Hey there, Erik. Thanks for taking the time to sit down with us. Can you kick things off here by introducing yourself a bit and telling us what you’ve been doing lately?
A: Excited to chat with y’all. I guess I’m most known for being an early employee at Reddit and being the General Manager there from 2011 to 2014. Since then, I’ve worked on community and marketing stuff at a few companies, including Depop, WeWork, Airtime, and most recently at Nike. I’m currently the Chief Community Officer at Teal, a relatively new startup that’s focused on helping guide people throughout their careers. I’ve been working hard on that since the fall. I’m also really into church cookbooks from 100-plus years ago, even though I’m not religious and I can’t really cook. Other noteworthy internet stuff would be that I started a project a while back called Assholes on Demand. It’s kinda dormant now, but when it was going, we helped people who weren’t “extremely online” deal with bad customer service issues at enormous banks, cable companies, etc. I was also a videographer and sometimes editor for Improv Everywhere, the hidden camera prank collective that had a lot of viral videos in the early to mid-2000s.
Q: So you obviously have a pretty extensive history with the internet, particularly Reddit, but I’m curious to learn more about your background and some of your earliest experiences with the web. Could you recap how you got your start online and what places you used to frequent?
A: I think my internet background really starts sort of pre-internet with my mom’s old Mac SE. My mom was a graphic designer and had this glorious, ugly, 25-pound black-and-white Mac. Apple called it “portable” at the time because it came with a giant-ass carrying bag and had a handle on top of the display. My uncle was also a Machead and he would bring us stacks of 3.5-inch floppy discs with every kind of pirated video game and software. There were no labels on the discs, no instructions and no reviews or anything. You just put a disc in and tried out all the applications. Sometimes it was a fun game, sometimes it was a drawing tool, sometimes it was a boring business program I didn’t understand, and sometimes it crashed the machine. The really good ones I’d copy and share with friends. Eventually, that beige/grey computer got hooked up to an ancient modem and we got online, but to me, it feels like “the internet” started with those unlabeled disks. I think when I see something new online or I explore some rabbit hole, I’m trying to chase that feeling of being a curious child and loading a new disk of unknown content.
I graduated from college in 1999 and went to go work for a variety of long-defunct startups in North Carolina. It was an exciting time to be an inquisitive and green kid willing to work on anything. I did everything from helping a visual search engine QA [quality assurance] their taxonomy of rugs, to helping a browser companion company write reviews for websites. I had an amateur knowledge of videography and also starting shooting videos of NCAA Division III basketball games for this basketball lifestyle site called HoopsTV that was about 20 years ahead of its time. The dotcom crash happened and all those companies failed. Over time, I picked up more video work, learned to edit videos and worked on a variety of low-budget films. My internet addiction blossomed with things like IRC [Internet Relay Chat], IMDB, webrings, blogs and Fark.
Q: In 2008, you then became Reddit’s first-ever Community Manager. How did this position come about, what did it entail, and what drew you to it?
A: I applied to the very first Y Combinator founders program as a documentary filmmaker. They rejected me, but after that, I was kinda hooked on seeing what happened, so I became a user and fan of Reddit soon after they launched out of that first YC class. At some point, I reached out to the site by sending a cold email to info@ or hello@. Alexis Ohanian responded and we exchanged emails. At the time, I was doing digital marketing for a film and music company. I think we discussed doing some sort of online Q&A on Reddit with one of the music video directors we were promoting, but I was basically a lurker, still am really. I got to know Alexis, and a few years later when Reddit needed someone to be their representative on the production of weekly current events that were, in theory, going to incorporate an online audience through a Reddit show pilot with a PBS affiliate, they asked if I was interested. The pilot ended, but I got to know the site and team more.
Later that year, Alexis asked me if I wanted to be a community manager. It was hourly and didn’t pay well, but I had enough other freelance gigs that I could make it work. Most of what I did early on was promoting new subreddits or other new Reddit projects and some very basic spam fighting. There was only a tiny team, but Alexis, Steve [Huffman] and all the engineers were all super-active users, so every employee was a community manager. During that time, I also started doing video Ask Me Anything [AMA] interviews. The Reddit community wanted some celebrities to do AMAs but getting someone not familiar with Reddit to devote time to navigating the threaded text comments was a tough sell. So, we got the top 10 questions from the community, recorded the person answering them on video, and posted the YouTube video on our blog. That way, we only needed to get them to commit to 30 minutes of their time. Eventually, Reddit and the AMA format grew to a point where celebrities would take part in the native text AMA with minimal hand-holding or convincing, but the video AMAs helped build that momentum.
Q: During those initial years, what were some of the biggest differences between Reddit then compared to now? Do you think it was easier or more difficult with a smaller userbase?
A: The biggest difference is just size. Reddit doubled in traffic every year until recently. So, each year there was just more and more activity and users and subreddits. Early on it was also mostly links and then self-text posts. It took a while before Imgur and other services made it easy to link pics. I think it was easier. Reddit was always understaffed and the engineers had to work magic to keep the site up, but one could at least be aware of most of the new subreddits, trends and fun organic moments. As time went on, that just became increasingly impossible for users and staff.
We were also this scrappy underdog. Even though Reddit had been around for a while, it was such a bare-bones operation compared to other competitors at the time that users, mods and people we worked with were forgiving. You can’t really be the underdog if you’ve been around for 15 years and you’re big enough to be seen from space.
Q: After a couple of years, you moved up to Reddit’s General Manager and you were often one of the most public faces of the company during that time. Can you briefly describe that role and some of your biggest moments from those years?
A: When I became General Manager it was a weird time, Reddit was still part of Conde Nast, but it was starting a process where it eventually spun out and recapitalized as an independent entity. The role was a catch-all, and I ended up doing whatever Reddit needed. Sometimes it was operations, sometimes community and sometimes sales stuff. Growth in terms of traffic wasn’t ever a problem, but we wanted to keep the site growing in terms of the subreddits and discussions and even formats on Reddit. I focused on promoting subreddits like /IAMA, all the unique “Ask” subreddits like “AskScience” or “AskHistorians,” the sports subreddits, the various fandom subreddits, college subreddits and non-U.S.-centric subreddits.
The biggest moments for me were helping get the local subreddits active. We held a Global Meetup Day, and each year, more and more cities around the world took part. I’ve been to meetups all over the world. Even now, anytime I travel somewhere for the first time, I spend time on the local subreddit and try to learn as much as I can.
A big awareness moment during that was when we were part of the SOPA/PIPA blackout and helped defeat a bill that had enormous support in D.C. It seems quaint from today’s perspective, but it was an important issue, or at least felt like it. We always felt that the press should mention Reddit in the same breath as Twitter, Facebook and other gigantic internet places. That SOPA protest movement felt like the first time when the mainstream media did that. Also in 2012, when Obama was running for reelection, he stopped by Reddit for an AMA. We’d been working up to a POTUS AMA for years, and it was incredible to see that happen. The thought terrified me that news would leak and people would have time to figure out ways to cause mischief, or worse, but it worked out and the small team of engineers did amazing work to keep the site from completely buckling under the onslaught of traffic and attention.
Some of the biggest challenges were growth-related. As Reddit grew, the work the mods had to do got more and more overwhelming. By 2012, you had moderators who were doing their best to moderate subreddits that were bigger than all of Reddit was just two years ago. They were creative, resourceful and came up with ways to use CSS and automod tools, but it was a hard and thankless job even in smaller, relatively tranquil subreddits. We had a lean team, to put it mildly. When I left, we had around 70 employees, which seemed like a lot to me, but in hindsight, it was nothing compared to other, similar companies. We were all spread thin and juggling a lot. Who knows, I’m sure the alternative universe where we had more staff and resources would have come with its own additional problems, but when I think back about that time, it’s all a bit of a sleep-deprived blur.
Q: During your time as GM, you were sometimes asked about the site’s position on free speech. In 2011 during an AMA, a Redditor asked about your stance on certain controversial subreddits and you said, “We're a free speech site with very few exceptions and having to stomach occasional troll reddit like picsofdeadkids or morally questionable reddits like jailbait are part of the price of free speech on a site like this.” Can you elaborate on your answer more and speak to that time period of the site?
A: I wish I could unsay that. Even back then, saying “Free speech” was a lazy and bad answer. I was trying to describe a generally hands-off approach but didn’t even do that well. It’s a metaphor or bumper-sticker phrase that isn’t useful. If we were making blithe comparisons to the Bill of Rights, then Freedom of Assembly might have been a better framework than always talking about speech and content. Still, it’s wrong. I think what I and many people at Reddit believed was that as much control and decision-making should be in the hands of the subreddit mods and individual users. Not all control, but as much as possible. I don’t think we felt absolutist about it, but I think, at the time, we felt inertia, and we feared to make decisions -- we didn’t prioritize making them, or at least I felt that way. The whole point of Reddit was that the users would decide what was “on the front page,” not the editors or people working at the company. That worked! But then as the site and other infrastructure grew, the infrastructure around who gets to create a subreddit, for what purpose and how to grow the global rules thoughtfully didn’t keep up.
Q: Since that topic is something so commonly debated when discussing Reddit, what are your personal opinions on online freedom of speech? Have those opinions changed over time since then?
A: I still believe that as much control and decision-making as possible should be in the hands of the subreddit mods and individual users, and I think that’s why Reddit is still relevant and growing 15 years after Alexis and Steve started it. That doesn’t mean there has to be some hideous “price” or that there shouldn’t be thoughtful and dynamic rules. The organization and humans running Reddit can still be accountable without needing complete control. Again, I think content and speech is not a relevant framework anymore. I think behavior, impact, scale and speed are all more useful ways to discuss the topic than talking about speech.
Q: Was that something the founders or admins also pushed while you worked at Reddit, or was it an issue that you personally clashed with others at the company over?
A: People disagreed, but I don’t remember philosophical clashes. It was more pragmatic. People disagreed about the degrees, priorities and the best way to approach updating rules and moderation. There was always a tension between things like the role of improving tools and more improving human moderation, but it wasn’t ideological that I remember.
Q: What's the weirdest or most interesting thing you dealt with during your time at Reddit? Got any good stories from over the years?
A: So many wonderful stories. I really was fortunate to experience so many unreal stories, big and small. The first one that comes to mind is when Obama’s post got banned from /politics. So, everyone knows that Obama did an AMA, but most people didn’t know or forgot that he also posted a message on election day. He posted a brief message to the politics subreddit encouraging people to get out and vote “no matter your political persuasion,” and it had a link to look up your polling place. When the AMA happened, we had advance notice and all that, but we didn’t know about the election day message until I got a phone call from one of the campaign people asking, “Do you know why POTUS got banned?” “Uhhh, let me look into that.” Apparently, one or more of the mods felt that the nature of the post broke one of the subreddit rules, so they banned it. I sent a message to the mods politely asking if they could reconsider or even make a sitting head of state exception for some minor rules infraction. They discussed it and eventually unbanned the post. Simpler times. You can complain about Reddit mods all you want, but you can’t say they’re afraid to ban a sitting president’s posts.
Another thing that comes to mind is a minor snafu that happened when I went to record a video AMA with Noam Chomsky. I videotaped Chomsky answering the top questions from Reddit in his office. I thought it would look good to have Reddit open on a monitor in the shot, so I set up my laptop in the background behind him. I forgot that I had whatever “word of the day” screensaver came installed on the laptop turned on. So about 10 minutes into the interview, my screensaver comes on and I realize, in horror, that people watching the video will think the laptop is Chomsky’s and that the founder of cognitive science uses some super basic, vocabulary-builder screensaver. He was on a roll, so I didn’t have the heart to stop the interview or apologize afterward. Fortunately, the words were like “conformity” and “impoverished” and so simple that when we published the video, people realized it must be a joke or some default factory setting.
Q: So then in late 2014 you stepped down as GM without a huge plan as to what you wanted to do next with your career. Could you tell us more about what led you to walk away from Reddit after you’d been so heavily involved since it started?
A: In hindsight, I was burned out. I hadn’t been taking care of myself and felt ragged. It also felt like a good time to move on. Reddit had just raised a fresh round of funding. Also, I got married earlier in the year, so it just felt like the right time professionally and personally to do something new. I felt like if I didn’t leave when there was a moment, then Reddit would define me. Like if I stayed much longer, I wouldn’t be able to function anywhere else. I recently moved from NYC after living there for the last 12 years or so. It was a similar feeling. I love NYC and I love Reddit, but there was this underlying feeling of “if I don’t leave now, I never will.”
I didn’t know what the next thing was, but I knew I wanted to work with a different community and company. I ended up helping Depop launch in the U.S. I was excited about the experience of working for a non-U.S. company and marketplace, both unfamiliar things for me. Where Reddit’s userbase skewed male, Depop’s userbase skewed female. I believed that the basics of running and growing a community-based company and brand were still the same, no matter what the community was, and I wanted to explore that.
Q: What are your thoughts on some of the controversial decisions in recent years regarding Reddit’s policy changes, ban waves and other moves that many argued went against the free speech roots of the site? Do you think some of that fallout is justified, or are these individuals missing something?
A: I haven’t followed everything closely, but I’m all for the changes. They should have happened sooner, but it’s easier to say that on the outside as a normal citizen. I’m sure there was some backlash but also seemed like a lot of users and mods supported the decisions.
Q: So taking all of this history into consideration alongside your own experience working with Reddit, how do you think these changes will impact the site’s future? Where do you see it in the next five or 10 years?
A: I think the change is good. I don’t have many predictions or insights … I mean, Reddit is too big to look at the entire picture, at least for me. I try to focus on the long-standing and brand new subreddits. The Formula1 subreddit recently posted about reaching 1 million subscribers and how they grew the subreddit over the past 12 years. As long as existing communities on Reddit can keep thriving while new subreddits can emerge and grow, like /LiminalSpace, then Reddit will keep trucking, keep mutating and be healthy.
Q: Aside from Reddit, lots of other social media platforms have also been seeing some major shifts in terms of policy changes, censorship and things of that nature in recent months. Can you speak to social media as a whole and what you think the future holds for the industry?
A: I think there’s been a failure of imagination and experimentation. In the grand scheme of things, we’re still in the early days of social media platforms. There needs to be more experimentation and less calcification. Dealing with the unique scale and speed of large platforms is hard, but there are solutions and frameworks with more creativity that can help, and the users of these platforms want to help contribute. For example, back in 2010 or so, Reddit tried a feature to combat spam called Jury Duty. A small group of users would be randomly selected to review a specific potential spam post, and they would vote if it was spam or not. The system didn’t solve the spam issue for a few reasons, but the basic premise worked. Users, and not just the ones who are normally the most vocal or extreme, were willing to do some “work” to improve their community if it was easy to take part. Users have already come up with shared solutions like that organically across all the platforms, but the platforms need to prioritize those types of experiments and systems more.

[Quarantine Content] The Resurrection of Billy Donovan

As we hole up in our homes and ride out the coronavirus pandemic, we need some content to pass the time. After all, there's only so much Netflix and so much pornhub that one man can handle. In the interest of providing some OC for the sub, I'm going to write more long-form posts about various topics around the league.
We already did a deep dive on the Brooklyn Nets, and Detroit PF Christian Wood. Today, we're going to take a look at a coach who -- like Christian Wood -- was having a very fine year before this coronavirus got in the way.
Let's highlight Oklahoma City's Billy Donovan and examine his past, his present, and his future.
PART ONE: Rick Pitino's Pride and Joy
To many younger fans, Rick Pitino is best known as a disgraced college coach, or as a failed NBA coach. But in the scope of college basketball history as a whole, Pitino is still one of the giants. He made the Final Four with three separate schools (at Providence, Kentucky, and Louisville), and ranks as one of the winningest coaches of all time (despite having 100+ wins vacated due to scandal!)
No coach can claim the mantle of Pitino's protege quite like Billy Donovan. Donovan played under Pitino at Providence, where he served as the team's point guard. As you'd expect, Donovan was a plucky gym rat. Sneaky athlete. "First one in, last one out" kind of guy. But all jokes and racial bias aside, Donovan actually did merit that type of reputation. Pitino later called him the hardest worker he'd ever coached. Pitino must have seen a lot of himself in young Donovan; as a player, Pitino had also been a gritty and overachieving point guard from New York, too. As a player, Donovan had more success than Pitino did. He helped lead Providence to the Final Four, and even had a cup of coffee as a pro for a bit.
Later on, Donovan ended up serving as an assistant coach under Pitino at Kentucky, arguably at the height of Pitino's reign. And like any top lieutenant, he was destined to land his own job soon enough. Marshall (then a struggling 9-18 team) made Donovan the youngest coach in the country at 28 years old. Donovan immediately led the team to 2 winning seasons before leaving for the University of Florida.
PART TWO: Reaching the (Widow's) Peak
At Florida, Billy Donovan had some solid success, including 7 straight seasons with 20+ wins. However, postseason glory had been eluding the Gators. Until... they found it.
Led by two sophomore big men in Joakim Noah and Al Horford, Donovan's Gators emerged as a force during the 2005-06 season, and got better and better along the way. The # 3 seeded team ended up running the table, beating UCLA in the national title game. In almost every similar circumstance, that would lead to a massive exodus of their stars to the pros. However, Noah, Horford, and their fellow starters (which included SF Corey Brewer, PG Taurean Green, and SG Lee Humphrey) collectively decided to return to school and try to do it all over again. Suffice it to say, that type of decision would be quite shocking today.
As you may know, the veterans ended up accomplishing their goal, repeating as champions in the 2007 tournament. At first blush, you may think that would be a fait accompli and a cakewalk for a veteran team like that, but winning the NCAA Tournament is never that easy. Even if you presume a team will win 85% of their games, their chances of winning 6 games in a row is less than 38%. Moreover, that happened to be a stacked Final Four, where the Gators had to beat UCLA (with Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook) and Ohio State (with Mike Conley and future top pick Greg Oden.)
PART THREE: Look Before You Leap
Naturally, a two-time national champion (still only 42 years old) would become a hugely coveted prize in NBA circles, presuming anyone could pry him out of the state. And no one did pry him out of the state, because Billy Donovan signed a huge contract to become the head coach with the Orlando Magic. They even had an introductory press conference and everything. However, Donovan ultimately got cold feet about the change, and decided to go back to school instead. (Don't cry for Orlando, Argentina; they ended up hiring Stan Van Gundy, who did quite well.)
Donovan ended up staying 7 more seasons in Gainesville, with more mixed results. They made the Elite Eight four more times, but also missed the tournament three times. Perhaps his most impressive season in his entire Florida tenure was in 2013-14, when he rode a more-limited team to a 36-3 record and a Final Four appearance. Unlike those title teams, this group had very little NBA talent; the most decorated pro among them would be Dorian Finney-Smith, who was a backup at the time.
Ultimately, Donovan decided to finally make the leap (for real) to the NBA, signing with the Oklahoma City Thunder to replace Scottie Brooks. Presumably, Donovan felt like he had accomplished everything that he could in college. Or at least, at his particular program. The Florida Gators had fallen behind in the race for the super one-and-done talent, and wouldn't figure to be a dynasty any time soon. And with that decision, a new challenge emerged.
PART FOUR: Trials and Tribulations of a "Rookie" Head Coach
No doubt, part of the reason that Billy Donovan agreed to go to the NBA was the chance to coach the talented Oklahoma City Thunder. Scottie Brooks had done an admirable job with the team during his run, but it appeared as though they may have plateaued. The NBA Finals appearance was behind them -- the Kevin Durant MVP season was behind them -- James Harden was behind them. They needed a fresh spark, somehow, some way, to fulfill their long-standing potential.
In the first season (of his five-year contract), Billy Donovan had some growing pains, but also a lot of success. The Oklahoma City offense jumped up to 112.4 points per 100 possessions, 2nd best in the NBA and the best in the franchise's run in OKC. They finished 55-27 in the regular season, with a +7.3 point differential. In many seasons, that may be good enough to earn a # 1 seed.
But not in 2015-2016. That happened to be an HISTORICALLY good year for the Western Conference. Famously, Steve Kerr and the Golden State Warriors broke the record with 73 regular season wins. Less famously (and often forgotten by history), the San Antonio Spurs also won 67 games. They had an emerging superstar in Kawhi Leonard, a prime LaMarcus Aldridge, and the best statistical defense in the NBA. In the conference semi-finals, the Spurs shellacked the Thunder in Game 1 (124-92), and ultimately took a 2-1 series lead. However, the Thunder battled back, winning 3 games in a row to upset the veteran squad and move on. We all may remember what happened next. The Thunder stunned the Warriors and went up to a 3-1 lead, before ultimately cracking and losing 3 games in a row and going home in bitter defeat.
Looking back, that Thunder team is often seen as "chokers." But we have to acknowledge the good here. Yes, they blew a 3-1 lead, but they also got a 3-1 lead. This isn't like Donald Trump being born on third base and thinking he hit a triple. Oklahoma City earned those three wins, and Billy Donovan deserved some credit for helping them do that (with some unconventional super-big lineups along the way.) Ultimately, the Warriors figured it out, and ultimately their shooting came back. I wouldn't say that was inevitable, but it shouldn't be shocking (especially in a series where Kevin Durant shot 28.6% from three and Harrison Barnes shot 52.6%).
Don't get me wrong; if we're giving Billy Donovan partial credit, we should also give him partial blame. Phil Jackson became a legend for taking "very good" teams and turning them into "great" teams. As a rookie NBA coach, Donovan couldn't get that done. When push came to shove, the Thunder fell back into bad habits (like iso ball) and lost. Moreover, Donovan couldn't fix whatever cracks had emerged under the surface of the locker room, as Kevin Durant bounced for Golden State the following year.
PART FIVE: One Man Show
When Kevin Durant left Oklahoma City in free agency, the franchise (understandably) struggled to replace him. Over the course of a few seasons, they'd have lost two of the NBA's best players, and only have one left in their wake. Russell Westbrook took on an enormous workload, oftentimes carrying the team on his back -- for better or worse.
We've seen plenty of examples of each. That following season, "Good Russ" would average 31.6 points, 10.7 rebounds, 10.4 assists, and step up in clutch situations time and time again. Even the Westbrook haters (like myself) who thought James Harden should have won MVP would concede that Westbrook would be what... 2nd? 3rd? That's hardly a bum.
Of course, we also saw "Bad Russ." His shooting efficiency continued to wane -- dropping to 52% and 50% true shooting the next two years -- but his workload never did. He continued to jack up 20+ shots and 4+ threes those next two seasons, despite shooting below 30% from distance. And despite that obvious problem, coach Billy Donovan couldn't rein in his superstar or convince him to change his approach. In some ways, it harkened back to his problems in the Golden State series.
In Donovan (and Westbrook's) defense, it's not like the Oklahoma City Thunder had a lot of options. In an ideal world, you'd surround an attacker like Westbrook with 4 shooters, like Milwaukee has done with Giannis Antetokounmpo and like Houston has tried to do with Westbrook now. But prior to Paul George's arrival, OKC had some of the worst spacing in the league. Consider this: in Westbrook's MVP season, he shot a career-high from three (34.3%), but the Thunder as a team still shot an NBA-worst 32.7% as a team. In the modern NBA, that's a recipe for a first-round exit, which is exactly what happened three times in a row. 1-4. 2-4. 1-4 (even with Paul George.)
Effectively, Billy Donovan has lost 15 of his last 19 playoff games (going back to the Warriors series.)
PART SIX: Rising from the Dead like Lazarus
This past summer, Sam Presti called up the Acme Corporation and ordered some dynamite. Time to blow it up. Paul George: traded. Russell Westbrook: traded. Billy Donovan...? Eh... Kept. For now. After all, the clock was running out on his initial contract. They'd pick up an option on the last year of his deal, but not give him an extension beyond that. He'd enter the season as a lame duck. A dead man walking.
But as it turned out, Presti's dynamite order was about as effective as Wile E. Coyote's.
The 2019-20 team felt like a Frankenstein's monster: a mash-up of several different teams. You had the leftovers from before (Steven Adams, Dennis Schroder), the young bucks for the impending rebuild (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander), and the veterans that were supposed to be flipped at a garage sale (Chris Paul, Danilo Gallinari.) But oddly enough, that hodgepodge actually gelled together like jambalaya. Prior to the stoppage, the Thunder were 40-24, good enough for a pace that would have translated to a 51-win pace. Keep in mind: the Thunder had only won 47, 48, and 49 games the prior three years.
Oklahoma City's surprising success has a few major contributors (turns out Chris Paul isn't dead either), but Billy Donovan deserves at least partial credit. This year's OKC team felt more like a Billy Donovan team in several ways. The scoring has been balanced, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari and Dennis Schroder nearly identical (19.3, 19.2, 19.0 respectively) and CP3 not far behind them at 17.7. That harkens back to Donovan's successful college teams. During that first title win, all five of his starters averaged between 10.9 and 14.2 points. The following year (the repeat), the spread was even closer, with all five starters averaging between 10.3 and 13.3. Similarly, that last Final Four team (the one without much pro talent) had four leading scorers who averaged between 11.0 and 13.8 points. Balance, ball movement from 1-5 -- two areas that OKC had struggled with prior.
Moreover, Donovan and Oklahoma City have found success this year with "smallball" lineups in regards to the backcourt. He's often played two point guards together, and even three at the same time (SGA, CP3, and Schroder.) In the past, playing multiple point guards at once had been derided dismissively as a "college" thing to do (Jay Wright and Bill Self have had success with the same at Villanova and Kansas). And as it turns out, it's been one of Oklahoma City's most effective lineups this year as well. In that way, and several others, this team has started to take on more of Donovan's identity. Or at least, felt more in simpatico with their coach.
PART SEVEN: Coming to a Fork in the Road
And with that, Billy Donovan and the Oklahoma City Thunder became one of the most pleasant surprises of the 2019-20 season. Together, they lived happily ever after. The end.
Of course, happy endings only exist in Grimms' fairy tales and Robert Kraft's massage parlors. In our cold, cruel world, there are far more nuances at play here. The chief among them: the fact that Donovan's initial 5-year contract is set to expire at the end of the season (whenever that may be.) As far as I'm aware, the team hasn't announced an extension for him yet (although they could have agreed to terms behind closed doors.)
It'd be easy to presume Sam Presti and Billy Donovan can work out a long-term extension here, which could be in the interest of both parties. That said, Donovan has a lot more leverage in this situation than he did a few years ago. He's improved as an NBA coach and re-established his credibility; he could land another NBA job, or go back to a top-notch NCAA program if he preferred.
Staying in OKC should be the first choice, of course. As mentioned, the team is not only pretty good right now, but also has a bright future with Gilgeous-Alexander and a boatload of draft picks coming down the pike. At the same time, it's not a perfect situation. Chris Paul is already 34, and locked up on a bloated contract. Danilo Gallinari is 31, and slated for free agency. There's a decent chance this team may chalk this season up as a nice little storyline, but then brace for a long rebuild after that.
So what will Billy Donovan do? What should Donovan do? Let's take a closer look at some of the options.
PART EIGHT: Surveying the (Cloudy) Landscape
In a normal circumstance, Billy Donovan may have a plethora of options. But as we all know, this isn't a normal circumstance anymore. The COVID-19 virus is going to affect millions -- and some in serious, fatal ways. I don't want to undersell the gravity of that. Then again, this is a basketball post, so let's focus on the basketball ramifications here.
And through that lens, this won't be a normal NBA season or normal NBA offseason at all. It's going to be hard for teams to scout draft prospects -- it's going to be hard for them to meet with free agents -- it's going to be hard for them to interview coaches. Moreover, teams may be reluctant to make a coaching change, presuming that a new coach may have an abbreviated training time with his new team. In some ways, it may spare the hot-seat coaches like Jim Boylen (CHI) or Scottie Brooks (WAS).
However, there are two jobs that have already opened up, pre virus. And as fate would have it, both happen to be in Billy Donovan's home state of New York.
Of the two, the Brooklyn Nets would have the most appeal for a coach who wants to "win now." At the same time, Billy Donovan isn't likely to the top choice of the organization and its stars. After all, Donovan and Kevin Durant have worked together already, and it didn't end well. I wouldn't say there's any antipathy or ill feelings there, but there's at least some baggage.
Conversely, the New York Knicks may be the better fit, for a number of reasons. The organization is still in a rebuilding mold, so a former college coach could work there to help develop the players and take ownership of the locker room. Unlike the Nets, the Knicks don't have signature stars who may bump against an outside voice to guide them or make tweaks to their game. Perhaps R.J. Barrett can be that star, but he's not there yet. Donovan could try to mold the young Knicks to fit his personality and his style. And if new president Leon Rose actually wants Donovan, then money shouldn't be an issue either.
There's also the karmic fit as well. As mentioned, Donovan is also from New York; he grew up in Rockville Centre, Long Island. To Donovan, there would be some lingering mystique about the franchise. He would have been 8 years old when the Knicks last won their title in 1973. Returning the Knicks to the promised land would represent a huge and historic accomplishment. It's an epic challenge that's been attempted before by several coaches, including one named... wait for it... Rick Pitino.
PART NINE: The Bottom Line
We can play out several hypotheticals, including Billy Donovan returning home to New York to take over the Knicks, or Donovan returning to a blueblood NCAA program.
However, the most realistic scenario would be Donovan re-signing with Oklahoma City, and continuing to lead this new-look team going forward. But if that happens, Donovan will have some leverage here. He's improved as an NBA coach over the years, and finally won over the OKC fanbase. Simply put, his stock is back up around the basketball landscape. If the Thunder want to keep him, they're going to need to pony up a healthy salary and a longer extension (3 years? 4 years?) then most coaches who have survived the hot seat have enjoyed.

The 2019 NCAA DI Men's Hockey Tournament Preview, Presented by /r/collegehockey

It's that magical time of year again, the Men's Division I NCAA Hockey tournament. Where teams featuring tomorrow's NHL stars duke it out in a single elimination slug fest. With the tournament set to begin this weekend, /collegehockey presents a primer on each team.
The tournament schedule is as follows (All times EDT, Check local listings for international screenings):

Regionals Day 1 - Friday, March 29th 2019

West and Northeast semifinals:
NE#1 Massachusetts vs NE#4 Harvard : 3:00 PM on ESPN2 W#2 Denver vs W#3 Ohio State : 4:00 PM on ESPNU NE#2 Clarkson vs NE#3 Notre Dame: 6:00 PM on ESPNU W#1 St Cloud vs W#4 American Int'l: 7:30 PM on ESPN3

Regionals Day 2 - Satruday, March 30th 2019

West and Northeast finals, East and Midwest semifinals:
E#1 Minnesota State vs E#4 Providence: 1:00 PM on ESPNEWS MW#1 Duluth vs MW#4 Bowling Green: 4:00 PM on ESPNU E#2 Northeastern vs E#3 Cornell: 4:30 PM on ESPNNEWS NE Final, UMASS/HAR vs CLAND: 6:30 PM on ESPNU MW#2 Quinnipiac vs MW #3 Arizona State: 7:30 PM on ESPN3 W Final, SCSU/AIC vs DU/OSU: 9:00 PM on ESPNU

Regionals Day 3 - Sunday, March 31st 2019

East and Midwest finals
E Final, MNST/PC vs NU/COR: 4:00 PM on ESPN2 MW Final, UMD/BGSU vs QU/ASU: 6:30 PM on ESPNU

2019 Frozen Four

National Semifinal Round - Thursday April 11th, 2019 @ Keybank Center, Buffalo NY
W vs NE winners: 5:00 PM¹ on ESPN2 MW vs E winners: 8:30 PM¹ on ESPN2
1: Order of games could be reversed
2019 DI Mens Hockey Championship Game - Saturday April 13th, 2019 @ Keybank Center, Buffalo NY
National Semifinal Winners: 8:00 PM on ESPN

West Regional, Scheels Arena - Fargo ND

#1 St Cloud State (NCHC) - Aggravated_Content
St. Cloud State returns to the NCAA Division 1 hockey tournament looking to go the distance for the second year in a row as the No. 1 overall ranking. Last year, St. Cloud State lost in the first round against the then last seeded team to make the tournament, Air Force, 4-1. This season, their new head coach, Brett Larson, has taken the reigns over the program and the team has amassed an astounding record of 30-5-3 overall and 19-2-3 in NCHC conference play. They have gone undefeated at home (17-0-1) and have gone 11-3-2 on the road. St. Cloud State will play the last seeded team, American International College (#31 in PairWise Ranking) at Scheels Arena in Fargo in the first round of the West Regional on March 29th, 2019. St. Cloud State has a formidable offense lead by Hobey Baker finalists Patrick Newell and Jimmy Schuldt. Four players, Patrick Newell (F), Ryan Poehling (F), Blake Lizotte (F), and Jimmy Schuldt (D) are on the First Team All-NCHC roster, while an additional two more players, Jack Ahcan (D) and David Hrenak (G) made the Second-Team All-NCHC roster. The team is battle-tested, having four dangerous lines where ten players have over 20 points, three of which have over 40. The Huskies have scored nearly twice as much as they have been scored on (GF: 155, GA: 83). They are second in the country in goals per game (4.08) and eleventh in the goals allowed per game (2.18). St. Cloud plays with lots of speed and an aggressive forecheck which has been a major key to their success. Between the pipes is Sophomore goaltender David Hrenak, a Los Angeles Kings draft pick with a .908 save percentage on the season. Ryan Poehling, a first round draft pick (25th overall) in 2017, was injured against Colorado College in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff Semi-Final and missed the 3-2 Overtime loss to Minnesota Duluth for the NCHC Championship. Ryan Poehling’s injury is considered day-to-day, and should play this weekend.
#2 Denver (NCHC) - jdchambo
The NCAA is probably glad that Denver was the natural 8 seed to they could be placed in Fargo with little controversy. Not only is Fargo the only regional anywhere close to Denver, it also means that only two NCHC teams can make the Frozen Four at most. Or maybe we're giving the committee too much credit. Then again, it's not as if Denver has been by any means bad. Finishing 4th in the NCHC with a 11-10-3 record, and a 22-11-5 overall record, the Pios swept North Dakota in the NCHC quarterfinals. Although they fell in the semifinals to Minnesota Duluth, they demolished Colorado College 6-1 in the 3rd place game to avenge CC winning the Battle for the Gold Pan during the regular season. On the other hand, Denver only ended up playing three tournament teams, and does have losing records against SCSU and UMD, which means that they'll face an uphill battle advancing to the Frozen Four given that they're in a regional with St Cloud.
Denver's top scorers include three draft picks, F Emilio Petterson (Fr, CGY) with a team leading 23 Assists plus 6 Goals, D Ian Mitchell (So, CHI) with 21 Assists and 6 Goals, and F Cole Guttman (Fr, TBL) with 12 goals and 11 Assists. The other double digit goal scorers are undrafted F Liam Finlay (JR) with 15 Goals and 20 Assists, and F Jarid Lukosevicius with 18 Goals and 10 Assists. The Goaltending core is young with So Devin Cooley and DET draft pick Fr Filip Larsson being used in a platoon, averaging 2 GAA and .928 Sv% between them. Between the young team and the 0-2-0 record vs SCSU this season, this may not be a team to pencil into the final weekend, but there are plenty of reasons to watch, especially if your NHL team happens to have a draft pick playing for them.
#3 Ohio State (Big Ten) - reds750
Last season Ohio State reached their first Frozen Four in 20 years by beating Denver 5-1 in Allentown. This year’s team brought back starting goaltender Sean Romeo, 5 starting defenders, and 7 of their 10 top scoring forwards including captain Mason Jobst and Flyers draft pick Tanner Laczynski. This returning talent brought high expectations to Columbus, making the Buckeyes the favorites to win the Big Ten and earning them the #1 ranking in the country after the first week of the season. The team played most of the season as advertised, remaining a top 5 team throughout the winter. They turned things up in Big Ten play, at one point winning 7 straight and essentially wrapping up the conference title in January. The offense is led by Hobey Baker finalist Jobst (17G, 19A), Laczynski (10G, 20A), and Maple Leafs draft pick Dakota Joshua (9G, 13A). Defensively, co-captain Sasha Larocque (2G, 7A) was named the B1G defensive player of the year, and sophomore goaltender Tommy Napier (1.91 GAA, .934%), who split time with Romeo before taking over the starting position for postseason play, won B1G goaltender of the year. Steve Rohlik was also named the top coach in the conference for the second straight season. Everything was looking great for the Buckeyes as the regular season was coming to a close, but a large conference lead led to sloppy play. The team finished the season going 1-5-1 in their last 7 games, including a 5-1 defeat to Penn State in the B1G semifinals. The team still was the regular season conference champions, but the poor finish caused them to drop from 2nd in the country to 9th. This puts the Buckeyes in the tournament as a 3 seed, facing 2 seed Denver in the first round, who is looking to avenge last season’s defeat. If they play their best, the Buckeyes can contend for a national championship, but if they play the way they’ve played recently, Denver will have its revenge
#4 American International (Atlantic) - LocksTheFox
It wasn't so long ago that the American International Yellow Jackets were the punching bag of college hockey. And many a fan will be forgiven for having never heard of this school, a small liberal arts school in Springfield, Massachusetts with an undergrad population of under 2000. It's only really known for being the alma mater of former UConn basketball head coach Jim Calhoun (and, if you really want to stretch, former US Senator for Alaska Mike Gravel).
In 2016, Eric Lang took the head coaching reigns for AIC after the retirement of longtime head coach Gary Wright. The Yellow Jackets hadn't hit double digit wins in league play since 2001, hadn't won 15 games in a season ever, and their best win percentage since elevating to D1 in 1998 was a .429 in 2012-13. Oh, and they'd never won a playoff series in Atlantic Hockey, with their lone advancements in the postseason being play-in game wins in 2004 and 2007. Their highest D1 league finish was fifth in the MAAC in 1998-99...when the league had just 8 teams.
Two years later, and AIC finally won a playoff series, taking down Niagara in the first round before falling to Canisius in three games. That season also saw them upset Penn State in Hockey Valley. With that experience under their belt, the Yellow Jackets are going dancing for the first time ever, on the heels of a strong 22-win season that saw them win Atlantic Hockey's regular season (edging Bentley by three points) and tournament (escaping Niagara in a dramatic 3-2 OT win) titles.
AIC struggled and went 0-for-6 in out of conference, but they'll be forgiven for doing so, as all six of their non-conference games were against tournament teams in UMass, Quinnipiac, Providence, and Arizona State, with four of them coming on the road. In Atlantic Hockey, they were dominant, leading for pretty much the entire season. This team lives up to their "International" moniker, with 11 players from outside North America on the roster, representing Sweden, Czechia, Latvia, Ukraine, Norway, Slovenia, and Slovakia.
Goaltending is AIC's biggest question mark going into the tournament, but Zackarias Skog (.896 SV%) was strong during the Atlantic Hockey tournament, taking home the tournament's Most Outstanding Player award. That being said, St. Cloud is a muuuuch different animal than the Army, Robert Morris, and Niagara sides that Skog saw in the Atlantic Hockey tournament.
On the blueline, AIC is led by Brennan Kapcheck, the 2018 Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Year. While his offensive output dipped a little from last year (26 points to 24, albeit in four fewer games), Kapcheck is probably the biggest key to their success, especially on the power play. He was good enough to earn a look at Toronto Maple Leafs development camp. Look for Patrik Demel, Nicolas Luka, and Janis Jaks to also eat a significant amount of minutes on D.
The top forward for AIC, and not by a little, is Blake Christensen, who set a program record for points with 46 this year, doubling his 23 points from a year ago. That point total was 20 clear of second place on the team, Kyle Stephan. Christensen's 30 assists were also a program record at the D1 level. The main beneficiary of his dynamic playmaking was Tobias Fladeby, who lit the lamp 18 times. Other teams should also be wary of Hugo Reinhardt, who posted a very solid 16 points despite missing half the season with an injury. It was Reinhardt's goal that put AIC in the dance, and after not playing between the new year and the Atlantic Hockey tournament, he picked up right where he left off with 5 points in 5 tournament games. And the best part is, this squad is built to make another push next season, as the only key player that's graduating is forward Shawn McBride (23 pts).
AIC has become a cult favorite of many on /collegehockey; you'll see people comment "GET STUNG" and the affectionate nickname "Mr. Bee" thrown around a lot there. Eric Lang just pulled off one of the greatest coaching jobs in recent NCAA memory, in getting a longtime doormat into the Dance in dominant fashion. They're playing with house money at this point, and they know they'll be heavy underdogs against St. Cloud. But belief in themselves is not something this Yellow Jackets squad lacks, and I'm sure anyone that isn't a St. Cloud fan is going to be pulling for the guys in black and gold.
(Editor's Note: Yes we know Yellow Jackets are actually wasps. No we don't give a fuck. NO ONE JEERS MR. FUCKING. BEE.)

Midwest Regional, PPL Center - Allentown PA

#1 Minnesota Duluth (NCHC) - jdchambo
Finishing the regular season with a 14-9-1 league record and a 25-11-2 overall record, UMD are doubtless a popular Frozen Four pick. While they may have ultimately lost the season series to their instate NCHC rivals from St Cloud, the Bulldogs would ultimately have the last laugh thanks to a 3-2 win in an epic 2OT in the NCHC Championship Game on Saturday. UMD enteres the tournament with a winning record against tournament teams: in addition to a 2-3-0 record against St Cloud, the Bulldogs faced Minnesota State (1-0-0), Clarkson (0-1-0), Denver (3-2-0), and Notre Dame (2-0-0).
On top of this, Duluth has spread the wealth in scoring, with 7 players amassing 20+ points: F Justin Richards (So, 10-18-28), D Scott Perunovich (So, STL, 3-25-28), F Parker Mackay (Sr, 12-15-27), F Nick Swaney (So, MIN, 15-9-24), D Mikey Anderson (So, LAK, 5-19-24), F Peter Krieger (Sr, 8-15-23), and F Noah Cates (Fr, PHI, 9-13-22). The other three UMD draft picks are close behind with 17-18 points: F Riley Tufte (Jr, DAL), F Cole Koepke (Fr, TBL), and D Dylan Samberg (So, WPG). With the depth of scoring and Junior Goaltender Hunter Shepard's .918 Sv% and 1.87 GAA, UMD is well positioned to make a run to be the first repeat NCAA DI Champion since 04-05 Denver.
Edit: Additional info courtesy of Gorillini
So a few things to add for the UMD post are to just be aware of injuries that have plagued the team especially to important players at the end of the season. Specifically to Scott Perunovich. Over the last two months he has slumped and struggled with a lower body injury which in turn has made his game suffer. Also to Jackson Cates a key penalty killer, he was hurt or sick ( I don't remember which one) last weekend and didn't play much towards the end. They both have said that they are ready to play this weekend, but just watch out for that. UMD also has really been a team to score by committee this year, but we have been carried by Defense and goaltending. Mikey Anderson, Nick Wolff and Dylan Samberg have been really good all year and Hunter Shepard has been great most of the year
#2 Quinnipiac (ECAC) - NYGfan1997
(25-9-2; 10-7-1 Home, 14-2-1 Road; 14-6-2 Conf., 14-2-1 OOC)
Best Win: 12/7/19 4-0 over UMASS Worst Loss: 1/4/19 4-5 OT loss vs Colgate MVP: Andrew Shortridge (17-2-4, 1.51 GAA, .941 SV%, 4 SO) Best Skater: Chase Priskie (17G-22A-39P) ROY: Ethan deJong (10G-15A-25P) Breakout Player: Link to schedule Link to player stats
Season Rundown: Heading into the 2018-19 season the Bobcats were coming off their first season under .500 in 20 years. At the time Junior captain Chase Priskie put the blame on himself and said that it would not happen again under his captaincy. The Bobcats were picked 8th in the ECAC Preseason Media poll, and 7th in the ECAC preseason Coaches poll after the awful season last year. They have since proved a lot of people wrong and now enter the NCAA tournament with a 25-9-2 record led by Junior goaltender and Mike Richter nominee Andrew Shortridge and Senior defenseman Hobey Baker Award Nominee Chase Priskie. This is a very young Bobcats team as they have roughly 10 freshman that are in the lineup every time they take the ice. The Bobcats started off their season hot winning their first 6 straight before finally losing their first game in early November to a young Dartmouth team on the road. This game served somewhat as an early wake up call to the Bobcats going 8-2 in their next 10 games and solidifying this team as a top team in the country in December. At this point the Bobcats were 14-3 coming off their hottest win of the regular season defeating Cale Makarand UMass 4-0 in Hamden. This win propelled QU to top 5 in the December 10th USCHO poll for the first time all season. From this point on to around early March, the Bobcats were hovering around the 3/4/5 spot in the Pairwise rankings and looking dead in the eyes at a 1 seed for the NCAA tournament minus a couple of hiccups. The Bobcats suffered their worst loss of the season on January 4th vs Colgate in Hamden. In a game that Keith Petruzzelli started for the Bobcats and at one point in the first period leading 3-0, they allowed Colgate to come back and win 5-4 in OT. In the February 4th USCHO poll the Bobcats reached their highest ranking of the season coming in at #4, having 1 first place vote and a 20-5-1 record. In early February the Bobcats lost their #2 defenseman who was 4th in the nation in defenseman scoring at the time, Brandon Fortunato, to a season ending broken leg that he sustained in practice. The loss of Fortunato has hurt the Bobcats in many areas, but especially on the power play. Before the loss of Fortunato, the Bobcats powerplay was operating at around a 30% clip, and since the loss at only around ~9% currently sitting at 26.1% before the NCAA tournament. If they Bobcats want to go far in this tournament, they must fix their power play. The Bobcats finished out their regular season strong going 4-1 in their last 5 games and tied Cornell for first place in the ECAC, but because of tiebreakers in Quinnipiac’s favor, QU would be the 1 seed in the ECAC tournament. To start postseason play, Quinnipiac had a first round bye and then drew Brown University in the second round. Quinnipiac would be without captain Chase Priskie as he was suspended 2 games due to an earlier incident in a game vs Yale. Brown, another very young team, surprised some heads this season skating to a 15-14-5 record, their best finish since 2012-13 when they went 16-14-6. In the regular season QU and Brown went 1-1 vs each other, each winning on away ice. Brown came to Hamden for the quarterfinals of the ECAC playoffs and swept the Bobcats. The first game Brown won in OT after QU could not capitalize on a 5 minute major penalty and missed a couple open nets. The second game, QU was leading 2-0 to start the third period and in control of the game. Then everything went bad for the Bobcats. 4 unanswered goals from Brown, twice 2 goals coming within 2 minutes of each other, gave Brown a 4-2 lead with 7 minutes to play. With the goalie pulled Quinnipiac was able to score one, but still fell short and killed their ECAC championship dreams and their focus moved onto the NCAA tournament.
Players to Watch: Chase Priskie: Priskie, a Senior and a Washington Capitals draft pick, is by far the best player on the team and is normally the best player on the ice when he is out there. Priskie was named a Hobey Baker Award Finalist and has gotten himself into the top 10 voting and currently sits tied for 4th with 6.6% of the vote. Priskie so far this season has netted 17 goals (5 GWG) along with 22 assists for a total of 39 points. 10 of his goals have come on the power play as he usually slots into the “Ovechkin spot” on QU’s power. Priskie is a +20 rating and has only taken 6 penalties all year, one being a major that he received for kicking a Yale player in the final regular season matchup of the season.
Odeen Tufto:Tufto, a Sophomore and an undrafted free agent, has been a spark plug for the Bobcats all season long. Standing at only 5’8” 174 lbs, Tufto is a quick, shifty, playmaker that slots in as the 1C for the Bobcats. Tallying 15 goals and 27 assists in 36 games, Tufto is the leading point getter for the Bobcats to this point. 7 of Tufto’s goals have come on the power play. He has accumulated a +14 rating and has only taken 7 penalties all season, all being minor penalties. Look for Tufto to get the offense going early in the tournament as his line will jump on the opposing team and score in a heartbeat.
Andrew Shortridge:Shortridge, a Junior and an undrafted free agent, sure will have his choice on NHL offers this summer or a chance to come back for his senior season. Shortridge has posted 17-6-2 record along with a 1.51 GAA, a .941 SV%, and 4 shutouts on the season. Shortridge won ECAC goaltender of the season and is up for the Mike Richter award. He could very easily have 6 shutouts but was taken out of games late in the third period to get the other two goalies on the team some work. Shortridge has saved the Bobcats in too many games to count this year and has made unbelievable save after unbelievable save. Check out this Andrew Shortridge highlight package to see some of the unbelievable saves he has made for the bobcats this year.
#3 Arizona State (Independent) - secondpronoun
Arizona State Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are a surprise NCAA Tournament team this year after compiling a 21-12-1 record while being an independent team, they are coming into the tournament as the independent to snag a bid since Alaska Anchorage in 1992. Coached by Greg Powers, Arizona State are the most recent team to have moved up to Division 1 in college hockey, having had a club hockey team prior to the move and their 21 wins this year match the combined total across their first three seasons of NCAA Division 1 level college hockey (having won 3 games their first year, 10 in their second year and 8 games last season). This makes them an interesting underdog pick in the tournament, although they have had most of their success this season in their home arena (one of the smallest in college hockey), and Arizona State has the longest trip to their regional in college hockey this year, around 2000+ miles from Tempe, AZ to Allentown, PA. Arizona State is one of two teams that is making its first ever trip to the NCAA tournament.
Players to watch: Arizona State has a few players that have burst onto the scene this year in college hockey. Forward Johnny Walker has had 23 goals and 11 assists this season, which leads the team, and puts him in a tie for second in NCAA division 1 hockey for goals scored, also while playing around 7 to 10 less games than the players with the same or more goals then him. Goaltender Joey Daccord is a junior who has his NHL rights held by Ottawa after being drafted in the 7th round in 2015. He has had a breakout year, posting a .926 save percentage, a 2.38 goals against average and is widely considered to be a main reason for Arizona State’s success this year. He is also a final for the Mike Richter award, given to the top goaltender in college hockey. Arizona State has one other player on their team who was drafted by an NHL team, 4th rounder Demetris Koumontzis is a freshman forward who was drafted by Calgary last year. He has had 4 goals and 16 assists in 34 games this season. Brinson Pasichnuk is another player to watch, the Defenseman has had 12 goals and 17 assists this year and is second to only Walker on the team in terms of points.
#4 Bowling Green (WCHA) - doihavemakeaneword
BG has had a wacky season. On one hand, we are 5-1-1 against the current Top 20, the lone loss being in overtime in the WCHA championship. On the other hand, we're also 5-2-2 against the worst 4 teams in the country, and dropping 7 other games with a stretch of 6 split series in a row in January and February. We accomplish this by completely choking in the 3rd period, having done so in 6 of our losses and the majority of our ties. Who knows how we'll do here, or first Naty appearance since 1990.

East Regional, Dunkin' Donuts Center - Providence RI

#1 Minnesota State (WCHA) - Supercal95
Minnesota State is the winningest program in Division 1 since the arrival of Coach Mike Hastings. 2018-19 has given us a program record total wins. We had a dominant season as the WCHA Regular Season Champions, and had a miracle last 2 minutes in the WCHA Tournament Final to clinch the Sauer Trophy 3-2 in OT (against the number 15 Bowling Green). We have the 1980 Division II national championship, and 2 other appearances at the championship game. However, we have never won a 1st round game since joining Division I in 1995. We have a fast team, top 10 in offense. And the top-ranked defense in all of the sport. Marc Michaelis is very quick. Dryden Mckay is our very good goaltender (CHN ROTY). Nick Riviera is our Captain. A host of good defenders will mean not very many good chances, and we will outshoot you. We tend to take many potshots from the blueline, but our skilled forwards will take trickier shots as well. Our biggest hurdle will be ourselves, as i've said, we have never made it to round 2. And we are playing Providence in Providence (as a 1 versus 4 seed). So yeah, i'm unhappy about that. But we need to beat this hurdle if we are a top 4 team. Look fot it to be a close game and likely end in OT.
#2 Northeastern (Hockey East) - ilickthings
Season: 27-10-1 Overall, 15-8-1 Conference
Beanpot Champions, Hockey East Champions
If I were to summarize Northeastern's season into three words, it would probably be "fuck yeah, boys." NU has been on a tear: back-to-back Beanpot victories, taking the Hockey East title for the 3rd time (most recently in 2016), and it's the second time achieving both Beanpot and Hockey East Champion status in the same year. This year solidifies the fact that Northeastern has a solid system, especially after achieving this with their amazing line from last season (Gaudette, Sikura, Stevens). These boys are beautiful, and if the state of Massachusetts allowed me to marry an entire college hockey team, I would easily leave my wife for these beauts. As long as I get Coach Madigan's blessing, of course.
The Good Boys
Tyler Madden - Freshman - F: HE's All-Rookie Team, Team USA (FUCK YEAH) in the World Juniors - this kid is going places. The kid is the definition of finesse - his puck handling game is strong, and he's great at putting the puck in the net when he's in the slot.
Jeremy Davies - Junior - D: HE's All-Star First Team and HCA's February Player of the Month, Daives is leading the team in Assists (27) and Points (35). He's a strong Defensive Offenseman, quick to setup a shot, and is an overall fucking baller.
Cayden Primeau - Sophmore - G: HE's All-Star First Team, Team USA (FUCK YEAH AGAIN) in the World Juniors, this kid is a beast. Words can't explain how beautiful this man is. Go watch YouTube clips. If you disagree, shut the fuck up. I'll find you. Actually while you're out on YouTube, go find the video of when his dad and uncle fought. It's fucking awesome.
Summary
Fuck BC, fuck BU, and RIP Punter's.
(Editor's note: ok then)
#3 Cornell (ECAC) - cornellthrowaway20
I have an exam tomorrow and should not be spending time writing this, but I couldn’t let my beloved Big Red go without a tournament preview! For more info check out this article, good overview of this weekend and the last few games leading up to it.
Notes on last season: Cornell had a strong 2017-18 run that included a brief 1st place ranking in the USCHO poll, a second straight NCAA tournament appearance, and the emergence of key players including star rookie goaltender Matthew Galajda. The postseason did not quite live up to the high expectations set by the team’s regular season performance, with an upset loss to Princeton in the ECAC semifinals and a heartbreaking loss to BU in the first round of the NCAA’s. After the season, Cornell lost a significant scoring force in junior Anthony Angello, who left to sign with the Pittsburgh/WBS Penguins.
This season: The Red faced high expectations for the new season, based on their 17-18 record and the return of most of the team’s top players. Unfortunately, these expectations were quickly tamped down over the opening weekend of the regular season, when they were swept at home by Michigan State. The beginning of the season had its ups and downs, one of the most notable “downs” being a heartbreaking 4-1 loss to archival Harvard at Madison Square Garden in a game that Coach Mike Schafer called “lifeless” and could “take no positives from”. Already down four skaters (Locke, Malott, Green, and Smith) after two injury-causing road wins against Northern Michigan, the Red also lost starting goalie Galajda to an injury sustained at the Garden. Cornell pulled through to the end of 2018, redeeming themselves with a win at Harvard. Multiple players and Schafer have called the Harvard game the turning point in the season, citing the player’s renewed effort and confidence as a result of the win. 2019 started with a home sweep of Arizona State and another redemption win against Harvard in the always exciting home rivalry game. The rest of the regular season was filled with mostly positives but came with some inconsistencies, such as a dominating 5-0 shutout against eventual Whitelaw Cup champion Clarkson but a 4-1 loss to Yale and a strange game against Brown in which the Red settled for a tie after letting up 3 goals in under a minute. In the end, Cornell secured a share of the Cleary Cup and a #2 seed for the ECAC tournament. After a bye through the first round the team dropped the first quarterfinal game against Union but came back to win games two and three to secure a bid to Lake Placid, where they shutout Brown 6-0 in the conference semis and lost a heartbreaking, controversial final in overtime to Clarkson.
A brief injury report: The Cornell Sun put it well: “It isn’t any secret that injuries have nagged at the team all season — two of the Red’s top centers, three key blueliners and its starting goaltender all missed lengthy stretches with injuries varying from concussions to broken fingers to broken collarbones”. An unfortunate storyline for this team all year has been the insane amount of injuries. The Red’s bad luck started in early November when defenseman Alex Green was knocked unconscious and had to be stretchered off the ice in the game against Yale. Green was out with a concussion until early 2019. Honestly I can’t even remember or list all the injuries this year because it would take forever, but it’s a bad sign when there are multiple results on the Sun for the search term “men’s hockey injury”. Cornell will play this weekend without forward Jeff Malott (season-ending, surgery-requiring ACL injury in the ECAC championship), starting goalie Matt Galajda (whack play where he injured his knee after getting stuck in his own net), defenseman Cody Haiskanen (horrific bloody arm laceration in the Clarkson game at Lynah). However, Schafer has pointed to the team’s strength in the face of adversity as a positive from the season, saying that his team never made excuses and went out to play their best every night. So who knows, maybe there are some positives from all the injuries?
Players to watch in the NCAA tournament: Goalie Austin McGrath: Assuming Galajda won’t play this weekend, McGrath is his backup. With a 2.15 GAA and a .919 SV%, McGrath appears ready to step up and fill Galajda’s shoes for the second time this season. We’ll see how well he can perform in a do-or-die situation this weekend.
Forward Morgan Barron: The Red’s top scorer, Barron (a sixth round pick of the NY Rangers) is an offensive force on a mainly defensive team. He plays a great power forward game, not afraid to go after pucks in front of the net and always looking to score from tough spots.
A whole bunch of random guys: Cornell’s top scorers in the playoffs have been pretty different from their top scorers in the regular season. Noah Bauld had 4 points in the entire regular season but had 8 in the five playoff games. Freshman Joe Leahy scored his first NCAA goal in the ECAC semis, and Kyle Betts also produced significantly in the playoffs after a disappointing regular season. There’s really no predicting who the impact players in playoff games will be when it comes to this team.
LET’S GO RED!
#4 Providence (Hockey East) - TheStripedMarauder
Record: 22-11-6 (14-7-3 HEA)
At the outset of the season, many pundits considered the Providence Friars to be a strong contender for both the Hockey East Championship and a Frozen Four berth. The Friars, who had earned at-large bids to each of the five previous NCAA Tournaments, were returning a plethora of talent, including 2017-2018 HEA First-Team All-Star defenseman Jacob Bryson, 2017-2018 HEA Second-Team All-Star goaltender Hayden Hawkey, and top goal-scoring forward Kasper Bjorkqvist. Providence’s already formidable returning roster was further bolstered by a large, highly-touted incoming freshman class, highlighted by Philadelphia Flyers’ 2018 first-round draft pick, forward Jay O’Brien. However, while Providence’s roster gained a number of skilled young players, it also endured several significant offseason departures, including forward (and team captain) Brian Pinho (graduation) and team points leader Erik Foley (professional contract). Although there were uncertainties regarding the Friars’ offensive capabilities and new leadership roles, under the guidance of former Hockey East Coach of the Year Nate Leaman, Providence seemed poised to continue the sustained level of excellence that the program had exhibited over the past half-decade.
When the season began back in October, the 2018-2019 Friars looked to be picking up exactly where the 2017-2018 team left off. Through seven games, Providence posted a record of 5-1-1, including a 5-0 thrashing of Boston University on the Terriers’ home ice. However, as the schedule intensified, the Friars dropped two of their next three series: the first to a burgeoning UMass team who would go on to win the Hockey East regular season title, and the second to a national title-contending Denver squad. A stretch of 5-0-2 hockey over the next seven games against New Hampshire, Merrimack, Brown, Dartmouth, and Miami (OH) seemed to remedy the UMass and Denver losses, only to be undone by another woeful 1-3 stretch versus Boston College, Boston University, and Brown. After attaining a much-needed home-and-home sweep of Northeastern, a home series loss to Vermont and a split road series with Maine put Providence in a precarious position in both the Hockey East standings, as well as the Pairwise Rankings (a comparison metric that determines the teams which receive at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament, as well as the tournament’s seeding). With the season seemingly on the line, Providence bore down and played its best stretch of hockey when it needed to, going 5-0-1 and securing important wins over UMass and UMass-Lowell (both of whom were ahead of Providence in the Hockey East standings). As the regular season ended, the Friars finished tied for second place in the Hockey East standings and earned a quarterfinal matchup with Boston College in the Hockey East Tournament, only to lose the three-game series to the Eagles by a score of 2-1. The losses drove Providence down to a Pairwise Ranking of 14, needing assistance from other teams to gain a bid into the NCAA Tournament’s field of 16. With a Boston College loss in the Hockey East Tournament championship game and a Bowling Green loss in the WCHA Tournament championship game, Providence received the help it needed to achieve its sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament berth.
After a tumultuous, up-and-down season that saw inconsistent goaltender play from Hayden Hawkey, a barrage of injuries to freshman phenom Jay O’Brien, and significant stretches of offensive ineptitude, Providence finds itself in the NCAA Tournament once again, matched up against the tournament’s third overall seed, Minnesota State. While Providence enters as the four seed (14th overall) in this 1 v 4 matchup, the NCAA’s emphasis on attendance has helped the Friars gain placement in the East Regional, which is being held at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island. While the home-ice feel should be a boon to Providence’s chances, the outcome of the Friars’ NCAA Tournament run will likely be predicated, first and foremost, on the play of senior goaltender Hayden Hawkey. Hawkey’s save percentage of .918, which ranks 22nd in Division 1, certainly leaves something to be desired, but he has shown the ability to play well above that number, as evidenced by his 7 shutouts this season (tied for the most in Division 1). On the offensive end, junior forward Josh Wilkins has been heating up at just the right time for the Friars. The slick-skating Wilkins has tallied 3 goals and 3 assists in his past four games, showing a strong ability to both create goals and seal the deal himself. Additionally, the rise of freshman forwards Jack Dugan and Tyce Thompson cannot be understated. Over the Friars’ past six games, Dugan and Thompson have combined for 13 points, signifying that they have become a substantial part of Providence’s current offensive scheme. Overall, Providence has the talent, skill, and coaching necessary to make it to Buffalo, but youth and inconsistency could make a first-round exit just as distinct of a possibility.

Northeast Regional, SNHU Arena - Manchester NH

(See Comments)

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College Basketball Picks & College Basketball Predictions

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February 12, 1934: Bill Russell was born. No one did more to ensure his team’s success & win championships. Russell won 11 NBA titles, 2 NCAA titles, and Olympic gold with his elite defense, athleticism, versatility, passing, rebounding, leadership, intelligence, clutch play, etc.

February 12, 1934: Bill Russell was born. No one did more to ensure his team’s success & win championships. Russell won 11 NBA titles, 2 NCAA titles, and Olympic gold with his elite defense, athleticism, versatility, passing, rebounding, leadership, intelligence, clutch play, etc.

Peyton Pritchard is number 4 among rookies this year per hoops habit -

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Regionals Day 1 - Friday, March 29th 2019

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West Regional, Scheels Arena - Fargo ND

Midwest Regional, PPL Center - Allentown PA

East Regional, Dunkin' Donuts Center - Providence RI

Northeast Regional, SNHU Arena - Manchester NH

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