Phatty's Hoops Thoughts

Thoughts on what Phattyman saw in world of hoops

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  • 3.2.24

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    Gonzaga @ Saint Mary’s

    This was in-person viewing. Gonzaga rolled. The score doesn’t exemplify how much Gonzaga actually dominated the Gaels in this game.

    Crowd was electric during pre-game until tip off-off. However, the game and could never get back to any intriguing decibel level until the 2nd half when SMC went on a quick 10-2 run to get the deficit within 8-10 points. This part sucked. While I knew SMC losing was a good possibility, Gonzaga controlling the game and thus, the crowd, kept energy levels low in University Credit Union Pavilion (McKeon). McKeon is a bandbox that I would bet gets as loud as any gym in country due to its’ construction when the Gaels get rolling vs Gonzaga. During SMC’s OT win against GU last year, my ears were still ringing after. I wanted that drug again and did not get close this past Saturday.

    Saint Mary’s played like a team that was fat and full from an undefeated regular season (to that point) and a clinched WCC regular season title. Every position on the floor for Saint Mary’s committee uncharacteristic turnovers that let Gonzaga get into their comfort level of running as fast as they can. The Gaels also short armed several bunnies, including Mahaney. Mahaney NEEDS to step up this post season if he wants to be THAT guy. He wears a different warm up shirt than all of his teammates for every game. I find that odd and off putting. If he wins, we can look past it.

    Gonzaga’s Andrew Nemhardt had his best game of the season, scoring a double-double with assists and points. He looked quicker than any other player on the court and the Gaels could not find an answer. With an injured Harry Wessels, Mitchell Saxen had to stay on the court for nearly the entire game. Saxen’s play suffered due to no back up as he could not be aggressive on defense and got tired quickly. Meanwhile, Gonzaga doesn’t have anyone as good as Ike at the center position but they can throw Anton Watson and Ben Gregg at SMC’s center when Ike needed a rest.

    As a biased Gael fan, I hope that Randy Bennett held some of his adjustment cards close to the vest once the writing was on the wall. Should both get to the finals in Las Vegas, the Gaels need to be competitive to avoid the dreaded 8/9 seed for the NCAA Tournament.

  • 2.20.24 thru 2.28.24

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    No hoops. Had wedding week/weekend/travel.

    I lied, I watched first half of Houston @ Baylor in my buddy’s hotel room, nothing sensual. Houston looked unbeatable until it was revealed later that day that Houston needed overtime to win.

    I’d like to hear a coach’s perspective on these scoring droughts Houston goes on. Not just some random talking head on ESPN who says “they need to fix this” or “there’s still time.” Phattyman doesn’t have the answer for the Cougars but hopefully Kelvin Sampson does. Would like to pick them to win Natty but we shall see.

  • 2.19.24

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    No hoops. Got married in the church. Actual ceremony Saturday.

  • 2.18.24

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    Seton Hall @ St. Johns

    Minimal hoops watching today as it was another pick-up sesh, brunch, and work to be done.

    Seton Hall can be a fun team to watch when their defense gets going. They are tactfully aggressive and looking to counter attack for quick baskets. Massive win.
    Terrible energy in the building as the Johnnies played this home game in the Islanders arena. What are we even doing here? There is no atmosphere in these types of arenas. Ky McKeon of the Three Man Weave recently visited Georgetown and wrote about how their home arena was a dud since it’s in a 20,000 seat NBA arena. I don’t understand the decisions by these administrations to sign these contracts. I’m not well versed enough in the Georgetown inner workings as they may not have enough space on or near campus to have their own arena but in the long term, every Big East team should have their own home arenas.

  • 2.17.24

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    Intro

    Played hoops in the AM and had an event in the evening so minimal basketball watching on a typically loaded slate. There were many blowouts which also contributed to the lack of the interested viewing.

    Wisconsin @ Iowa

    Caught the last 2 minutes and OT post my own pick-up sesh. Iowa’s crowd is impressive when that team gets going. I guess, what else are you doing in Iowa? As a “Coastal Elite” I could not imagine.

    Wisconsin is dragging its feet to the finish line and they still have three weeks left in the regular season! Is this a recoverable mid-season swoon or is this actually their team? Only time will tell but the predictive metrics have them closer to a top 25-30 team vs a Top-10 team, which they were not too long ago.

    Indiana State @ So. Illinois

    Indiana State proved once again that being Goliath in a small league is extremely difficult. As soon as ISU became ranked for the first time in over 40 years, they lose twice. Throughout the second half, the Salukis continued to be the aggressor. Hand up accountability, I fell asleep in and out but saw ISU struggle on the defensive end. Was a tuckered out Phattyman.

  • 2.16.24

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    No Thoughts

    Did not watch any games.

  • 2.15.24

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    Pepperdine @ Saint Mary’s

    Only game of the night for Phattyman (PM), which was in person. Gael legend & PM family friend, Jock Landale, had his jersey retired by SMC before the game started. Poor effort by SMC administration as the microphone gave out during Jock’s speech and they didn’t have a back up ready so he had to yell to project his voice. Thankfully a small gym. SMC also did not utilize their beautiful video board by not creating a highlight package for the Gael superstar. Seems half-ass.

    Witnesssed a half court buzzer beater by PM favorite Alex Ducas, several big dunks, and a whole lot of points. Pepperdine has some shot makers but the basketball IQ and intensity needed to play D1 basketball appears to be severely lacking from the Wave. How much longer will Lorenzo Romar be able to coach there? Collecting 6-7 figures while coaching in Malibu is nice lil gig. Sign PM for that life in alternate reality.

    Was able to enjoy post game bevs in impressively renovated lounge after the game with several Gael coaches and legends in attendance. Late night for Phattyman as PM has turned into an old man.

  • 2.14.24

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    South Carolina @ Auburn

    Light slate, didn’t watch many full games as most were blowouts.

    Auburn’s jungle is next level atmosphere. One of the best of the SEC. Have never been to a SEC arena. Would like to see some of these arenas down size like Ole Miss. No one needs 25,000 seat arena for college hoops.

    Auburn destroyed them, were up huge at half and cut off any hope for Gamecocks. Have seen on Twitter that a lot of people are calling Auburn a sneaky championship team. Thus they are no longer sneaky. Just because a team isn’t a blue blood, doesn’t make them sneaky.

    Saint Joe’s @ Loyola Chicago

    Harry Potter world with all of the scarves. Impressive crowd for a Wednesday evening and would love to go to a game if it overlaps with a Phattyman Chicago visit.

    Game was U.G.L.Y. to start. Missed layups all over the place. Watched on side laptop and we did have the over here (150.5), which never came close to hitting.

    First time watching the Hawks all year. Saint Joe’s has several playmakers and shooters but appear to be quite dependent on three ball. I don’t foresee them making it far in the A-10 tourney. Loyola needs a few more talented players but their offense is beautiful to watch with their head coach Valentine still running similar stuff to what Porter Moser was doing during their great NCAA tourney runs.

    Didn’t see the Hawk and his continuous flapping wings in action on the broadcast. Was lucky enough to witness several years ago when the Hawks visited Moraga. A young Phattyman was entertained and mystified at a mascot in constant motion for two plus hours.

    Miami @ Clemson

    The game I paid the most attention to throughout the evening. Dan Schulman was on the call. An all-time college basketball voice. Jay “I gotta go to work” Bilas joined Schulman. He’s fine. Side note, I find it peculiar that ESPN’s College Gameday has four analysts and that 75% of said analysts are ACC affiliated. Jay Williams and Jay Bilas are both Dukies while Seth Greenberg is still a Virginia Tech man. Greenberg typically has a hard time mentioning any other conference outside of the ACC with any depth or interest. While former ESPN analyst LaPhonso Ellis is also ACC affiliated (Notre Dame), he was the best they had in a long time. He is missed but doing a great job at Fox. Back to the game.

    Phattyman is still not impressed with Clemson. Any team that provides a medium level of defense should be able to crack their scheme of get the ball to PJ Hall then if that doesn’t work, have former Cuse transfer Joe Girard huck up a three. Miami, however, provided a small level of defense and with Nigel Pack’s knees banged up, they ran out of juice. Still could see Miami make some type of run in ACC tourney but that’s probably bias based off of last year’s NCAAT. Fun offense to watch when they are hot, as they are mostly gunslingers.

    Western Carolina @ Samford

    SoCon is an extremely underrated league. If you like offense, you should watch the SoCon. This conference typically produces a great double digit seed that comes close to or does create a first round upset. Chattanooga in 2022 nearly defeated 4 seed Illinois that had Kofi Cockburn, Coleman Hawkins, and Andrew Curbelo. SoCon also has Furman, who had one of the top moments of 2023 with their buzzer beater vs Virginia. They weren’t a double digit seed but Wofford also had a great team in 2019 that nearly went to the Sweet Sixteen vs Kentucky. All to say that college basketball fans should pay attention to this conference if they aren’t already.

    Thought WCU would have more fight but Samford was able to put them away once the 2nd half started. Samford now 12-1 in conference but I have a sneaky feeling they won’t be the one representing the SoCon come March Madness. WCU beat Notre Dame, McNeese State, and UNC Asheville earlier in the year but have faltered since. Haven’t followed the team closely so maybe they’ve had injury issues.

  • 2.13.24

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    Marquette @ Butler

    Watched while on treadmill (incline walking and pull ups). Marquette fun to watch. A lot of ball movement. Butler looks to be one year away. Posh Alexander will win or lose game for you. Good push by Butler late in game but not enough juice. Intriguing watch. Jason Bennetti and Bill Raftery on call. Bill Raftery might be top 10 dream dinner guest for Phattyman

    North Carolina @ Syracuse

    Unexpected upset by Cuse. Didn’t watch much. Zone is boring. UNC not interesting. Would be classic of Cuse to go on a run here and make the NCAA Tournament and steal a bid from a mid-major.

    Oklahoma @ Baylor

    Watched on side. Took Baylor minus the 7 on this one. Coach K’s son-in-law was the color analyst. Not sure why he switched to Big12. Grades as a D on Phattyman’s announcer rankings. Tries to do a high pitched voice on every lead out into commercial. Yuck. Oklahoma on PM (Phattyman) fraud list. 100% guarantee they do not make 2nd weekend.

    Pitt @ Virginia

    Was a flip back while on treadmill. Laid the points with UVA. Mistake. Pitt made a lot of threes. Happy Pitt was patient with Jeff Capel. Love the dude who stood up at Cameron Indoor after their upset win. Really thought UVA’s defense would grind Pitt down but the shot making was off charts. Didn’t watch much.

    New Mexico @ Nevada

    Caught the last 5 minutes in bed while watching on laptop. Exciting finish. Lobos blew 9 point lead at under 4 minutes. Donavan Dent was 0-5 from the free throw line (60%+ FT shooter) at one point. Happy that his FT misses at the end did not end up costing Lobos the game. Lobos recently placed on bubble. Big win for Lobos.

    Good for SMC that UNM pulled it off. Saw UNM in person in Moraga. Dent was impressive and they were missing Washburn. Not enough size for UNM, got out rebounded at the end like crazy. UNM are matchup dependent for success in NCAAT. Could make 2nd weekend with their impressive guard play. Ranked 23rd today in KenPom. Would like SMC to go play at The Pit in upcoming seasons as a good challenge. Nevada’s Blackshear is a great isolation player. I see wide range of outcomes for them, should they make NCAAT.

    LSU @ Florida

    Caught most of 2nd half while eating quick dinner (Kodiak Protein Pancakes) via YouTube TV’s multiview tool. Within less than one year, YTTV has gone from no multiview, previously selected mutliview, and now customizable multiview. Chef’s kiss, it is absolutely brilliant. Now the problem this has created is that I want a massive TV to make each of the 4 quadrants larger. The soon to be Mrs. Phattyman will probably not be in favor of this idea.

    We had the over 160.5 on this one. Ended 82-80, Florida’s win. Whew. LSU mounted impressive comeback by Florida missing mid-range shots and LSU attacking the rim relentlessly with unsustainable 3 pointers. Can envision the Tigers taking down a bubbly SEC team in their conference tournament and popping chances, as LSU is around 90 in NCAA’s NET rankings.