One Play can Change Everything

Kevin Luthringer

Injuries have always been a big part of any sport. No one knows when and how a player could get hurt so there is no way to plan for it. More often than not an injury can derail a team especially if it happens in the postseason or the playoffs. That is exactly what has happened this year in the 2016 NBA Playoffs.

The Golden State Warriors, who broke the record of most wins in a single season by a team with a 73-9 record, saw their MVP go down not once but twice. In Game 1 of their series with the Houston Rockets, last year’s MVP and the presumptive MVP for this year, Steph Curry tweaked his ankle. He was able to return to action after missing the next two games in Game 4. As if it wasn’t bad enough seeing him go down once, in the first half of Game 4 he seemed to slip on a wet spot where an opponent had fallen just before. When he fell he hyperextended his knee which could sideline him for up to two weeks. This could have been a devastating injury, but the Los Angeles Clippers experienced worse.

In Game 4 of the Clippers’ series with the Portland Trailblazers right after Steph Curry got hurt for the second time, the Clips saw their two best players go down in less than 2 hours. The leader and point guard of the team, Chris Paul fractured his hand which would sideline him indefinitely. If that was not a big enough blow, Blake Griffin, their All-Star power forward re-injured his quad taking him out for the remainder of the playoffs.

So instead of a fully loaded 4th seeded Clipper team going up against a limp Steph Curry-led 1st seeded Warriors team, the Clippers couldn’t make it out of the first round. After the two injuries, the Clippers would go on to lose the rest of the games allowing the Trailblazers to advance to the second round against the Warriors. The Warriors team is now handling the Trailblazers fairly easy in the absence of their MVP, which most likely would not have been the case against the Clips.

Injuries are always an unavoidable part of sports, and lately it seems that they have had huge impacts on the NBA Playoffs. Either way, all we can hope for is for the stars to stay healthy for the rest of the Playoffs and an entertaining run to the Finals!

Best Ever?

After an impressive championship run last June by the Golden State Warriors many fans were left wondering what’s next. That question was answered with the greatest regular season in NBA history. After starting the year off with 24 straight wins the Warriors, led by the terrific trio of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green, they went on to go on a 73-9 record. That put them one game ahead of the of the Bulls team of 1996 that hit the 72 win-mark. So the question that is being asked now is are these Golden State Warriors the best team in NBA history.

This Warriors’ team has been better than any other team I have ever watched in my lifetime. They are made up with the best shooting backcourt the NBA has ever seen, along with a roster loaded with talent. While the NBA has been in the process of a change with the 3-point shot being more emphasized, but the Warriors’ took this to the next level. Steph Curry, the reigning MVP, is shooting better than any other player in the history of the NBA. This team has taken the passing of the San Antonio Spurs, and combined that with superior talent along with great chemistry.

The argument of the best team of all time is tough for many fans as it seems to be more about what era you watched. Many fans, and even players have had very strong arguments on this topic. One main reason this topic is tough is because both team’s posses player that are arguably the best player of their generations. One, Michael Jordan, is not as much of an argument because he was head and shoulders above all the competition he played against. Steph Curry on the other hand may not be the best player of his generation, considering the greatness of LeBron James, but he has definitely put himself into the heart of all fans today, young and old.

Besides just what player you watched and loved, there is another thing that many people like to bring up. Clearly the game has shifted in a physicality stand-point. What most arguers of the Bulls like to point out is that the Warriors could not stand up if the game was still played like it was in 90s. However, in that same breath, any fan of Steph Curry and Warriors would tell you that those Bulls would not be able to keep up with the pace, passing, and shooting of this great Golden State team.

Regardless of what team you think is better it is impossible to deny the greatness of this Warrior club. Whether they are better or not than that great Chicago Bulls’ team is impossible to tell, even though Bulls’ great, forward Scottie Pippen, was quoted saying that he thought his Bulls’ team would sweep this Warriors’ team. Either way this team has been fun to watch, and I can’t wait to see if they can repeat.

And Then There Were Four

Kevin Luthringer

Yet another weekend of the NCAA tournament down and it is clear to me that this thing simply is impossible to predict. As we head into the Final Four, and the last weekend of this great tournament, the title March Madness seems to fit once again.

The first night of the Sweet 16 lacked any real close games. The Aggies disappointed, and Buddy “Buckets” from Oklahoma impressed once again as OU rolled easily.

Kansas continued to look the part of the number 1 overall seed as they beat Maryland by 16.

To end the night, ’Villanova did what they do and beat Miami handily.

A little surprisingly, Duke failed to give the number 1 seed Oregon much of a game.  Coach K, however, did not fail to give us something to talk about. In the press conference, Dillon Brooks, an Oregon Forward and a very good player, told a reporter that Coach Krzyzewski came up to him after the game and told him that he was “too good of a player to be showing off in the end.”  Coach K, in his press conference, denied that he said it, and that people can believe what they want to. What Coach K failed to realize is that nothing is private in today’s world.  Audio of the after game conversation came out the next day and it was clear that what Brooks said was indeed true. The Duke coach later came out publicly and said that he reacted wrongly to a reporter after the game when asked about the incident. He also said he had since called the Oregon Coach and apologized for talking to his player.  Ok, enough “Real Housewives of Durham”, back to the basketball….

In some of these less exciting games we had North Carolina continue to look like the best team in the tournament as they beat Indiana by 15 and Virginia beating Iowa State by 13 despite the Cyclones senior Georges Niang scoring a game high 30 points.

Then to round out the Sweet 16 we had two close games.  Syracuse continued their improbable run and beat Gonzaga in a comeback win despite trailing the majority of the game. Michael Gbinje hit the go-ahead bucket with just 22 second left and Syracuse was able to survive and advance. The other game was Notre Dame and Wisconsin and this was tight throughout.  Wisconsin’s offense staggered late and turned the ball over multiple times in the last couple of minutes. The Irish scored the final 8 points of the game in a span of 18 seconds and held on to beat the Badgers.

In the Elite 8 we finally got to some better games. Kansas and Villanova came down to the wire, with Villanova winning by 5. The Wildcats really showed how versatile they were on defense holding Kansas’ senior star Perry Ellis to just 5 points on 1-5 shooting from the floor. That same day you had the aforementioned Buddy Hield, who basically put the Sooners on his back, going for 37 with 8 three pointers. Oklahoma was able to beat Oregon by 12 in a game they seemed to be in control of the entire time.

On Sunday we saw the last two tickets punched into the Final Four, with North Carolina again showing that their overall talent and length is just too much for opponents (at least so far). Notre Dame played them tough, but in the end the Tar Heels were just too good.

The best game of the weekend, and maybe even a bigger collapse then Northern Iowa just a week before, saw 1 seed Virginia with a comfortable lead most of the game.  Suddenly Syracuse exploded.  Starting the second half down 16, and lead by freshman Malachi Richardson (who scored 21 of his 23 in the second half), Syracuse eventually would go on a 29-8 run that would make them the first 10 seed to ever make the Final Four.

At the end of the day you had a Final Four made up of Villanova, Oklahoma, North Carolina, and Syracuse. With just one more weekend left to play and most of the brackets completely busted (especially yours truly), we are set for a great finale to the college basketball season.

March Madness’ Mad Math

Kevin Luthringer

Wow… After the smoke clears following another exciting first weekend of the greatest sports event of the entire year, all I can say is WOW.  Trying to recap a weekend packed with great college basketball in one post isn’t easy but I am going to give it a go.

Well, I feel like natural place to start is good ole Sparty.  Mr. Final Four, Tom Izzo, and his Michigan State Spartans got bounced in the first round to the 15 seed Middle Tennessee State. This one surprised the heck out of me and most likely took me out of the running since I had MSU as a lock to get into the Final Four and the championship.

Now to some of the other awesome games, UALR, or University of Arkansas Little Rock, played in one of the most exciting games I watched this weekend. They had a little guard, number 3, who seemed to be shooting into the ocean. The kid could not miss.

Then the boys from Yale, who have never been to the Big Dance in school history, pulled off the big upset against Baylor (the Baylor kids’ post-game interview after the game was priceless if you haven’t seen it: Taurean Prince Press Conference). Keep in mind however these were both 12 / 5 games, and if you do this often then you know this happens almost every year.

Then you have one of my favorite teams to watch, Steven F. Austin. This team was my biggest concern with the seedings. Somehow SFA with Senior guard Thomas Walkup, who has not lost a conference game in 2 years and made a run in the tournament just a year or two ago was a 14 seed!  Now let me remind you, as I am writing this I still didn’t pick them (banging my head in to a wall) because I really liked Press Virginia and Bob Huggins to wear them out. I was wrong and big time!  SFA looked like the better team all game long. They were unable to hang on in the next game against Notre Dame, however.  And, why?  Because they did what has killed many a team; they played not to lose at the end.  Looking in control most of the game, they got out of their game plan and started running clock.  As time expired and on the THIRD offensive rebound, a Notre Dame player tips it in at the buzzer to send the Lumber Jacks from SFA home.

Among the other upsets a few that don’t seem quite as noteworthy because we have seen these teams make noise in the tournament in the past: VCU, Wichita State, Gonzaga, Syracuse.

But then you have the last two big ones. Hawaii beating Cal, which wasn’t a huge surprise if you caught the news of their leading scorer being injured during a practice right before the tourney and being unable to play.

The big one however, which leads us into the second round, is University of Northern Iowa. (Flashback: I instantly thought of one of their players the year they made the run to the Sweet Sixteen, who had my favorite name I think I have ever seen, Ali Farokhmanesh – and, yes, I did look up the spelling on that). Northern Iowa was able to take out the Longhorns thanks to an amazing one-handed half-court shot by their leader Paul Jesperson at the buzzer.

As UNI was going for the elimination of not one but two Texas teams they gave up the largest lead anyone has EVER given up in the last minute in ANY college basketball game EVER!!!  Sorry for being repetitive and redundant.  Texas A&M went on a 14-2 run with under 44 seconds to play and forced overtime where they would eventually pull the game out in the 2OT. Just to give you an idea of how crazy this was, ESPN has a “Win Percentage Calculator”, and with 44 seconds to go, up by 12, Texas A&M had 0.0% chance to win… Obviously, the reliability of said WPC is in question as A&M was able to pull off the win.  What a crushing loss for the Northern Iowa kids and fans.

Much as in that game, most of the “Cinderellas” lost their slippers for good in the round of 32 except for Syracuse (who could hardly be called a Cinderella, especially considering they were playing lower seeded Middle Tennessee State), Gonzaga who has made a name for themselves in this Tournament in the past, and Wisconsin.  The Badgers win over Xavier was just about as crushing as the Northern Iowa loss. Up by 3 with 11 seconds left Xavier gave up two threes to Wisconsin sharpshooter Brandon Koenig.  One to tie and then the winner with 2 seconds left (here’s the video if you didn’t see it Watch Bill Murray’s face). This led Koenig to say that he “went into his inner Steph Curry” after the game.

Man, I love March Madness.

Manager Manning

Kevin Luthringer

Seeing what has become of Peyton Manning, one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game of football, has been an ending to remember. The man who holds the record for the most passing yards and passing touchdowns in NFL history has now become nothing more than a game manager. Who was once the most prolific passer the league has ever seen, to an old vet on his second team finishing his career with every bit of juice he can find in his tank.

On this improbable run to the Super Bowl by the Denver Broncos, led for the most part by the defense, we have seen a considerable dip in the play of a quarterback Peyton Manning. This began to occur about two seasons ago, when the Broncos made it to the Super Bowl to play the Seattle Seahawks. By those who watch consistently it was clear that Manning was beginning to lose a little bit on his throws. While he had a good season in the 2013 leading the Broncos for the majority of the season. Still, there was a noticeable decline in the production of a guy who was looking like the best quarterback in the NFL in the first four weeks to struggling in the last four weeks. Then in the 2014 season he started the year out fine, but as the weather got colder, he took more hits, and his aging body was hurting leading to another disappointing end of the season.

Peyton Manning started to make a comeback in the next season in which he broke the career passing yard record set by Brett Favre. It seemed as if we may had seen the end of the future Hall of Famer. In the game in which he broke that record against the Kansas City Chiefs he was benched for the young Brock Osweiler. Later in that week news came out that Peyton Manning, was suffering from Plantar Fascia in his heel, along with other injuries. The Broncos stated that he was going to sit out until he was fully healed while they decided who the starting quarterback would be moving forward. By saying this it seemed there was a chance of Manning not starting once he was healthy.

As this season went on, the Broncos won a few big games, and lost a few give-me games. They were winning due to the play of their league-leading defense, but were struggling to figure something out on offense. Then in week 17, the final week of the NFL’s regular season, Manning returned to action. With the number one seed in the AFC on the line due to an unexpected Patriots loss to the Dolphins, the world got to see number eighteen again. In the second half, Manning came in to replace starting quarterback Brock Osweiler. The Broncos came back to win that game and got a first round bye in the Playoffs with home-field advantage throughout the AFC Playoffs.

Then all of a sudden the world was seeing something that we all thought would never happen. Manning was playing to not lose, rather than playing to win. Instead of seeing Manning carving up defenses, seemingly knowing what the other teams were running, and throwing darts all over the field leaving defenders looking at each other confused, we saw a game manager. With one of the best defenses the league had seen in a few years, and one of the smartest quarterback, the Broncos were poised to make a run at the title, but just how far Manning could lead them was a major question mark.

The Broncos beat the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots in back to back weeks to earn a chance at the title. In both games the offense has done just enough to win the games by kicking field goals and winning the field position battle. Even when it seems Manning can’t quite get enough behind his throws, or receivers are unable to make even simple catches, the defense would force a timely turnover, or have a big stop that would give the offense another chance.

In a clash between the League MVP Panther quarterback Cam Newton and the NFL’s league leading scoring team against the Broncos, the NFL’s league leading defense in points allowed, we saw that once again defense wins’ championships. The Broncos were able to leave Cam Newton and the potent Panther offense looking confused the whole game forcing them into their worst output of the season. However, on the other side of the ball it was the same story. Peyton Manning and the Denver offense continued to do just enough to win the game. The Broncos won Super Bowl 50, beating the Panthers 24-10. The Bronco offense drove down on the first drive, but stalled at the end and kicked a field goal. That was then followed by a sack-fumble by linebacker Von Miller that was recovered by the Broncos for a Touchdown, two field goals, than eventually an offensive touchdown set up by another sack-fumble by the defense.

Although Peyton Manning was not the Peyton Manning we all grew to love, and he was not the same quarterback that has won four League MVP’s, he did go out a Champion. It is not known whether Manning is going to hang up the cleats and call a career yet. However, the overall assumption is that he will ride off into the sunset and retire as a Super Bowl Champ. One thing we know for sure is that Peyton Manning is one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game, and if Super Bowl 50 was his last game, it was an honor to watch him play.