Who ya got?



Yeah I know it’s trash but I’m a basketball junkie

Thought this one was solid. What are you seeing after last night?



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The amendment was in response to recent news stories reporting the Biden administration flew an estimated 320,000 illegal immigrants from their home nations to the U.S. in 2023.

"Let me cut through the procedural language here. I’m bringing forward a vote on a very simple question: Do you support American taxpayer dollars being used to fly illegal aliens into the United States from places like Venezuela and Haiti, into America to be settled in towns and cities near you? If so, then vote against me. Vote ‘no’ to preserve the practice of using taxpayer dollars to charter planes that move and import thousands of illegal aliens into your states," Hagerty said Friday on the floor of the Senate.

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I don't care a bit.

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https://x.com/awfulannouncing/status/1775181311113634300?s=46&t=ZL09V2MdoKn6p6YOL1IBYg

BTN has been doing Lady Hawkeye coverage all day long today. It's been magnificent. Thanks, BTN! Just finished watching Iowa's win over South Carolina in last year's NCAA semi-final.

BTN will also be doing a pregame show tomorrow at 5 CT prior to the tip off on ESPN at 8 ET.

Oh, and wouldja?

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I know some of you dudes think we need a PG transfer.

In the matter of 4 years.

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Wonder how long until another lockdown?

CLEVELAND — Caitlin Clark. Paige Bueckers. Two transformative players in college basketball on one court, with a trip to the national championship on the line, is a sportswriter's dream — if, perhaps, not a coach's.

"I do not want this to be a game that's promoted as Caitlin vs. Paige," Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder said Thursday at a news conference. "And I know it already has been. But I don't want that. I want it to be Iowa versus UConn and let these two women do what they do best."

Iowa assistant head coach Jan Jensen was even more direct in her pushback. "This isn't Paige vs. Caitlin," she said. "These two women have done amazing things for the sport, and they are amazing. I hope they both shine. But if that's what it was, then we should all sit down and play one-on-one. No one really wants to see that. But we understand that's what sells tickets and gets people hyper."

On one hand, Bluder and Jensen are indisputably right. Clark and Bueckers are merely two of 10 players that will be on the court, and there's no sense in diminishing the other eight players on the court and their ability to play integral roles in winning big games. Even after all its injuries, UConn's got no shortage of high-level talent, and Hawkeye fans know full well how necessary the role players are to the team's second-straight Final Four berth after a 30-year absence.

On the other hand... good luck with that.

READ MORE:

I came to the arena with the goal of writing a "Caitlin vs. Paige" preview. Then Lisa Bluder and Jan Jensen said during their interviews, quite directly, that they didn't want the game portrayed as Caitlin vs. Paige.

While I couldn't make that dream come true for them — they're megastars, and their intertwined histories are too important — I do think I did the story justice without doing anyone else a disservice.

As always, thank you all for reading.

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CLEVELAND — Caitlin Clark. Paige Bueckers. Two transformative players in college basketball on one court, with a trip to the national championship on the line, is a sportswriter's dream — if, perhaps, not a coach's.

"I do not want this to be a game that's promoted as Caitlin vs. Paige," Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder said Thursday at a news conference. "And I know it already has been. But I don't want that. I want it to be Iowa versus UConn and let these two women do what they do best."

Iowa assistant head coach Jan Jensen was even more direct in her pushback. "This isn't Paige vs. Caitlin," she said. "These two women have done amazing things for the sport, and they are amazing. I hope they both shine. But if that's what it was, then we should all sit down and play one-on-one. No one really wants to see that. But we understand that's what sells tickets and gets people hyper."

On one hand, Bluder and Jensen are indisputably right. Clark and Bueckers are merely two of 10 players that will be on the court, and there's no sense in diminishing the other eight players on the court and their ability to play integral roles in winning big games. Even after all its injuries, UConn's got no shortage of high-level talent, and Hawkeye fans know full well how necessary the role players are to the team's second-straight Final Four berth after a 30-year absence.

On the other hand... good luck with that.

I really don’t know what to think. On the one end I think we’re the better team, and I think we’re the better team by a 10 point plus margin.

I also realize we’re dealing with one of the 10 best coaches in the history of all sports in my humble opinion, and I’m not a fan per se. And they have copious amounts of talent.

I also think we’ve been undervalued and underappreciated most of the season.

I noticed ESPN has four of our players in the top 13 of the 25 best still in the final four. Yet they have us as the dog…🤷‍♂️

I really think HS is going to have a monster game and for those of you that don’t know… UCONN has five double digit losses to ranked teams throughout the season.

But they have also been playing very well as of late, although still not as dominant.

The PAC12 did have a hell of a season, but you’ll notice none of them. Made it to the final four. So I’m not really sure that USC win is that impressive?!

I think we are, at least as deep, I think we are actually a lot more experienced. I believe outside of PB I am not sure their next best players are as good, or at least playing as good as Kate Martin and Sydney Affolter.

Yes Edward’s is terrific and the Arnold girl can fly.

But they don’t rebound better, they don’t shoot better, I’m pretty confident they can’t keep up the pace, and I don’t think they’re nearly as physical as 10 other teams. We’ve already played this year, and beaten.

But it is UCONN and they are dangerous.

Most of you know, I’ve been high on this team all year, and I’ve consistently said the best team in the country is South Carolina and then we’re next.

I believe in this whole heartedly, and I still believe it, South Carolina, and then us. But I honestly don’t know what to tell you guys about this game…?

Thoughts….

This is a player that plays like a Hawk. She may follow old coach to Duke but if she doesn't, she would be a great Hawk. Take Clark's shooting guard spot and work pick and roll with Stuelke. May not he Clark but she's dang good, hardnosed worker, plays D, and appears to be great teammate.

Dean Oliver no longer on Greg Gard's staff.

Late Monday night in downtown Albany, three fans in black went searching for a proper celebration. Their team and their hero had won the long-awaited rematch of women’s basketball watershed moment, and so this trio walked the middle of Howard Street, huffing as they climbed the hilly asphalt. Around the corner, beer was waiting.


“Everyone’s jumping on our … bandwagon,” one fan lamented to her friends.
She didn’t mean the Iowa Hawkeyes. She meant women’s hoops.
Long after Iowa unseated defending champion LSU on Monday night, a 94-87 thrill ride that at times felt like it should have required a seat belt, a crowd lingered in the lower bowl of MVP Arena. The Hawkeyes had secured their second straight Final Four berth, getting some payback after LSU triumphed over them in last year’s title game. And so fans stuck around and cheered as players snipped and then held up their spoils from the night, jagged pieces of nylon net. It sounded like a roar when Caitlin Clark raised hers.


ADVERTISING


It wasn’t just Iowa City’s finest who filled the postgame throng. Actor Jason Sudeikis was allowed past the yellow ropes and stood on the court taking pictures with guard Kate Martin’s family, for goodness sake. He wore a gray hoodie. On the back it read: “Everyone Watches Women’s Sports.”

But while walking on a sleepy street, after sharing their passion with millions of others who watched the titanic matchup on ESPN, one of the three Iowa fans must have felt alarmed.
“I’m glad more people like women’s basketball, because they used to s--- on it,” she said, climbing up the street but looking back to the not-so-distant past.
The OGs of women’s basketball are having to make room in their club as more people, maybe even some reformed haters, are barging in and propping up their feet as if they own the place. They’re here for the good stuff. These newbies are getting hip to the fact that Clark might be an even better passer than she is an unconscious shooter. But when a sport explodes in popularity, as women’s college basketball has over the past year, the gatekeepers can’t always protect their game from the downside of growth.





http://www.washingtonpost.com/sport...agnet-college-basketball_inline_collection_19
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sport...agnet-college-basketball_inline_collection_20

On Monday, Angel Reese carried a shimmering tiara on the court during the starters’ introductions. She’s a star, so the crown was for show. Had she been more honest with her props, however, Reese might have chosen to wear a target.
Since winning the 2023 title and becoming one of the most discussed athletes in America, Reese has spent a year equally luxuriating in the light of fame and being singed by it. Her “You can’t see me” taunt in the closing moments of the championship game and her “Bayou Barbie” brand might have opened the door for a host of name, image and likeness deals and exponentially more followers on social media — today’s currency. But some of those new eyeballs peering at the women’s game and its stars were also waiting for Reese to fall. (Or watching to see whether she and her teammates would stand during the national anthem.)
The loss to Iowa didn’t make Reese cry. When she fouled out with less than two minutes to play — after scoring 17 points and pulling down 20 rebounds while hampered by an ankle injury — she was steady and stoic as she walked down the sideline. But while sitting atop a dais and listening to teammates Flau’jae Johnson and then Hailey Van Lith come to her defense, Reese sniffled and wiped away tears.
“I’ve been through so much,” Reese said, her voice breaking. “I’ve seen so much. I’ve been attacked so many times, death threats. I’ve been sexualized, I’ve been threatened, I’ve been so many things, and I’ve stood strong every single time. I just try to stand strong for my teammates because I don’t want them to see me down and not be there for them. I just want them to always just know, like, I’m still a human.”


During this somber news conference, occasionally a swell of cheers carried down the hallway. Another Hawkeye was cutting down the net.


ADVERTISING


The way this game was promoted and anticipated, you might have thought that only Clark would be allowed to touch the scissors. Though Iowa plays fast and delights purists with its buffet of back cuts — just a fun style of basketball — the off-court attention follows Clark, and not so much her teammates. Stars drive leagues, and television ratings, but it seems the networks have little confidence in the attention span of this sport’s newest followers. So little that they lean on the most easily digestible storylines of one player versus another, and blow up antics that happen in the heat of the moment. Other sports have grown accustomed to that game. Women’s basketball is still adjusting.
Still, this rematch lived up to the hype, as a whole and in social media-sized clips. In the rush of the opening quarter, as Iowa and LSU traded threes and momentum, Clark either scored or assisted for 15 of her team’s first 17 points. Her deep shots arrived in stacks, three in the first three minutes of the second half, one shareable snippet after another. Van Lith played the role of unwitting foil when she shrugged hopelessly after Clark raised up in front of her to nail one of her nine three-pointers. Naturally, Van Lith’s dejection trended as a punchline on social media.
But Clark didn’t need to exact revenge by waving her hand over her face, as Reese did to her a year ago in one of the moment’s that elevated last year’s clash into a sensation. Sudeikis handled that. ESPN cameras caught the actor — he’s a supporter of the WNBA’s New York Liberty, not a women’s hoops bandwagoner — as he hit the “You can’t see me” celebration.
Caitlin Clark celebrates with actor Jason Sudeikis. (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
In the final minute, with Iowa’s victory in hand, Clark was more muted. She quieted the crowd behind the Iowa bench that started a “Let’s Go Hawks!” chant before teammate Sydney Affolter free throws. Later, near the conclusion of her 41-point, 12-assist and seven-rebound masterpiece, Clark made a heart sign gesture toward the crowd, and gave a thumbs up to someone opposite LSU’s bench.



“We didn’t even guard her last year when we beat them,” LSU Coach Kim Mulkey said of Clark. “She’s just a generational player, and she just makes everybody around her better. That’s what the great ones do.”
A generational player on a very good team took down the champs in a prime time game with everyone watching, and everyone commenting, for better or worse. Feels like growth.
Late into the evening, the Hawkeyes — the ones you’ve heard of, and the ones you haven’t — triumphantly climbed that ladder to play with scissors and secure their keepsakes. The most loyal fans waited around to watch. One of them would later trek with her friends to a nearby beer hall, wondering if too many people are now watching. Growth, sometimes, feels scary.

Everyone watches women’s sports. And talks about women’s sports, and posts about women’s sports, and brings their own agenda to the table when it comes to women’s sports. Players who once might have been known only to die-hards instead become targets, characters, even caricatures. These are the growing pains when a game attracts a new legion of fans. They’re still piling onto this speeding bandwagon, and everyone might want to buckle up.

WHO: 3-seed UConn Huskies (32-5 overall, 18-0 Big East)
WHEN: 8:30 PM CT (Friday, April 5)
WHERE: Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse (Cleveland, Ohio)
TV: ESPN
RADIO: Hawkeye Radio Network
ONLINE: https://www.espn.com/watch/
MOBILE: https://www.espn.com/watch/
FOLLOW: @IowaAwesome | @IowaWBB | @IowaonBTN

In last year's Final Four Iowa had to face the most dominant program of the current era, South Carolina. In this year's Final Four, Iowa is set to face the most successful program of the 21st century, UConn, after just defeating LSU, last year's national champion, in the Elite Eight. The challenges Iowa has faced have been great -- but those massive challenges have also produced some of Iowa's greatest performances.

Friday night's game could feature a personal edge as well. On Monday night after UConn's 80-73 victory over USC to advance to the Final Four, coach Geno Auriemma stated that there was nothing personal between him and Iowa star Caitlin Clark.

Auriemma's comment is understandable. Clark comes from the Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant school of letting grudges push her play to another level. On Monday night, Clark proved that again, earning revenge on LSU with a 41-point, 12-assist performance in which she tied an NCAA Tournament single-game record with nine three-pointers.

The problem for Auriemma, though, is that his comment almost certainly isn't true -- at least not for Clark. The Wright Thompson feature on Clark mentioned that UConn was Clark's dream school in high school, but noted that Auriemma never came to see her play. Auriemma instead focused his attention on Paige Bueckers, and once he landed her commitment, he didn't try to pursue Clark to have them play together.

There is no greater motivator than someone telling you that you aren't good enough. During the recruiting process, Auriemma's actions said that he thought Bueckers was better than Clark and that UConn didn't need her to achieve its goals. Clark has lived with that knowledge for four years now.

Just over a week ago, Auriemma called Bueckers the best player in America in a press conference. He tried to walk that comment back recently, but Clark no doubt heard it. She certainly thought back to the decision Auriemma made on the recruiting trail.

No one doubts that Auriemma thinks Clark is a fantastic player, or that he wouldn't love to have her on his UConn team this season. There's likely a part of him that regrets not trying to have Clark and Bueckers team up.

But for a player with Clark's mentality, that doesn't really matter. She was slighted by him once, and that helped motivate her to become the superstar that she has become now.

Thanks to fate (and the bracket devised by the NCAA selection committee), Clark gets one final opportunity to prove Auriemma wrong. Friday's game will absolutely be personal for Clark. It might be more personal than any other game she has played.

More here: https://iowa.rivals.com/news/final-four-preview-iowa-wbb-vs-3-seed-uconn

@smalls103...do you have any idea how someone could get all the track data from the tournament? i'd be curious to see anyone be able to analyze the entire tournament data and identify trends.

I would imagine that has to be stored somewhere...

I predict she will replace Gabbie as a lock down defender next year. Plus her ability to both shoot and drive to the basket will be a plus.

This seems a tad serious and red line crossing. Basically a declaration of war…

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Erie's Mercyhurst University to move to D1. Located in PA, they are set to take out the great Krailure and F***st. !!!!

Carter Pearson to ISU

https://www.instagram.com/p/C5RBvVHu6ts/?igsh=MXY1M2xybzZsMDhtaA==




Guys…. GUYS….

please tell me I’m wrong. Please tell me this isn’t real. Did we really just spend $30 MILLION on a gottam warehouse?!

No windows?! Our new, state of the art facility is a part of the prison industrial complex?!

Before I say bad things - did I miss them?!