Podcast #47

What Am I Wearing?
LiAngelo & Company
Duke/Sparta
Kansas/Kentucky
Xavier/Wisconsin
Thanksgiving Tournament Predictions
-Maui Invitational
-Battle 4 Atlantis
-PK80 Victory
-PK80 Motion
Click Here

JP Macura is the Hero College Basketball Needs

Wisconsin played Xavier on Thursday in a rematch of the 2016 Round of 32 where the Badgers shocked the 2-seeded Musketeers on a last-second shot by Bronson Koenig. 

This time, the Badgers weren't so lucky. 

Xavier was clearly the dominant team and got the road win by a score of 80-70. Trevon Bluiett had 25 points for Xavier, and Happ had 21 for Wisconsin, but the real story was Xavier guard JP Macura.

Macura as a solid 20 points and 8 rebounds for Xavier, but he probably won more people over on Thursday with his interactions with the Wisconsin student section. 

The entire game the Badger fans were chanting "asshole" at him and calling him other names and stuff like that. I don't see the problem there necessarily. Fans are gonna be fans. Every student section does the same so who cares if they swear a bit? 

Macura, being the controversial fire-starter he is, responded by not only having one of his best games ever, but also throwing it back in the Wisconsin fans' faces. 

He finished the game off with an alley-oop dunk, and as he left the floor (Wisconsin fans still yelling at him), he gave us an all-time response. 

He Gator-Chomped them. 

If you don't know the hilarious meaning of this, look no further than the 2017 NCAA Tournament. In the Sweet 16, Wisconsin was playing Florida for a chance to go to the Elite Eight and probably the Final Four. Wisconsin led by two with 4 seconds remaining in overtime and looked like a 99% favorite to win. But then Chris Chiozza hit an unbelievable three-pointer at the buzzer to send the sorry Badgers packing. 

Macura's perfect response apparently disgruntled Bill Raftery Here's a summary:

"Raftery inadvertently hit upon why some straight arm clapping offended him so dearly when he started a sentence with “maybe I’m getting old.” His impromptu soapbox on how engaging in trash talk in somehow ruining the game of college basketball was just the tip of a Twitter iceberg." -Christopher Novak, bigeastcoastbias.com.

And yes, the Twitter storm from offended college basketball fans did come:

https://twitter.com/empeypp/status/931355826094297088

https://twitter.com/Bri_Hen/status/931366897798565888

https://twitter.com/IllestGilles/status/931366860859363329

This is where I declare my undying love for JP Macura. Wisconsin fans are probably some of the most passionate in college basketball. Macura actually had the stones to do what many other players would've loved to do at the Kohl Center, and the hypocritical reaction from Badger fans saying how classless Macura was when they were literally taunting him the entire night shows that JP rattled them to their core. JP Macura, you are the hero college basketball needs.

I'm hoping that this is just the beginning. Macura better yell "ON WISCONSIN" at Villanova, and "SOOIE" at Seton Hall. And I can't wait to see what he does in the NCAA Tournament this year. 

Hopefully, Xavier gets to the Final Four and knocks off Kentucky, Duke and North Carolina on the way there. Let's show the blue bloods who's boss.

Oh and if you were wondering whether JP responded to the social media hate from Thursday, here's your answer: 

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bbm0KXtANf7/?hl=en

Jersey Appreciation Friday Vol. 45

This week's Jersey Appreciation Friday is awarded to the retro Charlotte Hornets uniforms made famous by Muggsy Bogues, Larry Johnson, Alonzo Mourning and the crew. The classic Hornets' Teal mixed with an interesting pinstripe combination of green, light blue and purple makes it an iconic one of its era. Why did I choose this? Well the Hornets just debuted their new retro jersey as part of the Jordan series. Check both out here and decide which one's better. I'll go with the old one. Old and New

Champions Classic Recap

Once again the Champions Classic delivered in giving us a glimpse of four of the top teams in the country for the upcoming season. Duke knocked off Michigan State 88-81, and Kansas defeated Kentucky 65-61. Here's what I now think of each team. 

By far, Duke looked the most impressive. As I've become a known "Duke is overrated every year" believer, I'll eat my own words here.  Grayson Allen, much to my chagrin, had the most impressive performance in his 4 years at Duke with 37 points. Like I honestly can't describe how awesome he played. Another thing to note too–he never came out of the game either. Just fantastic. Marvin Bagley III didn't even play for the majority of the game because of his eye, and Duke could've rolled over and given Michigan State that game, but they didn't. Tonight they proved why they're currently the best team in the nation. Also, Trevon Duval was impressive again with 17 points and 10 assists. That Duval-Allen duo is going to be lethal.

Michigan State, though they lost, certainly looked good. They had three players (Miles Bridges, Nick Ward and Jaren Jackson Jr.) with 19 points each. I honestly think they just ran into a buzzsaw of a Duke team tonight, and they would've beaten Kansas or Kentucky had they played them. This team looks really well-balanced. Bridges, Jackson Jr and Ward will handle the scoring, and Cassius Winston is the perfect pass-first point guard for Tom Izzo's offense. I think their biggest weakness is guard depth, but Tum Tum Nairn Jr and Matt McQuaid are certainly serviceable. Nonetheless, this is still a brilliant starting point for a program that usually improves drastically by the Tournament.

Kansas didn't look that great in their win tonight. They only shot 35.3% from the field and a ghastly 56.3% from the free throw line. They also may have set the record for the most fastbreak layups missed in a half. Regardless, I think Kansas fans can find comfort in that they still beat Kentucky even though they didn't play their best. I mean Devonte' Graham isn't going to struggle as much as he did tonight, as with Malik Newman and Lagerald Vick. They also only played with 7 guys tonight, a problem that will be resolved once they get Billy Preston Jr back. Kansas should be encouraged by SVIATOSLAV and Udoka Azubuike. Especially Azubuike, who had 13 points and 8 rebounds with his only misses coming from the free throw line. I wasn't impressed but wasn't disappointed either. I'll give Kansas a C for now.

Kentucky actually played better than how I thought they would. (I did have them as a 20-point underdog though.) Their offense is very sloppy and choppy: two qualities you don't want to have. I feel like nobody on that team knows who should take what shots and when. Kevin Knox was the clear MVP of the Wildcats today, but he didn't get the ball enough at the end of the game. Kentucky also lacks an elite floor general. Quade Green and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander just aren't good enough to get the job done. They also cannot seem to get a rebound. I know this is a young team, but I can't in my right mind see them as anything more than Sweet 16 knockouts. 

Here's how I would rank all 4 after tonight:

1) Duke

2) Michigan State

3) Kansas 

4) Kentucky 

MVP goes to Grayson Allen for obvious reasons. 

Kentucky's Struggles

Kentucky entered the season ranked 5th in the country and having one of the best recruiting classes for like the billionth straight year. After two poor performances, though, I'm questioning this team's viability as a national powerhouse.

On Friday Kentucky took on Utah Valley at home, and they did not play well. Utah Valley took a NINE point lead into halftime. For Kentucky, a nine point LEAD at the break would've been considered an underwhelming performance. At one point the Wildcats were down by 12 points in the second half. Luckily, they caught Utah Valley looking ahead and used an 18-0 run to win the game 73-63. Still though, it shouldn't have been that close.

On Sunday the Wildcats welcomed another inferior opponent to Rupp Arena as Vermont came into town. Kentucky started off the game strong, carrying a double-digit lead into halftime, but in the second half Vermont outscored them by 8 points and only lost by 4. Granted, Kentucky never really vanquished their lead or relinquished control of the game. But it's still worrisome that they couldn't close out Vermont at home.

This Kentucky team reminds me of the infamous 2012-13 squad that didn't make the NCAA Tournament and lost to Robert Morris in the first round of the NIT. (Yeah, that actually happened.) That team had no stars (though many draft picks) and probably had the worst chemistry I've ever seen.

Now I don't know if that will be the case this season. But I do know that De'Aaron Fox, Anthony Davis, Tyler Ulis, Karl-Anthony Towns and John Wall aren't walking through those doors. I don't see a star talent in Hamidou Diallo, Nick Richards, Kevin Knox or PJ Washington. Nobody stands out, and given Kentucky's extreme youth (2nd youngest team in NCAA Division I), that could be a major issue.

All of this can be reversed if they beat Kansas on Tuesday. That game will show the nation whether this team can hang with the best of 'em because Kansas is an established power after returning so much talent. But given the inexperience of this roster and overall lack of star talent, I'll take the Jayhawks by 20.

This could be an overreaction (it probably is honestly), but this is going to be the worst team Calipari has had since 2012-2013. I'll let that simmer for now.

Jersey Appreciation Vol. 44

A big day yesterday means that Jersey Appreciation Friday is pushed back to Saturday. Anyway this week I'll give it to the Loyola Maryland Greyhounds. I saw them play against Northwestern last night, and while their uniforms aren't that flashy, they certainly get the job dons. The grey and dark green is a unique mix. The only issue is that it's tough to see the contrast when you're far away. Overall though, I love the concept. Side note: watch out for Cam Gregory. Click Here

My National Champion Pick

I've thought long and hard about my decision for who's going to be the 2018 National Champion. I'm still not confident, but nevertheless I gotta pick someone or else I'm not a real college basketball writer. Anyway as you probably don't remember my Final Four is Wichita State, Arizona, Michigan State and Villanova. I was literally deciding this on my podcast as I went along. But I've come to a conclusion. 

My champion is Arizona. 

Throughout the past two days, I've had brief moments when all of the teams in my Final Four were my pick, so it was really tough. But Arizona has everything a team could possibly need for a title run. I love Allonzo Trier. DeAndre Ayton is a monster Dusan Ristic, Parker Jackson-Cartwright, Rawle Alkins and Emmanuel Akot will all contribute. Arizona has a REALLY good team. I don't care that Sean Miller hasn't been to a Final Four or that their season might be vacated because of the FBI. I'll take my chances and Bear Down.