KD and Russ Put On A Show In Indiana

Over Spring Break, my family decided that for our vacation we were going to go to Indianapolis, Indiana. For the rest of my family, the major attractions were a museum and a whole lot of shopping. However, neither of those really make me really excited. For me, the most exciting thing to do in Indiana was go to the Bankers Life Fieldhouse to watch the Indiana Pacers play against my personal favorite team, the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The game was scheduled to tip off at 7:00 PM Eastern Time so my mom dropped my dad and I off at 6:30 so we could walk to the arena and have enough time to buy food and find our seats before they introduced the starting lineups. Our seats weren't the best, but they were good enough so that we could still see the players' faces and had a good view of all the action. My first impression of the arena during the introduction of the starting lineups was that the home crowd was nowhere near as enthusiastic as the Thunder's fans back in OKC. Last year, my family went to Oklahoma City when the Thunder hosted the Atlanta Hawks, and I was able to watch it. The arena in OKC, the Chesapeake Energy Arena, is known for having one of the loudest and most excited fans in the entire league, so it was very exciting. Compared to the Chesapeake Energy Arena crowd, the Bankers Life Fieldhouse was extremely quiet. The only time they ever really showed any volume was during the final minutes when the game was somewhat close. The Fieldhouse did however impress me when the mascot of the Pacers, Boomer, who, in my opinion, was probably the best part about the Pacers, basically descended from the ceiling on a huge Pacers Banner. After the starters were introduced, and I swear there was just about as much cheering for the Oklahoma City players as there was for the home team, the game began.

The first quarter started off slow for the Thunder, to my disappointment and the home fans' amusement, with Kevin Durant turning the ball over on the opening possession and the Pacers starting the game on an 8-0 run due to nice ball movement and three-point shooting. On the next possession OKC finally scored off a nice jumper from Russell Westbrook. Following Westbrook's basket was another score from the Pacers and after Westbrook missed a layup, the Pacers got the ball to their star Paul George who buried another three prompting Thunder head coach Billy Donovan to call a timeout. After the timeout, the Thunder stopped their sloppiness and got back into the game, and by the end of the first period, they trailed the Pacers by only one point 27-28.

The second quarter went much better for the Thunder who outscored the home team by 11 points to take a 64-54 lead into the halftime break. Surprisingly, this was in big part due to the Thunder's bench, who haven't always provided much help to the Thunder this season. During a rut, the only people on the team who really did anything was KD and Russell Westbrook and as good as the dynamic duo are, they won't be able to beat their rivals in the west such as the San Antonio Spurs and the Golden State Warriors by themselves. They will need good numbers from their bench players, especially Enes Kanter, Dion Waiters, and recent addition to the team Randy Foye.
The first half of the third quarter was very entertaining for my father and I to watch. Kevin Durant and Paul George kept going at each other and seeing who could score over the other. Both of these players are incredibly talented so watching them trying to top each other was really fun to watch. However, midway through the quarter, head coach Billy Donovan sat Kevin Durant. Personally, I don't really agree with his coaching style. Lately, he has been sitting either Kevin Durant or Russell Westbrook during most of the game. He says he is doing this because he wants at least one of them to be on the court at all time, but this also prevents them from playing together throughout most of the game. This is a bad thing because they bring out the best in each other and it gives the Thunder multiple scoring options which can help spread the floor and take at least a little pressure off of either KD or Russ. Due to this decision, the Thunder, without multiple scoring options, were outscored 24-33 in the third quarter, and their ten point lead was cut to just one point going into the final quarter on their opponents floor 88-87.
The final quarter was much more exciting than the rest of the game because the home fans finally got into it and the arena got loud. With their team actually having a chance to win and break their losing streak, the home crowd put a lot of pressure on the Thunder to maintain their lead. I was getting a little nervous this whole time because many times with the teams I watch, if they get a big lead and them let the opponent crawl back into the game, they usually end up losing. I got even more anxious two minutes into the quarter when Monta Ellis buried a three to give the Pacers their first lead in a long time 94-92. The Pacers increased their lead to four with a bucket by Lavoy Allen, but the Thunder fought back and regained the lead after a nice three-point jumper by KD. After taking back the lead, the Thunder went on a run and gained some breathing room. With just 3:57 left in the final period, the Thunder held a ten point 110-100 lead. At this point many fans decided to leave, but that only motivated the Pacers, and especially Paul George, to fight harder. George went on his own run ending with a four-point play, that I disagree with because I didn't really see any contact, and with exactly 1:00 left to play, the Pacers were only down by four points 108-112. With 35 seconds left, Kevin Durant made a potentially crucial error by turning the ball over and then fouling George Hill who would have a chance to cut the lead to just two points. This would leave enough time for the Pacers to get one defensive stop, even if the Thunder wasted all the shot clock, and still have five seconds which is more than enough time to take the ball down the court and either tie the game to send it into overtime with a two or win the game with a three. Fortunately for myself and all the other Thunder fans in the field house, Hill missed his first free throw so even if the Pacers got the ball back, they couldn't win it in one shot unless a foul was called on a three. With 14 seconds left, Durant missed a shot that would have sealed the game and the Pacers rebounded the ball and called a timeout. In what should've been their final play of the game, Paul George missed the potential game tying three with five seconds left and KD rebounded the ball and was fouled with just two seconds left. Durant stepped up to the line and knocked down two clutch free throws to put the Thunder up five and practically seal the game. The Pacers then had a nice inbounds play where they got a dunk and wasted practically no time off the clock. With one second left, Durant was fouled once again and made one of two free throws to put the Thunder up 115-111. His second free throw clanged off the rim and the time expired as the buzzer sounded.
This was a great game to watch because for the most part, everyone who I came to see played well. Paul George finished the night with an incredible 45 points. Russell Westbrook also had another triple double with 14 points, 14 assists, and 11 rebounds. Kevin Durant almost had a triple double, which would have been incredible to see both KD and Russ put up triple doubles in a game I attended, with 33 points, 13 rebounds, and 8 assists, but I know it was smart of him to not go for the triple double because the Thunder needed him to score to win the game. Overall, it was an incredible game to be at and I really hope the Thunder go far this season.

Jesperson Beats Buzzer With Halfcourt Miracle

The 11-seeded Northern Iowa Panthers were going into their first round match up against the 6-seeded Texas Longhorns with a lot of people believing they could, and would, pull off the upset. That just happened to be the trend for this Panthers team this season. They didn't get a high seed because they didn't play particularly well against opponents they should have, in all honesty, defeated with no difficulty whatsoever. However, they did manage an 11-seed after winning their conference tournament and pulling off major upsets earlier in the season against high-seeded teams such as the UNC Tar Heels and the ISU Cyclones. This team definitely had the talent and capability to win on the big stage. They also had a ton of motivation to win as the other two teams from their state, the Iowa Hawkeyes and the aforementioned Iowa State Cyclones, had won their first round match ups before UNI had even played. The Panthers would be led by seniors Matt Bohannon, Wes Washpun, and Paul Jesperson.
The game started out as a shocker for the Texas Longhorns, not necessarily myself because I've seen multiple occasions in which the Panthers have done this, as UNI outscored them by 8 points to take a 44-36 lead going into the halftime break. The Longhorns knew they would need to make adjustments and that this Panther team would not be an easy opponent to defeat.
Texas started off the second half well, going on a 10-3 run to cut UNI's lead to just one point in under three and a half minutes. The Panthers were shocked even more as the Longhorns continued the offensive pressure, taking a five point 55-50 lead with just 11:43 remaining. Throughout the rest of the half, the two teams battled back-and-forth over control of the game, with neither team really able to pull ahead. With just 11 seconds left, Wes Washpun was sent to the free throw line to shoot two with a chance to put the Panthers up by 3. Unfortunately, he missed the second free throw and the Longhorns grabbed the rebound, and with barely any time left Isaiah Taylor buried a jumper to practically send the game into overtime, where the Longhorns would most likely have all the momentum. However, Paul Jesperson was not about to let his season be decided in overtime. With barely any time left, chucked the ball from half-court in a desperation heave, and as the buzzer sounded, the ball banked in. This was yet another upset by the Panthers, who had now given the state of Iowa a record of 3-0 with probably the best shot so far this tournament by Jesperson.

Woodbury Tip-In at OT Buzzer Sends Hawks to Second Round

After watching their in-state rivals, the Iowa State Cyclones, win in their first-round match up against the Iona Gaels, the seven-seeded Iowa Hawkeyes were desperate for a win in their match on Friday, March 18, against the ten-seeded Temple Owls. The Hawkeyes would play the 2 of 3 games of teams from Iowa, with the University of Northern Iowa Panthers playing later that day. The Hawkeyes would be led by four seniors in Jarrod Uthoff, Mike Gesell, Adam Woodbury, and Anthony Clemmons, as well as junior Peter Jok, Iowa's sharpshooter.
Throughout the first five minutes of the game, it was a pretty back-and-forth match up with both teams gaining leads as well as losing them. After that, however, the Iowa Hawkeyes began to show why they were the favorites in this match up, increasing their lead all the way to ten points 23-13 after two made free-throws by Jarrod Uthoff with 12:39 left in the half. However, the Temple Owls were not about to give up that quickly, battling back throughout the next seven minutes. With just 5:06 left, the Owls took back the lead and gained the advantage 33-32. Both teams battled hard for the next five minutes until halftime and by the time the first period had reached its conclusion, the Iowa Hawkeyes held a very slim lead 38-37.
The second half would prove to be very exciting. It did not seem that way at first, however, as the Hawks had a quick start and jumped to a ten-point 51-41 lead with 13:32 remaining. Once again, though, the Temple Owls proved their toughness and grittiness battling back to bring the game within two points with only 11 seconds remaining. The Hawkeyes had the ball, but they would soon crumble under the pressure and fail to put away the game, albeit some questionable calls late in regulation. With just 8 seconds left to play, Peter Jok was fouled. If he made both free-throws, it would make it a two-possession game meaning the Owls would need a quick basket, a foul, some lucky missed free-throws, and another shot for any hopes of staying alive. However, Jok missed the second of his two free throws making it a one-possession three point game with the Owls having the ball and eight seconds to drive the ball down and make a three. However, they missed, but, unfortunately to all Hawkeye fans, in a very questionable call, Anthony Clemmons was called for a foul as Quenton DeCosey put up a three, and he was able to make all three free-throws to tie the game. The Hawks were unable to score in the final two seconds, thus the game went to overtime.
In overtime, the Hawks got to a quick lead with two made free throws from Woodbury, and one from Uthoff. The Owls cut that lead back to one with a jumper from Josh Brown, then Devin Coleman got a quick steal from Gesell and passed it DeCosey who got an and-one after being fouled by Woodbury to put Temple up by 2. After empty possessions from both teams, Jok made his own and-one to put the Hawkeyes up 1 after being fouled by Coleman. After a turnover and a foul, Anthony Clemmons went to the line for the Hawkeyes with a chance to put them up three, but he missed his second one, and after Jaylen Bond rebounded the ball for the Owls, he got it to Brown who made a jumper to tie the game with 54 seconds left to play.
The last minute of the game was pretty hectic. First with 30 seconds left to play, Mike Gesell missed a three-point attempt with a chance to give the Hawks a lead and a tiny bit of breathing room, and it was rebounded by Daniel Dingle, who drew a foul from Jarrod Uthoff to put the Temple Owls in the bonus. He had a chance for a one-and-one but missed it giving the ball back to Iowa with 22 seconds left and most likely the last shot of the game. In a crazy play, Gesell scrambled and threw up the ball with very little time left and right as the buzzer sounded, Woodbury rebounded the ball and tipped it in to give Iowa a buzzer-beating overtime win in the first round to put Iowa teams at a record of 2-0 in the first round with UNI still to play later in the day.

ISU Shows Dominance Over Iona in First Round

On Thursday, March 17, 2016, the four-seeded Iowa State Cyclones met the thirteen-seeded Iona Gaels. ISU would be the first of three Iowa teams competing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, with both Iowa and UNI playing the following day, Friday, March 18, 2016. The Cyclones would be led by seniors Georges Niang, Jameel McKay, and Abdel Nader as well as two juniors.
The game started off decent for the Gaels, taking the first five points off a layup from Jordan Washington and then a three Isaiah Williams, but that would basically be all the went well for Iona. The Iowa State Cyclones responded with two quick threes to take the lead, and they would never give it back. Following the three from Iowa State, Iona Gaels player A.J. English missed a three of his own and the Cyclones rebounded the ball and got it to Niang who hit yet another three for the Cyclones to increase their lead to 4 points 9-5. Throughout the rest of the period, Iowa State continued to increase their lead as the Gaels could just not overcome the ever-increasing deficit. By the time the halftime buzzer sounded, the Cyclones held a 12-point 45-33 lead.
The second half didn't go much better for the Iona Gaels as they were just never able to gain enough momentum to really cut at Iowa State's lead. It seemed as though every time the Gaels would get something going, the Cyclones would respond with a basket to destroy their confidence. Overall, the Iowa State Cyclones managed to outscore the Gaels 49-48 in the second half to come away with a 94-81 lead in a nice show of dominance. This was a great start for the teams coming from the state of Iowa.

Spartans Win Big Ten Tournament

After a tough battle against the Purdue Boilermakers earlier today, the Michigan State Spartans emerged victorious winning the championship match of the Big Ten Tournament. After finishing the Big Ten Regular season 10-1 after a rough stunt, the Michigan State Spartans were streaking, and were looking like the team everyone thought they were at the beginning of the season, a team that could make it all the way to the NCAA Championship game and win it all. They started their Big Ten Tournament run on Friday after a double bye gave them rest to prepare against the Ohio State Buckeyes, who had beaten Penn State the previous day. For the Buckeyes, it was a chance to upset the arguably best Big Ten Basketball team this year, and a chance at getting revenge against the Spartans who had defeated them in the last regular season Big Ten game. The Spartans, however, showed no trouble in displaying their dominance against the NIT-destined Buckeyes, handily beating them 81-54. Their next match up saw Tom Izzo's Spartans up against the Maryland Terrapins whom they had previously beaten at home in their only match this year. Michigan State had a much harder time in this one, but ultimately the Spartans pulled through to win 64-61 and send them to the Big Ten Championship game against the team that handed them their only loss in the final 11 games of their regular season. The Spartans really needed this win as it would give them confidence heading into the NCAA Tournament and a chance at a potential Number One seed. The Spartans knew they needed to send a message to the selection committee so they played hard and ended up winning 66-62 after a great performance by Denzel Valentine.

OKC Drops Game Two Against the Spurs in San Antonio

After beating the San Antonio Spurs by six points at home 112-106 to kick off the NBA season, the Thunder, after over half a season, traveled to San Antonio, Texas to take on the Spurs on Saturday, March 12, 2016. These two teams are two of the three best teams in the conference, along with the Golden State Warriors, and could potentially meet each other some time in the playoffs. In my opinion, it matches the team with two of the most talented players in the league, the Oklahoma City Thunder, with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, against the best defensive and most experienced team in the league in the San Antonio Spurs. It also matches my favorite team, the Thunder, against my dad's favorite team, the Spurs. The Spurs, coming into this game had a 40 game home-win streak, and they hoped to continue it against a struggling Thunder team who had not been able to close out a game in the fourth quarter since the All-Star Break.
In the first quarter, the teams stayed pretty close, with LaMarcus Aldridge playing well for the Spurs, and a variety of players getting it done for the Thunder. Neither Durant nor Westbrook were able to show complete dominance in the first period, however, they did both score a few points to get themselves started. Ultimately, at the end of the first twelve minutes, the home team San Antonio Spurs led the Thunder by three points 25-22.
The second quarter displayed Westbrook and Durant's capabilities as they put on a show, along with Enes Kanter, Randy Foye, and Serge Ibaka, outscoring the Spurs by seven in the quarter to take a 49-45 lead. This is something the Thunder need to do if they want a chance at the NBA Finals. They must play Durant and Westbrook together as much as possible to spread the floor, and they need their role players like Foye, Kanter, Ibaka, Anthony Morrow, and Dion Waiters to score so that the offensive load isn't completely on the shoulders of the Thunder's Dynamic Duo.
The third quarter saw the Thunder doing almost the exact opposite of what I explained they needed to do in the paragraph above. Although Steven Adams and Serge Ibaka did help a little in carrying the offensive load, the majority of it was on Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant. In this quarter the Thunder only managed 19 points and were outscored by the Spurs by two allowing them to cut their lead to 68-66. This was because the Thunder did not have a lot of scoring options as Billy Donovan chose to sit Durant while Westbrook was playing and when Durant subbed back in, Donovan chose to sub him in for Westbrook. This prevented the Thunder from spreading the floor much and allowed the defensive-minded Spurs to focus on either Westbrook and Durant and cause the Thunder to depend on its role-players for scoring.
In the final quarter, the Thunder had a very sloppy performance similar to many of the recent games since the All-Star break. They were unable to keep a fourth quarter lead and turned the ball over many times. Ultimately, it led to the San Antonio Spurs taking game two of the series by outscoring the Thunder 27-17 in the final period to win the game 93-85 in a disappointing ending for Thunder fans. However, OKC will have a chance at redemption later this month on March 26, as they host the Spurs once again for game three.

Illinois Stuns Iowa in Second Round of Big Ten Tournament

Typical typical Iowa. After kicking off the season with a decent start, and looking like a team that could be a potential one seed that could go all the way, the Iowa Hawkeyes crumbled when a chance at the Big Ten Title came their way. Iowa started off the season great, winning a decent amount of games over non-conference opponents before the start of the Big Ten season. When conference play did begin, however, Iowa kicked it off with a bang, winning their conference opener at home against the then-ranked Number One Michigan State Spartans, albeit without star-player Denzel Valentine, but still a great win at home to knock off a Big Ten Juggernaut. The Hawkeyes, then went on to open their Big Ten season 7-0 including another game against the Spartans in East Lansing with the return of Valentine as well as two hard-fought games against the Purdue Boilermakers. The Hawks then lost a close one at Maryland before getting back on their feet, but after a loss against the Hoosiers four games later, the Hawks began to crumble. After a quick 7-0 start in Big Ten play, the Hawkeyes finished 5-6 to end the season with a conference record of 12-6, enough to get them a bye in the first round of the Big Ten title, but not a potentially crucial double bye. Thus, in the second round of the playoffs the Hawks met, and were upset, by the Illinois Fighting Illini in typical Iowa fashion.
The Iowa Hawkeyes have not been known to do particularly well in the Big Ten tournament, losing many games in which they were the favorites to win, and this year was no exception. After gaining a bye in the first round, the Hawks met the Illini in the second round. The Illini started the game off quick, opening with an 11-4 lead. For the next few minutes, the Hawks attempted to catch the Illini, but were unable to come up with needed defensive stops, or find any reliable scoring other than Peter Jok and Jarrod Uthoff, as is often the case for the Hawkeyes, thus after a TV timeout was called with 7:30 left in the first half, the Hawkeyes trailed 24-13. After playing resumed, the Hawks finally began to go on a run and with 3:24 left in the half, Iowa took a 29-28 lead off a jumper by Jok. The teams battled back-and-forth for the remainder of the first period, but after a three-pointer by Illini Jalen Coleman-Lands, the Iowa Hawkeyes had a 35-37 deficit after a shocking first half.
The first half of the second period did not go well at all for the Hawkeyes as the Fighting Illini were able to increase their lead to 11 with 10:49 left to go before the final buzzer sounded. However, the Hawks were not to be put away that easily. With a 16-5 run, the Hawkeyes stunned the Illini by tying the game with 1:40 left after a three-point play by Nicholas Baer. The Illini responded with a jumper by Malcolm Hill with a 1:15 left coming out of a timeout, and after either incredible defense, or just plain horrible offense, the Illini won the game after neither team scored in the time remaining.
The biggest problem for the Hawkeyes in this match up was probably the lack of the distribution of offense. Other than Jok and Uthoff, only Nicholas Baer managed to score more than three points in an awful offensive performance for the rest of the team. After Jok fouled out, the Hawks were just plain unable to find a scoring option, and ended up being upset by the Illini.