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BRANDON S. CHABNER
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Top 5 Reasons He’s Fat, not Phat, Luka:
1) Great at seeking nourishment in the key.
2) Likes getting it on with those pre-game bon bons
3) Real Maverick who doesn’t get sick from too much pizza
4) Brando-sized butt as big as the state of Texas makes for prime rib positioning
5) Enhances the chances for rescue by the refs on those love tap fouls
Celtics played Kristaps, and the band played taps for the Mavericks.
On the anniversary of history’s Longest Day, it was quite a long night
for the Western Conference Champions. Boston shot the lights out of the TD Garden
in a wild first quarter, then never really looked back. Porzingis was busy sinking line
drive jumpers, blocking shots and grabbing boards, Brown was dominating on both ends,
and D. White was doing a little of everything else. As for Dallas, aside from Luka getting his usual
thirty, assists and participation from the rest of the horses was few and far between, and sidekick
Kyrie was nowhere to be found. Key stats were the Celts’ huge advantage in assists (23 to 9) and
blocks (9 to 1). Yes, for the odds-on favorites, this was D-Day Domination.
D. White goes helter skelter on the Pacers…. sticking in the dagger trey and sealing the deal for finals’ bound Boston. Another frantic comeback ends in success, and the Celtics complete one of the most dominant runs through the Eastern Conference in recent memory. Better get some rest in advance of what should be sterner test from the best of the West.
With the NBA’s Western Conf. Finals raging full bore, what better time for the “Long Riders From Dallas Wreaking Havoc Just Above the Low T-Wolves’ Line” CDST Show. We’ll bear witness to the wreckage strewn from the Mavs’ recent trip to Minneapolis, a tad more successful than the James Gang’s foray at the Northfield bank. And in an ironic twist, there’s the sad opening to the NHL’s Western finals, where the former North Stars had apparent ADD manifest at the beginning of the 2nd OT, falling to cover a wide open McDavid and getting their series soiled by the Oilers. Plus, the Celtics trying for a 4 zip walkover the anxious Pacers and the Rangers with their storybook season in danger against the seasoned Panthers.
Adding to the Memorial Day festivities we’ll have the Keach and Carradine brothers trying to stay out of reach from the long arm of the law, famous last words from Howard Cosell and Rick Barry, an NBA jingle that will make your spine tingle, hygiene advice from Redd Foxx, a dose of Bullett Fever, and Jim McKay narrating the best finish at Indy you ever saw.
Former Boston Red Sox player David Ortiz attends Game 6 of the NBA basketball playoffs Eastern Conference finals between the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat, Friday, May 27, 2022, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
ONE DAY I WAS UNUSUALLY HAPPY TO BE ALIVE:
— CELTICS COME BACK FROM THE BRINK TO WIN GAME 1 OF THE ECF
— BUCCOS MAKE THE JUNIOR G-MEN WALK THE PLANK WITH 4 IN THE BOTTOM OF THE NINTH
— AND OH, THE RED SOX ALSO SPAYED THE RAYS!
How about some new blood in the NBA Finals? The T-Wolves are chomping at the bit for a final chance to scale the wall at The Ball and deal a mortal blow to the defending champs. We’ll discuss the Game 7 drama of Minnesota-Denver on Sunday’s “Ball-barians at the Gate” CDST Show, along with what to expect in the Eastern Conference, no matter who is there to repel the Celts. And the NHL ‘s march toward crowning a new champ…. with the Presidential Rangers facing down eFFFFFen Florida, and the silky smooth Stars sitting pretty and preparing to welcome over-achieving Vancouver, who are on the verge of making roadkill outta McD’s Oilers.
Plus, a dangerous driver at the PGA, and we’re not taking about a golf club, a strikeout machine named Skenes in P-burgh, some pleasurable WNBA profiling that is refreshingly free of CC, clips galore… and more (as Abe shows us something new from the Etsy store.
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Brandon’s Posts
Another banner year for the Celtics, as another one is earned for Logan….
Top 5 Reasons He’s Fat, not Phat, Luka: ….
Top 5 Reasons He’s Fat, not Phat, Luka:
1) Great at seeking nourishment in the key.
2) Likes getting it on with those pre-game bon bons
3) Real Maverick who doesn’t get sick from too much pizza
4) Brando-sized butt as big as the state of Texas makes for prime rib positioning
5) Enhances the chances for rescue by the refs on those love tap fouls
Well Read’s Posts
for putting this game behind a paywallAbe’s Posts
Dorothy’s Posts
Aaron’s Posts
The Big Ten Tournament is here with two teams trying to battle their way into the Big Dance
The Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament bracket is here, and as usual, it is glorious. What’s even better is that the beautiful pinwheel logo has returned to prominence after one-year hiatus that is among the worst decisions in college basketball tournament logo history. Penn State has almost zero chance of winning this thing, which is its only available path to the NCAA Tournament, but I can dream of a run to the semifinals thanks to a favorable draw that avoids Purdue and Illinois through the first three rounds.
The #B1GMBBT bracket is set. 🏀 pic.twitter.com/26VaSJB5cc
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) March 11, 2024
Sure, Penn State has to play on the first evening of the tournament, which is a Peacock exclusive event, but if it had been seeded a little higher in slots 10 through seven, the matchup in the quarterfinals would feature Purdue or Illinois instead of the less intimidating Nebraska. I’m getting way ahead of myself, though, since just reaching the quarterfinals means defeating a red hot Indiana team that is desperate to play its way onto the NCAA bubble. Penn State might have a psychological edge from defeating the Hoosiers twice this season, but Indiana has looked like a different team on its current four-game winning streak. Plus, just to get to that date with Indiana, the Nittany Lions must get past Michigan tonight. The Wolverines have lost eight straight, but Penn State has a loss to Bucknell on its resume, so nothing is impossible.
Purdue established Big Ten supremacy last week with a thrilling victory at Illinois before wrapping up its regular season with a home win over Wisconsin. The slumping Badgers have not been a great team since February started, as they finished Big Ten play 3-8 after starting 8-1, but I’ll give them credit for the way they battled the Boilers despite having another rough game from beyond the arc. Wisconsin shot 5-for-24 from three-point range, but John Blackwell and Tyler Wahl both went 7-for-10 from the field to keep Purdue from running away with the game.
Purdue wins the regular season title and Indiana is still alive for the big dance
I said on the Chabdog Sports podcast last Sunday that Purdue would be listed as champion when I fill out my NCAA Tournament bracket in a couple of weeks. On Tuesday night, the Boilers showed why I think they will complete their redemption arc when they beat Illinois 77-71 in Champaign. The combination of opponent and venue made the game Purdue’s stiffest test since December, and it passed thanks to a clutch three-point shot in the final seconds by Braden Smith. The shot came at the tail end of a broken possession by the Boilers that was saved once by Zach Edey, who slapped the ball away from Illinois and into the hands of his teammates Fletcher Loyer following Lance Jones’ wild layup attempt. Smith saved it again when he casually pulled up from five feet beyond the arc and drained his jumper over Terrence Shannon Jr.
If Smith had not clutched up, Illinois would likely the ball back down by three points with 18 seconds to play. Instead, the lead was six, and the game was over when Shannon’s answer bounced off the rim. Smith’s effort was just one of several big three-point shots for Purdue in the second half. Edey dominated the first 20 minutes with 18 points, but Illinois held him to 10 after the break, forcing the Boilers to look to their role players for help. They answered, starting with Mason Gillis’ three-point shot in transition that gave Purdue its first lead at 56-54 with 10 minutes to play. Gillis drained another one to put the Boilers ahead 64-58 with seven minutes left, but Illinois tied the game with a dunk by Coleman Hawkins two straight driving layups by Marcus Domask, the last of which he floated in over Edey.
Braden Smith! Onions! He bailed out Matt Painter, who for some reason did not call a time out during this broken possession. Purdue’s biggest win of the year. pic.twitter.com/bivOs9D3uN
— Aaron Yorke (@AaronPYorke) March 6, 2024
Illinois would retake the lead on a pair of free throws by Shannon, but Loyer put Purdue back up by three with a three-point shot and a runner in the paint on consecutive possessions. Lance Jones hit a monster triple from the corner to expand the advantage to six with less than a minute on the clock, but Domask struck back with another layup plus the foul to set the stage for Smith’s heroics.
With Edey doing his thing like he always does, Purdue is not going to be beat when it shoots the three as accurately as it did against Illinois (9-for-16). Matt Painter’s team doesn’t excel at creating its own shot from the perimeter, but it showed that it can break down the opposing defense and find the open man with 20 assists on 29 field goals during the win. Illinois did an excellent job slowing down Edey in the second half, but it could not keep up with Purdue’s three-point shooting. Illinois was just 4-for-16 beyond the arc, and most of that came from Quincy Guerrier catching fire in the first half. Domask was the one guy who came up huge down the stretch, and Shannon needs to step up if the Illini are going to win a rematch with Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament or NCAA Tournament. He went 3-for-13 from the field with just 11 points.
Purdue vs. Illinois will be an epic Big Ten clash tonight, but it’s only on Peacock
The Peacock strikes again! We heard outrage from across the sports universe when the NFL made its Dolphins vs. Chiefs Playoff game exclusively available on NBC’s streaming service. Now, something similar is happening in Big Ten Basketball, and the conference should be embarrassed that the top game on its regular season schedule won’t be in front of as many viewers as possible. Before the Big Ten’s new media rights deal that went into affect this fall, Purdue vs. Illinois on Tuesday night would be on ESPN where every fan knows how to find it, and it would have been promoted all day long on ESPN’s many programs. The new deal might work for football because the Big Ten doesn’t need ESPN when it has games on three major networks all day, but with basketball NBC has made Peacock part of the deal, and that is a nightmare for ratings.
The worst part is that we are over a month away from WrestleMania, so a fan would need to subscribe for two months in order to get Purdue vs. Illinois as well as the Showcase of the Immortals. At least with the NFL sham, the Royal Rumble was included in the price of the football game. As a wrestling and Big Ten fanatic, I’ve been watching on Peacock all season, but for fans who are just getting into college basketball now, the stream exclusive is going to be a major turnoff. They’ll likely just stick with ESPN for Alabama vs. Florida and Kansas State vs. Kansas.
Those who do invest in Peacock should get a great game. Purdue and Illinois met earlier in the season on January 5, and the Boilermakers led comfortably for much of the game on the way to a 83-78 win. However, not only was that game at Mackey Arena where Purdue never loses, but Illinois’ star guard Terrence Shannon Jr. was suspended due to sexual assault allegations. The Illini held Zach Edey to 10 points, but they were burned by Trey Kaufman-Renn, who erupted for 23 points on 8-for-12 shooting. It will be interesting to see if Illinois head coach Brad Underwood employs a similar strategy tonight since Kaufman-Renn hasn’t approached that kind of scoring output in the last two months and hasn’t even scored 10 points in his last six games.
With the game shifting to Champaign’s State Farm Center and Shannon playing some of his best basketball, the Illini are favored by two and a half. It will be the first time Purdue is an underdog in Big Ten play this season and the first time it is an underdog at all since its clash with Arizona back in December. Both teams are riding three-game winning streaks, but Illinois’ schedule has been a little tougher lately with a game at Wisconsin and another against a hot Iowa team at home. Plus, the Illini have scored at least 85 points in their last six games. With Shannon finding his three-point shot and Marcus Domask being a master technician in the paint, this is a team that can come at you from everywhere, and I didn’t even mention Coleman Hawkins’ range at center or the rebounding ability of Quincy Guerrier and Ty Rodgers.
In other words, Illinois won’t be the only defense with its hands full tonight. On the other end, Zach Edey has been unstoppable lately. In Purdue’s last game against Michigan State on Saturday night, Spartan big man Mady Sissoko accumulated four personal fouls in just six minutes. Michigan State threw a bunch of bodies at Edey, but he still scored 32 points on 9-for-15 field goal shooting and 14-for-20 free throw shooting. Edey is too big to keep him from getting into scoring range, but he can be forced into turnovers if he has to put the ball on the floor. Turning a few Edey turnovers into fast-break scoring opportunities will be key for Illinois tonight. Scoring in transition helped the Illini put away Wisconsin on Saturday when Justin Harmon blocked Chucky Hepburn’s shot in the paint in the final two minutes. That led to a fast break and a layup for Shannon to give Illinois a 10-point lead.
Ohio State did it again and Iowa’s missed opportunity
I really thought Ohio State was done with the upsets after it stunned Purdue two weekends ago in interim head coach Jake Diebler’s debut, but on Sunday, the Buckeyes pulled off yet another shocker. They went into East Lansing as 10-point underdogs and beat Michigan State 60-57 with the margin of victory coming on a last-second three-point heave by Dale Bonner. Just moments earlier, Tyson Walker had a chance to put Michigan State ahead with a fair of free throws, but he somehow wedged his first attempt in between the backboard and the rim. Walker had to settle for a tie with his second free throw, but Bonner’s clutch bomb ensured that it didn’t matter.
Ohio State is now 2-1 since Chris Holtmann was fired, and I feel a little bad for him even though he is technically on a paid vacation right now. These kinds of wins are what Ohio State was building towards with its young lineup, and against Michigan State, it was even younger than usually due to Jamison Battle missing the game with an ankle injury. Freshman Scotty Middleton replaced Battle to give Ohio State all underclassman in the starting five. The Buckeyes certainly missed Battle’s three-point prowess, as they went 3-for-17 from beyond the arc in the low-scoring affair, but the Spartans had their own shooting issues and shot just 4-for-16 from that range, including 1-for-9 from Tyson Walker and Jaden Akins.
OHIO STATE STUNS MICHIGAN STATE AT THE BUZZER 🚨 pic.twitter.com/SaIQY2jT0m
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) February 25, 2024
Still, Michigan State appeared to have the game under control with a 12-point lead and 11 minutes on the clock, but Devin Royal came off the bench for Ohio State and proved to be an unlikely hero alongside Felix Okpara. The pair of big men led the Buckeyes on the comeback trail and closed to within one point at 52-51 with six minutes left, setting the stage for the exciting conclusion. Royal, another freshman, showed off his post moves and mid-range game while scoring 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting in just 18 minutes. Okpara added 10 points and six rebounds, with four coming on offense.
No matter who is the head coach for Ohio State next year, the team has a bright future with all the young talent that has emerged this season. If the roster doesn’t fall apart, it should be a very desirable job since whoever gets it will be in line for massive improvement without having to do much. Michigan State, meanwhile, looked like it was a lock for the NCAA Tournament a week ago, but back-to-back home losses over teams with worse records have put the Spartans’ postseason status in doubt. It doesn’t help that their next game is on Saturday at Purdue.
Penn State’s thrilling win in Rec Hall and Indiana gets cooked
We’ve been saying for years that Penn State Basketball would be a more impressive television product if the home arena wasn’t the Bryce Jordan Center. The giant arena is way too big for a program that strives to be in the middle of the Big Ten standings in a good year. When Penn State plays in the Palestra or at Rec Hall, it looks like a proper basketball program, and sometimes it even plays like one. Wednesday night was one of those nights with Illinois in town. However, for most of the night, it looked like a typical 2024 Penn State loss. The Lions got off to a hot start on offense, but then fizzled and struggled to keep pace with the talented Illini because of their failure to grab a rebound on defense. Illinois often doesn’t need second chances, especially with Terrence Shannon Jr. playing like he did, but it got 19 of them, with the Swiss Army Knife Ty Rodgers grabbing five offensive boards. That helped make up for 18 Illinois turnovers that Penn State needed just to keep the game respectable while Shannon was going off for a career-high 35 points on 10-for-18 shooting.
Another reason why Penn State only trailed by 10 points with two and a half minutes left was Nick Kern Jr. He has shown some upside with his athleticism this season, but again Illinois he got to the basket at will. At one point in the second half, Kern scored 13 straight Penn State points, and he finished with a season-high 22. Now that Kanye Clary is out of the picture, I’m hoping that Kern can stick around for one or two more seasons and develop into a star, but to do that he needs to expand his range past 10 feet from the basket.
IT'S STORMING IN STATE COLLEGE ‼️@PennStateMBB takes down No. 12 Illinois. 🙌 pic.twitter.com/zq0GMzJNVk
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) February 22, 2024
Anyway, Zach Hicks hit a mid-range shot to cut the deficit to eight points, and then the Illinois collapse began. Shannon drove into the paint and kicked the ball to the corner to set up Luke Goode with a wide-open dagger three. With the way Goode shoots the ball, that should be a layup for him, but he missed, and Hicks answered with a triple for Penn State to cut the lead to five. However, Illinois was still in great shape after two free throws from Marcus Domask and a missed three by Ace Baldwin Jr. Now the Illini were up by seven points with less than a minute left. Shannon tried a runner in the paint, but it bounced out and Jameel Brown took advantage by crushing a three-point shot in transition. Brown’s next play was even bigger, though, because Penn State needed a turnover to make it a one-possession game. Brown came through by stripping Shannon of the ball, which led to an easy layup for Puff Johnson. All of a sudden, the Lions trailed by just two with 30 seconds left.