Basketball Curse Continues?

I don’t think I should talk about basketball anymore. Since the Clippers traded for Harden, and I wrote about it, they are 0-3. Since I talked about the Nuggets, they got blown out against the Timberwolves and star point guard Jamal Murray hurt his hamstring and will be out the rest of the month. As a Nuggets fan, I am upset, distraught, confused, and annoyed. The warriors are doing well thanks to Steph Curry, but no player besides him has scored 20+ points all season. There is actually no way that everything I write about goes badly, right?

Let’s switch it up a little and talk about college basketball. Uconn beat SDSU in the finals last year, a matchup no one would’ve predicted. I am going to toot my own horn and say that I picked Uconn to win it all. I said either UCLA or Uconn was winning it, and I’ll take it. This year I’m going with Kansas and Creighton. Those are my two favorites.

Obviously, Kansas is the #1 seed so they are not a surprising pick. However, last year UNC was ranked #1 and they didnt even make the March Madness tournament, so rankings don’t mean everything. Both teams graduated important players, but also retained key players and picked up more in the transfer portal. Kansas pulled Hunter Dickinson in, a dominant center from Michigan who was the #1 ranked player in the transfer portal. He a strong offensive powerhouse, who can also shoot it well behind the arc. The Jayhawks have so much offense, its scary. They can put the ball in the hoop with ease. The Blue Blood team just resigned Bill Self to a $53 million lifetime contract, so it doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere. Kansas returned two guards last year in Kevin McCullar Jr. and Dajuan Harris Jr. With these two running point, the offense will look to get back on track as being one of the most efficient in the country. You win games by scoring more than your opponent, and Kansas puts the ball in the net a lot.

My other favorite pick to win it all is Creighton. This team can shoot the ball from the three point line. And when they miss, they crash the boards. The Bluejays have 2 Time Big East DPOY in Ryan Kalkbrenner, a towering and dominant bigman. This 7’1 center put about 12lbs of muscle on in the off season, and is looking to continue to defend the rim. Point guard Trey Alexander looked to have to lead the offense alone, until transfer Steven Ashworth transferred from Utah State. Ashworth was one of the best available guards in the portal. He did not dissapoint in his Blue Jay debut, dropping 17-4-3. With these two dynamic play-making guards running this unselfish Blue Jay offense, everyone is going to be getting the ball. Creighton made it to the Elite 8 last March Madness, and unfortunately lost to Kentucky. They are looking to continue their success and make their first final four appearance in school’s history.