Weekly Roundup: Jan. 26, 2020
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The Roundup
Before I get into the usual Roundup content, I thought I would take some time to touch on the tragic news in the basketball world. Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna died in a helicopter crash along with seven other people on Sunday on their way to one of Gianna’s travel basketball games. Bryant was a major supporter of women’s basketball at all levels and the entire basketball community is mourning his passing. Gianna, who was 13, was a talented basketball player who shared her father’s love of the game. The WNBA released the following statement:
Bryant inspired so many players, at all levels, and had an affinity for players who mirrored his Mamba Mentality. He became a mentor for players like Oregon’s Sabrina Ionescu, who played an impassioned game against Oregon State Sunday afternoon with messages on her sneakers in his honor. His impact on the game will continue as the next generation of players is inspired by players like Ionescu.
What We’re Working On
We wrote up a quick reaction of the full text of the CBA once it was made public Friday afternoon. Check out the key changes in the agreement, including some more concrete details on revenue sharing. (Link)
Calvin Wetzel watched the film prior to the big matchup between preseason Big Ten favorite Maryland and surprise contender Northwestern. (Link)
Speaking of surprises in the Big Ten, Mike Bossetti grouped the remaining contenders into tiers based on their chance to win the wide-open conference race. (Link)
We also have an announcement to make on Tuesday regarding our Mid-Major Player of the Week Award, so stay tuned and subscribe to the newsletter to hear the news first.
Weekly Series
In this week’s AP Top 25 Analysis, Morgan Reeder found that the week 12 AP Poll had the widest spread of the season despite relatively few upsets occurring. Teams like UCLA, Arizona, and Arizona State gave voters fits with very wide individual spreads. (Link)
Another two podcasts dropped this week, one Unplugged episode and one traditional episode with John Liddle. In the Unplugged episode, Megan Gauer and Ben Dull talk Pac-12 hoops and impact freshmen. John Liddle talked with Howard Megdal about the recently released WNBA CBA in the context of other significant advances in sports history.
In the HHS Top 25 ballot, I discussed why I kept West Virginia and Missouri State ranked so much higher than the AP voters did. (Link)
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What We’re Reading
Mechelle Voepel at ESPN wrote about the connection between Missouri basketball alum Joni Davis and freshman Aijha Blackwell, and why Davis approved her number coming out of retirement to allow Blackwell to honor her late father. (Link)
ESPN announced that the national semifinals will be aired on ESPN after being on ESPN2 in past years. ESPN will also utilize its collection of channels to air all first and second-round games, ending regionalization. (Link)
A different take on the WNBA CBA from Slate, acknowledging the successes of the new agreement while focusing on how it needs to improve going forward. (Link)
And finally, a piece about Brian Morehouse, the head coach at Division III Hope College. Morehouse recently reached 600 wins in just 690 games which is the fastest in NCAA history at any level. (Link)
All statistics via herhoopstats.com and are up to date as of January 19, 2019.