@PrestonWillett@ACCbballDegens@thesabre Any interest in talking to the two knuckleheads (one of them is me) who do the Spiders bball podcast with a meaningful women’s team focus. Spiderssoundoff is the name of the pod.
A major cause of the reduction of upsets is being completely overlooked — the adoption of the same analytics and focus on efficiency by almost all teams.
Only 5-6 years ago, many of us still believed that defense wins championships and hadn’t yet realized that a three-pointer is so much more efficient than a midrange jumper. This led to top teams being inherently more vulnerable.
If, as an underdog, you caught a top seed that was slower paced, defensive-minded, and short on shooting, you could beat them with a hot shooting night or a defensive scheme that baited them into taking inefficient shots.
Now, the big dogs have optimized their style of play. The big dogs and the underdogs are playing the exact same brand of basketball, but the big dogs have much better players.
Take these two Illinois teams as an example:
2020-2021 #1-seed Illinois (#8 ORtg KP)
- #320 three-point rate (30.0%)
- #54 OREB % (30.3)
- Lost in second round to Loyola Chicago, making 4 threes and securing 5 OREBs
2025-2026 #3-seed Illinois (#2 ORtg KP)
- #13 three-point rate (50.6%)
- #3 OREB % (38.9)
- Beat Penn in first round making 15 threes and securing 20 OREBs
Coached by the same guy, their entire philosophy has shifted in five years and had made them much more immune to upsets. Other high majors have size and athletes to combat this and potentially turn the reliance on threes into a weakness. But mid-majors don’t.
The talent gap has always been there, but now, rather than finding clever ways to compete, mid-majors are forced to try to beat the powerhouses at their own game.
Move over Audi Crooks.
Make room for Maggie Doogan.
The @SpiderWBBall forward scored 48 points in a triple-OT win over Davidson.
Quick story here for @usatodaysports:
https://t.co/3YksrPVOkR
@JoshYohe_PGH For me, media reporting about media is the only time people care about this stuff. We don’t hate media, just properly think it is way secondary to the real story.
@MasonFanatic I think these rankings are just looking at results to date. It ignores the Bartovik modeling for the rest of the season. Unfortunately, St Louis does have to play Loyola twice…
We are deeply saddened by the passing of Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg.
The beloved Cubs second baseman was a five-tool model of consistency in the 1980s and early ’90s, making 10 consecutive All-Star teams and winning 9 straight Gold Glove awards.
On June 23, 1984, a national TV audience watched Sandberg hit a pair of game-tying home runs in the 9th and 10th innings off Cardinals closer and future Hall of Famer Bruce Sutter. Part of a magical Cubs Postseason run, the game is forever remembered in Chicago as “The Sandberg Game.” He went on to win the 1984 NL MVP Award.
Over 16 seasons, Sandberg slugged 282 home runs, 277 of which were as a second baseman, then a Major League record. He hit 25+ homers five times and stole 30+ bases five times.
Sandberg made his Major League debut with the Phillies in 1981 and later managed them for parts of three seasons.
On June 23, 2024, the 40th anniversary of his iconic moment, the Cubs unveiled a statue of Sandberg outside Wrigley Field.
Sandberg bravely battled cancer the last two years. He was 65.