SU watched the Knicks’ game last night and clearly, Mike Brown screwed up with the lineups in the 4th quarter. He has the analytics to know that the Knicks are better with either KAT or Brunson on the court. Sitting both of them at the same time was not ideal and the lead that they had built after 3 quarters quickly evaporated.

Contrary to the NBC broadcast, they did not have a timeout at the end of the game and Bridges did well to advance the ball up the court but should have driven to the basket to get the foul call. But SU says you never blame a player for the game if he misses the last shot. Should not have come down to that – do not hate on Bridges.

But here is the issue for SU. In both game 1 and this game, they built a nice lead playing more or less a team style offense. However, in both games, they resorted to the hero ball, slow down offense with Brunson dribbling, dribbling, dribbling and then forcing up some high degree of difficulty shot as the 24-second clock ran down. They blew a big lead on Saturday doing that and same thing this game. Atlanta, to their credit, started to double him late in the shot clock and forced up difficult shots.

I know Brunson is “Captain Clutch” and all of that. He is a great crunch time player but mix it up please. Others are open and can play. There are stretches with the 2nd unit where the ball really moves and they are running. Atlanta certainly wants the fast pace.

This is the Knicks year to get to the finals. It won’t be easy as Boston in the 2nd round will be tough. Atlanta clearly has confidence now and they have some athletic, young talent. CJ McCollum has been good but SU says he can also put up a 5 for 24 game in game 3 – he has done that his whole career. Runs hot and cold. He has been killing Brunson and the Knicks have some good defenders – make the change there.

A long way to go but Knick fans still have PTSD from the Pacers loss in game 1 last year. Buckle up.

And speaking of bad, how about those Mets? Losing 11 in a row is pretty uncommon these days for any team. SU is sure they will right the ship and of course, we are still in April. Mendoza is a good manager and they should not think he is the reason they are losing here.

Finally, Ben Rice is the man. Surely Aaron Boone will see that and keep him in the lineup every game instead of overthinking the matchups with lefties. Of course, SU is not so sure. Yankees’ bullpen is not good but you have to figure Cashman was planning to move some starters into the pen once Cole and Rodon came back. Or maybe he just screwed up. The good news is that it’s always easy to pick up relievers at the trade deadline. The Yankees are not world beaters but the AL is medicore and no excuses this year.

SU is basking in the glow from Michigan’s NCAA Tournament championship last night over UConn. Danny Hurley put a very good game plan together to muck up the game, slow it down and play physically. This was not one for the time capsule but Michigan prevailed. SU has a lot of thoughts about this season:

1. Basketball seasons are a journey. Michigan played 40 games and SU watched about 35 of them and followed the others on the internet. At the start of the season, there were a ton of turnovers and a couple of close games (see Wake Forest on a neutral court). But Dusty May has a process and he sticks with the process. We saw the same thing last season with the early season turnovers (even the late season turnovers last season). The turnovers started to decrease (although believe me, there are plenty of dumb ones every game) and the scoring went up. They lost LJ Cason to injury and the offense went backwards for several games. However, May retooled things for the Big Ten Tournament and the NCAAs, and then had to overcome the injury to Yaxel. Credit to May for still blowing teams out until the finals in every round. Impressive.
2. This team played the right way. SU was raised on the late 1960s/early 1970s NY Knicks. Frazier, Bill Bradley, Willis Reed, Red Holzman: “see the ball.” That team, like this Michigan team, played so unselfishly. It was all about winning – not “getting mine.” I hate to see players revel in their 40- or 50-point games in the NBA. There is no glory in taking 30 or 40 shots. There is glory in 30-assists for a team. Move without the ball, make plays for others. That is what real teams do.
3. The transfer portal and NIL money have created a free agent world in college hoops. SU is not a fan as I have always enjoyed watching freshmen improve each year and contribute more. That was the John Beilein years at Michigan, and those were fun teams to watch. So enjoyable. Dusty May takes a similar approach but he lets his players freelance. They don’t have many plays and yes, some games there are some awful passes and turnovers. But May always talks about the process and preparation, and he is convinced what he does in October will pay off in April. He is a student of the game – a rare coach. And, by the way, his style does not translate to the NBA. At all. He would be smart to remain in college as the level of selfishness in the pros is well above what you see in college.
4. Much is made of the transfers on this Michigan team. But other than Yaxel, none of the other players were stars with their prior teams. Mara was underutilized at UCLA playing for a screamer type coach, Johnson is just a sophomore, Cadeau was a turnover machine at North Carolina who couldn’t shoot. Burnett transferred years ago from Alabama and is a role player at best. Now, Mara and Johnson would be well served to stay one more year, get paid nice NIL money and then hone their games for a higher draft position next season. Johnson, in particular, can get a lot better offensively. But history says guys take the NBA money and will go. Of the starters, SU only sees Yaxel as being a real NBA player. Mara may hang around a couple of years but he will be Europe bound at some point. Johnson, if he goes too early, will be in the G-League. Yaxel can play and is a fun personality. He is a guy SU will follow on the NBA Season Pass on television.
5. Duke gets the best players every year. Look at this NBA season: Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel are neck and neck for NBA Rookie of the Year honors. And Duke still did not win it all last season. Yes, Dusty May had a good nucleus of players, but to be able to meld them to play together from the start (see Las Vegas blowouts early in the year) is impressive. Great coach, knows how to motivate players and help them see the value of sharing the ball.
6. Yaxel Lendeborg gets it. Believe me, not many star players with an NBA future would have come back into the game on Saturday or played last night. He took a risk. The reality is that this will likely be his most enjoyable season playing basketball in his career. If he is a role player in the NBA, it will be very different, and he will have to adjust. It just won’t be as much fun. Credit to him for battling through the pain last night. He was a bit of a liability on the boards but SU was glad he was on the court for that many minutes.

As we get older, we know these moments may not happen again. The Yankees had the glory years from 1996 – 2000, but boy it’s very hard to get another championship. And Michigan may not win another one for many years. It is really hard to thread the needle. For SU, even if Michigan had lost last night, I would have been fine with this season. So much fun, so many great moments and periods of games where the ball is zipping around and shots are going in. Remember: the Big Ten was the best conference this year and Michigan was undefeated on the road in that conference. We may never see that again.

SU will enjoy the moment and now wait to see who stays, who goes and who is coming in the portal. It is officially open and Dusty May and his staff do not get any time off. So it goes.

I can’t say that I was a fan of MLB starting its season in late March, but the weather has cooperated enough that it looks like it was the right move. For those fans who are already pissed off at their teams (looking at you Met fans booing Bo Bichette in his first series at home), remember it’s a long season and SU’s maxim applies here: “You are never as good as you look when you are winning, and you are never as bad as you look when you are losing.”

Many players take a while to adapt to the colder weather up north and often struggle the first few weeks of April. And you can be hitting .130, go 3 for 4, and all of a sudden you are close to .300. One has to be patient.

Having said that, SU is excited about the Yankees 5 – 1 start to the season. And I noted the speech that Judge, Stanton and Goldschmidt gave to the players at the start of the season to bring the focus and energy each and every game. What a concept! The Yankees have played long stretches of mediocre ball the last few seasons that hurts them for seeding in the playoffs in October. Who knows if this works but SU likes the leadership for this year’s team. Remember, there is likely going to be a lockout after this season and who knows if we have baseball in 2027?

So, do we like the ABS system to challenge umpires on pitch calls? SU says yes! It’s done quickly and finally incorporates technology into baseball. Does it embarrass the umpire? I would say only on the calls where they were way off. If it’s a millimeter here or there, come on – no big deal. It’s really the obvious calls where it is such a help. You have to be impressed at how well hitters know the strike zone and know when a pitch just missed. SU is a fan.

Ben Rice is the man. Favorite player on the Yankees, and Aaron Boone needs to make sure he is in the lineup most games. Stanton is batting .500 and is red hot. Of course, Boone opted to rest him on Wednesday with a travel day Thursday as a DH. I don’t know: maybe you play guys every game while they are red hot? Now, true, Goldschmidt hit a home run in that game and we know Stanton only plays 40% of regular season games due to injury. But I did not follow that one.

A few random thoughts this Good Friday:

1. Great men’s Final Four tomororw night. You can make the case for any of these four teams winning it all. Illinois only wants international players on the roster – and they have to be big. Arizona dares the refs to calls the fouls and lives at the foul line. Michigan plays big and may have some karma at play this year. And UConn is here on a prayer and courtesy of another Duke meltdown late in the game. Of course, SU is all in on Michigan. Go Blue! A great season for them no matter the outcome. They play the game the right way – very unselfish with a deep rotation. SU watched a lot of Big Ten games this year and that is the deepest and best conference. Glad to see they showed out in the NCAAs this year.
2. Lots of talk of the top coaches lining up to be considered for the vacant North Carolina job but SU says the ACC is a far cry from what it used to be. Sure, there is Duke but this is no longer a powerhouse conference.
3. Keep an eye on the women’s Final Four starting tonight. UConn is going for a repeat but similar to the men, Texas, South Carolina and UCLA are all even bets to win it all. SU notes that the NCAA has royally screwed up the women’s NCAA tournament by having 2 regionals play in one site. That limits practice time for the teams. They also brought in backboards and rims that were way too tight and overinflated basketballs. Come on – do better here.
4. Sad to see the demise of Tiger Woods in yet another car accident. Given the number of prescription drugs he has to take, and his wealth, can we get him a driver before he kills himself or someone else? He is only 50 but looks so much older now.
5. Men’s tennis is going through a very odd period now as pretty much every tournament is won by Alcaraz or Sinner. Not good for the sport but it’s hard to see who is going to join them as a threat to win a tournament. They are both generational talents but you need more contenders to make things interesting.
6. Finally, hoping the Knicks can show some interest and energy and make a serious run for the NBA championship this year. Detroit and Boston will both be hard to overcome for sure in the East. You have to assume this is the last year that ownership will keep this unit together if they fall short. Need to at least make the finals to call the season a success.