Traveling: The Week in Basketball

By: Chris O’Brien

Traveling is your quickest way to catch up on the weekend (or week) in the NBA and college basketball. The format is ideal for your morning commute to work or that first bathroom break of the day.

Let’s get into it!

The Madness Continues

Here’s the post I thought I would write this morning:

Even after all of that first-weekend madness, the bracket looks familiar with the Elite Eight containing established brands like Kentucky, Michigan, and Gonzaga. 

Boy was I wrong! Kansas State beat Kentucky. Florida State beat Gonzaga. And Loyola is still dancing.

Year of the Nine Seed

Both Kansas State and Florida State are one game away from the Final Four. We could have more Nine Seeds in the Final Four than No. 1s, 2s, 3s, 4s combined. I don’t think we fully grasp how crazy that is.

Both KState and Florida State weren’t even in our “37 Teams Could Make the Final Four” series. We said that given this year in college basketball we might be headed for a crazy tournament. It has certainly delivered.

Don’t Call it an Easy Road, but…

Michigan, Kansas State, and Loyola could potentially reach the final game without playing a No. 1 seed. Depending on what happens this weekend with Kansas and Villanova, those teams could pull the reverse ’97 Arizona Wildcats; instead of beating three No. 1s beating zero.

Life lessons from Sister Jean

First off, that video will warm your heart.

Second, I was philosophizing this morning, had this thought: Life is long.

Here’s what I mean. At least in terms of basketball, Sister Jean’s previous highlight was in 1963 when Loyola won the whole thing. That’s 55-years-ago when she was 43-years-old.

Now she’s having the time of her life at 98. 98! I feel like so much of life is this go-go-go, fast-paced, “I want it now. I need to be at this point in my career in two years. And here in five years.” But what if the best part of life is still 70 years away? 50 years away? 30 years away?

If anyone tells you, “Life is short,” put your hand on their shoulder and say, “No my friend. Life is long.” And tell ’em you heard that advice from a Traveling Bear.

 

Haven’t forgotten about you NBA

 

Enjoy this violent dunk by Myles Turner

Dwight Howard goes for 30 and 30

Some combination of Nets tanking, not having many big men, and/or Dwight turning back the clock, but no matter what a 30-30 game is always a big deal.

Eastern Conference

An update on the standings. Sneaky competitive race:

1. Toronto Raptors
2. Boston Celtics
3. Cleveland Cavaliers
4. Philadelphia 76ers (trust the process!)
5. Indiana Pacers
6. Washington Wizards
7. Miami Heat (potential intriguing first-round matchup against LeBron(
8. Milwaukee Bucks

The Wild Wild West

1. Houston Rockets (they look to have this No. 1 seed wrapped up in a week or two)
2. Golden State Warriors (bit of an injury bug this year)
3. Portland Trailblazers (Damian Lillard hiding off the radar no longer!)
4. New Orleans Pelicans
5. Oklahoma City Thunder
6. San Antonio Spurs
7. Minnesota Timberwolves
8. Utah Jazz (hang in there, Jazz!)

Basketball ebooks

Traveling will always be told in this short to-go format. But if you’re looking for deeper dives, consider these ebooks. Click on the cover to see more about it: