Hoopaholic’s Gazette: The Waiting Game

Basketball,

From the moment of my fist keystroke here, there are 10 days, 10 hours and 34 minutes until the NBA Draft withdrawal deadline for college underclassman, those wishing to continue their undergraduate eduction at an institution of higher learning.

Flory Bidunga, you are on the clock.

And now the Louisville Cardinal fanbase, after enduring a week of quiet burgeoning anxiety, which followed a furious couple months of anticipation and good news, sits and waits.

Tick Tock. Tick Tock. Tick Tock.

Like the opening of “60 Minutes,” only a whole lot longer.

And we wonder, what if the “#1 Player in the Portal,” opts to stay and roll the dice. As The Professor, may he Rest in Peace, would opine, “Perhaps the kid simply doesn’t want to endure the ‘Theoretical Thereminology 368′ class he’d need for graduation.”

If rational thinking doesn’t prevail and he leaves his talent in the 2d round pool, what are the Cardinals to do?

It would leave them with enough largesse to make a necessarily absurd offer to Milan Momcilovic. Which would certainly help the Cards’ chance for real marksmanship. But leave them for the second season in a row bereft of depth underneath.

Oh the pluses and minuses of this obsession. Continue reading Hoopaholic’s Gazette: The Waiting Game →

Hoopaholic’s Gazette: I Am Verklempt

Basketball, ,

When awakening to the news, my inner Linda Richman (Mike Myers) kicked in.

Like the day she and her bestie Liz Rosenberg (Madonna) were kvelling about all matters Streisand and then were visited by Barbra herself during an episode of “Coffee Talk.” Vapors ensued.

Pat Kelsey, who has done more than any reasonable diehard could have possibly hoped for so far in this off season, bagged another under the radar sleeper.

Huānying Boyuan Zhang.

Sturdy. SF/PF. Another southpaw, meaning the Cards will be able to attack from the Brooklyn side. Shooter with both a long range and pull up game, described by one recruiting guru as “lethal.” Under the radar because he didn’t play on the AAU circuit last summer while still in his home country.

He joins our recent kaabo to Nigerian native, Obinna Ekezie Jr., and our bienvenido to Spaniard Alvaro Folgueiras, and — draft pending — bienvenue to Congolese big Flory Bidunga. (Who measured shorter than expected 6-7 3/4 at the Combine.)*

*Wes Unseld wasn’t that tall.

Given the multi-continental UN-ish nature of the new roster, do we refer to the Cards’ mentor as Secretary General Kelsey? Continue reading Hoopaholic’s Gazette: I Am Verklempt →

Isaac Ellis, Come on Down

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Isaac Ellis, 6-1 PG, who was committed for Class of ’27 has reclassified.

Another weekend, another new Louisville Cardinal.

Briefly. (‘Cause it’s all I know on a Saturday afternoon.)

Playing in the Overtime Elite league:

29.3 ppg.

8.9 apg.

4.9 rpg.

1.9 steals.

Or, depending on the source, 30.4 points, 8.0 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 2.0 steals

He put up a fiftyburger + a half dozen in November.

— c d kaplan

Hoopaholic’s Gazette: Total Makeover 2026

Basketball, , ,

Allow me to get my recantation out of the way forthwith.

Then we can move on.

Mingling in the Commentariat, as I always do, I have joined recent exuberance in the threads as Coach Pat Kelsey has been piecing together next campaign’s fascinating roster.

As obsessives are wont to do, there has been much conjecture about who will start, how the pieces will fit together, who might be on the court at the same time — especially in the front court — and at which position.

At most every mention that Flory Bidunga, former Kansas Jayhawk, reeigning Big 12 DPOY, will see action at the 4, alongside either of the Cards new 7 footers, I have balked.

Strong if not so sturdy of opinion, I’ve shouted something which can be translated as, “He’s a 5, strictly a 5, never seen him play the 4. He’ll never play out on the court. And any of you who are regurgitating that nonsense haven’t the slightest idea what you are talking about.”

Let’s just say I have received some heated feedback, and leave it at that.

I now withdraw those opinions. Continue reading Hoopaholic’s Gazette: Total Makeover 2026 →

PK Bags Another Big: Obinna Ekezie Jr.

Basketball,

I have been MIA. Derby and all, ya know. Well, here’s this. 

Obinna Ezekie Jr. (With apologies for the blurry photo. I’m just getting this up quickly.)

Seven feet tall.

Five *****.

Reclassifying from 2027 to 2026.

Top 5 in the land.

Dad played in the NBA.

It is reported that a school down the road tried to reel him in. Along with Coach Cal and Brigham Young and Maryland, his dad’s school.

That makes it three in a row over the Cats for the Cards.

— c d kaplan

Hoopaholic’s Gazette: Expansion, Eligibility ++

Basketball, ,

Oh, yes we got trouble, trouble, trouble/ (Oh yes we got trouble here, we got big, big trouble)/ With a “T” (with a capital “T”)/ Gotta rhyme it with “P” (gotta rhyme with “P”)/ And that stands for pool (that stands for pool)

Oh yes we do.

And not just here in River City.

We’re talkin’ office pools not pool pool on green felt. Minnesota Fats.

But we’re behind the 8 Ball for sure.

One page brackets shall have gone the way of rotary phones, buggy whips and cathode ray tellys.

Some Harold Hill-ish con men done finally convinced the NCAA that, mediocrity be damned, more is better.

Even the country’s largest marching band — Bowling Green State’s which is 475 strong — doesn’t have 76 Trombones.

But the Dance floor just got more crowded with 76 now jitterbugging.

Can 110 be far behind.* Continue reading Hoopaholic’s Gazette: Expansion, Eligibility ++ →

Seedy’s Snapshots: Beating Big Bro ++

Basketball

OK, so for me the last couple of days have been kinda like this.

You’re a kid. You hoop with your older brother in the driveway. 21 by 2. H O R S E.

He’s taller. He’s better. He has no desire to cut you any slack. Even if both are banished by Mother the Commissioner, ending up in their rooms to cool down.

He beats you Every Single Time. Shows no remorse.

Until about the summer before the 9th grade. Growth spurt. Shot straightens. Handle gets better if not great.

The day comes when you finally win one.

You’re strutting around the yard with your arms raised to the sky, shouting in glee. Your neighbor working in her garden, stops and claps for you.

Your brother is pissed.

“Again.” Continue reading Seedy’s Snapshots: Beating Big Bro ++ →

Cards Nab Another Portal Dude

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Cards nab another TP guard.

De’Shayne Montgomery, come on down

He’s a 6-foot-4-inch junior. Started all 36 games for Dayton last season. 13.4 ppg, 4.0 rpg. All-Atlantic 10 3d team honors. 77 steals. I’m thinking D.

Let’s get some bigs now.

— c d kaplan

Jerry West Doc: Hoopaholic’s Review

Basketball

Gotta believe that a couple of years ago when basketball icon Jerry West passed away, there were more than a few fans of lesser years who wondered about the adulation, who had what I’ve dubbed a Bing Crosby Moment.*

*When the crooner Crosby died in ’77, it was front page above the fold news at the then still great C-J. I who would believe I know more about pop music and culture than just about anybody didn’t get it. The guy in the cardigan, smoking a pipe? White Christmas? After a smidge of research, I realized he was a teen idol, a global sensation, the Elvis of his time. And it you don’t understand the Elvis reference, may the Lord have mercy on your soul.

There’s a really interesting and informative documentary about Jerry West now streaming at Amazon Prime.

“Jerry West: The Logo.”

The logo, that’s him all right. Rightfully deserved. The kid we once knew as Zeke from Cabin Creek.* Continue reading Jerry West Doc: Hoopaholic’s Review →

A Hoopaholic Lost in Land of NIL

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Wednesday was a typical day during this Sea Change Season.

Within an hour, literally, I had four different people at two different locations ask me the same question.

“Where is U of L getting all this NIL money?”

I’ve long admitted to not being an insider. Alright, maybe once upon a time with some significant contacts in the program, but that was decades ago.

Still, I get it.

I’ve got this forum on the interweb.

Despite my caveats, I feign knowing what I’m talking about, and that I know more than you do.

But here’s the reality.

I know nil about NIL.

I don’t know where all this U of L moolah is coming from. But it’s obvious that it’s being provided from somewhere. Continue reading A Hoopaholic Lost in Land of NIL →