Vol. 1 No. 12 — November 13th, 2019

Welcome to the 12th edition of the Rathbun Roundball Report, Subscriber First Name!

Let’s get to the basketball news!

The Good News/Bad News Dispatch

When the Hawks arrived in the Pacific Northwest Saturday, the Oregon women’s basketball team was taking on the USA National team in Eugene. As many of you know, Oregon won the game, a rare defeat for the USA women.

Bad news? Is the USA slipping? Has this team of stars had its run and is Olympic Gold in Tokyo next summer in jeopardy? Then I remembered the good news! The player that did them in will play for the USA as soon as her college days are over!

That great player, of course, is Oregon’s Sabrina Ionescu. She scored 25 of her 30 points in the second half to lead the Ducks to the stunning 93-86 victory. It was only the second loss ever by the U.S. to a college program and their first defeat in any game since 2014.

The Americans haven’t lost a major international game since falling in the semifinals of the 2006 World Championships to Russia. The only other loss to a college program came in 1999 when Tennessee won on a shot by Kara Lawson, who was a freshman that season, with 10 seconds left. The U.S. won the next 20 college games after that loss to the Lady Vols before Saturday. The Americans did drop an exhibition game to France in 2014 and suffered a loss to the Czech Republic during a European tour in 2011.

NBA Injuries

You can’t tell the injured players without a scorecard.

We are barely a 10th of the way into the 2019-20 NBA season, and major injuries (and suspensions) dot the rosters of nearly every team in the league.

Here’s a refresher:

Kevin Durant, Brooklyn Nets

Klay Thompson, Golden State Warriors

Steph Curry, Golden State Warriors

Paul George, Los Angeles Clippers

John Wall, Washington Wizards

Victor Oladipo, Indiana Pacers

Jusuf Nurkic, Portland Trail Blazers

Gordon Hayward, Boston Celtics

Khris Middleton, Milwaukee Bucks

Zion Williamson, New Orleans Pelicans

De’Aaron Fox, Sacramento Kings

Marvin Bagley III, Sacramento Kings

Anthony Davis, Los Angeles Lakers

DeMarcus Cousins, Los Angeles Lakers

Kyle Lowry, Toronto Raptors

Blake Griffin, Detroit Pistons

Life on the College Scene

I’m in Phoenix this afternoon, getting ready for tomorrow night’s Suns-Hawks game.

Before leaving Denver this morning, a note on the college scene:

For the first time in five years, the Colorado Buffaloes men’s basketball team is ranked.

The Buffs entered the AP Top 25 poll Monday three days after beating Arizona State 81-71 in a non-conference game at Shanghai, China. It marks the first time CU has been ranked since a six-week period during the 2013-14 season.

Meanwhile, a familiar face is at the top after Kentucky climbed to No. 1.

The Wildcats rose one spot after winning a 1-vs-2 matchup with Michigan State to open the season in the Champions Classic, followed by an easy win against Eastern Kentucky.

Land of the Rising Suns

I’m looking forward to seeing the Suns tomorrow night.  Are they for real? This from the New York Times:

Sopan Deb writes: "For a franchise maligned as being run poorly, Phoenix sure seems like one that has been run well in the last year or so. Baynes and Rubio were sneakily smart acquisitions for a team needing veteran leadership. Both are solid defenders who don’t make many mistakes on the court. ... And Booker is a bona fide star. He always has been. He’s just never been in a stable system in the N.B.A. Booker is more committed on defense than ever before. Props to Monty Williams, the new coach who has the Suns performing like an elite defensive team — something that would have been unthinkable a year ago. Is this sustainable? For one thing, Booker and Baynes are not going to shoot approximately 50 percent from deep for the rest of the season. But the defense is real. And that might be good enough to get the Suns into the playoffs."

The Suns were rolling prior to last night’s game with the Lakers.

The Suns (6-3) put on an incredible offensive display to rout the Brooklyn Nets (4-5) in a 138-112 win at Talking Stick Resort Arena, giving the Suns their best nine-game start to a season since 2009-10.

The Suns shot 19-of-42 from three-point range and seven different players made multiple three-pointers-- according to the Elias Sports Bureau, this marked the first time in Suns history that seven different players did so. The Suns’ 138 points were their most in a non-overtime game since March 16, 2010, and the team had 37 assists while committing just 7 turnovers, their most assists with 7 turnovers or fewer since that same game on March 16, 2010. 

Devin Booker led the team with 27 points, shooting 10-of-16 from the field and 4-of-5 from three-point range, just missing a double-double with 9 assists. Ricky Rubio had season highs with 22 points and 12 assists while Cameron Johnson (15 points) and Tyler Johnson (14) each scored season highs. 

They are having great fun in the Valley of the Sun!

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