The Hyball: Why Like Anything?

By Bobby Loesch on January 28, 2021 at 12:00 pm
No, Joe
Des Moines Register
33 Comments

The Hyball is a weekly Iowa men's basketball column

Let's talk about the stock market.

(Kidding, kidding.)

For real -- let's talk about not liking anything.

This quote almost bypasses bulletin board material and funnels right into 'apathetic shoulder shrug'. You can't hate anybody if you hate everybody, right? Impossible for any person or team to be singled out.

So, though I love all your favorites, maybe there is some validity to disliking you. It's such a dad-enjoying-solitude-in-his-armchair mentality. No friends, no disputes, no ups, no downs, brain off. Keep it moving.

I could kiss you without using a neck muscle.

The Hyball

"Most of what America is now is just boxes going back and forth."

Last Week

1/21 - Indiana 81, No. 4 Iowa 69: Well.

WELL.

Ross:

Iowa shot just 26.5% (9/34) from the floor, and even that putrid number was goosed by a handful of makes in the final seconds when the game was out of reach. They were 1/10 from 3-point range. 13/18 at the free throw line. They coughed the ball up eight times. It turns out going eleven minutes without a made field goal is a Very Bad Thing. 

Eleven minutes, you say?

Agree on many other things Ross said. Why didn't Touissant play more?

Also, even though I was on J-Bo's side of the Parking Wars, something about him shooting 0/9 with 0 total points felt like genuine karma. Big week for the stick to sports/anti-social media people.

1/24 - Nebraska at Iowa (4): Postponed. Remember when weather used to be the reason we didn't do things?

This Week

1/29 - Iowa (7) at Illinois (19): First time watching Illinois this year. I know Ayo Dosunmu is that dude, but Kofi Cockburn is my guy. Him (accidentally) punching a ref in the head -- and not getting ejected! -- does not get brought up nearly enough.

#PeopleDontForget

2/2 - Iowa (7) at Michigan State: Back on.

After just one game in 12 days... Iowa will have three games in seven days starting Friday. Maybe it will help prepare Iowa for the games that come fast and furious during tournament play in March? Let's hope everyone is healthy and ready to go starting Friday -- the softer part of Iowa's Big Ten schedule is over and things are going to get intense for the stretch run. 

Yes, let's have that.

And, though he praised Garza earlier this season, I regret to inform you that...

...NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Caitlin Corner

BIRTHDAY WEEK.

Fun fact: she rocks 22 because she was born January 22nd.

Also, no one in the athletic department reached out on my winsgpan inquiry. So I took matters into my own hands.

The DMs.

We'll see if she responds. My next idea is creating a hashtag movement.

"Is Brad Davison A Senior"

I want to make fun of this, but you'll find no bigger fan of the quote "It is what it is" than yours truly.

The Ballad Of Ricky-Bobby

Each week, we check in with professional basketball writer Ricky O'Donnell for a quick exchange

Asked Ricky about Champaign's finest:

Just feels like there’s so much pressure on Illinois this year, because the program has been garbage for so long, and they got (and hopefully gave out) a gift with Ayo and Kofi returning. They are a good team for sure, still Top 10 on KenPom, but the conference is such a war zone this year, they just don’t feel *that* much better than a lot of the mid-tier. Love Ayo as a college guard, he’s pretty much everything you want. His shooting improvement has been remarkable even though I really don’t buy it much from NBA range (hopefully I’ll be wrong on that). Really hope he gets a tournament moment this year. Kofi is such an automatic finisher, they just got to get him the ball. The more Curbelo the better.

Obligatory Michigan Section

I'm not saying Juwan Howard is an unmatched genius (or the first to come up with this)...

...but I am asking how often these types of counters occur (at both the college and pro level)? Sequential playcalling is some chess-level shit. It's the high IQ equivalent of hard biting on a shot fake after getting dotted in the face one too many times in pickup hoops. Oh, how I miss losing pickup basketball games.

The Mini-Hybrid

Spent all of 2020 shitting on all college football coaches, but this was some noble shit.

Reasons?

According to The Deseret News, Andersen, who was fired by Utah State back in November, “refused to be paid the balance of his contract.” He reportedly told the school it “wasn’t his style” to be paid not to coach. He was owed $2.7 million — a $900,000 salary with three years remaining on his deal.

[...]

“Waiving my contract is the correct decision and enables the young men and the program to move forward and concentrate on the rest of this season,” Andersen said at the time. “Coaching is not about the mighty dollar. It is about teaching and putting young men in a position to succeed on and off the field. Success comes when all parties involved are moving in the same direction.”

All of that said, it only took a few more paragraphs to sour on him and all people like him once again.

Andersen also made headlines back in October as the Mountain West was about to begin its 2020 season amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Players across the country were opting out of the season, citing concerns about the virus. Andersen, though, said opting out is “not an option” for his players, per the Salt Lake Tribune.

“If you opt out, you’re not with us,” Andersen said.

He claims he misspoke, but I'm not sure that's true at all.

* * *

Also:

Maybe this will end all of the annoying "Fitz to the Bears?!?!" rumors that seem to bubble up every year to winter groan us all.

Kick Me

Factoring out appearance, are there any function fans of the LBJ kicks? I've only tried them on in stores, but they're always so heavy. That said, I could see fans of this style being total lifers.

Bill Walton's Western Civilization 

This one is a productive odyssey.

No Context College Basketball
Wrapping It Up...

Bobby Loesch is a weekly contributor to Go Iowa Awesome. Follow him on Twitter @bobbystompy or email to bobbyloesch [at] gmail.com.

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