Blake Hoffarber Puts the Madness in March Madness, And Billy Donovan Doesn’t Mind Destroying His Own Players’ Psyche
Quick-hitters:
- Current rebate-o-meter: $1,540, but still expected to rise, even though my entire Fry’s order from two days ago (save a bunch of batteries I bought) is on backorder.
- Raise your hand if you have yet to file your taxes yet.
Shame on you all. Don’t you want your rebate checks? 
- That OJ Mayo is gonna be a pretty good NBA player, eh? I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one that was surprised that Mayo’s last second trey didn’t drop, giving the UCLA Bruins a three point victory over the USC Trojans. Good thing Kevin Love also had a big game, scoring nine straight points in a key second-half run.
I just hope Luc Richard Mbah a Moute’s ankle sprain is nothing serious.
(Yes, Bruin fan, you may direct your frustration towards me. Laker fan, you may do the same for the Gasol injury. Unfortunately, the Ung-hex is as strong as ever.)
Have I ever mentioned that I can’t wait for March Madness?
- Speaking of college basketball, has there been a crazier end-of-game sequence than what happened in the Minnesota v. Indiana game? Even the non-sports fan would appreciate the wackiness that occurred in the waning moments of that game:
1) Down two, Indiana guard Eric Gordon missed a FT. Needing to intentionally miss the next one, and hope that one of his teammates grab the rebound…
2) Gordon bricks the FT, and teammate D.J. White tipped the ball into the hoop. On top of that, White got fouled, sending him to the line for the potential go-ahead FT!
3) White missed the go-ahead FT, but somehow got his own rebound, and got fouled again!
4) White missed the first FT, and hit the second to give Indiana a one-point lead with 1.5 seconds left.
And as if all of that craziness wasn’t enough…
5) Minnesota’s inbounder heaved the ball down to the left of the opposite free throw line, where Minnesota’s Blake Hoffarber caught the ball, spun to his left, and flipped up a shot with his off (left) hand…and scored!
Derek Fisher’s 0.4 second shot thought Hoffarber’s shot was insane.
By the way, it’s not as if Hoffarber hadn’t done something like this before:
Hoffarber became nationally known in 2005, when he won an ESPY award for best play of the year. His Hopkins High School team was trailing by three points with 2 seconds left in overtime of the Class 4A title game when Hoffarber fell during a fight for a loose ball.
It landed square in his hands, and — sitting on his rear near the baseline — he hurled a 3-pointer from the floor and tied the game. Hopkins won in double overtime.
The video highlights, which can be found on the page I linked above, are a must-watch, even for you non-sports fans. This is why college basketball, especially the post-season, will always be better than the NBA.
- Poor Billy Donovan. Apparently he’s not happy with his gutted roster, and who can blame him (Remember: he lost his entire starting five that won back-to-back national championships)? After watching his team get dismantled by Alabama on Thursday, effectively ending any hopes Florida has of defending their national championship, Donovan ripped into his team:
“It’s hard for me to be excited going forward because I don’t see things getting fixed,” Donovan said.
“It’s in front of our guys, what it takes to win. For whatever reason, I haven’t brought it out in them. They’re not committed to it. … I’m not really excited about seeing this group of guys being sophomores.”
Gee, Billy, way to motivate your players! You’re not excited about this group of players? Why don’t you just call them a bunch of losers? Billy, do you realize that you did not recruit two OJ Mayos, two Kevin Loves, and a Michael Beasley, right? Did you really think your recruiting class was going to replace Horford, Noah, Brewer, etc. (all NBA Lottery picks, by the way) in a single season? You don’t see things getting fixed? Isn’t that what a coach is supposed to do?
I love how he starts off by blaming himself, only to quickly shift the blame onto his players. What a classic example of the “It’s not you, it’s me” argument! And Billy questioning other people’s commitment is just too funny; wasn’t Billy the one that signed a contract with the Orlando Magic, only to back out of it fifteen minutes later, effectively killing his NBA coaching career before it even started?
Look, I understand that Donovan is trying to motivate his players, but did he really have to go that far with his “motivational speech?” And if you’re thinking that my vitriol towards Billy has something to do with the fact that Florida knocked UCLA out of the NCAAs two years in a row, I will neither confirm nor deny that.
*whistles*