February 26, 2025 Game of the Day Recap
There will be two Games of the Day today as the Bucks take on the Nuggets in Milwaukee and the Panthers host the Oilers for a Stanley Cup rematch.
This is my first blog including Nikola Jokic and I will venture to guess it will not be my last. He is currently having one of the best seasons in NBA history. Plus/Minus wise, Nikola Jokic already has some of the best single seasons in NBA history (with 4 of the top 5 seasons of all time in this category), but the pace he is on now is tremendous. He is averaging 29.2 points, 12.6 rebounds and 10.4 assists per game while shooting nearly 45% from three on 4.5 attempts a game. Jokic has already won 3 (should be 4 in a row) MVPs, and he is only now having his most efficient and best season.
He is the epitome of a do it all guy and when he can put up those numbers why would you not run everything in your offense through him. His usage is not a career high this year but is still higher than average for his career. This game should be a matchup between the last 2 different players to win an MVP in the NBA, in Giannis and Jokic, but Jokic was robbed of an MVP in 2022-2023.
Speaking of the Greek Freak, he is averaging 31 points, 12 rebounds, and 5.8 assists on the year while shooting 60% from the field. His three point numbers have tanked back down percentage wise, but he is shooting them a lot less frequently than he has in his career, as this year is the first time he has been under 1 attempt per game from three since his second season in the NBA. However, his defense in this game will be the more important factor for the Bucks instead of his offense. If he holds Nikola Jokic to a moderate night offensively, their night will look good.
The Damian Lillard and Jamal Murray matchup will be a fun one to keep an eye on as well. The defense for both is relatively even when it comes to win shares, so it will be fun to see them compete with each other. I expect to see Aaron Gordon on Giannis defensively, so if he can play defense like he has shown he can do at a high level in the playoffs a few years ago, while it has fallen off this year. He needs to get back to his defensive level of the last two years in this game for a big matchup against one of the best around the rim.
The second game of the day goes down to Florida, where the Panthers take on the Oilers in the NHL. I am pumped to see Connor McDavid skate around some more. Leon Draisaitl for the Oilers is the current leader in odds to win the Hart Trophy at the end of the season. This will be my first time truly watching a game he will play in so, I will be praying for a power play to see them on the same line together and tear shit up. I will be very eager to learn about more players on the team just to expand my knowledge.
For the Panthers, I see a couple familiar names that I had seen at the 4 Nations Face-Off in Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett. Bennett will be the only one that I know for the Panthers to play tonight as Tkachuk is being evaluated over this week/weekend for a lower body injury. I hope Sam Bennett scores a goal because he is the only other player on the ice I will know, and if I am not mistaken, was one of the first interviews on the world famous Wet Jeans podcast. When looking at the stats for each team, it looks as if front line starters Sam Reinhart and Alexander Barkov (his name is so nails) are the leaders in points other than Tkachuk. The goaltending edge goes to the Panthers as well as Sergei Bobrovsky will look to bounce back from allowing 5 goals the last time they played the Oilers. I am hoping this will be a fun game to watch for my first official NHL game of the season.
February 25, 2025 Game of the Day Recap
Michigan State 58 – Maryland 55
Boy oh boy did we get treated with a great game to start the college slate on yesterday. I did end up making a play on the game at the last minute and I will share below.
This was an all out defensive battle in the first half as both teams struggled to get anything through the bottom of the net. One player in particular that could not get it going early was Tre Holloman who threw up some air a couple of times. The score at half was 23-21 Maryland, and it was defense like Jordan Geronimo played on Coen Carr that made it that way. Geronimo did one of the wildest things i’ve seen a sane human do which is jump with Corn Carr at the rim.
The second half is where things start to get better on the offensive side of the ball and especially for Rodney Rice had 15 of his 20 points on the game in the second half and was a big reason they were able to keep it close early in that half. Without him, it would have been very easy for Michigan State to walk all over them coming out the break because it took a few other players for Maryland a while to get going.
Jase Richardson scored 9 of his team’s 21 points in that first half and was the only player that could seem to do anything even remotely consistent on offense. Which brings us to the second half which goes back and forth scoring at times, but with Michigan State in the lead for most. Richardson didn’t end up getting his next bucket until around 6:30 left in the game, but it was in a crucial moment up 3. That bucket was 2 of the next 6 that he would score for the Spartans to increase their lead at the time to 9. He would end the game with 15 points.
The game flipped from there as Maryland kept on fighting and making big free throws, many of which were coming from Ja’Kobi Gillespie. He made no field goals in the second half which was killer for the Terrapins, and he had a shot to take the lead with seconds to go but missed.
Remember that Tre Holloman guy?
Yeah, he a half court buzzer beater to completely shut the gym off and bring the Spartans home with a win. In the time, you can’t specifically get one person or the other the ball, but the basketball gods redeemed Holloman from his first half and that was one of the crazier college basketball moments I have watched live.
Look for the second division rankings to come out later today around 3:30PM CST. It will be the AL East.