And we are off and rimming.
In the college basketball world, not a lot is happening. Non conference play is still in full swing as conference play is still just under a month away. With that being said, both Iowa teams have made impressive season debuts with their respective squads. Iowa State has seen the most success, as they are ranked 20th in the AP Poll. Don’t count out the Hawkeyes and Kris Murray as he wins ESPN’s player of the week according to Staff Writer Jeff Borzello. Both teams face off this Thursday, and I believe the matchup to be as legendary as advertised.
Aside from that, Iowa and Iowa State women's teams are playing with success. Iowa State is ranked 10th in the AP Poll and Iowa is ranked 16th. The main takeaway from Iowa’s slide and three losses can be attributed to the fact that Caitlyn Clarke leads her team in points, assists, steals, and blocks. She nearly leads her team in rebounds as well. This Iowa squad is a one woman show, and Caitlyn desperately needs help, you can never win basketball games alone.
In the NBA world, one storyline is trumping the rest. That is the current drama happening between Kyrie Irving and Nike. I wouldn’t call it drama, but the contract between Nike and Kyrie has officially been severed. This is an obvious PR move from a company that utilizes sweatshops in Asia to cheaply produce shoes. However it is great knowing that the mega corporation like Nike is deeply concerned about Kyrie Irving’s antisemetic messaging and handled the situation correctly like any benevolent multi-billion dollar company would. The irony and hypocrisy leaves much to be desired.
In other news, the NBA added a new award for the team with the best regular-season record called “The Maurice Podoloff Trophy.” This is good news for the Phoenix Suns since they will never win a Larry O’Brien but they now have a new piece of hardware that they can add to their empty shelves.