The hoops are heating up
ZWF #2: Sunday, February 20, 2022
Welcome to the second edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts! The latest extension of the Zander’s Facts brand. The goal of Zander’s Weekend Facts is to give you the facts about anything going on in the world around us. You’ll just have to read these facts, instead of listening to them on the Zander’s Facts Podcast.
Speaking of the Zander’s Facts Podcast… if you haven’t listened to the latest edition of the podcast, you should do that! Episode 54 of the Zander’s Facts Podcast gave a quick recap of last weekend’s big football game and a look at the headlines that could dominate this upcoming offseason. Plus, last week’s podcast got into the current situation in Ukraine and what you need to know. You should go listen to Episode 54 of the Zander’s Facts Podcast!
Now, here are Zander’s Weekend Facts for this Sunday, February 20, 2022:
All-Star Weekend in the NBA
Tonight, the 2022 NBA All-Star Game will take place in Cleveland, Ohio, the 71st edition of the event. All-Star Weekend unofficially marks the halfway point of the NBA season, even though we are well past that point in actuality. Most teams have played just about 60 games (way more than half of the 82 regular season games for each team) and the play-in tournament for the postseason begins in less than two months on April 12.
Before we get to tonight’s game and the festivities that have already taken place, here are a couple of facts regarding this NBA season, so far:
The NBA is celebrating its 75th anniversary this season. Earlier this season, the NBA released a list of the top 75 players in league history, and the top 15 coaches in league history. The 75 players named to the NBA 75 team will be honored at halftime of tonight’s game.
The best record in the league and the top seed in the Western Conference currently belongs to the Phoenix Suns, who at 48-10 are 6.5 games ahead of the second-place Golden State Warriors.
The top seed in the Eastern Conference currently belongs to the Miami Heat, who hold a tiebreaker over the Chicago Bulls. Last year’s NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks currently sit 2.5 games back in fifth place.
For the first time in NBA history this season, three players each had 20-game streaks of 25 points or more. Those players are LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers, Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks, and Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers.
Entering the All-Star break, both Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Joel Embiid are averaging 20 points per game and 11 rebounds per game for the second consecutive season. The last time this happened in only one season was in 1975, with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bob McAdoo.
On December 14, 2021, Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors became the NBA leader in three-pointers made all time, surpassing Ray Allen.
The Oklahoma City Thunder may be second-to-last in the Western Conference right now, but they have one player who is ballin’ out. Earlier this month, on February 14, rookie Josh Giddey became the youngest player in NBA history to record triple-doubles in consecutive games. He also became the youngest player to ever record a triple-double on January 2 of this year.
Friday night, the All-Star Weekend festivities began with the NBA Celebrity All-Star Game. NBA legends Bill Walton and Dominique Wilkins coached the two teams, which included big names such as rapper Quavo, Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett, comedian Tiffany Haddish, and singer Machine Gun Kelly. Team Walton defeated Team Nique 65-51 with Peleton instructor Alex Toussaint winning the MVP award.
Later that night, the top young players in the league faced off in the Rising Stars Challenge. The competition underwent a format change this year, with the top first- and second-year players split up into four squads of seven players each coached by NBA legends and members of the NBA-75 squad Isiah Thomas, Rick Barry, James Worthy, and Gary Payton. Three games were played in total, with two semifinal matchups with the first team to 50 points winning, and the winners advancing to the final, where the winner would be the first to 25 points. Team Barry ended up winning the competition with a 25-20 win over team Isiah in the final. The first-overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft Cade Cunningham of the Detroit Pistons won the MVP award of the event.
All-Star Saturday Night featured a revamped Skills Challenge, followed by the 3-point Contest, culminating with the Slam Dunk event. The Skills Challenge featured three teams of three players, the Cavs, the Antetokounmpos, and the Rooks. The Cavs featured three members of the host team Cleveland Cavaliers, Evan Mobley, Darius Garland, and Jarrett Allen. The Antetokounmpos put the three brothers together, Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Alex Antetokounmpo. The Rooks placed three of the top rookies in the league together, Scottie Barns, Cade Cunningham, and Josh Giddey.
The three teams competed in shooting and passing drills, along with a relay to decide which two would advance to the final. It ended up being Team Cavs versus Team Rooks in the final. The final round consisted of each member of the teams attempting a half-court shot, with the team to make one in the fastest time winning the contest. Team Cavs’ Evan Mobley hit the shot in just 5.5 seconds to give the Cavs the victory.
The 3-point Contest kept its previous format, with eight players competing. Desmond Bane, Luke Kennard, Zach LaVine, CJ McCollum, Patty Mills, Karl-Anthony Towns, Trae Young, and Fred VanVleet all competed, looking to take the crown from last year’s champion, Stephen Curry. With a final round score of 29, Karl-Anthony Towns became the first big man to win the contest since Kevin Love in 2012. His score of 29 was also the highest in the final round of the contest in history, surpassing Devin Booker’s 2018 score of 28.
Finally, the Slam Dunk contest finished off the night, proving lackluster once again. Cole Anthony, Jalen Green, Obi Toppin, and Juan Toscano-Anderson were the four to compete in the contest, which featured several missed dunks and was not very exciting to watch. Obi Toppin ended up victorious, defeating Juan Toscano-Anderson in the final, one year after Toppin fell to Anfernee Simons in the final of the contest. However, the contest needs something to change. The event has not lived up to the hype since the 2016 spectacle between Aaron Gordon and Zach LaVine. Either the format needs to be revamped, or the league should get some of its top players to compete.
Tonight’s All-Star Game is the third to take place in Cleveland, Ohio, which previously hosted the game in 1981 and 1996. Like this season, the NBA was marking significant milestones in those seasons. In 1981, the NBA celebrated its 35th anniversary, while the association celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1996.
The rosters for tonight’s game were voted on by the players, the media, and the fans. The two highest vote-getters, LeBron James and Kevin Durant, became the captains of the two teams. Like in years past, the two captains held a televised draft to select the members of their teams out of a pool of 25 players, which resulted in this hilarious moment after James Harden was traded from Durant’s Brooklyn Nets to the Philadelphia 76ers.
Team LeBron includes LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokić, DeMar DeRozan, and Stephen Curry as the starters. Luka Dončić, Darius Garland, Chris Paul, Jimmy Butler, Donavan Mitchell, Fred VanVleet, and Jarrett Allen are the reserves, with the head coach being Monty Williams of the Phoenix Suns. Kevin Durant is injured and cannot play, so the starters for Team Durant are Andrew Wiggins, Jayson Tatum, Joel Embiid, Ja Morant, and Trae Young. The reserves are Devin Booker, Karl-Anthony Towns, Zach LaVine, Dejounte Murray, Khris Middleton, LaMelo Ball, and Rudy Gobert, with Erik Spoelstra of the Miami Heat serving as head coach.
The game will follow the format instituted in 2020 that brought life back to the event. The team that scores the most points in each of the first three 12-minute quarters will get to make a $100,000 donation to the charity of their choice. The teams start with a $150,000 donation. The fourth quarter will be untimed, with the target score being the leading team’s total score after three quarters, plus 24 points, in honor of Kobe Bryant. The winning team will receive another $150,000 to donate to their cause. Team LeBron is playing for the Kent State I Promise Scholars Program, while Team Durant will play for the Greater Cleveland Food Bank.
The 2022 NBA All-Star Game tips off tonight at 8:00 pm et on TNT, with an alternate presentation featuring the cast of Inside the NBA on TBS. For my prediction, I’m going to have to go with Team LeBron, who are favored by 5.5 points, according to FanDuel. After a break for the players, the regular season resumes on Thursday, February 24.
Three weeks until Selection Sunday
We’re getting into the home stretch of the college basketball regular season. Today marks three weeks until the Selection Show, when we will find out who is heading to the big dance. On Saturday, the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee released its top 16 teams right now.
Gonzaga marked its second straight season as the overall number one seed on the Bracket Preview Show. While those teams are surely locked into the tournament, there are a bunch of teams on the bubble right now. Here are a couple of teams that have some work to do to get into the tournament right now:
Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC):
Miami (FL)
NET ranking: 65
Last week: Win at Louisville 70-63, Loss vs Virginia 71-74
This week: Tuesday at Pittsburgh, Saturday vs Virginia Tech
North Carolina
NET ranking: 43
Last week: Loss vs Pittsburgh 67-76, Win at Virginia Tech 65-57
This week: Monday vs Louisville, Saturday at NC State
Virginia
NET ranking: 80
Last week: Loss at Virginia Tech 53-62, Win at Miami 74-71
This week: Wednesday vs #9 Duke, Saturday vs Florida State
Virginia Tech
NET ranking: 41
Last week: Win vs Virginia 62-53, Loss vs North Carolina 57-65
This week: Wednesday at Georgia Tech, Saturday at Miami
Big 12 Conference:
Kansas State
NET ranking: 60
Last week: Win vs West Virginia 78-73, Loss at Oklahoma State 79-82
This week: Tuesday at #6 Kansas, Saturday vs Iowa State
Oklahoma
NET ranking: 45
Last week: Loss vs #20 Texas 78-80, Loss at Iowa State 54-75
This week: Tuesday at #11 Texas Tech, Saturday vs Oklahoma State
TCU
NET ranking: 55
Last week: Loss vs Iowa State 51-54, Loss at #7 Baylor 62-72
This week: Monday vs West Virginia, Wednesday at #20 Texas, Saturday vs #11 Texas Tech
Big East Conference:
Creighton
NET ranking: 67
Last week: Win vs Georgetown 88-77, Win at DePaul 71-59
This week: Sunday vs Marquette, Wednesday at St. John’s, Saturday at #8 Providence
Big Ten Conference:
Indiana
NET ranking: 44
Last week: Loss vs #15 Wisconsin 69-74
This week: Monday at #18 Ohio State, Thursday vs Maryland
Michigan
NET ranking: 29
Last week: Win at Iowa 84-79
This week: Sunday at #15 Wisconsin, Wednesday vs Rutgers, Sunday vs #12 Illinois
Rutgers
NET ranking: 76
Last week: Win vs #12 Illinois 70-59
This week: Sunday at #5 Purdue, Wednesday at Michigan, Saturday vs #15 Wisconsin
Pac-12 Conference:
Oregon
NET ranking: 63
Last week: Win vs Washington State 62-59, Loss at Arizona State 57-81, Loss at #3 Arizona 81-84
This week: Thursday vs #13 UCLA, Saturday vs #17 USC
Southeastern Conference (SEC):
Florida
NET ranking: 47
Last week: Loss at Texas A&M 55-56, Win vs #2 Auburn 63-62
This week: Tuesday vs #23 Arkansas, Saturday at Georgia
Remember to check out Zander’s College Basketball games to watch for this upcoming week, which will be posted on Zander’s Facts’ social media channels tomorrow afternoon.
An update on the crisis in Ukraine
On last week’s edition of the Zander’s Facts Podcast, which came out on Wednesday, I detailed everything we had learned so far about the situation in Ukraine. Since then, there have been some further developments. Here is the latest regarding the situation:
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the BBC on Saturday that Russia is planning “the biggest war in Europe since 1945.” Read and watch the interview here: BBC - Ukraine: Russia plans biggest war in Europe since 1945 - Boris Johnson
On Friday, United States President Joe Biden held a press conference where he declared he is “convinced” that Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to invade Ukraine. Axios - Biden says he's "convinced" Putin has decided to invade Ukraine
On Sunday morning, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told CBS that the U.S. believes Russia is “moving forward” with plans to invade Ukraine. CBS News - U.S. has intel that Russian commanders have orders to proceed with Ukraine invasion
Football’s offseason storylines
Last week on the Zander’s Facts Podcast, I talked a little about the storylines we will probably see this offseason. Here are a couple of those storylines, along with some external sources so you can investigate yourself.
During the Super Bowl pregame show last Sunday on NBC, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio reported that time may finally be up for Washington Commanders owner Daniel Snyder. The NFL has brought in former chair of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission Mary Jo White to investigate the organization for a second time after new allegations have emerged against Snyder and the organization. NBC Sports - Daniel Snyder may finally be facing a real problem with his 31 partners
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray has been in the news recently after he scrubbed his Instagram page of any mentions of the Cardinals. That then lead to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reporting that there was tension between Murray and the organization. However, the Cardinals expect Murray to continue to be their quarterback moving forward.
Former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores sued the NFL along with three organizations back on February 1, alleging discrimination against him and other black coaches in the league. The lawsuit shines a light on the issues the NFL has with diversity, along with potential trouble for Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, who Flores alleges offered him $100,000 per loss for the team in 2019. The New York Times - Brian Flores Sues N.F.L., Claiming Bias in Coaching Search
Wrapping Up
Before this week’s edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts wraps up, here’s another reminder to check out last week’s episode of the Zander’s Facts Podcast. Check out Episode 54 wherever you get your podcasts. Check out Zander’s Facts’ Linktree page for more information: Zander's Facts on Linktree
There will not be a new edition of the Zander’s Facts Podcast this week. (Start your whining now.) This is a great opportunity, however, to go back and check out any episodes of the podcast you may have missed! Do remember to check out the next edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts next Sunday! Make sure to sign up to get Zander’s Weekend Facts in your inbox every Sunday so you don’t miss anything!
That’s it for this Sunday, have a great week!
