Hoops Observations by Paul Sir
March 13, 2025
‘3 from Deep’
What possibly could be a better time to start looking at the hoops landscape than on the cusp of March Madness and the stretch run in the regular season in the NBA? Add in my personal passion for 3×3 as it starts its new season and we have the foundation of ‘3 from Deep.’
- Selection Sunday
It’s one of those traditions that honestly never gets old. The conference tournaments wrap up and the brackets are rolled out. Anxious squads gather in gyms, team rooms and homes awaiting the decisions of the committee. Jubilation for players and fans once their name is announced with disappointment and dejection for those who have their bubbles popped. The combination of the men’s brackets being followed by the women’s is another step forward for college sports as the proper respect is being paid to the sport that dominated the headlines last season and has maintained most of the interest this year.
March Madness is the greatest of all sporting spectacles. Teams, players, universities and coaches have their moments in the spotlight. Touching and compelling stories abound. For most, it is their ‘15 minutes of fame,’ which is good for a lifetime. For the Cooper Flagg’s among us, it is the springboard to the next level. Upsets are inevitable as is bracket destruction for most of us. In spite of the free for all that is now the NCAA with transfers and NIL money running amok, March Madness is still the most compelling 2 weeks in sports.
- The FIBA3x3 Season Begins
The 2025 season kicks off in Bangkok, Thailand, this weekend with the newly formatted Champions Cup. This is a concerted effort to gather the best teams from last season together to kick the post Olympic 2025 season off with a bang. It will be interesting to see if it has the desired impact on attracting people’s attention after a very successful Olympic showcase for the sport.
Canada will be well represented by the same team that won the AmeriCup. Michelle Plouffe is still working on her knee recovery and is accompanying the team in a coaching role.
- The NBA
This stretch is a mixed bag of the best teams playing at a historically high level and the weaker teams being decimated by injuries or flat out tanking (or a combination of both) as the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes heats up.
The Good: Cleveland, OKC, Golden State, Minnesota, Milwaukee, Denver, Boston, Houston, New York, Memphis, Detroit
The Bad: Dallas, Washington, Utah, Toronto, New Orleans, San Antonio, LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Orlando
The Ugly: Phoenix, San Antonio, Miami, Philadelphia, Brooklyn
The best are brilliant. The others are oftentimes unwatchable. The Raptors are a batch of names and faces unfamiliar and ever changing with load management, inexplicable benchings and a confusing mandate. Play In game? Tanking for a shot at Cooper?
This is one of the strangest seasons I have witnessed. The Luka trade has had ripple effects that analysts will wrestle with for years. Karma? Perhaps…
Join Ryan Reed and me this Saturday from 10am – noon for 2 hours of hard core hoops talk on ‘The Basketball Show’ on Sports 1440. The best NBA reporter in the business, Ben Golliver, joins us for our ‘Deep Dive’ look at the NBA. We will update you on the USports, CCAA and 3×3 results plus really look at how the brackets are starting to take shape.
Listen on your radio, online at sports1440.ca or on your favorite podcast provider. Follow us on X and Instagram and check out our web page on 3x3ba.ca.
Have a great rest of the week and weekend on and off the court. Treat each other with kindness.
