Midway through the first half of Maryland basketball’s 84-76 win over Iowa, ESPN unveiled this graphic:
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This thing is weird for a couple reasons.
First, Damonte Dodd isn’t in it even though he’s clearly Maryland’s starting center.
Second, Melo Trimble is “Shredder,” who is apparently a bad guy. This doesn’t make sense, because Melo Trimble does good things for the “Ninja Terrapins” in this scenario. So this means Cowan, Huerter, Jackson and Bender were all teaming up to fight Trimble? Why am I even debating this?
[Update: turns out I was wildly misinformed on my Ninja Turtles history. Trimble is actually “Splinter,” who was their leader. My apologies.]
I offer this explanation from one dedicated fan:
@testudotimes Also, ESPN actually matched up each player with a Ninja Turtle that fits their style.
— Stephen Pimpo (@spimpojr) January 20, 2017
@testudotimes Heurter, praised for his basketball IQ, is Donatello, the turtles resident genius. 1/2
— Stephen Pimpo (@spimpojr) January 20, 2017
@testudotimes Cowan, Melo's heir apparent, is Leonardo, the turtles leader in training who will take over for Splinter. 2/5
— Stephen Pimpo (@spimpojr) January 20, 2017
@testudotimes Jackson, arguably #Terps most dangerous player is Raphael, the turtles heavy hitter and bad boy. 3/5
— Stephen Pimpo (@spimpojr) January 20, 2017
@testudotimes Dodd should be the 4th agreed but both he and Bender as work as fun loving Michelangelo. 5/5
— Stephen Pimpo (@spimpojr) January 20, 2017
Anyway.
In other news
Maryland women’s basketball beat Michigan by a lower-than-usual 13 points. We are spoiled.
Kiah Gillespie was Maryland’s engine.
Mel Kiper’s mock draft has DeShaun Watson and Mitch Trubisky in his top 10.
Kentucky is winning by going small, writes Ricky O’Donnell.
Carmelo Anthony air balled this layup and I laughed.