published on May 20, 2024 in gacor

Why is Bill Raftery still grinding? Whats the matter with Kansas? Hoop Thoughts

The U.S. held a three-day weekend earlier this month, but for Bill Raftery, that was no reason to take a break. It was an opportunity to do more work. So it was that on Monday, Jan. 16, Raftery was in East Lansing, Michigan, to call Michigan State’s game against Purdue for Fox Sports. The day before, he was in Cincinnati calling Marquette-Xavier for Fox. And the day before that, he was in Bloomington to call Wisconsin-Indiana for CBS.

During the car rides (chauffeur-driven, thankfully), the flight from Cincinnati to Detroit, and whatever downtime Raftery had in between, he studied game videos on his iPad, poured over notes and stat sheets, jotted nuggets into his massive binder and trusty legal pad, wrote out his game boards, and spoke to all six head coaches either on the phone or in person. And Raft being Raft, he still found time to share some meals and cocktails with colleagues, although he demurs that he is not burning that end of the candle quite so hot these days. “I’ve either gotten smarter, or the people around me don’t want to hang with me as much,” he says. “Or maybe it’s a combination of the two.”

The three-day weekend made Raftery’s load a little heavier than usual, but it was very much of a piece with the pace he keeps this time of year. The intense schedule isn’t something Raftery endures. It’s something he chooses. He could easily get by with calling just one game a weekend, but that’s not enough for him. Raftery may be about to turn 80 on April 19, but he is still hustling like a walk-on trying to earn a scholarship, and he is as good at his job — and as beloved by the public — as he has ever been.

Raftery will keep hustling right through the first weekend of April, when he will call the Final Four for CBS/Turner for the seventh time. I spoke with him on Saturday afternoon shortly after he finished calling TCU’s win at Kansas for CBS. I asked Raftery a simple question: Why are you still grinding like this? His familiar Irish chuckle came through the phone. “I don’t consider it work,” he said. “I know it sounds corny, but I feel fortunate that people still let me do it. I think it keeps you young. We all have friends who retired too young. I don’t know if I could stop working and play golf every day. I don’t even want to think about it, to be honest with you.”

Ian Eagle and Bill Raftery are already in March mode. 🏀🎙️ pic.twitter.com/K6o51qTXoB

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 21, 2023

Raftery started working in broadcasting after he stopped coaching in 1981 following an 18-year run at Fairleigh Dickinson-Madison and Seton Hall. Four decades later, his analysis remains sharp, and though he has been using many of the same phrases and witticisms for a long time, they still feel fresh and relevant to today’s audience. Fans think of Raftery as college basketball’s jolly, wisecracking uncle, but that image belies the intense work ethic that makes it all possible.

Like all broadcasters, Raftery has refined his research system over the years. He carries with him everywhere a large binder into which he jots notes and musings on teams from all over the country. He does this partly to prepare for the NCAA Tournament, since he doesn’t know what teams he’ll be covering until Selection Sunday. For each broadcast, Raftery writes up tables that contain basic information like names, heights, statistics and backgrounds (such as where players transferred from). He slides those sheets into clear plastic covers. He uses his legal pad for additional bullet points that are specific to the game he is covering. Raftery brings all of this material to his broadcast table, but he only looks at the notes a few times during the game. “It’s almost like being back in school,” he told me. “You try to cover everything, because you don’t know what’s going to be on the exam.”

Raftery gleans additional insights by attending practices and gameday shootarounds, and through conversations with the coaches. If his schedule doesn’t permit him to get there the day before, he will speak to the head coaches on the phone. If he hasn’t talked to them by the time he gets to the arena, he will find the coaches and chat for 10 minutes or so. Needless to say, access isn’t a problem. Everybody loves Raft.

“He’s always the most prepared. He’s a coach,” says Gus Johnson, Raftery’s longtime broadcast partner at CBS and Fox. “I don’t know how he finds the time. He’s got so much boundless energy. It’s really amazing to watch. He has incredible stamina because he has such a true passion, adoration and love for what he does, and the people that he touches.”

Raftery concedes that the travel can wear him down. “The hardest part is to get there,” he said. Since he lives in Florida and usually flies out of the West Palm Beach airport, a lot of his flights are connections through Atlanta. (“I spend a lot of time on those trains.”) During long layovers, Raftery can be seen huddled in a seat, glasses on the bridge of his nose, watching games on his iPad and scribbling notes into his big book or on his legal pad. “The idea is to stay ahead if you can,” he said.

And so it goes. After finishing up his work in Kansas on Saturday, Raftery headed home to Florida for a few days. On Wednesday, he will fly to Detroit and then call Purdue at Michigan on Thursday for FS1. Then it’s off to Michigan State-Purdue on Sunday for CBS, and back home to Florida for the next round. I teasingly asked him if he works this hard because he needs the money. “No,” he laughed, “but I’m not turning it down, obviously.”

The other thing that’s amazing about Raftery is the public’s reaction to him — or rather, its non-reaction. Broadcasters naturally draw ire on social media because fans can’t watch their favorite teams without listening to them. Yet, you almost never see anyone write or tweet a harsh criticism about Raftery. He is as close to universally liked as anyone in his profession can be. When I mentioned this to him, he was appreciative but characteristically humble. “It’s nice of you to say, but I don’t pay attention to it,” he said. “I’m sure there’s somebody out there who’s got an axe to grind. All I know is I’m having an awful lot of fun.”

When will he stop? He has been asked this many times, and his answer is always the same. “I never even thought about it, y’know? Never. I’m assuming that at some point somebody will say maybe you should pack it in. I hope that’s not for a while.”

There are a lot of college basketball fans who feel the same way.

Dajuan Harris’ slump has come at a bad time for Kansas. (William Purnell / USA Today)

Other Hoop Thoughts

• There’s no shame in losing in overtime to a really good Kansas State team, but when Kansas also got drilled in Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday by TCU, it was cause for genuine concern. Like many people, I expected the Jayhawks to play with urgency following the K-State loss, but the Horned Frogs had a sense of urgency as well following three losses in four games (two of which came by a single bucket). KU’s star freshman Gradey Dick had his two worst shooting games of the season this week, going a combined 3 of 16 from 3. I was extremely impressed with Dick’s level of effort at Kansas State despite those shooting woes (he had seven rebounds and four steals). He’s a freshman, and he’s getting scouted very well, but I am not worried about his outside shooting. He’s too good to stay this cold for long.

The larger concern is with Dajuan Harris. The 6-1 junior point guard has raised his 3-point shooting from 32.3 percent last season to 42.9, but over his last three games he has scored a total of three points on 1 of 13 shooting (0 of 6 from 3). Harris is a savvy distributor, but the worst thing that can happen to an offense is for the guy who has the ball in his hands the most to become a non-shooter. Harris needs to rediscover his touch and his confidence, pronto, or the Jayhawks will become increasingly easy to defend.

These problems have exacerbated Kansas’ other main weakness, which is lack of size. KU neither defends nor finishes well around the rim. That’s not as much of an issue when shots are falling and the Jayhawks are forcing turnovers, but when you get into the teeth of league play, and especially the postseason, the games become more grinding, physical, and played in the halfcourt. The Jayhawks have all the pieces they need to win a national championship — including a Hall of Fame head coach — but they got exposed last week, and they have some work to do.

• Toe injuries are super tricky for basketball players, so I was both surprised and impressed that Duke point guard Jeremy Roach played so well on Saturday. The 6-2 junior is by far the Blue Devils’ most important player, but he hasn’t been the same since he first injured his toe in early December. Roach tried to play through the pain, but after his four-point, one-assist performance in an 84-60 loss at NC State on Jan. 4, he had to shut it down to allow the toe to heal. Roach missed three games, including a loss at Clemson, and I’m sure it was tempting to rush back into the fray. Clearly, though, Roach and the Duke medical and training staff wanted to wait until he was completely healed, and he looked like his old self in finishing with 14 points and four assists in 27 minutes during Saturday’s 68-66 squeaker over Miami. Jon Scheyer said after the game that he didn’t expect to play Roach quite so many minutes, but if he didn’t, Duke probably would have lost. If Roach stays healthy and productive, the Blue Devils have a chance to be a factor the second half of the season. If he regresses, they have precious little margin for error.

GO DEEPER

Duke's Jeremy Roach steals the show as Blue Devils blossom into a team

• I’ve said it before, but I want to say it again, because I can’t say it enough: Jerome Tang’s success at Kansas State, on the heels of Tommy Lloyd’s success at Arizona, is further proof that longtime assistant coaches at high-level programs are more than capable of becoming power conference head coaches. So many athletic directors want to “win the press conference” by hiring guys who have head coaching experience. Isn’t it more important to win the league? There are plenty of examples of current assistants who are prepared to follow suit — UCLA’s Darren Savino and Houston’s Kellen Sampson come to mind — and I’ll be looking to highlight them in the coming weeks as we get closer to the coaching carousel. But keep that in mind as Tang and the Wildcats continue to write their remarkable script.

• Speaking of Lloyd, I’m always fascinated to see a head coach shake up his lineup to try to get his team out of a rut. After Arizona lost two out of three to Washington State and Oregon, Lloyd inserted Cedric Henderson Jr., a 6-6 senior transfer from Campbell, into the starting lineup in place of Pelle Larsson. Henderson, who is averaging 6.9 points in 19.9 minutes, answered with 11 points and seven rebounds in a win over USC. He did not score on Saturday against UCLA, but he had four rebounds and the team won. Larsson, meanwhile, took the demotion in stride because it wasn’t really a demotion. He still played 30 minutes in each game and scored a combined 23 points. I imagine Lloyd will stick with this rotation for as long as it works, knowing that if things go off the rails again, he can always switch back.

Rick Barnes has made similar moves at Tennessee. After the Volunteers were embarrassed at home by reeling Kentucky, Barnes moved 6-6 senior guard Josiah-Jordan James into the starting lineup for the first time since Nov. 16. James, who missed eight games while he recovered from offseason knee surgery, responded with 13 points in a win at Mississippi State and a season-high 22 points in Saturday’s win at LSU. Barnes also moved sixth man Zakai Zeigler into the starting lineup for Mississippi State because the starting point guard, Santiago Vescovi, was out with a shoulder injury. Vescovi returned for the LSU game, but Barnes left Zeigler in the starting lineup, and it seemed to work. The Vols still lead the country in adjusted defensive efficiency per KenPom, so if they can keep their rhythm offensively with this combination, the ceiling is the roof.

Marquette’s Oso Ighodaro dunks for two of his 18 points against Seton Hall Saturday. (Vincent Carchietta / USA Today)

• Speaking of defense, that was quite a clampdown Marquette applied to Seton Hall on Saturday. The Pirates aren’t the smoothest offensive engine, but the Golden Eagles forced them to commit 26 turnovers, and they did a great job converting those miscues into baskets. Marquette coach Shaka Smart told The Athletic’s C.J. Moore recently that after all those years of emphasizing defense, he has spent more time coaching offense because he realized his players enjoy scoring a lot of points more than they enjoyed stopping the other team from doing so. Imagine! Yet, Marquette’s No. 73 defensive efficiency ranking would make it virtually impossible for the Golden Eagles to get to a Final Four. Time will tell whether this was a one-off or the start of a course correction, but if Marquette can substantially improve its defense over the next two months, then there is a very good chance that the Golden Eagles’ season will end in Houston.

Mid-major Top 10

1. New Mexico (18-2). The Lobos pulled out a gutsy win in overtime over Boise State on Friday night behind 25 points from Jamal Mashburn Jr., who has scored at least 19 points in his last eight games. Last Week: 1

2. Saint Mary’s (18-4). The Gaels thumped a quality Santa Clara team by 19 points at home on Saturday to move to 7-0 in the West Coast Conference. They are ranked No. 6 in the NET and No. 7 on KenPom. LW: 2

3. San Diego State (15-4). The Aztecs came back from a nine-point second-half deficit to win at Colorado State in overtime Wednesday, and then won at Air Force on Saturday to remain alone in first atop the Mountain West. On Wednesday they host Utah State, which is one of four teams that are one game behind the Aztecs in the league standings. LW: 3

4. Florida Atlantic (19-1). The Owls only have one senior in their rotation, but they have won 18 straight, including the last three on the road. They’re ranked 18th in the NET and have home games coming up this week against Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky. LW: 4

5. Boise State (15-5). The Broncos couldn’t quite pull off the upset at The Pit, but they did beat Nevada at home by 15 points last Tuesday thanks to a career-high 29 points from Max Rice. They’re up to No. 20 in the NET. LW: 5

6. Charleston (21-1). The nation’s longest win streak was stretched to 20 as the Cougars notched road wins over Monmouth and Northeastern. They have their toughest remaining game of the regular season coming up this week when they play Hofstra at home on Saturday. LW: 6

7. Kent State (16-3). The Golden Flashes beat Eastern Michigan and Ball State to run their win streak to 10 games, the third-longest in the nation. LW: 9

8. VCU (15-5). The Rams have won 10 of their last 11 games and are 6-1 in the Atlantic 10 following wins last week over UMass and Richmond. They’re tied with Saint Louis atop the league standings. LW: 10

9. Nevada (15-5). The Wolf Pack lost at Boise State, 77-62, on Tuesday night. They didn’t play any more games last week, so they’ve had six days to prepare for Monday’s big home game against New Mexico. LW: 8

10. Oral Roberts (17-4). The Golden Eagles have a two-game lead atop the Summit League with an 8-0 record. All four of their losses were on the road against KenPom top 50 teams. Two of those (Saint Mary’s and Houston) are top 10 teams. LW: NR

Dropped out: North Texas (7)

Five games this week I’m psyched to see

New Mexico at Nevada, Monday, 9 p.m., CBS Sports Network. The Wolf Pack have been dealing with lots of injury issues and lost two of their last three games, but they are in a three-way tie for second in the Mountain West and have a great opportunity to get a marquee home win. Jarod Lucas, a 6-4 senior guard who transferred from Oregon State, ranks third in the league in scoring at 16.8 points per game.

Kansas State at Iowa State, Tuesday, 9 p.m., ESPNU. The amazing K-State story continues as the Wildcats, who were picked to finish last in the Big 12 in the preseason, are in sole possession of America’s toughest conference. They trailed Texas Tech at home by five on Saturday, but rallied to win as Markquis Nowell and Keyontae Johnson combined to shoot 17 of 20 from the foul line. It might take their best effort of the season to win in Hilton Coliseum against a Cyclones squad that has lost two of its last three games by a combined four points.

Xavier at UConn, Wednesday, 6:30 p.m., FS1. The Huskies will be itching to avenge their 83-73 loss at Xavier on Dec. 31, their first loss of the season. That sent the Huskies on a tailspin during which they lost five out of six games. Even while losing all those games, UConn has played solid defense, and it did so again on Sunday in beating Butler, 86-56. But the Musketeers, who rank No. 7 on KenPom in adjusted offensive efficiency, will pose a much bigger challenge.

UCLA at USC, Thursday, 9 p.m., ESPN2. When these teams met on Jan. 5 in Pauley Pavilion, the Bruins raced out to a 46-28 lead early in the second half and then had to hold on for a 60-58 win. UCLA point guard Tyger Campbell shot 3 of 14 in that game. The Bruins had their 14-game win streak snapped on Saturday, while the Trojans lost to Arizona and then beat Arizona State. USC has just two Quad 1 wins, so it needs this one to build an NCAA Tournament-worthy resume.

Kansas at Kentucky, Saturday, 8 p.m., ESPN. The Jayhawks don’t have much time to lick their wounds. They play at Baylor on Monday. The Wildcats, who also play at Vanderbilt on Tuesday, are on a three-game win streak, including Saturday’s 76-67 win at home over Texas A&M, which came in undefeated in the SEC.

(Top photo of Bill Raftery: Ethan Miller / Getty Images)

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