Chris Spatola
@Chris_Spatola
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IG: thechrisspatola | @ESPN | @SIRIUSXM | veteran
Joined August 2009
Hubie Brown preaching the gospel of the behind-the-back pass at Five Star in the ā70ās is the height of swag. Demos by slinging 8 crispy ones of his own. Ultimate flex. āDonāt tell me thatās showboating!ā
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Every one of these Ryan Cline 3ās was a work of art. Just unconscious. An epic shooting performance.
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This is what being a teammate is about. What an amazing answer.
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A coach can care for & love two players and still make a decision thatās best for his team. Was never personal for Saban. And Hurts bought into it. Thatās special.
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One of the most thoughtful in-game-interview answers ever. āWe think our roster should look like the United States of America.". The money spent on youth sports now is obscene. Kids have become investments.
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Wildly unreasonable that the transfer portal in college basketball opens tomorrow - the day after Selection Sunday. Really unfair to the programs & players that had good years & still playing meaningful basketball. We canāt wait 3 more weeks? Just stupid.
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Zion Williamson last month: "I canāt just stop playing. Iād be letting my teammates down . Iād be letting a lot of people down ā¦ If I was going to sit out, I wouldnāt have gone to college.ā. The NBA and its money are only a part of the dream. Kids dream about college too.
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Forget replay. We just need more officials like this.
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To be fair, Charles Oakley's assault last night would not have been called a foul in the 90's NBA.
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College basketball was lucky to have Zion Williamson. A transcendent talent with zero pretention. Played his ass off, competed for everything, was a great teammate. Raised the bar every time he took the floor. He captivated the masses & all of us benefited.
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Instead of debating handshake lines, why donāt we just ask coaches to be adults and lead by some semblance of example.
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Eurostep way ahead of its time in 1982. Immediately whistled a travel. Mocked by the ref.
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Should be played on a loop in every high school locker room. This is why a team takes you at 9 when they already have 2 guys who āplay the same position.ā Those 2 guys canāt do this. Baylor won a national championship because of this.
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Teachers, coaches & parents used to be in partnership when it came to raising a child. Weāve lost our way on this:
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The college business model is out of control. Colleges have become luxury goods, operating at obscene margins. The fallout from this pandemic wonāt just be a fundamental change in higher education, but a lot of schools will be forced to shutter forever. (from @NYMag)
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Not a superstar since Shaq who gets a worse whistle than Lebron. Just because he plays through contact doesnāt mean contact didnāt happen. Best player on the planet canāt get a call. Crazy.
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College basketball media day bingo:. 1. Excited to be here.2. Excited for the year.3. We wanna play fast.4. Weāre really young.5. Building our culture.6. Best league in the country.7. We have a tough schedule .8. Just wanna get better each day .9. Love our freshman.
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Over 4,000 soldiers died on #DDay. Thousands more wounded or missing. Many were just teenagers. An unimaginable sacrifice for freedom.
Today is #DDay. A day to honor our heroes. More than 160,000 brave Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France, June 6, 1944.
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I want a football player that plays basketball. And a basketball player that plays baseball. Leave these special athletes alone and let them do their thing. Donāt try to make them love one sport. Specialization is nonsense.
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No Manu tribute is complete without a ball-fake compilation. Itās mesmerizing.
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Ohio St looks fresher than Clemson. Like half a season fresher.
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This Miami/Mario Cristobal hiring has been handled so poorly by both sides. Unethical, hardly strategic, desperate & wildly public.
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Baker Mayfieldās answer here says it all. Lives with a chip on his shoulder. Stays ready. A competitive beast.
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Reigning National Champs. #1 team in the nation. Mack Brown put the ball in the hands of his freshman QB & said go win it. Sam Howellās gonna remember that moment & decision forever. Whatever the outcome. Respect.
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My parents used to say to me āif youāre in trouble at school, youāre in trouble at home.ā . Teachers & parents (& coaches) were in partnership. All worked together to hold the child accountable. Seems weāve lost our way on this.
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The best player in the ACC right now is a grad transfer from Radford.
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Outrageous Flagrant 2 called here. Ejection?! Just stupid. JT Toppin is making a basketball play & his momentum happens to land unfortunately on the closing defender. College basketballās flagrant foul rules are completely nonsensical.
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A decision to give Ivy League athletes the year back they missed when the league canceled the season was an easy, no-brainer decision. Instead the NCAA gives a giant middle finger to all the Ivy Leaguers who petitioned for a 5th yr. A 5th yr that every other athlete got. Cruel.
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Sources say Tom Crean is enjoying a Diet Coke and spreading peace & love. āSources sayā
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My problems with Space Jam 2: . 1. The tune squad offense will be a bunch of Looney Tunes spotting up behind the 3 pt line. 2. We sure all the Looney Tunes want to play with Lebron? . 3. Weāre not ready for the MJ vs Lebron GOAT actor debates . 4. Canāt replace Shawn Bradley.
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Iāve known Dino Gaudio for 25 years. Heās as good a man, coach & friend as you could know. When coaches like him become expendable weāve lost our way. Those decisions are rarely rewarded in the long term.
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His Bulls had 3 hall-of-famers, never went to a game 7 in the Finals, & won 72 games in ā96. Pretty super.
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Tomatoes add nothing of value to a sandwich. Plus they pop out the back and make the whole thing a mess. Iām done with it.
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Proud dad tweet. My man finished 1st in the 11U division at the UNAA National Ninja competition in Vegas this weekend. Absolutely crushed it. #nationalchamp
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Myles Powell broke the Battle 4 Atlantis scoring record this week with 74 points in three games. An electric scorer. Most impressive thing about him is how kind & soft-spoken he is. Was a pleasure getting to know him.
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Graduated, this day, 17 yrs ago. Come a long way since. But none of it happens without West Point.
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Seth Curry went undrafted, has done 2 stops in the G league, been in Memphis, Cleveland, Phoenix, Sacramento, Dallas, Portland, back to Dallas, Philly. Heās worked his butt off to do his thing. Incredible story.
Seth Curry in the Hawks series:. 21.8 PPG.61.5 FG%.59.6 3P%. We donāt know what to say about those shooting percentages š¤Æ
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Walk into my first unit as a young lieutenant. Battery commander sits me down and says: āFirst thing you need to understand about leadership - itās not about you. Itās about them. Be unapologetic in your pursuit of whatās best for them.ā. Will never forget it.
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That the @nba has pulled this bubble off - without any blueprint, no precedent, tons of risk, major investment - is really pretty remarkable. Complete & total success so far.
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When pitchers were men.
Throwback to when Mike Mussina refused to come out of a game when Joe Torre tried to pull him š.
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Clearly wasnāt healthy. Still came back. Tons of money at stake. Still came back. Says a lot about Durant.
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When you ban their confederate flag and they come back with a flyover and a noose. And you come back with.
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Weāve seen a lot of talented freshman hit hard this year with the realization that winning in college basketball is hard. It takes investment. Itās a process. Winning is hard.
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Time I never knew Iād have. And may never get again. Thoughts from a dad:
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The size of these buyouts, and what schools are willing to swallow to make someone go away, is obscene. One gigantic hustle. UCLA will end up paying over $15 million in buyouts to Jim Mora and Steve Alford. $15,000,000 to two individuals for them to not work. What a waste.
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Tennessee's Grant Williams is one of the best freshman in the country no one knows about. Will take your lunch when he's hungry. Love it.
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Nobodyās worked harder in the last 2 years to become a top 10 pick than Davion Mitchell. From the day he set foot at Baylor heās exponentially better. Great story.
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Bill Self's record in the Phog is 198-9. He has more conference championships (11) than home losses. That's kooky talk. #KUvsOU.
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The Warriors are incredible. The willingness to pass up good shots for a great shot. This is a work of art.
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3 Plumlees in the NBAā¦.unreal. Excited for those dudes and their family. Great people.
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17 years in the league, grey beard Lebron still dropping in a stance & defending with a grudge. Taking his matchup personally. Leading without saying a word.
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Most popular question from young campers used to be āwhenās lunch?ā That's officially been replaced by āwhatās the wifi password?".
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That wasnāt about Gonzaga fatigue. That was about a physically stronger, more athletic, harder playing, superior team imposing its will & dominating a National Championship. Baylor went to another level these last 2 games. Special team.
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If college basketball goes with a bubble theyāll have to call it something different than bubble. Otherwise, what do we call all the marginal teams hovering around .500 trying to squeeze into the tournament? Too much bubble confusion.
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We overuse the word culture. Real culture is built when players are willing to work for their place in it & share. Arcidiacono, Brunson, Gillespie. This right here from Jay Wright is how you build a winning culture. @VUCoachJWright @NovaMBB
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The kids havenāt changed. The parents have. Muffet McGraw nails this.
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Unbelievable imagination. He toyed with opponents. Larry legend.
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RIP Senator McCain. The embodiment of selfless service and an example of courage, dignity and class to the end. A hero.
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A young plebe, trying to survive my first year at West Point, the opportunity to meet Coach Knight was a day Iāll never forget. He was larger than life. āDonāt you dare feel sorry for yourself here, give this place hellā he said. RIP to a legendary figure.
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Starting to look like weāre gonna have a basketball tournament here in South Dakota tomorrow. Eat it Covid. #CrossoverClassic
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Everyone around him knew they were in the presence of an all-time great. And everyone paid their respects.
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A young man died during a practice. The head coach was just put on administrative leave. What was Will Muschamp thinking in making this statement? Itās time to dial back the testosterone and get a grip.
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We donāt need replay to get this call right. We need officials who can make this call in the moment. Itās a bad miss on an easy call. WE DO NOT NEED MORE REPLAY.
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Baylorās won 5-straight after losing Tristan Clark for the year. An unbelievable job.
Another one of those postgame winning interviews with @BUDREW š 4-0 with @kevconnorsespn and @Chris_Spatola on the š¤ . #SicOU š» | #1TGF š
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Firing Tubby Smith to hire Penny Hardaway is one of the most absurd - not to mention shady - decisions weāve seen in a long time. A complete charade.
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After all these years, Pippen doubling down on his decision to quit on the team was the most baffling moment from last night.
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Thereās a cruelty to what congress is doing here. Not allowing a cadet to postpone his service obligation to pursue the NFL not only crushes Andre Carterās dream, it ignores the value a pro athlete can provide as an ambassador for the military.
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Mark Emmertās new love for bubbles is all about protecting the basketball tournament. The NCAA is prepared to do anything - ANYTHING - to protect its cash cow. Thereās a billion reasons why. Which ends up being a huge position of strength for the sport.
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Congrats to Anthony Grant & @DaytonMBB on a great run of 3 games in Orlando. Team is young but tough & resilient beyond their age. Fun to watch.
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Melo power rankings:.1. Cuse .2. Olympic.3. Skinny.4. Hoodie.
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A volleyball player is the most followed Nebraska athlete on Instagram. NIL rights arenāt just about football & basketball. Social media marketing will be a primary money-maker for a lot of different athletes.
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Want to wish a great Veteran's Day to those who have served, and are serving, in the world's best military. Baghdad 2005
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Being a bad teammate and still getting exactly what you want becoming a trend in the NBA.
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A game after Mike Brey gets fined $20,000 for complaining about officials - Teddy Valentine on the call for Notre Dame/Wake tonight. Thatāll restore order.
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This isnāt about an āentitledā generation of young people. This is corrupt adults pimping kids to make a buck.
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This is Larry. Heās perfected the timeless art of seduction. He loves your work @IJasonAlexander.
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Army goes into Cameron to play mighty Duke. 160-pound guard steps in and takes a charge on @MisterCBooz who outweighs him by at least 100 lbs. Inexplicably itās called a BLOCK. Most egregious blown call ever. Duke gets all the calls!!
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*Literally* every level of basketball in the world plays with 4 quarters except menās college basketball. For whatever reason - and there isnāt a good one - the menās game insists on continuing with its inane 2 halves. If weāre talking rule changes start there.
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UCLA coaching search: officials have narrowed focus on dark horse candidate.
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Best team may not win it every year, but the best team won it this year. And it wasnāt close. In a class of their own. #NationalChampionship
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Amidst the obsession over whether Michael Porter, Jr. will play or not, his brother Jontay has 43 pts, 15 reb & 10 assists in the last 2 games. Stretch 4 with a great feel. And he just turned 18 years old.
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