This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.
Good morning, Winners! Welcome back to the Morning Win. Thanks so much for rocking with us today. We appreciate your time.
Ready to feel old, you guys? Meet Oklahoma’s new offensive coordinator, Ben Arbuckle.
The Sooners poached him from Washington State, where he was the offensive coordinator and quarterback’s coach. Oklahoma is going the Lincoln Riley route again. Brent Venables is hiring a young, offensive mind from West Texas to give the program some juice again.
Make no mistake about it — Arbuckle is one of the country’s best coordinators. Washington State has one of the best offenses in the country this year. The Cougars rank 12th in scoring offense this season and 22nd in total offense.
He’s one of the best offensive minds in the nation. It’s easy to see why Oklahoma plucked him from the Pac-6 or whatever that shell of a conference is called these days.
But here’s the thing: He’s also just 29 years old.
Yes, that’s right. 29. Two. Nine. That’s it. And he’s walked right into a big boy job in the SEC as the OC for one of the biggest programs in the nation. Granted, that program stinks this year.
REMEMBER FLAG PLANTING? Yeah, Oklahoma got it really bad this season.
But still! He’s 29 years old, man. That’s so young.
What was I doing at 29 years old? Well, certainly not creating an offense for one of the most prominent CFB teams in the country. Actually, I was blogging about Elmo fighting a rock. That’s a pretty great service if I do say so myself. But it certainly isn’t coaching at Oklahoma.
Shoutout to Ben Arbuckle. He’ll probably be a head coach soon if Oklahoma is successful next season and Cam Ward (who he coached at Wazzu for two seasons) lights up the NFL.
I only ask that whoever hires him next waits a few years to get it done. Not because he can’t do the job, but please. The rest of us already feel old enough.
Father Time is fighting back
LeBron James has been whooping Father Time’s you-know-what for years. He’s nearly 40 years old and has broken record after record, including the NBA’s all-time scoring title.
But, man. This latest stretch from James has got to be some of the worst basketball we’ve ever seen him play.
Over his last six games, LeBron is:
- Averaging more shots (18.0) than points (16.9) on 38 percent shooting from the floor.
- Averaging 5.0 turnovers per game to 8.7 assists.
- Shooting 10 percent from 3-point range on five attempts per game.
Simply put, this is not the LeBron James we’re used to. Not even close. Watching him struggle has been pretty jarring.
James has been so good throughout his career that I can’t even think of a comparable stretch. If there is one, it’s probably something from his rookie year back in 2003.
The Lakers seem to be considering resting James soon despite his desire to play all 82 games this season. While that’s commendable — and, honestly, something I wish more players would aspire to — if it hampers LeBron in this way then he should sit for a game or two.
It’d be better for himself, the Lakers and the NBA.
Wemby is now even more terrifying
Folks. Victor Wembanyama is an 8-foot-tall sharpshooter. It’s completely ridiculous and unfair, but it’s true. This dude is diabolical.
Bryan Kalbrosky wrote about Wemby’s 3-point explosion this season for our Layup Lines newsletter.
“Admittedly, on his jumper, he had a slow start to the 2024-25 campaign. During his first nine games of the season, the big man shot just 22.6 percent from beyond the arc. It was the worst of any player who had at least 50 or more attempts in that span.
But as the old saying goes, and since then, he has turned the corner. He has made 5.1 shots from beyond the arc per game in his eight games since then, which is the most in the league.
For comparison, that is more than Stephen Curry (4.8) and LaMelo Ball (4.7) as well as everyone else in the NBA.”
Alright, man. If you’re going to be that tall but also make more 3-pointers than Steph Curry, what in the world are teams supposed to do? How do you guard this man?
Simply put, this is unfair. But it would always be this when Big Vic got to the league.
Best of luck to his opponents. You’re going to need it.
Quick hits: The spiciest WNBA games … NFL Power Rankings … and more
— Meg Hall plucked out the 20 spiciest matchups from the WNBA’s upcoming schedule for you here. Can’t wait for Paige vs. Caitlin Clark.
— Christian D’Andrea and Robert Zeglinski held it down in the NFL Power Rankings this week. Check ’em out.
— Tyler Nettuno put together a transfer portal tracker for college football for you here.
— Tyler also has you covered with CFB winners and losers for the week here, with Ohio State taking the biggest L imaginable.
— The NFL suspended Azeez Al-Shaair for three games after his late hit on Trevor Lawrence. Here’s Charles Curtis with more.
— Mary Clarke has you covered with NHL Power Rankings for the month.
That’s a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for reading. Have a fantastic Tuesday. Peace.
-Sykes ✌️