While fans have months before the college basketball season begins and still a month before the resumption of the NBA, live basketball will be back in play just next weekend with the start of 'The Basketball Tournament'.
There is no IU alumni team in the tournament but there are a few former Hoosiers that will suit up once again. Remy Abell and Mo Creek, who played together last year for Team Sideline Cancer (TSC), will again be teammates for TSC when the tournament begins. Creek joined Indiana Sports Beat to talk all things TBT and what it will look like with all of the precautions that come with.
"I know there will be a lot of people watching because of what is going on, even though they can’t come in to the gym," Creek said. "We’ll get down to Ohio about a couple of days before and practice and that is fine. We will throw some plays in there… but just take it one day and one game at a time."
While Creek isn't new to the tournament itself, he knows it will look different this year with all of the safety measures that will be taken.
"I think we are fine. I think if it were going to be a problem, people wouldn’t play in it," Creek said. "But we are getting tested right now. We have a home kit for it and then tested again when we get down there. There is no real hiding from it now since people have to get tested down there. I think everyone is excited to play in it.
"You basically just have to stay with your team," Creek added. "You can’t leave the hotel and can’t really have anything outside. Even food has to be ordered to the hotel.”
This year will be different for more reasons than just the safety precautions that will be taken. Because the NBA is usually just finishing up when the TBT is beginning, there aren't any NBA players who partake. This year, however, there are a few NBA free agents who signed with a TBT team, one being Trey Burke. There are also not the difficulties of coming back to the US for overseas players, with most already back in the states since the start of the pandemic. And with this being the only basketball on at the moment, all eyes will be glued to the TV.
“It's great because you have to play your best basketball every game. It’s also for exposure because you never know who is watching," Creek said. "You may get a call from someone just because they are watching it. You have a lot of pros trying to get back and overseas players too.
"Trying to find people to play [is tough]. People overseas that may not be able to make it back and all of that goes into making a team in usual years," Creek added.
Team Sideline Cancer has been very much an underdog in most of its matchups throughout the history of the tournament, but after a good showing last year, Creek is expecting big things this time around.
“I’m really excited because we basically have the same team, just added a few pieces. We are a hungry group because nobody really knows about us again and if they do nobody really respects us," Creek said. "We surprised a lot of people last year… this time we are expecting to win this.”
The Basketball Tournament will begin play on July 4.
To listen to the interview in its entirety, check out the tweet below.
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