Thanksgiving has come and gone, and with it there were approximately 9,007,682 college basketball games played during the week of giving thanks. Due to pesky things like "family obligations" many might have missed much of the action that took place last week. Luckily, I was there to watch as much as possible and will now offer up a synopsis of what took place in the major tournaments over the last seven days.
Maui Invitational
(AP Photo/Bob Leverone)
What Happened: Notre Dame beat Wichita State in the final after coming back from a 14-point first half deficit. In the process they moved into the top five nationally. The Irish have two legitimate All-America candidates who played like it in Hawaii, with Bonzie Colson and Matt Farrell showcasing the fact that they are one of the best duos in all the land.
Key Storyline Going Forward: Outside of the top two teams, this field was loaded with teams that might be on the NCAA Tournament bubble all season. Michigan, VCU, and Marquette all had some positive moments, but none of them look like sure-fire tourney teams right now. It will be worth watching if any of these squads can take some of the positives and parlay them into significant improvement as conference play starts.
Best Three Players: Colson was the best player on the islands, putting up 20 points and 10 boards while shooting 61 percent from the field in the three Irish wins. Not to be outdone, his teammate and point guard Farrell averaged 19.7 PPG and five assists while shooting 10-for-21 from deep. Meanwhile despite his team losing two of its three games, freshman Tremont Waters was incredible for LSU. Notre Dame was able to shut him down, but he bounced back by torching Marquette for 39 points in a battle of high-scoring guards. Waters gives Will Wade and the Tigers hope for the future, especially with a solid recruiting class in the fold for next season.
Hall of Fame Classic
What Happened: Baylor pulled it off for the second season in a row, and won another tourney in November. It won the Battle For Atlantis last season, and then turned around and won in Kansas City this year. The Bears picked up what should be two quality resume wins in knocking off Wisconsin and Creighton. Scott Drew's unit showed that it could be a threat to Kansas going forward.
Key Storyline Going Forward: How good is Wisconsin? The Badgers lost both of their games here, and despite the fact that Ethan Happ is still stuffing the stat sheet and putting up numbers, the rest of the supporting cast consists of either freshmen, or upperclassmen that have played supporting roles in the past. I don't know if the bit players are nearly as good and therefore the Badgers might end up being a middle-of-the-pack Big Ten team.
Best Three Players: Jo Lual-Acuil was known for as a shot-blocking sidekick for Johnathan Motley in 2016-17, but he's become much more of an offensive focal point in the early season. The senior posted consecutive double-doubles, going for 15 points and 15 rebounds in the title game. He has the size to score in the post that works well with the perimeter skills of Manu Lecomte. Aaron Holiday made seemingly every key play down the stretch for UCLA in its win over Wisconsin, illustrating the fact that he is going to be a factor in any Pac 12 player of the year discussions. Lastly, Happ was his usually steady self for Bucky, going for 21 points, 11 rebounds, and 4.5 assists in Wisconsin's two losses.
Progressive Legends Classic
What Happened: Texas A&M proved that its early-season win over West Virginia wasn't a fluke, as it took care of Oklahoma State and Penn State to take home the title. The Aggies knocked off Oklahoma State with relative ease, and then beat a frisky Penn State team in the final. Robert "Big Bob" Williams returned to action after being suspended to give the Aggies even more talent in its front-court, giving Billy Gillespie's team even more firepower down low.
Key Storylines Going Forward: Penn State might actually break through and make the NCAA Tournament for the first time during Pat Chambers' tenure in Happy Valley. The Nittany Lions destroyed Pitt, and then were only down six with 5:05 to play before a now top-10 Texas A&M team pulled away late. This could very well be a top-five team in the B1G, especially with Northwestern and Purdue struggling early. Also if being terrible is your jam, Pitt might be the worst team in the power six. Penn State beat the Panthers by 31, and they already have losses to Navy and Montana.
Best Three Players: Williams showed why he's a potential top-ten pick in the draft with a dominant early performance against Oklahoma State. The sophomore stud shot 71 percent from the floor and had two double-doubles in the Aggies' two wins. Tony Carr is on his way to becoming a nationally known name with his start to 2017-18, torching the Aggies for 31 points, and posting an offensive rating of 153 in the win against Pitt. Senior graduate transfer Duane Wilson only averaged 4.8 PPG for Marquette last year, but he's averaging double-figures and has shown to be a nice fit in the backcourt early on for A&M. Wilson has an efficient 22 points on only ten shot attempts in the win over Penn State.
Battle For Atlantis
(Getty Images, Stephen Dunn)
What Happened: Complete and utter chaos. Villanova showed why its a top-five team by winning the three-day event in the Bahamas, but Purdue and Arizona completely imploded. The Boilermakers rebounded a bit by beating the Wildcats in the seventh-place game, but both squads fell out of the top 25 after previously generating a good deal of Final Four buzz. Tennessee picked up two quality wins and showed even further that the SEC is a threat to end up with 6-7 teams in the tournament.
Key Storylines Going Forward: How does Arizona fix this? This was the most unexpected sequence of events of the whole week. The Wildcats went from number two in the country to unranked all in the span of three losses. They looked lost defensively, giving up an average of 1.17 points-per-possession, while only making 10-for-54 from deep. They obviously have talent, but the pieces need to come together quickly before this season goes completely into the dumpster.
Best Three Players: Villanova's guards stole the show, with junios Mikal Bridges and Jalen Brunson alternately taking over the game in all three wins. The old adage is that guard play wins in March, and this is what will make Villanova a threat throughout the whole season. Grant Williams was a force for Tennessee, as he put up over 20 points in games against Purdue and Villanova. Tennessee is better than I, and many thought. Williams is the best player on a team that has a high ceiling in a stacked SEC.
No comments:
Post a Comment