College basketball is back, and due to some employment circumstances
beyond my control, I’ve been able to watch a fair amount of it over the last
seven days. What follows is some of my observations from what I’ve watched over
the last week. I hope to write at least a post once a week depending on what
else in life goes on. I may write more, I may write less. Here’s what I thought
about the opening week of games.
Did Duke just break
College basketball?: I mean, the Blue Devils came back to Earth a bit in
their second game against Army, but this hypothetical stems from its opening
salvo when Kentucky was made to look extremely pedestrian. This debut from the boys from Durham simply
smashed all expectations I had for this team, especially compared with all the hype surrounding the previous two freshmen-laden preseason top five teams. To come
out and make KENTUCKY look like a freshman team scrimmaging the varsity was
something that I don’t think anyone expected. Each of the four freshmen
completely blew me away with their athleticism and their competitiveness. I
expected this to be the case with Zion Williamson, but RJ Barrett, Cam Reddish, and Tre Jones all had moments
that made me say “holy shit!” while watching at home. Are they going to be able
to maintain this dominance all year? Will someone like Virginia or Syracuse be
able to figure out a way to guard them, thus giving other teams a blueprint
heading into March? Will role players Jack White or Alex O’Connell become the
next white Duke player all of America hates? These are all questions going
forward for what is sure to be an entertaining ride watching the 2018-19 Duke
Blue Devils.
(Getty Images)
Kansas Not to be
outdone by Duke’s freshmen, Kansas has two freshman guards that also acquitted
themselves rather well on opening night. Quentin Grimes and Devon Dotson both had stellar debuts
as they combined for 37 points in leading the Jayhawks to a mostly easy win
over Michigan State. Udoka Azibuike crushed Nick Ward, and Dedric Lawson
managed a 20-14-6 line despite a horrible 5-for-18 shooting night from the
floor. Ten players logged minutes for the Jayhawks, and they look like they
have the best 1-10 roster in the land. Without Duke going ballistic, this would
have been the story from opening night. The Jayhawks also struggled a bit in their
second game, but this game Lagerald Vick hit all eight of his threes on his way
to 32 points. It looks like Kansas could have a different player that goes off in any given game.
Trash or Nah: I honestly don’t know if Kentucky is going to
be good or not. Preseason polls and recruiting rankings are saying that they
are a Final Four threat. My eyes tell me that they maybe have only one or two
shooters, too many big guys that can’t space the floor, a freshman point guard
that should be a high school senior that looks spooked every time he comes in
the game, and countless other issues. Stay tuned on this one, as we won’t
really know much until the Wildcats play Seton Hall, Utah, and North Carolina
in December.
Players of the Week:
- CJ Massinburg: Massinburg put on a clinic against West Virginia, netting 43 points with 35 coming in the second half in Buffalo’s road upset over WVU. He hit nine threes, with most of them coming from deep NBA range. He didn’t do much in Buffalo’s other two wins, but Massinburg is the leader for a team that could be the next mid-major that stakes its claim in going from virtual unknown to top 25 mainstay in 2018-19.
- Markus Howard: The best scorer in the Big East led the Golden Eagles to two wins putting up averages of 28-8-6 with only four turnovers. After a quiet opener, he torched Bethune-Cookman for 37 in game number two.
- Zion Williamson: Other than already being a cultural phenomenon on a first-name basis, his numbers stood up as well in his first two college games. Williamson is shooting 81.4 percent from the field, averaging 27.5 PPG, 11.5 RPG, and 3.5 blocks. Obviously these won’t continue, but if he can average a double-double with that kind of shooting, he could easily surpass his teammate RJ Barrett and others to win Player of the Year.
- Oshae Brissett: Tyus Battle got most of the preseason love, but Brissett might be the best all-around player in Syracuse. The sophomore has started the season off with 18.5 PPG, 11.5 RPG, and 2.5 Steals as Cuse cruised in its first two games.
- Ty Jerome: Jerome doesn’t get as much hype as Kyle Guy or Deandre Hunter, but he’s arguably the most important player on Tony Bennett’s roster. Jerome kicked off his campaign to be the best point guard in the land by leading UVA in points, assists, and steals in his first two games. He’s made 10 of his first 14 threes, and is a pest at the heart of Virginia’s top-ranked defense.
New faves: I really don't follow recruiting over than to learn the names of the top 100 freshmen coming into college each season. So I almost always have no clue what to expect with newcomers playing for prominent teams at the beginning of the year. That leads to discoveries such as the players I mention here being unexpected joys to watch. This begins and ends with Georgetown freshman and
Virginia native Mac McClung. I just assumed that he was a dunking phenom who wasn’t
actually any good at playing basketball. Come to find out he’s starting in the
backcourt with another freshman against Illinois and contributing heavily. I
legitimately said “Oh God” aloud when he got a steal and had a wide open path
to the rim last night Two or three other Sportscenter Top 10 type plays and it’s
safe to say The Hoyas will be appointment television within the Big East.
Another one who stood out is USC’s Kevin Porter Jr. He’s been creeping up draft
boards as a potential one-and-done, but even while playing limited minutes due to foul trouble Sunday
night against Vanderbilt, you can see that he could take the Pac 12 by storm
with his athleticism and ability to get to the rim. Lastly, Zach Hankins from
Xavier stood out. He is a Caucasian with tattoos and cornrows. He’s a rim
protector who at times gave Wisconsin’s Ethan Happ fits when the two squads met
last night. Happ absolutely murdered him in the post to the tune of 30 points,
but Hankins had some moments where he swatted a couple of shots and talked copious amounts of shit the whole time. I compared him on twitter to a bigger version of
former Big East villain Eric Devendorf. Whether he or Xavier is relevant this
year is hard to say right now, but at least for one night he stood out.
(Fox Sports 1)
Worst that I Saw: The offenses of Georgia Tech and Cincinnati were rather putrid in nature in losses to Tennessee and Ohio State respectively. Neither squad is really known for their offensive prowess, but 0.76 points per possession on 3-for-19 from three (Georgia Tech), and 0.89 PPP on 23.1 percent from deep as you open your brand new arena (Cincinnati) is no way to go through life.
Mid-Major love: Buffalo has to be the leader in the
clubhouse right now for best mid-major that started the season outside the top
25. Hoops junkies knew they were going to be good with most of the 2017-18 team
that destroyed an Arizona team with three guys now playing in the NBA back this
season. But two road wins, including one over West Virginia that could age
really well has the Bulls in the top 25 already. They’re experienced and have
had a taste of March success already. If they can beat St. Bonaventure on the
road later on in early December, they could be 11-0 heading into a December 18th
showdown with Syracuse at the Carrier Dome.
Week Ahead: The 2K Empire Classic is not necessarily a loaded field, but Syracuse-UConn and Oregon-Iowa
on Thursday, with the winners and losers matching up on Friday could make for decent
intrigue. From a Big 10 vantage point, this is the first chance for Iowa to
pick up a quality win as they try to come back from a losing season with the
majority of that roster still in Iowa City. Other questions to be answered: How good is Oregon's freshman Bol Bol? And is Syracuse really a threat within the ACC and a dark horse Final Four contender?
(Rich Barnes Getty Images)
Charleston: The tournament here is sneaky good with two top 25 teams, and then a bunch of other fringe top- 100 teams that could pull
off a couple of upsets. I honestly don’t know if Purdue or Virginia Tech is the
best team here. Purdue is still figuring things out after losing four program
cornerstones to graduation. Carsen Edwards is a Player of the Year candidate,
but how good can the supporting cast be? VT brings back most of its roster, but
as of right now is missing its most versatile player with Chris Clarke suspended.
Nickell Alexander-Walker might be on the verge of becoming a breakout star. Wichita
State, Alabama, and Davidson all loom as bracket busters that could really set
themselves up for big seasons with a couple of upset wins.
Big East-Big 10: This event already kicked off last night with two
games, but it really gets going tonight with a rematch of last season’s National
Championship game. Michigan heads to Villanova to try and get revenge.
Marquette just cracked the top 25 and gets an important test when they head to
Bloomington to play Romeo Langford and Indiana. There are four other games of
varying importance also set to take place over the next three days with Seton Hall at Nebraska, Ohio State at Creighton, Penn State at Depaul, and St John's at Rutgers.
Picks Sure to go Wrong: (So if one were into gambling or that sort of thing, go the other way)
- Villanova over Michigan
- Nebraska over Seton Hall
- Marquette over Indiana
- Purdue to win the Charleston Classic
- UCF to win the Myrtle Beach Invitational
- Syracuse to win Empire 2k Classic
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