- Ky McKeon
The first week in college basketball is always a sure bet to bring us surprising results. Months and months of careful speculation in the offseason can be SHATTERED by one major stumble or unexpected victory. But, it’s good to stay grounded while sifting through the doomsday accusations by the multitudes of personalities on the Twitter timeline. The Weave is here to level set (or encourage) wild takes and cool (or electrify) heated heads.
Kentucky is the Best Team in America
Ok, this one might be true. As Jim and I discussed on Barstool Reags’ podcast this past week, Big Blue Nation looked like the real deal against the presumed number one team Michigan State. Freshman point guard Tyrese Maxey is an absolute star, and he’s my co-pick with Cole Anthony for “guy who ESPN talks about way too much” in 2019-20. Despite the score looking close, Kentucky dominated this game throughout and looks to have the best defense in the country with scary length, athleticism, and speed at nearly every position on the floor. I’m not ready to definitively declare UK the title favorites yet, but the Cats are certainly on the cusp.
We Don’t Know What to Think about Kansas and Duke
There weren’t any scorching hot takes coming from this game, but most fans and experts across the land seem to agree on one thing: the jury is still out on Kansas and Duke. Sure, the Blue Devils won the game, but they looked pedestrian through much of it and needed 28 KU turnovers (17 of which came from non-steals) to eke out the game by two points. Coach K’s outside shooting problem appears it was not addressed during the offseason, as Duke sputtered to an 8/24 3P effort led by Tre Jones’ 0/4 mark. Jones followed up that heroic shooting effort by going 0/3 from deep against Colorado State. Thus far, Duke is shooting a pedestrian 26.1% from three, and Duke fan favorite to bring shooting to the squad, Wendell Moore, is a SCORCHING 0/0.
On the other end, Kansas can take some solace in the fact it led comfortably in the second half and lost by just two despite playing its sloppiest game under Bill Self in years. But, question marks abound surrounding KU’s two-big lineup, which was exceedingly inefficient with Udoka Azubuike and David McCormack / Silvio De Sousa clogging the floor. Doke is not a threat outside of the immediate rim area while McCormack and De Sousa added nothing offensively. The return of Iowa transfer Isaiah Moss could help solve this lineup conundrum, as Self was forced to play his guards Devon Dotson, Ochai Agbaji, and Marcus Garret 38, 38, and 36 minutes, respectively.
Grand Canyon Sucks! Illinois Sucks! Missouri State Sucks! Nebraska Sucks!
Much like shocking exhibition results, early season gaffes are a magnet for national slander. But, it’s important to remember teams tend to struggle in the early going and one off-night or hot night by an opponent can end in an utterly unbelievable upset. These results are certainly concerning, but by no means a death knell to a given program.
Grand Canyon fell at home to D2 Davenport on Tuesday, which was arguably the biggest upset in the country this week. Davenport shot 15/30 from downtown while the Lopes managed a measly 2/19 while being kept off the offensive glass. To make matters worse, GCU played just seven guys with Jaylen Fisher’s eligibility in the air and Oscar Frayer academically ineligible. It was the perfect combination of poor GCU shooting, hot Davenport shooting, and injury-ridden personnel. The Illini came to town on Friday, which predictably resulted in another GCU loss, but at least Dan Majerle’s squad kept this one respectable. I still think the Lopes are a WAC contender, but they won’t touch New Mexico State in the regular season.
The Illini didn’t lose their opening game, but they came mighty close. Nicholls State, led by Savannah State transfer Dexter McClanahan, took Illinois to overtime and held a two-point advantage with 42 seconds left in the game. The Illini bounced back briefly with a 12-point road win at Grand Canyon before getting ransacked by Arizona Sunday night. Brad Underwood is under a giant magnifying glass this season; early results have been disappointing, but we at the Weave still have faith in the third-year head coach.
Missouri State, the Valley favorite, suffered a shocking loss of their own at the hands of Little Rock, a lower tier Sun Belt squad. Highly touted JUCO recruit Gaige Prim missed the game for the Bears, but Dana Ford’s uber-talented squad had no excuse dropping this one. The Bears followed up the lackluster effort by struggling to put away Alabama State, a SWAC school with no business competing against a Missouri Valley title contender, at least on paper. Small sample size results should be taken with a grain of salt, but it appears MO State may have one of those “frustratingly inconsistent” type of seasons.
Finally, Nebraska was thumped at home to UC Riverside, a team not expected to compete near the top in the Big West. Fred Hoiberg’s small squad was bullied on the glass and shot a piss poor 16/55 from the floor and 9/19 from the FT line. The Huskers followed up this effort by losing to a talented Southern Utah squad at home in overtime. A mixture of JUCO and DI transfers, the Huskers have talent to win some games in the Big Ten, but this team may need some more time for all the pieces to properly mesh. Nebraska is an excellent candidate for a team plays VASTLY differently in February than November.
A New Guard in the ACC?
I hate to take Jim Boeheim’s side on any topic, but the new ACC schedule is mind-numbingly stupid. There’s no reason (other than money) that conference games should be played in November, let alone the first game of the year. Alas, here we are.
Those games yielded some very interesting results. Pitt took down Florida State at home, Georgia Tech took advantage of a banged-up NC State squad, and Virginia Tech showed signs it may not take as giant of a step back as initially thought.
Pitt’s win over FSU was easily the most impressive of the former ACC bottom feeders. Jeff Capel’s young and talented squad proved it could hang with the big dogs by taking down a bigger, more athletic Seminoles team. Unfortunately, Pitt followed up this marquis win with a loss to an upstart Nicholls State squad on its home floor. The Panthers have set themselves up to make a run at the NCAA Tournament, even with the step back against Nicholls, but they still have miles to go.
NC State was without Markell Johnson and DJ Funderburk, one of the best players in the ACC and a surefire starter, respectively. Despite that, the Pack led GT by as much as 15 points before losing by one point in overtime. It’s a game Kevin Keatts definitely wants back, but ultimately an excusable loss and a potential caveat the Committee will keep in mind when selecting the Field of 68.
I admittedly was most surprised at Virginia Tech’s road win at Clemson. Yes, Clemson is down this season with an injury-plagued roster, but the Hokies were supposed to be depths-of-the-ACC bad this year following the departure of nearly every starter and Buzz Williams to Texas A&M. Mike Young coached a brilliant game and Landers Nolley, ACT star, poured in 30 points on 23 shots to lead the young Hokies to their first conference victory. Va Tech’s non-conference schedule is Downy soft, so winning a road game like this will do wonders for its resume.
One last note in the ACC – Virginia held Syracuse to 34 points. This team is still going to be really, really, really, really good.
Washington State is a Wagon
Wazzu started 3MW’s Sports Illustrated picks off on a good start with an obliteration of a good Seattle squad. The Cougars rode burgeoning star CJ Elleby’s 27 points to an 85-54 victory, sending a message to the rest of the country that the old Washington State is dead. New head coach Kyle Smith proved quickly he is a massive upgrade over the departed Ernie Kent and Wazzu’s talented new backcourt, led by Jaylen Shead and Isaac Bonton, lived up to their billing. The Cougars may not make the NCAA Tournament this season, but rest assured they are much better than current public perception and will cover plenty more games over the next couple months.