Week of 12/27 Non-UConn Games

[Hey Adrien!]

In light of UConn's cancelation, might as well talk about other games on the slate.

Today, the one D1 game is Syracuse hosting Brown, which KenPom predicts will be a 10 point Cuse win w/ a 17% chance of an upset. Brown is 8-5 with three loses of 7 or less against UNC, Colorado and Vermont.

Brown is known for their "bully ball", so it would be nice to see the Boeheim's get knocked around a bit. One of their senior leaders is 6'5 210 Tamenang Choh, from Lowell, MA.

6 PM on the ACC Network.

 

[SoFla Steve]

Well, the first half looked promising.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Well, the first half looked promising.

True, Brown was down six at the half but a team will never beat Syracuse if they are shooting 29% from three.

I was checking KenPom this morning and it's absurd how many threes their zone defense forces teams to shoot. Currently, they are #1 in the country in that metric, with opponents shooting 50.8% of their FGAs from three. To put that in perspective, the median ratio is currently 38.3%.

They're also 2nd in the nation in preventing isolation offense. 68.6% of all opponents' FGs are from assists and the median is 50.9%.

It's super boring basketball to watch, but Boeheim will keep Boeheimin'.

That was my first time watching Brown all season and they can definitely be a dark horse winner in the Ivy this season and their physicality make for fun basketball and an easy team to root for. Loyola-Chicago three-star transfer Paxson Wojcik is a good addition to the physical team, bringing a smooth shooting wing w/ size. Freshman Nana Owusu-Anane impressed me too. Athletic big man (6'8 220) who was a three-star recruit and had 13 D1 offers.

Back to this week's games. I'm three days behind my wife's Covid convalescence and hearing the news of all the games being canceled she just told me "the best thing for you right now is to sit around and watch sports, so it sucks at all of these games are getting canceled".

Am I really going to watch the first 20 minutes of the 2 PM Alabama State @ Texas Tech? Maybe. You know it's bad where the best game that's before my bedtime is Notre Dame @ Pitt (which I bet on Notre Dame at the ML, just to keep things interesting).

For you night owls, Fresno State @ Boise State is a very good top-70 MWC game while 10 PM Yale @ Saint Mary's might be interesting for a bit. That game is available to watch for free on the WCC app.

 

[awfuldan]

I went to see Brown play at Quinnipiac earlier in the season. They were impressive, beating a veteran-led QU team pretty handidly on the road. Their bigs were impressive but it was their freshman guard Kino Lilly Jr. that was the star. He scored 24 points on 11 shots off the bench, outscoring the entire QU bench by himself. He was the leading scorer vs. Cuse too.

Would not be surprised to see Brown compete for a top spot in the Ivy League. I've seen Yale play in person this season too. Definitely want to try and catch more of their games in New Haven.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Here's my summary on a solid slate for the Big East and the SEC:

5 PM -

DePaul @ Butler - FS1

It’s easy to get excited for DePaul’s 9-1 start, but they’ve had one of the weakest schedules in the nation (currently ranked 309th). Butler’s OOC scheduling was weird: losses to Purdue, Houston, Michigan State and Texas A&M and their only quality OOC win was Oklahoma…their 2nd best win was Troy, oof.

It’ll be a battle of tempos. Butler is the 8th slowest team in the NCAA while DePaul is 32nd nationally. Personally, I’ll be rooting for DePaul. Javon Freeman-Liberty (20.9p, 8.3r, 3.9a, 2s) and David Jones (17.4p, 8.3r, 1.7s) are one of the best duos in the Big East.

Arkansas @ Mississippi State - SEC Network

Arkansas is a team with high expectations, but people are yawning at their 10-2 record due to their weak OOC schedule (302nd overall). Their best wins are Kansas State and Cincy while they had loses to Oklahoma and Hofstra. Arkansas scores a lot (81.5 ppg), they do it mostly from the interior.

Similar to the Butler/DePaul game, this will be a battle of tempos. Arkansas plays the 21st fastest tempo while Mississippi State plays the 324th fastest tempo. The Bulldogs shoot well and are a top-20 rebounding team, so if the Razorbacks aren’t making shots (30.5% from deep), I expect Mississippi State to capitalize on the glass.

Arkansas’ star: JD Notae, 18p, 4.9r, 3.2a, 2.7s, 42 fg%, 29.3 3p%
Mississippi State’s star: Iverson Molinar, 16.9p, 4.4a, 45 fg%, 30.4 3p%

7 PM -

#15 Seton Hall @ #21 Providence - FS1

Impressive start to the season for Willard’s squad. Wins over Michigan and Texas and their only loss was by three against Ohio State. Seton Hall has an elite perimeter D (24.7 opponents 3p%) and if Ike Obiagu (ankle) can play tonight he and Tyrese Samuel will have a heck of a one/two punch defending Nate Watson.

#16 LSU @ #11 Auburn - ESPN 2

LSU’s #1 defense in the country is anchored by 6’8 185 freshman Alex Fudge while Auburn has the 20th best offense led by Jabari Smith (16.2p, 45.2 3p%). That matchup will be a ton of fun to watch.

8 PM -

Wake Forest @ Louisville - ACC Network

With a rebuilding roster, Steve Forbes smartly scheduled a soft OOC schedule (337th nationally) to enter ACC play 11-1. After two solid, but uninspiring years at Oklahoma (6.3 career ppg), Aldones Williams has exploded to become Wake’s star averaging 21p, 6.6r, 4.9a, 1.4s and 58 fg%. Louisville plays fast on offense (21st offensive tempo) but haven’t been hitting their shots (41.8 fg%, 30.5 3p%). Noah Locke hasn’t played as advertised with a 36.2 2p% and 31.3 3p%.

9 PM -

#14 Tennessee @ #19 Alabama - ESPN 2

The 9th most efficient offense in the country (Alabama) against the 2nd most efficient defense (Tennessee). Tennessee’s freshman point-guard Kennedy Chandler is one of the headier and creative point guards in the nation who provides the team much needed skill and pizazz to their workman’s team play. For Alabama, Keon Ellis is one of the best two-way wings in the nation while Jaden Shackelford and Javon Quinerly (31.5 points combined) are one of the better backcourts in the SEC.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Surprising tidbit:

 

[auror]

Auburn dominating unbeaten LSU 18-4, 10 minutes in.

 

[F101Voodoo]

93-62……well that was close!,,,he he

 

[awfuldan]

Kessler on triple double watch with two minutes to go... 16 points 9 rebounds 9 blocks vs. the #16 team! This is the dude that Sanogo dominated in the Bahamas.

 

[awfuldan]

Kessler got the 10th block on a 3-pointer but missed the last rebound. Bummer!

 

[wheelerdog]

Tulane over Memphis.

All the smoke...

 

[jibsey]

Anyone who is watching the Alabama Tennesse game has to notice that these players are smashing into each other on both ends and the refs are ignoring most of it. Contrast that with some of our games where no touch and phantom calls rule. This game flows and doesn’t stop every 30 seconds. SEC refs always like this I wonder?

So the announcer just said it was “grown man basketball and if you don’t like it switch to another conference.”

 

[Icehawk]

Hall v Prov was a pretty good game - gotta give it to the Hall down half their team they hung in there and never gave up. Horchler was on fire though, I think he hit 3 3s in a row at the end of the 1st half, Hall was lucky for the halftime break or I think it would have gotten totally out of control for them. That's 5 Q1 wins for Prov now... most in the NCAA.

I love Donny Marshall as a commentator, wish he'd do all our games. Would be fun to hear him and Vitale do a game for us, would be a flashback for sure

 

[jeff99]

Seton Hall was down 2 players that actually play. They still had 7 of their top 9 players.

 

[auror]

Seton Hall was down 2 players that actually play. They still had 7 of their top 9 players.

Yes but it was 2 of their 4 best bigs against Nate Watson including starting center and best defensive center.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

For those w/ ESPN+, excellent game right now between South Dakota State @ North Dakota State. Great pace, lots of skill and two teams that don't like each other at all.

 

[BGesus4]

Kessler got the 10th block on a 3-pointer but missed the last rebound. Bummer!

Every time I hear Kessler get love I just think of Sanogo making him look like a chair in an Ajou Deng training video on repeat

 

[Hey Adrien!]

UCF up 9 over Michigan w/ 3 to go.

UCF 8-8 from deep in the 2nd half.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Tubby Smith had his jersey retired at Rupp today.



Props to Tubby Smith and guys like Cliff Ellis, Rick Pitino and Lorenzo Romar who are former P5 guys who keep doing their thing at smaller schools.

 

[Mr. French]

Watching Baylor / Iowa State, good game. Baylor REALLY guards guys. I love Akinjo.

So ironic that we could use a primary ball handler and bulldog like Akinjo right now, and our prior HC recruited him. For his faults as a coach and recruiter, he got Akinjo right. He's good, and has been at multiple spots.

 

[MJ1]

Seton Hall and Villanova in a good one in Jersey. Lively crowd with RAF on CBS, fun stuff!

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Watching Baylor / Iowa State, good game. Baylor REALLY guards guys. I love Akinjo.

So ironic that we could use a primary ball handler and bulldog like Akinjo right now, and our prior HC recruited him. For his faults as a coach and recruiter, he got Akinjo right. He's good, and has been at multiple spots.

Yeah, I'm watching too.

Props to the fans in Ames: the crowd is doing a nice job trying to tip the momentum, but Baylor is just too good. Insane they are as good as they are this year despite losing four starters from last year's squad.

T.J Otzelberger is my pick for coach of the year. And it's not just the patchwork he did to bring in transfers for this year: freshman Tyrese Hunter is playing like a vet.

 

[SeattleHoop]

Watching Baylor / Iowa State, good game. Baylor REALLY guards guys. I love Akinjo.

So ironic that we could use a primary ball handler and bulldog like Akinjo right now, and our prior HC recruited him. For his faults as a coach and recruiter, he got Akinjo right. He's good, and has been at multiple spots.

I mean, I guess. Lol. Akinjo has played for like 4 different schools. Not a loyal dude imo and that matters to me.

If you’re talking pure talent, then yeah, he got it right.

I’m not a fan of him though

 

[auror]

I mean, I guess. Lol. Akinjo has played for like 4 different schools. Not a loyal dude imo and that matters to me.

If you’re talking pure talent, then yeah, he got it right.

I’m not a fan of him though

At UConn, Ollie was fired before he enrolled, so he de-comitted. Pretty reasonable.
At Gtown, there was an incident and a few of his buddies were thrown off the team. Not enough details to go on here, so hard to tell if it was a loyalty thing.
At Arizona, his coach Sean Miller was fired and so he left.
Thriving at Baylor.

So 2/3 changes was due to his coach no longer being able to coach him.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

More thoughts on Baylor:

For the first time that I am aware of Baylor went with a "small ball" lineup that didn't have either Thamba/Tchatchoua at the 5.

The fact they they can play small ball with Kendall Brown (6'8 205), Matthew Mayer (6'9 225) and Jeremy Sochan (6'9 230) playing the 4 and 5 spots is an insane amount of size that Scott Drew has at his disposal in addition to his three excellent guards. Five of their top eight rotational pieces are 6'8 or taller.