1. Kentucky point guard Ryan Harrow might be ready to return to practice after a mysterious illness kept him sidelined for UK’s first three games of the year. According to Kentucky Sports Radio, “On his radio show earlier tonight, John Calipari said Ryan Harrow was on the treadmill today and he could return to practice on Tuesday.” Calipari also indicated that Harrow lost seven pounds during this time. Archie Goodwin and his 23.1 percent turnover rate would appreciate the return of a starting point guard in Kentucky’s lineup. In all fairness, Goodwin has performed well playing out of position, but Harrow’s insertion in the lineup enables Goodwin to use his speed and driving ability more appropriately in the dribble-drive offense. Surely all of us will miss the quality time we had with Jarrod Polson.
2. Billy Donovan is looking for more consistency from center Patric Young, who is averaging 10.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. “Pat has been maybe up and down in those areas,” Donovan said. “I would like to have seen him rebound the basketball better (against Middle Tennessee State). Two rebounds in 24 minutes. He did get taken out of the game flow wise picking up his second foul.” In Florida’s four games so far, Young has put up performances of 12 points and 12 rebounds, eight points and seven rebounds, nine points and two rebounds, and 13 points and 11 rebounds last night against Savannah State. Young’s rebounding numbers are slightly better than last year, but his offensive rating has taken a significant dip in the early going partially due to poor free throw shooting. In the game against Middle Tennessee State, Young got to the line 11 times but converted on just five of those attempts. Perhaps Donovan will add that to Young’s list of areas to work on.
3. Mississippi State unveiled new charcoal black uniforms in its Maui Invitational opener against North Carolina. Though “the Adidas Adizero uniforms are 32 percent lighter than previous Bulldog uniforms and are designed to reduce weight and add breathability to keep players lighter and faster on the court,” it certainly did not appear to enhance performance. The Bulldogs were blown off the court by the faster and stronger Tar Heels to the tune of  95-49. At least they looked good while getting destroyed. Maybe there is something to the claim that Mississippi State never plays well in black, or maybe it just doesn’t matter what the Bulldogs wear this year. Mississippi State dropped another game in the Maui Invitational on Tuesday, this time to Marquette.
4. Andrew Del Piero’s teammates say he is earning his new scholarship with quality play. The former tuba player turned LSU walk-on recently earned a scholarship for his hard work, and now he is going to start earning more playing time for the same reason. “We’ve seen it all summer, his progression from last year to this year in practice,” senior Eddie Ludwig said. “Every day I think he gets better, so it’s no surprise to me. It’s just a matter of him getting more comfortable out there.” The 7’3″ center filled up the stat sheet against McNeese State a couple of nights ago with seven points, four boards, one steal, and one block in a then career-high eight minutes. The Tigers are thin on the frontline, so a hard working and producing 7’3″ center is going to earn a second look, and he did last night with another career high with nine minutes against Northwestern State.
5. Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy is happy with where his team is at after a 3-0 start to the season. “We’ve won the games that we should have won,” Kennedy said. “It’s been advantageous to us to get these young guys more minutes. Derrick (Millinghaus) was a little shaky, 19 points, four rebounds and five assists in his third college game which will allow him to exhale a little bit, and the other guys are starting to figure out their roles.” Newcomers Millinghaus and transfer Marshall Henderson have been pleasant surprises for the Rebels. Henderson was shooting 47 percent from beyond the arc (prior to last night’s 3-12 slump from the field), averaging 22 points a game (another number on the decline after just nine points). Mississippi won’t get its first real test until December when the Rebels play Rutgers and on the road against Middle Tennessee State. If the Rebels continue to win the games they are supposed to win, it is possible they could be a perfect 11-0 heading into conference play.

1. Former Kentucky player and current Morehead State coach Sean Woods was critical of the “vibe” he received from the Wildcats’ young players at the recent Hurricane Sandy relief telethon. “They didn’t seem like Kentucky basketball players to me, and I’ll leave it at that,” Woods said. “There is just a certain way and a certain look Kentucky basketball players should have, and not have such sense of entitlement. I think today it’s still an honor to wear that uniform.” Woods played for UK from 1988-92 and graduated as part of The Unforgettables, a senior-laden Rick Pitino coached team along with John Pelphrey, Deron Feldhaus, and Richie Farmer. All four were Kentucky-bred players who remained with the Cats for all four years of their playing career despite severe sanctions from the NCAA during that time. Woods’ Eagles will take on Kentucky on Wednesday.
2. Freshman Braxton Ogbueze has spent most of his time on the bench, but Florida coach Billy Donovan says he still has confidence in his young point guard. “I have confidence in Braxton,” Donovan said. “I have confidence in all of those (freshmen), I think they are great kids, they still have a lot to learn but they are eager to learn and get better.” Ogbueze played just three minutes against Wisconsin and six minutes versus Middle Tennessee State. With the return of starter Scottie Wilbekin at the point, Ogbueze’s time remains up in the air. “(I’m) trying to put those freshmen in position where they have an opportunity to be successful on the court,” Donovan said. “It’s a lot for Braxton or any freshman to come in without a lot of older guys on the floor. It’s not good for our team if we have Braxton, Michael Frazier and DeVon Walker on the floor together at the same time, there’s too much inexperience.” Ogbueze was Florida’s top-ranked recruit coming into the year, but is averaging just 2.3 points and 1.7 rebounds per game in the first three games.
3. It is never too early to begin evaluating the play on the court, and the Missouri blog, Rock M Nation, has put together some analysis from the first five games (including the two exhibition games) of the season. The most amazing stat of all is the Tiges’ balance on offense, as Mizzou possesses five players averaging double figures in scoring (And that doesn’t include Negus Webster-Chan at 9.7 PPG nor Michael Dixon who has been suspended). The least impressive stat thus far? That would be the Tigers’ three-point defense. SIU Edwardsville connected on 11 three-pointers, helping put Mizzou at 231st nationally in defensive three-point percentage. Missouri will get its first big test with Stanford on Thursday on a neutral court in the Bahamas.
4. Flop-gate set the college basketball and Twitter worlds ablaze last week, but was there any merit to John Calipari’s halftime critique of Duke’s defensive philosophy? Mike DeCourcy of The Sporting News took a look at the four first half charges drawn by Duke, prior to Calipari’s comments. DeCourcy concluded that one of the contact plays called by the referees was clearly a flop by the Duke defender, while the other three were legitimate charging calls. Of course this research was probably much ado about nothing since Calipari doesn’t even remember the conversation, but Cal certainly gained a new legion of followers for calling out the Blue Devils on national TV for a long time criticism of the Dukie’s patented defensive style.
5. Calipari is looking for a little something extra from his team, and he is hoping they take the cue from the play of center Nerlens Noel. “The guy’s diving on the floor, playing with energy,” Calipari said. “Would the rest of you please look at him and try to do what he’s doing or do you think just let him do that and you’re not going to do it?” Statistically, Noel is already a standout. He is averaging 11.7 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 3.3 steals, and 2.3 blocks per game. But Calipari isn’t getting that same hustle out of the rest of his freshmen. “I told Nerlens, ‘Just keep doing it, and they’ll get it,’ ” Calipari said. “Because it becomes embarrassing when he’s diving and you’re jogging or you’re standing straight up and get beat on the back door, and this kid’s diving on the floor.” And to think, Noel is just three games into his college career. He, and the rest of Cal’s Cats, have a lot of potential that hasn’t even begun to be uncovered yet.

Nick Fasulo is an RTC correspondent who writes the column College Basketball By the Tweets, a look at the world of college hoops through the prism of everyone’s favorite social media platform. You can find him on Twitter @nickfasuloSBN.

Aside from a great night of hoops at the Champions Classic, week two of the college basketball season was fairly tame, as hungry fans await the always entertaining Feast Week. There’s been a of talk lately about how college basketball is an eroding sport, but don’t tell that to Tim Brando, who was giving his undivided attention to the Champions Classic on Tuesday night.

https://twitter.com/TimBrando/status/268512307582226433

And Brando couldn’t be any more spot on, as the now annual event did not disappoint last Tuesday. Michigan State snuck past Kansas due to great late game execution on offense, while Duke’s experience was too much for Kentucky’s youth. A fantastic four hours of hoops.

Calipari, Duke & Flopping

The incident that sparked the most witty tweets this week? That would unquestionably be John Calipari‘s public indictment of Duke’s uncanny ability to flop around the basket. Cal dropped the zinger to Andy Katz while heading into the locker room at half time, when the Wildcats trailed the Blue Devils by two.

The tweets came in droves…

https://twitter.com/Mengus22/status/268557963688570880
https://twitter.com/BH_Orange44/status/268560524336324608
https://twitter.com/DanWolken/status/268562089164034049

Never one to back down, Coach K did not shy away from offering a response to Calipari during his post-game press conference.

Read the rest of this entry »

1. Florida’s Scotty Wilbekin was reinstated for Sunday’s game against Middle Tennessee State after missing the first three games of the season because of a suspension. Billy Donovan felt that Wilbekin had suffered enough, though both still refuse to cite the reason the point guard was suspended. “I think he certainly paid the price of missing three games, three pretty big games to start his junior season,” Donovan said. “I think he missed out on the opportunity to play on the ship (versus Georgetown), and then the home opener against Alabama State and then playing the other night against Wisconsin. I think he has definitely paid the price.” In Wilbekin’s return, he came off the bench to add eight points, three rebounds, and three assists in the Gators’ 66-45 victory.
2. Prior to playing the Blue Raiders on Sunday, The Gators were impressive in a 74-56 win over Wisconsin on Wednesday. Winning by 18 over a Top 25 team shouldn’t draw many complaints, but Donovan had one area of concern. After a full season of struggling to get the ball to center Patric Young in 2011-12, Florida is still struggling to feed the post again this year. Donovan said many of Florida’s 12 first half turnovers were because of poor passes down low. “We’ve got to do a better job in practice,” Donovan said. “We’ve got to work on that because there are times Patric has got great post position and we are not getting him the ball and then we did throw it, we turn the ball over.” In looking at this situation another way, Young also contributed five of the Gators’ 20 turnovers in the contest. If Florida’s guards get the big man the ball, he needs to take better care of it.
3. In an impressive 77-55 win over Villanova over the weekend, Alabama again showed that its three-point struggles from a season ago may be a thing of the past. In 2011-12, the Crimson Tide shot just 28 percent from beyond the arc, but are knocking them down at above a 40 percent rate in four games this year. In fact, against Villanova the Tide shot better from behind the three point line (9-15 for 60%) than they did at the charity stripe (18-31 for 58.1%). Sophomore Trevor Lacey, who already has a game-winning three-pointer on his resume this season, has been the most consistent shooter connecting on 11-of-18 (61%) from downtown. If the Tide can continue to shoot their way through the schedule, Anthony Grant’s 2-3 zone can keep Alabama in almost any game.
4. Speaking of lights-out three-point shooting, Kentucky’s Kyle Wiltjer has been on fire behind the arc. Wiltjer knocked down a career-high seven three pointers on Friday night against Lafayette, after struggling to score just five points against Duke in the previous game. After watching his forward’s shots taken away by the Blue Devils, head coach John Calipari issued him a challenge. “He has to work hard to create the shot before he catches,” Calipari said. “If he doesn’t, I’m going to play Willie (Cauley-Stein). That’s just how it is. I’m telling you what I told him. If you don’t work hard to create space and a shot for yourself — before you catch the ball, and I’m watching, you’re out. So (Friday) what he did, he is personally in the second half, he saw gaps, erased to those gaps and guys found him also, and he made shots.” Obviously, Wiltjer could be a huge difference maker in Kentucky’s offensive game plan if he does the work to become a major part of it.
5. Tennessee coach Cuonzo Martin didn’t panic after Tennessee made a startlingly low 13 field goals in a loss to Oklahoma State on Friday. It is November, after all. “It’s early and that was just one of those days,” Martin said. And one of Martin’s starting forwards, Jeronne Maymon, is sidelined with a knee injury meaning the coach is looking for answers. “We make subtle adjustments as a staff to better suit our personnel and help those guys grow and get better in those roles. Now, all the sudden those guys are playing more minutes. You’ve got to identify your bench and rotations and the guys have to make basketball plays.” Of course, Martin’s relaxed nature paid off as the Volunteers rebounded to beat Massachusetts 83-69 on Sunday behind a career-high 24 points from Jarnell Stokes.

In Their Own Words, SEC Edition is a compilation of what coaches, players, media, and fans are talking about via Twitter. Some tweets are informative, some funny, and some are just plain interesting. This week’s edition looks at some star performers, takes a few jabs, and focuses on the poor play at the bottom of the conference this week:

https://twitter.com/cdortch/status/269048725651988480

Whoa, we see you Erik Murphy. Man, if only he play defense. #AllSECPerformer

https://twitter.com/NotJerryTipton/status/269184099716059137

Well, he’s not really Jerry Tipton, but that doesn’t mean he’s not right. We would ask John Calipari if he actually said that, but he would probably claim he couldn’t remember and then make us repeat the quote word for word. We’re just not prepared for that. But unlike Duke reporters, we can take a joke, and that’s a good one.

https://twitter.com/BFQuinn/status/269186521008058368

This soothes the loss of injured Jeronne Maymon for now. The big fella finished with 12 points and eight boards against UNC Asheville. When Maymon returns, Hall’s emergence gives the Vols a quality rotation to work with in the frontcourt.

https://twitter.com/AlabamaMBB/status/269251860001587203

That’s what the Tide needed. Where was that shooting last year? Lacey shot 30 percent from beyond the arc last season, but is hitting for 70 percent in the first two games this year. He is also averaging 19 points per game. Somebody figure out his offseason workout routine.

https://twitter.com/JeffEisenberg/status/269254217468891136

Hard to argue with that. But really we just feel bad for these three teams at this point. It’s not even funny anymore. Okay, maybe a little, but it’s definitely not fair. It is hard to believe that Mississippi State cancelled its basketball team this year, and decided to painfully injure each of its remaining players.

https://twitter.com/SethEmerson/status/269255109052071937

That’s one way to lose a game. Mark Fox should really consider a new strategy. Layups are so much easier than three-pointers. Maybe that’s why the Bulldogs are losing so often these days. Or maybe it’s because they’ve been playing one-on-five. That’s difficult too.

https://twitter.com/ESPNDanaOneil/status/269260634955329536

Speaking of going one-on-five, Murray State point guard Isaiah Canaan took on the entire Auburn team. And he won. Auburn might want to guard him. Or perhaps the Tigers should put five new players on the court.

Brian Joyce is a writer for the SEC microsite and regular contributor for Rush The Court. Follow him on Twitter for more about SEC basketball at bjoyce_hoops.

1. A loss to a long-term but estranged rival is tough to bear for any team, and when you consider how fickle Kentucky fans tend to be, Tuesday night’s loss to Duke presumably indicates the end of Wildcats’ run among the nation’s premier programs. Their coach has to be worried about his job security, right? Afraid not. “We didn’t play that bad, ya know, shoot 49 percent, only have 13 turnovers,” John Calipari told reporters this week. But the coach’s biggest takeaway was the performance of Alex Poythress. “He’s a beast, that’s what he needed to look like. He’s a beast, so be a beast.” The Wildcats are a young team (how about that for analysis?) and will improve as the season goes on. Duke is a veteran team, and should be able to put more cohesive units on the floor in November. His biggest supporters may not realize this, but Calipari certainly does.
2. “With an off shooting night from Canaan and Barbee finding the right matchups to exploit, the Tigers could give themselves some momentum early in the season,” said an imposter who pretended to be me in Thursday’s SEC Morning Five. OK, maybe it was actually me. Isaiah Canaan did not comply with my prediction, hitting an incredibly efficient 9-12 from the floor, and leading the Racers past their SEC opponent, Auburn, Thursday night. The Tigers started out slow and couldn’t recover, with Murray State pushing the lead to 17 with a little over 10 minutes gone. Rob Chubb was the sole positional advantage Auburn had, but as he was in foul trouble the entire game, the senior center was only on the court for 15 minutes. “It’s a terrific win anytime you can beat an SEC team,” added Racers’ coach Steve Prohm in the postgame press conference.
3. Erik Murphy’s career at Florida hasn’t been smooth-sailing. For the son of a former college star and NBA player, there are certain expectations, and Murphy hadn’t been able to reach them in his first two years in Gainesville. At the climax of the disappointing period of his Florida career, in an incident extending well beyond the court, Murphy was arrested in St. Augustine. However, the consequent wake-up call would be a blessing for the Rhode Island native. Murphy was close to transferring away from the location that contained so many of his troubles, but I’m willing to bet that he’s happy with the decision to stick around. He has finally gained traction in Florida, and the nation took notice on Wednesday night with his perfect shooting performance against Wisconsin. “I’m so proud of him,” Jay Murphy said. “Not just as a player, but really of who he is. Everyone makes mistakes. And everyone deserves a second chance.”
4. LSU hasn’t earned an invite to college basketball’s premier tournament since 2009, but that doesn’t mean the Tigers completely lack NCAA tournament experience. Enter Charles Carmouche. “I’ve actually had the opportunity to win and play in the NCAA Tournament,” Carmouche told the Daily Reveille. “I’m trying to help everybody not do the wrong things I did as a younger player and to better the team as a whole.” Carmouche has done more than be a mentor for more inexperienced players so far. In the Tigers’ season opener, the transfer tallied 16 points on 6-10 shooting to lead his team to a win over the UCSB Gauchos, despite the loss of star forward Johnny O’Bryant III. He isn’t LSU’s most talented player, but by stepping up in a game in which his young teammates needed a boost, Carmouche’s decision to transfer to Baton Rouge could be the difference between middle of the pack contention and a finish in the SEC cellar.
5. Since two or three games is a sufficient representative sample for an entire season, I’m going to go ahead and declare that Alabama’s sophomore guard Trevor Lacey will be crowned SEC Player of the Year. Not adequate? OK. At the very least, Lacey has put on a show for the Crimson Tide so far. The top prospect in Alabama’s 2011 recruiting class has displayed his promise in 2012, averaging over 19 points per game and shooting over 65% from 3-point range. His team hasn’t had any frontcourt production, but with coach Anthony Grant’s deep backcourt swarm of scorers, Alabama has some time to get top recruit Devonta Pollard up to speed.

Jesse Baumgartner is an RTC columnist. His Love/Hate column will publish each week throughout the season. In this piece he’ll review the five things he loved and hated about the previous seven days of college basketball.

Five Things I Loved This Week

I LOVED… a lottery pick play. They’re some of my favorite moments every year – the two seconds that make you go, “Ohh, OhhhhhhWOWWW!” as a talented underclassman goes to a level you weren’t sure he had – and one that definitely translates to the next level. I ventured down to Chapel Hill for Sunday’s UNC-Florida Atlantic game, and soph sensation James Michael McAdoo provided that moment in the second half when he drove baseline, took off from under the hoop and floated all the way to the other side before stretching back and stuffing it home. The season is young, but he definitely looks like a player ready for the next level after blooming during the final weeks of last season. And I can barely wait to see him go head-to-head with Indiana’s Cody Zeller on November 27.

I LOVED… Duke doing what they do in the early season – using superior coaching and discipline to beat a much more talented Kentucky squad. It seems like Coach K specializes in this – he uses the early-season schedule to prey on the highly-skilled but less highly-disciplined youth that comes into college basketball every November. They might not beat those Wildcats in March, but they certainly outplayed them on Tuesday night.

I LOVED… John Calipari saying what we all were thinking on a nationally-televised halftime interview: “They’re (Duke) floppin’ all over the place.” Preach the truth, Cal.

I LOVED… feeling like college basketball was back on November 13. Sometimes it seems like it takes a few weeks to get going, but as soon as Duke-UK heated up in the second half, the energy was there. We had a high level of play early in the year, Dickie V simultaneously trying (successfully) to jump on both bandwagons in the span of one telecast, Blue Devils flying through the air horizontally despite no contact…. ah yes. It’s back.

Read the rest of this entry »

1. Frank Haith has employed a non-traditional team-building strategy during his tenure in Missouri, but it appears that it was out of necessity instead of preference. After filling his current squad with impact transfers, the second-year coach is expected to receive letters of intent from Johnathan Williams III, Wesley Clark, and Torren Jones. Rivals.com lists Williams and Clark as four-star recruits, while Jones garners a three-star rating. Missouri hasn’t had a Top 25 recruiting class since 2004, when Quin Snyder was at the helm. Haith has developed a great deal of momentum since he arrived in Columbia two summers ago, and it appears that he’s putting his program in a great position to ensure long-term success.
2. SEC foes certainly aren’t excited to face John Calipari’s seemingly endless supply of elite athletes, but his dominance in the recruiting world is a definite benefit for the league. The conference’s basketball reputation has been lagging over the past several years, but with almost half of the ESPN’s top 15 2013 recruits committed to SEC schools, a resurgence appears to be in the cards. Furthermore, among the uncommitted top 15 players, each remaining player lists an SEC school as a serious option for their commitment.
3. As Florida’s top scoring option, Kenny Boynton is at his best when he’s using off-the-ball screens to make space for an open shot or a drive to the rim. Unfortunately, it’s tough to get in those positions when you’re the one making the pass, and with Scottie Wilbekin’s ongoing suspension, Boynton will remain the Gators’ primary point guard. The results so far haven’t been ideal. In Florida’s game against Georgetown (which was called at halftime with the Gators ahead by four), the senior committed four turnovers to only three assists, a performance that he admits will have to improve. “I went back and watched over the first half,” said Boynton, “Those turnovers could have been prevented. It’ll get better in time.” Hopefully he doesn’t need much more than 24 hours. Wisconsin comes to Gainesville tonight, and Ken Pomeroy’s 5th-ranked team won’t allow the makeshift floor general much room for error.
4. A loss to Duke hurts for any Kentucky fan, but there are positives coming from the Tuesday night Atlanta match-up in the Champions Classic. “I can’t stand losing, but it was a good game,” said John Calipari after the game. “I think it helped our team.” The frontcourt combination of Alex Poythress and Nerlens Noel, which didn’t impress against Maryland in the opener, showed their talent against the Blue Devils, combining for 36 points and 16 rebounds. Miles Plumlee’s fourth foul in the early stages of the second half appeared to give the Wildcats an opportunity to exploit their frontcourt size disparity, but a youthful group wasn’t yet capable of taking advantage.
5. In the opening game of college basketball’s most competitive preseason tournament, Missouri didn’t allow any doubt that their team is ready to compete with the nation’s top teams. Hosting Alcorn State Tuesday night, the Tigers displayed their class with a 61-point second-half performance, providing Frank Haith with momentum going in to his team’s match-up with a much-improved Stanford Cardinal in the true Battle 4 Atlantis opener. Haith continued to tinker with his lineup, enabling him to see increased minutes from freshman big man Stefan Jankovic. The Serbian national exhibited the potential for an all-around contribution for the Tigers, contributing four assists, three blocks, and two steals to go along with eight points and five boards. Alex Oriakhi and Laurence Bowers certainly aren’t in danger of losing their starting positions, but a multi-faceted reserve forward like Jankovic could be invaluable as the Tigers move into a tougher portion of their schedule.

Tonight’s Lede. Hoops Marathon Ends With Basketball Royalty in Atlanta. The fifth iteration of ESPN’s College Hoops Marathon went from Spokane to Albuquerque to Honolulu to New Jersey to Indiana to Amherst to Ohio to NYC to Cincinnati to Atlanta, with 16 games of varying quality and competitiveness, but it finished at the Champions Classic with two hard-fought and generally well-played games befitting the assembled hoops royalty of Izzo, Krzyzewski, Calipari and Self. Last season’s inaugural event in Madison Square Garden featured Krzyzewski’s 903d all-time victory and the coming-out party of Calipari’s talented band of super-freshmen. This year’s set of games in Atlanta featured a Michigan State team finding itself after a surprising loss to a scrappy Connecticut team last week in Germany, while Duke was looking to shore up its perimeter defense to reclaim its usual spot among the nation’s elite as a national title contender. Tonight’s losing teams, Kentucky and Kansas, came away from the experience not feeling terrible, realizing that November games — while important to their resumes — are more a time for reflection and focused learning than worrying about finished products. Let’s jump into the day’s games…

Your Watercooler Moment. Calipari Calls Out Duke’s Flopping. 

What else could it be? In one of the better preaching to the choir moments in recent college basketball history, John Calipari told ESPN’s Andy Katz at halftime of the Champions Classic nightcap in a half-joking/half-serious manner that Duke’s players were “flopping all over the place.” The Twitter-verse immediately seized the moment because if there’s anything that gets Duke haters riled up, it’s the tendency for Coach K’s defenders to find their backs on the floor with the ball headed the other way. For what it’s worth, Calipari said after the game that he was just joking. Nevertheless… the head coach may have made some new friends tonight.

This Other Thing… Both Kentucky and Duke Impressed. Duke walked out of Atlanta as the clear winner of the event, knocking off the #2 Wildcats and showing that some of the defensive deficiencies that caused so many problems for the Blue Devils last season may be solved. Seth Curry (23 pts) was outstanding in his twin roles as leader and scorer, and his game-finishing drive to fake Nerlens Noel off his feet and drop in a right-handed layup was a thing of beauty. Mason Plumlee, when not in foul trouble, showed that he is an elite big man (18/3 on 7-8 FG) and the rest of the Duke cast was at least serviceable on this night. Coach K was not going to let the Kentucky perimeter beat his team, and a 9-25 shooting night from Kyle Wiltjer, Archie Goodwin and Julius Mays ensured that Duke wouldn’t have to get into an 80- or 90-point game to win this one. As for the Wildcats, we anticipated that John Calipari would get a much better effort on the glass, and he did (27 each) while also allowing his talented big men, Alex Poythress and Noel, to pick their spots and follow the fluidity of the game. The duo combined for 36 points and 16 rebounds, and the mere sight of those two flying around the airspace above the rim should send shudders throughout the rest of college basketball wondering how good they’ll be when they figure out the plays. Brian Joyce was at the game and provided his takeaways here from watching it courtside, but from the perspective of talent (Kentucky) and cohesion (Duke), it wouldn’t surprise us to see both of these squads matching up again in that very building next April.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Shot is part of college basketball’s canon. Basketball fans regardless of age know The Shot from its prominent place during March Madness, both in promos and commercials. Duke and Kentucky fans — at least the ones old enough to do so — remember where they were when it happened. They still remember that bitterest taste of defeat when victory seemed secure and the inconceivable high brought on by the most unlikely of victories. Kentucky fans remember the Christian Laettner stomp from earlier in that game, which, in another universe, meant Kentucky winning while Duke’s star center looked on from the locker room. A couple of decades and a self-deprecating charity performance have somewhat repaired Laettner’s standing with the Big Blue Nation. Somewhat. But there’s still a remarkable tension between two schools that haven’t played in over 10 years, which makes this game more than just two top 10 teams facing off early in the season.

Is Rasheed Sulaimon enough to turn Duke’s perimeter defense around? (photo: Duke photography)

Ironically, the players have far less historical weight attached to the game. No doubt Duke and Kentucky players alike know about The Shot, and some of the fan intensity between the two fan bases probably has worn off on the men who will decide the game. But fans hold onto the past much more than players, most of whom chose their school because they thought it was the best “fit” (because of facilities, coaches, branding or academics). Many players weren’t yet alive to see the storied game, and the ones who were breathing probably weren’t walking.

But this game is huge for Duke. This is a game to prove — both to critics and themselves — that last year was an anomaly and they can handle the task of defending an athletic perimeter. It’s a chance to grab a marquee win that will look very good come Selection Sunday. And it’s a chance to put the Blue Devils on the list of legitimate national title contenders. For Kentucky the stakes are a little lower. The team is already considered a contender — though that’s largely thanks to John Calipari‘s track record with top recruits than anything this group has actually done — and his team is very young. No one expects Kentucky to be at its best this early. Even for Calipari that expectation is unreasonable. But this is still a chance at a statement win.

Read the rest of this entry »