College Basketball Thread 2018

Or a typical Friday night walking home from a bar.

 

Tony Bennett might be the best college basketball coach in America.

They just dismantled Syracuse in the Dome by 26.

 

Sinking 18 3-pointers usually helps the cause.

The defense, believe it or not, hasn't been as good as some of Bennett's better teams. But this team can dial in from deep. Might give them a better chance of rallying than some of those better defensive teams that weren't as offensively gifted (granted, I'm talking about deficits bigger than the two against Syracuse at halftime).

 

But how they took apart Syracuse’s matchup was something. Especially in the zzz Carrier Dome.

They just got open look after open look from kicking it out of the high post. They were prepared. Well prepared.

If Hunter stays in college, they are going to be lethal next year. I don’t see Guy or Jerome leaving early even though they will both have nice NBA careers. I might even take Jerone over Guy if I was an NBA team. I’m not seeing Hunter as a lottery, but he will be fine as well.

 

Thing is, one of the best ways to beat the matchup zone? Going over it.

Easy to say at a keyboard or coaching on a whiteboard. Gotta actually sink the shots. Virginia did.

 

Considering you now have a generation of players who have grown up with Steph Curry - I'm still surprised how many college kids can't hit an outside shot to save their life.

 

It is interesting to see how the portion of FGA that are 3FGA has increased in the past few years.

 

During their run last year to the Elite Eight, I became a nominal Kansas State fan. Loyola was a great story, but K-State was a former Big 8 and Big 12 brother, so that meant more to me.

Anyway.

I've become a half-fledged fan this year, but, lord, they are hard to watch at times. Tonight at TCU, the Mildcats had at least three shot-clock violations because they just struuuuggled to score. Painfully so.

Times like that make it clear that they're really missing Cartier Diarra, who can get his own shot and is just a ball of energy when he's on the court. If they get him back for the Big 12 tourney, he could be the key to making another deep NCAA run.

 

They’ll fuck it up in a couple of weeks. I just hope they get a couple of wins this time.

This year is the window, though. Hunter is 100% going pro. Jerome probably about 90%. Guy will most likely stay.

 

I think recruiting has to change a coach has to make sure he has a couple three point specialists. As an Indiana alum I have suffered through a lot of close losses against good teams that will probably keep IU out of the tournament. Not coincidentally, as of last week, IU was last in the Big 10 in three point field goal accuracy. Archie Miller can find kids in Indiana who can shoot the three. He needs to recruit a couple.

 

Find those kids who practice with a smaller rim.