Early Season Headlines

College basketball is underway yet again, and there have been quite a few good games thus far.  There have also been several great performances, and a lot of changes in the rankings.  Sorry for the long post, just wanted to detail the first couple weeks of the season.  Here are some of my early season headlines:

1. Great Opening Night

Opening night this year in college basketball included a number of freshman debuts, and a few surprising games, but the highlight was the Armed Forces Classic, which had two match-ups of top 12 teams at the time.  #10 Arizona and #12 Michigan State (AP rankings at the time) faced off in the first thriller.  The game wasn't one of great shooting by either team, probably due to some rust and both teams playing great defense.  This didn't stop a highlight show of dunks and great plays by MSU freshman Miles Bridges who showed his powerful strength around the rim.  However, MSU couldn't find another scorer and Arizona's great defense and rebounding, along with a good game from freshman PG Kobi Simmons gave them a three point lead with 30 seconds to go.  An offensive rebound by Bridges led to a game timing double clutch three pointer with 7 seconds left by Lourawls "Tum-Tum" Nairn Jr. (what a name!), who by the way was a 18.8% shooter from three last year.  If that wasn't enough drama, Arizona's Kadeem Allen came back down the court to score a layup with just over a second to go to give Arizona the win.

Because that first game wasn't exciting enough (a game-tying three by the best name in college basketball followed by a game winning layup with a second to go just isn't enough drama, right?), the second one had to be even better.  Going into this match-up between preseason #3 and 11 Kansas and Indiana (respectively), everyone was looking forward to seeing top 10 NBA prospects and incredible defenders Josh Jackson of Kansas and OG Anunoby wage a war.  Everyone was looking forward to Thomas Bryant to face off against KU's great interior defense.  However, that wasn't really what we got.  Josh Jackson had a poor game and wasn't really a factor due to ineffectiveness and foul trouble, OG Anunoby scored 13 points, but only took three pointers, surprising for a player usually known for his athletic finishes, rebounding ability.  Anunoby also didn't show off his great defensive prowess very much.  Thomas Bryant had a great first half, with 18 points, but scored only one point in the second half, and fouled out with a minute to go in regulation, meaning he also missed the OT period.  Instead we saw a great match-up between James Blackmon, Jr. of Indiana and Frank Mason of Kansas.  Blackmon had 26 points and Mason had 30 points, 7 rebounds and 9 assists.  Some great plays late from Blackmon and Mason sent the game into overtime, where Indiana freshman Curtis Jones hit some huge shots to give Indiana the win in a game that seemed like it could have been played in March or even April.  Fittingly, Indiana threw the ball up in the air as the buzzer sounded and received their trophy for their win in the Armed Forces Classic.  Indiana suffered a tough loss last week vs Fort Wayne, but the game was on the road against a team who should easily win their conference and maybe be a 12 or 13 seed in the tournament.  Additionally OG Anunoby didn't play at all in the second half or overtime for Indiana, so while this shows the inconsistency of a team who relies on the three like IU, the Hoosiers should slip in the rankings but ultimately will be fine.

2. The Year of the Freshman

In the era of the one and done, seemingly every year is declared the year of the freshman.  However, ESPN declared this year the "Year of the Freshman", and said that this class was different than others.  Frankly, I agree, especially based on the results so far, which do not even include 3 ESPN top 16 recruits, and two of the top three ESPN recruits, in #1 Harry Giles, #3 Jayson Tatum, and #16 Marques Bolden, who are all Duke freshman who have been out with injury.  Here is a little bit of info on some of the top freshman so far.

ESPN #2- SF Josh Jackson, Kansas

14.3 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 3.2 APG

According to Jerry Meyer, director of basketball scouting for 247Sports. Josh Jackson is "the top shooting guard I’ve ever scouted."  This is high praise, especially considering that Meyer has been in the business for a long time.  We will see how good of a freshman year Jackson has before likely leaving as a one and done to the NBA, but so far he has been pretty good against some tough competition.

ESPN #4- PG Lonzo Ball, UCLA

16.0 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 9.0 APG

Ball is a 6-6 point guard who is known for his creative passing and weird shot.  So far, he has been incredible, but has yet to face any really quality competition the way Josh Jackson and others have.

ESPN #6- PG De'Aaron Fox, Kentucky

15.5 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 7.2 APG

Fox might remind many fans of another quick, lefty Kentucky point guard, in NBA star John Wall.  Fox is a great passer and an incredible athlete, but we will see if his poor shooting from three will hold Kentucky back later in the year.

ESPN #7- PG Markelle Fultz, Washington

23.0 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 6.7 APG

In my opinion, Markelle Fultz is the best of the bunch.  Although only ranked number 7 in the ESPN rankings, he is to 5 on other sites, is projected to be the number one overall pick on NBA Draft Express, and has drawn comparisons to NBA stars and triple double threats Russell Westbrook and James Harden.  He is an incredible all-around player, great on defense, great from three, a great passer, and great at the dribble drive.  So far he has been incredibly efficient, as he is shooting 55% from the field and 44% from three despite a 3-14 game vs Western Kentucky.  In his most recent game vs TCU, Fultz scored 27 points in just 25 minutes due to foul trouble and managed 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals.  We will see how the rest of the season goes, but in my opinion, Fultz is the most special player in this class.

ESPN #8- SF Miles Bridges, Michigan State

17.4 PPG, 8.7 RPG, 2.3 APG

Michigan State has had a tough start to the year, having lost three games already.  However, Flint, Michigan product Bridges has not been the reason why, as he as proven to be a star SF/PF who reminds me of former Kansas State star Michael Beasley.

ESPN #9- SG Malik Monk, Kentucky

18.7 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 2.5 APG

Monk has been really good thus far, showing a combination of great shooting and elite athleticism for #1 Kentucky.  His 40% from three is pretty incredible considering that he has been taking 7.5 threes per game.  Monk is only 6-3 however, very small for a shooting guard, so I'm not sure that his college success will carry over to the NBA

PF Lauri Markkanen- Arizona

18.2 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 1.0 APG

This Finnish big man was not ranked on ESPN's recruiting rankings due to not playing high school in the U.S., but so far he has shown that he is just as good as any of the top 10 players.  Markkanen is      7-0 tall, and can step out and shoot threes as well as score inside.  He is projected as a top 10 pick in next year's NBA draft by NBA Draft Express.

PG Dennis Smith, Jr.- NC State

19.8 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 5.5 APG

Smith enrolled early at NC State University, so also wasn't included on ESPN's recruiting rankings.  However, he is the number two prospect in next year's NBA draft, and was a top recruit on other sites.  Smith is incredibly athletic, and his athleticism has drawn comparisons to Derrick Rose in his prime.

Others

ESPN #5- PF Bam Adebayo, Kentucky

11.0 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 1.0 APG

ESPN#10- PG Frank Jackson, Duke

16.2 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 1.8 APG

ESPN #12- SF Jonathan Isaac, Florida State

15.3 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 1.2 APG

ESPN #13- PF TJ Leaf, UCLA

17.8, PPG, 8.8 RPG, 3.0 APG

ESPN #20- PG Kobi Simmons, Arizona

12.7 PPG, 1.7 RPG, 1.2 APG

3. My Rankings

1. Villanova- The defending champs return two stars in Josh Hart and Kris Jenkins, plus they return potential breakout players like Jalen Brunson, and added a key transfer and a top 20 recruit.

2. Kentucky- The Wildcats are stacked yet again, and have looked unstoppable thus far.  Malik Monk and De'Aaron Fox lead a very good group of guards, and Edrice "Bam" Adebayo is a beast inside.

3. North Carolina- Marcus Paige and Brice Johnson are gone, but the Heels were deep enough last year to withstand those losses.

4. Duke- With all of their players healthy, I think Duke is a clear number one, however they already have a loss without three of their best freshman, so I'm putting them down here until they get healthy.

5. Kansas- The Jayhawk's only loss comes to Indiana in OT.  I'd like to see if Josh Jackson can break the trend of Jayhawk freshman having disappointing seasons.

6. Virginia- Virginia had to kick maybe their best player off the team in Austin Nichols, but still beat Iowa by 30 points behind a well-rounded scoring effort.

7. Baylor- Baylor has knocked off Oregon, Louisville and Michigan State this season, and are the biggest surprise in college basketball thus far.

8. Creighton- Maurice Watson, Jr. and the Bluejays have beaten 4 Power 5 conference teams, including a big win over Wisconsin.

9. UCLA- The Bruins have looked impeccable thus far, but still have yet to play any really good teams.

10. Gonzaga- The Zags need to play better than they did against Florida if they want to be considered a top 10 team.

11. Louisville

12. Indiana

13. Purdue

14. Saint Mary's

15. Xavier

16. Butler

17. Arizona

18.Wisconsin

19. Iowa State

20. South Carolina

21. Ohio State

22. Rhode Island

23. Oregon

24. Florida

25. Syracuse