A lot of folks are tagging this “the season of the freshman”.
And, absolutely, there are numerous dazzling freshmen, the most notable of those, of course, being Jabari Parker, Julius Randle and Andrew Wiggins.
And if you’re still reading this, there is no need to ID which schools those three gentlemen attend, right?
But this could very well also turn out to be “the season of the point guard”.
That is illustrated by the five Players of the Week, with four PGs joining Frank Kaminsky of Wisconsin as this past week’s honorees.
Rank (Last Week) | Record | Comment |
1. Michigan St. (1) | 6-0 | The Spartans haven’t exactly been overwhelming since knocking off Kentucky. But, until someone knocks them off, they remain No. 1. |
2. Kansas (2) | 4-0 | As Joel Embiid continues to grow, figuratively, as a player, the Jayhawks begin to take on the appearance of the team that will cut down nets in Dallas. |
3. Duke (3) | 5-1 | Allowing 90 points and 65 percent field goal shooting, at home, to a 1-4 Vermont team has to be a at least a bit of a concern, right? |
4. Kentucky (4) | 4-1 | That Dec. 6 game with Baylor in Arlington can’t come soon enough. |
5. Ohio State (5) | 4-0 | This team has given us a pretty nice example of how half-court defense should be played. |
6. Oklahoma State (7) | 4-0 | Marcus Smart snapped a few people out of their freshmen giddiness with his effort vs. Memphis. |
7. Arizona (8) | 5-0 | Only Drexel (vs. the Wildcats) and Alabama (vs. Duke) on Wednesday stand in way of UA-Duke Friday night class in NYC. |
| 8. Syracuse (9) | 4-0 | The Orange could climb a notch or two with a strong effort in Maui this week. |
9. Connecticut (11) | 6-0 | The Huskies held up well in two gut-cutters vs. Boston College and Indiana last week. |
10. Wichita State (12) | 5-0 | The Shockers are no longer working under the proverbial national radar after that FF run of last season. |
11. North Carolina (15) | 4-1 | The Tar Heels delivered a nice message to those who mocked them after their stunning home loss to Belmont. |
12. Louisville (6) | 5-1 | You see, pseudo-expert bloggers, the Cardinals are not quite yet “as good”, much less “better” than they were last season. |
13. Florida (16) | 4-1 | The reinstatement of point guard Scottie Wilbekin makes the Gators deep and better, period. |
14. Iowa State (NR) | 4-0 | There seems to be potentially four Sweet 16 squads residing in the Big 12. |
15. Gonzaga (NR) | 4-0 | How good are the Bulldogs? The answer should be answered by Wednesday night, right? |
16. Wisconsin (NR) | 6-0 | There are seven unbeaten Big 10 teams right now. And who is to say the Badgers won’t challenge for ultimately being the best of the bunch? |
THE NEXT 16 (alphabetically): Baylor 4-0, BYU 4-1, Charlotte 5-1, Cincinnati 4-0, Colorado 6-1, Creighton 4-0, Harvard 4-1, Indiana 5-1, Iowa 5-0, Memphis 2-1, Michigan 4-2, Oregon 4-0, Pittsburgh 4-0, UCLA 5-0, Virginia 4-1 and Xavier 4-0.
TEAMS OF THE WEEK:
*Charlotte (the 49ers came away from Puerto Rico with championship hardware in the the overhead compartment of their flight home).
*Connecticut (the Huskies stayed unbeaten last week by the slimmest of margins – a collective three points).
*Iowa State (the Cyclones followed their home win over Michigan with an even more impressive victory in Prove against high-powered BYU).
*North Carolina (bounced back from its bewildering loss to Belmont with a decisive win over the defending national champion).
*Oklahoma State (it wasn’t surprising that the Cowboys beat Memphis in Stillwater. The margin of victory – 21 points – way eye-catching, though).
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK:
Jahii Carson (Arizona State) – He dropped 40 points (on 16 of 25 from the field), with seven assists, in the Sun Devils’ win at UNLV.
Frank Kaminsky (Wisconsin) – The 7-foot junior scored a school-record 43 points against North Dakota while hitting 16 of 19 from the field – including all six attempts from behind the arc.
Shabazz Napier (Connecticut) – Napier, the last guy standing from Connecticut’s 2011 national championship team, averaged 23.5 points in wins over Boston College and Indiana in NYC.
Marcus Paige (North Carolina) – The strong candidate for preseason first-team AA honors at PG next fall was terrific, with 32 points, in the win over Louisville Sunday.
Marcus Smart (Oklahoma State) – His effort against Memphis – 39 points, four rebounds, four assists, five steals and two blocks – set the standard for “great individual performances” this season.
Frank Burlison has been covering hoops for 30+ years for a variety of publications.
Follow Frank on twitter @FrankieBur. Also make sure to follow his website at www.burlisononbasketball.com. College coaching staffs interested in Burlison’s scouting service should contact him at [email protected].
Wrong OSU at #5. Ok St. is
Wrong OSU at #5. Ok St. is pretty stacked and if Smart really can shoot they will be very dangerous.
Wrong OSU at #5. Ok St. is
Wrong OSU at #5. Ok St. is pretty stacked and if Smart really can shoot they will be very dangerous.
Not sure why Oklahoma State
Not sure why Oklahoma State and Arizona are so low or why Duke didn’t move down at all after beating almighty Vermont by 1 at home (they also have no post). Also, UConn in the top 10? They barely beat a horrible Boston College team and they have no post.
Not sure why Oklahoma State
Not sure why Oklahoma State and Arizona are so low or why Duke didn’t move down at all after beating almighty Vermont by 1 at home (they also have no post). Also, UConn in the top 10? They barely beat a horrible Boston College team and they have no post.
Nice
it was a nice match. i and yeşil Kahve watched this match..
Nice
it was a nice match. i and yeşil Kahve watched this match..