Player of the Week:
Caleb Mills, PG/SG, Florida State Seminoles
What a week it was Leonard Hamilton and the ‘Noles. Three wins in five days, including an upset win over #6 Duke, put this team back on the national radar and Caleb Mills propelled them to victory with clutch shots all week. With 8 points in OT against the Blue Devils, Mills ensured the upset was in hand and he was the only Seminole who scored in the final 10 minutes of the game during their epic collapse against Miami this Saturday.
The Seminoles almost threw away a 26-point second half lead against the Hurricanes, but Mills was able to score in every big moment to save the game. A season-ending injury held him to four games last season with Houston, but he is starting to find his form in Tallahassee, and he has the ‘Noles back on the bubble and ready to make a run in March.
Who’s Hot?
Paolo Banchero, PF, #9 Duke Blue Devils
It is easy to take Banchero for granted because of how consistent he is with his production and how much we expect of him every night. The truth is that while the expectations are high and while he is yet to truly explode in a game for 30, he’s scored in double figures every game and does everything that is asked of him each night.
High school tape forced us to buy into his immense talent not just as an athlete, but also as a passer. To start the season, we didn’t see any of this translate, but his passing was on full display in the heart of Syracuse’s 2-3 zone Saturday afternoon. It was just the culmination of all the development we’ve seen in recent games all thrown into one forty-minute contest.
Four assists against the Orange put him at 15 over the last three games (for an average of 5 per game), which is considerably more than the 2.7 he’s averaging over the course of the season. If we continue to see this growth as a passer and with his court vision, Banchero will work his way back into the #1 overall pick discussion before we know it.
Jake LaRavia, SF/PF, Wake Forest Demon Deacons
There’s been plenty of talk about Alondes Williams regarding Wake Forest’s emergence as a top team in the ACC this season, but it’s time to give some love to LaRavia as well. The Indiana State transfer is averaging over 15 points per game and dominated for 31 points in a blowout victory over North Carolina.
LaRavia, for those who don’t know, is a do-it-all wing who obviously puts up points, but is also a talented rebounder and passer who creates a lot of the Deacs’ offense when Williams is not on the floor. The 6’8 junior is shooting 60/35/74 splits and has enough volume at all three levels for it to be impressive. He is one of the most underrated and underappreciated stars in the entire nation and not just here in the ACC.
Who’s Not?
Dereon Seabron, SG/SF, NC State Wolfpack
The breakout star in the ACC is starting to come back down to Earth after a scintillating start to his season. It’s a stretch to say he is playing poorly, but the extreme statistical numbers he was putting up consistently are no longer showing up on the stat sheet. He hasn’t led the team in scoring in any of the last four games and is only averaging 14 points in them.
Seabron dropped to the second round of our latest mock draft, and his recent regression is part of the reason why. His emergence out of nowhere shocked the nation and it raised questions from a draft perspective of the sustainability of his rapid development. You can’t teach this speed and quickness for 6’7 wings, so there is still plenty to like, but Seabron’s draft stock could continue to take a hit if his numbers regress back to a more expected output.
Jeremy Roach, PG, #9 Duke Blue Devils
Duke seems to have found something with their new starting lineup, which is great news for the team. The bad news for Roach? He’s not in it. He started 33 of the first 38 games for the Blue Devils, but the success of the new lineup and emergence of AJ Griffin will likely demote Roach to a bench player role for the rest of the season.
The former five-star guard is simply struggling to carve out a consistent role for himself and isn’t experiencing nearly the same progression from year 1 to year 2 as fellow sophomore Mark Williams. Roach is a terrific playmaker but the shooting needs to drastically improve (38% FG, 34% 3-PT) if he wants to get back into the starting lineup this season or next.
Freshman of the Week:
Blake Wesley, SG, Notre Dame Fighting Irish
A rough two-game stretch came to an end for Wesley after he led the Irish to a 12-point road victory over Louisville on Saturday. With 22 points and 3-4 shooting from beyond the arc, Wesley proved why he is a potential lottery pick in this upcoming draft. His development from a relatively unheard of freshman to a highly touted prospect in a few short months is astounding and his latest honor is ACC Freshman of the Week.
Top 5 Bubble Teams
5. North Carolina Tar Heels (12-6, 4-3 ACC)
What more can we say about the Tar Heels? They either blow out bad teams or get blown out every time they play a team with a pulse on the season. A 50-point combined margin of defeat against Miami and Wake Forest was the highlight of this week and it’s fair to ask if the Heels are ever going to compete in a big game, nonetheless win one.
4. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (12-6, 5-2 ACC)
The postponed matchup with #8 Duke finally got rescheduled and it provides the Irish with a resume-boosting opportunity to keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive. They will need to win just about every home game remaining on the schedule, especially against Duke, and avoid bad losses against the bottom half of the conference along the way. Still, the bubble still hasn’t popped despite a 3-4 start that led to everyone writing this team off.
3. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (16-4, 6-3 ACC)
There aren’t any bad losses on this resume, but great wins are just as hard to find for the Demon Deacons. The ACC will likely only receive four bids to the ACC Tournament, and Wake Forest will need to pull off some road upsets to finish the season if they want to be one of those four teams.
2. Miami (FL) Hurricanes (14-5, 6-2 ACC)
The ‘Canes are only second on this list because both of their conference losses came against the team listed below, the Florida State Seminoles. The small-ball lineup can provide plenty of problems for upcoming opponents, but physical teams like Florida State have taken advantage and will take advantage of the ‘Canes, which could derail the bounce back season in Miami.
1. Florida State Seminoles (13-5, 6-2 ACC)
A brutal three-game losing streak early in the season removed the Seminoles from the bubble altogether, not just the NCAA Tournament field. They’ve responded with 8 wins in their last 9 games, sweeping Miami and upsetting Duke in the process. Leonard Hamilton looks like he’s figured things out with his roster, and I would pick this team to go to the second weekend if the bracket was released tomorrow.