Player of the Week
Landers Nolley II (Virginia Tech)
In a bit of a slow week for ACC basketball, Nolley II has continued to establish himself as one of the premier scoring wings in not only the ACC, but the entire country, and his production has been one of the pleasant surprises of the season so far. The redshirt freshman came into the week having two ACC Freshman of the Week titles under his belt already this season, and dominated the Hokies’ two games this past week to nab another one. Nolley II continued to show that he is an elite scorer, averaging 18.5 points per game in wins over Chattanooga and Garndner-Webb, but also showed he can contribute in all aspects, bringing down 7.5 rebounds and 3 assists as well. Nolley has the size of an NBA wing, and while he will most likely never be the most athletic guy on the court, he is as good as anyone at putting the ball in the basketball, whether it be around the basket, from mid-range, or behind the arc. Landers Nolley II will be a player at the next level, and in terms of his draft status, the ball is completely in his court. He has already put himself on NBA scouts’ radar. The better he plays, the more convinced teams will be to take a flier on the talented 19-year-old.
Who’s Hot:
John Mooney (Notre Dame)
The senior big man from Orlando, FL is quietly putting up big numbers for the Fighting Irish this season. Mooney is the only player in the ACC that is currently averaging a double-double this season, and is only one of three players in the country to be doing so. He also is tied for the most double-doubles in the country so far in the 2019-2020 campaign, with eight in the ten games that he has played in. This past week, he put up 15 points, on 7-9 shooting from the field (1-2 from three-point range) and 11 rebounds in a 110-71 thrashing of Detroit Mercy on 12/10, and followed that strong performance up with a gritty 14-point, 15 rebound showing in a 75-61 win over UCLA. After a strong junior season that saw him earn All-ACC Third-Team honors, he has built upon that 2019 campaign and is on track to accomplish more in his final season.
Dane Goodwin (Notre Dame)
Goodwin was a very pleasant surprise for the Irish this week. Coming into the week, he was on a bit of a cold streak, scoring a combined 10 points on 3-17 shooting from the field and 1-9 from three-point land in losses to Maryland and Boston College. The 6’6 sophomore wing then exploded out of his slump in a win against Detroit Mercy, going for 27 points on 10-13 shooting, and hit five threes’ in 28 minutes off the bench. He followed that performance with a strong 16-point, six rebound showing in a tough win against UCLA. If Goodwin’s big week is a sign of things to come, Notre Dame could become an extremely tough team to beat in the ACC and NCAA Tournament.
Boston College Eagles (7-5 overall, 2-0 ACC)
It has been a rollercoaster of a season so far for Boston College. They began the season with three straight wins, including a big conference win in the season opener against Wake Forest, and a game against High Point in which they let up only 33 points. They followed those wins with a bad 15-point loss to Belmont, and after a narrow four-point victory against Eastern Washington, went on a four-game losing skid, with losses to DePaul (five-point loss), Saint Louis (ten-point loss), Richmond (twenty-point loss), and Northwestern (eighteen-point loss). After the loss to Northwestern, it appears that Jim Christian and coveted transfer Derryck Thornton (14.2 points, 3.9 assists, 1.7 steals per game) have finally figured it out. They churned out a big conference win against Notre Dame on 12/7, and then proceeded to build upon that with wins against Albany and Central Connecticut State. They will look to continue their win streak in the next game, a very winnable matchup against a 6-5 California Golden Bears team.
Who’s Not:
North Carolina Tar Heels
Things couldn’t have gone much worse for UNC this past week. Following back-to-back losses to Ohio State and Virginia the previous week, the Tar Heels went into their lone game of the week, a Sunday night matchup against Wofford, hoping to get back on track after the rough week. Instead, coach Roy Williams learned Saturday that star freshman guard Cole Anthony would not be available for the game with a right knee injury, forcing him to have to start a reserve point guard who hadn’t played more than nine minutes in a game this year. This set the tone for the game that would ensue the next night, as the Heels took a three-point lead into halftime, before squandering it during a 16-0 Terrier run that they could not recover from. This was a devastating loss for UNC, and to make matters worse, Anthony was ruled out indefinitely after the game. The 6-4 Tar Heels will have to figure out how to score efficiently without their best player, and their first test will come against #2 Gonzaga.
Clemson Tigers
I said it last week, and I’ll say it again; with the Playoff coming up, it appears that College football has captured the attention of everyone at Clemson, including the basketball team. They are currently on a four-game losing streak, with their last loss being a 13-point defeat to in-state rival South Carolina, a game in which the Tigers shot an astonishing 14-50 (28%) from the field, and 9-32 (28%) from three. Aamir Simms and Al-Amir Dawes combined for 34 of the 54 points scored by Clemson, which equates to nearly 63% of the Clemson’s scoring for the entire game. The Tigers have struggled mightily to score the ball during this losing streak, and if they do not figure out their offensive woes soon, it will continue to be a very long season for them.
Top 5 Toughest Places to Play in the ACC
5. NC State
NC State have been a consistently good program for many years now, and the large, loyal fanbase of Wolfpack loyal made the transition from coach Mark Gottfired, who they experienced success under, to Kevin Kneatts a smooth one. They share PNC Arena with the Carolina Hurricanes, and consistently are among the national leaders in attendance to their games. This year, they average about 12,000 fans per home game, good enough for fifth in the conference.
4. Syracuse
While the Orange haven’t experienced the success in recent years that they have enjoyed in the past, the Carrier Dome remains an integral piece of college basketball history, as well as an extremely tough place for opponents to play well at. The historic sports complex holds an average of 20,739 fans per ‘Cuse home game, which is most in the ACC by nearly 3,000 people. When Syracuse basketball is playing well, there are very few tougher places to play in the entire country.
3. Virginia
It is extremely difficult to play against Virginia regardless of the location, as the Cavaliers are consistently one of the hardest working, disciplined, and most active defense teams in the country year in and year out. It doesn’t help opponents that John Paul Jones Arena is one of the biggest arenas in the conference, and usually one of the most packed for Virginia home games, with a 2019-2020 average of nearly 14,000 fans per game.
2. North Carolina
The Dean E. Smith Center, better known as the “Dean Dome”, is one of the most iconic basketball arenas in the world. Iconic players like Jerry Stackhouse, Vince Carter, Rasheed Wallace and Tyler Hansbrough have called the Dean Dome home over the years, and have kept the Tar Heel fan base coming back game after game for years now. The arena holds 17,952 fans per game, good for second in the conference. The rich history of NBA players, the iconic Carolina-blue jerseys, and the Tar Heel-crazed fanbase makes North Carolina the second toughest place to play in the ACC.
1. Duke
They say size matters, but when it comes to college basketball venues, that is not necessarily true. Cameron Indoor Stadium, home to the Duke Blue Devils basketball teams, holds and average of 9,314 fans per game, which is good for sixth in the ACC, but the unique set up of the stadium, where the fans are basically right on top of the sidelines to the point where they can almost touch the players when standing on the sideline, as well as the amount of noise the Cameron Crazies are able to produce, makes Duke easily the toughest place to play in the ACC. Duke’s historic home winning streak, which was broken earlier this season, backs up the claim that Duke is one of, if not the toughest place to play in all of college basketball.