College Basketball Banter – 12/3/13
So how this weekly post is goin’ to work is a lot like Kyle and I’s Tanking Rankings. Each week Kyle and I will go back over our top individual performances performed by college prospects from the past week, the ducks of the week, what games we are looking forward to this upcoming week and then just kind of banter back n’ forth about the upcoming week of basketball. So without further adieu, I present to you The Sixer Sense College Basketball Banter post.
Spencer’s Top Performances of the Week:
1. Tyler Ennis (Syracuse) vs Cal
Tyler went for 28 on 9-12 FG and 8-8 from the FT line. He also chipped in 4 rebounds and 4 assists. The freshman from Canada has looked more and more comfortable with each game played. He hasn’t gained much recognition from the media…yet. But if he keeps playing like he has over the past couple games, he definitely will be a name you’ll hear more often. He has a big challenge this upcoming week playing against IU.
2. Kevin Pangos (Gonzaga) vs Arkansas
Kevin Pangos might not be a household name to most, this guy can flat out score. He dropped 34 points on 10-15 shooting, 7-8 from 3-point land (!!!) while also snatching 3 rebounds and 4 assists. The backcourt of Stockton/Pangos is much more lethal than what people think. They work well off each other and both can handle the ball. Pangos is averaging 22 this year so far while shooting 52% from the floor and 49% from 3 land. Keep an eye on this kid.
3. Marcus Smart (Ok State) vs Purdue
Marcus Smart is a self-igniting flame. When he gets it going, he just keeps going. Against the Boilermakers, he scored 30 points while adding 4 rebounds and 4 assists. He shot 50% from the floor, 4-6 from three and went 8-12 from the charity stripe. You’re looking at probably the biggest Marcus Smart fanboy here, but I will try to control myself and not have him on here every week (unless it’s warranted)
4. Kyle Anderson (UCLA) vs Nevada and Northwestern
Kyle Anderson gets special treatment this week. He gets recognized for 2 beastly games from this past week. Against Nevada, Kyle scored 17 points on 60% shooting and 3-3 from the 3 point line. He gobbled down 10 rebounds and dished out 5 assists. In his next game against Northwestern, he almost notched a triple-double. He scored 16 points, 9 boards, 9 assists and go ahead and throw in 4 steals in there too. Kyle is one of my favorite prospects this year mainly because of him being a 6’9, 230 lbs. PG. He is averaging a cool 13 (50% FG%)/9.7/7.6/2steals/1block per game.
Kyle’s Top Performance’s of the Week:
1. Doug McDermott (Creighton) vs. San Diego State
Not sure how I feel about him as a future NBA player yet, but McDermott has been dominant for Creighton. His team lost by six to San Diego State, but it wasn’t due to his play. 30 points on 11-18 shooting, including 5-8 from deep, and McDermott played all but a minute of this one. Singlehandedly kept the Blue Jays in this one.
2. Marcus Smart (OK State) vs. Purdue
He may not be the top prospect in college basketball at the moment, but I think this is your top player through the first few weeks of the season. This may be one of the few cases where a player turned down a chance to go top three in a draft and improved his standing among scouts and GMs. Smart has been as good as advertised, and his 30 point outburst against the Boilermakers was just a small piece of his fantastic start.
3. Kyle Anderson (UCLA) vs. Northwestern
Despite the brilliance of his game vs. Nevada, have to give the nod to the Northwestern game here. 16-9-9 is perfectly emblematic of his all-around impact, as is this number: 63.6% shooting from UCLA as a team. When you have a guy who can find easy looks for teammates, everyone looks better.
4. Joel Embiid (Kansas) vs. UTEP
The traditional peripherals were subdued (nine points, six rebounds), but Embiid was a force on the back end in this one with seven blocks. All of that is despite playing in just 21 minutes during the game. You can see why scouts are drooling over the raw potential this guy has when he has nights like this. As his minutes go up throughout the season, I’m excited to see if he can continue his excellent performance over a larger time frame. Guy has length and athleticism for days.
Spencer’s Disappointing Stat Lines of the Week:
AJ Hammons v Washington St. 0 points in 27 minutes, he did grab 11 boards and blocked 4 shots but they need to get him more involved in the offense. 1 FGA just won’t cut it.
Andrew Wiggins v Villanova. He had 10 points and 3 rebounds but looked completely out of it (reports said he had the flu, not sure if it was confirmed or not though). KU definitely could have used a better game from him but the entire team played bad that night.
Kyle’s Disappointing Stat Lines of the Week:
Jabari Parker v. Arizona
7-21 from the field, 0-5 from three, and another night where Parker looked flustered against more talented defenders. Parker has gotten off to a great start, and has shot to the top of a lot of draft boards, but his play when guarded by higher level defenders has left a little to be desired. Also of note: his sub-par defense. He got put on skates by a Nick Johnson head fake in the first half.
Spencer’s Games of the Week:
This week highlights the BIG10/ACC challenge, so all these games are B10/ACC match-ups.
IU/Cuse: These two teams met in the NCAA tourney last year and Cuse put a stomping on them. IU couldn’t shoot the ball and Syracuse’s 2-3 zone looked as dominant as ever. I like IU’s team this year but I still give the edge to Syracuse.
UNC/Mich St: UNC has already beat one #1 ranked team, can they take down Mich St as well?
Kyle’s Games of the Week:
The other standout aside from the two you mentioned is Michigan-Duke. There’s a lot of history with those two teams, and I’m kind of curious as to how G-Rob III responds to their first big game of the year. A lot of people thought he was in line to take over the team with the departure of Burke and Hardaway Jr., but he’s still just the third leading scorer on the team. He’s got the length and athleticism to at least mildly bother Jabari Parker, so that’s something I’m looking forward to.