Barstool Basketball Mailbag: Who Wins A Street Fight, Is Kentucky The Peyton Manning Of College Hoops, Who Is Even Good In The ACC & More
Basketball is a year round sport, so due to that we’re going to do a year round mailbag. We’re still going to run this every Friday like we do during the season, but we’ll be talking about college hoops, transfers, NBA Draft, NBA and recruiting questions. That’s right you get an NBA and college hoops mailbag all rolled into one every Friday. Reminder you can always submit questions on Twitter @barstoolreags
It is by far a weird, weird year in the ACC. There are 3 good teams - Duke, Louisville and Florida State. After that? I guess Virginia? But they literally can't score and I don't mean they play slow. Their offense sucks. Kihei Clark is a great story and filled the role last year, but he's not turning into Ty Jerome. They are trying to play through two stretch fives in Diakite and Huff, which isn't how you win. Key is banged up but he's not a savior offensively. Morsell is a year away from being the guy there. UNC? They stink. Notre Dame? Way too inconsistent. Boston College? They are a team that is somehow winning ACC games, but they aren't good. I've never seen the ACC this bad.
Advertisement
I've never said anything bad about Maryland's defense. That's the one thing they have going. My problem with Turg is this. 1) He's a complete over-manager. He stops momentum way too much because he wants his hands on every play. He doesn't just let his guys go play for an entire game. 2) He doesn't really develop much. How many times do teams and players stay the same during the course of the year? Pretty much every year. Turg is fine. He's going to keep Maryland as a top-20 team as long as he's there, but I'll never see them as a true national title until he adjusts.
Illinois is another weird team. Yeah, I was high on them coming into the year and still like their talent. Kofi Cockburn is a manchild (used correctly). Ayo is NBA talent. Giorgi is a good big man. They have a glue guy in Feliez. There's nothing that says they shouldn't be a solid team. The Maryland loss does hurt a ton. It sounds simple, but they need to shoot the ball better. The fact they play 2 bigs obviously hurts that, but if their guards can start knocking down shots, that opens up the lane for the hi-lo Underwood has been trying to play. Keep an eye on Alan Griffin going forward, he can completely change the way this team looks. I think they are a NCAA Tournament team for sure though.
Advertisement
Because people find a reason to hate Kentucky and judge everything on ringzzz. It's a horrible way to look at college hoops when you can count how many times the best team has actually won the tournament. Look around the country. K has one title since he started getting top recruits. Tom Izzo has 1 in his career. Mark Few doesn't have one. Tony Bennett finally changed the way he's viewed because of one. You have to look at everything as a hole, which is impossible because people just watch the NCAA Tournament. Should Kentucky have more than 1 title? Yeah, either 2010 or 2015 should have won. The same could probably be said about Manning.
I still like Archie a ton. He's a hell of a coach. But, there are major Shaka Smart vibes coming from Indiana and Archie. By that I mean he was the 'must-have' guy that a major program was going to get. However, what made Archie great at Dayton was his ability to recruit guys to specific roles. That hasn't really worked or come to fruition at Indiana yet. I think you do need to give him another 2 years before any sort of adjustment is made, but if he's not in the NCAA Tournament and looking like a consistent top-25/30 team in the next two years, uh, yeah.
None of them. But if I had to choose give me West Virginia or South Carolina because Bob Huggins and Frank Martin are not to be trifled with. I'll take Frank Martin over anyone.
Advertisement
Don't look now but Rutgers is a good team. They are top-35 in both KenPom and the NET. They have quality wins over Wisconsin, Penn State and Seton Hall. They have a guy who can get buckets in Geo Baker (when healthy). Steve Pikell is a hell of a coach, that Rutgers is going to have to pay to keep. I don't think a winning record in Big 10 play and 20-22 wins is out of the realm of possibility. They are going to make the NCAA Tournament baring a major collapse. I love the way their roster all fits together.
Dayton has arguably the best offense in the country. The fact they have a guy in Obi Toppin who can not only shoot but handle the ball is unique. That said, they have struggled a bit against big time opponents. I know losing in OT to Kansas isn't bad, but it's a loss. They lost to Colorado too. They were 4-2 in Quad 1/2 games coming into the week. You want to see that number a bit better. It'll all be based on matchups for them, but yeah they look like a second weekend team.
No, I don't see UNC in the NCAA Tournament. They are 8-7 with a win over Oregon. There aren't enough quality wins in the ACC this year to help them out, if Cole comes back. They need to go 3-1 in the next 4 to really even be talked about, which I don't think happens. This team is projected to finish below .500 and that would not be shocking at all. As for Roy? I think you're looking at 3 years at least. He seems to be rejuvenated with recruiting and health is still okay. Really it's just how long until Wes Miller can take over the program.