Buy Or Sell On All Of Stoolie's College Basketball Hot Takes
So with this week being a relatively weak slate I wanted to do something different for the blogs. I’ll be looking at different ways to talk about what’s been going on this season and where certain teams/players are instead of the game breakdowns and recaps. Today I’ll be doing it buy/sell style based on just general public thoughts. I took to Twitter to ask what people thought of certain teams/players/coaches and will use that as the basis. So we’ll get into it that way.
Buy/Sell: Sell
So I’m going to move this to graduation or early declare into the NBA. To me it’s still the ACC. When you look at the talent of Marvin Bagley, Wendell Carter, Devon Hall, Grayson Allen, Theo Pinson, Joel Berry, etc. I’ll give them from a talent standpoint over the Big East. However, the Big East did lose guys that were more valuable. Duke obviously reloaded. Virginia brought back enough. Nova hasn’t been able to replace that core. Xavier hasn’t been able to replace Bluiett and Macura. So I’ll sell on this and take the ACC with the Big East as a close second.
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Buy/Sell: Sell
The best player to me is still Caleb Martin, but I’ll listen to Jordan Caroline as the most important. Caroline’s ability to play bigger than his size and go to the perimeter, lets Nevada play a bunch of different ways. Last year we saw them run the 5-out offense – they still have that option this year if they want to, but Martin is the best player. His ability to create shots for himself/others. Despite having a funky shot he’s a good shooter from the outside and can get to the rim. I’m going to take Martin as the best player but again I’ll listen to Caroline as the most important.
Buy/Sell: Buy
I should specify this a bit. I think Marquette has the highest ceiling of any team in the Big East thanks to that offense. Actually, it’s even more than that. The fact that Marquette is average on defense this year is huge. That’s all they had to be in order to make the next jump. Again, when you have guys like the Hauser brothers and Markus Howard offensively you can score with anyone in the country. For what seems to be the first time in the Wojo era they actually have roster balance between guards and bigs. So, yeah, I’ll buy this as the highest ceiling team in the Big East.
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Buy/Sell: Sell
This was a tough sell. Don’t get me wrong, Beilein is one of the 10 best coaches in America and you can really put them in any order. I’ll still take K as the best in the game when you factor in everything. It’s tough to judge what’s the ‘best coach.’ For me it’s both recruiting and in-game X’s and O’s. That’s where Beilein shines and yes I know he did just bring in his best recruiting class ever. But, K gets the narrow edge. That said, Beilein is in the same tier as K, Cal, Self, Izzo, Wright and Few. There may not be anyone better at developing players than Beilein though.
Buy/Sell: Sell
Lipscomb is one of the best mid-majors in the country. But, they are 8-3 right now and have Vermont and Clemson still in the nonconference. They have 18 games left, so in order to even get to 28 they’d have to sweep the regular season and win 4 conference tournament games. They don’t play 4 conference tournament games in the A-Sun. So that’s a sell. Same goes for the 12 seed. They simply don’t have enough quality opponents in the A-Sun to get to the 12 seed. I think you see Lipscomb as a 14 seed. Garrison Matthews is the real deal though. One of the absolute best mid-major players in the country.
Buy/Sell: Sell
Nassir Little is the most talented player on UNC’s roster. But, here’s the thing. Roy isn’t going to start Little until 1 of 2 things happens. 1) Garrison Brooks stops being a serviceable big or 2) Cam Johnson/Luke Maye stop playing like potential All-Americans. Roy wants to play Maye at the 4 and a traditional big at the 5. It’s just what he wants to do. So with that in mind, Little has to beat out either Johnson or Maye for the 3/4 spot where he can play. Johnson has been an All-American this year and Maye was a preseason All-American. So it will give them a different look and the best talent on the floor, but so much better? I mean they are a top-10 team as of this date. Not sure how much better they’d get.
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Buy/Sell: Sell
I’m selling this so hard. Why do we think Zion is going to be a bust? We heard he was going to be a bust at the collegiate level because he’s just beating smaller kids in South Carolina. He’s the early favorite for NPOY. He’s showcasing his ability to defend, protect the rim, beat guys off the dribble and pass. Yes, there are questions about just how consistent of a shooter he’ll be from the outside, but why does he need that at the next level? Ben Simmons is doing pretty well and Zion will at least attempt to shoot a 3 (and make it sometimes). He is a unique talent and I just don’t get the consistent bust talk.
Buy/Sell: Sell
I love the Chris Mack hiring here and we’re seeing it pay off already. Louisville looks like a potential top-25 team this year and bringing in a loaded recruiting class for next year. But, top-4 this year? I’ll sell on that. They aren’t better than Duke, Virginia, UNC or Florida State. I’d put them just behind Virginia Tech and NC State. They are in the same tier as Syracuse and just ahead of Clemson. The one thing they do have going for the is only having Duke and Florida State once on the schedule. So there’s a chance the schedule breaks right for them, but I’d guess 7th.
Buy/Sell: Buy
I’ll take five Big East teams in the NCAA Tournament. I think you can count on Villanova, Marquette, St. John’s, Creighton and Butler as the five teams to make it. Now, where they get seeded is a different question. But, the only time the Big East hasn’t sent five teams in was the very first year of the new Big East when they sent 4. This year is just a bit better than that and throw in that the MWC/MVC/A-10/American/Pac-12 are all down there will be open spots. I’ll take those five as making it.
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Buy/Sell: Sell
I think Carsen is individually good enough to do it, but don’t think he has the help that Kemba did at UConn. Remember, they were a 3 seed when Kemba won it. Yes, he went on a ridiculous run, but it’s not like they were a bad team or anything. Carsen doesn’t have that sort of help at Purdue this year. He doesn’t have someone else that can go get a bucket right now like Kemba had at UConn. That said, Carsen has the talent to do something similar, but I don’t see him leading Purdue to six in a row in March.
Buy/Sell: Sell
I think the American is a 3-bid league. Houston is the favorite to win it and a top-25 team. They are in. Cincinnati is a top-40 team, they are in. Now, I don’t think Temple/UConn/UCF get 2 in. I think UCF is the likely pick to get in. Temple and UConn are currently outside the top-80 on KenPom. Temple doesn’t have a top-75 win and won’t get one in the nonconference. So they don’t have that signature win. UConn does have the win over Syracuse, but that’s the only top-200 win they have. They do have a chance to beat Nova. If they beat Nova then I think we can talk about them as a bubble team. I’ll take 3 American teams in.
Buy/Sell: Sell
It hurts, but it’s not the main reason as to why. I think it’s a combination of Mike Hopkins leaving, an outdated offense, Hurley and the move to the ACC. When Syracuse was in the Big East you could sell New York kids on playing at MSG and local schools. Syraucse in the ACC is just weird. Yes, Hurley can recruit and we’re seeing him grab some more kids from the northeast and that hurts Syracuse. But, how many kids right now want to play in that system? More importantly how many top-notch kids want to play in that system? I think that’s where you have to start.
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Buy/Sell: Both
I’m going to sell Wisconsin as a top-4 Big 10 team. I think the top-4 ends up being Michigan, Michigan State, Indiana and Nebraska with Wisconsin at 5 and Maryland at 6. That said, I think they get in as a 5-seed or better. Computer models love Wisconsin and the road/neutral court wins they have right now will matter. I still think they need to find a consistent 3rd or 4th scorer but Happ will just go win them some games by himself. So sell top-4, buy them as a 5 seed.
Buy/Sell: Sell
I talked about this with Marquette – but I’ll talk specifically about St. John’s. We haven’t seen them play top talent yet. They are playing subpar teams and getting bailed out by Shamorie Ponds – who is an All-American. I still question what happens when they are playing top Big East teams. I think they are top-4 in the Big East, but I wouldn’t call them the class.
Buy/Sell: Buy
I’m buying this mostly because West Virginia needs some sort of change. What that is? Who knows, but at this point try anything. Well, try getting Sagabe Konate healthy first. And then after that try anything. They are 300th in turnover percentage, they are 226th in effective field goal percentage. I’d be trying anything at this point with my backcourt to get some sort of improvement. They are 6-4 right now with zero top-100 wins and the offense just looks stagnant.