A Few Notes from the First Month of the College Hoops Season

A few notes from the first month of the 2008-2009 College Basketball season…

1.  The Three Point Line Doesn’t Matter

College basketball’s most discussed matter this summer wasn’t about who was going to be number one (that was easy:  North Carolina) or about who would be the National Player of the Year (Stephen Curry), it was over a rules change that would move the three point line back a foot from the 19″ feet 9′ inches that it’s resided at since its inception.

The thinking was that the extra 12 inches would deter teams from living on the arch and that it would wash out the elite shooters from the ones with just decent range.

Well, for the most part, the pessimists were wrong.  So far, players from across the land are shooting 33.9 from the extended stripe, down 1.2 percent from last season, but nearly on par with the 34.7 that players averaged from 2003-2009.

Possibly more telling is the fact that teams have attempted .5 more three pointers this year than they have over the last five seasons.

It’s probably too soon to tell if the extra foot will have an impact on the season the rest of the way, but, so far, it has been a moot topic.

2.  Syracuse Might (gasp) Surprise Some People

Every time I bring up Syracuse I’m inundated with comments of “They suck.”  Maybe I’m a bit biased because I’m transferring there to finish up my degree, but anyone that thinks this team is garbage is horribly misinformed.  They’ve already slayed two top 25 teams in Florida (17) and Kansas (22) in route to obtaining the 16th ranking in the latest AP Poll, so it’s probably about time that people start taking them seriously.

Could they lose to a much lesser Big East team, absolutely, but with only Memphis left on their 2008 schedule they could just as easily enter the new year undefeated.  Johnny Flynn is quickly emerging as one of the conference’s better talents and is currently averaging a stellar 18.9 points per game, and with Eric Devendorf, Paul Harris, and Arinze Onuaku also averaging double digit points they could cause some trouble when conference play rolls around.

Unfortunately, they have three straight games against Notre Dame, Pittsburgh and Louisville to look forward too when the new year comes around, so their tournament hopes could take a serious hit in January.

3.  Tyreke Evans is the best Frosh in the nation, but he’s not beastly

In my preseason article I proclaimed J’rue Holiday as the frosh to watch for but, after only averaging 11 ppg through UCLA’s first five, it’s time to make an amendment to that prediction.  I still believe that Holiday is the most talented player in this class, he has a deft shooting touch and his basketball IQ is out of this world, but he hasn’t been able to put on a real exhibition yet due to the amount of talent on UCLA’s roster.  Out in Memphis, Evans has.

Coming into the season the knock on Evans was that he didn’t play inspired basketball, that he coasted through games and had very poor shot selection, often attempting a difficult fade away in favor of driving or dishing to a teammate.

Now that he’s left behind the small gymnasiums and landed in the big leagues- if you can call Conference USA that- he is quickly learning that his best impression of the Michael Jordan signature fall-away won’t cut it at this level.  At times he regresses back into his old habits and will heave up a shot that he has no business taking but, overall, he has become more selective and should continue to develop as the season progresses.  The other knock, that he lacks a killer instinct, is quickly being put to rest now that Evans is being challenged on a nightly basis by more talented players.

This progress has allowed Evans to become the Tigers team leader in points (16.2), third in rebounding (5.8) and second in assists (3.8).

Still, as good as he’s been, this freshman class lacks the level of talent that was on display when Kevin Durant and Michael Beasley were lighting up college gyms across the nation.  Samardo Samuels (Louisville), Holiday and Evans may be the only first round talents from this class.

4.  Duke is Good, Damn Good

Everyone in the nation has been playing a game of Roulette trying to find a team that can legitimately contend with five-headed monster in North Carolina.  Early on it didn’t seem like anyone was even in the same league as them, until now.  You need to look no further than down the road to find the answer.  It’s Duke.

For the first time in years Duke hasn’t been getting the national exposure that they are accustom too.  There were no preseason magazine covers, feature stories about Coach K, or lofty projections in the preseason poll.  Instead Duke has been downplayed all season and it has driven them to play great basketball, good enough basketball that they appear to be the only team in the nation that has what it takes to hang with the behemoth that has been casting a shadow over Durham the past few years.

Coach K has went back to basics.  While everyone else is chasing the most talented freshman in the nation so they can win today, K has went out and recruited the players that would be best for his system, and himself, for the long haul.  It’s like K’s predecessor at Army, Bob Knight, used to say:  “The best freshman is a sophmore,” and now Duke is living by this mantra.  In their eight man rotation they boast two seniors, four juniors, two sophomores, and exactly zero freshman.

That experience isn’t going to do much to upstage Carolina, as they return all five starters from a Final Four team, but it gives them an advantage over the other programs.  Duke may not have a player that can hang with Hansbrough in the middle, but they have a talented cast of players that do so many things well.  They can slash, they can shoot, and they can defend with the best of them.

5.  Stephen Curry Is By Far the Best Player in the Nation

There’s really not much to say here, the guy is a beast.  He’s currently averaging 29.2 ppg along with 7 assists, and that’s with him going scoreless against Loyola, before that game he was at 35.  The 44 he dropped on Oklahoma, at Oklahoma, may go down as the performance of the year.  Stay tuned, he’s just getting started.