Buddy Hield Gave us Jimmermania Again and Preview/Picks for Tuesday's Games
It’s tough to put together a blog on college hoops after what we saw last night. That game won’t be topped as Kmarko talked about earlier with it being more than an instant classic.
One thing I do want to talk about with that game though is the play of Buddy Hield – my favorite to win National Player of the Year for a couple weeks running now. That was the first individual performance I’ve seen that had everyone buzzing since the days of Jimmer Fredette at BYU.
Most people were yelling to get him the ball every possession, you were probably shocked when he missed a shot and he turned into must see TV. People aren’t going to talk about Oklahoma losing that game, except for the terrible officiating with the sideline out of bounds. So, congrats to Hield for being the first player since a Mormon named Jimmer to pull that off.
Also, his performance made people forget two things. North Carolina’s Brice Johnson is pretty fucking good and making a case for ACC Player of the Year. The dude dropped in 39 points and 23 rebounds in a win at Florida State. Secondly? Virginia lost to Virginia Tech. Here’s a tidbit: Virginia Tech is shitty at basketball. I don’t care that this game was on the road, if you’re truly a title contending team you don’t lose that game. Virginia desperately needs someone besides Gill, Brogdon and Perrantes to be worth something.
There isn’t a juicy matchup tonight like what we had yesterday, but the slate has intriguing games on it., which I’ll be tweeting as normal @barstoolreags
The headliner is Kentucky (-4) at LSU.
Heading into the season everyone pegged these two teams as the best in the SEC. Everyone seemed to forget Johnny Jones is still the coach at LSU and he might ruin Ben Simmons one year in college. However, as I just said, LSU has Ben Simmons. While Hield is the favorite to win Player of the Year, Simmons is the most talented player in the country and the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft. At 6’10” he poses an incredible matchup problem for most because of his ability to handle the ball and distribute. His lack of shooting though makes defending him a little bit easier for Kentucky. Expect Marcus Lee to start on Simmons. Lee, a quick, long, athletic player can sag off of Simmons a little bit, daring him to shoot while still challenging with his wingspan. He’s big enough to keep Simmons off the boards while bothering his passing lanes. For Kentucky, they need Tyler Ulis to continue his strong play. Last game he pulled off a stat line of 20/10/6 steals, the first time a UK player has ever done that. I do think the ‘Camp Cal’ theory has worked and Kentucky will start playing better and more importantly shooting the ball better. The depth of Kentucky wins this one.
The Pick: Kentucky -4
Wisconsin (+8) at Indiana
It’s tough to describe either of these teams as ‘good’ but here we are. Indiana is currently on a 7 game winning streak even though they had to sneak one by powerhouse Rutgers. The Hoosiers still can’t play a lick of defense and Tom Crean looks like he’s trying not to shit his pants on the sideline. Wisconsin on the other hand simply doesn’t the offensive skill to score to stay in this game, especially on the road. Playing at Assembly Hall and getting the game at a fast pace will help Indiana in this one.
The Pick: Indiana – 8
Temple (+10.5) at UConn
Temple has played two vastly different games in the American so far this season. The Owls went on the road and beat Cincinnati before getting absolutely curb stomped by Houston. They are 6-6, but their losses include neutral court to UNC, Butler and Utah along with a road loss to Wisconsin. Quenton DeCosey, Jaylen Bond and Obi Enechionyia are three solid players for Temple, led by DeCosey. Daniel Hamilton will have an interesting matchup against Enechionyia, but Hamilton’s versatility should give him an advantage on the offensive side of the ball. The Huskies are still playing without Amida Brimah, but have looked fine without him, getting a road win against Texas. Despite the depth of UConn, 10.5 is a lot to give up in a conference game. I like UConn to win the game, but DeCosey will keep them closer than the line.
The Pick: Temple +10.5