There have been several fun exhibition match-ups over the past couple of weeks. Now is the time to make judgments and overreactions to tweets and box scores!
With the NCAA allowing a third exhibition for charity causes, many programs have been taking advantage of it and scheduling an additional game. Scores have been trickling out and reactions have ranged from total joy to immediate panic.
Ultimately though, there’s not too much to take away from these kinds of games. Although if a team performs in a way you may have predicted, it may add fuel to some preseason hot takes. There was some interesting news that came out, and here’s my reaction to five games over the week.
The Friars have just about everyone coming back from last year and this could be a sleeper team in the NCAA Tournament to make a huge run. The story here, though, is with the Huskies. Not because they lost, but because of their 37% shooting from the field. UConn’s big weakness last year was their perimeter shooting, and if it doesn’t improve, another rough season could be the result.
Three coaches in three years can put strain a program. I’m sure VCU’s Mike Rhodes will be a good coach, but the Flames of Liberty going 11-for-22 from distance is not a typical game against the well-known havoc defense of VCU. Maine transfer Issac Vann had 13 points and six boards for the Rams, but VCU’s NCAA Tournament streak will be put to the test this year.
This is by no means a bad loss for Oklahoma even if it did count. Kevin Hervey, who dropped 27 points and 13 rebounds in this game, will be the Alec Peters of this year. Senior point guard Erick Neal was fantastic with 25 points and 12 assists as well for the Mavericks.
Oklahoma may just not be ready yet to get back into contention. Junior Christian James was outstanding with 28 points and five-star freshman Trae Young chipped in 18. Continuing defensive issues may prevent the Sooners from turning the corner.
Once again the issue isn’t the loss, as the Panthers of GSU will contend for the Sun Belt title. D’Marcus Simonds dropped 30 points on a great defense and might be the best player for head coach Ron Hunter since his own son RJ was on the team.
In full disclosure, Josh Pastner started some freshmen and played around with various lineups. Star player Josh Okogie went out with a small finger injury. This issue isn’t the loss, but how long Okogie will be out. This could have huge implications on the Yellow Jackets season as he is a special player.
Now, it’s even more important to find another complementary scorer. The question is whether Georgia Tech will find any offense outside of their big three (Okogie, Tadrick Jackson and Ben Lammers). Thus far, the answer is no.
The Trojans played without Anthony Melton and that certainly had an effect, but this was an offensive explosion by San Diego State. New coach Brian Dutcher is looking to have a better offense for the team to match their great defense of the past
The question for San Diego State is whether they can score enough to win games. They ran a three-guard lineup with the San Francisco transfer, Devin Watson, playing the point. They won’t score 98 every night, but if this offense becomes the new normal, then they may become the favorites in the Mountain West.
As for USC, let’s not overreact too much and drop them down the preseason rankings. When healthy, they are clearly a top-25 team and possibly top-10.
Next: West Virginia's 2017-18 preview
There’s going to be more scores coming out, causing reactions from us when it comes to our teams. While the results don’t really mean anything, we still want them to win those games. We just have a few more days before the games become real.