NCAA Basketball: 5 biggest takeaways from 2019 Champions Classic
By Brian Rauf
5) All four teams are very beatable
The lure of having these three programs face off to headline the start of the season is obvious and, in a year where they’re the top four teams in the country in the preseason, you’d expect to see a bunch of clear national championship contenders.
They’re all very good but there isn’t anything that’s overwhelming when it comes to any of them.
The blueprint for beating Duke remains the same as it was last year – force them to beat you from the perimeter. Matthew Hurt also seemed to be the only player who could create any offense in the halfcourt but he’s not strong enough to finish consistently on the interior.
Kansas has offensive problems of their own that we detailed and need to see Dotson and Azubuike actually take the steps forward they were expected to.
Without Joshua Langford, Michigan State needs someone else to step up to help Cassius Winston. They lack size and depth in the frontcourt, which is still a major question mark facing Kentucky. The Wildcats still also lack perimeter shooting.
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Obviously, no one is a finished product yet – far from it – but the flaws each one of these teams has makes for a wide-open season that should see a number of upsets with several teams holding the No. 1 ranking.