ACC and A-10 Hoops: Early Takeaways and Weekend Games to Watch

Welcome to a new (close to) weekly column that will provide a recap on the goings on in both the ACC and Atlantic Ten, on either Friday or Saturday mornings. Each conference will be condensed into a five to seven minute read that will hit on a series of different categories. This week is a bit quicker since there is only a few games to go off of.

There will be a rotation of formats for three different observations, most commonly as three likes or dislikes. This week will exclusively be three likes, since the season is just one or two games old and positivity still reigns. There also be a summary of the Game Of The Week and the best Statline Of The Week. Finally, a look at the biggest game of the upcoming weekend, and the Sickos Game Of The Week, a game that likely won't receive significant attention, but deserves to be seen.

Atlantic Ten

Three Likes From Opening Week:

-Buddy Simmons' starring debut: The 5'11" Gardner-Webb transfer (who's three point shooting matched his height exactly) powered a struggling second half St. Bonaventure offense with sixteen points in that portion of the win over Bradley. Simmons has quick twitch hands that power a first power dribble that is extremely hard to stay in front of, and gives him a rapid release jump shit that requires almost no space. Once he worms his way into the paint, he also a knack for nice dump-off passes to cutters. Add in his father establishing himself as a character to watch all season long, and Simmons may end up being the most discussed Bonnies player this season. Too bad Woj might have missed all of it.

-Duquesne's defensive schematics: Behind a vicious high pressure man-to-man attack, Duquesne's starters kept Niagara scoreless for the first 6:55 of the game. It was an intensity rarely seen in buy games, and combined with the speed and length of Cam Crawford and Jimmie Williams on the wings, plus a plethora of shot blockers, it should translate to much better opponents. But the biggest positive may be a subtle change in playing Jakub Necas as the nominal center alongside a flexible big in John Hugley, which turned Necas back in the player he was in March 2024, when the best performances of his career came as a small ball center.

-Derek Simpson's steady hand: St. Joe's three guard starting lineup struggled mightily against Lafayette on both ends of the court, allowing the Leopards to hang around deep into the second half. The insertion of Justice Ajogbor for Duece Jones in crunch time unsurprisingly fixed the defense, but it also indirectly cured the offense of its problems by putting Simpson back in control. St. Joe's didn't turn the ball over once in the final 9:44 as Simpson slowed down the offense, hunted layups and helped to get Jaiden Glover-Toscano to the free throw line as often as possible.

Game Of The Week: Loyola-Chicago 91, Cleveland State 88

Down by two with eighteen seconds left, College of Charleston transfer Deywilk Tavarez made an NBA distance three and got fouled to put Loyola-Chicago up. After Cleveland State's Dayan Nessah tied the game and the Ramblers missed an open three that was tipped out of bounds, Tavarez somehow slipped completely wide open on the inbounds and hit a buzzer beater that made many believe that the late, great Sister Jean may have intervened in her first game watching from the heavens.

Statline Of The Week: De'Shayne Montgomery (Dayton): 16 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 6 steals in win over Canisius (88-48)

Weekend Game To Watch: George Washington vs South Florida (at Mohegan Sun), Saturday at 1:30 on Peacock

VCU against Utah State might be better in a vacuum, but for a GW team that looks like an A-10 contender, this is one of only two non-conference games against a top half of the conference level team (plus Florida, who might be too good to measure against). After a defensive clinic against Maine, this game will be where we start to learn if the Revolutionaries have really taken a step up.

Sickos Game To Watch: La Salle at Temple, Tuesday at 7:00 on ESPN+

A terrific Philadelphia rivalry that gave us a triple overtime thriller the last time that Temple hosted in 2023. It doesn't hold quite the same weight in the Big 5 as the last two years (the winner will also have to beat Villanova this time), but this will be the first chance to see La Salle's massive frontcourt try to pick on some power forwards their own size.

On the week's 3 Bid League podcast, we gave our #Power8HotTakes with Dave Hanley of Talkin' Blers and predicted the A-10 standings.

ACC

Three Likes From Opening Week:

-Duke's ball movement: The Blue Devils don't have the world class creators of last season's team, but Jon Scheyer clearly got his point guard's wisdom through to this young team over the summer. They already feel like an A minus version of one the great ball movement teams ever (a high compliment to be clear). Look at the precision on these Isaiah Evans catch and shoots, especially the two from Patrick Ngongba, who clearly worked hard on his passing since last season. A bonus to look out for going forward, freshman Nik Khamenia already throws a feathery touch pass into the post, a bygone for much of the teenage basketball world.

-Miami's fire and ice drivers: The Hurricanes potential floor spacing issues are mitigated by Tre Donaldson bursting around the corner on defenders, and Malik Reneau slamming his shoulder into any challengers from every spot inside the arc. Against any subpar defenders, these two are going to get to the rim every single time that the paint isn't packed and waiting for them. Plus, keep an eye on freshman Dante Allen, who can burst through the paint on catch-and-drives, and has some real power to his game at the rim.

-Louisville's outrageous pace: Pat Kelsey always wants to play fast, he just didn't have the depth last season, and now that he does, we were told that the speed was coming. Well through two games, the Cardinals are playing the shortest offensive possessions in the country. They are running at every possible juncture, with Mikel Brown Jr, Adrien Wooley and the big men heading for the rim, while Ryan Conwell hunts pull-up threes on defenders going too deep. But my goodness, the hit ahead passes, Kevin Love and Nikola Jokic would be proud of some of these. (The Louisville social media team can be my dislike of the week for not posting the Kobe Rodgers full court to Isaac McKneely in the Jackson State game).

Game Of The Week: Florida Atlantic 83, Boston College 78 (OT)

The only loss of the first four days for ACC teams, was also the only fun finish. (Sorry, Georgia Tech and Maryland Eastern-Shore. I know that game went to overtime as well, but it was painful to watch). The Eagles took a nine point lead with five minutes to go, but scored just four more points the rest of the way. A fantastic Boden Kapke performance (17 points, 8 rebounds) went to waste in overtime of what will hopefully be the weakest Game Of The Week all season.

Statline Of The Week: Robert McCray V (Florida State): 12 points, 4 rebounds, 17 assists in win over Alcorn State (108-76)

Weekend Game To Watch: #19 Kansas at #25 North Carolina, Friday at 7:00 on ESPN

The signature game in all of college basketball this weekend is a rare battle of Blue Bloods being held in a proper home environment. UNC's defense gets a major test in potential #1 NBA Draft pick Darryn Peterson, and Henry Veesaar will look to follow up a fantastic opening night against one of the best players he will face all year in Flory Bidunga.

Sickos Game To Watch: St. Joe's at Virginia Tech, Wednesday at 7:00 on ACCNX

Coming off of a big game Saturday versus Providence, Virginia Tech returns home for a tricky battle with a Hawks team that won by twenty in the Palestra last season. St. Joe's has the athleticism to trouble the Hokies, and even have two big wings suited to give Neoklis Avdalis a fight in Dasear Haskins and Anthony Finckley.

On this week's Up The Coasts podcast, Rocco Miller of Bracketeer.org and I gave our ACC pre-season hot takes and standings predictions.