Welcome back, college basketball. You were missed.
Let’s dive into 10 nitty-gritty observations from the opening week.
Shoutout to legendary NBA analyst, Zach Lowe, for the inspiration.
1. Michigan State’s Jase Richardson’s shows defensive pop
Recruiting stans have known about him for a bit, but legendary Michigan State 2-guard Jason Richardson has a son who can hoop.
Would you look at that?
Freshman Jase Richardson has made a terrific first impression in his MSU debut. The polished lefty cracked double figures twice last week against Monmouth and Niagara, and Michigan State will need him to continue to come off pindowns aggressively and glide his way to the cup for buckets.
But it’s the defense that really stands out. The 6-foot-3, 185-pound guard is not afraid to stick his face in the fan. Richardson has the frame, speed and length to guard multiple positions, and he’s already shown the ability to navigate screens off the ball and cut off driving lanes. He chests up would-be drivers and bumps them off their spots.
This possession is next-level stuff.
Of course, rookie mistakes are par for the course. He fouled a 3-point shooter against Monmouth and later, lost focus for just a second and got drilled by a screen which opened up the paint for a shot at the rim. But other than that, Richardson already looks like one of Michigan State’s best perimeter defenders.
A big test looms on Tuesday in the Champions Classic against a No. 1 Kansas club that may have the best collection of wings in the country. AJ Storr, Zeke Mayo and Rylan Griffen are complete studs. Michigan State needs even more out of Richardson defensively to slow ’em down.
You know Kansas coach Bill Self is cooking up some mean sets, and Richardson’s attention to detail will be tested, especially off the ball by a KU offense that loves to pick on newbies for backdoors.
Can Richardson help Michigan State turn KU’s water off?
On Auburn’s fourth offensive possession in Saturday’s game vs. Houston, Baker-Mazara made an ill-advised, entry pass that was easily deflected and stolen by Houston’s whiz defender, JoJo Tugler.
Four seconds later, Baker-Mazara made the cardinal sin of letting one mistake turn into two. The fiery Auburn wing lunged for a steal and picked up an obvious foul with more than 17 minutes left in the first half.
Baker-Mazara trudged to the bench with two fouls and took out his frustration on a squishy chair with a vicious right-hand shiver.
His emotions had gotten the best of him. Again.
But Auburn doesn’t beat Houston in college basketball’s best opening-week showdown without Baker-Mazara rising to the occasion in the second half with his passing, which is the same thing that got him in trouble in the first place.
Baker-Mazara was only credited with two assists, but some of these audacious darts were delivered in just the nick of time for huge buckets down the stretch.
No hesitation. No second-guessing. Just fitting basketballs into razor-tight windows like he’s Matt Stafford.
3. Baylor’s VJ Edgecombe does not believe in gravity
Baylor’s daunting nonconference schedule tossed Edgecombe right into the fire. Welcome to college basketball, here’s games vs. Gonzaga and Arkansas.
Edgecombe’s jumper is still AWOL (he’s started just 1-for-10 from downtown), but the 6-5 freshman moves differently than just about every other player on the floor.
Here’s a compilation of Edgecombe’s ridiculous, functional athleticism that’s been on full display. You see it all over the place in almost every facet of the game.
It’s impossible to ignore.
Oh, and the dunk of the year is at the end.
Saint Louis coach Josh Schertz has gotten right to work generating looks for sharpshooter Jimerson. The veteran Saint Louis guard has splashed nine treys in two games in Schertz’s gorgeous system.
Jimerson has the no-dip 3-pointer in his bag. It’s a trick that a few elite snipers in the NBA have mastered, but you don’t see it a ton in college. Jimerson legitimately can catch a pass and shoot without bringing the ball down to load at all.
It just makes Saint Louis even tougher to guard because Jimerson’s catch-and-shoot 3-pointers are happening in a blink of an eye. There’s even less time to read the action, fight through the screen, get to the shooter and uncork a contest before the jumper can get unleashed.
5. Inside Illinois’ obsession with creating corner 3-pointers
Two games is a small sample size, but Illinois’ commitment to shooting as many corner 3-pointers as possible is noteworthy.
It’s nearly impossible to self-create a corner 3-pointer. That shot has to be generated by dragging defenders out of position with ball and body movement. Illinois has leaned into five-shooter lineups, and it’s creating plenty of corner 3-pointers because opposing defenses have to respect the 1) boatload of other shooters on the floor and 2) the gravity of Illinois’ pick-and-roll game.
Illinois has shot 18 corner 3-pointers in two games. That rates in the 91st percentile nationally, according to CBB Analytics.
Brad Underwood and his staff have handed the ball to Kasparas Jakucionis and let him cook. It helps to have big men who can pass. Fellow newcomer Tomislav Ivisic already looks like one of the best big men in the Big Ten because of his innate ability to read defenses, pass with either hand and finish in the paint if he has one-on-one coverage.
Illinois is running out-of-bounds plays to create open 3-pointers. It is running ball screens with multiple lead guards to find open corner 3s. It’s posting guys up to create corner 3-pointers. It’s passing up good shots for great shots in the corner.
So far, so good. The Illini are shooting over 38% from downtown as a team, including 50% from the corners. Ben Humrichous and Will Riley are snipers. Even Tre White is getting in on the fun after embracing Illinois’ shot-selection game.
The most efficient shot in basketball is a shot at the rim. For Illinois, the second-best shot has been that corner trey.
6. The osmosis of Kentucky’s Otega Oweh
Oweh is averaging 15.5 points for Kentucky which ranks second-best on the team behind sharpshooter Koby Brea who may just shoot like 64% from downtown all year in Mark Pope’s scheme.
Anyways, back to Oweh.
The Oklahoma transfer has scored 31 points this year even though Kentucky has run maybe three plays for him.
Oweh gets buckets through osmosis. 21 of his 31 points have come in transition. He turns defense into offense in a hurry. Oweh is a heat-seeking missile in the open floor who is always trying to jam it. He can grab and go off the glass. He knows that if he runs, he will be rewarded by Kentucky’s host of willing passers, so he sprints the floor at will. Oweh is sort of a big man trapped in a wing’s body. He isn’t afraid to run to the front of the rim which is usually something centers like to do.
The best part about all of this is that Oweh doesn’t need to change one thing. Kentucky doesn’t have to run any plays for him to post career-best numbers. Good things will keep happening for Oweh if he runs the floor, cuts smartly, attacks the rim off an occasional pindown and knocks down those catch-and-shoot 3-pointers when defenses dare to make him shoot.
If it ain’t broke…
7. Tennessee’s Jahmai Mashack is a DPOY candidate
Mashack only scored three points in Tennessee’s 77-55 romp over Louisville, but he was one of the best players on the floor. Mashack ripped down seven key defensive rebounds to finish possessions and poked away three steals.
The tape is so much more glorious than the box score.
Here are the various guys that Mashack guarded:
Mashack is one of the best defenders in the country, and Saturday was one of his best performances yet. That’s saying something on a night when he fouled a few jump-shooters that had the Tennessee bench reeling in disgust.
Everything else was almost flawless.
Louisville’s offense is power-charged when Pryor checks into the game. Pryor’s speed, 3-point shooting and fluid handle make him a tough cover for opposing centers. Pryor got a freed up for a couple good looks when center Felix Okpara was guarding him, so Tennessee coach Rick Barnes pivoted and put Mashack on Louisville’s best player.
The 6-4 guard put the 6-10 big man in hell. Pryor couldn’t post him up. Mashack is too strong. Pryor couldn’t wiggle past him on the perimeter. Mashack is too fast. Pryor finished with six points on 1-for-7 shooting.
Mashack did just a bit of everything. Hounding on-the-ball defense. Sharp off-ball defense with smart rotations to douse fires. Sticky hands.
Just sit back and watch No. 15 go to work. It’s art.
8. Shot-selection misnomer
If the first week is an indication of what’s to come, this will be the most 3-point-happy season in college basketball history. Through eight days, college basketball has a combined 40% 3-point rate, per KenPom.com. The record is 38.7%, set in 2019.
But shooting a bunch of 3-pointers does not automatically mean you can skip the line and join the elite offense club.
So far, that’s coming to pass in the NBA.
There are examples of it in college, too.
Iowa had a top-20 offense in the sport last year while rating 332nd in 3-point rate. Arizona has never rated inside the top-150 nationally in 3-point rate under Tommy Lloyd, but the Wildcats have finished seventh, 10th and 11th in offensive efficiency in his first three seasons at the helm. Arizona is elite on the glass, awesome in transition, lives at the foul line and bulldozes teams at the rim.
Mark Pope’s roster at BYU last year was built to take and make a ton of 3-pointers. That was its path to efficient offense. Arizona’s path is different. Jaden Bradley and KJ Lewis are far more impactful when they’re driving to the cup compared to settling for jumpers. The Wildcats have one of the deepest frontcourts in the sport with Tobe Awaka, Trey Townsend, Carter Bryant, Henri Veesaar and Motiejus Krivas. It’d be foolish not to utilize their collective strengths.
Shooting 3-pointers is vital. No one is disputing otherwise, but there will always be multiple recipes for elite offensive efficiency.
This play from freshman big man Bidunga in the Jayhawks’ victory vs. North Carolina had to have earned some brownie points in Kansas’ film session.
Bidunga was out-numbered, four-to-one in the chase for a rebound. Guess who gets the ball?
That type of motor, effort and relentlessness should force Bidunga onto the floor. He’s a violent athlete whose motor is revving at all-time highs during his 10-to-15 minutes of action.
Hunter Dickinson and KJ Adams Jr. are the unquestioned starters for Kansas, but Bidunga could cement himself as one of college basketball’s best off-the-bench bigs in 2024-25.
10. UConn’s Alex Karaban having a block party
Karaban has registered 11 (!) blocks in UConn’s first two dominant wins over Sacred Heart and New Hampshire.
The 6-8 wing seems to have this innate ability to know what his defensive assignment is going to do before they do it. His anticipation, feel and competitive spirit on the defensive end is absurd.
Most of Karaban’s blocks have not been of the secondary rim protection variety. He’s not coming out of nowhere to catch someone napping. It’s way more impressive. It’s one-on-one, mano-a-mano. My best versus your best.
Karaban is winning those jousts.
Karaban looks like an NBA player who stuck around to play one last year of college basketball. What a brilliant player.
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