Previewing November 10th-12th

After a few good games on Monday, November 9th, there actually isn't very much for the next few days. There are no games at all on Tuesday the 10th, and the 11th won't have much. North Carolina, Syracuse and Cal will all play another game, but against lesser opponents than they face in their Monday openers. So all of the things I said about those teams here holds, but it's not going to be too exciting to watch those teams slaughter vastly inferior opponents.

I understand having the Coaches vs Cancer start a few days ahead of the rest of the regular season games to draw attention to the good cause, and so I'm fine with pushing everybody else back a few days. But if you're going to do that, you've got to space the games out better. Don't have a lack of games scheduled on November 10th, and don't waste all of your quality opponents (Albany, Murray State, etc) on the first day.

Anyway, there will be two games on Thursday the 11th, and both of them are worth watching if you have the time. Here is a quick preview:

#17 Ohio State vs James Madison (Big Ten Network, 7PM ET): Ohio State isn't getting a ton of attention because they don't have that super hyped player like a Greg Oden, but Evan Turner should get more national press now that he's on a team that can really compete for a conference title. We know that Turner will be one of the best players in the Big Ten, and we know that Jon Diebler can shoot, so that leaves two questions that the Buckeyes have to answer if they're going to win the Big Ten. The most important question is inside, where Evan Turner actually led the team in rebounds last season. That's not going to cut it in a conference with a lot of quality big men. To me, the answer has to be Dallas Lauderdale, who is a really strong and athletic player. He's going to have to show a lot of improvement from a somewhat underwhelming sophomore season (5 points per game, 4 rpg, 2 bpg). The other question is at point guard, where either Jeremie Simmons or P.J. Hill has to really take command of the position. Simmons is the better offensive player, and Hill is better on defense, but neither was remotely a star last season. The Buckeyes need somebody to create and attract defenders other than Turner, to help open things up for Diebler outside. James Madison will be a decent test. I picked them to finish 6th in the Colonial. Certainly a better test than Ohio State's November 9th opener, against Alcorn State.

North Carolina State vs Georgia State (7PM ET): The only game not part of Coaches vs Cancer that takes place before Friday will give us an idea about how long of a season this will be for NC State. They finished 10th in the ACC last season and their three best players (and the only three players that most casual fans had heard of) all left: Ben McCauley, Courtney Falls and Brandon Costner. It's hard to see NC State making a postseason tournament, but it can still be a quality season if they can see the development of some younger players. I'd like to see Dennis Horner and Tracy Smith establish themselves as quality big men now that they'll get the playing time. Javier Gonzalez could potentially be one of the better three point shooters in the conference if he can get enough attempts. Somebody is going to have to step up and be an offensive creator, be it Gonzalez, Farnold Degand, or some freshman. They'd probably be better off if they could move Gonzalez to shooting guard with his nice touch, but Sidney Lowe has to work within the constraints of the talent he has. It doesn't help that Gonzalez is listed at 5'11" and about 170 pounds... not exactly a typical ACC shooting guard body. Georgia State is no pushover, as they finished in 8th place in a fairly deep Colonial Athletic Association last season. If NC State can get some production from a decent freshman class and wipe the floor with Georgia State then maybe this won't be such a bad season after all.