After a long offseason, tomorrow marks the start of the new season. I figured I'd use the morning news post to talk briefly about a few of the more important games to keep an eye on tomorrow:
#19 Oregon vs Georgetown - This is the South Korea game that I talked about yesterday. The big news from here is that Dominic Artis is suspended, which makes it even more likely that Georgetown is going to have a better time here than the last time they were in Asia. I feel like a full strength Georgetown should be significantly better than a full strength Oregon this season anyway - Oregon is very overrated while Georgetown seems to be underrated. If there's one player to keep an eye on it's new Georgetown transfer Josh Smith. Can he play away from the basket effectively? The last thing JTIII's offense needs is a paint clogger.
#18 Connecticut vs Maryland - Kevin Ollie was a media darling last season, as UConn significantly overperformed projections, particularly early in the season. The pressure is on this season to live up to higher expectations, and this is the first test. We know that their backcourt will be strong, but the big question will be a front court that was awful on the glass last season. Keep an eye on some new freshmen. Maryland, meanwhile, will just be looking for a quality win. The ACC didn't exactly do them any scheduling favors for their final year in the conference, so as a bubble team they need to capitalize as much as they can on their non-conference slate.
Colorado at #25 Baylor - Despite being unranked, Colorado is a team that has high hopes coming into this season. They would probably have started the season ranked in the Top 20 if Andre Roberson hadn't gone pro, but they still have a nice core of returning talent from a team that went Dancing a year ago. A tough opening game for them, though. As for Baylor, I'm hoping that the graduation of Pierre Jackson means more touches and more shots for Isaiah Austin and Cory Jefferson. Jefferson, in particular, was criminally underused last season, and is a real breakout candidate for this season. My regular readers remember me saying repeatedly how much better Baylor was when Jefferson got at least 9 shots per game last season. Let's see how they look tomorrow.
#20 Wisconsin vs St. John's - I keep seeing St. John's referred to as "the most talented team in the Big East". Isn't that just code for "poorly coached"? We'll see if the Johnnies are, as Wisconsin surely will be their typical Bo Ryan-style selves. For the Badgers, the big question mark is the front court, and just how much Bo is going to be relying on his new crop of true freshmen big men. Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker are two superb front court returners, but they're going to need at least one or two more getting significant minutes even if they go with a three guard lineup the entire game. As for the Johnnies, it is definitely time for Lavin's hyped recruiting classes to finally be productive in the Big East. Guys like D'Angelo Harrison, God'sgift Achiuwa, Sir'Dominic Pointer and Phil Greene from Lavin's first recruiting class at St. John's need a big win to prove that they can seriously contend for a conference title. A season-opening upset of Wisconsin would certainly start generating that type of hype.
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