Welcome back to the Starting 5. The Starting 5 is written multiple times per week by Adam Spencer to keep you up-to-date on all the news and events in the world of college hoops. You can follow Adam on Twitter at @AdamSpencer4 and @SDSBasketball.
First of all, a huge welcome back to Dick Vitale, who called Tuesday night’s game between No. 1 Gonzaga and No. 2 UCLA. It was his first broadcast since being diagnosed with cancer and going through chemo.
Love him or hate him (I fall in the former category), you can’t deny the man’s passion for the game of basketball. This was an incredible moment before the game tipped off:
Games just feel more important with Dickie V on the call.
As for this game, though, it was soon obvious that Gonzaga was the better team. The Zags might not be as deep as they were last year, but this team is still insanely talented. Drew Timme is perhaps the frontrunner for the National Player of the Year award at this point. Freshman big man Chet Holmgren looks like a top-2 pick in the NBA Draft. Meanwhile, former Florida PG Andrew Nembhard has become a superstar for the Bulldogs.
Nembhard finished with a game-high 24 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Oh, and he also broke 2 ankles:
Holmgren is what makes this team so dangerous, though. He can do anything on the court. He can shoot 3s, he can dribble, he has post moves and he plays solid defense:
This sequence shows just how special he is. He blocks a shot on one end of the floor, dribbles up the court, goes behind his back, gets into the lane and finishes with a slam:
It’s simply not fair that a big man can do all those things so well. He still has plenty of room to improve, too, which is a scary thought.
Gonzaga came up short against Baylor in the title game last year, but if we learned anything in this 83-63 win over No. 2 UCLA on Tuesday night, it’s that the Zags are, by far, the best team in the country this year.
There’s no Baylor to challenge the Bulldogs this year. We’ll see if Gonzaga can pull off another top-5 win on Friday (against Duke, more on that later), but there’s a good chance this team makes it through this regular season undefeated, too.
It’s still early in the season. Let’s get that out of the way now. Still plenty of time for things to change, but …
I love this Florida Gators team. They’re fun to watch. They have great personalities. And, unlike some of Mike White’s other teams, they win. Consistently.
The Gators are now the champions of the Fort Myers Tip-Off, and the 71-68 win over Ohio State on Wednesday night came in dramatic fashion. As you can see below, point guard Tyree Appleby drained a long 3 at the buzzer to give the Gators the win:
Appleby’s teammates shoved him pretty hard into a courtside table during the celebration. I’d recommend avoiding that in the future, but Appleby probably didn’t feel anything at all in that moment with all the adrenaline running through his system.
Speaking of adrenaline, there was plenty of that on the Gators’ radio broadcast. You have to listen to this great call of the game-winner:
Appleby also had a clutch assist to CJ Felder late in the second half to keep the Gators in the game:
Speaking of Felder, Florida analyst Eric Fawcett points out that the big man has some solid +/- numbers:
You’d better believe Mike White and his staff will notice those numbers and get Felder some more minutes moving forward.
Finally, let’s give Colin Castleton some more credit. He’s a great scorer and rebounder, but his passing doesn’t get enough love. This is incredible court vision:
This team is rolling right now. We’ll see how long the Gators can keep the good times going as nonconference season continues.
Now, let’s move on to the B1G and see what’s happening this week.
Every year, we talk about a team that gets the “Maui Bump” from winning the Maui Invitational. Well, this year, that team is the Wisconsin Badgers.
The bracket for this year’s tournament, which was played in Las Vegas, not Maui, absolutely did not go as people expected, as Oregon imploded in horrific fashion. Houston, the other favorite to reach the title game, also lost.
That set up a title game matchup of Wisconsin vs. Saint Mary’s. The Gaels and Badgers both play a slow, physical style of basketball, and that made for a low-scoring championship game.
Wisconsin only had 4 assists in the title game. Four assists. That’s not a typo. That’s just silly. The Badgers shot 37.5% from the floor, went 3-for-12 from 3-point range and still managed to beat the Gaels 61-55.
How did the Badgers pull that off? Well, budding superstar Johnny Davis wouldn’t let his team lose. All the shots he makes in this clip are with his team behind:
And, to put an exclamation point on the win, he grabbed the game-winning rebound. He finished with a team-high 20 points and 7 rebounds (and 1 of the Badgers’ 4 assists). That’s a gritty player.
Now, let’s move on to the ACC and the rest of the country.
We’ve discussed how this is looking like it could be a down year for the ACC. Virginia is down. North Carolina is good, not great. Every team besides Duke (the league’s legitimate national title contender) and Wake Forest has at least 1 loss.
Syracuse was supposed to be 1 of the ACC’s top teams, but now the Orange are struggling mightily, too. Yes, they beat Arizona State on Thanksgiving night, but the Sun Devils are also a struggling squad.
What’s the issue with Jim Boeheim’s crew this year? It’s simple, really. In a loss to VCU in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis, the Orange got exactly 0 points in 36 minutes from their bench players. Buddy Boeheim (20 points) and Jimmy Boeheim (17) combined for 37 points, but it took them 30 shots to get there.
Is this the Boeheim Basketball Showcase, or is this a team with real NCAA Tournament hopes? Because, right now, it’s looking like the former. Boeheim’s sons are solid basketball players, but are they going to win a lot if those 2 combine for 30 shots a game? My guess is no.
In a 92-84 win over Arizona State on Thursday, the Boeheims combined for 34 points on 27 shots. Slightly better, I guess. But the bench scored exactly 2 points in only 17 minutes. This team is going to be worn out by the time ACC play starts.
Will the Fighting Boeheims be able to make a run this year? I have my doubts.
Now, let’s take a look at the busy weekend of college hoops action.
Here are the 5 games I’m most excited to watch over the holiday weekend. Once again, I’ll note that I’m not including tournament matchups that haven’t been finalized yet, but I’m sure there will be plenty of intriguing games there, too! Keep an eye on these games:
Those are some high-quality games, but they have a lot to live up to if they’re going to match this past week’s slate of games! We’ll see if they live up to the billing over the next few days.
Enjoy the Starting 5? Have a question? Want to yell at me about something? Follow me on Twitter @AdamSpencer4 or email me at ASpencer@SaturdayDownSouth.com.
Even for a conference that is perennially 1 of the top 2 leagues in the…
The Arkansas transfer, who started his career as a backup at UNC, could potentially challenge…
Keon Coleman blamed Georgia for its SEC title game loss to Alabama.
This website uses cookies.