College Basketball Season 2020-21

Jimmy Chitwood

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Iowa takes on Wisconsin tonight at 6:00pm central. the Hawks righted the ship in their last game, and hopefully they will continue trending upward as Fredrick returns to health. they definitely missed his all-around game, as he is likely their best perimeter defender in addition to being a deadeye shooter from deep and averaging an INSANE 10 assists per turnover! Luka Garza, the favorite for National Player of the Year, has been struggling (for him) over the past 4 games. Nunge has begun to play up to his capabilities off the bench, as well. the younger McCaffrey has also begun to assert himself, and he has started trying to bring his high flying talents to the table each week. he’s dunked on/over/through several defenders in the past three games.

Wisconsin, on the other hand, is struggling mightily of late.

#1 Gonzaga takes on intra-conference rival Saint Mary’s at 8:00pm central. led by their two White athletes, the Zags boast the nation’s top offense as well as a top-5 defense. sophomore power forward Drew Timme is coming off a 28 point (11/12 shooting) 10 rebound game. he’s a legitimate candidate for first-team All-American. Corey Kispert, meanwhile, is putting up historic offensive numbers, and has quietly emerged as a National PoY candidate.

Saint Mary’s is a shadow of the team from the past several years, struggling to score points and not sharing the ball. they do play solid defense, but coach Randy Bennett has his work cut out for him to turn things around.
 

Bucky

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Definitely a great night of viewing for College Basketball! Can't wait to get home and watch.
 

Bucky

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Great sharpshooting from Wieskamp of Iowa and Brad Davison of Wisconsin.
 

jacknyc

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Do you remember Paige Bueckers?
She was the #1 girls high school basketball player in the country last year.
Now she's a freshman at UConn, and is carrying the perennial power on her back.
She became the first player in UConn history, to score 30+ points in 3 straight games.
She lead UConn in beating #1 South Carolina, scoring 31 of their 63 points!
She's killing it, and she's a freshman!!
There's a lot of recent articles about her.
Here's one of them:
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/in-her-dna-freshman-paige-bueckers-already-a-uconn-star
 
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Phall

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Impressive win again for Michigan tonight against Rutgers. Franz Wagner went for 20-7-3. He's gotten better this year at creating his own shot, and he's such a menace on defense with his long arms. Mock drafts are starting to slot him around the 2nd half of the first round, which is exciting news for another lackluster white draft class. The Wolverines have a big test on Sunday against #4 Ohio State, which starts Kyle Young and Justin Ahrens in yeoman roles.

Iowa turned it on tonight against a slumping Wisconsin team. Luka Garza scored 30 points without breaking a sweat.

Gonzaga ran another team out of the gym tonight as well, beating St Mary's by 22 points. Corey Kispert led all scorers with 20 points. Drew Timme though is probably my favorite player to watch this season. He moves so well with and without the ball, and his passing vision is superb. I'd compare him to a mix of Nikola Jokic and Magic Johnson. I'm excited to see the Zags play some competition again, whenever the tournament finally gets under way.
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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the Wooden Award, given annually to the nation’s top
college basketball player, has released its late-season top-20 player watch list. 5 of our guys have made the cut. listed in no particular order, they are:

Michigan freshman center Hunter Dickinson
Iowa senior center Luka Garza
Villanova senior point guard Collin Gillespie
Gonzaga senior small forward Corey Kispert
Gonzaga sophomore power forward Drew Timme

Garza is the overwhelming favorite to win the award.
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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we’ve had unusually cold temperatures and heavier than normal snowfall in my part of the country over the last several days, and i consequently watched more basketball than i’d planned on. as a result, over the next couple days i will begin sharing a list of very-talented-yet-relatively-unknown hoopers that are likely to earn postseason awards, and in many cases are arguably/definitely the best player in their relative conferences.

most of these athletes are not only outstanding basketball players, they’ve also gone virtually/totally overlooked by us here due to a variety of reasons. honey, i’ll help alleviate at least some of that oversight.
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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i’ll start with a high-profile team that has fallen apart due to a dramatic shift in recruiting philosophy: Duke. formerly a perennial power, Coach K’s squad has become a train wreck and may miss the NCAA tournament for the first time in forever. why? Ratface has fallen in love with the one-and-done types, and it has bit him square in the ass. suffice it to say, there’s lot of ghetto drama on the Devils this year.

the lone pale face to log substantial playing time just so happens to be the best player on the team. go figure! Matthew Hurt, a 6-foot-9 sophomore stretch forward, leads the team in both scoring (over 18ppg) and rebounding (6.5rpg) while shooting over 55% from the floor and over 45% from 3-point range. the new “most punchable face in basketball” (translated into English: the White star for Duke) according to many “media” pundits is arguably the best player in the ACC.
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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the top two players in the America East Conference are both overachieving, blue collar, gym rat types. they both also happen to be the best player on each of the top two teams in the conference.

Ryan Davis, a 6-8 junior post for Vermont, is a classically skilled below-the-rim, undersized scoring machine. he has very nimble feet and an array of post moves that makes him nearly unguardable on the offensive end despite his lack of height. he averages almost 19ppg and 6.5rpg while shooting nearly 58% from the floor.

Brandon Horvath, on the other hand, is a classic late bloomer. the 6-foot-10 UMBC (University of Maryland-Baltimore County) senior forward was a 5-foot-8 point guard as a sophomore in high school. obviously, he’s grown since, as has his game ... and he has a LOT of growing still left in both areas, as he’s physically very thin and still adjusting to his height but retains his guard skills. he’s a VERY intriguing prospect, as his best basketball looks to still be ahead of him. even so, he still leads the conference in rebounding (nearly 9 per game) while scoring over 13ppg and shooting 49% from three-point range.
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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Liberty is an understated but dominant school in a lower level conference, kinda like their best player. 6-9 sophomore post Blake Preston doesn’t make a lot of highlight videos, but he’s incredibly efficient (shooting 65% from the floor) and surprisingly impactful on the glass (6.5rpg) despite his stature. he’s the best player on the best team in his conference despite his youth, so it’ll be interesting to see what his ceiling is.
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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we almost never talk about Villanova here, primarily because they play almost none of “our” team. that being said, their best player, who also happens to be arguably the best player in the Big East as well as perhaps the best point guard in the nation, is their lone featured White athlete.

Collin Gillespie, a 6-3 senior, is the consummate floor general, but he also brings an assassin’s mindset. not just content to run the team (only 1.4 turnovers per game), he’s a surgeon distributing the ball (over 5 assists per), and a cold blooded killer shooting it (over 18ppg). he’s also a better than expected rebounder (over 3rpg). in fact, as far as i can tell, his only “problem” is that he’s not “exciting.” i guess that means he’s not black, because winning never looks boring to me.
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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Tanner Groves, a 6-9 junior post for Eastern Washington, doesn’t look like he will absolutely destroy your soul by dunking on your head ... he’s a kinda chubby, bearded White dude, after all ... but looks can be deceiving. in this case, VERY much so. he’s averaging almost 17 and 9 for the best team in the Big Sky, but this might be the first time you’ve seen his name. the cat can play, regardless that he doesn’t “pass the eye test.”
 

Bucky

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Excellent posts @Jimmy Chitwood ! Just In time as March Madness is around the corner. Looking forward to seeing some of these guys from the small schools ball out!
 

Bucky

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Also wanted to add in that I am really enjoying Duke struggle. His new philosophy is biting him in the ass. He's lucky to have Hurt, otherwise their season would really be over. The top recruit from last year quit on Coach K after playing 13 games and will still be a Top10 pick = BS

Coach Cal and Kentucky suck this season as well! A rarity for College Basketball to have Duke And UK down in the dumps.
 

Bucky

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Bit of an off day for McClung. He's got a hard earned 11pts with 4assists and 5 rebounds. Even when he's not completely on he's making an impact.

Gillespie with 20pts and 6reb!
 

Bucky

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Do you remember Paige Bueckers?
She was the #1 girls high school basketball player in the country last year.
Now she's a freshman at UConn, and is carrying the perennial power on her back.
She became the first player in UConn history, to score 30+ points in 3 straight games.
She lead UConn in beating #1 South Carolina, scoring 31 of their 63 points!
She's killing it, and she's a freshman!!
There's a lot of recent articles about her.
Here's one of them:
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/in-her-dna-freshman-paige-bueckers-already-a-uconn-star

She's a beauty and can play!
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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Paige Bueckers? i think you mean Paige Buckets! that girl can flat out play.
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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to continue my list of unheralded but talented and productive players ...

Chandler Vaudrin, a 6-foot-7 senior point guard for Winthrop, is arguably the best player in the Big South conference and leads the best team. Vaudrin stuffs the stat sheet: over 12ppg, nearly 7rpg, and nearly 7apg. if Winthrop takes care of business in their conference tourney, he’ll get a chance to show his game on the national stage.
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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Collin Welp is a 6-9 junior sharp shooting forward for U-C Irvine. he’s cooled off from 3-pt range of late, but he’s still hitting nearly 50% of his field goal attempts. and he’s not just a shooter, snagging more than 7 boards a game.
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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Sandro Mamukelashvili is a 6-11 senior forward with perimeter skills for Seton Hall. the Georgian (the country not the state) is averaging 18ppg and better than 7rpg. he will make a lot of money playing basketball.
 

Jimmy Chitwood

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Matthew Hurt continued his stellar play, leading Duke to a BIG upset over Virginia. Hurt went for a game-high 22 on 8-13 shooting.

Jay Huff had 20 (9-15 shooting) and 12 in the loss.

on the other side of the country, Drew Timme only missed one shot (21 points on 7-8 shooting and 7-7 from the free throw line) and Corey Kispert scored 16 despite not hitting a single three-pointer (0-4 on the night), as Gonzaga absolutely destroyed San Diego. the two playmakers also each pulled down 8 rebounds.
 
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