We know their first holiday away from home was not traumatic enough to prevent college freshmen from having a major impact on college basketball.
We also learned that tryptophan should be considered an overkill item if it comes anywhere near a tournament conducted in an already sleepy venue like the Anaheim Convention Center. But while the USC Trojans were pinning a 25-point “L” on the 18th-ranked Southern Illinois Salukis in Anaheim, we also found out that this young Pac-10 squad can thrive — for a while, at least — when ballyhooed rookie O.J. Mayo is sitting next to coach Tim Floyd.
We should learn quite a bit more about the deeper-than-expected Trojans in the near future because their next three dates are with Oklahoma, Kansas and Memphis.
While November Madness escorted America’s foremost amateur teams to disparate locales such as Maui, Anchorage, San Juan, New York City, Kansas City, Las Vegas and Orlando, its foremost fans were permitted to gain the following insights that might cause Billy Packer to make a bit more sense in March:
The key to figuring this out has been watching gifted Tigers freshman point guard Derrick Rose, who — during his expected one-and-done campaign — has mixed in a few bad decisions, turnovers and some time spent watching from the bench.
When the team-oriented Rose learns that playing fast does not necessitate playing out of control, Memphis will be even tougher to handle.
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While sophomore combo guard Russell Westbrook was busy earning his bones as a Plan B floor leader, freshman center Kevin Love was doing the inside dirty work coach Ben Howland hadn’t yet seen during his time in Westwood.
Love’s ability to attract a crowd in the lane should allow Josh Shipp to find many open looks on the wing.
I can’t wait to see Collison on the end of a Love outlet pass.
While spending part of his first holiday season with the Blue Devils in Maui, Singler demonstrated that Coach K’s reliance on a spread-style offensive system will make it murder to defend a versatile 6-foot-8 forward matched against post defenders.
But Duke’s tournament triumph in Maui also alerted us to the notion that the Blue Devils’ commitment to pushing the ball will not be absolute.
I suppose that even though he’s blessed with perimeter players who can shoot and pass, Coach K will rely more on gut and tradition than statistical supposition.
In earlier rounds, we learned that Marquette has the ability to administer a beating to any team on any given night. But we also were left to wonder if it will continue to rise and fall on the shaky shooting accuracy of veteran point guard Dominic James.
James and his three primary running buddies on the Golden Eagle perimeter were 20 of 35 from the field in a 30-point rout of Oklahoma State. But the junior, who wisely pulled his name from NBA Draft consideration last June, missed 12 of his 16 shots against Duke.
With that qualifier on the table, the kid to see is freshman shooting guard James Anderson, who should rise on the lists of NBA talent sharpies as his ability to put the ball on the floor improves.
By the way, even though he’s two years away from 40, OSU coach Sean Sutton is a man. That doesn’t mean we have to write anything bad about him.
(Julie Jacobson / Associated Press)
It should be noted that the Buckeyes are wildly interesting even though Matta lost three freshmen to the first round of the NBA Draft. The lack of pity based on this profound defection is inspired by another sensational recruiting class.
The kingpin of this year’s frosh list is 7-foot center Kosta Koufos, who is credited with having a far more advanced offensive arsenal than the departed Greg Oden.
But while Koufos was wowing scouts and TV analysts with his inside-outside skills, the Buckeyes’ uneven performances suggest that making running hooks with either hand may be less important than blocking shots and making free throws with your off hand.
In fairness to the current OSU big man, he didn’t roll into Columbus accompanied by a lottery-caliber point guard.
We now know that even though coach Billy Donovan’s previous hotshots referred to themselves as “Gator Boys,” this year’s lineup can’t play like kids for very long.
