Sunday, January 1, 2017

What We Learned on New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve provided us with plenty of good basketball. We had Villanova defeat Creighton in a thriller in Omaha, we saw both Duke and North Carolina drop their ACC openers, Florida St defeated Virginia as Dwayne Bacon's heroics just edged out Kyle Guy's, and Louisville pretty beat down Indiana. Overall, it was a really good Saturday to top off a really good week in college basketball. Here are some takeaways.

Florida State is for real.
This team has so many weapons in Bacon, Jonathan Isaac and Xavier Rathan-Mayes. They are probably going to shoot up the rankings tomorrow, and they should have a shot at a top 3 finish in the ACC.

Indiana's got issues.
As I outlined earlier in the week, Indiana struggles so much because they can only win one way. This certainly did not change against Louisville, as they were shut down offensively and couldn't get their footing. 

Duke also has issues. 
I honestly didn't think the Grayson Allen suspension would hurt the Blue Devils that much. Even though I had Duke losing at Virginia Tech, I didn't think they would get dominated by them. Throughout the game, Duke looked uninspired, but at least hey have the talent to overcome that most of the time.

Kyle Guy should get more time.
A freshman from Lawrence Central High School in Indianapolis, Guy was a highly decorated recruit. Despite this, he comes off the bench and only averages 18.1 minutes a game. When he does get to play, Guy is extremely efficient, shooting an insane 57.9% from 3. He also provides a much-needed spark for Virginia's usually boring offensive scheme. 

Villanova is still Villanova.
They were down ten early. It finally looked like Villanova was going to go down, but then Jalen Brunson erupted for 27 points to lead the Wildcats to an 80-70 victory. This win shows that Villanova is more ham just Josh Hart, as good as he may be. Let's also remind you that Phil Booth, a starter when healthy, is still injured. This team just doesn't get rattled, and the championship experience is certainly showing itself.

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