Portland, Oregon. — CBS College Basketball Insider Matt Norlander spent Thanksgiving weekend at PK85 covering the Phil Knight Invitational and Phil Knight Legacy Tournament. He regularly provides updates as he speaks with players and coaches at the college hoop’s biggest events of the season. Here are his five takeaways from Thursday’s action at the Moda Center and Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
The Tar Heels Haven’t Looked or Played Like the No. 1 Team Yet
This PK85 hardly took long to deliver the drama. UNC flirted by becoming the first No. 1 team since duke In November 2019, we lose to an unranked team that is not on the Council of Powers (Stephen F. Austin). The Tar Heels continued their trend of playing in competitive games against mid-sized opponents. I was able to drive off a nasty pilot in the final minute of the Tar Heels’ victory.
UNC coach Hubert Davis wasn’t surprised by Portland’s demeanor. He wants his team to play with such vigor, spirit and vigor. Davis also said Carolina players are still learning how to collectively accept the weight of not only being his top target in every game, but also holding the No. 1 team title. I also admitted that I did not accept it.
“The position we’re in, people have expectations about what it should look like,” Davis said. We need to win every game by the point.No, we need to compete, play hard, keep improving and see what kind of team we can be.”
Davis later added: We’ve talked a lot about this, whether it comes from criticism or praise.
Portland averaged 1.12 points per possession, becoming the second team in UNC to clear 80 in five games. The pilot set the tone and UNC fell flat, Tar Heels senior wing Leaky Black told CBS Sports. UNC is winning, but not winning the way it should, he said.
“Lack of detail, lack of enthusiasm, lack of energy,” Black said. “Obviously we have the talent. We have to stop coming out slow in hopes of beating them all. north carolina No. 1 across the chest. Going flat obviously doesn’t work for us.”
Black said there were too many possessions that “no one was talking about” and the team “just stared at each other.” Black also told me that no matter how well he plays on defense, if the team collectively fails, it starts with him and his leadership.
Good stuff: Northwest Transfer Pete Nance scored a career-high 28 points for UNC. Without him, the Heels would almost certainly have lost. Not afraid to shoot, junior guard Caleb Love added 23 on 10-of-15 shooting. However, there are too many freelancers and poor defenses. Being in the locker room afterward, it felt like the UNC players knew they couldn’t afford to play like this and they couldn’t get out of this tournament with three wins. said the same thing.
“You need my personality to play for me,” Davis said. “I am emotional. I am ready to fight. I am ready to compete. I am ready to pursue it. , or it will be very difficult to play something that is not part of your personality…. One of the things I always talk about is, are you hungry or thirsty? I was thirsty and I kept telling them: I am nowhere near full.I am starving now.
UNC is played Iowa (more on that later) Friday at 5:30 PM ET.
Blue Devils Seeking Rotation — And The Go-To Man
Both Carolina Blue Bloods were terrified, but Duke was a little more concerned. As mean as UNC was on defense, Duke was even worse on offense. The Blue Devils beat Oregon State with his 54-51 win, but it was Jon Scheyer’s worst scoring streak since he played in school.
In percentage terms, Duke managed just 26.7% from the field and managed 0.98 points per possession in Slowfest possession games (55).credit Oregon By screwing it up and throwing Duke off-kilter with a zone defense look, Shire told me Duke hadn’t seen it yet this season. Wayne Tinkle’s team has already matched last year’s worst number of wins (3), nearly making Thanksgiving capers a success.
“It’s my fault not to prepare them,” Shire told me.
Why did Duke win? Perhaps more bodies. Mike Krzyzewski famously played on the short bench, but that’s not his current Scheyer approach. Unheard-of players like Ryan Young and Jaylen Blakes sat on the floor, and the highly touted freshman Dariq Whitehead and his Dereck Lively sat.
“We feel that depth is our big strength,” Shire said. “And that could mean ending the game differently than we started it, or depending on how the game progressed, it could mean that someone is actually making it progress. I have.”
Also, as with UNC, Scheyer said his team has been slow to come in and it’s a habit that needs to be shaken. I asked him why Duke was slow off the tip. He honestly said he had no answer.
It will be interesting to see if Whitehead, who was the most prolific scorer among freshmen entering Duke University, can score more than he did in 17 minutes today.
“He just can’t fall in love with the jump shot and is shaking off the rust,” Shire told me of Whitehead. “I thought he made really good progress today.”
Kyle Filipowski (game-high 19 points) has been Duke’s most integral player to date, but the mostly young Blue Devils are looking for a man to lean on. Instead of getting it on Thursday, Duke largely survived and kept Oregon away. Duke has a lot of untapped potential. It was as easy to see this team win the Legacy Bracket as it was to see him lose to Xavier in the Semifinals on Friday. The Musketeers started their best attacking game of the season. floridaand now X vs. Duke could be the best game of the day on Friday.
MSU injury thwarts title chase at Rose City
No. 18 Alabama got a great performance from freshman Brandon Miller (24 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks). The Crimson Tide defeated No. 12 Michigan State University 81-70 in the final game of the night at his center Moda. Alabama could have a great season, but I’ll save Tide’s story for tomorrow — when Alabama faces UConn in his PKI semifinals.
At the moment, MSU is a little more interesting and unstable. Sparty lost him 3-2 to Gonzaga and Bama. With the win over Kentucky, Villanova pushed his Tom Izzo’s team from unranked to his No. 12 spot in his AP Top 25. The truth is that this is not a top 20 team right now without a setback of various injuries. MSU started Thursday as he lacked Malik Hall on the wing (stress reaction) and reserve his guard Jaden Akins (ankle), which prevented him from jumping.
To make things even more complicated, Joey Hauser also twisted his ankle against Alabama. Hauser is scheduled to face Oregon on Friday.Izzo said Akin after the game Might be so I’ll be playing on Sunday, but I don’t expect it. Hall’s injury is the worst. He could be his MSU best player, but his left foot problem (which surfaced against Villanova) will keep him off the floor for at least three weeks.
This is further complicated by the fact that MSU still has a road game against Notre Dame next week, and we’ll see if they can come out of Portland with a 2-1 record. Oregon is next.
VillanovaThere are positive signs in the troubles of
No team in the top 25 of preseason got off to a more difficult start than Villanova. After his 81-79 loss to Iowa State, the Wildcats will have to avoid his 2-3 and slippery Portland side against his team on Friday. Villanova is still without star freshman/predicted lottery pick Cam Whitmore, and Justin Moore is yet to return from his Achilles tendon injury. long-term impact.
That said, Villanova has recovered from double-digit losses. Michigan, plus here Thursday vs. Iowa State, just losing those two games by a total of 4 points. Losing burns, and Nova has often won this type of game over the past decade, and the signs are encouraging. The team is determined. Villanova may not have Jay Wright and he may not have two of his best players, but those challenges could prove to be useful hurdles for him three months later. Let me be clear, I highly recommend not to lose to Portland. An alarm will go off if VU loses on Friday.
As for Iowa State, a team that advanced to the Sweet 16 in March, TJ Otzelberger led the Cyclones to a 4-0 start with his familiar defense-first approach. Through four games, his 32.4% turnover rate for the ISU is the highest in the sport. Saint Bonaventure Transfers Osun Osnyi (17 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks, 1 steal) was the most important player for the ISU. He will have to go big again on Friday as he faces Armando Bako and his UNC. Events like this are a great way for Iowa State University to make noise and boost its reputation.
Xavier has the pieces to grow into a Big East challenger
Sean Miller’s team pulled away in the second half, with Xavier beating Florida 90-83, but in the first 34 minutes or so of game time, this was the best clock in Portland’s first four tips. did. The Musketeers starters each finished in double figures, with Colby Jones and Souley Boum dropping 22 each. Boum is a firecracker.of UTEP Transfers are a problem during transitions and a tough bogey to keep on the radar. Florida ultimately didn’t have an answer for him, with UF coach Todd Golden not expecting Miller’s players to be effective and eclectic from the 3-point range. Jones, Zach Fremantle and Desmond Claude teamed up to shoot 6-7 from across the arc.
“Those guys combined didn’t get three points so far,” Golden said. “[Xavier] I beat the Scouts a bit because I didn’t consider them to be deadly 3-point shooters. But they were tonight. ”
Florida won 3-2 to clinch Oregon State in the loser bracket of Friday’s Legacy Tournament. This is a difficult place for the Gators team, which has a lot to discover about itself, although it has potential. Xavier gets Duke. With the size, shooting, and attacking dynamism that the Musketeers have, it will be interesting to see if Duke can keep up with his X. The game could easily crack the ’80s after Thursday’s performance, the Muskies ranked fourth in Division I. He has 3 points on offense (45.7%).
Phil Knight Invitation Frame
Phil Knight Legacy Bracket
