As Christmas approaches, we bring you another Talking Hoops with Ted Sarandis podcast looking at the state of college basketball.
We start with a look at Kentucky’s last two games, both of which were instant classics. The Wildcats beat North Carolina in Las Vegas, then lost a thriller at arch-rival Louisville in what has arguably been the best game of the season to date. Quentin Snider led Louisville in the latter, and the Cardinals continue to be an elite team as Rick Pitino continues to reinvent himself around the players he has. Malik Monk had a game to remember against North Carolina, then struggled against Louisville but hit a deep three-pointer late to give Kentucky a chance late.
On the same night as Kentucky-Louisville, Duke played a game that was well under the national radar, at least at first. Grayson Allen changed that, tripping an opposing player. Duke then suspended him indefinitely barely 12 hours after the game ended, a move that basically had to be made. We look at how this can affect Duke, as well as how this may have affected Allen’s NBA Draft stock in the past and may affect it in the future.
Duke’s arch-rival was in the news for the wrong reason as well, as North Carolina received an amended Notice of Allegations from the NCAA. This could be more damaging, as it alleges an extra benefit, and it includes the time span where the Tar Heels won two national championships. A lot remains to be settled with this, but just when it looked like the Tar Heels were past this for the purposes of recruiting, it comes back, and they will likely have to battle more negative recruiting for a while.
Ted got a chance to see Miami play George Washington, and expanded on that game as well as the play of the two teams. Of note as well, George Washington’s leading scorer, Yuta Watanabe, played for a coach in Jere Quinn at St. Thomas More who has been nominated for the Naismith Hall of Fame. It’s well-deserved as Quinn is a no-nonsense coach and a great man who continues his work at the school.
Up next is a look at Boston College and Providence, who played on Friday afternoon in Chestnut Hill. We’ll also have more on each team later, so stay tuned. Both teams have finished non-conference play.
In a few other quick hits, UConn has six losses for the first time since 1971, Kansas loses a big man for the year, and the Big Ten looks like it will be as good a race as many figured before the season.
All of that and more is on the podcast. Merry Christmas everyone!
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