Welcome to the latest edition of Talking Hoops With Ted Sarandis. With December here, the games will soon slow down as many schools take time off for final exams, but we’ve had a rush of games lately.
Included in that rush of games has been the first Big Ten games, and they have been made all the better by the conference’s strong non-conference performance thus far. Michigan has been as impressive as anyone across the country, and with what he’s done in Ann Arbor, many are now talking about John Beilein as not an underrated coach, but one of the elite coaches. We also talk about the feel-good story of the week, that of Minnesota guard Dupree McBrayer coming up big just after the death of his mother, who succumbed to cancer.
We go on to talk about Kansas and their winning ways, but also that there is reason to be cautious ahead with them. Udoka Azubuike will be out for a while with a sprained ankle, and they are still without Silvio De Sousa, so now someone else has to emerge up front to provide some depth. They are fine on the perimeter, and Dedric Lawson has certainly been a stud, but frontcourt depth could become a concern at some point.
Another team that has started out well is St. John’s, and in a year where there was undeniably pressure for the Red Storm to finally live up to the potential they were thought to have. In particular, Shamorie Ponds has been a star, including on their biggest stages, and that has gone a long way towards their success thus far.
From there, we go out west to a great game where Gonzaga edged Washington in Spokane. Gonzaga looked like they might be in control at halftime, but Washington made it a ballgame. That leads us into the Pac-12’s continued struggles, although there was no shame in losing at Gonzaga in this instance.
As we get to Texas, Ted muses on the great work Rick Barnes has done at Tennessee, Gonzaga’s next opponent. Texas, meanwhile, had lost three in a row and didn’t look the same since they ran out to a big lead against Michigan State in Las Vegas. It’s a trend they hope to arrest soon, though it won’t be easy.
We conclude by looking at another feel-good story, Furman, ranked in the top 25 with help from beating Villanova. They look like the favorites in the Southern Conference, and they’ve also shown an uncanny ability to win overtime games thus far this season. They are often hidden there, but they are getting noticed now and have some people wondering if they could go undefeated.
We hope you enjoy the podcast and share it with your fellow college basketball fans. Be sure to tune in again soon for more of our coverage of college basketball.
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