Welcome to the latest edition of Talking Hoops With Ted Sarandis. The rush of early season tournaments and showcases is now in the rearview mirror, giving us plenty to talk about.
The Big Ten/ACC Challenge is where we start since the evening began with a big one as Michigan visited Louisville. The Cardinals took care of Michigan in a terrific performance, especially on the defensive end, and answered any questions for now about how deserving they may be of the top spot in the polls.
Next, we look back at the Orlando Invitational, which Maryland won by dominating Markus Howard and Marquette. The Terrapins survived their first two games, while Howard had 91 points, so this looked like it posed a big chance for Marquette. Instead, Maryland shut Howard down as he had just six points on 1-12 shooting, missing all six of his attempts from long range. As we discuss, this Terrapin team might be a little different from other recent ones from whom much was expected, especially if Anthony Cowan Jr. continues to play like he has been.
From there we come back to Michigan as we look at their impressive win in the Battle 4 Atlantis last week. They beat North Carolina and Gonzaga in impressive fashion on the final two days to give Juwan Howard a couple of big wins early on, and Howard looks very much like he belongs thus far.
That leads us to another long-time NBA player who is coaching at his alma mater, but has had a decidedly different few days. Patrick Ewing appeared to have Georgetown trending very much in the right direction, with the Hoyas looking like a team capable of making the NCAA Tournament this year. Then Monday came, two days after a home loss to UNC Greensboro, where James Akinjo and Josh LeBlanc have left the program amid legal troubles, though Akinjo was not named in any of them. This story may not be over year, but just from a basketball standpoint, losing Akinjo, last season’s Big East Freshman of the Year, is a significant blow.
The good thing for Georgetown is that they have a path forward to the NCAA Tournament, though it just got much tougher. They have quality win opportunities remaining in non-conference, and the Big East will provide a few more.
Finally, we wrap up by looking ahead to games later in the week and on the weekend, including some early conference games in the Mountain West, Big Ten and ACC.
We hope you enjoy the podcast and share it with your fellow college basketball fans. Be sure to tune in again soon as we talk more about what’s happening in college basketball.
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