ACC Basketball Blog

Early Impression of Derrick Favors

mattacc31 — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:32:01 +0000

Now that he’s played in four games, including two which I was able to watch, I can offer my impression on top freshman big men Derrick Favors.

Let me say that I was wrong about him being a Michael Beasley impact player. It may be by choice though, as he doesn’t look for shots in the manner of a volume shooter. Rather Favors takes his shots in the flow of the game, creating many off rebounds. He’s athletic enough to take his man off the dribble and has an arsenol of post moves. Defensively, he’s the guy everyone expected, altering and blocking shots and grabbing boards.

Favors hasn’t lived up to my expectations, but I’ve still come away impressed. However I think he may be best served comming back for another season the way things look today. Favors does have a mature game, but when your getting overpowered at times by smaller, stronger post players from George Mason and Boston University you have something to work on. Also, Favors has had some foul trouble in the first few games.

One other Tech freshman has really surprised me. Point guard Mfon Udofia has been playing like a veteran. He’s been playing tough, taking solid shots, generally handling the ball well, making some good passes, and playing lockdown defense. Most importantly, he’s been taking the ball to the hoop and drawing contact, using the quickness to finish most of the time along with picking up a foul. Point guards usually take some time to get adjusted, but for this early on, Udofia looks like a future All ACC player.

Tech’s other freshmen have played well too. Brian Oliver has done what has been expected, giving the team a three point shooter to help keep defenses from packing into the paint. Glen Rice Jr has shown a great feel for the game and looks to be a versatile player capable of doing more if he got more playing time.

Forget the tight loss to a top 25 Dayton team, this team is for real as a top 25 team. For now, I wouldn’t call them a deserving top 20 team, but top 25 is reasonable. As the young players grow up as they get more experienced throughout the season, they could end up being a top 15 team.

Ranking the ACC’s Recruiting Classes After Early Period

mattacc31 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:38:45 +0000

Here’s a look at how the signing classes rank after the early signing period just ended. Also, I included a list of players in the Scout.com top 100 who are uncommitted and still looking at ACC schools.

1.North Carolina
No competition within the conference for the Heels. No matter who they lose early this year, they reload next year and will have some backcourt depth. The nation’s top player, SF Harrison Barnes, joins a pair of five star backcourt players in SG Reggie Bullock and much needed true PG Kendall Marshall.

2.Duke
Duke gets the nod because they managed to land possibly the best scorer in the country when they got New Jersey combo guard Kyrie Irving. Another guard, PG Tyler Thornton, should help another team with backcourt issues this year. They also bring in highly rated PF Josh Hairston. Also worth noting is that Andre Dawkins would have been a member of this class if he didn’t enroll early and up a top 50 recruit in the 2009 class.

3.NC State
Sidney Lowe is just hoping he can hold on for one more year before a much needed infusion of talent. Speedy five star PG Ryan Harrow is the headliner, but he isn’t alone. Last year’s headliner, G Lorenzo Brown, will be joining the team after a year in prep school. PF Luke Cothron, a top 50 recruit, is actually the forgotten man in this class.

4.Wake Forest
This class isn’t far behind NC State or Duke with the addition of 4 four star players and an under-rated three star recruit. The class is headlined by F Travis McKie, C Carson Desrosiers, and SG JT Terrell, but still includes PF Melvin Tabb and a steal in three star PG Tony Chenault. Not only does Wake bring in a load of talent, but they bring in a well balanced class with a player at each position.

5.Virginia
Just like NC State, help is on the way for a program that really needs it. The class is led by top 50 prospects SG KT Harrell and C James Johnson. Borderline top 100 C Will Regan is another player who could contribute next year. The class is rounded out by three star SG Joe Harris and two star C Akil Mitchell. This will bring UVA closer to the rest of the conference talent wise.

6.Florida State
The Noles will reload with a pair of top 50 prospects in PG Ian Miller and PF Okaro White. Miller will help solidify the point, which isn’t exactly a strength this year, while White is another long, athletic, high upside post player. Three star JUCO C Bernard James also signed.

7.Maryland
The Terps picked up a pair of three star and pair of four star prospects. The backcourt will get a boost trying to replace Greivis Vasquez and Eric Hayes by adding top 50 SF Mychal Parker, four star SG Terrance Ross, and three star G Terrell Stoglin. The frontcourt picks up another underrated big man to join the two from last year as New York City PF Ashton Pankey gives them another option.

8.Boston College
They add in another typical Boston College class, not highly rated, but guys who fit the system. Four star PF Kevin Noreen will see immediate time in a thin frontcourt. G Brady Heslip, an under the radar prospect from Canada who just got on everybody’s radar, is one of the best deep shooters in the country. Three star F Papa Samba Ndao is the third man.

9.Virginia Tech
The Hokies bring in a very nice four star SF in Jarell Eddie and add in three star point guard Tyrone Garland to a position very thin after the transfer of Hank Thorns. Another team known for picking up lesser rated recruits than the big boys, but getting max potential, does it again.

10.Georgia Tech
Tech adds only one player in SF Jason Morris, who brings elite athleticism to a team that likes to play an up tempo style. This is a nice addition, however they struck out on their top recruits, Kyrie Irving, Tobias Harris, and Jelan Kendrick.

11.Miami
Miami’s class is led by four star SG Rion Brown, which gives them another talented backcourt player. However, the issue here is the frontcourt with Dwayne Collins graduating, and they barely addressed that by adding unknown C Raphael Akpejiori.

12.Clemson
Three star SF Marcus Thornton is a guy who will be a contributor, but he’s the only player in the class.

Remaining players looking at ACC schools and their Scout.com ranking
2.Brandon Knight has Miami in his top six
10.Josh Selby has Miami in his top five
12.CJ Leslie has Maryland and NC State in his top six
23.Ray McCallum has Miami still on his list
31.Roscoe Smith has Duke and Maryland involved still
33.Trey Zeigler is still considering Duke

Another Collapse Down the Stretch for Georgia Tech

mattacc31 — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:45:13 +0000

In the first meaningful game an ACC team has played(UNC has the second as it’s later tonight), Georgia Tech resembled last year’s team. Tech struggled with ball control, free throw shooting, played a good team tight the entire game, struggled down the stretch, and couldn’t do much on offense.

Number 18 Dayton beat Number 19 Tech 63-59 behind a 13-2 run in the last 4 minutes after being down 57-50. Dayton was able to control the ball slightly better than Tech, with 22 turnovers to Tech’s 26. Not only did Tech turn it over often, but they continued to do awful from the line shooting 11-20(55%).

Star Gani Lawal had 9 points and 8 boards, but managed an unusually high 8 turnovers for a big man. Top freshman Derrick Favors battled foul trouble the whole first half and finished with 10 points and 8 boards. One positive sign for Tech was freshman Brian Oliver hitting a pair of second half 3′s while Tech was battling back from a 9 point halftime defecit.

It looks like nothing has changed on the outside from last year’s team, however Tech did play a legit top 20 team very tight and showed heart by staying in it until the end. For Tech to come close to fulfilling their promise, they must work on turnovers, free throw shooting, and the halfcourt offense.

Virginia Blown Out, Long Season Comming?

mattacc31 — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:14:28 +0000

I didn’t include the Virginia result in the Monday rundown because I thought they deserved their own post after an ugly 66-49 loss to a below average South Florida team.

Sylven Landesberg led the way with 14 points, and was the only player in double figures, for the Cavaliers who were totally outplayed by a Big East bottom feeder. Despite having great size on the front line, Virginia was out rebounded 33-21. Not only couldn’t they board, but they couldn’t shoot either. As a team they shot just 33%(17-52) including 17% from three(2-12).

It’s still to be determined if this was an off game, a team still figuring out a new coaches system, or a sign of a very long season. I’m sure this is not what Virginia fans expected when they hired Tony Bennett, but at least a big time recruiting class is on the way.

Monday’s ACC Action

mattacc31 — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 04:59:02 +0000

Here’s a rundown of tonight’s ACC action.

Duke beat Coastal Carolina 74-49 behind 23 points and 11 boards from Kyle Singler. Good sign for the Dukies-Andre Dawkins scored 13. Dawkins play will be a key to how far this team goes because of the lack of guard depth.

Miami had another easy game, beating up on Nova 108-58(no, not Villanova). Durand Scott scored 14 points, grabbed 5 boards, and handed out 8 assists in another solid outing. Fellow freshman Antoine Allen also had 7 assists, while Malcolm Grant scored 23 to go with his 4 assists. Miami’s point guard position may be taking shape.

Florida State beat Jacksonville 87-61 as their promising young talent showed their promise. Solomon Alabi had 17 points and 8 boards with a pair of blocks and Chris Singleton had 6 points, 7 boards, 4 assists, and 2 blocks. Star freshman Michael Snaer recorded 14 points and 2 blocks in his 18 minutes. A good sign for the Noles is that a pair of sophomores who did not contribute much last year stepped up as Deividas Dulkys scored 11 points and grabbed 7 boards while Xavier Gibson scored 12 points and 4 boards.

Sunday’s ACC Action

mattacc31 — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:06:14 +0000

Here’s a rundown of Sunday’s action in the ACC.

Virginia Tech won their opener 69-55 over Brown behind a strong performance from it’s junior stars. Malcolm Delaney had to go 38 minutes for the Hokies, but finished with 21 points, 4 boards, and 4 assists, while Jeff Allen started his season with 17 points and 6 boards.

Wake Forest picked up another win behind another big game from sophomore Al-Farouq Aminu. Aminu finished with 23 points and 9 boards in an ugly 89-58 win over East Carolina.

North Carolina picked up their third win by beating Valparaiso 88-77. Deon Thompson scored 20 and grabbed 8 boards while Larry Drew finished with 13 points and 6 assists, showing he may be able to lead the program deep into March.

Miami Over NC Central in Opener

mattacc31 — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:54:39 +0000

Miami won their opener 83-53 over North Carolina Central on Saturday night in their first game without Jack McClinton. Adrian Thomas led the way with 16 points in 18 minutes for the Canes.

Star freshman guard Durand Scott only scored 4 points, but dished out 10 assists and grabbed 4 boards in his debut.

Georgia Tech Wins Big in Favors’ Debut

mattacc31 — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:44:43 +0000

Georgia Tech started the Derrick Favors Era with a 41 point victory over Florida A&M, in a 100-59 blowout. Favors had a quiet debut with just 10 points and 8 rebounds in 24 minutes but had to deal with foul trouble and the fact that this game was ugly early on.

Tech was led by returning stars Iman Shumpert and Gani Lawal. In 19 minutes, Shumpert scored 18 points showing that the reports of his improvement over the summer were for real. Gani Lawal had 16 points and 12 boards in his first game since withdrawing from the NBA Draft.

As for Tech’s other freshman, Brian Oliver hit 4 three pointers in 4-6 shooting from 3 to finish with 12 points. Glen Rice Jr scored 7 points and grabbed 7 boards from the wing. Point guard Mfon Udofia scored 9 points with 4 boards and 4 assists, splitting time with Moe Miller. The other two freshmen in the talented class are redshirting, Daniel Miller to improve his game and Kammeon Holsey due to an ACL injury.

Vasquez Struggles, Maryland Wins

mattacc31 — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:47:15 +0000

Maryland opened their season with an easy 89-51 victory over Charleston Southern despite star guard Greivis Vasquez struggling badly. The All American candidate scored 9 points on just 2-10 shooting, but did have 13 assists and added 5 boards.

Sophomore Sean Mosley led the way for the Terps with 15 points, 5 boards, and 4 assists. The two freshmen big men had strong debuts as well as Jordan Williams went for 12 points and 9 boards while James Padgett finished with 10 points, 8 boards, and 2 blocked shots.

Wake Forest Beats Oral Roberts in Opener

mattacc31 — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 15:28:59 +0000

Wake Forest started their season with a 76-56 win over Oral Roberts, led by a big game from sophomore star Al-Farouq Aminu. Aminu started his second year with 25 points and 13 rebounds, in what could be an All American season.

Freshman Ari Stewart had a nice debut scoring 11 points and grabbing three boards in just 14 minutes. Wake also got a strong debut from another freshman as CJ Harris scored 8 points as well as dishing out 4 assists and grabbing a pair of boards in 20 minutes.