Alright, back on the job after some successful surgery. It's miraculous what they can accomplish medically today.. Took in several games yesterday, with the Oklahoma game being at the top of my list. Trae Young returned to his old efficient self, unless of course you want to count his turnovers (9) against only 7 assists. Wow, it appears he's mortal after all. This is one of those situations where stats alone don't tell the whole story. Yes, he only had 7 assists (a number most college PG's would be happy with) but, not counting all the passes he made to teammates on the perimeter who couldn't make a shot, Brady Manek excluded, who had 22 points on 7 of 13 shooting and shot 6 of 9 from the three, he made 10 passes, count them, 10 passes to teammates right under the basket, all of whom couldn't make a layup or a dunk. 7 of those misses shots were totally uncontested. Point being, Young did his job, his teammates didn't.
Other than that Young ended up scoring 43 points on 15 of 27 shooting while going 10 of 18 from the three. Yes, that's a lot of shots for one player on a college team to put up, but if he hadn't tried to take over the game, there's no doubt that Oklahoma would have lost that game. Young and Manek were the only two players on the team that could make the ball go into the basket. Because of his paltry 7 assists it robbed Young of a triple double since he had 11 rebounds. You can add in one steal and one block as well. I've mentioned Manek before, but I see an NBA future for him. He needs to get stronger, but he has a good all around game and is a terrific outside shooter. The league always has a place for players like him.
Also watched the Duke/Wake Forest game. It's hard to find much to complain about with Bagley. No, he doesn't take a lot of 3 pt shots, but when he does take one, his form looks pretty good, and he is shooting just under 35% from the three, so he's not inept. Aside from that, there's a lot to like. First, you can't help but know he's on the court. He makes his presence felt on both offense and defense. He has a not stop motor. He's also made nice improvements on the defensive side of the ball, particularly on rotations and help defense, which has increased his ability to block shots. He had 3 yesterday. He also had 4 steals, 11 rebounds and 30 pt's on 11 of 21 shooting overall and 1 of 3 from the three. Granted, he does almost all of his scoring at that basket, or within 5 feet of the basket, but you can't discard his production. He's very good, and very quick in the post, which means he's decisive. In short, Bagley is one consistent jumpshot from being a star in the NBA. I wouldn't bet against him.
His running mate , Wendal Carter had a solid, but not spectacular game. He contributed 15 pt's on 3 of 9 shooting, but going 2 of 4 from the three. He has a nice stroke from the outside. He also added 11 boards, 1 steal and 1 block. Carter probably has the best all around game of the Dukie bigs, and normally would be getting more press. But unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, he plays along side Bagley, who is highlight reel waiting to happen. I think Carter is one of those players that three years into the NBA will be knocking on the all star door. He's fundamentally solid and he goes quietly about his game as he puts up solid numbers game after game. My only knock on him is that he tends to disappear at times. But playing along side Bagley only magnifies that.
Jaren Jackson had another solid game and once again, yawn, he was in foul trouble. It's almost as if his reputation for getting fouls is proceeding him and the ref's are looking for any chance to blow their whistle. I don't think this will be as big a problem in the NBA. He sill managed to play 27 minutes, score 19 pt's on 4 of 7 shooting, going 1 for 3 from the three. He also had 6 blocked shots. He's an instinctive shot blocker, and I think he'll be just as good a defender as Bamba, with a much better all around game. His one weakness seems to be rebounding. He only had 3 yesterday.
His running mate Miles Bridges played 35 minutes, and also scored 19 pt's on 7 or 14 shooting, but he struggled from the three going 1 for 5. He added 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals. Miles is a terrific athlete, who reminds me a lot of Jaylen Brown. My problem with Bridges is, I'm not sure what he is, other than effective at the college level. He's a smart player who has expanded his game this year with better passing, and for the most part, better shot selection. He's listed at 6'6", maybe 6'7", but has a PF's body. Appearance wise, he look's a bit like a young Charles Barkley. Hey, he's probably taller than Barkley.