Welcome to another edition of The Hoops HQ Fast Break, where we ask our panel of experts a series of questions for them to answer on the run. Today, we’ve got Alex Squadron, Chris Dortch, Fran Fraschilla and Hoops HQ Editor-in-Chief Seth Davis with us. We’ll be tackling Tennessee’s 30-point loss to Florida, Villanova’s big win over UConn, Arkansas’ struggles and more. Let’s dive in:
Let’s start with soon-to-be-previously No. 1 ranked Tennessee. It’s no surprise the Vols lost at Florida on Tuesday night, but nobody expected them to lose by 30. How worried should we be about this team: Not worried, a little worried, moderately worried or really worried?
DAVIS: The game put me more in the “Florida is really good” camp than the “Tennessee is a fraud” one. It’s folly to overreact to one bad game. (Or didn’t you see Notre Dame lose at home to Northern Illinois in football?) These teams could play tomorrow and Tennessee could win by 30. That said, you can’t just toss what happened aside because Tennessee was overpowered physically, which is something we are not used to seeing from Rick Barnes’ teams. That’s a fixable concern, but it is a concern.
SQUADRON: Not worried. One, the game was on the road in a raucous environment against an elite opponent. Two, the Volunteers won’t shoot that poorly again this season. Their defense, which has been among the best in the country, was still solid, holding Florida’s dominant offense to 73 points. But their rebounding was awful and their top three scorers — Chaz Lanier, Zakai Zeigler and Jordan Gainey — combined to shoot 8 of 39! The rebounding issue is fixable and the shooting can’t possibly get worse than that.
DORTCH: Coaches have always told me that every season teams will play one third of their games as expected, one third better than expected and one third worse than expected. That disaster at Florida was in the latter category. But if I’m Rick Barnes, I’d rather lose like that than to a last-second three-pointer. Tennessee will be fine and learn a lot from that game, but the one thing that concerns me about the Vols is depth. Tennessee could have used 6-foot-11, 250-pound sophomore J.P. Estrella against the rugged frontcourt foursome of Florida. Estrella’s out for the year with a foot injury. Barnes doesn’t mention it much, but he’d love to have that kid healthy. Two more players are nursing shoulder injuries, and another left the program at Christmas. Tennessee entered the season with just 11 players on scholarship and could ill afford injuries or defections.
FRASCHILLA: A little worried. There’s a thought in coaching that you play five incredible games every year, five horrendous games and the other 25 is who you really are. The Vols picked a bad time to play their “horrendous” game, while the Gators could do no wrong. Getting bullied by an opponent does not happen often to a Rick Barnes club. My sense is that this loss will be a good lesson for Tennessee and that issue will be rectified. Hopefully, the loss to Florida is not who they are.
Down Goes No. 1! Florida Slams Tennessee in 73-43 Rout
The undefeated, top-ranked Vols were bullied, battered and bruised by the GatorsVillanova got off to a rocky start with losses to Columbia, Saint Joseph’s and Virginia. Now the Wildcats have won eight of their last nine, including Wednesday’s big win over UConn. What are we to make of this team?
DAVIS: I’ve liked where Villanova was trending for a while. If the Wildcats had managed to beat Maryland on Nov. 24 instead of losing by one, this team would have a much different narrative. We should expect growing pains for a team that starts four first-year transfers, but things are starting to jell, especially with respect to point guard Jhamir Brickus. And sure, Villanova got lucky against UConn (Liam McNeely was hurt, Alex Karaban missed consecutive free throws for the first time in his career), but they had to put themselves in position to be lucky. There’s a long way to go, but this is looking more and more like an NCAA Tournament team.
SQUADRON: When you’ve won eight of your last nine (two over ranked opponents) and you have the best scorer in the nation (Eric Dixon), you have to be taken seriously. Kyle Neptune deserves a ton of credit for keeping his players locked in and motivating them to turn things around. After rocky starts, teams often just continue to spiral. I’ll be interested to see how the Wildcats perform against St. John’s, another top Big East squad, at Madison Square Garden this weekend.
DORTCH: All those Villanova fans who wanted to run Kyle Neptune out of town can cool their jets. He’s a Jay Wright disciple, but he’s also his own man. He deserves time to establish the kind of program he wants to run. That won’t differ all that much from the way Wright ran it, but every coach puts his unique stamp on a program. It seems like Neptune and his players are starting to get a handle on things.
FRASCHILLA: I like where the Wildcats are trending. First of all, this is the perfect year for them to get back on track in a good, but not overwhelming, Big East Conference. Next, their senior power forward, Eric Dixon, is putting up All-American numbers every night. Finally, the transfers and healthy upperclassmen are carrying their weight as well. La Salle transfer point guard Jhamir Brickus is playing like a throwback Philly guard and embracing the bigger stage at Villanova.
“Get Better Every Day”: An Inside Look at the Work Ethic That Has Made Villanova’s Eric Dixon Great
The Wildcats struggled out of the gate, but Dixon’s emergence as a Player of the Year candidate has them eyeing the NCAA Tournament againOn the flip side, we have John Calipari’s Arkansas Razorbacks, which fell to 0-2 in the SEC with the Gators coming to town this weekend. Same questions as before: What are we to make of this team? Will it get to the NCAA Tournament?
DAVIS: The biggest problem the Razorbacks have is their conference. The other problem is that this is a lousy three-point shooting team with very little post presence and that is a tough combination. The X factor here is Johnell Davis, the FAU transfer who has been a disappointment for much of the season but seems to be playing better of late. Circle your calendar for Feb. 1, which is when Calipari takes his team to Rupp Arena.
SQUADRON: It’s tough to assess Cal’s team, but I believe it will get to the Big Dance. Arkansas has enough weapons to grab some notable wins in the SEC, on top of its big victory over Michigan at the Jimmy V Classic. The key is senior guard Johnell Davis. If the transfer from FAU can find a rhythm offensively, the Razorbacks should be able to make a little noise during conference play.
DORTCH: I think so. There’s too much talent on the roster. Cal seems to have had trouble settling on a rotation the last few years, even at Kentucky. The sooner he chooses the eight or nine he wants to run with at Arkansas, the better the Hogs will play.
FRASCHILLA: The cavalry is on the way to Fayetteville in the form of Coach Cal’s first true recruiting class. (Razorback fans are going to love point guard Darius Acuff — for one year.) Meanwhile, while there is talent on the Arkansas roster, it is a team with evolving chemistry. And this is a bad year to be “evolving your chemistry” in January in the SEC. Freshman guard Boogie Fland has been as good as advertised, but FAU transfer Johnell Davis has not been.
What mid-major team are you watching these days, and why?
DAVIS: George Washington is a really difficult job, but Chris Caputo has this team off to a 13-3 start (2-1 in the Atlantic 10) with consecutive wins over Dayton and Rhode Island. This is doubly interesting because Caputo spent 11 years as an assistant at Miami. If the Revolutionaries (they’re not the Colonials anymore, in case you didn’t know — which I didn’t) have a great season, Caputo could be in the mix to replace Jim Larranaga.
SQUADRON: Drake. A former Division II coach (Ben McCollum) and several former Division II players competing — and thriving —at the highest level. What a story. The Bulldogs have dropped two of their last three, but those are their only two losses of the season. Junior guard Bennett Stirtz, one of four transfers from DII Northwest Missouri State, has been sensational, averaging 17.3 points, 6.2 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game.
DORTCH: Utah State. Someone at that university — the athletics director, president or board — knows how to hire basketball coaches. The problem is, they keep leaving for power conference programs. The last one to bounce was Danny Sprinkle, who coached just one season. After the Aggies finished 28-7 and played in the NCAA Tournament second round, he left for Washington. His replacement, Jerrod Calhoun, is a Bob Huggins disciple and winner at the Division II level before landing at Youngstown State, which he led to consecutive 20-win seasons. After convincing three of Sprinkle’s starters to stay and making some astute portal acquisitions, he’s led the Aggies to a 15-1 start (5-0 in the Mountain West).
FRASCHILLA: Utah State. More than any other mid-major program, the Aggies have been a “success incubator” for coaches. Larry Eustachy and Stew Morrill started the ball rolling and, later, Craig Smith, Danny Sprinkle and current first-year Utah State coach Jerrod Calhoun have kept it going. The Aggies are currently 15-1 and led by Maryland transfer Ian Martinez and homegrown sophomore Mason Falslev. And they are nearly unbeatable at the Spectrum, where they’ve won over 80 percent of their games historically.
From Division II to Undefeated, Ben McCollum Is Making an Early Mark at Drake
McCollum won four Division II national championships. Now, he is making the most of his shot at the big time.Finally, Mick Cronin made some waves with his comments following UCLA’s home loss to Michigan on Tuesday night. Do you think it will work, and what’s your general take on what he said?
DAVIS: I had the same reaction just about everyone else had, which was, “Uh, Coach, didn’t you recruit all those players?” Not to mention that he also crushed his assistants, which I don’t believe I’ve heard before. Still, I say we give it a couple of weeks. If the Bruins go on a win streak, we’ll all be praising Cronin for his brilliant motivational tactic. The larger issue is that this is a terrible offensive team with a propensity to commit lots of turnovers. All the words won’t matter a bit unless and until that is fixed.
SQUADRON: If Cronin’s goal is to ignite and inspire his team, I could see it working. That tactic proved effective for Rick Pitino at St. John’s last season — he ripped his squad after a disappointing loss to Seton Hall and then it won six games in a row. Generally, though, I agree with Rapheal Davis’ take on Cronin’s comments. If you bring in a bunch of transfers and shift the dynamics of your locker room, you can’t expect the vibes and demeanor of the team to always be positive.
DORTCH: I’m not a fan of a coach blasting his players in the media. Mick has always said what’s on his mind. Fair enough. But calling his players soft is one thing. Delusional is quite another. Maybe he didn’t mean it like it sounded. But it seemed over the top.
FRASCHILLA: Generally speaking, an experienced, successful coach like Mick Cronin knows his team far better than the rest of us. And we know — and his players know — that he wears his emotions on his sleeve. But as a wise coach once said, “You’re either coaching it or allowing it to happen.” Cronin knows what’s fixable, but it has to start with himself. My sense is that most of the constructive criticism that the UCLA players hear will be behind closed doors.
