Roster-building is cyclical. Teams with a lot of size and physicality seemingly always hit free agency trying to add some skill. Vice versa, the skilled teams are on the prowl for some athletes to survive. Round and round we go on the carousel.
Often, it’s just a guessing game on whether the newcomers can coalesce with the returners to fix the flaws.
No one is expecting perfection or a finished product in November, but we’re starting to get an early look at whether the offseason buzz was real or a smokescreen.
The offseason pitch: The point guard room is drastically improved, which will make everything else fall into place.
Early return: UConn isn’t at full-strength yet, but it’s hard not to be optimistic about where this club is trending. Georgia transfer Silas Demary Jr. (13 points, 5.6 assists, 4.0 rebounds) and Dayton transfer Malachi Smith (5.6 points, 4.0 assists in 20 minutes) have picked up some of the intricacies of this offense quickly while buffing up UConn’s point-of-attack defense in a real way. Get Tarris Reed and Braylon Mullins healthy, and Dan Hurley’s club will be cooking with gas.
This is going to be one of the best teams in America sooner rather than later, and the point guard play is a big reason why. Early grade: A
The offseason pitch: This defense has the personnel to be top-10 good.
Early return: Defensive continuity takes time, and Kentucky doesn’t have it. Michigan State bludgeoned Kentucky for 1.17 points per possession. High-powered Louisville was operating in the 1.25 range against this Kentucky defense. Of course, Kentucky is missing maybe its best defender (big man Jayden Quaintance), but Denzel Aberdeen, Otega Oweh, Mo Dioubate and Malachi Moreno are talented individual defenders in their own right. Kentucky is making far too many scouting report mistakes right now, and frustrating shot selection on offense has also put this defense in bad binds. Michigan State scored 19 points in transition against the ‘Cats, and Kentucky only notched two “kills” (three straight stops) against the Spartans.
Kentucky has stuff to clean up everywhere, but finding some competitive spirit and bite defensively would be a great start. Early grade: F
The offseason pitch: Now healthy, Tamin Lipsey will return to All-American status and drive this group to the top of the Big 12.
Early return: So far, so good. Iowa State has manhandled three low-major clubs and waxed Mississippi State, 96-80. Lipsey has been pivotal to all of it. He already has as many 20-point performances (two) as all of last year, and the way he’s operating is so encouraging. His burst is back. He looks far more comfortable getting to his pull-up in the middle of the floor, which was an area that defenses weren’t forced to worry about with him a year ago. The all-everything senior guard supplies his usual Tamin Lipsey hustle, gritty, unselfish plays, this time paired with a jolt of extra shot-making. This healthy version of Lipsey is exactly what T.J. Otzelberger predicted in the preseason and makes the Cyclones a real factor to make noise in next week’s Players Era Festival tournament. Early grade: A
The offseason pitch: The renovated frontcourt provides more stability and will help us play like North Carolina again.
Early return: Arizona transfer Henri Veesaar and five-star freshman Caleb Wilson have quickly looked the part of maybe the ACC’s best big man pairing. Duke may have something to say about that eventually, but the Wilson-Veesaar duo has provided just about everything you could ask for. North Carolina has the best two-point defense in all of college basketball throughout the first two weeks. Veesaar and Wilson may not be brute-force, space-eaters, but they make up for it with incredible mobility, length and speed. Both have relentless motors, and the big-to-big passing has been a real asset for North Carolina’s offense.
Stiff challenges are on the way, but UNC’s frontcourt is a breath of fresh air. Early grade: A
No. 25 N.C State
The offseason pitch: This isn’t a rebuild.
Early return: Will Wade has wasted no time stacking dubs in Raleigh. The Wolfpack is off to a 4-0 start, including an impressive romp over UAB and a gritty victory over a hard-nosed VCU club.
This roster is so clearly ahead of the curve. Paying up for Darrion Williams was unequivocally the right move. The prized Texas Tech transfer has wasted no time dissuading any concerns about whether he could operate as the alpha of an offense. The decision to keep Paul McNeil, who was recruited by the previous regime, looks like a no-brainer now. All the consternation about NC State’s interior size after losing big man Paul Mbiya to Kansas looks a bit overblown. 6-10 big man Musa Sagnia is so clearly going to help this club a ton with his activity on the boards and mobility defensively. When NC State needed a stop against VCU, it pivoted to a hybrid zone defense with Sagnia flying around at the top of the pressure. He’s an asset, not a deep bench stash. This team also has edgy veterans like Tre Holloman and Quadir Copeland, who give ’em some nastiness, and freshman Matt Able has a gorgeous shooting stroke.
Wade was right. This isn’t a rebuild. You will hear from the ‘Pack in the ACC race. Early grade: A
