Corner 3: Kentucky

spartandog97
Nov 6 · 2 min read

This is a new thing I’m gonna be trying out this basketball season, a short recap blog with the 3 things I saw from each game, called the corner 3! Here’s what I saw from a closely contested game against Kentucky in the Champions Classic

1. The Kids gotta grow up

Thanks to ticky tacky refereeing, this year’s freshman class got a lot of PT. How did they do? Well, there wasn’t a lot to write home about. This class’ flagship recruit, Rocket Watts, got the start at 2 and, at some points, taking point responsibilities from Cash when he had to sit due to some foul trouble, and… he was underwhelming. Same goes for other freshman, namely Malik Hall. I think all of the freshman got a much needed wake up call tonight, and I have a feeling Rocket and the kids won’t be underwhelming for much longer. They gotta mature, but they’ll be alright.

2. The offense misses Quaido

One of the major rule changes for NCAA this offseason was the moving back of the 3-point line, and you could tell that it bothered the Spartan offense, at least tonight. But I think the struggles behind the arc point to a potentially bigger issue at play, and that’s the absence of a spark plug like Matt McQuaid. There’s a few candidates (Aaron, Gabe, Bingham(more on him later)), but that’s gonna take a while to sort out, and, based on how the rest of the Big Ten performed tonight, I think we’ll be okay until that spark plug identifies themself.

3. Bingham and Kithier have arrived

Of last season’s freshman class, the one that seemed to get lost in the mix was Marcus Bingham. A long, lanky prototype who wasn’t really good at anything last year came bursting into the scene tonight, showing flashes of a ceiling that just became higher. Thomas Kithier, who got more playing time as the season went on due to injury, got the start tonight at 4, and held his own, especially his toughness in the paint, which has been a long concern of his.

Look, a loss never goes down smoothly. But, as many frustrating things happened tonight, there’s as much to take away and feel good about. And, if I were to remember correctly, a certain team lost a close game in the champions classic where a freshman went batshit nuts from deep last year too… I wonder what happened to them?

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