Livescore
Let’s dive into this week’s edition of 10 Trends, including a six-pack of fake trades because it is the season and if the Dallas Mavericks can trade Luka Doncic, we can do hypothetical trades because the incomprehensible is suddenly doable. Even in college basketball.
1. Hopeless possessions litter UNC’s offensive tape
Duke’s impenetrable defense was the story of Saturday’s 87-70 blowout victory over North Carolina. But UNC’s process offensively left plenty to be desired, especially in the first half when the Tar Heels managed just 0.86 points per possession.
UNC had more turnovers (nine) than buckets (eight) in the first 20 minutes.
The tape was not pretty, but if UNC wants to salvage anything about its season, possessions like this just can’t happen anymore.
Let’s go through these four opportunities.
- There are 12 seconds left on the shot clock and UNC still hasn’t generated a single paint touch (a theme of the first half against Duke’s switching defense). Elliot Cadeau tries to slip a left-handed backdoor pass to Seth Trimble, but Cooper Flagg was already rotating, has an insane wingspan and is not fooled in the slightest. Cadeau is fearless but he’d want this one back.
- It looks like Cadeau predetermined that he’s throwing this in-bounds pass to the corner to try and catch Kon Knueppel napping. But Knueppel is already turning to the ball before the ball can get out of Cadeau’s hands. This play is immediately dead and another Duke runout commences.
- UNC finally generates a paint touch and gets Duke’s defense scrambling a little bit, but Jae’Lyn Withers rotates to an already-filled corner, intercepts a pass that looked like it was intended for Seth Trimble and chucks up a heavily-contested 3-pointer with 16 seconds left on the shot clock. What are we doing? No play should ever have two guys in one spot and taking this shot just compounds one mistake into two.
- Withers gets an isolation possession against Flagg and tries to make a play against one of the best defenders in the sport. Duke has been switching everything all game and there are more than 16 seconds left on the shot clock again. Trying to make a play is one thing, but an isolation possession against Flagg is bad business. Why not try to get a switch onto anyone else other than Flagg?
The lack of paint touches, the routine shortages of extra passes and a never-ending brigade of dribbles constantly pop up on UNC’s offensive tape. And it’s February. If it wasn’t going to get fixed by now, is there enough time to salvage it?
UNC has serious work to do and the clock is ticking.
Clifford is the only player in America with an assist rate north of 25.0 and a defensive rebound rate higher than 26%. The 6-foot-6 wing means everything to this Colorado State club.
His stat lines during the Rams’ four-game winning streak are ludicrous.
- 23 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and one steal vs. Wyoming.
- 20 points, seven rebounds seven assists and zero turnovers vs. Boise State
- 24 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and two steals vs. Fresno State.
- 22 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and two steals against Air Force.
It’s almost a miracle that Clifford hasn’t notched a triple-double at this rate.
The best part about all of it is how Clifford and Colorado State have met in the middle to draw out a career-best season. Last year, Clifford played off the ball a ton to let Colorado State’s legendary point guard Isaiah Stevens cook. Clifford put himself on the map as a legitimate NBA prospect thanks to his 3-and-D archetype. This year, Clifford has changed his game dramatically. He’s posting up more now than ever before. His 3-point rate has spiked. He’s accepted the blessing and the curses that more on-ball responsibilities can bring.
He’s sacrificed cleaner looks from downtown to show off his well-rounded game. It’s the playmaking that’s spiked the most, especially out of those post-ups. This nifty dart was as good of a dime as you’ll see this season.
It’s a new weapon that Colorado State’s Niko Medved can use for a group that sits 14-7 overall and 8-2 in Mountain West play ahead of Wednesday’s road tilt against league-leading New Mexico.
This next three-game stretch could be highly telling for Colorado State’s championship aspirations. Road tilts with New Mexico and Utah State are no joke, and sandwiched in between is Saturday’s home contest against San Diego State (10 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network and streaming on CBSSports.com and the CBS Sports App).
With this version of Clifford, Colorado State can play with anybody.
3. Baylor’s Rob Wright is just getting started
Wright earned national attention after putting Baylor on his back not once, but twice, last week. The freshman poured in 22 points and six assists in a tight, overtime road loss to BYU before exploding for 24 points and six dimes in the Bears’ absurd comeback Saturday to stun Kansas.
Bill Self tried everything to slow down Wright. Big wings like Rylan Griffen and Zeke Mayo got a turn and promptly were torched. Veteran guard Shak Moore was no match. One of Wright’s best buckets came against veteran Dajuan Harris when he wiggled into a pick-and-roll, put Harris in jail and skittered into a nifty layup.
Jaw-dropping stuff from a freshman who isn’t playing like one.
This is only the beginning. Wright’s fingerprints are going to be all over Baylor’s March run, but let’s scale out for a bit.
It’s pretty clear who the face of this Baylor program is going to be very quickly. Jayden Nunn, Norchad Omier, Jeremy Roach, Jalen Celestine and VJ Edgecombe are all gone after this year. Baylor’s roster is going to look mighty different next November.
Everything about Baylor’s roster construction in 2025 will be centered around finding portal additions who will fit around Wright like a glove.
Who wouldn’t want to play with a point guard like this?
Good lord, I’m going to rank Wright far too aggressively in next season’s preseason top-100 players.
4. Blindside traps against Michigan
Michigan is 8-2 in the Big Ten and just a game behind rival Michigan State in the conference standings despite not actually playing that well for the last couple of weeks. Michigan’s high-powered offense has posted its two worst performances of the season in the last three games.
A blindside post trap is one slightly new strategy that Michigan opponents are utilizing to confuse big man Vlad Goldin. The Michigan star center, who is firmly in the mix for First Team All-Big Ten, has turned it over 13 times in the last four games combined. That blindside trap has given him fits. Purdue probably did it best, but Penn State and Rutgers have utilized it routinely to force takeaways.
But every week supplies new wrinkles. Michigan hosts Oregon Wednesday before a tilt at Indiana (1 p.m. ET, on CBS and streaming on CBSSports.com, CBS Sports App and Paramount+ with Showtime).
Both Oregon and Indiana have not been heavy post-trap teams this season. The Ducks trust Nate Bittle one-on-one against just about everybody. Indiana does the same with Oumar Ballo.
Will Dana Altman and Mike Woodson steal some of the game plans that have worked against Michigan lately? And if so, what is Dusty May’s counter?
5. Fake Trade No. 1
The proposal: Georgia’s Asa Newell for Ole Miss’ Sean Pedulla
The pitch: This would be a blockbuster trade in the SEC. Ole Miss gets the frontcourt help that it desperately needs with a five-star big man like Newell transforming that unit. But the cost is hard to swallow. Pedulla has been phenomenal all season, and the cold-shooting Dawgs desperately need a veteran guard with a real burner. Plus, Georgia has loads of frontcourt depth behind Newell with the likes of Somto Cyril and Justin Abson who are more than competent. Ole Miss hands starting guards like JuJu Murray and Matt Murrell more usage while also getting a flat-out dude in Newell.
6. Fake Trade No. 2
The proposal: Kansas’ AJ Storr for Iowa’s Josh Dix
The pitch: Kansas certainly needs more role players who are comfortable playing off the ball and can shoot the cover off the ball. That is Dix’s game to a T. Iowa’s zoom-zoom game plan could be exactly what a transition scorer like Storr could use. He’d have a usage-rate bump at Iowa compared to his role at Kansas, and the wing tandem of Payton Sandfort and Storr wouldn’t have much positional overlap.
7. Fake Trade No. 3
The proposal: Kentucky’s Ansley Almonor for BYU’s Dallin Hall
The pitch: Mark Pope gets to reunite with Hall, his old point guard, who helps provide a veteran in the room while Lamont Butler gets healthy. BYU adds a flamethrower like Almonor to a rotation that can’t ever have enough shooting surrounding Egor Demin.
8. Fake Trade No. 4
The proposal: Wake Forest’s Omaha Biliew for Xavier’s Dante Maddox
The pitch: Maddox is sort of buried by Ryan Conwell. Biliew is on the mend but is a little buried on the depth chart by the brilliant Tre’Von Spillers. This could be an everyone-wins trade. Biliew has a real path to minutes at Xavier in a frontcourt that needs more explosiveness and defensive bite. Maddox can help transform a Wake Forest offense that absolutely needs an on-the-move shooter.
9. Fake Trade No. 5
The proposal: West Virginia’s Jonathan Powell for Oregon’s KJ Evans Jr.
The pitch: This one sounds a bit unfair but walk with me. Powell has been one of the Big 12’s best freshmen. He’s a deadeye from downtown who can get hot in a hurry. Oregon has struggled to find a true spot-up sniper who can get humming, but it has a ton of frontcourt depth. To maximize Javon Small’s brilliant season, West Virginia gambles on Evans, a former five-star, and believes that a change of scenery paired with an elite pick-and-roll maestro can unlock his sky-high potential. Plus, Evans’ defensive capabilities would be ideal in West Virginia’s scheme. Oregon can ride with Nate Bittle, Supreme Cook and Brandon Angel to sop up the 80 available frontcourt minutes while upgrading its wing shooting with a long-term piece like Powell who could be a multi-year starter.
10. Fake Trade No. 6
The proposal: Cincinnati’s Connor Hickman for Michigan’s Sam Walters
The pitch: Welcome to the weeds, folks. Michigan could use another veteran guard in that rotation, and Hickman, when healthy, could provide more spot-up shooting and extra ball-handling that May could crave. Meanwhile, Cincinnati desperately needs some shooting to buff up that frontcourt, and a catch-and-shoot sniper like Walters would be a much different look than anyone else in that rotation.
Read the full article here
Discussion about this post