Three Point Range

2018 is drawing to a close, and I wanted to thank everyone for their support of this series and all others. With conference play approaching and I'm going to be putting out conference breakdowns with game reviews, this is probably going to be the last edition of The Fast Break of the 2018-19 basketball season. I think it has kind of been limited in what it does and hasn't been the most fulfilling for me, so hopefully it improves the content on the site overall. As always, let me know your thoughts on Twitter @ThreePointRange, and have a Happy New Year. What I Saw - Mississippi State is a legit SEC contender. The Bulldogs are very deep, with 7 players capable of starting on the roster. They put up 100 points in a game where Lamar Peters, who was scoring 14.3 points a game entering the contest against BYU, was held scoreless, and they struggled more than they have been from the three point line. They have five star freshman Reggie Perry struggling to find minutes among the tal...

Merry Christmas Eve! As previously mentioned, I'm going to be taking the holidays off, but I'll be back with new content at the end of the week. Luckily, there isn't really a lot to watch before this upcoming weekend, outside of the Diamond Head Classic, so it should be a nice breather from all things college basketball. However, I wanted to give my thoughts on this weekend's games before they become obsolete. Let me know your thoughts on Twitter @ThreePointRange, and enjoy your holidays. What I Saw - Furman and Buffalo both lost their first game of the season on Friday night on the road by 18 points, but they were very different losses. Furman quite simply didn't look as talented as LSU. They weren't bad by any means, but they seemed like a typical decent mid-major squad playing against a more talented team. They hung around in the first half, trailing by 4 at the break, but in the end the Tigers were too much for the Paladians. Meanwhile, Buffalo gave Marqu...

I have another edition of The Fast Break, where I give my thoughts on what I've seen recently in college basketball. It's been a pretty exciting week in college basketball, and there were plenty of things to talk about, so I hope you enjoy and let me know your thoughts on Twitter @ThreePointRange What I Saw - As conference play approaches, one of the team's that has impressed me the most has been Tennessee. I knew they were going to be good, they returned basically their entire roster after winning the SEC last year, but I thought they were going to be more in that second tier of teams in the 7-15 range, but instead they've been elite. They possess an 8-1 record and are third in my top 25 and feature wins over Louisville, Gonzaga, and Memphis, with their only loss coming to Kansas on a neutral floor in overtime. The main difference to me from last year to this year has been their offense. They finished 36 in KenPom's adjusted offensive efficiency last season, but...

As I mentioned in my Status Update post, I was going to change up the way I reviewed games. Instead of giving a large breakdown of every game I watched, I'm just going to give my thoughts on different things. It's a lot easier and more fun for me this way, and I hope everyone reading appreciates it as well. What I Saw - To borrow a phrase from Jon Rothstein: There's so much Marvin Bagley in Tyler Cook. The Iowa junior has been great this year, averaging 15.4 points and 8.1 rebounds a game this year. And while watching his 19 point, 15 rebound performance against Wisconsin, I was reminded a lot of Duke's star player last year. Now, I'm not saying Cook is as good as Bagley because he isn't. However, I think he can provide a similar impact. They are both athletic power forwards that like to attack the basket from the perimeter and are skilled finishers and rebounders. He's not going to put up Bagley's numbers, but I think he can be an All Big Ten level p...

This week has been super tough for me, with 3 tests in 2 days as Thanksgiving approaches. However, I will be home for Feast Week and I will be covering a lot of those games, so buckle up. Anyways, on with the Fast Break What I Saw Wisconsin @ Xavier - The Badgers looked good in this one, but I'm still worried about their depth this year. There's no denying how good the trio of Ethan Happ, D'Mitrik Trice, and Brad Davidson are, but they combined to score 71 of the Badgers' 77 points. On one hand, you can look at that as a statement of their talent, as they each possess the individual ability to fill up the box score. However, I think the lack of points from the rest of the roster is concerning. It's not as if they were without opportunities either. Khalil Iverson and Brevin Pitzl each took 6 shots, but they combined for 4 points on 2-12 shooting, with both makes coming from Iverson. While Happ is clearly the star of the show here, and I really like Trice and espe...

I apologize for the lack of content recently, I've had a busy weekend between school work, Syracuse football and basketball, and some other things happening in my personal life. However, fear not, I've been watching college basketball and catching up on some games I've previously missed. I've also got some more articles planned and I'm working on some stuff I think will be pretty popular.  Anyways, here are my thoughts on some college basketball games. What I Saw Western Kentucky @ Washington - Both of these teams provided a blueprint on how to beat the 2-3 zone: get into the middle. While Western Kentucky was able to be effective by just gunning it from deep, they were most effective from deep after penetration on a drive and kick. The Huskies could barely make a shot from deep, so they were forced to go inside. Whether it's Jaylen Nowell penetrating or Noah Dickerson posting up, Washington was at their best around the rim. - I watched this game knowing wh...