No big preview today; l just haven't had enough time. This was one of those weekends where I really needed two of me, one of me to drink heavily and enjoy the win over the Tar Heels and another to study up and write about Georgetown. Alas. Had to pick and I went with option #1.
-- As Casual Hoya explained in our Q&A, the Hoyas are heavy on guards this season. Through four games, the trio of Chris Wright, Austin Freeman, and Jason Clark are scoring about 49 PPG between them. Last season they were effective scorers from just about everywhere, as all three made 53%+ of their twos, shot well from the line, and attempted and made plenty of threes. Freeman and Clark shot better than 40% from three. And when Casual Hoya says Freeman could shoot above 50% inside the arc, 40% outside, and 90% from the line, he is not kidding. Freeman very nearly accomplished that last season.
-- The Hoyas have been a perimeter-oriented team for a while now, though their three-point attempts dropped considerably last season with a 6-11 forward as their go-to guy and most frequent shooter. They're back to doing a lot of damage from outside this season, as over 44% of their field goal attempts have come from three. Their guard trio has hit 33 of 65 three-point attempts this season.
-- Turnovers have been an issue for this team for a few years now, and they don't grab very many of their own misses. But this is an outstanding shooting team, especially inside the arc. Their 2FG% ranked in the top ten nationally each of the last two seasons. They present a huge challenge to State's on-ball defense, and it is critical that we keep them off the glass, as they'll make plenty of their first opportunities.
-- Defensively, they're solid across the board. Their interior D has been excellent in the early going. It's tough to gauge their ability to force turnovers and grab defensive boards at this stage, though. Last season those areas were weaknesses but neither their TO% nor their DR% was a disaster.
-- Liveblog tonight.