Tuesday, November 12th could be the best night of college hoops until the first day of March Madness.
The relatively new Champions Classic event, featuring four of the top programs in the country, is quickly becoming an ideal way to announce the official beginning of the college basketball season. In 2013, the circumstances couldn't be more perfect. The four teams involved might be the four best teams in the country. One of the games -- Kentucky vs. Michigan State -- will feature the earliest-ever matchup between the #1 and #2 teams in the country, as well as an opportunity to scout Kentucky's newest collection of future first-round picks. The other game will pit perhaps the two best freshmen in the country, Andrew Wiggins of Kansas and Jabari Parker of Duke, against each other in an early battle for pole position in the 2014 NBA Draft. It's a near-perfect setup.
But as fun as it will be to see Wiggins and Parker in action, we won't actually learn much by their play. They're really good; we already know that. What the Champions Classic will tell us is which members of the less-heralded supporting casts are invaluable to their teams' success, and which of them are ready to announce their arrival on a national stage. Here are five such candidates to keep an eye on during Tuesday's action.
Naadir Tharpe. Kansas didn't really have a point guard last year and it cost them dearly in March. Back then, Naadir Tharpe was part of the problem, never able to grab the job and run with it. Thanks to a few graduations, Tharpe now has that role permanently. That makes him a crucial wild card on a national championship contender. He was suspended for Kansas' opener, so there's literally no indication of how he'll perform in his season debut on a national stage against Duke. He doesn't have to score, not with stud freshmen Andrew Wiggins and Wayne Selden playing off the ball. Just avoiding turnovers and running the fast break effectively would be great signs. If he doesn't step up, with only two unproven freshmen backing him up at the position, then a loss to Duke wouldn't be the worst of Kansas' long-term problems.
Rodney Hood. With so much attention focused upon Jabari Parker, it's easy to forget his partner in Duke's frontcourt. Rodney Hood did some nice things for a dysfunctional Mississippi State team his freshman year and judging from his Duke debut against Davidson, it's clear that the transfer had added to his skills. A six-foot-eight forward who can score from pretty much anywhere on the court, Hood will be a nightmare for opposing teams that also have to worry about Parker. It's his versatility that will turn the Blue Devils into one of the most devastating offensive teams in the country this season.
Joel Embiid. Another of Kansas' wild cards. It's not hard to imagine the Jayhawks making a Final Four run without Embiid playing a major role, since he's apparently very raw and they've got a number of other effective options in their frontcourt anyway. But if the seven-foot center from Cameroon plays up to his potential, then Kansas could be downright dominant. Embiid only played 11 minutes in Kansas' season opener and looked way too comfortable and smooth for a player who supposedly picked up basketball just a few years ago. In those 11 minutes, he showed off a couple of sweet offensive moves and took ten free throws (making seven of them!). He's a must-watch player whenever he's on the court.
Willie Cauley-Stein. The seven-foot center is something of a forgotten man in Kentucky's rotation, thanks to an uninspiring freshman season and a crowded frontcourt. And it's easy to overlook his contributions through two games because he's only scored 10 total points in 38 combined minutes. But his true impact has been eye-opening. In his first game, he was hyperactive -- blocking four shots, grabbing three steals, dishing out four assists, and running the floor so well that he elicited a few misplaced lob throws from his guards in transition. In his second game, he attacked the glass, pulling in eleven rebounds, five of them on the offensive end. It appears as though Cauley-Stein understands the role Kentucky needs him to play -- not scoring, but playing disruptive defense, rebounding, and throwing down dunks in transition.
Keith Appling. Maybe the most important player in the country. As the only team in the Champions Classic that's not adding a star freshman to its lineup, much of Michigan State's improvement must come from its returning players. That puts the onus on Appling. He's an excellent player but has struggled at times in the point guard role, contributing to some of the Spartans' ugly late possessions in close games last year. The good news: he's a senior now, surrounded by mostly the same supporting cast as last season, when the Spartans advanced to the Sweet Sixteen. We're told that continuity and big-game experience are invaluable assets in college basketball; Appling's performance against Kentucky's all-freshman backcourt should provide a good test for that theory.
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