Aggies Win Preseason NIT

I'm home for the weekend, and went to all four preseason NIT games at Madison Square Garden. None of the games were particularly close, but all four teams were fun to watch. My thoughts on each of the four teams follow.

Texas A&M (beat Washington, 77-63; beat Ohio State, 70-47)

Freshman center DeAndre Jordan was very impressive. He was unbelievably efficient from the field, scoring 19 points on only 11 shots over in the tournament. He also had 19 rebounds, including 11 in only 22 minutes against Washington. He's not a focal point of the offense yet, relying mostly on putbacks, but did show some nice moves around the rim. He was 0/6 from the line on Wednesday, and is shooting only 18.2% (4/22) on the year, so that's something he could probably improve on. Rivals has him as the 8th best freshman in the country, and it's not hard to see why.

A&M has a very solid starting five. Jordan is complemented in the post by Joseph Jones, who averaged 13 and 7 on 55% shooting last year, then passed on the NBA to return for his senior season. Their main outside threat is SF Josh Carter, who was 50% from 3 last year (86/172). The Aggies' tournament victory is even more impressive when considering Carter was only 2/10 from beyond the arc. They lean heavily on guards Donald Sloan and Dominique Kirk (well, at least until they're up by 30). Sloan is a sophomore who was effective in minimal playing time last year, backing up Acie Law IV. He played well on Wednesday (18 points on 6/11 shooting, 2/2 from 3), and was solid in 29 minutes despite a poor shooting night on Friday.

Ohio State (beat Syracuse, 79-65; lost to Texas A&M, 70-47)

Kosta Koufos, OSU's freshman 7-footer, was brilliant against Syracuse, with 24 points and 9 boards on 10/17 shooting, even hitting 2 of 3 from deep. He is impressively mobile considering his size, and looks to be a very good shooter. He was held in check by A&M's front line on Friday, shooting only 4/16 from the floor and finishing with 10 points and 3 rebounds.

The offense runs through senior guard Jamar Butler. He has scored at least 14 points in every game, shooting 52% from the field. Butler had 15 in the first half against A&M, but finished with only 17. He will play an important role on this team, as everyone else in the starting lineup has more than one year of collegiate experience. Freshman guard Jon Diebler struggled, going 2/17 from the floor in the tournament, and scoring 10 of his 15 points on free throws.

Syracuse (lost to Ohio State, 79-65; beat Washington, 91-85)

I came into this tournament excited to see Syracuse's two freshman guards, Donte Greene and Jonny Flynn. I came away with very different impressions of the Orange's two heralded recruits. The 6'9 Greene is a matchup nightmare. He can shoot the three, and he's a force inside. He scored 46 points over two games, and had 10 boards in each. He even added four assists and four blocks, against just one turnover.

The guy sitting behind me on Friday commented that Flynn is better than UNC's Ty Lawson. I politely asked him if he had seen the game on Wednesday; not surprisingly, he had not. Flynn was awful against Ohio State, not managing a single point on 0/6 shooting. He seemed to lose interest as the game progressed and the Buckeyes opened up a sizeable lead. He was better against Washington, shooting 3/6 from the field. He ended up with 16 points, as he was 10/13 from the line. But that's only because Syracuse was constantly in the double bonus, as the Huskies were called for an impressive 34 personal fouls. He spends a good deal of time handling the ball, but had only four assists all the week. Flynn's college career got off to a good start, scoring 28 in the opener against Siena (6/7 from 3). But since then he's struggled, going 7/25 (28%) from the floor.

I don't really know what to make of junior guard Eric Devendorf. He certainly plays with plenty of passion, and he's talented. But he's frequently out of control, getting called for multiple charges and a technical foul in the tournament. He hands out plenty of assists, but turns the ball over too much (9 of each over the two games). It seems like he could be more effective if he played a smaller role in the offense, handling the ball less and concentrating on getting to the rim.

Washington (lost to Texas A&M, 77-63; lost to Syracuse, 91-85)

They didn't manage a win, but this isn't a bad team. Jon Brockman is a force inside, and had 21 and 15 against A&M. Freshman guard Venoy Overton struggled from the field, but ran the offense very efficiently. He had nine assists against only three turnovers, mixing in some flashy passes. He also had six steals. Strangely, the quick 6'0 guard fouled out in both games. This has been a problem for Overton all season, as he is averaging four fouls per game.

Justin Dentmon was also solid, with 9 assists in the tournament. He really needs to stop jacking up threes though. He was 0/7 this week, is 4/20 on the year, and has shot just 29% from beyond the arc in his career.

Washington's problem was the constant fouling; they committed an impressive 64 personals in two games. They got lucky on Wednesday, as the Aggies shot only 22/40 from the line (although they were still outscored 22-9 from the stripe). They were not as lucky on Friday. Syracuse outscored the Huskies 34-11 from the line. The game was only close because of Washington's 52-27 rebounding edge. Overall, the Huskies shot 34 free throws; their opponents took 92. It is hard to win when you're giving up about 20 points at the line each night.

(Picture taken by me, which is probably obvious.)