CSU Vikings

Somebody tell the Ohio college basketball teams to take it easy on people. Geese. There's been some beastly performances by teams in our neck of the woods this first week. Akron dominates Mississippi State. Cleveland State crushes Vandy. Kent State rolls through West Virginia. Ohio State handles Florida. All done in a pretty matter of fact fashion. It's awesome to see.

I watched the Cleveland State/Vanderbilt game and came away very impressed with Cleveland State. They just punched Vandy in the mouth. They guarded the crap out of them, and did a pretty good job running offense to get good looks. But shit, the defense was an instructional video on ball pressure man to man defense. Gary Waters and his staff do a fantastic job drilling in defensive basics. Great closeouts. High hands. When they are denying the passing lanes, they are using the right hand and footwork. When guys penetrate in the key the bump with their lower body and rarely foul guys unless it's a clean layup. They are just in your face, taking up all your personal space at all times. Trevon Harmon did a great job on John Jenkins, the SEC coverboy. He's a good player, but wasn't ready for the level of defense CSU played. They ate him up, forced him into 5-14 shooting. Important to note: Vandy's 7'0 big, who has a chance to play at the next level sat out due to injury.

I loved the CSU freshman, Charles Lee and Anton Grady. I think you'll be hard pressed to find better freshman in the Horizon League than them. They're tough. Grady is a local guy, who I hated the 5 times I saw him play in person. He just didn't get it and played with no courage. Looks like that is changing. He's improved his upper body strength, and didn't try to force anything offensively. He has a knack for blocking shots. Credit to Waters and his great staff for changing his attitude with 2 months of work. Charles Lee is a 5'9 dynamo. He's lightning with the ball and can create space for himself in the half court offensively with jabs and step backs. He's a junkyard dog defensively. He can really pressure the ball. If he stays healthy, he'll be a cornerstone.

I have gained a lot of respect for Jeremy Montgomery and Tre Harmon. Those guys always seem to be ready to play. Montgomery especially has had a great little career. He is a little sleepy at times, but he's not afraid to play in big games. He takes big shots and makes them. Harmon is a solid two way player. Good shooter.

These guys will be tough to beat in the Horizon League. They have had a hard time stringing it together over these last few years. They've been outstanding for stretches, but have also blown big games. They have to continue to try to get over that hurdle and string together a great conference season. That will be a great race this year. A lot of good teams. Valpo, Detroit, CSU, Butler.