truTV to Televise Coaches vs. Cancer Coverage Beginning Friday, Nov. 22
truTV will exclusively televise the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic presented by Philips Norelco on Friday, Nov. 22, and Saturday, Nov. 23, from Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. Action will tip off with a Friday doubleheader when Oklahoma takes on Seton Hall at 7 p.m. ET, followed by Michigan State – currently the #1 ranked team in the country – against Virginia Tech. Coverage will continue Saturday with the Consolation Game at 7 p.m., followed by the 2013 Coaches vs. Cancer Classic Championship Game.
Turner Sports analysts Greg Anthony and Steve Smith shared their analysis on the event, along with other college basketball storylines, during a recent media conference call:
On the top-ranked Michigan State Spartans | |
Greg Anthony: | “I love their team. They are unique because, when you have the kind of [young] talent they have, you don’t have the experience…but their team chemistry was on display in their match-up against Kentucky earlier in the season.” |
Steve Smith on MSU’s Gary Harris: | “He’s a student of the game and what separates him from a lot of college players is the range on his jump shot and his basketball I.Q. He’s a big-time scorer and doesn’t have to take a lot of shots. He doesn’t go out looking for shots and he can play within the framework of the offense. Sometimes players at the wing have a hard time playing without the basketball; he does an excellent job of moving without the ball. He also gets after it on the defensive end.” |
Anthony on Harris: | “I think Harris is the best off-guard in the country. He’s as complete and as polished at that position that I’ve seen…at this stage of his career…in a long time. He can beat you off the dribble, can catch-and-shoot with range, he’s got a nice mid-range shot and he finishes well in traffic. He really competes and has become a quiet leader. When you don’t have to have the basketball and can still dominate a game that allows your teammates to have a bigger impact and play with more confidence.” |
Anthony and Smith weigh in on the Seton Hall Pirates | |
Anthony: | “If you look at Seton Hall last year, they had offensive talent but they weren’t the most efficient basketball team. They are going to be better this year…they are going to be interesting to watch moving forward. They had a lot of expectations going into last year and things didn’t go very well. I think this is a bounce-back year. They have a chance to be one of the three or four best teams in the Big East moving forward.” |
Anthony on sophomore Sterling Gibbs: | “I’ve been most impressed with his ability to get to the free throw line. He is always in a position where he can dictate tempo. That’s an unbelievable step that he has already taken. He’s been a really good basketball player and Kevin Willard has to be thrilled with how he’s produced so far. This has the potential to be a special season [for Seton Hall] because, even though there aren’t a lot of household names on their roster, chemistry goes a long way.” |
Smith on Seton Hall head coach Kevin Willard: | “He’s done an excellent job of molding the style [of the team] and having a vision with his team. He’s cleaned up a lot of stuff off-the-court at Seton Hall and kids are graduating. Overall, Coach Willard is on the right path.” |
Greg Anthony on the Oklahoma Sooners | |
Anthony: | “They can get up [the court] and score, they share [the ball] really well and their ball movement is excellent. A lot of people thought that they would be a decent team but I didn’t think they would have the kind of growth that they’ve had this early in the season. They are going to be one of the better teams in the Big 12…they are going to be better than people realize.” |
Anthony and Smith on the highly-touted Kentucky Wildcats | |
Anthony: | “In order for this team to have a chance to win it all, they’re going to have to play far better and get into schemes more efficiently. They have the talent and they’re far more talented than they were a year ago but, ultimately, you’re only going to be as good as your backcourt. If they can live up to the hype and produce, they’ve got as good a chance as anybody to cut down the nets in Dallas.” |
Smith: | “Kentucky is a team I wouldn’t want to face late in the season because of their talent.” |
Anthony on Kentucky freshman Andrew Harrison: | “[Harrison] has to play with more poise. In their game against Michigan State, he wore his frustrations on his sleeve quite a bit. Granted, he’s a freshman, but he’s also their point guard and the team is going to take on your personality. As the season progresses, he has to get tougher mentally.” |
Anthony on freshman Julius Randle: | “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a guy as physically gifted as he is with that degree of skill set. Generally, when you’re a great athlete, your skill set comes later. He’s got the unique combination of a guy who is physically intimidating on the floor with an unbelievable skill set. He can create shots with skill as well as his athleticism.” |
On who could win the National Player of the Year | |
Smith: | “It’s not like some years where you only talk about one or two guys. There are seven or eight guys who could legitimately have a chance to win National Player of the Year.” |
Anthony: | “There has been so much hype around this freshmen class when you look at Parker and Wiggins and they deserve it. But [Creighton’s] Doug McDermott is going to be one of those guys that has to be talked about as a National Player of the Year candidate. [Michigan State’s] Gary Harris is going to be in that conversation. There are still a lot of guys outside of that freshman class that are going to have a chance to make an impact. It’s just too early to start thinking about the National Player of the Year because we haven’t seen enough work from everybody. There has been so much focus on the freshmen early in the season that we forget there’s a Marcus Smart out of Oklahoma State who is one hell of a player or Russ Smith at Louisville who is coming off winning the National Championship.” |
On their picks for the top conference(s) in the nation | |
Anthony: | The Big 12 and the ACC |
Smith: | The Big Ten |
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