This week, I had the opportunity to cover the Legends Classic in Brooklyn as credentialed media. This event consisted of the Texas Longhorns (SEC), Syracuse Orange (ACC), Texas Tech (Big 12), and St. Joseph’s (A10). On Thursday, Texas beat Syracuse, while St. Joseph’s won a thriller against Texas Tech. As a result, Texas Tech and Syracuse played in the third-place game while St. Joseph’s and Texas played for the Legends Classic championship.

Syracuse

Given the proximity from the Barclays Center to Syracuse, the crowd was predominantly Syracuse fans, including Syracuse legend Carmelo Anthony and his son, Syracuse commit Kiyan Anthony. Despite the home-field advantage, the Orange dropped both games in this event. The outcome wasn’t what the Orange wanted; however, Coach Adrian Autry stated that he believes the team improved. “On the defensive side of the ball, I think we showed some improvements. We’ve shown some defensive potential.” The one thing worth noting about Syracuse was their physicality against Texas Tech. Syracuse out-rebounded Tech by 9 the night after Tech’s JT Toppin grabbed 18 boards against St. Joe’s and after Tech out-rebounded the Hawks 44-28. When I asked Eddie Lampkin about this, he reiterated, “I’m not big on an opponent having more physicality than me.” Donnie Freeman, who grabbed 13 rebounds against Texas Tech, said, “I knew that was going to be my niche and keep me on the floor.” Freeman was right. He played 29 minutes against Texas Tech but just 15 against Syracuse the night before.

While Syracuse hung their hat on an improved defense and their physicality, their Achilles heel this season has been three-point shooting, as the Orange shot just 25.7% from 3 on the year and shot 11-32 from deep in the two-day event. However, 9 of the 11 made threes were from JJ Starling and Chris Bell. In terms of getting the rest of the team to contribute on the perimeter, Coach Autry said: “We have the right guys taking those shots,” and then followed up the next day with, “The shots that we’re getting are good shots; they’re just not going in right now.”

Coming off a career-high performance, Syracuse guard JJ Starling was a focal point of the Syracuse offense. Despite the Orange dropping both games in Brooklyn, Starling is starting to get into a groove: “I’m definitely getting more comfortable [with the offense], and it really helps that my teammates are getting me the ball in the right spots and making the right plays.” Against Texas, Starling played all 40 minutes and then he scored 27 points on 9-15 shooting against Texas Tech.

Texas Tech

While a third-place finish wasn’t what Texas Tech anticipated when coming into Brooklyn, it’s tough not to come away highly impressed with them. There are very few things the Red Raiders can’t do. They can defend you in a variety of ways: they can shoot, they can pass, and they can rebound. Despite the one-point loss to St. Joe’s, I am higher on Texas Tech than I was on Thursday. It’s worth noting that the Legends Classic was Tech’s first real test this season. In fact, while talking to a Texas Tech staffer prior to Thursday’s game against St. Joe’s, he told me, “First four games were blowouts. We’re ready to see how our guys respond to getting punched in the mouth.” Getting punched in the mouth, they did. While the game came down to a Darrion Williams missed baby hook with time running out, it always felt like the Red Raiders were in the game, even when St. Joe’s built a lead as large as 16 points.

Against Syracuse, the Red Raiders found a way to get the job done despite Syracuse beating Tech at their own game, crashing the glass. Additionally, Tech shot 33% from 3 on 24 attempts, which is low efficiency for them. The Red Raiders have shot the ball at a nearly 40% clip so far this season. Grant McCasland coached teams always play at a very low pace, while Syracuse has a much faster tempo. While the game was tied at halftime, the second half was played more uptempo, and Texas Tech still prevailed. They just know how to beat you in so many different ways. The key to the win was Texas Tech’s 17:3 AST:TO ratio, while the Orange had 8 assists to 12 turnovers. “I thought that ended up being the difference,” McCasland said. Coach McCasland also praised point guard Elijah Hawkins for the team’s assist-to-turnover ratio. “Elijah Hawkins didn’t play well at the first night here, so today, we challenged him to let the game come to him.”

St. Joseph’s

Going into Thursday night’s Texas Tech game, I was talking with someone on St. Joe’s staff. We agreed that it would be a long night for the Red Raiders if Erik Reynolds shot his way out of his shooting slump. Reynolds proceeded to shoot 6-11 from three after shooting 2 of 20 from three the preceding three games. It’s not just Reynolds, though, as St. Joe’s “Big 3″ is comparable to almost any Big 3 in the nation. Forward Rasheer Fleming was the star in the loss in the championship game to Texas, scoring 16 points and grabbing 20 boards. While it can’t be understated that Fleming stands at 6’9″ with a massive 7’5” wingspan, he looks even longer in person. Meanwhile, speedy point guard Xzavyier Brown is the straw that stirs the drink for this St. Joe’s offense.

While St. Joe’s got a quad-one win over #10 ranked (per KenPom) Texas Tech, Coach Billy Lange wanted more. “I was probably the least happy winning coach ever,” Coach Lange said when asked about whether getting killed on the boards but outshooting the opponent from three to win games was sustainable. “I’m not happy at all [about that], and they know that.”, Lange continued. The team heard him loud and clear. Despite the loss, the Hawks out-rebounded the Longhorns 44 to 34. “The rebounding kept us in the game,” Coach Billy Lange said in the press conference. “There was a stretch [with less than eight minutes left] where we missed two free throws, we messed up a pick and roll coverage, we turned the ball over three plays in a row.” Lange continued. Unfortunately, the offense just couldn’t find a rhythm, and the Hawks had to settle for runner-up. “Tonight, it was our offense; we just weren’t sharp enough,” Lange concluded.

Texas

When I first arrived at Barclays Center, the first person I saw while coming out of the media tunnel was former NBA sharpshooter and Atlanta Hawks Assistant GM Kyle Korver. Korver was standing courtside, mesmerized by Texas freshman Tre Johnson’s warm-ups. He rarely took his eyes off him. And if there’s anybody who knows a thing or two about shooting form, it’s Korver. Johnson went on to win tournament MVP, scoring 33 total points across the two games. When it comes to Texas freshmen, Coach Terry had a comparison for Tre Johnson: Kevin Durant. “Kevin and Tre have a lot of similarities. Their work ethics, they’re both efficient elite scorers, and most importantly, Tre wants to win.”

For the Longhorns, Thursday was Tramon Mark’s season debut. While Mark played a limited role off the bench, his minutes increased from 19 minutes to 25 minutes from Thursday to Friday. While Mark is still getting his sea legs under him, Kansas State transfer Arthur Kaluma was extremely impressive. In the event, Kaluma shot 10-21 from the field, hit two threes, and averaged seven rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and a steal. All of this while averaging 15 points over the two days. Against Syracuse’s zone, Kaluma said, “In the zone, I feel like I take more of a facilitating role; when they get to man, it’s still the facilitation mindset, but I have better opportunities to score.” In my opinion, Kaluma was the most impressive Longhorn in this two-day event.

Conclusion

While it’s still early in the season, it’s very easy for all of Texas fans, Texas Tech fans, and St. Joe’s fans to get excited. Syracuse, on the other hand, has had a bleak start to the season. While Coach Autry reiterated the improved defense throughout the tournament, Syracuse looks like it’s a bottom half ACC team early on. Things can change throughout the season, especially when conference play starts, but it seems like their shooting struggles will continue. For Texas, it’s apparent they have immense confidence in Tre Johnson being the focal point of the offense. There was at least one possession Texas had where they cleared out the right side of the floor and let Tre Johnson get to work. That coaching staff already has immense trust in the freshman. For St. Joe’s, they need to find a way to score consistently. This year, they’re undefeated in games where they’ve scored 70 points or more, but are 0-2 in games they scored less than that. St. Joe’s also has a legitimate first round talent in the NBA draft this year with Rasheer Fleming. St. Joe’s might not only be the A10 favorites, but they should be a legitimate at-large contender. Finally, despite getting third place in this event, Texas Tech is GOOD. They’re a borderline elite eight team for me right now just because of the variety of ways they can find a way to beat their opponent any given night. I think this team is set up for success once Big 12 play is underway.