• I was pretty bullish on Memphis after watching them practice, but it is now apparent the Tigers have a major problem at point guard. This might have been expected considering the Tigers lost Derrick Rose, but coach John Calipari had every reason to expect that 6-foot-2 junior guard Willie Kemp, who started at point guard as a freshman, could do a serviceable job. Unfortunately, Kemp lost his starting spot after just two games, and though he scored 14 points off the bench in a win over Seton Hall, he still only had one assist in that game and played just nine minutes in the Tigers' loss to Xavier on Monday night. Memphis can still win Conference USA without good point guard play, but it won't do much after that unless things improve.

• I'm a big believer that you need three really good players to go deep into the postseason. Arizona State definitely has two in James Harden and Jeff Pendergraph, but as far as I can tell they don't have that third cog in the wheel. Ty Abbott might become that, but he's not there yet.

• Speaking of not there yet, it looks like, in the short term at least, my instincts about USC freshman DeMar DeRozan were accurate. I wrote about how lackluster DeRozan seemed during the practice I witnessed in L.A. a few weeks ago. DeRozan had 11 points combined in the Trojans' losses to Seton Hall and Missouri, and he had three assists total in USC's first five games. I know how talented he is, and I'm sure that he will get better as the season wears on, but he may not have the impact this season that many who watched him in high school expected. Stay tuned.

• On the flip side, how about the freshman debut of Wake's Al-Farouq Aminu: 21 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks in a win over N.C. Central. Somewhere, Skip Prosser is smiling.

• Ain't no way Coach K is going to coach the U.S. in the 2012 Olympics. Trust me.

• Keep your eye on Blake Griffin's foul shooting because that could be his kryptonite. He made 11 out of 12 in the win over Davidson, but he was 15-for-38 in his other three games.

• I don't know if this year's Big East is the best conference in history, but I can't remember another season when one league was so far and above the rest.

• It's usually a dicey proposition to use a junior college transfer as your starting point guard, but so far, so good for Tennessee's Bobby Maze. Through the Vols' first three games, he has 19 assists and just three turnovers.

• You're going to have to stop thinking of Jim Boeheim as a zone coach, because the Orange are going to play more man-to-man than in any season since they won the 2003 NCAA championship with the 2-3 matchup. The only things that will force Boeheim to play zone will be lack of depth and concern that Arinze Onuaki will get in foul trouble.

• Len Bias is the reason I fell in love with college basketball. Just sayin'.

• You know Patrick Mills is a great player, but don't sleep on his teammate at St. Mary's, 6-7 senior forward Diamon Simpson. The guy is already the leading shot-blocker in school history, he runs the floor and he can score in the post.

• I can't help but wonder whether Texas' lack of a dependable three-point shooter beyond A.J. Abrams is eventually going to be the Longhorns' undoing.

• Here's another mailbag question: How would you rank the former players who are now head coaches? Off the top of my head: 1. Johnny Dawkins 2. Steve Alford 3. Tommy Amaker 4. Sidney Lowe 5. Billy Donovan 6. Jeff Lebo 7. Jeff Capel. Who else am I missing? If you think about it, it's a little surprising that more head coaches weren't top-flight players.

• X-factor watch: Purdue sophomore forward JaJuan Johnson's scoring average has gone from 5.4 to 10.5 points through the Boilermakers' first four games. We know the skinny kid can rebound and block shots, but if he's going to be a better scorer in the paint it's going to make a huge difference.

• Arizona's loss to UAB featured by far the worst execution I have ever seen at the end of a game. You may know that Jamelle Horne foolishly lunged to intentionally foul UAB guard Paul Delaney with 0.8 seconds left, apparently unaware that the score was tied. But you may not realize that 26 seconds before, freshman guard Kyle Fogg made the same mistake when he fouled Aaron Johnson with the score tied. What's more, Arizona had called time out just before the final sequence. It's easy to blame interim coach Russ Pennell, who's already in a tough spot, but my goodness, doesn't a coach have a right to assume that his players know the score?

• How crazy is it that the half-court heave that Xavier guard Dante Jackson made to beat Virginia Tech in overtime came from almost the exact same spot on the floor that Duke's Sean Dockery made his buzzer beater to beat the Hokies three years ago in Cameron Indoor Stadium?

• My favorite team nickname? Not even close: Centenary Gentlemen.

• Georgetown's stud freshman center Greg Monroe is off to a fabulous start (averaging 17 points and 7.5 rebounds in his first two games), but I gotta say, this rule Georgetown has about not allowing freshmen to speak to the media during the first semester is so last century. Are they worried he'll lose focus? That it will cause chemistry problems? That he might say something, you know, interesting? I interviewed the kid at length when he was in high school. Believe me, he can handle it.