5 things we learned from college basketball’s opening weekend

College basketball is BACK, and here’s what we learned from the opening weekend.

The unpaid laborers trotting about the hardwood for our entertainment had an only OK opening weekend. Without a ton of marquee games on the docket, most of a basketball-loving nation were left to consume blue-blood programs devouring cupcakes.

Despite that being the case, there was plenty of action worthy of keeping an eye on. The type that can help us project a bit for down the road, even if the sample-size is minimal and teams can drastically change how they are now to what they will look like come March.

Keep the sample-size in mind as we navigate these observations. Then again, for the upperclassmen we will discuss, there’s enough data to justify some of these opinions.

Let’s overreact together!

Grayson Allen Is Currently An Anomaly

Polarizing, a bit of a headcase, and without much regard for other humans’ legs, Grayson Allen is playing what will be his final season in college. Amazing to think about, as it only feels like yesterday that he was “The Next Great Duke Villain” followed up with an attempted rebrand last offseason as a “misunderstood” character to now culminating with whatever happens this season.

(He will most certainly still get large benefits of the doubt, but remain out of control, for what it is worth)

Once thought of as a potential first-round NBA Draft talent, mostly after Allen’s electric sophomore season, his stock has gone the way of the dinosaurs. Barring some drastic change in his ability to play defense and/or handle the ball, at best, he’s likely going to fight like hell just to be selected early in the second round.

As for his college prospects, Allen still brings a ton to the table. What he happens to be good at — attacking the rim, mostly — should continue to bode well for the Blue Devils as Coach K leads a team with dynamic young bigs and his first true point guard in some time, through a treacherous ACC docket.

For Allen, he needs to shoot efficiently from beyond the arc this season — an area of his game he struggled mightily with to start Duke’s last voyage, but something he was able to somewhat rectify as the year grew longer in the tooth.

As of writing, he’s making 67 percent of his attempts from deep, though, and no one with a sane mind believes he can continue shooting so well.

However, even as his average-means starts to level, there is a reason to think Allen will do more good work from three this season. It also just so happens that it almost has nothing to do with him.

Allen succeeded in his first two collegiate seasons due to not being the primary ball-handler. Last season, Coach K asked him to run the point for Duke, which both exposed Allen as an awful defender against the nation’s more athletic guards, as well as showcasing himself to be a barely competent player with the rock in his hands (when intended to create for others).

To put it bluntly, Grayson Allen isn’t a playmaker, nor is he quick enough to be tasked with just such a thing on a semi-regular basis. His athleticism, which is there, is best served with him attempting to jump over members of the human species and cutting to the basket. That is about it.

Thing is, with a dynamic playmaker now donning a Duke uniform in Trevon Duval, Allen’s three-point shooting should be far better than last season because of Allen’s decreased fingerprint on the offense.

No, he isn’t going to continue to shoot 67 percent from the land of 3. But by no longer being asked to create anything off the dribble, including his own shot, Allen should shine shooting spot-up — and often times uncontested — 3s.

It obviously helps that he will, at most, be Duke’s second-option on the offensive side of the ball. Opposing teams will no longer gameplan against Walter McTripmaster.