First impressions from college basketball's openers: What's up with Kentucky? The good and not-so-good

Three hundred and fifty-one of the 365 Division I teams have played at least one game. And guess what?? They're all awesome! Every new transfer is great. Every new coach is elite. The culture is fantastic everywhere. Isn't it glorious?

Enough with the embellishment.

Let's get into what we've learned since the season began Monday, what we need to learn and so much more.

(I am legally obligated to tell you that there are picks for games at the end of this column.)

Let's dive in.

College basketball rankings: Darryn Peterson faces first tough test when Kansas meets UNC in early showdown

Gary Parrish

What's up with Kentucky?

No. 9 Kentucky ran away from a well-coached Nicholls squad 77-51 in Tuesday's opener. The box score looks fine, but it was anything but a work of art. It took Kentucky 13 minutes to score 13 points. At one point, Nicholls was 1 for 15 from the field and trailed by just six. The vibes were not great.

Charting Kentucky's first-half offensive possessions was jarring. One easy-to-understand concept is awarding gold, silver, bronze or no medal for each possession. Whether the ball goes in or not doesn't ultimately matter. The process is everything. The exact definitions can be slightly different for each team, but the general gist usually includes: 

• Gold: open layups or in-rhythm, open 3-pointers. I also think drawing shooting fouls should go into this category.
• Silver: two-point jumpers in the paint or contested 3-pointers from good shooters
• Bronze: Your atypical tough 2-pointers or late-clock attempts
• No medal: Turnovers and objectively bad shots. You know these possessions when you see 'em.

Even against a team from the Southland Conference, Kentucky's offensive process in the first half was turbulent. 20 possessions earned a gold medal. Nine earned a silver. There were five bronze medals and seven more that didn't earn a medal.

That's 21 of 41 chances (51%) where Kentucky's offense didn't generate an ideal look against a Nicholls program that does not have NIL. Can't happen.

Of course, this is all exacerbated by timing, visibility and a $22 million roster. An exhibition win over preseason No. 1 Purdue sent already-high expectations to the moon. A clunker against Georgetown, followed up with a first half like that against Nicholls, has kick-started the full gamut of emotions. 

"I think we are a little, you know, just lost in the weeds a little bit on the offensive side," Pope said. "We have challenges as a group offensively. We will be really good there; we just were not good in the first half."

Getting healthy will be a good start. 

Starting point guard Jaland Lowe will suit up Friday against Valpo after missing the last few weeks with a hip injury. Lowe, alone, changes the complexion of Kentucky's offense thanks to his combination of speed and floor vision. He creates those advantages that Kentucky's offense needs to reach its top output, but this will clearly take time. 

Kentucky hasn't shot well from downtown against Purdue, Georgetown or Nicholls. That will come around, especially with Lowe generating more of those gold medal-earning shots from beyond the arc. But Kentucky's lethargic, choppy offensive flow is something that could take a few weeks to eradicate, especially as Lowe integrates into the fold. That's time that win-now Kentucky doesn't have with a date against rival Louisville looming on Tuesday. 

I'm not panicking, but let's check back in after UK's game vs. Michigan State on Nov. 18. 

Not bad, for openers

• No. 5 St. John's chose to start Dillon Mitchell, Zuby Ejiofor and Bryce Hopkins together in its 108-74 season-opening win vs. Quinnipiac on Monday. There are obvious 3-point shooting concerns, but I genuinely believe ridiculous athleticism can cover up some of those warts. Quinnipiac had no chance against that type of bounce. Mitchell was flying all over the floor. Zuby was Zuby, with 17 points and six rebounds. Hopkins didn't force anything and assimilated nicely into the mix. St. John's was +11 in 15 minutes with that trio on the floor together. More please! Too big, too fast and way too strong.
• No. 12 UCLA had 20 transition possessions in its shaky opening-night win over Eastern Washington. That's the third-most of the Mick Cronin tenure at UCLA (203 games). Welcome to the Donovan Dent show. Cronin did not put any limitations on the guy who led all of college basketball in transition points per game last year. He had 21 points, nine assists and four rebounds in 36 minutes, including a dozen transition points alone. 
• No sweat for (some) new coaches: Iowa looked crisp vs. Robert Morris under Ben McCollum. Darian DeVries quickly eliminated midrange jumpers from Indiana's portfolio, and the Hoosiers nearly cracked 100. Darrion Williams (19 points, eight assists) looked healthy and svelte in NC State's 48-point romp over NC Central. Will Wade had to be pleased to get a combined 30 points from young guards like Matt Able and Paul McNeil is the shot in the arm that this club needs. Only 10 minutes for Terrance Arceneaux is interesting, though. I figured the Houston transfer would be a bigger piece of the rotation. We'll keep monitoring that. 
• Texas A&M is all-in on Bucky Ball. Granted, it was against Northwestern State and Texas Southern, but the Aggies poured in 98 and 104, respectively. They are zooming and raining treys. Texas A&M hit double-digit 3-pointers in new coach Bucky McMillan's first two games. That never happened during the Buzz Williams era.

Things to monitor

• No. 1 Purdue's center platoon of Daniel Jacobsen and Oscar Cluff combined for 20 points, 18 rebounds, three assists, three blocks and a steal in the Boilermakers' Opening Day romp over Evansville, but the tape was shakier than the stats indicated. Missed bunnies. Whiffing on pinpoint Braden Smith lobs. Giving up 20 offensive rebounds to an Evansville team that didn't have star starting center, Connor Turnbull. Did not get the warm and fuzzies. A date with No. 15 Alabama looms in less than six days for the Boilermakers, who along with No. 2 Houston, are co-favorites at +950 to win the national title, according to odds at FanDuel.
• I am extremely worried about Oregon's backcourt with Jackson Shelstad still on the mend. Takai Simpkins — everyone calls him TK — saved Oregon with a game-winner in the final seconds against Hawaii on Tuesday. The Elon transfer finished with 18 points. But Wei Lin and Dez Lindsay were extremely shaky, combining for just four points on 13 shots with seven turnovers. It forced Dana Altman to trust a walk-on (Drew Carter) to play closing-time minutes. Credit to the Ducks for scheduling a good Hawaii team and finding a way to win, but Oregon has serious work to do. 
• No. 18 Tennessee controlled Mercer 76-61 on Monday, and five-star freshman Nate Ament went off for 18 points and nine rebounds, but the Vols' offensive process is still working out some serious kinks. A whopping 19 turnovers against Mercer won't get the job done, and it was a ton of mid-post backdowns for Ament without much cutting off the ball. I'm curious how quickly Rick Barnes can incorporate some extra offensive possessions with Ja'Kobi Gillespie and Ament in the two-man game together. It's been used sparingly so far against No. 6 Duke in the exhibition and the opener against Mercer. Saving it for later? It's probably too early for this, but I'd be surprised if Tennessee is a top-30 offense this season.
• Loyola-Chicago needed a Sister Jean-inspired miracle to knock off Cleveland State at the buzzer and promptly fell to KenPom's No. 360-rated Mercyhurst squad just three days later. Bernie Blunt (heck of a name) dropped 27 for the Lakers. 
• Two teams lost to Division II programs this week. Western Michigan fell to Northwood. Boise State got tripped up at home to Hawaii Pacific. Yes, it will be mentioned on the team sheet. And yes, that's a Quad 5 (!!) loss. 
• No. 8 BYU's defense was an absolute sieve without Keba Keita, as initially feared. BYU's defense had an 86 defensive rating with Keita on the floor in 37 possessions. It had a 113 defensive rating when he sat for 30 possessions.

Weekend six-pack

No. 19 Kansas at No. 25 North Carolina 

Friday, 7 p.m. ET | ESPN, fuboTV (try for free)

Darryn Peterson versus Caleb Wilson. Get your popcorn ready. Wilson has been overwhelming and excellent defensively. He's playing like a top-five pick, but that's not a mainstream take yet. That could change with a huge showing on Friday. Peterson has been unbelievable, but UNC's defense is way more intact than the Louisville unit he torched in exhibition play. Seth Trimble will be draped all over Peterson. Wilson and Henri Veesaar will be waiting in the wings. Kansas can't get a road win without Kohl Rosario or Jayden Dawson knocking down open treys. The pick: UNC  

No. 15 Alabama at No. 5 St. John's

Saturday, 12 p.m. ET | FS1, fuboTV (try for free)

I don't think St. John's young guards are very good defensively yet. Labaron Philon and Aden Holloway will test them in a major way. I don't think Alabama's big men are great on the glass yet. That, uh, seems like a problem against Mitchell, Ejiofor and Hopkins. The pick: St. John's

No. 14 Arkansas at No. 22 Michigan State 

Saturday, 7 p.m. ET | Fox, fuboTV (try for free)

Jeremy Fears Jr. is an excellent defensive guard, who will do everything in his power to take out Darius Acuff in his return to the Mitten State. It's all about whether Meleek Thomas or DJ Wagner can cook Michigan State's secondary guard defenders. If that happens, Arkansas will win. If it doesn't, Michigan State could be in good shape because John Calipari-coached teams tend to welcome transition opportunities. That's Michigan State's bread and butter. Oh, and Arkansas needs Karter Knox back from his sprained toe to tangle with Coen Carr. If those two dudes meet at the top of the square, social media will explode. Arkansas is going to be the better team this year, but you don't just walk into the Breslin...The pick: Michigan State

Oklahoma at No. 21 Gonzaga 

Saturday, 10:30 p.m. ET | ESPN2, fuboTV (try for free)

This is going to be a very, very good game. I think Gonzaga's point-of-attack defense could be a major strength this year, but we'll know more after Saturday. Can Adam Miller, Emmanuel Innocenti and Braeden Smith check Nijel Pack and Xzayvier Brown? I think Oklahoma's starting five could be excellent, but the Zags have insanely good depth this year. I think that's the difference. The pick: Gonzaga

Indiana vs. Marquette 

Sunday, 1 p.m. ET in Chicago | ESPN, fuboTV (try for free)

These two teams have real-deal strengths. Marquette is lightning quick and has more raw athleticism with Chase Ross. Indiana has built the older, sweet-shooting roster. Marquette's question is a frontcourt that's a bit light in its britches. Indiana has the exact same flaw. I'm expecting that to be a draw. Indiana's roster sort of reminds me of Xavier last year, who Marquette played three times. Those results were: 72-70 Marquette, 59-57 Xavier and 89-87 Marquette.

This is going to be a razor-thin game. I genuinely have no idea who wins. IU's decision to play a double-point guard look with Tayton Conerway and Conor Enright feels like the skeleton key against the hyena-like Marquette pressure defense. The pick: Indiana

Washington at Baylor 

Sunday, 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN

Baylor has 15 new players on the roster. Washington has 13. Extreme makeover, roster edition! Both of these staffs are still figuring out their teams and what makes 'em tick. Baylor's roster should be a bit stiffer defensively this year with all the added size and defensive versatility, but if you can't guard the paint, you are in hot water against Hannes Steinbach and this UW frontline. Baylor's interior defense is still a bit of a question while center Juslin Bodo Bodo is on the mend, and UW is disciplined enough to get the ball into the paint at will. Freshman point guard JJ Mandaquit has serious feel that you just can't teach, and he won't take dumb shots. On the other end, Washington can defend lead guards, but I'm a bit concerned about how they handle big wings like Cameron Carr, Tounde Yessoufou and Dan Skillings. 

The more I think about it, the more I'm talking myself into Washington pulling off a roadkill dub. 

The pick: Washington