Over the last few seasons, the Big East has been the standard of college basketball, while the SEC has been struggling to get teams into the tournament. In the previous three years the SEC has had 13 teams in the big dance, while the Big East eclipsed that number by two teams in only the last two years. Kentucky, Florida, and Vanderbilt have recently been the teams to beat in the SEC. They have done it again all being ranked inside the top 20. With a likely three seed on the line for the SEC tournament winner, there is a lot on the line this week at the Georgia Dome.
Florida came into the season with a lot of hype being ranked in the top 11 in the preseason. With all the expectations of a great season, Billy Donovan, the SEC coach of the year, has his best team since the back to back championships in 2005-2006 and 2006-2007. Florida (24-6, 13-3) clinched their 5th regular season SEC title this season. They beat Kansas State on a neutral court by 13 and Xavier on the road by four points. They went red hot in conference play. They beat Kentucky once, Vanderbilt twice, Georgia and Tennessee twice, and Alabama. Florida has a veteran lineup with a lot of experience in big games. Erving Walker, a tremendous point guard, leads their team with 14.5 points a game. Kenny Boyton is a knock down shooter on the wing averaging 33 percent from downtown. They have veteran big men in Vernon Macklin and Alex Tyus who work hard on the glass. Most importantly they have a man name Chandler Parsons, who won the SEC player of the year. Chandler hits threes and drives through the lane to score difficult baskets indside. He is very versatile and can score in all ways possible. There was one point in the season he had more than 3 offensive rebounds in 7 straight games in SEC play. Not only is he a fantatic rebounder, but he leads his team in assists. Florida has great size with three guys over 6-9 in Alex Tyus, Vernon Macklin, and the beast, Chandler Parsons. One of my favorite guys in the SEC is Erving Walker. This kid might be 5-8 but be plays much bigger than that on the court. He always plays hard, never quits, and has a huge heart. Walker has unlimited range and shoots at a 37 percent clip from three. They have a tough matchup against an unpredictable Tennessee team in the quarterfinals. They have Vanderbilt on their side of the bracket as well. Florida is going to be a tough team to beat in the Big Dance because of their great leadership in the backcourt and versatility in Parsons.
John Calipari has done it again with his freshman Kentucky (22-8, 10-6) team. They are amongst one of the best teams in the SEC and went 15-0 at home. Their troubles came on the road where they lost six games including to Arkansas and Mississippi. John Calipari has a reputation of getting one and done players. He has an unbelievable ability to recurit the best freshman and this year is no different with Brandon Knight, Terrence Jones (the SEC freshman of the year) and Doron Lamb. After losing 5 players to the first round of the NBA Draft, Kentucky had to rebuild. In Non-Conference play, Kentucky beat Washington, Notre Dame, and Louisville among others. They beat Florida, Vanderbilt, and then Tennessee on the road to finish off their season on a hot note. Together Doron, Brandon, and Terrence average 48 of their teams 77 points. More than half of their production comes from their star freshman. Both Brandon Knight and Terrence Jones average more than 17 points per game and Doron Lamb averages 13 points a game. Doron Lamb is the most underrated of the three star freshamn, as he is a 47 percent three point shooter. That is ridiculous!! For all you sport junkies, Reggie Miller only averaged 39.8 percent from downtown in his NBA carrer. Doron Lamb also has greatly improved his mid range game and has a good floater that he can use in the lane. Brandon Knight has been playing exceptional his last few games. He has been averaging 20 points a game in his last 7 games. He is also an exceptional three point shooter averaging 41 percent from downtown. Although the freshman for Kentucky have been superb, its been Darius Miller and Deandre Liggins keeping this team alive with their tough defense and leadership. Darius Miller has been hot in his last few games. He is averaging 17 points in his last 6 games, which has helped Kentucky go 5-1 during that strech. Liggins always guards the opposing teams best player. He held Scotty Hopson to only 13 points and kept Chandler Parsons to 15 and 17 points in the two games vs Florida. Liggins is 6-6 and can defend guards and forwards because of his extreme athleticism and great length. In order to win the SEC Tourney, Josh Harrellson has to continue his rebounding on the offensive end, where he is averaging four offense rebounds per game. Not only will the freshman have to carry the team but the other role payers will have to step up in order for Kentucky to take the title.
The 2010 SEC sixth man off the year John Jenkins, who averaged 10.5 points per game and made 46.7 percent of his three pointers last season, had to step up in a big way after the loss of All-SEC performers Jermaine Beal and A.J. Ogilvy this season. He has been nothing less than magnificent, as he has improved his scoring by about 10 points to average 19.4 for the season and shoots about 89 percent from the free-throw line. Jenkins along with forward Jeffery Taylor have lead Vanderbilt to a great season with a record of 22-9 and 9-7 in conference play. They have beaten North Carolina on a neutral court at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off, Marquette, St. Mary's, and in conference they have wins over Georgia twice and Kentucky. There is no doubt that Vanderbilt can score as they are 30th in the nation in points per game at 76.2 points. A huge part of their offense is the three ball. Besides the obvious outstanding shooter of Jenkins, Jeffery Taylor can step out and hit the three along with guard Brad Tinsley, who both shoot 36 percent from deep. Festus Ezeli is a huge X factor for how far this team will go not only in the SEC tournament but also in the NCAA tournamnet. In their loss to West Virginia he only had 8 points and fouled out. Ezeli had 7 points, while only going two for seven from the field and once again fouled out against South Carolina on the road. This trend continues throughout the season including games on the road at Tennessee and Florida where he had 9 and 5 points respectively. Jenkins will miss Vanderbilt's first round SEC tournament game against LSU with a turf-toe injury. Hopefully, Jenkins will return to Vandy's lineup soon rather than later because he is the engine that keeps the Commodores running.
