This edition of SEC Quotable and Notable reviews Ben Simmons’ Herculean effort, a midweek offensive explosion, an assists record in College Station, Georgia’s razor-thin roster, and some interesting warm-ups in Columbia. Let’s jump into it.
“I felt like they couldn’t stop me in the post.” — Ben Simmons on his 43-point outing against North Florida, the first time a Tiger has scored 40 or more points in a game since Tasmin Mitchell in 2009 (courtesy @codyworsham). Yes, the Tigers scored well over 100 points (119) and Simmons may have put together a statistical night that won’t be topped for the rest of the year (43 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists, five steals). By anyone. But this doesn’t remove the serious concerns surrounding this team. The Ospreys, led by Beau Beech (31 points, 8-of-12 from three), got off to a torrid start from deep and kept up the offensive onslaught for most of the game (finishing 19-of-33 from three-point land). LSU had to know that bombing from deep would be the nation-leading three-point team’s modus operandi, but the Tigers still struggled to close out and cover all the open looks. The defensive performance was reminiscent of the kind of effort that had doomed LSU against the College of Charleston. The offensive side of the equation, however, was considerably more encouraging. Simmons played off the ball while Tim Quarterman and Josh Gray typically ran the point. This allowed the Tigers to get Simmons the ball closer to the basket so that he could operate in the post, a strategy that clearly worked out very well. For a team that often relies upon its transition game to provide offense, a sustainable half-court approach involving Simmons in the post might be something to carry forward from this game.
Notable: Hanging those 100s. Several SEC offenses have had a banner scoring week already, as LSU (119 against North Florida), Arkansas (117 against Northwestern State) and Vanderbilt (102 against Detroit) all topped the century mark in midweek games. Arkansas and LSU also put together ratings above 100.0 in KenPom’s offensive efficiency metrics. All of this great offense came against inferior competition, of course, but that doesn’t prohibit those performances from creating some momentum.
Notable: 495 assists. Texas A&M’s Alex Caruso is just five assists short of 500 for his career, at which point he would move into fifth on the Aggies’ all-time list, trailing only Dave Goff (535), Acie Law (545), Bernard King (550) and David Edwards (602). The senior was held without an assist in A&M’s win over Florida Gulf Coast, but he is in well within striking distance of second place based on his career averages. The problem for his pursuit — at least in terms of the record, if not the team — has been South Florida transfer Anthony Collins, who has played well and been Billy Kennedy‘s clear-cut point guard to this point. This puts Caruso in a strange position because he’s neither a great spot-up shooter nor scorer. Nevertheless, he’s a proven playmaker with great vision and passing skills, and it says here that Kennedy finds a way to take full advantage of both Caruso and Collins’ skill sets.
“We’re growing up offensively ourselves. J.J. responded after a poor game and last game for a good one.” –– Mark Fox, on Georgia fighting back against Oakland for a tough home win. There’s no avoiding it: The Bulldogs’ margin for error this year is razor-thin. It’s tough to imagine the Bulldogs winning many games unless J.J. Frazier, Kenny Gaines, Charles Mann and Yante Maten all score in double figures. That’s asking a lot from those four players. Fortunately for Fox, that is exactly what happened against Oakland, which allowed Georgia to gut out an 86-82 home win. To compete in SEC play, however, Fox will need to see continued growth from his team. He might be in the process of receiving exactly that from freshman Mike Edwards, who scored in double figures for the first time in his career against Oakland. On the other end of the floor, the Bulldogs have great defensive potential on the perimeter but can they stop teams down low? When Maten is out of the game, it doesn’t seem like Georgia has the bodies to stop capable low post scorers. If you need some evidence to support that contention, a big man with little offensive pedigree — Oakland’s Jalen Hayes — took advantage of poor footwork and positioning to score 23 points. A developing Edwards could help solve this problem.
Notable: Missouri’s zip-up warm-up vests. What’s going on here, Nike? Nothing against D’Angelo Allen or Adam Wolf in the above screen capture, but these warm-ups look part bulletproof vest, part Chippendales dancers. But what do we know about fashion? If nothing else, the sleeveless warm-ups were a part of an 88-78 win over Arkansas State that snapped a three-game Tigers’ losing streak. Mizzou lost seven games in the non-conference slate last year, so any win is a good win at this point — even if it comes with these warm-up vests.