1. Tennessee has scored under 40 points in each of its last two games, scoring just 0.98 points per possession. The Volunteers’ answer? Speed up the pace. “I’d love to get out and run,” Tennessee coach Cuonzo Martin said. The players don’t think it’s time to panic just yet. “Everything is magnified right now because Jeronne (Maymon) is out and we had two games under 40 points,” junior Trae Golden said. “We’re fine. It’s still early in the season.” But there is a problem here folks. The Volunteers couldn’t even muster 40 points, not once, but twice. That’s not fine regardless of how early in the season it may be. And it is worth pointing out that speeding up the game doesn’t change Tennessee’s points per possession. It is what it is. Speeding up the pace just means we can see more of their inefficiency in action.
2. Somebody please get Jeronne Maymon on line one. His Volunteers desperately need him. Speeding up the pace of play may not be the answer, but Maymon certainly could be. Luckily for Tennessee, the senior forward is making significant strides. Maymon is riding a stationary bike as well as walking on a treadmill. The bad news? There is still no timetable for his return, which is troubling. But the even worse news? The UT Director of Compliance confirmed that Maymon could potentially redshirt if need be. The fact that the scenario is even coming up doesn’t sound positive for a speedy recovery.
3. Junior center Carl Engstrom of Alabama is out for the remainder of the season with a torn ACL and MCL. The surgery to repair his left knee was performed on Tuesday. “We are disappointed to lose Carl for the remainder of the season,” head coach Anthony Grant said. “Carl is a very valuable member of our team and will be greatly missed. However, the hard work and determination that he has displayed throughout his career will also assist him going forward as he rehabs and prepares to continue his career next season. We are fortunate to have an outstanding medical team that will assist him during this process.” Engstrom was a contributor for the Crimson Tide, starting in three games this year, and clearly was a big body in the low post.
4. LSU coach Johnny Jones indicated that point guard Anthony Hickey may be joining the team sooner rather than later. The sophomore was suspended for a “violation of athletic department and university policy.” According to Jones, Hickey is likely to join LSU on its upcoming three-game road trip. He is sorting through the disciplinary matter with university officials. Hickey’s return will be a big boost for the undefeated Tigers. So far this year, the starter was averaging 10.2 points, 5.2 assists, and 4.0 rebounds per game.
5. Florida is outscoring opponents by an average of over 25 points per game. What makes the Gators so dominant this season? A team typically known for its offensive prowess is shutting opponents down on the defensive end this year. “Coach [Donovan] just tells us every game that we can’t slack off, and we can’t have any slippage in practice,” junior guard Scottie Wilbekin said. “We try to go hard, and he’s constantly pushing us to go even harder.” The Gators’ field goal percentage defense is ranked in the top 10 in the country at under 35 percent. Florida’s defense will be tested on Saturday with the best offensive team it has played all season in Sean Miller’s Arizona Wildcats.

1. The NCAA honored the 2006-07 Florida Gators by naming them one of the top 25 teams in NCAA Tournament history, and Joakhim Noah as one of the top 75 players to ever play in the Tournament. The back-to-back Gators ran through the regular season and NCAA Tournament on their way to a 35-5 record and a repeat performance as National Champions. Dick Vitale spoke about where Florida ranked in terms of all-time great teams. “They rank very high to me in terms of their loyalty factor,” Vitale said. “In today’s day and age, everyone runs for the quick buck, have visions of grandeur and the dollar. Those kids have to be commended, Noah and (Al) Horford and (Corey) Brewer could have taken a lot of cash. But it’s a tribute to the school, tribute to the coaches and it certainly was an outstanding team defensively.” Two Kentucky teams (1995-96 and 2011-12) also made the list, as well as several SEC players, but what about the 1993-94 Arkansas Razorbacks? Nolan Richardson’s team went 31-3 on the year, beating Duke for the 1994 National Championship. For a complete list of the NCAA’s all-time teams, players, and moments from the NCAA Tournament, be sure to click here.
2. Auburn lost four games in a row before Tuesday’s bounce-back game against winless Grambling. Including Tuesday night’s victory, the Tigers have four home games in a row where they are hoping to build back a winning attitude. “We just have to be more confident with the ball,” freshman guard Jordan Price said. “At the end of the game, we have a lot of turnovers, defensive breakdowns, offensive breakdowns, so we have to be more confident.” Like several SEC teams, Auburn coach Tony Barbee is trying to blend a lot of  newcomers. “We’ve got a lot of new faces and old faces, particularly new faces, trying to fit into the program,” center Asauhn Dixon-Tatum said. “We’ve had some miscommunication, but everything seems to be falling into place.” It needs to fall into place quickly for the Tigers. They play Illinois and Florida State before beginning conference play.
3. The search for what ails the Kentucky Wildcats continues to fall short. ESPN took a stab, and so did our friends at CollegeBasketballTalk, but both missed the most detrimental factor of the Wildcats’ shortcomings. Myron Medcalf wrote, “So Kentucky doesn’t have a talent problem. It has a youth problem, a point guard problem, an inexperience problem. The Cats were not as good as they thought they were and now they know it.” Youth has never been an issue. The 2011-12 Kentucky squad proved that. Point guard play and inexperience rear their ugly head consistently, but Medcalf and CBT miss one of the biggest issues. Defense is one of the largest ailments for the 2012-13 Wildcats. Kentucky’s effective field goal percentage defense ranks 52nd in the country. Last year, John Calipari’s team was number one in that category. The problem is partly because Kentucky gives up too many shots at the rim (34% of the overall opponents shots are taken at the rim), and too often don’t get back on defense after missed shots.
4. Kentucky forward Kyle Wiltjer has always been a liability on the defensive end, but who would have thought the three-point marksman would hurt the Wildcats on offense? With the exception of two games where Wiltjer played well and caught fire from beyond the arc against weaker competition, the sharpshooting forward hasn’t made more than one three-pointer in any other game. And overall, Wiltjer is shooting eight fewer percentage points from outside than he did last season. Players are supposed to increase their shooting numbers as they get older and more experienced, right? Wiltjer’s difficulties on the offensive end are in part because the rest of Kentucky’s offensive threats aren’t drawing double teams like last year’s stars. Last year, Kentucky’s penetration into the lane caused defenders to sag down to help leaving Wiltjer wide open for the jumper. Kentucky’s slashers don’t draw as much attention this year which leaves Wiltjer to create his own shot, which is not his forte.
5. Missouri is ready to welcome in some help in transfer Jabari Brown, who is expected to be cleared to play by the end of this week. Frank Haith is looking forward to what Brown will contribute to the Tigers. “We need him to be Jabari Brown — not to be Mike Dixon, not to be Marcus Denmon,” Haith said. But teammates say Brown will be just fine being himself, and bringing some much needed shooting to the roster. “He can shoot the ball,” point guard Phil Pressey said. “He’s hit a couple in my face, so I know he can shoot the ball.” Forward Laurence Bowers was even more direct about Brown’s impact. “He’s definitely, I would say, probably the best shooter on our team. From practice, it’s been pretty clear,” Bowers said. Missouri isn’t exactly shooting lights out, and with the loss of Dixon, the Tigers will certainly benefit from Brown’s addition to the team.

1. The Kentucky players haven’t quite bought into John Calipari’s system yet, but they’re certainly trying to become a top 10 team. “Definitely,” freshman center Nerlens Noel said. “We’ve definitely got the potential. We’ve got the players, the pieces, the coaching staff. We’ve got all the great tools. We’ve just got to work on some things and really bring it all together.” But if anybody has the credibility to get first year players to buy in, it’s Calipari. Perhaps last year’s success is part of what is hindering this year’s version of the Wildcats? “We’re trying to uphold expectations we shouldn’t have had,” freshman Willie Cauley-Stein said. “We’re not last year’s team.” He’s right about that. The 2012-13 team is more 2010-11 than 2011-12, and that team was possibly a play away from being Cal’s first championship team.
2. Jarvis Summers is crucial to Ole Miss‘ success this year. The Rebels lost their first game of the season on Saturday to Middle Tennessee State, in part because Summers sat the last 13 minutes of the first half in foul trouble. While he was on the bench, his backups committed seven of Ole Miss’ 18 turnovers. “They just took the ball,” coach Andy Kennedy said. “Like what happens sometimes when you play your big brother. They just took your ball.” Summers returned to play 17 minutes in the second half, but it just wasn’t enough. He finished the game with just seven points and four assists, but Kennedy recognized his impact on the game by allowing Summers to play through four fouls with over six minutes left in the game.
3. Florida is getting some much needed rest before one of its biggest games of the year against Arizona. “Playing as many games as we’ve played this early against some really good quality opponents I think guys get mentally drained,” coach Billy Donovan said. “So I think we’ll probably need some time to regroup before we go out west.” The Gators have 10 days between games, allowing some time to recover from injuries as well. Senior forward Erik Murphy hasn’t been 100 percent after a hip pointer injury, and of course final exams are mixed in for the student-athletes. “This a good group,” Donovan said. “They’ve worked hard. We’ve had to individually battle through our own adversity as a team.” So far this year, 13 points is the closest margin any team has come to the Gators.
4. Missouri is also preparing for one of its biggest games of the year, but this one is for bragging rights above all else. Missouri is already circling a December 22 date with Illinois, which is one of the hottest teams in the country right now. The author makes the case that the Tigers need this win for RPI purposes because of the weak standing of the SEC relative to the Big 12 from which coach Frank Haith and the Tigers migrated. I tend to disagree. Yes, the SEC is weak at the bottom, but teams like Kentucky (with a current RPI of #95) or Tennessee (#132) won’t stay that low for long. Regardless, the match-up with the Illini is important in the bigger picture for Haith and company, but don’t expect the top half of the SEC to be a hindrance to RPI standings in the long run.
5. Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings had a unique perspective regarding Vandy guard Kyle Fuller’s honor as SEC player of the week for his outstanding performance against Xavier. Fuller scored all 12 of Vanderbilt’s points during the overtime period, leading the Commodores to a surprising victory. “That’s awesome for him and almost embarrassing for the rest of us,” Stallings said. “Good for Kyle. He made some huge plays.” Fuller came up huge in the road victory with 25 points on 8-of-16 shooting, along with five assists, four rebounds, and three steals. You have to sort of agree with Stallings on this one, however. Vandy desperately needed someone not named Kedren Johnson to step up on the offensive end. Johnson’s field goal attempts have been in double figures in every game this season, and until the return of Dai-Jon Parker, the Commodores can’t continue to rely that heavily on Johnson for all of their scoring.

Brian Joyce (@bjoyce_hoops) is an RTC correspondent and writer for the SEC microsite. He filed this report after Saturday’s Clemson-Arizona game in Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson, South Carolina. 

Littlejohn Coliseum was rockin’ on Saturday night when Clemson hosted the No. 8 Arizona Wildcats. With just over 11 minutes left in the game, Clemson had a young Arizona team on the ropes with a six-point lead. The Tigers were hosting their first Top 25 non-conference opponent since 2000, and were hoping for their first victory over such a foe since a win over South Carolina in the 1997-98 season. The Wildcats were rattled, and could have easily thrown in the towel. But senior point guard Mark Lyons wouldn’t allow his Wildcats to lose. When the college basketball world tuned into ESPN2 to determine if a collection of freshmen from one of the nation’s top 10 teams could respond in a hostile environment, it was the transfer from Xavier who put the team on his back. In crunch time, Lyons scored eight points, dished out two assists, and came up with one steal. He may not be a natural fit at the point guard position, but he solidified his standing as Arizona’s team leader.

Lyons led Arizona when the going got tough at Clemson. (US Presswire)

Lyons committed just one turnover on Saturday night, and it came within the first four minutes of the game. He did not turn the ball over once after that. He was the ultimate senior leader for a team playing in a hostile environment needing a lift. He finished the contest with 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting, four rebounds, and a perfect 5-of-5 from the free throw line. Some continue to criticize Lyons’ play at point guard with the argument that he commits too many turnovers and does not pass the ball enough. Don’t count his coach among the skeptics.

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1. Camp Cal, as coach John Calipari affectionately termed his boot camp with the Wildcats, is more about thinking than it is conditioning. “For the next two weeks, we’ll be going at least five of the days three times a day,” Calipari said. “I’m fine. I’ll be exhausted, but what the heck. The whole point is to help these young people think differently. They’ve got to think differently than they’re thinking.” The change in thinking hasn’t yet made its way into the full 40 minutes of game play, although the Cats were victorious over Portland by 28. “I had to coax them into playing,” Calipari said. “I shouldn’t have to. I shouldn’t be on a guy, ‘Play, scramble, stay down.’ What? What is that, strategy? I mean, that’s basically how I’m coaching right now.” The Cats are still making mistakes made by inexperienced teams, which shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who has reviewed the Wildcats’ roster. They have two more home games over the next two weeks before meeting Louisville in the Yum! Center on December 29. Three weeks is a long way away, so expect Kentucky to look significantly improved by the time its intrastate showdown with the Cards roll around.
2. Another SEC guard has been suspended, and this time it’s LSU’s Anthony Hickey. LSU coach Johnny Jones cited a violation of athletic department and university rules as the reason for the suspension. “We will cooperate fully with the Athletic Department and University on the matter,” said Jones. “There is a responsibility that comes with playing college basketball. If a player doesn’t take care of his responsibilities, then he loses the privilege of being able to play. We look forward to continuing to focus on our upcoming game Tuesday and our three-game road trip that follows.” At this point, there is no timetable for Hickey’s return to the court. The Tigers are 5-0 with Hickey in the lineup, fueled by his 10.2 points, 5.2 assists, and 4.0 rebounds per game. However, this is not the first time the point guard has found himself in trouble.
3. The Arkansas media is calling for Mardracus Wade to be more aggressive on offense after the Hogs lost to Michigan in Ann Arbor by 13 points. Wade scored five points on just five shots from the field despite playing 34 minutes. Wade has the third best effective field goal percentage on the team, but is ninth in percentage of shots and is 10th in percentage of possessions. The Razorbacks could have used his help on Saturday. Wade is extremely effective at getting to the free throw line (76.3% free throw rate), but Arkansas didn’t shoot a free throw until six minutes left in the game. Mike Anderson’s squad has lost four of its last five contests, with three of those losses away from home. The Hogs are typically very strong at Bud Walton Arena, and they begin a five-game home stand on Saturday. That should give Anderson time to work out a few of the kinks.
4. Who loves statistics? We do! And so does John Clay of the Lexington Herald-Leader who provides us with 20 stats you need to know from Kentucky’s win on Saturday. A lot of good information here about the Cats’ recent performances including a snippet about the play of freshman Alex Poythress. Poythress has scored in double figures in seven of the first nine games of his college career, including his 15 points on Saturday. Most importantly, he is 13-of-17 from the field in the last two games, including three of four from beyond the arc. Poythress’ efficient play has put him as an early member of a prestigious grouping that Luke Winn often refers to in his power rankings called the 70/50/20 club. Only four players possess membership at this point in the season. The club is reserved for players who shoot an effective field goal percentage of at least 70 percent, play in at least 50 percent of available minutes, and take at least 20 percent of his team’s shots when he is on the floor. Poythress is shooting 72.2 percent, playing in 73.1 percent of available minutes, and shooting 21.5 percent of the Wildcats’ shots. He joins Belmont’s Ian Clarke, UC Davis’ Ryan Sypkens, and Syracuse’s James Southerland as the only current members. With efficiency numbers like that, Poythress can’t shy away from the basketball as he did against Notre Dame.
5. Tennessee’s Skylar McBee’s jersey will hang in the rafters at Grainger High School after he scored 2,362 points during his high school career. McBee was honored Saturday when his number four jersey was retired. “I’m very proud of where I come from,” McBee said. “And it’s an honor that all these people back home think that highly of me that they want to retire my number. It’s very humbling, and it means a lot to me.” McBee started as a walk-on for Tennessee, but was given a scholarship by previous coach Bruce Pearl. The guard is averaging 7.3 points per game for the Vols this season in his senior year.

Blocked shots have become a staple of the Kentucky defense under John Calipari. Last season, the Cats blocked 20.2 percent of its opponents’ shots with Anthony Davis setting the bar high with 4.7 blocks per game. However, when a defensive philosophy relies heavily on blocked shots, defenders tend to leave their feet for the block attempt leaving the defense out of position for defensive rebounds if they miss. Kentucky is again a great shot-blocking team in 2012-13, but it has a lower block rate of 17.6 percent while allowing opponents to grab an almost identical percentage of available rebounds (30.7% in 2012-13 compared to 30.8% in 2011-12). So, UK’s big men often neglect boxing out duties to fly in for the blocked shot, making a clear strategic choice. And it is a strategy that works.

Kentucky’s defensive percentage of shots blocked by shot type. (Source: www.hoop-math.com)

By making that choice, are the Cats dooming themselves to be poor defensive rebounders? Is it possible for a standout low post player to achieve high levels of shot blocking proficiency while also performing with strong defensive rebounding numbers? It is, but the feat is rarely accomplished. We analyzed shot-blocking and defensive rebounding percentage numbers from the end of the 2011-12 season and found just two power conference players who had a block percentage of at least 8.5 percent and a defensive rebounding percentage of at least 23.5 percent (those numbers were selected because that placed the player in roughly the top 50 in both categories).

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As pointed out in this Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s SEC M5, Georgia’s offensive ineptitude is prohibiting Mark Fox’s squad from winning games. The Bulldogs haven’t topped 68 points all year, and they are shooting 38.8 percent on the season. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has been the only reliable scorer, averaging 17.4 points per game, but the next highest scorer averages 7.8 points per contest. Georgia needs someone to step up on the offensive end, but who is capable?

Will Somebody Please Help Kentavious Caldwell-Pope?

The Georgia offense is horrid. The Bulldogs rank 266th in effective field goal percentage, 231st in turnover percentage, 225th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 208th in free throw rate. When a team can’t break into the top 200 on any of the offensive four factors, it is not likely to win many games. And the Bulldogs have only been able to win twice this season. In both of their two victories, Georgia held the opposing offense to under 38 percent shooting. Even when winning, it hasn’t necessarily been the offense doing the dirty work. Georgia has players ready to shoot the ball, but perhaps they are not the ones Fox needs carrying the offensive load. Is there someone on the team who could take on a bigger role in the offense to take some of the pressure off KCP? We’ll turn to advanced statistics to find out.

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The Florida Gators continue to win — victorious in its first six games of the season — but its center Patric Young is rarely the leading scorer. Young is viewed more as a defensive presence, but perhaps his offensive skill set has become overshadowed by the other options on the team. Against Marquette on Thursday, the big man started the game on the bench, but came in to score 10 points and grab 10 rebounds regardless. Despite his solid play (10.3 PPG; 7.8 RPG), is the center being utilized to his full potential on the offensive end?

Does Billy Donovan need to make sure his beast in the post is getting the ball more often? (Photo via John Raoux / AP)

Though Young’s physique suggests that he should be an All-American, his numbers have always left a little to be desired. Can’t he do more than just a tick over 10 points per outing? In his recent performance against Marquette, Young shot the ball just six times. Reviewing the entire season, he shot the ball as few as just four times in the Gators’ victory over Middle Tennessee State, with a maximum of 10 attempts against Savannah State. His numbers are not alarming by any stretch of the imagination, but could they increase if his teammates would distribute the ball more often into the low post?

We compared Young to some of the best big men in the SEC this season, and here is how he fared:

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It’s November, and that is far too early to come to any major conclusions in college basketball. However, the Florida Gators opened up the 2012-13 campaign in dominant fashion. Nobody who has played Billy Donovan’s team has yet to finish a game within single digits of the Gators. They put a good Wisconsin team away by 18 points, beat Middle Tennessee State by 21, and wore down rival Central Florida by 13. But is Florida a team that could end up as a national champion at the end of the year? We know enough about the makeup of national championship teams as a result of 10 years of advanced statistics that it is not out of the question to begin to hypothesize.

Could Donovan Have a Shot at His Third National Title This Season?

There are a couple of general principles that have been established from the data available at Ken Pomeroy’s site. Before we get into that, it is important to remember that a lot can change from now until March. While he wrote the following passage regarding individual player stats, it is still somewhat applicable here. Before proceeding, we should all read Pomeroy’s “small size sample oath” to keep in mind the limited scope of the statistics and the fluidity of the numbers over the next several months.

I, (state your name), understand that the player stats are based on extremely limited information in mid-November. I understand that Erik Murphy is not the best college basketball player of all time and that Adreian Payne is not going to grab anything close to 43% of opponents’ missed shots nor 0% of his own team’s misses for a full season. Additionally, I understand that some of the numbers displayed on these pages are utterly meaningless at this point, like Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson’s free throw rate or anything on Jordan Vandenberg’s line. I will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the responsible use of advanced stats for individuals in mid-November.

In analyzing statistics from the national champions from 2003 to present, there are four common denominators of national championship teams:

1) The national champion has never come from outside the KenPom top 10.

Overall KenPom rankings for past 10 national champs (national rankings in parenthesis).

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Every week, the SEC microsite will post a composite power ranking list for the league’s performances coupled with a short commentary justifying each team’s specific ranking. Week two’s SEC Power Rankings:

Patric Young’s Offensive Rebounds Are One Way To Get Additional Touches (Getty)

1. Florida – Florida continues to roll, and it’s partially because it has more opportunities to score than its opponents. The Gators currently sit in the top 15 in the nation in offensive rebounding percentage at 42.9 percent. UF grabbed 17 offensive rebounds against Savannah State, and then another 19 against Central Florida. Center Patric Young has 14 offensive boards in the Gators’ five games this season. If Florida can commit to defensive rebounding the way it has on the offensive end, then the Gators may stay at the top of the charts.
2. Kentucky – Ryan Harrow returned to be with the team on Sunday, so this is officially a new team. Most will point to his effect on the offensive end, but the Cats need his help the most on defense. Last year’s national championship squad didn’t allow a team to shoot over 40 percent from the field until North Carolina squeaked by at 41.8 percent in the eighth game of the year. In five games so far this season, three teams (Duke, Lafayette, LIU) have connected on over 40 percent of its shots. Improvement in this area can’t be placed solely on Harrow, but if he can stop penetration in the lane then that could be a good start to becoming a better overall defensive club.
3. Missouri – Missouri had a tough loss to Louisville, and followed that up with a good win over VCU. The Tigers desperately need Michael Dixon to return. Dixon possessed an impressive 56.6 effective field goal percentage last season, which is significant because if the Tigers don’t plan on guarding anyone then the next best plan is to try and outscore their opponents in a shootout. Mizzou is seeing the effects of being a couple of years out of the Mike Anderson era at this point. Last season, the Tigers forced a turnover percentage of 21.6 percent, but that number is down to just 18 percent this year.
4. Alabama – Who are these shooters that are connecting on over 40 percent from beyond the arc? Aren’t these the same guys who shot 28.9 percent from three-point land last year? The Crimson Tide had a stifling defense in 2011-12, but shot their way out of entirely too many games. Alabama needed consistency from the outside, and now it has that in Trevor Releford and Trevor Lacey. Whatever they’re doing in Tuscaloosa should continue. Read the rest of this entry »