A dark horse is emerging in the SEC, as South Carolina knocked of Tulsa to win the Paradise Jam and cap off its first 5-0 start since 2003-04. Two of the main reasons for the great start have been a pair of senior forwards from basketball-crazed Lithuania — Laimons Chatkevicius and Mindaugas Kacinas. One of the storylines coming into the season was whether the Gamecocks’ senior-laden frontcourt could support its rotation of dynamic, big-bodied guards. Early on, the bigs have done far more than just support.

Mindaugas Kacinas and Sindarius Thornwell took home all tournament honors en route to South Carolina’s Paradise Jam championship (photo courtesy @GamecockMBB).

Chatkevicius has been an offensive force, scoring 17 points a piece against Hofstra and Tulsa, and dropping 27 in a home win over Oral Roberts. The 6’11” center struggled to stay on the court for long stretches in his first two years, but showed improvement sustaining minutes last season (22.8 MPG). He is never going to be a 30-plus minute per night player given his giant frame, but he appears to be at a point this season — in terms of conditioning and avoiding foul trouble — that Frank Martin can rely heavily on him. He’s got an efficient back-to-the-basket game (seen in the video below) and range out to the three-point line, making him the type of player that can help the Gamecocks withstand cold nights from the perimeter. Read the rest of this entry »

Surprise, surprise: Kentucky is once again the overwhelming favorite to win the SEC. But one thing that makes the league a little more exciting this year is that a handful of other teams could emerge as the biggest threat to the crown. Several teams figure to be best-equipped to assume that role:

Once again, Coach Cal and Kentucky are the league favorites. (AP)

• Vanderbilt (#2, SEC preseason media poll), led by Damian Jones and a slew of quality guards, landed at #18 in the preseason AP poll. The Commodores finished last season on an 8-3 run and return most major contributors from that improving team.
• LSU (#4) checked in at #21 nationally behind dynamite freshman and likely top-five pick Ben Simmons and an experienced backcourt duo in Tim Quarterman and Keith Hornsby. The jury may still be out on the coaching talents of Johnny Jones, but his Tigers have talent.
• Texas A&M (#3) has an enviable trio of seniors with distinct roles in Danuel House (perimeter shooter/scorer), Jalen Jones (low post threat) and Alex Caruso (distributor). Billy Kennedy also welcomes in an outstanding five-man recruiting class.
• Florida (#6) may be rebounding from a sub-.500 season and the loss of coaching stalwart Billy Donovan, but Michael White was able to keep the gems of Donovan’s recruiting class intact by retaining KeVaughn Allen and Keith Stone. He also inherits a team with elite defensive potential.
• Georgia (#5) gets the benefit of the doubt after 41 wins over the past two seasons, especially when the heart of those successful seasons (Kenny Gaines and Charles Mann) are still around Athens.

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The SEC got an early start in its annual quest to shed its label as an underachieving basketball conference. By swapping out Anthony Grant, Rick Ray and Donnie Tyndall for Avery Johnson, Ben Howland and Rick Barnes, the league upgraded in coaching talent and brand name recognition. Losing Florida’s Billy Donovan to the NBA was counterproductive to that pursuit, but by and large, the SEC was the clear springtime winner when the coaching carousel came to a halt. Now the focus shifts to what happens on the court — resumes don’t much matter if you’re not winning games. Here are several ways how the SEC can sustain the momentum to improve its national standing this upcoming season.

Can Bruce Pearl help raise the SEC’s national profile? (athlonsports.com)

• More and higher seeds: Let’s get the obvious out of the way first: The best way for the SEC to get more national respect is to put more teams in the NCAA Tournament. Last year’s five teams invited on Selection Sunday counts as solid improvement on this front. This year you could make an early, sight-unseen case that six or even seven SEC teams could be in position to make the field by March. That volume would be great, but even if the number of teams ends up as fewer than six, it would be good to see a few higher seeds. Last year, the league’s seeds other than Kentucky came in at #5, #9, #10 and #11. There was no other SEC team that was consistently in the Top 25 last season.

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Any team’s collection of freshmen and incoming transfers provides for excitement at the start of a new season. It should be no shock that in a conference that John Calipari calls home, there is A LOT of that form of excitement this season, as the SEC is once again loaded with freshman talent. The one difference is that it’s not just Kentucky bringing in the SEC’s blue-chippers this year. Less heralded programs such as LSU, Mississippi State and South Carolina all feature potential NBA First Round picks in their new classes. And lets not forget about the impact transfers who will make SEC debuts this season, especially in light of a transfer leading the league in scoring last year (Auburn’s K.T. Harrell) and another finishing fourth (Ole Miss’ Stefan Moody). Today we’ll look at half of the league and and focus on a freshman or transfer player who should play a key role for each team this season:

Kentucky – Skal Labissiere. Selecting Labissiere here is a no-brainer. Calipari brings in another extraordinarily talented group of freshmen this season, but Labissiere, possibly the first overall pick in next year’s NBA Draft, is the clear headliner. The Haitian-born big man will undoubtedly draw comparisons to former Kentucky star Anthony Davis because he’s a lean, explosive and tall forward who really runs the floor. Comparing any player to Davis — potentially the best basketball player in the world right now — is setting an unrealistic expectation, but Labissiere’s ability to control the paint on both ends will be a key to Kentucky’s success this season. One thing big Skal has that Davis did not is an experienced point guard running the show in Tyler Ulis. 

Now that Skal Labissiere’s eligibility status is cleared up, he can focus on leading a talented Kentucky team (Photo: collegebasketball.nbcsports.com).

Texas A&M – D.J. Hogg. The Aggies’ freshman bigs need to replace Kourtney Roberson’s steady play down low, but Hogg should help diversify the offense from the outside. Danuel House is one of the best wings in the country, but with the departure of three-point marksman Peyton Allen, A&M is thin on perimeter shot-makers. Alex Caruso has all-SEC potential, but he’s a distributor first and scorer second. Hogg comes in as a four-star prospect with the potential to be both a long-range threat and an athletic slasher. He won’t be pressured to shoulder a heavy early load, but could develop into another consistent source of offense on what looks like a deep team. Read the rest of this entry »

The SEC coaching carousel’s dust appears to have settled with Avery Johnson, Rick Barnes and Ben Howland having moved into their new offices at Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi State, respectively. Kentucky’s John Calipari is making the recruiting rounds with a new pitch after seven more of his players declared for this summer’s NBA Draft. Anthony Grant is getting re-acclimated to the assistant’s chair next to Billy Donovan at Florida that has worked out so well for both of them in the past. There’s still more to be determined about how the SEC will look heading into next season, but here are some way too early predictions on the season to come.

Tyler Ulis should contend for SEC Player of the Year honors next season. (AP Photo)

Coach of the Year

• John Calipari, Kentucky

Player of the Year

• Tyler Ulis, Kentucky

Freshman/Newcomer of the Year

• Ben Simmons, LSU

All-SEC First Team

• Tyler Ulis, PG, Kentucky
• Stefan Moody, SG, Ole Miss
• Danuel House, SF, Texas A&M
• Ben Simmons, SF, LSU
• Skal Labissiere, C, Kentucky

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It was an interesting second day of basketball at the SEC Tournament on Thursday. These are a collection of observations and thoughts from the day’s action, both on and off the court, in Nashville.

Observations

• Alabama’s Jimmie Taylor looks to be a player with a bright future. Although he only averaged 5.3 points and 3.9 rebounds per game this season, he matched his season- and career-high in scoring with 15 points against Florida on Thursday. It was his third consecutive game in double-figures. For a team that is not overly talented in the post, Alabama fans must hope the 6’10” sophomore can build on his performance next season. “[He] continues to show he’s going to be a force in the league for years to come,” head coach Anthony Grant said after the game.
  

  Anthony Grant may get another season on the bench after all. (AP/Mark Humphrey)

• Speaking of Grant, there was plenty of scuttlebutt about whether he will return for a seventh season despite having reached the NCAA Tournament only once in his first six. The prevailing sentiment around those close to the situation is that the Alabama administration likes and respects him — Florida coach Billy Donovan said as much in his postgame press conference after the victory — and that he likely will get another shot at coaching the Crimson Tide next season.
• Auburn may have had a disappointing season but earning its first two SEC Tournament wins since 2010 is a step in the right direction for Bruce Pearl’s program. Without second-team all-conference guard KT Harrell on the floor, the Tigers would not be playing LSU in the quarterfinals. Harrell was terrific against Texas A&M, scoring a game-high 25 points and leading the Tigers to an improbable comeback victory.

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As Nashville awaits the inevitable Big Blue mist that will descend upon it Friday afternoon, let’s take a look at what each of the 14 SEC teams has to play for with the start of tonight’s SEC Tournament.

The Outsiders

• Missouri (9-22, 3-15). After winning its SEC opener against LSU, Missouri earned only two more conference victories all season — at home against Florida and Auburn. Kim Anderson’s first year at his alma mater has been a trying one, and there likely will not be much sadness when this campaign comes to a merciful end sometime soon.
• Mississippi State (13-18, 6-12). Given that Rick Ray won seven league games in his first two seasons in Starkville, this year’s six-win campaign is a substantial improvement. This appeared to be a team that would struggle to win any conference games, so getting six has surely earned Ray the right to coach a fourth season at Mississippi State. While the Bulldogs have nothing to play for beyond Nashville, expect them to be motivated to move into Thursday’s round against Texas A&M.

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The regular season has flown by, but before the contenders separate themselves from the pretenders this postseason, it’s time to honor individuals for their valuable play this year. Even the teams that fell short of expectations had most valuable players, so let’s honor each of them below. Today we’ll present the team MVPs from Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Missouri, Mississippi State, South Carolina and Tennessee, in no particular order.

Missouri – Keith Shamburger

Keith Shamburger was a steady hand in a rocky season for Mizzou (zimbio.com).

Shamburger was a good soldier on a miserable team this season. He ran the point respectably (3.9 APG, 24.4 assist percentage) and acted as the Tigers’ lone ball-handler for a stretch after Wes Clark got injured and Tramaine Isabell was suspended. After spending the bulk of his career at San Jose State and Hawaii, a 9-22 season wasn’t what he expected during his only taste of high-major basketball but his body language remained consistently positive. His signature moment of the season was hitting the game-winner against Auburn on Senior Night.

Auburn – Cinmeon Bowers

Cinmeon Bowers was Auburn’s lone threat down low this season (al.com).

It’s hard not to write great things about K.T. Harrell, who ended up being the SEC’s leading scorer this year at 18.1 PPG. But as great as he was, the Tigers featured several perimeter scorers. Other than Bowers, however, who nearly averaged a double-double (12.6 points per game, 9.7 rebounds per game) on the season, Bruce Pearl’s inaugural team on The Plains simply didn’t have any reliable size. He prevented the Tigers from getting eaten alive in the paint and on the glass all season long. The better news is that he should have more help coming next year as Trayvon Reed develops and Horace Spencer and Danjel Purifoy arrive on campus.

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The fourth year appears to be the charm for Billy Kennedy at Texas A&M. At 18-7 overall and 9-4 in the SEC heading into tonight’s game at Arkansas, it looks like the Aggies are headed to their first NCAA Tournament in Kennedy’s tenure. A three-game winning streak that includes wins over bubble-buddy LSU, Florida and South Carolina has Texas A&M trending in the right direction. But being in this position wasn’t a certainty for the Aggies — the media in the preseason pegged them to finish ninth in the conference, and the only A&M player to appear on an all-SEC preseason list was Alex Caruso, who landed on the coaches’ expansive second team.

Danuel House has emerged as one of the most dangerous scorers in the SEC. (247sports.com)

That less-than-optimistic outlook reflected a team that had been rising at a slow rate under Kennedy. His first team was 4-14 in the Big 12; improved to 7-11 in the Aggies’ first year in the SEC; and then a tick up again to 8-10 in conference play last year. Texas A&M’s future outlook certainly got a lot brighter when Kennedy locked up a star-studded class of 2015, but what has propelled the Aggies up the standings in the current season has been the star they already had waiting in the wings: Danuel House. The former five-star recruit transferred to Texas A&M from Houston after James Dickey’s firing last spring, and since his clearance to play in November, no SEC transfer has arguably had a bigger impact on his new team. Going forward, no single player in the league may have as big a say in how his team fares this March. Read the rest of this entry »

1. Kentucky extended its unbeaten streak to 26 in a row on Tuesday night with a 66-48 win over Tennessee in Knoxville. While the Wildcats struggled to put away the Volunteers for a good portion of the evening, they continued their march toward perfection by setting a school record for consecutive wins to start a season. The previous mark of 25-0 matched Adolph Rupp’s 1953-54 squad (which declined a bid to the NCAA Tournament). It is difficult to imagine that John Calipari’s team won’t continue to extend the school record given what is mostly a soft schedule the rest of the way. Arkansas comes to Rupp Arena in 10 days and the Wildcats then travel to face a floundering Georgia squad four days later. The odds are that the Wildcats will win those two games and will roll into the SEC Tournament in Nashville boasting 31 straight wins.
2. Despite the success Kentucky has already achieved, the question of whether it will run the table and win the national title with a perfect 40-0 record is college basketball’s hottest topic. The Huffington Post’s sports columnist, Jordan Schultz, recently set forth three reasons why the Wildcats might not cut down the nets in April. Schultz believes that the Wildcats’ guard play, half-court offense, and “youth” may lead to their downfall. With regard to their backcourt, Tyler Ulis and Devin Booker have provided what the Harrison twins have not been able to, so production from the perimeter does not appear to be an issue. The so-called “youth” concern is an overrated factor, too, given the great experience so many players on this roster got last year in the team’s run to the national championship game. The half-court offense, though, continues to be a legitimate area of concern, as the Wildcats don’t always shoot the ball very well and rely so heavily on offensive rebounding that an off night in either area could lead to trouble.
3. As we continue our Kentucky-themed M5 (and hey, why shouldn’t we go this route?), Karl-Anthony Towns, who was dominant down the stretch of the team’s three-point win over LSU last week, was named the SEC Freshman of the Week on Monday. He averaged 10.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks per game in victories over the Tigers and South Carolina. Unfortunately for Towns, he did not continue his stellar play in last night’s win over Tennessee, as he scored only three points and grabbed four boards in 16 minutes of action. For his part, Arkansas’ potential SEC Player of the Year Bobby Portis was named Player of the Week for his efforts in his team’s two road wins over Auburn and Ole Miss last week. Portis, who leads the league in scoring, averaged 17.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.
4. South Carolina coach Frank Martin suspended two of his players for the remainder of the regular season on Tuesday. Sophomore Demetrius Henry, who has started 19 games and is averaging 6.0 points and 3.6 rebounds per game, and Shamiek Sheppard, a seldom-used freshman, were punished for unidentified violations of team rules although each could be reinstated before the SEC Tournament begins in three weeks. The suspensions certainly did not hurt the Gamecocks on Tuesday night as they upset Georgia by six points in Athens. The win gives South Carolina a season sweep over the Bulldogs.
5. On the other end of the suspension scale, Missouri will welcome freshman guard Tramaine Isabell back for tonight’s game against Arkansas. Isabell had been suspended in late January for what head coach Kim Anderson called “unacceptable” behavior. On Saturday, they welcomed back Montaque Gill-Caesar and Namon Wright from their own suspensions. The Tigers are 1-11 in SEC play and are without injured leading scorer Wes Clark, but they now have gotten all three players back who had been previously suspended. While having three freshmen available may not translate into more wins for Missouri, it does give Anderson the opportunity to use the team’s final six games to begin building for next year.