Andy Katz does ESPN’s preview of the SEC and, well, it could have been written by somebody from this site.
His pick for player of the year, somebody from Kentucky. Not a specific person, but just that it will be a member of Kentucky’s team. Same thing for Freshman of the Year.
Here is what he says about Kentucky in the SEC:
[I]So this is the final season as a 12-team league. And don’t expect much to change since John Calipari arrived in Lexington three years ago, as Kentucky will be the team to chase again.[/I]
[I]With conference play starting up Saturday, let’s take a closer look at the SEC:[/I]
[I][B]The favorite[/B]: Kentucky simply has the most talent of any SEC team. The Wildcats are extremely difficult to match up against because of their length, size and versatility. [/I]
[I]Kentucky is seemingly unbeatable in Rupp Arena. Of course, there are road games that will prove to be tough for the Wildcats, including at Florida, at Vanderbilt and at Mississippi State. And there could be another tough matchup that’s not expected.[/I]
[I]The play at the point with [URL=”http://sports.espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/56354/marquis-teague”]Marquis Teague[/URL] hasn’t been up to the level that Calipari has had in the past four seasons. And [URL=”http://sports.espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/51540/terrence-jones”]Terrence Jones[/URL] hasn’t been 100 percent healthy and doesn’t always appear motivated.[/I]
[I]But [URL=”http://sports.espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/56353/anthony-davis”]Anthony Davis[/URL] on the back line and [URL=”http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/56352/michael-kidd-gilchrist”]Michael Kidd-Gilchrist[/URL]’s ability to get to the basket and the shooting of [URL=”http://sports.espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/51543/doron-lamb”]Doron Lamb[/URL] make this team extremely difficult to play. The Wildcats are just a missed free throw and a close out on a 3-point shot from being undefeated. [/I]
[I]I just don’t envision UK losing the SEC title. No other team has shown any kind of consistency. The Cats can board, score in bunches, share the basketball and shoot at a high percentage. How the Big Blue handle some raucous home courts in the SEC will be their toughest challenge. How they deal with Calipari getting in their grills if they don’t do as instructed will be another sign of maturity.
[/I]For the rest of the preview, click [URL=”http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/7427870/a-primer-sec-season-college-basketball”]here[/URL].
