Crazy Like a Fox

The college basketball season is still young, but the separation between who is going to contend in the conference and who is still in rebuilding mode is evident. We all knew coming into the season the depth of the SEC was not going to be impressive and they would be lucky to send 4 or 5 teams to the dance. That is still the case, but beyond Kentucky the feeling was as if the other teams that were going to come out of the SEC were going to be on the bubble. With the way South Carolina and Florida have been playing their goal is not just to make the tournament, but earn a top 6 seed and potentially go on a run. South Carolina is still undefeated with victories over two top-25 ranked opponents in Michigan and Syracuse. Florida has only one loss to its name and it belongs to a top-10 ranked Gonzaga squad. It’s exciting for the SEC to have three teams ranked in the top-25, but beyond that there is a bunch of question marks. A&M and Georgia have both underachieved with both having 2 losses on their record, but they have too much talent to be buried in the middle of the standings. The makeup of the SEC is reminiscent of its current state in football; one team clear-cut above the rest with no definite second place team. Hopefully the depth will improve because being a top-heavy conference is not going to sit well in the eyes of the committee with lack of quality wins.

Player of The Week 

This is the third update I’ve written on the SEC so far and this is the second time De’Aaron Fox has earned player of the week honors. I planned on going down a different route, but it’s tough not to give the honor to a player that just had a triple-double, the second one its school’s history. Fox stuffed the box score with 14 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists in a 115-69 victory over Arizona State in the Bahamas. Fox was also pulled with 4 minutes to play after receiving his 10th assist of the contest. He isn’t just getting the nod because of one historic night either, in the previous game Fox posted numbers of 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. Through this point in the season he is on pace to break Kentucky’s record for most assists in a season, held by Tyler Ulis just last year. Fox is also amongst the top of the SEC in steals with averaging 2 a game. His defensive prowess typically leads to his success on the offensive end. Kentucky is top 10 in pace during the game and that stat comes from the transition offense of Fox. He plays at one speed, which typically is concerning, but he has yet to turn the ball over more than four times this year. If he finds his jumper, he is going to be near unstoppable on the offensive end and make his way into becoming a potential top-5 pick in next year’s draft. Kentucky fans are probably used to this, but enjoy Fox’s dominance while you can, he is only staying in Lexington for one year.

Who’s Hot

South Carolina’s Defense

Frank Martin’s team has not let up more than 50 points over the past three games. You may think maybe they’re facing an easy non-conference schedule like last year and that is why their stats are blown up. Nope, South Carolina has beaten two top-25 opponents in Syracuse and Michigan South Carolina’s perimeter defense is the key to their success. Their backcourt alone is producing 4.5 steals per game, mostly on the back of lockdown defender PJ Dozier. No one expected South Carolina to have this type of start because of their lack of big men. They lost key pieces to their frontcourt from last year so they were expected to get dominated on the boards. They still have yet to find a reliable presence in the post outside of Chris Silva who is averaging 9.0 points per game and 6.0 boards per game. But, the play of Sindarious Thornwell has made up for any problem the Gamecocks could have potentially faced with the lack of dominance down low. The senior guard is leading the team in rebounding with 7.0 per game. The make-up of Carolina’s starting five is so reliant on their three-man backcourt, but they have yet to falter and led this team to an undefeated record. Down the road, look to see how Frank Martin’s team fairs against a more low-post dominant squad. If Sindarious Thornwell and Co. can turn teams over like they have been, expect no downfall.

Who’s Not

During the first week of college basketball, Frankie Hughes led the SEC in scoring. He was the sole reason Missouri looked as if it had potential to try and stay competitive this year. In the past two games, he averaged 9 points, 3 boards, and 1 helper while shooting 19% from the field. Keep in mind, one of those games resulted in a loss against the North Carolina Central Eagles. In the first week of play he was averaging 23.5 points while shooting 52% from the field. Hughes even hit rock bottom where he scored an abysmal 2 points while shooting 1-11 from the field. He seems to be trying to do too much due to the lack of talent around him. Hughes has not had a game where he has taken less than 10 shots, and has yet to have a game where he has had more than 3 assists. If he decided to pass the ball more and get his teammates involved, it might result in more of an opening for him to succeed. His idea of constantly playing isolation basketball has led to his awful shooting percentages. He is a freshman, and most freshman endure growing pains so we can only hope Hughes stops chucking up shots and tries to expand his game for the betterment of the team. But who knows, he has such a lack of talent around him and when those L’s starting piling up it might lead to him focusing on personal stats. Missouri basketball is a mess, and what was the only bright spot on the team seems to be following the same route as its program.

Top 5 Performances so Far

1. De'Aaron Fox vs. Arizona State

When you accomplish a feat that has only occurred one other time in your programs history, you probably had a pretty good game. Fox recorded the second triple-double in Kentucky basketball history and the first one since Chris Mills in 1988. You may not be impressed because Russell Westbrook makes these stat lines look easy, but there has only been seven triple-doubles recorded this year. Don’t be surprised if Fox has more days like this.

2. Yante Maten vs. Kansas

Yante Maten dropped 30 while grabbing 13 boards against a top-5 team in the country. Kansas’ strength may be its backcourt, but their frontcourt has plenty of 5-star talent too. This performance may have come in a loss, but when you score 30 of your team’s 54 points, you deserve some notoriety.

3. Deandre Burnett vs. Oral Roberts

Deandre Burnett could not miss. The transfer from Miami hit nine 3’s in an overtime win over Oral Roberts. He scored 41 points while taking only 19 shots. He also was distributing the ball while posting 4 assists to go along with 4 rebounds. Burnett is currently the leading scorer in the SEC.

4. Malik Monk vs. Michigan State

Some may have thought Kentucky’s freshman would shy away on the big stage while playing in the world’s greatest arena against a Hall of Fame coach in Tom Izzo. Malik Monk proved he welcomed the big stage by hitting seven 3’s in a 21-point victory over the Spartans. 21 of his 23 points came from behind the arc.

5. Sindarious Thornwell vs. Michigan

South Carolina faced its first test of the season vs No. 25 Michigan. Sindarious Thornwell made sure there was no doubt that the Gamecocks were going to come out with a victory while scoring 21 points, grabbing 10 boards, and swatting 3 shots. A guard should not be able to rebound the basketball the way Thornwell does and it is going to lead to many double-doubles with stat lines that look more the part of a big man’s.