NCAA Basketball: Memphis, Kentucky, and FSU headlines Sunday Mailbag
By Bryan Mauro
2. Which team in the SEC has the biggest question mark and why? – Lauren Rosenberg – @lrosenberg101
The SEC is the power conference this year where the first eight teams could all make the second weekend of the NCAA tournament. The bottom of the league may be one of the worst in the country and is one of the worst of all of the power conferences.
Obviously, not all of the SEC teams are created equal there are only a few teams in the league who are flawless and that begins and ends with Alabama. Auburn is going to be a very good team but they are young and Mississippi State has a ton of talent and is a team that way too many people are sleeping on.
The team that has the biggest question mark in the league heading into the season would be the Kentucky Wildcats. Kentucky was one of the most disappointing teams in the country a season ago as they couldn’t do anything right, so coach Calipari decided he would try to go for an older team. This is the oldest team that Calipari has had in his time at Kentucky and they still have a ton of question marks.
They are talented enough to be considered a top 25 team, they have one of the best freshmen in the country in TyTy Washington and they have a veteran point guard who should be able to calm the freshman down.
Those are all good things but the variables still exist with Kentucky. Kentucky is always at their best when they have a big man who can dominate and take over a game. The big man usually plays well off the guards and is able to get easy looks at the basket. Kentucky also has some questions on the defensive end. Are they going to be able to defend the pain effectively, too many times last season they were giving up easy baskets at the rim which led to their downfall?
Oscar Tshiebwe had a really good season at West Virginia but last season didn’t go well and he decided to transfer to Kentucky. After last season there were a ton of questions about his motor and heart. It looked as if he didn’t want to be out there a season ago. The big man is extremely talented and can take Kentucky places, but will he be bought in every night? The Wildcats also don’t defend the three-point line overly well and teams are going to get wide-open looks against them.
A year ago Kentucky didn’t shoot all that well when the game was still in doubt this year that needs to change for the Wildcats to have any shot. I believe they will get it figured out but if they don’t they could be looking at an NIT berth or a six seed in the NCAA tournament.