Quezzy, Russell, Drew, Ffej, and others...I know football season is far from over (unless you root for my team), but here are the media picks for the upcoming season. Thoughts?
SEC CHAMPION Kentucky 21 Florida 18 Mississippi State 1
My thoughts have to be that I agree with picking my 'Cats first in the East :-)
The only major thought that I have is that Chuck Hayes wasn't on either All-SEC team and that is a damn shame. Hayes led the Pan-Am team in rebounds and was second in scoring average this summer and he was good last year to boot. No, he isn't likely going to average 18 points a game, but he probably will average 8 + rebounds a game and I wouldn't be surprised for him to average 13 points a game and maybe even 2 assists a game. He's going to be a team leader this year and he's set.
Florida is going to be loaded, but Florida always brings question marks to the table. I think that Vandy will have a nice team this year. I won't be surprised if Stan Heath leads the Hogs back this year. I'm ready for basketball season, of course I've been ready since last May (I needed a month off to stop mourning the Marquette loss).
I think Arkansas is still a year away from being Arkansas again...They have a ton of talented sophomores, and from what I hear a ton of talented incoming freshmen.
I agree that Chuck Hayes is a fine player, but I was a little PO'd that the Sporting News had him listed as the 7th or so best power forward in the nation with Frejie being 11th. I'm not saying that Frejie will be SEC player of the year, but there's no way he shouldn't be considered the preseason best player in the SEC with his stats from last year.
If Vandy doesn't finish at least 3rd in the East and at least be on the good side of the bubble for the tournament in March, I'll be shocked and calling for Stallings' head. This is a talented team with (finally) some senior leadership, and some talented younger players to boot. You might remember a young freshmen Mario Moore scoring 25 or so in the SEC tournament game against you guys (thanks for NOT beating us by 62 that time). He's gonna light it up this year (*fingers crossed*). I've had this season marked on my calender for two years now. It's basically now or never.
And are all the coaches just banking on a sophmore collapse for Walsh down at Florida?? I think he's better than Roberson to tell you the truth. How could he not be on at least the second team all-SEC?
I think Tennessee lost a LOT, but could actually be better. Slay was a distraction at best, and I think the Vols could be a more cohesive unit this year...Buzz is a hell of a coach.
I'm not getting all this Auburn love...Daniels carried those boys on his shoulders in that improbable NCAA run last year, and he's gone. But I could be wrong.
I haven't had a chance yet to really think through the SEC this year. Looking at your picks Chuck, I can't help but agree for the most part. But Chuck Hayes belongs on the All SEC Team.
Are their any impact freshmen this year? The SEC usually has one or two. It doesn't appear as if Kentucky will have one. Shagri Alleyne (the big 7'3' Center) should be star eventaully. It seemed like at midnight madness he had some offensive issues. Didn't look like he had much range at all. He defintely plays the post though very well and looks like a solid shot blocker and defensive player.
Just about 3 weeks away!
WIENER OF THE DAY! July 6, 2002!
If I lived back in the wild west days, instead of carrying a six-gun in my holster, I'd carry a soldering iron. That way, if some smart-aleck cowboy said something like "Hey, look. He's carrying a soldering iron!" and started laughing, and everybody else started laughing, I could just say, "That's right, it's a soldering iron. The soldering iron of justice." Then everybody would get real quiet and ashamed, because they had made fun of the soldering iron of justice, and I could probably hit them up for a free drink.
Actually, Kentucky is expected by most to see more of an impact from the "shorter" freshman, 7'1" Lukasz Obrzut (pronounced something along the lines of Wah koosh Orb zoot, or more simply "Woo"). Reports say that Woo has will contribute sooner than Shaggy (but then again, Alleyne did score 15 with 10 boards and 3 blocks in the blue/white game).
Billy could have an impact freshman in the form of Mohammed Abukar. He was released from a commitment to UGA following the troubles there and won an appeal to be eligible for SEC play this year. He's around 6'8" (some reports go to 6'10") and is a "shooting power forward". And Arkansas supposedly has some stud freshmen and I think Mississippi State might (they had at least one, I just don't know if he went NBA or not).
My first trip to the basketball forum and there's an SEC topic, great to see that. It just so happens that basketball was on my mind because I saw ex-Gator Udonis Haslem playing for the Heat. Glad he's getting a chance I still can't figure out why nobody drafted him atleast in the 2nd round. I know he's not very big for his position, but Bonner got drafted and certainly Haslem had more NBA potential.
Anyway to this year's season. I have to be honest here. I'm a huge diehard fan during the season but i'm really up to date on all the recruiting things that go on during the offseason. That's why I wasn't really excited when the season started last year, I had no idea we had such talent coming in. This year I know we've got some great players so I'm stoked for this season to begin.
Right now i'm going to say Kentucky is still the favorite, how can you not after last year's peformance but my Gators are right there. If Walsh and Roberson have both improved and Drejer starts to become the player he's supposed to be then we'll have a scary offense. Of course I'm most excited about David Lee. I thought he was a pretty well kept secret last year, not many people were talking about him. But he improved greatly throughout the year and was very impressive in the second game against Kentucky. He may not be the traditional post up type, but he's very athletic for a post player. If he's improved then he very well could be player of the year. Although it's hard to argue with Freije too since he'll probably have the biggest impact on any team. I'll miss Hamilton and Bonner but good riddance to Bret Nelson.
If Mohammed Abukar is a shooter than that's great that's another weapon, but I hope we have someone who can do some big man type things as well. In addition to Abukar Florida got another 6'8" player, Chris Richard. These two were ranked 38th and 43th in the nation top players so hopefully we'll have some size to go with our electric offense.
I hope Vanderbilt does make the tourney this year, I was pulling for them to make it last year. Heck I hope they finish second in the entire SEC behind Florida, but I doubt that's going to happen.
I don't know who Georgia lost, other than Jarvis Hayes, but if they really are 5th in the SEC that it's even a bigger shame that those kids didn't get a chance to play in the tourney last year. Who knows, maybe the controversary will help them to make some surprise upsets (hopefully against Kentucky).
I never know what to think about Tennessee. Some years they are better than I thought, some years they are worse than I thoughtbut they're almost always in that 3 or 4 spot in the West.
I'm surprised Matt Walsh wasn't on the All Sec team, especially since one guy thought he was good enough to be MVP. Oh well.
We'll see what Florida is made of early on against Arizona on November 28th. I was really impressed with how well the SEC played last year against the other conference, let's hope we show them the SEC is number 1 again this year.
I've gotta agree with chuck's prediction of Vandy in 3rd. I'm not sold on Buzz quite yet; we still seem to be NIT-worthy, as opposed to tourney-worthy. Georgia probably got nailed in the media polls due to all the stuff that surfaced late last year about academic fraud and so on; that's got to have some kind of negative team impact (or so the polls figure).
Ole Miss won't finish in the basement of the West, but that's all I know about that side of the conference. (I haven't switched into basketball mode yet, so I'm not paying a lot of attention to what goes on.)
I think poor Georgia only has 3 or 4 players returning that have ever played a college basketball game before. Their best inside player (Steve Thomas) just transferred to MTSU. South Carolina seems to have underachieved the past couple of years (I still think they're waiting on Howell to be the big time player he was in high school), but Dave Odom is a heckuva coach. But I think these two teams are the clear cut cellar dwellars in the east. There's def. a distinct upper tier- middle tier-lower teir of teams in the east. Should be interesting. We've got an exhibition game on Thursday! Can't wait!
Any of you guys go to games often? I'd like to hear your thoughts on some of the atmospheres in arenas around the SEC. I've been to Knoxville (dead), and Auburn (ok).
I've only been to Rupp one time. It can be a rowdy place with the right opponent and if everything else is "aligned". It's a tough ticket and I've been overtaken by matrimony and laziness to the point that I'd rather sit in my living room and watch it on TV than make an 8 hour round trip to Lexington to sit in the rafters and watch a game. I'm much more likely to travel for NCAA games in Memphis, Nashville or St. Louis.
I went to a UK-Ole Miss game about 16 or 17 years ago (I was a HS junior and went with Dad) at Ole Miss and that place was rowdy and the seats were good. Of course, they were psyched to play (and beat) a UK team that included Rex Chapman.
My favorite venue though is the Pyramid in Memphis, of course the fun of Memphis could skew my opinions there.
I went to a Memphis game a few years back (during the black hole of the Tic Price years) for a game against Tulane, so when I said that nothing was going on, that's an understatement. I could've moved down to the front 5 rows.
Now, a few years before that, I was front-row upper deck for a game against Georgetown. That was fun - and I figure Memphis is back to that way.
It doesn't surprise me that Thompson-Boiling is dead for men's games - women's basketball is the game around here. I didn't even go to any games last year; I might go to some this year, depending on the opponent (quality of game). I think it has potential to be loud, but the fans here are a complacent lot, for better and worse.
In my (unbiased, of course) opinion, Memorial Gym (Vandy) ranks right up there, but shortly behind Rupp and Bud Walton Arenas. When Memorial is rockin' with 14,000+, that place is as loud as anywhere. I love the fact that it is really a "gymnasium" and not an "arena" so to speak. The acoustics in that place are incredible, and I highly reccomend seeing a game in Nashville. I hear Ole Miss and Florida can be loud as well. It's kind of sad that two of the worst places are Tennessee and Georgia. Some folks just stop caring after football season is over.
I've been to a few Alabama and Auburn games and they are also like Georgia and Tennessee. If they have really good teams and are playing a big opponent they can get pretty rowdy but for the most part they're just pretty average.
I have been Rupp many many times. My Dad had season tickets through work for about 7 or 8 years in the late 80's/early 90's. Growing up here with Kentucky basketball being a way of life, no place is like Rupp Arena. When you walk in and see all the banners and the jerseys hanging from the rafters its truly a sight to see. UK's poster schedule this year is a big panoramic view of Rupp, its awesome. My sister swiped 10 of them when she went to the Blue/White scrimmage.
Anyway IMHO there are likely only two other basketball meccas that could compare to Rupp- One is obviously Cameron Indoor Stadium at Duke. Cameron just looks awesome. As much as I hate Duke, they have hands down the best atmosphere in college basketball. Two is Pauley Pavilion at UCLA. That has to be an intimidating place to play with like 20 Championship banners hanging over you at all times. Runners Up go to Assembly Hall in Bloomington and the Dean Dome at UNC.
As for other SEC Arenas, the only one I ever stepped foot in Arkansas's old Barnhill Arena. It was hot, cramped, and smelled funny. And after Kentucky won the Arkansas faithful saw fit to scream obscenities at us. Speaking of Arkansas, I would like to thank them for beating us SEVEN OVERTIMES. Good Lord, I thought that game would never end. Both teams missed so many chances its ridiculous. Anyway, back to basketball.
I have been to two SEC Tournaments, one in Birmingham the year Shaq got in a fight with that guy from Tennesee ('92 maybe?) and then again in Memphis at the Pyramid a couple of years later (94 I think).
I would love to see a game at Vandy. Vandy has the most screwed up court I have ever seen. I bet it looks even crazier in person.
WIENER OF THE DAY! July 6, 2002!
If I lived back in the wild west days, instead of carrying a six-gun in my holster, I'd carry a soldering iron. That way, if some smart-aleck cowboy said something like "Hey, look. He's carrying a soldering iron!" and started laughing, and everybody else started laughing, I could just say, "That's right, it's a soldering iron. The soldering iron of justice." Then everybody would get real quiet and ashamed, because they had made fun of the soldering iron of justice, and I could probably hit them up for a free drink.
What do you have to do to get season tickets up there at Rupp? Is there a waiting list with thousands of names? Do you have to be a big donor? Vandy just slashed their ticket prices by 50%. I'm sitting in the third level, center court for 75 bucks. That works out to about 5 bucks or so a game.
Originally posted by chuckc14What do you have to do to get season tickets up there at Rupp? Is there a waiting list with thousands of names? Do you have to be a big donor? Vandy just slashed their ticket prices by 50%. I'm sitting in the third level, center court for 75 bucks. That works out to about 5 bucks or so a game.
Dad got them through his work for a number of years until another company bought his bank. His bank was a major sponsor of the UK Radio Network at the time (which was cool because I got to meet Caywood Ledford and Rick Pitino when I was about 13 years old at a big cookout for Radio sponsors). His bank got 6 pairs for Football and Basketball from about 1986 until 1994. We only live about 90 minutes from Lexington, so it was no big deal to shoot over for a game. When the new place bought them out they immediatley pulled their sponsorship of UK athletics (the company is based in Cleveland) so they lost their tickets.
I do know there is a waiting list for individuals, but I have no clue how long it is. I have been on the season ticket waiting list for the Steelers now since 1998. EBay usually has season tickets go for $1500 a pair for nosebleeds and as much as $6000 a pair for lower level. Most people buy tickets off someone they know, or when people die they inherit them. UK allows you to transfer season tickets to another person, so unless you know someone wanting to get rid of theirs I would bet you sit on the waiting list for a long time.
And $75 for season tickets to Vandy is a bargain my friend.
WIENER OF THE DAY! July 6, 2002!
If I lived back in the wild west days, instead of carrying a six-gun in my holster, I'd carry a soldering iron. That way, if some smart-aleck cowboy said something like "Hey, look. He's carrying a soldering iron!" and started laughing, and everybody else started laughing, I could just say, "That's right, it's a soldering iron. The soldering iron of justice." Then everybody would get real quiet and ashamed, because they had made fun of the soldering iron of justice, and I could probably hit them up for a free drink.
Thread rated: 5.80
#
