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Some things wicked this way come

gacard

Letterman and National Champion
Gold Member
Feb 8, 2003
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The backcourts in the SEC will be strong and deep this season, presenting some wicked-good matchups. Our guards in Athens should be the best outside of Lexington, but I can't wait to see three matchups in the SEC East in particular.

South Carolina's first three guards, Sindarius Thornwell, Duane Notice, and incoming high scorer D.J. Dozier are each capable of averaging double figures. Notice was the kid on whom Frank Martin dropped F-bombs last season and got suspended for a game. Notice played above expectations though and didn't deserve to be on the receiving end of all those death stares from Martin. Dozier is a towering 2G who was the best player in S.C. last season. Frank Martin reportedly grinned, uncrossed his arms and actually smiled when Dozier announced for the Gamecocks, but no photo can be found to prove the rumors of such extraordinary and atypical behavior.

Vanderbilt's returning perimeter lineup of sophs Riley LaChance, Wade Baldwin, Jeff Roberson, and Matthew Fisher-Davis all played major minutes last season in their first year of play and should soar as veterans this year. Each is capable of draining threes and rebounding well enough to allow Stallings to play stretches with 3 guards on the floor. Clutch combo LaChance is along with LSU's Tim Quarterman my favorite non-Bulldawg guard.

Hard to know how Fla's back court will perform, but Mike White's guards always played pedal to the metal high octane ball and bombed from long distance at La Tech, so this faster pace tshould suit Kasey Hill and Chris Chiozza well. I've read that new addition Brandone Francis was a Top 40 level 2G recruit back in the 2014 class but had to sit out last year for academic reasons. Newcomer Kevaughn Allen was a Top-60 prospect so that puts them four deep at guard. Getting the 4-star Allen to remain in the fold after Donovan left may have been White's best accomplishment this summer.

We may see a lot more zone press in the SEC this season with the new 30 second shot clock, the influx of new coaches willing to run the zone press and the reliance on 3 guard offense that a lot of teams will be playing. The goal will be to delay opponents from getting into their offense in order to drain the clock and prevent disciplined teams like Georgia from running through their pattern offense to get a good open shot. It will be a good year for us to have so many veteran ball handlers in our rotation.
 
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