Mailbag: Growing pains, Collin Sexton and more

By
Blake Lovell
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Now that early NBA draft entrants have announced their intentions for next season, we’re starting to see rosters shape up a bit more in the world of SEC basketball.

That’s why it’s time for an always entertaining edition of the mailbag, which will take place once a month from now until the start of the 2017-18 season.

Let’s dive in.

This ranks up there as one of the top mailbag questions in history due to the latter part of the question. Well done.

I haven’t put together my full rankings yet, but I do feel comfortable in saying that Arkansas will have a good shot at being around the top four.

I do think Kentucky, Florida, Alabama, and Texas A&M are more well-rounded from top to bottom (as of today), but the Razorbacks have plenty of pieces in place to wind up near the top.

Getting Daryl Macon and Jaylen Barford back was a major boost after losing Moses Kingsley and Dusty Hannahs, plus the Hogs have a solid recruiting class on the way in. If players that were role players a season ago can step into large roles around the big two, the Hogs will be tough to handle.

This is an NCAA Tournament team unless there are significant injuries or other unforeseen setbacks.

We’re obviously a long way from knowing which coaches could be in the mix. But to make things interesting, I’ll focus on coaches of the four teams that finished in bottom four spots last season.

If Cuonzo Martin can get Missouri into the NCAA Tournament after three straight years of 20 or more losses, he’ll have a great shot.

If Will Wade manages to get LSU several spots up the SEC ladder in his first year on the job, he would deserve a ton of praise and be in the Coach of the Year mix as well.

Bruce Pearl has a potential NCAA Tournament team on his hands at Auburn, while Ben Howland is hoping that a potential Mario Kegler transfer doesn’t derail Mississippi State’s chances at rising up the rankings.

Again, it’s impossible to know who will be in the mix come next March. But I’d take Pearl or Martin from that group since I think their both likely to have teams near or above the bubble.

Special.

And just to expand on that for the sake of a more entertaining read, Sexton is simply a special talent that has a chance to change the landscape of the Alabama program. He can lead the Tide to the kind of on-court success they’ve sought for a while now, plus have a big impact on future recruiting.

The nation’s top high school talents will see what he’s able to do under Avery Johnson and want to experience that same level of development.

College basketball fans are gonna love watching this kid play.

Well, unless their fans of the opposing team.

I haven’t heard anything on this front. As we saw from Vandy cancelling its game with Baylor last season to avoid the Drew vs. Drew showdown, I don’t think this is something that Bryce is itching to do at the moment.

For all parties, it’s probably best to hold off until players that he coached at Valpo are no longer playing there.

So, maybe we’ll see that game in a few years.

Good question. Some people assume that every team can do what Kentucky does, but it’s not always that easy.

You’ll probably see both teams experience a few hiccups here and there during the early stages of the season. While these guys will be practicing together and playing together some in overseas trips, you can’t entirely simulate the preparation and execution that you need in a regular season setting.

The good news is that any coach you talk to will tell you that he wants his team to be playing its best basketball during the stretch run of the season. The non-conference schedule will allow Avery Johnson and Cuonzo Martin to find the right rotations and find the lineup that clicks best.

Both have the talent to make the NCAA Tournament, but Alabama might have less growing pains in the early going.

Noted Donta Hall superfan Jordan Harper checks in here.

To take some words of wisdom from Michael Jordan himself:

The ceiling is the roof for Donta Hall.

I wrote a lengthy early preview piece a few weeks ago that touches on potential storylines for every single team. Be sure to give it a read if you haven’t already.

As for my full power rankings, I won’t be releasing those until later in the summer.

Way-too-early power rankings are just that: way too early. There’s a lot more learning about rotations and talking to coaches that I’ll be doing before I throw out a full set of rankings.

On the Top 25 front, I’ll give you the teams from the SEC that I’d put in the discussion if the season started today:

  • Kentucky
  • Florida
  • Alabama
  • Texas A&M
  • Arkansas

But I can almost guarantee you that the list will change one way or another by the time the season rolls around.

From Lee via email: 

Considering Kentucky, Florida, and Alabama seem to be everyone’s top three, where does Auburn finish next season? Or more accurately, are their any other teams that are definitely ahead of Auburn?

Considering Avery Johnson’s dislike for a fast paced offense, do you think he will clash will Collin Sexton and his style of play next season?

 Question 1:

Although I’ve spoke highly of Texas A&M and Arkansas as potential Top 25 teams, I could equally make a case for Auburn. Problem is, I’m still too concerned about how the Tigers are going to play defense.

That’s why I’d have a few teams in front of Bruce Pearl’s squad entering the season, but that could change quickly if the defense shows dramatic improvement in the first few weeks of the new campaign.

Like many other SEC teams, Auburn has the pieces to make the tournament. It’s just a matter of seeing how much the Tigers have improved on their defensive weaknesses.

Question 2:

The best coaches adjust to their personnel.

I can’t see Johnson limiting Sexton’s strengths in any form or fashion. It’s going to be intriguing to see what type of pace Alabama plays at, but even it’s slower than what Sexton has been used to, Johnson isn’t gonna take away what the 5-star point guard does best.

Johnson played the point guard position at the highest level, and he’ll be able to help Sexton adjust to the system without removing his playmaking ability.

Need an SEC hoops fix during the offseason? Follow my “100 Reasons to Watch SEC Hoops in ’17-18” series.