SEC Basketball Power Poll Ballot - Post Week 3 (through January 22nd, 2012)
by KingJamesIV on Jan 23, 2012 9:03 PM EST
in Vanderbilt Commodores Basketball
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Since the table doesn't fit on the main page, here are the rankings with commentary. The full table after the jump.
- Kentucky Wildcats - Another week of SEC basketball, another week of Kentucky ranked first in the league.
- Florida Gators - Can put a firm hold on second with a win over State this weekend.
- Mississippi St. Bulldogs - Can takeover second with a win over Florida this weekend.
- Vanderbilt Commodores - Vanderbilt’s three point field goal defense was pretty solid, until Jalen Steele and his 37% season 3 point field goal percentage tore a hole through the Commodores first half lead Saturday.
- Alabama Crimson Tide - Bama’s game versus Vandy was probably an aberration. Their effort against Kentucky was much more in line with what we should expect from them.
- Arkansas Razorbacks - A great non-conference win over Michigan.
- Tennessee Volunteers - So what if UConn was missing a significant piece. A Top-15 win is a Top-15 win.
- Mississippi Rebels - Two big wins last week. Another opportunity to prove themselves without Dundrecous.
- LSU Tigers - LSU flips spots with Mississippi.
- Auburn Tigers - Tough overtime loss to LSU.
- Georgia Bulldogs - Huge overtime win over UT.
- South Carolina Gamecocks - Double-digit loss to Auburn. Not sure if Darrin Horn is going to get this turned around in time. Will Gamecock fans be patient?
| ## | Team | Overall | SEC | KenPom | Last Week | This Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Kentucky (UK) | 19-01 | 5-0 | 005 | W23-vArk, W6-vAla | @ UGA, @ LSU |
| 02 | Florida (UF) | 15-04 | 3-1 | 012 | W12-vLSU | @ MS, vs. MSt |
| 03 | Mississippi St. (MSt) | 16-04 | 3-2 | 057 | L7-@MS, W1-@VU (OT) | vs. LSU, @ UF |
| 04 | Vanderbilt (VU) | 14-05 | 4-1 | 032 | W10-@Ala, L1-vMSt (OT) | vs. UT, vs. MTSU |
| 05 | Alabama (Ala) | 13-06 | 2-3 | 018 | L10-vVU, L6-@UK | @ SC, vs. Ark |
| 06 | Arkansas (Ark) | 14-05 | 2-2 | 083 | L23-@UK, W2-vMich | vs. Aub, @ Ala |
| 07 | Tennessee (UT) | 09-10 | 1-3 | 102 | L4-@UGA (OT), W3-vUConn | @ VU, vs. Aub |
| 08 | Mississippi (MS) | 13-06 | 3-2 | 110 | W7-vMSt, W3-@UGA | vs. UF, vs. SC |
| 09 | Louisiana St. (LSU) | 12-07 | 2-3 | 080 | W7-vAub (OT), L12-@UF | @ MSt, vs. UK |
| 10 | Auburn (Aub) | 12-07 | 2-3 | 181 | L7-@LSU (OT), W11-vSC | @ Ark, @ UT |
| 11 | Georgia (UGA) | 10-09 | 1-4 | 141 | W4-vUT (OT), L14-vMS | vs. UK |
| 12 | South Carolina (SC) | 08-10 | 0-4 | 142 | L11-@Aub | vs. Ala, @ MS |
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Vandy through the looking glass
Although I thought I was walking into Memorial Gym last Saturday night, I must have instead fallen down the rabbit hole. Entering the game, Vandy had won 8 in a row, including all four conference games by more than 10 points each AND two beat-downs of kenpom top 25 teams on their home courts. Somehow we were still outside the top 25, but no matter.
We dominated a very good team in the first half, then got caught in the unlikely crosshairs when that same team shot 8-9 from three (almost all contested) in the second half. The lead flipped upside down, but courageous play from our freshman, a season-high rebounding effort from our recovering center, and two clutch threes by different players in the final two minutes cut a 6 point deficit to zero. In overtime, our talented but enigmatic wing player finally realized he could take over a game, driving to the basket for layups and drawing fouls. The opponent ran good plays and hit big shots (minus some missed free throws). We had a few opportunities to win, but the shots just didn’t go in.
In the end, we lost by 1 in overtime to a top-20 team that was playing out of its mind. We missed a few shots that could have won the game, but other than that, I saw only positives. The team played hard and together (I remember one moment in particular in the first half when Kedren hit the floor, and four white jerseys sprinted in unison to help him up). Festus started to look like what he can be. Jenkins hit some big threes. Goulborne hit some huge threes. Kedren hit some big shots. Taylor showed signs that he could take over a game on offense when it mattered most in overtime. Barring a 4-minute lapse, the defense still looked very good, if not quite the elite level from the rest of the 8-game winning streak. Walking out, I was disappointed we lost, but I saw a team that was 8-1 over its past 9 games, clearly second in the conference and ready to compete for first, a team that was one buzzer beater away from a 9-game winning streak and tied for first in the SEC with Kentucky, the #1 team in the country.
Imagine my surprise. Everywhere I looked, it was as if people had watched a different game. The Caterpillar (Eamonn Brennan) wrote that the game confirmed Vandy is a disappointment. Tweedledum (AP voters) and Tweedledee (coaches poll) dropped us in the rankings. The Mad Hatter (SEC Power Poll Ballot) has us ranked fourth in the SEC, after Florida and Mississippi State, although our conference record alone (let alone average margin of victory) is superior to both. Of course. And 4 times 5 equals 12.
Wake up everybody. Vanderbilt is 1 basket away from a 9-game winning streak.
by DoubleDore on Jan 23, 2012 11:32 PM EST via mobile reply actions
This
Is exactly what I thought. My heart beat like hell during the last 6 minutes of that game as I watched us secure a comeback then almost win at the last second with well drawn-up and executed plays that didn’t quite fall.
But I was happy. The team that shot out of its mind beat us, but I don’t think they could do it again like that. The game was a toss-up, and both teams played incredibly well. I normally would want to break things, but this time I just had a beer and started talking with my friends (who were outside on the porch). Life was fine.
DC and Vandy Sports - A Lesson in Letdowns
I am very bullish on our team
I think we will challenge Kentucky. But this is a weekly power rating and we lost last week at home to MSt.
Three of our five losses have come in OT. Two of those OT losses came without Festus. The other two came to Cleveland State and Indiana State, teams that I think all experts would agree most likely wouldn’t have beaten us if we’d had a healthy Festus for both games.
This was the first game where we well and truly got beat. And I think you could still point to Festus being less than 100% as a factor in that. At the same time, State got VERY hot from outside, with Jalen Steele and his 37% 3FG% hitting 7 of 8 from outside to start the second half. Sometimes teams get hot and bury you. Ask Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina, etc.
This was honestly the first loss that should be pinned on this team, when looking at it at full strength (even though Festus still isn’t full strength).
Kentucky has to be at #1. The next tier of teams is Florida, Vanderbilt, and Mississippi State (you could probably throw Bama in there). Florida at number two because they didn’t lose last week. State over Vanderbilt, since they just beat us on the road.
I wanted to put Vandy on the UK tier. But we lost to a team that got hot. It will happen to Kentucky at some point, too. The goal now has to be to make sure that we don’t give Kentucky any more room and let them get clipped.
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by KingJamesIV on Jan 24, 2012 10:03 AM EST up reply actions
Good perspective.
As Jason Fukuda pointed out, MSU is a very talented team – at least as talented as Vandy if not more. There is no shame to losing to them by 1 point in OT. Almost all of those three’s they rattled off were contested, they just couldn’t miss in the 2nd Half.
I thought the difference in this game was going to be which MSU showed up. They’ve been talented for a while now but rarely seem to put it together. They did on Saturday (in the 2nd half), and we still had 2 or 3 chances to win.
I think what you see from Brennon and others is a little bit of the dynamic that many of us have experienced in recent seasons – we bought in to the team only to have them disappoint us in the NCAA’s. For us, it just hurts, for sportswriters, it can kind of make them look foolish (either in their own opinion or in the opinion of readers).
Andy Katz had a nice piece that came out before the MSU game about how Vandy really is a different team now. I didn’t really see anything to disprove that on Saturday. But it does sort of follow the narrative of Vandy making sports journalists look foolish for “picking” them. Let’s hope this year is the year we put that behind us and deliver on our potential on the big stage.
by Pope Vanderbilt on Jan 24, 2012 11:19 AM EST up reply actions
Thanks
for the excellent reality check. Great post.
Let's just drum UT tonight
I don’t need any more heart attacks. Seriously, I don’t know how much longer I can go to these games before I actually stroke out.
Be prepared.
It will likely NOT be a blowout – the way that UT plays it will more likely be a slog-fest, a very ugly game that is slow, deliberate and features very little offense. UT will get back on defense and defend their defensive glass, not particularly worrying about breakouts, being satisfied with keeping the game slow and close. UT has three conference losses and a win over UF – their losses were all very low scoring and close games – I don’t see any reason to believe this game will be any different.
In other words, consider this a fair warning that it is very unlikely to be pretty even in a win – they will force tempo and we will not do a lot to force it the other way. Unfortunately, there will be a lot of people who will ignore this warning, and only be content with a 20 point win that grows in a completely linear fashion, and will complain if it doesn’t work out this way. I think we should be more than satisfied with a conference win, regardless of how it comes about.
by Jason Fukuda on Jan 24, 2012 9:49 AM EST up reply actions
I'm satisfied with a W
I’d just like to be up 6 or 7 when we get down to the last 2 minutes and ensure we make our free throws to hold on. I’m fine with a 61-56 ending as long as we play solid ball for 40 minutes.
by VandyGold28 on Jan 24, 2012 11:34 AM EST up reply actions
Any win you can walk away from is a good win.
Especially over the Penitentiary. (Of course, with Pearl and Kiffy both gone, I may have to drop the appellation until they actually get someone arrested again…)
"Well, if that ain't a show, I'll kiss your ass." - Gov. Jim Folsom Sr. (D-AL), 1948-52
by VandyImport on Jan 24, 2012 11:59 AM EST up reply actions
Careful
We actually had someone arrested this past season (football)!
by foreverhopeful on Jan 24, 2012 12:53 PM EST up reply actions
I tried to watch the UT-UConn game.
To become a bit more familiar with UT but it was very difficult to watch because it was not a pretty game. Kind of the opposite of what was going on when Pearl took over, but Conzo was not gifted with three season of Chris Lofton, nor a senior PG is CJ Watson, so CCM should be given slack for doing the best with what he has. Not to say that they aren’t talented, because they do have talent, but it is a very different talent set than what they had in 2006.
by Jason Fukuda on Jan 24, 2012 12:31 PM EST up reply actions
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