UF’s Boynton Picks UT As The SEC’s Toughest Team In 2012-13

September 25th, 2012 09:38 AM║ Posted By: John Pennington ║ Permalink ║ Schools: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Missouri, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt
Tags: Bruce Pearl, Georgia, Middle Tennessee State, SEC

ESPN.com posted a quick Q&A with Florida leading scorer Kenny Boynton. During the session, the Gator guard warned folks not to underestimate Billy Donovan’s backcourt (despite the losses of Erving Walker and Brad Beal), said that he would be more vocal as a leader as a senior, and explained which players and which team will be the “toughest to go against in the SEC.”

And that’s where it got interesting:

“The toughest guy to guard, off the top of my head, is probably BJ Young at Arkansas. Actually, I better go with two guys, because Kentavious Caldwell-Pope at Georgia is a tough matchup, too. As far as a tough team, Tennessee returns just about everyone from last year, and they were coming on really strong there at the end. They’re going to be really hard to beat.”

Not Kentucky, but Tennessee?

Cuonzo Martin did a tremendous job taking spare parts who hadn’t played much under Bruce Pearl, getting them to buy into his defense-first system, and then leading them to the #2 seed in last year’s SEC Tournament. But the Vols also lost at home to Middle Tennessee State in Knoxville in the second round of the NIT.

Kentucky won the national championship.

There’s reason for optimism on Rocky Top, to be sure. And John Calipari and UK are having to rebuild… again.

Still, it’s unusual to see an SEC player pick any team as being a tougher team to beat than whoever the Wildcats put on the floor.

« Thought Of The Day – 9/25/12

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2 comments

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db20207

@John MrSEC to be fair, he hasn't seen anyone from Kentucky play yet except Kyle WIltjer. What would he even base his assessment on?

John at MrSEC moderator

@db20207 @John

No one ever sees what Kentucky will have... yet they're ranked in the Top 5 to start every season. That's what he could base it on.

But it wasn't a knock on Boynton and it shouldn't have been taken as one. Just pointing out that it's unusual for anyone in the SEC to not blurt out "Kentucky" when asked which team might be the toughest in the league to beat.

Thanks for reading,John

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