Who Should Be The SEC Player Of The Year?
February 27th, 2009 ║ Posted By: John Pennington ║ Permalink ║ Tags: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
Kevin Brockway of The Gainesville Sun lists the five top candidates to earn SEC Player of the Year honors in his last column.
Then he lays out the case for and the case against each one.
You can read his views on each player, right here… but below, I’ll tell you how I would rank the players he’s mentioned:
1. Jodie Meeks, Kentucky — These awards are usually all about numbers and Meeks has put up the best numbers. It’s hard to forget the 45 he hung on Arkansas or the 54 he dropped on Tennessee.
2. Marcus Thornton, LSU — Thornton is the best player on the best team in the conference, but I give such credit to Tasmin Mitchell, that it hurts Thornton’s candidacy. If you could pair those two players into a co-Player of the Year situation, then I’d hand them the trophy, not Meeks.
3. Devan Downey, South Carolina — Again, this has something to do with where the Gamecocks are sitting in the latest standings. Downey is the playmaker for the team. While their inside play has been very good, take Downey off the Carolina team and they would be nowhere near first place.
4. Nick Calathes, Florida — Calathes has had a terrific year from a numbers standpoint, but he can’t seem to get the Gators over the hump in pressure situations. For a point guard, you have to take points off for that.
5. Tyler Smith, Tennessee — Smith is a good player, but Tennessee’s team hasn’t lived up to expectations. That hurts Smith. Bruce Pearl has also said that his young team hasn’t gotten the veteran leadership he would like. Smith is the only fourth-year player on the floor for the Vols.
