SEC hoop notes

Georgia coach Mark Fox appears to know his team has an uphill battle – it was a consensus pick to finish last in the SEC among the 25 voters in the AP preseason poll.

But Fox also knows he can’t let his players think they have no hope.

“If I go into that locker room and say, ‘OK guys we’re gonna get second tonight,’ they’re not gonna give us a silver medal. It’s not track and field,” Fox said. “Our kids have to expect to win when they go on the floor. And we have to devise a way to play that gives ourselves a chance to win. … Because change has to start on the inside with this program.

“The culture of that locker room was something I felt we needed to address on day one.”

Too much youth? Kentucky coach John Calipari said his team may start three freshmen. He didn’t name them, but clearly meant guards John Wall and Eric Bledsoe and center DeMarcus Cousins. For that reason, Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings sounded a cautionary note on the Kentucky love.

“We started three freshmen a year ago,” Stallings said. “And if he can win this league with three freshmen, it tells me two things: One, he’s as good a coach as I think he is. And two, those players are as good as advertised, because it’s a tough league to win with that many young guys in your starting lineup.”

A different approach by Grant. Last year first-year coaches Darrin Horn (South Carolina) and Trent Johnson (LSU) scheduled easier, as they put in new systems and sought to build confidence.

Alabama’s Anthony Grant has gone a slightly different way as he gets going. The Crimson Tide’s nonconference schedule includes at least four teams from BCS leagues, as well as a probable fifth in a tournament, and a road game at Toledo.

Grant felt it would be a better way to get his players used to his up-tempo, trapping system.

“We’ll have a very good gauge of where we are going into conference play with the level of competition we’ll face early,” Grant said. “It’ll be a challenge for our team to really have a sense of urgency to get our system in, to understand what we need to do.”

Somebody needs a hug. Earlier in the day, Georgia coach Mark Fox talked about how close he was with LSU coach Trent Johnson, a fellow former Nevada coach. When Johnson was asked about his relationship with Fox, he shrugged.

“I don’t have many friends in the profession. I don’t have many friends at all,” he said, as reporters laughed.

Actually, Johnson and Fox are extremely tight, it’s just that the LSU coach was a very deadpan sense of humor. Like when he was asked whether he had a wish list on facilities.

“Yeah, I’d like a multi-purpose shower for me,” he said.

Impatience is not a virtue. Bosses have a quicker trigger finger on basketball coaches, observed Johnson. And that may be the biggest change in the profression.

“When I came in as a coach, everything was five years,” Johnson said. “Back in 1999, everybody was talking about five-year plan when you got a job. Now it’s three. If you’re at the end of your second year if you’re not making progress, whoever it may be, start your rumor, we wanna get you out of here.”

Billy Gillispie, fired after two years at Kentucky, would agree. Although the two coaches fired midseason last year – Georgia’s Dennis Felton and Alabama’s Mark Gottfriend – got a lot longer than that.

Prove it on the court. LSU senior Tasmin Mitchell went from being a first-team All-SEC pick at the end of last season to not making the preseason first-team this year. The senior said he didn’t care, although in so doing he took a veiled shot at some of the hot shot freshmen, like Kentucky’s John Wall.

“Speaking from a veteran’s standpoint, all that hype stuff doesn’t mean a lot to me,” Mitchell said. “I’ve been here awhile, I’ve been here with guys who had a lot of hype coming in and really didn’t prosper. I’m not saying (Wall) won’t, but if you get caught up in who’s first-team, who’s second-team, who’s third-team …

“I’ve trained my mind. It really doesn’t matter. Anybody can win. Just because your first team doesn’t mean you’re better than that person. It might just mean your team had a better year.”

Mitchell pointed out that his teammate Marcus Thornton averaged a similar amount of points as a junior and senior, but only made first-team as a senior.

“Why was that, because our team was winning? Probably.”