SEC Centers

[MaxCohen216 514]

I'm a big fan of the center position, and like to see great centers play.  In the SEC, there are three great NCAA centers: KY's Oscar, AU's Kessler, and FL's Castleton.  I watch each play whenever they're on TV.

How would you rank the three against each other?

My take:

1. Oscar

2. Kessler

3. Castleton

This may seem odd, since Kessler outplayed Oscar in their only matchup, and Castleton outplayed Kessler in their most recent match up.  But I think, at the moment, the order is correct.

Kessler scored a lot of points against KY and Oscar, because KY's defensive plan was to have Oscar switch off Kessler on defense to help out on the perimeter.  That obviously didn't work out well for KY, because it gave Kessler a lot of wide open lob dunks.  KY will not repeat that mistake if we play them again.

And although Kessler is more talented than Castleton, the latter convincingly outplayed the former in their most recent match up.  Castleton dominated.  But he's a senior who has greatly benefited from four years of strength training.  He has two years more NCAA experience and body building than Kessler.  Kessler will be a much better pro than Castleton, but Oscar will be a better pro than Kessler, I think.

What do you think?

[creed 1,635]

Great is a very strong word. Until Kessler gets better at FTs and develops a mid-range  and hook shot I would say he is only good offensively. However, he is really good on defense. 

[MaxCohen216 514]

On 3/1/2022 at 9:16 PM, creed said:

Great is a very strong word. Until Kessler gets better at FTs and develops a mid-range  and hook shot I would say he is only good offensively. However, he is really good on defense. 

Good points.  Kessler is much better at making wide open dunks than contested shots with his back to the rim.