South Carolina Basketball: 5 players Gamecocks don't want to see in SEC Tournament
By Kevin Miller
5 Players South Carolina Basketball Wants to Avoid in Nashville
Tennessee Volunteers Wing Dalton Knecht
In case you haven't heard, Dalton Knecht is really good at basketball. The former junior college walk-on has turned into a star in the Southeastern Conference and has a really good chance of being the league's Player of the Year. He has been good all year, and Carolina fans hope their favorite team misses the do-it-all scorer and the Vols in the middle of March.
Knecht can really shoot the ball (shooting over 41% from behind the 3-point line), but his length and athleticism have allowed him to become a dynamic scorer at all three levels.
The Gamecocks played about as good of defense as anyone could hope against Knecht when the two teams faced off in January (a Gamecock win), but a late-game surge helped him reach the 30-point threshold anyway.
Knecht is the type of player who can score against good defense, especially if the team doesn't have long defenders to throw at him. The Gamecocks have several defenders who could try to slow down Knecht (Zach Davis, Ta'Lon Cooper, Collin Murray-Boyles, and Myles Stute), but Cooper is needed on the perimeter, CMB is needed in the post, and Stute is injured right now without a known timetable. With only Davis left to guard Knecht, the Gamecocks might not have enough to hamper the Colorado native if they match up again in the SEC Tournament.
The Gamecocks will have a chance to test out that idea as Lamont Paris and Rick Barnes have one more regular season meeting before the SEC Tourney, USC and UT will face off next week with a 7:00 PM EST Wednesday contest at Colonial Life Arena.