Fox and a new deal, another NERD beating, goodbye for now

I will start my last blog until almost mid April by saying, thanks again to those that come here and I hope you enjoy the blog. I started doing this at the first of this year. I really enjoy it-it is almost like a diary in a sense because I wouldn't care if anyone visited as I enjoy writing my opinions. Unlike a diary though, I HOPE folks do come to visit and read what I have to say, for what little it is worth!

First up a good article in my favorite Dog paper, the Athens Banner Herald, about Coach Fox and contract negotiations. I like the fact that a conversation has already taken place, I like McGarity being proactive, I like the fact our AD keeps a very positive working relationship with our coaches. There have been rumors of a couple programs, NCST and possibly Missouri being interested in Mark Fox-and you know as he continues to build the program in Athens, more schools will come calling. What is encouraging to me, again, is we have McGarity as our AD. You simply can't overlook his experience at the most successful athletic program in our conference-yes, I don't care one bit for the University of Florida but they simply are the model sports program in our conference. The fact that a Georgia man could spend 18 years working there, well, hard for me to stomach but needless to say, he gained a tremendous amount of experience in building up that program to where it stands today. Part of that experience is working deals for head coaches, part of that is also hiring coaches. I put the hiring part in there simply because in college athletics, is always something you have to be mindful of. Greg McGarity was there for the Billy D hiring, was there when Billy left for what a day to take the Orlando Magic job only to come back. He was there for the Zook disaster but also there for the hiring of the best coach in Florida history, Urban Meyer. Yes, I think Spurrier would rank up there as maybe the best but the fact remains, Urban has two national titles to one for the evil one. Point being, the guy knows what he is doing, he is working in his hometown and for the school he loves. I feel VERY confident in his abilities to lead our athletic department. So, back to Coach Fox, no doubt we need to lock him up for years to come and show him we are committed to him and we want him to be committed to us. Now, I have no idea what kind of raise he will get but he deservse one for sure. The new UT coach is making the same as Coach Fox, the Auburn coach is making MORE than Coach Fox. Here is the article from the Athens paper.

http://dogbytesonline.com/georgia-and-fox-working-on-contract-changes-44022/


Ok, speaking of the hoops program, last night was the McDonalds all american game in Chicago. I watched a little of it but it was much like an NBA all star game, just basically street ball, very little defense, very little set offenses, just get the ball and go-heck, if you didn't start with the ball in your hands, you didn't stand much of a chance to take a shot, unless you grabbed a rebound and shot it. Our recruit Kentavious Caldwell-Pope played but I think only scored 6 points in about 15 minutes. I didn't see him do much but from what I have read both from the game and from the practice reports, he is the real deal. Let's hope so because if Thompkins and Leslie leave, we will need some offensive firepower next year for certain.

One note about football recruiting, a lot is being made of UF coming up to our state and plucking top talent away from us. While it is true UF does have 3 early pledges from kids that had UGA offers, I don't think these kids were must have kids for UGA. Also, remember, we have a commitment from perhaps the best K in the nation who happens to be from Florida and both UF and FSU wanted him. We also stand a great shot at getting the younger Theus brother, likely a 5 star OT from Jacksonville, Fla. So, not like we are not taking talent from Florida. I am a bit surprised that UF is coming so strong in Ga, even with former UGA player being their HC-yes, he has connections in our state for sure but the state of Florida is so loaded, they have to be real careful taking too many Georgia kids and passing on Florida kids that are just as good. You never want to alienate your home school players/coaches. Also, we all have to remember, our numbers will be down this year, we signed 26 this year, we likely will have between 15-18 for the class of 2012 and we already have 5-if you count our two JUCO guys that are supposed to be coming back-Jalen Fields and Lonnie Outlaw. So, we have to be really picky on who we offer because again, unlike other schools that throw out offers like they are candy, we only offer kids that we are prepared to take. Class of 2012 will be a great class, I have no doubt and especially great if our season pans out like we all hope it does.

Final note before I go, it NEVER gets old beating the Nerds, regardless of the sport. Yes, our baseball  team let us down losing to them recently but we swept them in the two big sports, and now our softball team SMOKED them yesterday-and keep in mind, GT has a good softball program as well. To read about the game, click below. Good luck to the UGA baseball team this weekend against Miss State.

http://dogbytesonline.com/goler-dogs-smash-tech-44044/

All for now, I hope you all have a great weekend, hopefull the weather will start to warm up and the rain will go away. Rain this time of year does serve a useful purpose, pollen is AWFUL so the rain at least for a brief moment washes it away. I am off for spring break, going on a cruise and happy to be getting away. I will post again around the 10th or 11th of April. Thanks again for reading.

Another mid week loss for the Diamond Dogs, spring practice notes

Another game, another blown lead via the Bulldog bullpen. I think we have discovered a couple of really good starters for the weekend SEC series, Alex Wood, Michael Palazzone, even Craig Gullickson is starting to pitch better as well. Midweek starter Chase Hawkins is also pitching pretty good-the bullpen is struggling. So is the defense but honestly, last night we had a pitcher walk 4 straight hitters, that sounds like little league baseball to me-even if your defense is shaky, you have to give them a chance to make a play. Last night Clemson took what was a 4-2 UGA lead going into the bottom of the 6th, and turned it into a 7 run inning and pulled ahead 9-4. Final score was 11-5. You can read more about the game in this article from the Athens paper. Next up is a weekend series with the Imposter Dogs as I call them, Miss State. They are 18-6 and 4-2 in SEC play. We need to win that series, plan and simple.

http://dogbytesonline.com/bullpen-issues-again-plague-bulldogs-44019/


Spring practice continued yesterday and the main news was that Washaun Ealey sat out of practice due to a slight hamstring injury, called "nothing serious" by RB coach Bryan McClendon. The assistant coaches were made available to the media yesterday after practice, I will put some articles below to read about how spring is going so far NOTE-I typically will use articles from the Athens paper because I think they do a much better job covering UGA sports than the pathetic paper in the ATL, just my opinion. Sometimes I will link articles from the AJC if I think they are worthy. Remember, G-Day is scheduled for April 16th at 1pm and
will be on CSS.

http://dogbytesonline.com/uga-football-notebook-friend-offensive-line-slots-far-from-settled-44017/

Here is a good article about Arthur Lynch, kind of the forgotten TE on the team. You have Orson Charles, one of the best in the nation in my opinion, you have Aaron White, a senior that has played a lot of football for us the last few seasons, Bruce Figgins is getting a lot of pub because of his move to FB, and then of course our top ranked recruit coming in, Jay Rome. Lynch spent last year as a redshirt and is now up to 270lbs at 6'5"-WOW. I think he can contribute this year but his year to shine likely is next year.

http://dogbytesonline.com/larger-lynch-seeks-bigger-role-for-dogs-in-fall-44015/


One final note, the team that destroyed the Lady Dogs a couple days ago, Texas A&M beat #1 seed Baylor last night to advance to the final four.They never trailed in the game and Baylor had beat them 3 times during the regular season. So, at least the team that embarrassed us beat the #1 seed in our bracket and now will face Stanford with the chance to likely meet UConn for the national title. I know many don't care about women's basketball or womens sports but hey, UGA womens sports have been more successful recently than our mens teams. Our softball team last weekend beat the #2 ranked Gators-swept the series matter of fact, gym Dogs will be competing soon for another national title, hoops team made the sweet 16 and the tennis team is always in contention for a national title. Bottom line, our womens programs are at the level we all hope the mens programs will get to with McGarity in charge. We might not win the title each and every year but we are at least in contention for it, compete for SEC titles year in and year out.

Baseball at Clemson tonight, Nerds and Vowels hire hoop coaches

The diamond Dogs are back in action this evening, traveling up the road to Clemson. Coming off a series win over the LSU Tigers, the Dogs now face another group of Tigers-Clemson has a season record of 13-9, so they are obviously not the powerhouse Clemson team this year-at least so far. Clemson IS a great baseball school and they lost the WS title to their state rival last year-OUCH. I can't imagine losing the CWS to GT, that would be HORRIBLE. Still, it would be nice to win this game and continue to build some momentum for the Miss State weekend series.

Two of our rivals hired new coaches recently, Tech going with Brian Gregory formely of Dayton University while UT goes with Cuonzo Martin formely of Missouri State. My opinion, well, it means very little but here goes. First of all, Gregory, I think he is a pretty decent coach but I honestly don't see much if any upgrade over Hewitt because even if the guy is a slightly better floor coach, I am not convinced he will be able to recruit very well-let's face it, the knock on Mark Fox was that he was not well known coming from Nevada and it takes time for coaches to build relationships with the AAU guys that basically control recruiting ATL kids. I think Fox now has a lot more street cred, and hopefully that pays off for the 2012 class. For Gregory, he is a mid major coach at a school that loves hoops and I also must say, the Atlantic10 is not a bad basketball conference-we were 0-2 against teams from the A10 this year, Temple and Xavier. That being said, it is NOT as good top to bottom as the confernce he enters and he does not inherit a ton of talent-especially if Shumpert leaves early-he is going to test the NBA waters but not hire an agent yet. I am just not sure Gregory can recruit enough talent to win at GT even if his coaching is better than Hewitt. If you listen to Dayton fans, they were THRILLED for him to be leaving, saying he was not a great coach. Also, his starting point guard is leaving-well was leaving because as the kid said, he didn't think Gregory was developing him as a player. If you look at the guys conference record and oveall record, really not that impressive except for a couple of seasons-one being his first when he made the NCAA and had a 12-4 conference mark. Considering the financial handicap Tech had with the Hewitt contract, this is probably the best guy they could get but certainly I am not overly impressed by this guy and I think this move helps UGA in recruiting the state. I have also heard that Gregory at times had some issues with the academic side at Dayton-ie, players getting into school or staying eligible-just something I heard on the radio this morning. If that is the case, he better really watch out at the institute-you know, the place where it is such a recruiting disadvantage if you listen to Tech officials, alum, fans. Seems they had no problem getting Kenny Anderson, Stephon Marbury, Joe Hamilton and Reggie Ball in school over there-hmmm, interesting.

As for the UT hire, I think Martin is a good choice considering the NCAA cloud over that program. He has not lead his school to an NCAA berth but from all I have heard/read about him, he seems to be a good up and coming coach and I feel like he WILL recruit well. He does NOT have ties to the SE that I am aware so again, this is good for UGA. I do think he will be able to relate to the black kids in the SE, most kids around probably have heard of Big Dog, Glen Robinson whom Martin played with at Purdue-we beat that team btw in Tubby's first year in Athens, in the second round of the NCAA tourney. I hate to bring race into it but I do think that Martin quite possibly could have been a better fit at Tech than at UT. Regardless, Martin is not a bad hire for UT considering what could or could not happen-certainly a great move for Martin as well. The very good recruit from Ga, that had signed with UT, Kevin Ware is still asking for his release even though he might still play for UT. He just wants a chance to think about his options again as Pearl was a big reason he was going to UT. He has mentioned UGA but not sure if we have a spot, I would take him if we could-but then again, UT might not be like we were when Fox came in-granted a full release which means you are free to go to whatever school you choose. A lot of times, a school will grant the release but with restrictions. Martin may end up being a good coach but I have a hard time believing he will be nearly as good as Bruce Pearl.

Bottom line, both hires decent but in my honest opinion, neither any better than the previous coach, in the case of UT, worse than the previous coach. For GT, I call it a wash because I do suspect Gregory might be a better floor coach but in no way do I think he comes close to being as good a recruiter as Hewitt for star quality at least.

Speaking of recruiting, one last bit of infomation, UGA picked up another commitment for the class of 2012 in football when Ty Smith, TE from Colquitt County said he would sign with UGA. He was the top TE on our board from what I have gathered, he is 6'3" 225 and can play a role much like Orson Charles, line up next to the OT or split out. There is one thing we can all agree on, UGA appears to be set up nicely to continue our run as Tight End U. With Charles, White, Figgins, Lynch, Rome all on board, this kid now a verbal, we are set for a long time at that position. Course after this season, we will likely be down to 3-Lynch, Rome and Smith. White and Figgins are both SR's, I fully expect Charles to have a HUGE year and leave for the NFL.

Baseball series win, Lady Dogs....., spring practice notes, Final 4 set

I want to start the blog today by saying congrats to the baseball team for a series win over 9th ranked LSU. The Bama game at Coolray doesn't count as a conference game so now the Diamond Dogs sit at 3-3 in conference play, 11-13 overall. The team started off the weekend with a loss on Friday night, but then rebounded yesterday to sweep a DH. Granted, LSU has struggled lately but they are a quality opponent and let's not kid ourselves, this team has not played well at home thus far during the season, losing two series to Baylor and FSU, along with getting pounded by GT.  You can read more about the series below.

http://dogbytesonline.com/bulldogs-dominate-twinbill-to-win-series-43977/

Next up is a game at Clemson tomorrow night. The next SEC series is at home against Miss State, followed by a series in Oxford against Ole Miss. IF the team can step up and win those two series, this team can turn things around. And, to be quite honest, the starting pitching continues to get better and better, if the bats can heat up and start producing, also if the defense can avoid the extra outs, I truly do have hope that this team can make the SEC tourney later this season. Make that tourney and your odds of making the NCAA are much greater as our conference is known for getting a lot of teams in the tourney-usually of the 8 teams that play in Hoover, 6-8 get in the tourney. The SEC is always well represented in the NCAA tourney and the College World Series. Let's just hope the team can continue to improve and if so, the early TOUGH schedule I think will be a big part of it and those losses will not be looked at in a negative light-much like the RPI in baseketball if you want to look at it that way.


The Lady Dogs got HAMMERED in Dallas yesterday, by Texas A&M. Good season for Coach Landers and his players but a VERY ugly performance yesterday. Still, the future looks good for a team that only loses one player, although she is a good in Porsha Phillips. I still think we have a long way to go to get to elite level in ladies college basketball but we are not that far off-a couple of elite players would push us over the top.

Ok, so if you read this blog you MIGHT have seen me blog before about kids I think might be leaving the program which would free up space for more recruits, one name I have always mentioned is Jeremy Longo. I have NOTHING against this kid at all, so please don't read that into my comments, but certainly when a young kid has been in your program for 3-4 years and not contributed anything, you begin to wonder what the story is and he becomes someone you speculate could leave-add to that a kid from out of state, and that is what I usually look at when I try to predict some "attrition". In the case of Longo, he has knee injuries that basically shut him down. Best wishes to this kid.

http://dawg-extra.blogspot.com/2011/03/defensive-personnel-note.html


Also reading that Tavarres King has moved to flanker, the spot AJ Green played so well during his career in Athens. Essentially it means TKing is the #1 receiver and will be expected to step up and be the big play guy this year. I think he is up to it, he played well last year, he runs great routes, he is very fast, he catches the football and he is also a good blocker. Marlon Brown will most likely start at split end and I think he will also step up. As great as AJ was, sometimes the guys behind you just need a chance to get the ball, AJ was so good, it was easy for other guys to just be lost in the shadows. I think we are going to be fine at the WR position without AJ, and of course I have a lot of high hopes for our TE position, and also think our new OL, those guys are mamoth and I believe will do great things-Sturdivant, Gates, Jones, Anderson, Glenn-that is a great group there folks. You get a good running game going, with a very accurate and mobil QB, WR's that can make plays and great weapons at the TE, you have the makings a very diverse and polished offense-IF Bobo will utilize his weapons that is. Now, the D, to me is still a work in progress but you have to think year 2 in this system, should be improved. We have a lot of guys returning on the D, including a couple guys on the DL, 3 guys in the secondary, a couple really talented LB's waiting to step up for us. If Grantham can put the right pieces on the field and we can do a better job on 3rd down defense, I have high hopes. 3rd down defense is just such a big problem for us the last few years, 3rd and long especially has really killed us. We must improve on that and that helps our offense/field position and keeps the defense more rested as well.

Well, I predicted one of the final 4, in predicting UConn. I am very surprised at Kentucky, beating #1 and then #2, teams that had more depth certainly and experience, great job by those guys-course the one senior for the Cats, Josh Harrelson has been HUGE in the tourney-he has played above and beyond anything I or anyone could have expected. I really thought UF would beat Butler but those guys just find a way to win close games. VCU, well, what a story there winning the extra game, they really beat up Kansas. So, with Butler playing VCU, one of the cindrellas will be making the title game, against one of the big boys in college hoops. I think Butler will beat VCU personally, and also like Kentucky to beat UConn-just because I think Kentucky is playing so well and I like them to stop Walker enough to win-hey, you don't beat #1 and #2 seeds.

Another #1 seed is OUT, Big baseball series this weekend, Lady Dawgs on Sunday

Wow, I went to bed with Duke up by 6 at the half, was stunned to hear Arizona beat them last night-and beat them badly at that. I can't say I am disappointed, I do NOT like repeat champs and even though I am United Methodist Church member, I just don't care for Duke that much. I think it has more to do with Coach K than the school itself, I just don't care for that man. In the other games, UF had to go to OT to beat Jimmer and BYU, while UConn handled San Diego State and Butler outscored Wisconsin. For those of you scoring at home, I was 3-1 with my predictions yesterday. So, on Saturday you will have UF vs. Butler, and UConn vs. Arizona. Since I don't typically blog on weekends, I will go ahead and make my picks. I think UConn beats Zona and I think UF beats Butler although I have to admit, I would not be shocked at all if Zona and Butler both win-just more a gut pick than anything.

As for tonight, some very interesting matchups. First up is UNC-Marquette, Kansas-Richmond, the second games will be Ohio State-Kentucky and VCU-FSU. I think the first games of the night are pretty easy to predict. UNC should be able to handle Marquette, Kansas also should be able to take care of the Spiders. In the second games, I believe Ohio State will beat Kentucky just becasue of depth primarily. Simply put, Ohio State has every bit as good of starting five as UK, and they have a LOT more quality depth-not to mention a lot more experience. I just think that is too much for Kentucky to overcome even as well as they have played down the stretch. I believe FSU will easily handly VCU, just think FSU has way too many athletes for VCU to handle. So, if you go by my predictions tonight, on Sunday you have Ohio State-UNC, and Kansas-FSU. I think both games should be very entertaining but I can't see either of those #1 seeds going down. I think Ohio State has too much depth and talent for a very talented UNC team but one that I don't think is quite there yet, FSU will present KU a test because of the great D they play, they have enough size to cause some problems for the Jayhawks but I don't think FSU is consistent enough offensively to advance-not to mention they tend to have a lot of turnovers. Now, what might help UNC especially is that I think Ohio State is going to have to work HARD to eventually knock off the Wildcats but I still see the Buckeyes getting the job done.

There you have it, the Haney predicted final four is set, lets see how good/bad I do after this weekend. I see it this way, East-Ohio State, West-UConn, Southeast-Florida, Southwest-Kansas. You would have one Big10, one Big East, one SEC and one Big12. That would be very interesting and for all those that continue to say the ACC is still an elite conference, this would not help your case. Yes, I do think ACC basketball is a quality product BUT, they are no longer as dominant as they like to think of themselves. Now, if UNC and FSU crash the final 4, ACC folks will be going crazy-look, the ACC only got 4 teams in and 2 made the final 4. That is what they were saying when 3 of the 4 made the sweet 16. I will not say the ACC is an average conference because I don't think they are but I do think they are VERY top heavy.

Spring practice continues on, no real news out of camp that I have read, except Ealey is on the punt block team and is pretty good at it according to Richt. The starting OL for now appears to be Sturdivant, Gates, Jones, Anderson and Glenn-that is a LOT of beef up front. One interesting note from Richt, he has noticed a lot of the returning players intensity level is way up, they sense that spring is the last chance to show coaches what they got before the dream team shows up. Competition is always a good thing and I think that is what these new kids will bring, a lot of competition for starting spots. Speaking of that, I read an article about Richard Samuel, how the Ogletree move really impacts him. His attitude is outstanding, I would expect nothing less out of Richard. He realizes that again, he has more competition to see snaps but thinks there will be plenty of snaps for everyone at the ILB position. I am excited to see what this kid can do at LB-he is already up to 243. Another article about Michael "white lightning" Bennett, the redshirt WR. Seems he is being compared to Kris Durham already. If he can do what Kris did, I will be happy-run good routes, catch the ball, get some yards after catch. Last year, Durham was simply outstanding at taking some VERY hard hits but hanging on to the ball. He also ran great routes and had some very good speed, I think I read he ran a 4.36 40yard dash at pro day-course he has such a long stride, that really doesn't suprise me. Also good to hear some praise for Kwame Geathers at the nose. Everyone expects John Jenkins come in and start immediately at NG, and I think he will myself. But, we have to have quality depth and if Geathers can help us out there, that would be outstanding. The key to great teams, your backup player is able to come in and you don't miss a beat.

Baseball team hosts LSU for a weekend series, at 9-12 and 1-2 in the SEC, it sure would be nice to win this series. I believe the Bama game at Gwinnett does not count towards our SEC conference record. LSU comes in with a 16-5 record, 0-3 in conference play after being swept at home last weekend by the Florida Gators. LSU comes in having lost 4 in row, besides the sweep by the Gators, LSU lost on Tuesday to La-Lafayette. Of course UGA lost on Tuesday to GT. The weather is could be a factor this weekend, rain is expected most of Saturday and Sunday so I am not sure if they will actually get all 3 games in. Tonight should not be a problem.

Finally, Andy Landers and the Lady Dogs will be action this Sunday, against the #2 seed Texas A&M in Dallas, Texas. A&M will have the home crowd for sure but I think UGA has a legit shot to make the elite 8 where they will face Baylor more than likely for a shot to make the final 4. Game will start at 4:30.

Hope everyone that reads this blog will continue to stop by. I try to update most every day, M-F. I will be away starting a week from today and will not post again likely until April 11th or 12th. I will likely post M-TH of next week. As always, please post any comments you might have in the comments section. This blog is just my opinions of course but I do try to post some articles that maybe some here don't want to take the time to search out. I just like to write about my favorite hobby, besides watching my kids, that being UGA athletics. Have a great weekend and stay dry if you are in the Ga/Southeast area.

Sweet 16 gets started tonight

The sweet 16 gets underway tonight, thankfully for me, all games are at night so I will be able to give 100% to work today and tomorrow. Unfortunately for me, the second games start at nearly 10p, and for a guy that has to get up at before 6a every morning, it is TOUGH to stay up and watch. Tonight, first games you have San Diego State against UConn and Florida against BYU. I predict the two east coast teams win. UConn because they just have more overall talent and have Kimba Walker-same type dominant scorer as Jimmer-BYU is the only team to beat SDSU this year (twice). As for BYU and Jimmer agains the Gators, again, UF just has too much and remember, BYU put UF out of the tourney last year in double OT. I think the huge size advantage inside for the Gators will be too much for the Cougars. The late games, Duke against Arizona and Butler against Wisconsin. I favor Duke, even though they struggled at times against Michigan, I think they are going to take down the Wildcats, who really was fortunate to beat Texas to make the sweet 16. In the other game, I lilke Butler-they just again seem to be a team that finds a way to win close games. Then again, Wisconsin really has been impressive so far, so I could see them winning but I will stick with Butler-they are the Bulldogs after all.

Seth Emerson wrote a good article about Bruce Figgins and his move to FB. I have been a big fan of this move because Bruce has already demonstrated he can handle two of the three job duties of the position-blocking and catching passes. Granted, his blocking is going to be different when he is pass protecting because he will have to pick out who is blitzing etc but to me the only thing I wonder about is Bruce taking a handoff. But, Shaun Chappas, a true FB for us last year, only had 15 carries all season. So, probably not goign to be giving big Bruce too many rushing attempts. You still need to have that as an option though and as big as he is, seems he could pick up the short yardage. Here is the Emerson article-

http://www.macon.com/2011/03/23/1498883/figgins-not-waiting-for-his-number.html


I have also read recent articles about Brent Benedict and AJ Harmon, two guys that will be backup OL for us this year. Two kids that came to UGA with very high expectations. Benedict redshirted last year after suffering a bad knee injury his SR year of HS. He is now back 100% and is fighting for playing time at guard. Harmon was a highly recruited OL/DL coming out of HS. In fact, a big part of his recruitment centered on where he would play in college. He wanted to play DL but our coaches said OL, unless he brought his weight down. He got very limited PT last year, but then was suspended from the bowl game due to academic issues. He has the school work cleared up and is now backing up Sturdivant at OT. From the sounds of it, he is very relived that Coach Searels left the program, he is enjoying working with Coach Friend and feels like he has a second chance. I hope both guys can start making contributions this year, next year on the OL we certainly will have openings for 3 guys to step in so we need our reserves this year to step up, get some PT under their belts and be ready to play in starting roles next fall.


Ok, all for today, I have to admit I missed the first dancing with the stars, I hope Hines Ward did a good job. I can't keep up with what day that show comes on or what time, same for American Idol-but then again, with my family duties, primarily baseball with my son, I have little time to watch anything on TV except sports-after the kids are in bed. I will be out the first week of April (spring break), going on a cruise, looking forward to getting a few minutes to actually rest and relax-that should be nice.

Sweet 16, Nerds attack, AJ's strange workout for the NFL

Congrats to Andy Landers and the Lady Dogs, knocking off the #3 seed FSU Seminoles last night, 61-59. I admit it, I watched the first half and then had to go to bed-I was simply wiped out as these basketball late nights are catching up with me. FSU led by 6 at the half and honestly, I didn't expect the Lady Dogs to get the job done because FSU had the HUGE young lady in the middle that was nearly impossible to stop. To their credit, they held FSU without a FG in the last 10 minutes, make the SWEET 16 for the second year in a row. They will take on #2 seed Texas A&M in Dallas Sunday night. The winner likely gets Baylor. Landers has a done a great job this year working with a young team, only one senior on the roster in Porshia Phillips. As I have mentioned before though, women's college basketball is truly controlled by 3-4 teams and that is it. You have UConn, UT, Baylor and Stanford. I fully expect one of those four to win the title. I guess one thing you can say, Baylor just crashed the party so there is a chance that UGA can get back up there again-we were once in the top 4 years ago but the first step is getting the best players in our state to stay here-UConn got Maya Moore from Collins Hill, UT has got a couple of the top players in the state heading there soon from Buford-bottom line is UGA should be getting these top prospects and if we could, we would be a #1 or #2 seed instead of a #6. I know I wear red and black tinted glasses but I continue to be amazed at how some of the top GA players in all sports seem to give very little consideration to playing college ball in Athens. If we were not a good program, didn't have great facilities, didn't have a beautiful campus and a lot of quality educational programs in place, maybe I could understand wanting to leave but the fact is, UGA is a VERY good university for academics and athletics. I guess some kids just want to get away and certainly with the metro area being full of transplants, their is not as much allegiance to stay in state. This is what made the dream team such a great success, our coaches really played up the stay home, stay together, let's help build something big for the state of Ga. A great concept and it paid off for the class of 2011, I just would like to see all our programs really push this. This state is loaded with prospects in all sports and it is a real shame we can't be up there competing for titles in most sports on a yearly basis. Instead, we seem to currently be stuck in a rut, especially with men's sports.

Speaking of stuck in a rut, the Diamond Dogs got SMOKED again by the Nerds last night, losing 15-6, an improvement over last years 25-6 but still a MAJOR embarrassment. I think Perno really is going to need to step it up this year or he will be shown the door. I respect the job he has done, the World Series appearances-the near title a few years ago was very tough but hey, at least we made it there. But last year was simply unacceptable and now we sit at 9-12 with nationally ranked LSU coming to town this weekend. I am encouraged that we are playing top teams tough games, minus last night of course, but there is simply no excuse for this team to miss the SEC and NCAA tourneys two years in a row. I hope Perno can get the ship turned around but if not, he could be looking for work elsewhere next year.

As for pro day, AJ Green was pleased with his performance, even if NFL scouts had to watch him on TV. Because of a bizzare rule, the QB that AJ has been working out with, from Buford, could not throw to him because he lived outside the Athens metro area-STUPID rule. What does it matter?? Matthew Stafford attended the workout but he also couldn't throw because of the NFL lockout-not sure AJ would have wanted to catch his laser shots anyway. Course he couldn't have Aaron Murray throw to him because he is still a college player. So, the scouts went inside to watch on TV, ESPN3 feed, while AJ and his QB stayed outside and he caught passes. Meanwhile, AJ wants to attend the draft in NYC, but is waiting to see what the players union decides-how stupid is that. A kid dreams of going to the draft, hearing his named called, shaking hands with the commissioner, holding up the team jersey and putting on the cap, then talking to ESPN. It sure seems a shame for the players union to tell these kids, hey, we all did it but you can't. Of course you can also say, when the rookie salary cap is negotiated, the players like Stafford can tell AJ, sorry dude I was able to get a 40 mil signing bonus but because you are a couple years younger than me, you are not going to able to get that. Stinks for you but I support the rookie cap-I want to hear these guys make those statements because that speaks of being a hypocrite if you say that. It was ok for me but I support you NOT getting the big bucks. The bottom line, NONE of these kids should be getting the big bucks until they have proven their worth in the NFL. You can still give the higher picks more money but there is no sense in giving a rookie 40-50 million just to sign their name, before they have ever taken a snap while guys that have been pro bowlers are not making that kind of money. What a flawed system and hopefully it gets worked but I think the rookies of the past several years need to refuse any public comments about what happens. Anyway, I always wish the best for former UGA players in the draft. Obviously since I am a Falcons fan, I would love for our players to land here but I still follow them regardless of where they go.

Spring practice day 2 was yesterday, I just read that the G-day will be televised on CSS and will start at 1pm. If you have never been to a spring game, let me tell you a few things. First of all, don't expect to see much, pretty vanilla for the most part-Mettenberger put on quite a show last year but then you realize, it was against mostly 3rd string guys. That is the thing with spring games, the mix and match is constant and it is hard to follow what players are playing against 1st teamers, second teamers etc. It is a GREAT chance to take your kids to a game and not worry about a huge crowd-just relax and let them see the stadium and the enormous campus and of course Athens in the spring is just a very pretty place. I went to the game last year taking my two kids, it was HOT but I think they enjoyed seeing Sanford stadium for the first time (actually being in the stadium as I had driven by it before)-it was step one in my brainwashing plan and it seemed to work just fine-my middle school daughter already says she wants to attend UGA. Being the protective Dad I am, I tell her I would rather her NOT attend UGA just because of all the potential trouble you can get into there. She wants to be a UGA cheerleader, and of course I think she is a beautiful young lady so it would be an honor for me if that ended up happening.

Lady Dogs tonight against FSU, pro day in Athens, Wonderlic scores etc

So, the Lady Dogs basketball team tonight looks to make the sweet 16 with a game against #3 seed FSU at 9:30. If they should win, they would meet the winner between Rutgers or Texas A&M-who is the #2 seed in the regional, that game would be played in Dallas. Tonight should be a real challenge for the Lady Dogs trying to stop 6'4" Cierra Bravard from FSU. UGA is trying to reach the sweet 16 for the second straight year and has an all time 7-0 record against FSU. That of course doesn't matter for the game tonight, FSU obviously is a very good team and is 4-0 against SEC opponents this year, including wins over Auburn, Alabama, Vandy and Florida. The Lady Dogs were beat by Auburn and Vandy I know for a fact.

Today is the second day of spring football in Athens-also pro day for 14 potential pro prospects. The list of course includes AJ Green and Justin Houston but also Clint Boling, Josh and Chris Davis, Kiante Tripp, Shaun Chappas, Darryle Gamble, Akeem Dent, Vance Cuff, Demarcus Dobbs, Kris Durham, Chad Gloer and Derek Rich. Good luck to these guys, hope they impress the scouts but you have to wonder, what does the future hold for these guys trying for the NFL-even the 1st round guys like Green and Houston. They left school early to begin their careers in the NFL and now the lockout happens. I think everyone is confident that some sort of agreement will be settled by the summer, or certainly by the early fall, but these guys are really in limbo because even though they will be drafted next month, they will not be able to sign their contracts, the team that drafts them are really just drafting rights to them. They also will not participate in the spring/summer camps that all NFL teams have to get the rookies in and start learning the playbook etc. Now, I assume the top guys like AJ will get $$ from his agent to take care of him until all gets resolved but for the other guys, it has to be tough. You get the feeling that one of the issues that will certainly be resolved in this process is the rookie pay scale. This means guys like AJ, top 10 picks, are likely to make far less than guys that came out just last year. Of course I think the rookie cap is LONG overdue because you just can't justify a guy that has never taken a snap in the NFL making more money than veteran players that have been around for years.

Of course as I mentioned, spring football gets going again today now that spring break is over. For me, spring break is the first week of April, but college schedule is different than that of Gwinnett County Pubic schools. Anyhow, the guys will practice today, Thursday and again Saturday this week. Weather should be outstanding. Let' hope we don't hear about any problems that happened during spring break 2011. Spring break 2010 was NOT a good time, first Zach Mettenberger which we did find out about pretty quickly, then the AJ Green jersey which I think really kill our season last year-win a couple of those games early, you never know what kind of season you have.

Also going on today in Athens, the baseball team will host bitter rivals Georgia Tech. Hopefully the Diamond Dogs can rebound from the series loss in Columbia and smack around the bumble bees, it can't be worse than last years embarrassing loss in Athens, 25-6. Like I have said before, one thing that does have me encouraged about our baseball team this year, the pitching appears MUCH better than last year-not that it would be hard to be better but still, it gives me hope that this team has a shot. We have already likely faced one of the toughest teams we will face, on the road last weekend. We do have LSU this weekend, another talented team but there is no doubt, due to Coach Perno's early season schedule, we will not be intimidated by playing quality opponents, we have been there and done that. Tonight will be the 11th game UGA will play against ranked opponents in 21 games this season. By comparison, GT has not played a single ranked team yet. Still, GT is ranked, is 17-4 and always has a very good team-a win tonight would be very nice.

The UGA gymnastics team will host a regional in Athens April 2nd. The Gymdogs are ranked #8 in the country and will try to qualify for the national championship which this year will be in Cleveland, Ohio. Obviously the gymnastics program has been one of the most successful in the nation for years, but now that Coach Yoculan has retired, it seems the program has taken a dip. Last year was a disappointment and this year the jury is out but it does appear our program is not quite on the same level as our main SEC rival, Alabama. Now UF is up there as well, of course you also have Utah as well. Let's hope the ladies can have a great regional and the surprise us and win another national title.

Bruce Pearl, the basketball coach at Tennessee was fired yesterday-about time. The guy is just plain slimy and when you lie to the NCAA, you are just asking to be fired. Funny thing is, years ago he was involved in taping an Illinois coach illegially recruiting and now he gets canned for illegal recruiting. Funny how that worked out. You have to wonder what impact this has on current and future UT players. I have read that Tobias Harris, the very talented FR would ask for his release if Pearl is fired, also recruit from the ATL Kevin Ware supposedly has already asked for his release. At this point, who knows what direction UT will go for a replacement but you have to wonder what coach will take that job considering the NCAA cloud that hangs over Knoxville, with the Pearl and Kiffin double whammy. Speaking of those two, sure would make sense for UT to fire Mike Hamilton, the AD that made both hires, the guy that also decided to basically say Pearl would be fired two days before the NCAA tourney-what an IDIOT that guy is. From what I have heard, the firing of Pearl was a decision made by the president, and passed down to Hamilton-which means to me the president of UT is maybe sick of his AD-have to see how that plays out.

Finally, of course there has been a lot of talk about AJ Green's wonderlic score. While I guess it does have some merit for NFL to use it, I refuse to buy into the scores being anything more than just a number. I can't see how that test can tell you how hard a kid will work, how much football skill he has, what kind of teammate he will be, basically anything to do with playing ability. I compare it to SAT tests to be honest, because I feel those tests don't tell the truth on whether a kid is college material or college ready. I use myself as an example, never going to win any high intelligence awards BUT smart enough to get a college degree-why, because of my work ethic primarily. If just based on my SAT scores, I would have had to take remedial classes for an entire year of college-essentially taken a redshirt. Because I started my college career at a very small college-Truett McConnell in Cleveland, Ga, I was able to talk to my advisor in a very relaxed setting and explain, yes, my scores don't look good but please give me a shot to take regular courses. Now, if I had started in Athens, NO WAY would I have been able to get that shot. Well, I made a 3.0 my first quarter of college taking regular courses-back then we were on the quarter system (geez how old am I). I went back home for my sophomore year, going to Dekalb College-now I think called Perimeter College or something like that. I worked about 30 hours a week and went to school. I struggled some because I was taking core classes that I had no interest in-Biology, Spanish, Economics, English Lit-YUCK. But, I applied to UGA and got in. Once there, I was able to appply to the Grady Jschool and got in. When I got in my major and minor classes at UGA, I never made below a B-the reason, first of all the classes were in subjects I actually was interested in and wanted to learn-always a big plus. But also, I busted my rear end doing a lot of writing, reading, studying every night instead of going out to party. I knew I had to buckle down and knew the reason I was in Athens was to get my education. Sure, I had some fun, I wrote for the Red and Black one football season, I had a radio talk show that maybe 10 people listened to, I had friends and did go to a few parties here and there, but my main objective was school. So, I guess I have always been a little sensitive when it comes to people judging others by scores on tests. Some people don't take tests well-they panic under pressure. Some people might not read the greatest which impacts your ability to take a timed test especially. In some cases, you might not have the highest IQ as well, but again, a test does not and should not allow people to make generalizations/assumptions about you. So, you made a bad wonderlic, you must be STUPID-you will not be able to handle the NFL playbook. You made a low SAT score so you will flunk out of college. A score is just a number, it does not measure your heart, work ethic, passion or desire. Let us all quit using scores to make assumptions. Ok, off the soapbox now.

Now we know why it is called MADNESS, Ladies win, baseball notes

The tourney has lived up to the madness name this year. Wow, look at the SW bracket-#1 Kansas vs. #12 Richmond, #11 VCU against #10 FSU. In SE regional, #1 Pitt is already gone thanks to a horrible finish for the Panthers-what a way to lose a game, then over in the east, the last of 11 Big East teams to make the dance, #11 Marquette is still hanging on. Of course this would lead you to believe, Kansas really has an easy path to the Final 4 but after this weekend, I would be a little nervous if I were the Jayhawks. As this tournament started, I knew there were very few elite teams in the country, thus this is what I thought could very well happen-just wish the Dogs could have been one of the surprises. But, as you see with how well Washington played UNC, we got no favors with our #7 opponent. The Huskies were just flat out better than us-not so much more talent, but just more depth. They had so many more weapons and they extended their D so far out, it really did limit us offensively. But, that being said, we controlled the tempo just as was needed-simply put, we couldn't score enough to win the game. I was proud of how the team fought to the final second, that is something to really be proud of as you watched the way Tenn quit on Bruce Pearl for example. Our guys NEVER quit and actually had a shot to tie at the buzzer. Great games for Thompkins, Leslie, Robinson and second half by Price. Some very ticky tack fouls really got Jeremy in foul trouble for most of the game, in fact, there were several bad calls that went against us-Travis following up the shot with a slam-clearly NOT offensive inference there. Price with a nice block, got all ball but was called a foul-still, the refs didn't lose that game for us, I am convinced what lost this game as well as many others this year was just not enough quality depth. Which brings me to my next topic of discussion-next year.

I read last night we picked up another recruit for 2011, out of the blue a prep school kid in Conn gave his verbal to UGA. Here is a little bit of info about the kid, I am curious to know how you pronounce his name to be honest. Here from Seth Emerson's blog-
The Georgia men’s basketball has a need for frontcourt players next year, whether or not Trey Thompkins goes pro. Two post players signed in the fall, and another is on the way.

Nemanja Djurisic, a 6-foot-8 forward from Montenegro, has committed to the Bulldogs, according to several reports. Djurisic has been playing for the prep team in South Kent School in Connecticut. That school’s head coach, Kelvin Jefferson, told Georgia247sports.com that Djurisic has “a great skill set” and is one of the team’s top 3-point shooters.

Reading more on him, he is 6'8 235lb, has been called a phyiscal player that can score down low and also come out and shoot-a shorter version of Thompkins, without as much skill obviously but still, this kid was considering Arizona St, NCST, East Carolina, and Okie State so a pretty good haul. He joins Tim Dixon who is about 6'9" or 6'10", and 7 foot JUCO transfer John Florveus as well as 6'6" shooting guard/small forward Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

I think you have to ASSume Thompkins and Leslie are going pro. I think considering both tested it out last year but came back, the fact both had successful junior seasons-although I think BOTH could really improve by coming back, all they need is ONE team to show an interest and get that 1st round money. Thompkins in particular put on quite a show in both the SEC and NCAA tourney and Leslie was just outstanding against Bama for sure. They appeared to me to be playing to show they are NBA caliber on the national stage. I would be SHOCKED if Thompkins comes back because I feel sure he will not slip out of the first round. Leslie however, he could really stand to improve his ball handling and his perimeter game and I think should come back. Right now he is a professional athlete but not a professional basketball player-to borrow from Jimmy Dykes and I think that sums him up nicely.

So, we figure Ware and Robinson will be back, Robinson will graduate in May but I would think/hope he would come back for another season. You have Thornton, Donte' Williams, Connor Nolte back. Also, Brantley and Vincent Williams. As I mentioned, bringing in now 4 kids which adding the 4th leads me to strongly believe Fox already knows one or both are gone. We REALLY have to hope one or two of the bigs we bring in can duplicate the efforts of Price/Barnes OR Thornton/D. Williams can contribute a little more offensively. I think Caldwell-Pope will come in and score close to 15pts a game which will help offset the loss of Thompkins. So, let's look at possible lineups, without Thompkins and Leslie, then look at one with Leslie. I will not put Thompkins in at all, the only way he comes back is in the event of an NBA lockout. Any way you look at it, I forsee a 3 guard lineup most of the time.

G-Ware
G-Robinson
G-Caldwell-Pope
F-Thornton
F-D. Williams
This lineup would certainly be athletic but you might see CP (I will start calling Caldwell-Pope this) shift to F and and insert Dixon, Florveus or Djurisic . Basically the jury is out on all our bigs coming in but certainly we are going to lean on Thornton/D. Williams a lot so both better hit the weights hard in the off season.

G-Ware
G-Robinson
G-Leslie
F-Caldwell-Pope
F-Thornton
If this were to happen, wow, again very athletic and with Leslie's ability to board, it would offset some size. My only concern here would be matching up against teams with size. It might be that Robinson/Thornton or even CP would come off the bench to get one of the big guys in the starting lineups. Again, the ability of Dixon, Florveus or Djurisic to come right in and be ready to log major minutes is a big mystery at the moment but that would certainly help us a TON.

I think next year has the potential to be a slight step back which is why I am really hoping we can lock up the 2012 class during the early signing period. Not trying to be Debbie Downer here but let's face it, if Thompkins and Leslie leave, that takes away our two best players, our two best scorers, two best rebounders, we are not on the level of Kentucky where we bring in all american players at every position, every year. The good news would be, Kentucky figures to be young again-I can see 2-3 of their young kids leaving early, UF losses a TON of talent, UT has the Bruce Pearl mess going on (and could lose its best two players), Vandy should once again be solid but not elite, and South Carolina will be improved certainly but far from elite status for sure. So, our division I feel sure will be strong again but I honestly don't see it being as strong as it was this year-not close to it.

So, the mens team fell short in the NCAA tourney but Andy Landers and his Lady Dogs team beat Middle Tenn State last night to move to round 2 where they will take on #3 seed FSU in Auburn. The game will be played Tuesday night. To read more about the Lady Dogs game, read the link below.
http://dogbytesonline.com/lady-dogs-shut-down-middle-tennessee-st-to-advance-43779/

Finally, the baseball team had a tough weekend in Columbia, South Carolina. Tough only in that they had a real shot to win 2 of 3 against SCarolina on the road. I said on Friday, they had to win one of the 3 games, and couldn't get swept. They avoided that in game one winning 4-2 but of course that makes it more difficult then to lose the next two when you put yourself in a great position to win the series. They lost Saturday 2-1, SCarolina scored a run in the 8th to tie, then won it in the bottom of the ninth. On Sunday, the Gamecocks broke open a tight game to pull away to an 8-3 win, scoring 3 runs in the bottom of the 8th inning. Sure, disappointing and sure, maybe an opporutnity lost, and the schedule is tough this week with GT coming to Athens as well as LSU, but they did manage to get a W and play solid baseball. Unlike last year, the starting pitching is MUCH better it would appear, especially the #1 and #2 starters. There is reason to be optimistic to me because the downfall of this team last year was HORRIBLE pitching. Here are a couple articles about the weekend series via the Athens Banner-Herald.

http://dogbytesonline.com/bulldogs-end-long-road-trip-with-loss-43777/
http://dogbytesonline.com/gamecocks-wear-down-dogs-palazzone-in-duel-43754/
http://dogbytesonline.com/woods-dominant-pitching-continues-43702/


Another note, UGA football added a non conference opponent/cupcake for 2014, South Alabama. I didn't even know they played football down there but we will surely help fund their athletic program with a $900,000 payday for coming to Athens. Now that I think about it, I think one of our recruits from last year, that was kicked off the team, landed at South Alabama, Demetre Baker is his name. He will be playing for them likely that day, he is playing RB for them. Here is a little history about that program-The Jaguars are entering their third season in program history after going 10-0 last year. They are making a transition to the Football Bowl Subdivision level and will be eligible for the Sun Belt Conference title in 2013.
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Interesting first day of Madness

Three SEC schools were in action yesterday, one lost, one won at the buzzer basically and one got to empty the bench with a VERY lopsided win. Vandy lost to a good Richmond team and I was not overly surprised. I had heard John Jenkins was not 100% but looking at the box for that game, he led Vandy with 21 so guess he was ok afterall. What killed Vandy is they got no production from Jeffrey Taylor and nothing off the bench-also look at turnovers, while Vandy was not bad with only 7, Richmond only had TWO on the game. Wow, that is one efficient team. I have heard the Richmond coach might be on the short list at GT, he would be a good hire for them because I think he can certainly coach-would he be able to recruit, that would the question but if they can land him, I think that would be a good hire.

Kentucky played Princeton and that was a tough matchup for those kids, obviously Kentucky has a HUGE edge in talent but Princeton of course gets the edge in experience and wisdom. The three Kentucky FR, combined to score 19 points, heck, Brandon Knight only scored 2, that being the game winning points. That being said, now that UK won that first game, I fully expect them to play much better against West Virginia-but WVU looked good to me yesterday so that should be a very interesting battle.

As for the Gators, they won by 18 but it was well into the 20's when they started pulling starters. All 5 starters played less than 30 minutes, they will be a well rested team to take on UCLA-who survived a rally from Michigan State to advance. I look for UF to coast into the sweet 16-they are playing well and they are basically playing at home.

A couple upsets did take place yesterday, the biggest being Morehead State beating Louisville-those are state rivals, would be like us playing Ga. State or Southern in the NCAA-tougher for the big school to get motivated than the smaller school typically. Louisville was a team I thought could really do some damage-they have talent and a coach that knows how to win NCAA game but for the second year in a row, they are gone early. Of course already mentioned the Vandy upset, then you had Gonzaga beating up St. Johns. I think a lot folks knew that was possible, the Zags are always a tough team out, well coached and some good players on the team-although they typically have some of the grungiest looking guys you will ever see playing for them-scary looking white boys that can play some hoops. A couple other popular upset picks DID NOT happen-Belmont was a big one that many thought would take out Wisconsin, instead the Badgers CRUSHED them. Wofford was another that many thought would knock out Jimmer and BYU but that didn't happen. I actually got to watch Jimmer play for the first time, pretty decent looking player, takes a TON of shots though and I really can't see him being much of a factor on the next level-I could be wrong.

Teams that looked really impressive on day 1, UConn for sure, UF, Wisconsin and Gonzaga. Pitt eventually turned it on and got a blowout win over UNC-A, but they still to me look like the most likely #1 seed to be eliminated before say the elite 8. I really think Kansas has a nice bracket in front of them now with the two upsets, 12 and 13 playing for a trip to the sweet 16, Kansas will play a 16 seed, followed by either an 8 or 9, then play a 12 or 13-NICE. Pitt has Butler-a scary team that knows how to win, then either K-State or Wisconsin, I can see Pitt being knocked out before the elite 8 for sure. Ohio State will get either Kentucky or WVU-I think either of those schools can give them a good game but OSU should advance but they have some talented teams on the bottom of their bracket-UNC, Cuse, also I like Xavier-I think the winner of our game vs Washington is going to really give the Heels a game however. As for Duke, of course the big news is they are getting their star PG back for the tourney, I really believe they should easily advance to the sweet 16, Texas could really give them a battle IF Texas makes it that far but then sitting on the bottom of that bracket is the dangerous UConn.

Today figures to be another exciting day, besides our game which I really believe will be VERY interesting to watch-such different styles of play, which team will control the tempo and make their shots. The Tenn/Mich game will be interesting-it appears when Pearl loses, that might be his last game as coach for the Vols. I will be happy to see it, what a slime ball and also helps us recruiting. 3 #1 seeds will be action, all three should easily advance, Memphis/Zona could be interesting as could UNLV/Illinois, George Mason/Nova, and even Texas against Oakland-that could easily be an upset in the making there.


The UGA baseball team travels to Columbia for a weekend series with the Gamecocks. It would be oustanding to win 2 of 3 but being realistic, just winning 1 of the 3 would be ok. We need to avoid being swept, anything besides that would be a positive to me because this will be one of the best SEC teams we face and it is one the road which is tough. Here is a good series preview article from the Athens paper.

http://dogbytesonline.com/tough-schedule-readies-dogs-43653/

One more note, the Lady Dogs will start their NCAA journey this weekend as well, playing Middle Tennessee State at 7:30 Sunday night, over at Auburn. Win that game and they likely face 3rd seed FSU in the second round.

Ok, hope everyone has a great weekend, if you are in the SE, enjoy the beautiful weather and let's hope we can watch the Dogs play on Sunday-taking a break from the nice weather outside for a couple of hours inside.

Prewiew of the UGA-Udub game, Baseball win streak halted by Owls

Ok, so today the madness really begins. Last night a couple of first 4 four games were played, with Texas-San Antonio taking out Alabama State and VCU knocking off Southern Cal. Let's hope that is a good sign, a Pac10 team sent packing early in the tourney. Today, I think some really interesting matchups to keep an eye on in the east-WVU-Clemson, Cinci-Missouri, Temple-Penn State (state rivals you know), UCLA-Michigan State, Wisconsin-Belmont, Butler-ODU, Richmond-Vandy-possible 12-5 upset. Only one #1 seed will play today, Pitt against UNC-Asheville. Should be a fun filled day, I will have my TV on at work, hey, I always do it each year but this year, I actually probably will be encouraged to do it where I work.

To preview our game tomorrow night, first I want to post this article that some might have already read but I think it is very interesting for sure. Mark Fox began his coaching career 20 years ago at Washington, met his wife there and obviously that is sure to make this game extra special for the Fox family. I knew there would be an article about this story this week, and I think this one is a very good read from the Athens paper.

http://dogbytesonline.com/fox-has-strong-ties-fond-memories-of-time-spent-at-washington-43587/


Also, on the Dawgpost recently, there has been a poster that has constantly been trying to stir the pot about Mark Fox-basically saying the guy was desperate to get out of Nevada, the fans, alumni and players were revolting against him and players were wanting out because they couldn't stand Coach Fox. So, Fox sought out the UGA job-clear across the country because he just had to get out of Reno, he was willing to take whatever Damon Evans would offer him, he was willing to agree to the buyout clause becuase he was facing a revolt in Reno!! YEAH RIGHT. Anyway, this article in the Athens paper today, spells out just what a great job Coach Fox has done in Athens, has some good player quotes, just a good read.

http://dogbytesonline.com/fox-erases-off-court-problems-brings-team-closer-together-43631/


Now, let's take a look at the Washington Huskies. As most know by now, they are led by Isaiah Thomas-no relation to the famous one from the Pistons/Hoosiers. He is small in stature but in big in game. He averages nearly 17pts a game and 6 turnovers a game, 3 turnovers a game. He shoots nearly 36% from the 3pt line, about 70% from the FT. Next up would be forward Matthew Bryan-Amaning, at 6'9" a guy that can score and grab boards, 15.5pts a game, nearly 9 rebounds a game. Not the best FT shooter, at 61%. Third guy in double figures points wise is Justin Holiday who averages nearly 11pts a game, 5 boards at 6'6". Before I go any further, if you look at the Washington roster and stats, what you will find is TEN players that average 17 or more minutes a game. Of their 13 man roster, 9 are 6'5" or taller. Now, that being said, they are NOT big bulky guys, biggest guy weight wise is their 7 footer, Aziz N'Diaye, from all I have read though, this guy is mainly a shot blocker and a fouling machine-does not offer much offensively. We should have the advantage in the paint with Trey and Jeremy. Another thing you notice is they have 5 guys that have shot 100 or more 3pt shots. To compare, we have ONE player with more than 100 3pt attempts, that being Ware (128) and Robinson is close at 98. Scary thing is, they have so many shooters that we basically have to hope they are off shooting or it could be a tough day. Bottom line, they are a very good offensive basketball team that likes to play up tempo games. If you look at their game by game scores, you can see a pattern. Games they lose, the tempo is much slower-they have lost 10 games this season. In those loses, they have averaged 62.3 points a game. In their 23 wins, they average 95.2 pts. They have scored over 100 in 6 games this season-I think you can figure out a real key to us winning the game, CONTROL the tempo. Simply put, we can't run and gun with these guys because they have much more depth, scoring is just what they can do. I feel sure they will come out pressing us, that is what a lot of teams have started doing because let's face it, we really only go 6 deep, maybe 7 because Thornton, Williams, Nolte only get very few minutes. Sometimes we will let Brantley get a few extra minutes but he and Barnes are pretty much our bench. We have to control the ball-turnovers as usual will be key, we have to control the tempo and we need guys to step up-in particular we need Price, Robinson and Barnes to play well. I think we can count on Thompkins, Leslie and Ware being steady and playing well. Those other three, simply put we need big games from them all. Washington got hot in the PAC tourney but before that, were 5-5 in their previous 10. They finished 14-7 in the Pac10, behind only Arizona and UCLA  but keep in mind, their 4th place team got beat by VCU last night-a team MOST experts said had no business making the tourney. Their 5th place team Cal beat Ole Miss by 3 last night in the NIT-Ole Miss if you remember was the 3rd place finisher in the SECw with a 8-10 conference mark. All others in that conference had losing conference records, 4 of the 5 had 500 or below 500 overall records. My point being, the PAC10 was NOT a strong conference this year. Now, this is not to say I expect us to win the game but I do think it will be pretty obvious who has the better shot to win if you just look at the scoreboard. The lower the score is throughout, the better our chance will be. If the game gets to a high tempo pace, we are in trouble. One other note, this is also a very experienced team, Thomas is JR but Bryan-Amaning is a SR as is Holiday and backup point guard Overton who was suspended for the PAC10 tourney for wow, now I remember it, being involved with a 16 year old girl!!! NOT good.

The baseball team suffered a tough loss last night to Kennesaw State, 12-8. They had won 5 in row coming in but sounds like they just self destructed as much as anything, with 4 errors. This weekend hopefully they will get their act together or else-they are playing the defending national champs on the road in what figures to be a VERY difficult challenge. Here is the article about the game last night, again from the Athens paper. Can you tell I very rarely link the AJC-yeah, that is one horrible newspaper in my opinion unless they are printing up negative headlines that is. They are good at that.

http://dogbytesonline.com/owls-halt-winning-streak-43629/

Football recruit Sterling Bailey from East Hall high school has shoulder surgery last week but expects to be ready to go come fall camp in Athens. I suspect he will redshirt, and thought that before reading he had recent surgery. He projects to play OLB for Georgia, I think we have enough depth there for him to sit this year. We don't want to risk it with a shoulder injury-we have had enough guys suffer chronic shoulder problems, need to be careful here.

Rivals just released its top 25 hoops recruits for class of 2012, a class that HOPEFULLY UGA can really clean up-between our season this year and the coaching turnover at GTU, I am hopeful we can land perhaps the best class in UGA history. I will not put the list here as it is premium material but let's just say, the following guys we at least have a shot to get and all will be high regarded prospects-Tony Parker-a national recruit for sure 6'9 kid, Shaquille Goodwin at 6'8", Jordan Adams at 6'5",  Damien Wilson 6'6", Evan Nolte 6'8" and Jarmal Reid 6'7". Nolte of course is brother of Connor and Reid is brother of Jeremy Price. Another kid that is interested in UGA is Jordan Price, 6'5" shooting/point guard. Bottom line, all the kids I have mentioned will be 4 or 5 star kids. To help you out, on our current roster, Thompkins was a 4 star, Leslie a 3 star, Ware a 3 star, Price was a 4 star, Barnes a 3 star, Thornton a 3 star, Vincent Williams a 3 star, Donte Williams a 3 star, Brantley not ranked, Nolte could not find but probably a 2 star. For the 2011 class, Caldwell-Pope is a 5 star and Tim Dixon a 3 star. The JUCO 7 footer is not ranked, as was the case with Brantley. As you can see, if we can grab 4-5 of those 2012 guys, we will be getting a big increase in talent for sure and that is how you build our program to the national level. Let's hope Fox and company can get it done with the 2012 class.

March Madness underway

I LOVE this time of the year, spring weather is here and then gone, then here again. Baseball is getting started, spring football is also underway, and of course there is March Madness. I have NEVER understood why more UGA faithful don't follow college basketball. The NCAA tourney is EVERYTHING I think most UGA football fans would love for the college football season to be like-an actual champion is crowned each April. Just think about our football teams in 2002 and 2007, both likely would have been #1 seeds and had a chance to win a national title. Instead, we have the bad luck in 2002 of fininishing with 1 loss during a season where two teams went unbeaten-if that happens other years, LSU and UF do not have titles. Both those schools were able to win national titles after losing a game during the regular season-heck, LSU won a title with TWO losses in a season. Anyway, I know Georgia has not had a long tradition of successful basketball seasons and thus a big number of UGA fans only know basketball season as the time between fall football and spring football. I think when Tubby Smith arrived that was starting to change but unfortunately, Tubby only stayed for two years. When Harrick arrived, I think it started to build back but any sane person just knew good ole Jimmy was a time bomb just waiting to explode and sure enough that happened. Now we have another guy that appears on his way to building a solid program in Athens. I am convinced that if a solid and consistent product is put on the court year in and year out, UGA can and will be both a football and basketball school. This state is LOADED with basketball talent but we have just never been able to lure enough to Athens-I think that is changing now. Our athletic association has finally showed a real commitment to upgrading the facilities and we now have a coach that can get the job done. We MUST keep Coach Fox around so he can build this program up, and we already hear about him being a candidate at another school. It is a good thing that our AD came from a school that has proven, you can have both programs achieving at a high level-I think McGarity will lock Coach Fox up after our season is over. This is a time in our history that could allow us to gain a lot of positive energy. We landed Mr. Georgia basketball in 2010, have our first McDonald's all american coming in this class, and have a TON of talented kids interested in us for the 2012 class, which many will make decisions this summer and during the early signing period. Factor in the other state school is looking for a new coach, the time is now.  Simply put, the lone piece to my Fox puzzle was his ability to recruit. I have watched him enough to know he can coach. But his recruiting to this point has been as good or better than any coach in our history and the 2012 class has a chance to be the best ever signed. Hugh Durham is the only coach that recruited decently in Athens and look how long Hugh stayed around. Tubby has never been known as a great recruiter, Harrick relied on the Hayes twins to really help turn us around. Felton, if Lou Williams would have come for a year, that could have helped his cause but he still reached far too often on recruits-most of which were from up in the Maryland or NY area it seemed. Bottom line, I am very excited about the future of our basketball program and even if we lose our first game on Friday, just making it there is a huge step in the right direction-not to mention another banner in Stegman.

I have to admit, the NCAA tourney and Haney do not mix as I want to watch the games and not do any work or go to sleep at night. Good news, after this weekend, the number of games will go down and they will not play any games during the day-so I can get my work done again!! Last night Clemson KILLED UAB, that was one of our quality wins-oops. Anyway, I am tempted to pick Clemson over WVU because I am NOT impressed with WVU to be honest and Clemson is playing very good basketball-they blew the 19 point lead against UNC or they would have played for the ACC title. Hard to believe the white boy on Clemson, Tanner Smith, played in HS with Trey Thompkins at Weselyn-no wonder they won a title their senior year. The other game was UNC-Asheville over Arkansas-Little Rock in OT, very entertaining game and now UNCA gets Pittsburgh. I doubt they will make that game close but they are not a bad looking team. Today another two games will take place, Alabama St-Texas San Antonio, and then Southern Cal against VCU. Thursday is when the true Madness will start and there is a good chance for a lot of early upsets this year. I just believe there is a lot of parity this season, very few teams I would consider GREAT or unbeatable.

Here is an interesting article in the AJC about which program can turnaround the quickest, UGA football or Tech basketball.
http://blogs.ajc.com/jeff-schultz-blog/2011/03/15/who-can-turn-it-around-first-georgia-football-or-tech-hoops/?cxntfid=blogs_jeff_schultz_blog

My take on it, yes, you can turn things around quicker in basketball because there are fewer slots to fill but with UGA, the problem is not talent. The talent on hand already coupled with what talent will be arriving this fall leads you to believe talent is or has not been the problem. I can pinpoint the exact problem other than to say, the team has not finished the drill-which could very well mean the strength and conditioning was horrible as many believe-or simply put, the players work ethic was poor. I simply refuse to believe that coaches lose the abililty to coach the game, I am more inclined to think maybe the players are not as dedicated as they need to be, and then sometimes the coaches are not putting them in the best position to make plays. The quotes you read about UGA players feeling entitled, that further leads me to believe our players felt they could just show up and win. Now, confidence is very important in all sports and on all levels. But, confidence alone can't get the job done. You have to be confident but also be willing to work your rear off to be the best. I think next year will be proof that we have the inner strength back and with that will come even more confidence. I am curious to see what, if any, off the field issues we have for the rest of this semester and during the summer. There is no doubt our season starts out with a bang but if you don't think we have as much or more talent than our first two opponents, you must not know much about college football. But, as we proved last year with losses to Miss State, Colorado and UCF, talent alone will never win a football game.

One last note, the baseball team looks to make it 6 straight today as they travel to Kennesaw to play K-state. This is the last game before they hit the road to Columbia and take on the defending national champs. Kennesaw State is a pretty good baseball program so hopefully the guys can continue their good play. If they win today, and then somehow can take that series over in Columbia, WATCH out. The Jonathan Taylor accident appears to have really brought this team together. What a real shame it took that awful event to bring a team together but that does appear to be exactly what has happened, at least to this point. Good luck to the Diamond Dogs today. Btw, Seth Emerson had an update on JT-
Here’s also an update on Johnathan Taylor: The junior outfielder is still in the intensive care unit at the Shepherd Center, where he was transported last week. You can get updates from his family at this site.

Lady Dogs a 6 seed, more NCAA violations for UGA???

First off, congrats to the Lady Dogs for getting a 6 seed in the NCAA tourney, to be played at Auburn. Both the men and women were blessed to have very little issues with travel to opening sites which is always a good thing. The Lady Dogs open against 11th seed Middle Tenn State, a team that is dealing with the loss of a teammate via being stabbed to death by her roommate-how horrible is that. If UGA wins, it likely faces #3 seed FSU in the second round, #1 seed in their regional is Baylor-one of the elites in women's hoops along with UConn and UT. This is the 17th consecutive bid for Coach Landers and company, 28th overall trip which is second most in the NCAA behind only Tennessee.

Another day, more recruiting violations for our football staff, this one hitting the head man himself. Last week it was the Ray Drew deal, the kid asked two former players to attend his press conference announcing he would sign with UGA-those being Randall Godfrey and David Pollack. This time, the formation got Richt in trouble. Having 10 offensive players lined up in a base formation, missing the tailback, then giving Isaiah Crowell a jersey and asking him to be the last piece of the offense. This was a recruiting no-no and Richt should have known this-per the NCAA. Richt didn't think just having him line up, away from Sanford Stadium was in violation but guess it was. So, Crowell was temporarily ruled ineligible but quickly was reinstated. Richt is punished by not being allowed any contact during the April evaluation period.

Ok, let me just say, the NCAA rule book is flat out pathetic. All of our rules violations are secondary so they will not do harm for the program but obviously provides some negative publicity for our program and you can bet the AJC especially will report on this for weeks to come. Now we know why/how UGA lured such a great recruiting class, they were breaking rules. We all know the NCAA seems to pick and choose just how rules are enforced, also seem to be inconsistent at best when it comes to their rulings-depending on the schools it would seem to most. I just think they have too much power/control and when that happens to any organization it usually spells trouble. Now, in the case of these secondary violations, UGA self reports and has to fill out a ton of paperwork to make sure Big Brother does not find out first, and thus rule the institution to be violation of institutional control or whatever they might call it. If you don't think other schools have been doing what Richt did for YEARS, you are crazy. How about the stories of taking recruits to the stadium and having the announcer say their name and number over the speakers inside the stadium-is that against the rules. How about Richt taking the boys over to his house for a meal or dessert? Is that somehow a violation, or what about the big deal when Crowell scored a long TD this past fall, went over and hugged Richt who was standing on the sidelines watching. I am sorry but there are just too many rules and I don't see how these coaches don't break them constantly-or more than they get caught for. Perhaps they do break them much more but those are ignored?? I really don't know but I do believe you should stay within the rules, I just think there are too many silly ticky tack rules.

A lot is being made about Washington having to travel 2,800 miles to play and thus they plan to leave today so they can get their bodies ready for EST instead of PST. Well, at least they are getting to play the last game on Friday so that is a plus for them. I also read today their backup point guard, suspended for the Pac10 tourney has been reinstated-check out what he did-
Huskies backup point guard Venoy Overton has been reinstated to the team and will play Friday. Overton was suspended for the Pac-10 Tournament after being charged with providing alcohol to a minor. The case stemmed from an allegation from a 16-year old girl that Overton sexually assaulted her at an apartment in Seattle on Jan. 8, according to the Associated Press. King County prosecutors declined to file charges because the contact appeared consensual. …
16 year old girl???? Wow. I am hoping this kid is a freshman, 18 maybe. I will have to check into that.

One last note, it appears NCST has Mark Fox on their potential coaching list (note they have not fired their current coach yet). While it is always nice to know that your coach is good enough that others want to come calling for his services, I am hopeful Greg McGarity can and will step to the plate keep Fox in Athens. This has been our problem for many years-when we have a good coach SOMETHING happens it seems. Hugh Durham had success but never could build on it-but he was at least consistent-then he was pushed out. We hired Tubby Smith-a GREAT coach but we all know what happened there-Rick Pitino left UK for the Celtics, Dooley conceeded we couldn't compare with UK and he was gone. Then Jirsa, in hoping he would keep building on what Tubby had started-did not work. Then Harrick-although one of the best coaches you will ever find, a VERY shady past and eventually we got burned by it. Of course then Felton, a man that cleaned up the program but was simply in over his head and really missed out that the out of high school rule was still in effect-he could have had Louis Williams for one year and who knows what that might have done for the program-good or bad. Now we have Fox and although a bit of an unknown when first hired, has done a GREAT job in his first two years and has the program headed in the right direction. We knew the day would come when other schools would start looking and it has already started. Thing is though, we have the $$ to keep him, let's hope we let him know just how dedicated we are to him being our coach for the long term.
http://blogs.ajc.com/jeff-schultz-blog/2011/03/14/report-mark-fox-may-be-targeted-for-opening-at-n-c-state/?cxntfid=blogs_jeff_schultz_blog

Also I have been reading about GT trying to lure Anthony Grant away from Bama. First of all, I don't see why he would do that because he is building a solid program at Bama. Secondly, he is making nearly 2 mil a season at Bama, how in the world could GT match or surpass that total-and you have to figure Bama will give him a raise to keep him-maybe that is what is going on here, Grant will use other jobs to help raise his contract level. Yes, Bama is a football school first and GT is a basketball school first-I guess, yes, GT plays in the ACC but is the ACC really better now in basketball than the SEC, I think not. Plus, the SEC has the great TV package in place. ACC also has a good package but it is not like it used to be when comparing the two conferences-SEC has REALLY stepped up. Grant would be a great hire for Tech because he can coach and he can recruit-and he already is well known in the Atlanta area. But, you have to wonder, is he a long term solution or a short term fix. He has a track record as a head coach of moving around, at VCU for only a few years, only been at Bama now for 2. We shall see how that shakes out but Mark Bradley writes about the financial ablilty of GT to afford Grant here.
http://blogs.ajc.com/mark-bradley-blog/2011/03/15/anthony-grant-to-tech-great-idea-but-wheres-the-money/?cxntfid=blogs_mark_bradley_blog

Finally, in case you have not seen it yet, UGA is getting a walkon who has been playing for Boise State, or rather been on scholarship at Boise the past couple years. Mike Tamburo will finish this semester in Boise and then drive back home to walk on in Athens. He was a very talented HS QB at North Gwinnett and will try that position in Athens is very much like Logan Gray that just left us-a good enough athlete to play another position if needed. I am not sure he will really help us that much in the game against Boise to kick off the football season but sure can't hurt either.

http://blogs.ajc.com/recruiting/2011/03/11/qb-mike-tamburo-to-transfer-from-boise-state-to-georgia/?cxntfid=blogs_recruiting

WOW is about all I can say today, WOW

I sure didn't see a 10 seed coming. I didn't even know we would make the dance, it was a GREAT treat to watch the selection show and not only make it but to be in the first bracket announced-took what could have been a very stressful hour and made it very relaxing. I think Bama has a very legit argument against us to be honest, but I also think what it boiled down to is that we had those two quality wins over UAB and Colorado in December AND had a very good road record-I think that ultimately got us in over Bama. I do think the selection committee probably intended on putting 5 SEC teams in the tourney, so it most certainly came down to us and Bama. They decided, or this is my guess, that our overall resume was better than Bama's by a big enough margin to cover the two head to head losses-and it really must not have been close because getting a 10 seed to me means we locked up the bid BEFORE the SEC tourney, or the AU win punched our ticket worst case. This selection just validates the incredible work done by Coach Fox-a twenty win season, a good road record-remember, last year we didn't win a single road game, a schedule that was just good enough to impress the folks selecting teams while also allowing us to get some good wins as well. Now the missing piece of the puzzle is recruiting-again, making the tournament only should help us in that regard. Fox is building up good will in the recruiting circles I feel sure and now that Hewitt is gone at GT, we can only hope that will also help us. Tech might actually hire a guy that can both recruit and coach but likely the guy will not be able to recruit as well as Hewitt, I feel sure the new hire WILL be able to coach better however. We shall see who they are able to land over there because having to pay off Hewitt and then be able to afford a top line coach seems very unlikely to me. If Fox can start landing 3-4 elite kids in the state of Ga every class, we will be regulars in the dance and he can also build up our bench. I think our lack of production off the bench has really contributed heavily to our blown big leads-I think our starters are good enough to hang and beat a lot of teams but they seem to lose steam and focus down the stretch and I believe part of that is due to fatigue.

So now we know we are in and who we play, the Pac10 tourney champ, the other Dawgs if you will. Again, I have always HATED Dawgs so I might be the only UGA fan that is fine letting the Huskies call themselves Dawgs-I will stick to what I prefer, Dogs. Washington is a good team and I will preview them later in the week-this game is going to be a REAL test for our guards because UW has some very good guards led by 5'9" Isiah Thomas-as far as I know, no relation to the famous former Detroit Piston and Indiana Hoosier by the same name. The guy hit the game winning shot at the buzzer to win the Pac10 tourney. I compare this team guard wise to Florida when it comes to shooting ability and experience-like I say, we will have our hands full although I am not sure they will truly have an answer for Thompkins and then hopefully Price can rebound and play a better game after two very bad SEC tourney games. This will be the first meeting between the schools although our coach Mark Fox worked a couple years as an assistant at Washington and actually met his wife there-she was working for the school-I am not sure if she is from that area or not, I am sure there will be a story or two about that since the two met there and are now married, and Fox leads his team against Washington. That will be a natural story to cover at some point this week you can bet.

As for the other SEC teams, UF got a 2 seed in the SE Regional and gets to play the opening weekend in Tampa-great draw for the Gators. UK, who is on a serious roll now after winning the SEC tourney in BLOWOUT fashion, is in our bracket, the East. They will also be playing in Tampa-that figures to be a TOUGH ticket as everyone knows how well UK fans travel. They will have a pretty decent/tough second game with WVU or Clem/UAB but they should be able to also reach the sweet 16 where #1 seed Ohio State will be waiting for them. Vandy got a 5 seed and opens with Richmond. I think Vandy can win that game but they have not been playing well so would not be surprised either way-I think they lose the second game to Louisville however. Finally, Tennessee is 9 seed and will play 8 seed Michigan. The winner gets Duke in their second game. If the UT team of late shows up, Michigan advances but if UT of early season shows up, they will advance. I can't see them playing with Duke even if they beat UM but they certainly have the talent to win a game. That leads us to UGA as a 10 seed against 7 seed Washington. Again, I will get into much more detail later in the week but a few things to point out. First of all, UW has to travel a LONG way for the game which means very little fan support-not that we will have that much either since we are not a basketball school-YET. But the time difference could be a factor for those guys, that will be a long flight and then they have to get their bodies used to ET instead of PT. You look at the schools also playing in Charlotte-UNC, Duke, Tenn, Michigan-there is no doubt that most of the fan bases would be more likely to pull for us, especially since we are the higher seed (underdog) and closer to them-or at least I would think so. UW is a guard oriented offense and can really shoot the basketball, this is going to really test us because we only play 3 guards most games, Ware, Robinson and Brantley. I can see UW pressing us to wear us out during the game and then us running out of gas as we have done many times already this year. I think we need to let Vincent Williams get some early PT, we need to be really smart with our substitions when it comes to our guards, keeping them fresh because they not only will possibly face the press but having to guard quick and deadly shooters will be tough-I wouldn't expect Fox to zone this team at all so MTM for 40 minutes will take a toll on our guards.


So, the baseball team continues to win for JT-as tragic as that accident was for the kid and his family, it might just be the spark that this team needed to get together as a team and start playing good baseball. They swept the road trip to California, beating UCLA Friday, USC on Saturday and Saint Mary's on Sunday-at Dodger  Stadium. For more details check out this article.

http://dogbytesonline.com/bulldogs-extend-winning-streak-43547/


Next up for the Diamond Dogs is game Wednesday at Kennesaw State-a pretty darn good baseball program. After that, the first SEC series of the season at South Carolina, the defending national champ. But, this team has evened its record at 8-8 and seems to have used what is a very negative into something positive, winning and playing hard to win for fallen teammate Jonathan Taylor.

Tonight Andy Landers and the Lady Dogs find out where/when they will play, they are in for sure, so just a matter of where/when they play. Let's hope they get a pretty good draw and can win a couple games.

Is today a play in game? Spring practice here and then GONE

******First TV timeout******

Dogs came out looking good early but now Bama has a 1 pt lead, thanks in part to some transition points, a nice 3 by Tony Mitchell and some pesky D-they are knocking a lot of balls loose so far-they are playing VERY aggressive on the defensive end. Our guys need to punch back or I don't like our chances today. Bama looks ready to play, we look ok but Robinson again is shaky-horrible 3 and already a tick tack foul. We need him to step up and soon.

*****Second TV timeout, Travis Leslie, I mean UGA up by 5

Leslie on FIRE with 13 points thus far. He also got Tony Mitchell on the bench with two fouls, Bama is really not able to stop him now. Bama has hit 2 3's or UGA would be running away with it-but I think Coach Fox will take his chances with them hitting 3's. Green also has picked up a foul, we need to get one more on him and then suddenly we have their best two guys in serious foul trouble. Fox is mastering his subs as well, getting Thompkins and Leslie a few extra minutes of rest subbing them around a TV timeout.


******Under 4 to go, 9 point lead

Sloppy play, followed by 3 consecutive 3 point shots, Robinson, Ware and then Thompkins. Bama still getting too many second shots however-we are staying out of foul trouble which is good because our starters are playing the majority of minutes for sure. We just have to keep playing welll and rebounding, no doubt Bama is MUCH better inside than was AU and no doubt they are a better defensive team as well.

******Up by 9 at the half

Travis Leslie with half our points at the half, 30-21 lead for UGA. He also has 5 boards. Trey with 7 points. Robinson hit a big 3 but is 1-8 shooting. Both teams have 7 turnovers, we have a slight rebound edge 14-11. For Bama, Charvez Davis has hit 2 3's and leads them with 6 points. We have done a good job so far containing Green and Mitchell. Green does have 6 boards. Bottom line for the first half, it was the Travis Leslie show. Neither team in dire foul trouble, only 10 total fouls called in the first half. Mitchell has 2 for them, Price two for UGA. We should be able to keep our starters on the floor most of the second half due to lack of first half fouling-very encouraging. I think it is pretty obvious we have more offensive weapons than Bama but that being said, 9 point lead is NOTHING in college basketball. Still, would rather have the lead than be behind. Keep in mind, last week when we played them, they were ahead of us by 6 at the break. They outscored us by 2 in the second half. So, long ways to go but we have a good shot to lock the bid today, let's hope we can hold on.

******Up by 8 with just under 15 to play

We now have some foul trouble, Thompkins getting frustrated and picked up his 3rd. Then again, other than his ball handling, Trey is not having the same type game he had yesterday-but, with Price also with 3, not a good thing. Hopefully we can get a few minutes out of Donte Williams or Thornton. Again, Travis Leslie continues to lead us, now has 19 pts and really is the reason we are winning this game. But we have to watch it because Bama is trying hard to make a move.

*****Last Update before final

Up by 10 with just under 8 to play. UGA will have the ball coming back from TV timeout. Dogs have managed to weather the storm so far with Thompkins and Price having 3 fouls each. If they can avoid turnovers and Bama doesn't get HOT from behind the 3 point line, I think they SHOULD hold on but you still don't get a great feeling as they need to keep getting this lead higher for one last stretch run that you know Bama will come with. Let's hope we can pull it out and then we are IN.

*****OT-wow

What a shame we BLEW that 14 point lead, had several just horrible mistakes and just not sure what to make of this team. We are now out of the SEC tourney and quite frankly, I believe out of the NCAA. Just a real shame, bad timeout management by Fox, bad turnovers as we blew the 14 pt lead, there is NO EXCUSE in losing the basketball game today. This team might make the dance but honestly, this coming from one of the biggest UGA fans on the planet, I don't think we deserve it. Now we will just sit and wait until Sunday night but I think I know what our fate is already. NIT. Great games by Trey and Travis, those guys gave it all they had.
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So there is a LOT of debate from all the talking heads, TV, radio, print media, fans, you name it about these so called PLAY-IN games in conference tourneys. UGA/Bama is one that is talked about frequently and so I just have to wonder, is that really the case? Bottom line it is impossible for anyone to say with 100% confidence that UGA will make the dance with a loss today. I think more could say Bama WILL NOT make the dance if they lose today. The argument against us is lack of quality wins, the agrument for us is lack of a bad loss. When you get a group of men together in a room, who really knows what criteria they are going to be looking at. Will they look at how a team finished, will they look at star players and potential matchups, will they look at body of work which they are supposed to do and on a team by team basis-NOT by conference affiliaton, will they look at bad losses, good wins, loss margin, win margin-we simply don't know. SO, with that in mind, you do all that you can to make yourself look like the best available pick for the tourney. So, does this mean we must beat Bama to make it in, NO. But, I think if we lose today, our chances are at best 50-50 to make it in. If Bama loses, today, odds for them would be about 10-90 they don't get in.

As for the game itself, we have a big size advantage and Trey Thompkins says he is as healthy or maybe even healthier than he has been all year. This is his time right here to show that he is indeed ready to lead our team, ready to be the dominant player that everyone anticipated before the year started-the POY preseason for the SEC. This is his chance to leave a nice legacy for himself at UGA and I think he is up to the challenge. He looked like a different player yesterday to me. Surpremely confident, very calm and cool, a true leader and he was dominant. If he plans to leave for the NBA, I think this is his time to really impress the NBA folks with his character and leadership-this is the time when the cream rises to the top and as a UGA homer, I certainly do hope he has saved his best for last. Also, besides Trey, Travis Leslie looked energized yesterday-he didn't shoot the greatest but his offensive rebouding was a crucial part of the win. My two big keys to the game, well, they were not really needed yesterday-that being Jeremy Price and Gerald Robinson. JP got in some foul trouble but just never was much of a factor, Chris Barnes did step and played really well. As for Robinson, maybe it was just his nerves but honestly, he looked pretty bad in the 1st half. To his credit though, he came back with 11pts in the second half. As this tournament hopefully continues moving forward, I think it is going to be important that we get more from our bench-Thornton and Brantley were shaky at best yesterday, hopefully again just nerves. Thornton has 3 turnovers in 7 minutes and the team only had 7 turnovers for the game. Brantley missed all 3 of his 3 point attempts. You have to figure teams are really gone to zone us with Trey being such a force. We have to have someone besides Ware that can knock down those wide open looks.

I will probably not be able to update today like yesterday but hope to provide a few updates as the game progresses-not that anyone on this blog needs my comments during the game-if you do rely on my updates, please leave me a comment this morning and I will do my best to give some updates as I did yesterday. Otherwise, I will just update here and there.


Spring football started yesterday, will not resume for a couple weeks as the players break for, you guessed it, SPRING BREAK. Hopefully all will be calm this spring break. You will remember last year it was a disaster. First you had what we DIDN'T know happening, AJ Green selling his bowl jersey. You also had the incident that we did know about, the Zach Mettenberger deal down in Valdosta. So, let's hope lessons were learned and the guys can have fun without getting in trouble. I think the move of having day 1 yesterday and then a break is actually a good move. We all know the media coverage tends to be highest on day one of anything, also with two new coaches on staff, it is always good to get one day under your belt. So, when they come back from the break, it will be 100% football focus. Here are a couple articles about the start of spring practice. First couple are good articles about Washaun Ealey and Caleb King feeling the pressure as well as some updates on Aaron Murray and Alec Ogletree. I will get more into spring football talk when they start back up March 22nd, my focus right now is too strongly on the basketball team.

http://www.ajc.com/sports/uga/georgia-notes-ealey-king-868079.html

http://dogbytesonline.com/football-notebook-king-re-enters-running-back-mix-43302/

Finally another one about the Ogleree moving to LB-this kid is a star in the making and with his frame, he can easily play next year at 6'3" 245-plenty big enough for an inside LB. I know I am looking forward to watching this kid develop, I think he will be a 1st round NFL draft pick in two years, or 3 if he stays that long.

http://dogbytesonline.com/ogletree-embraces-switch-43305/


Also, UGA baseball makes a trip out to Los Angeles this weekend, games against UCLA, USC and Saint Mary's, hopefully they can continue their wining ways-next weekend they are in Columbia to take on the defending nationa champion Gamecocks-that is tough to say. Everyone have a great weekend and GO DOGS!!