First, let me mention the Lady Dogs play their first game in the SEC tourney today, 7:30 against South Carolina. I think Coach Landers team is already in the tourney but a few wins in the SECT might bump them up a notch in the seeding process for the big tourney. Good luck to the team.
The mens team travels to Alabama for a 1:30 game against the Crimson Tide tomorrow (1:30 on SEC network, Peachtree TV in Atlanta. SPECIAL NOTE, Peachtree TV, please remove or move your logo from the bottom right corner of the screen, it blocks the game clock-BAD. Seems the two programs have a lot interesting connections-both hired coaches two years ago, Bama going with Anthony Grant from VCU who many at UGA wanted us to hire. UGA out of nowhere it seemed at the time, hired Mark Fox from Nevada. One of the first moves Fox makes, hiring Philip Pearson from Coach Mark Gottfrieds Alabama staff. Through two seasons, Fox is 34-26, Grant is 36-25 so basically a wash. Of course there is a lot of talk about how many teams the SEC will get in the dance and some put a lot of importance on the game tomorrow. Considering Bama has already clinched the west, I have heard some say it will be hard to keep them out of the tourney, course they have a bad RPI around mid 80's and bad strength of schedule. But still, they did win the western division. On the other hand, UGA has a much better resume and played in the SECe, so most believe the win over LSU punched our ticket. Needless to say, the game tomorrow should be very interesting and I believe is more important overall to Bama than to us. There is a good chance Trey Thompkins will not suit up for us which makes the job of winning even tougher. However, Bama is more a guard oriented offense, they are not a high scoring team and this will give us a chance to win a game of importance without Trey. Also, should we lose and Trey doesn't play, it doesn't look like as bad a loss because we lost on the road without our star player-and our road record would still be 7-4. If Trey is not close to 100%, I personally hope he doesn't play. We don't need to risk him having any complications from this big toe issue, if the NCAA selection committee views him as injured, it could impact our seeding in the big dance and who knows, if we lose game one of the SEC tourney, could push us out if they suspect Thompkins is injured. NCAA is interested in providing the best teams and best matchups possible and if you take a star player away from a team, that certianly does impact that teams ability to compete and actually win a game in the tourney. So, we need Trey 100% entering the SEC tourney and then go from there.
In previewing Bama, they are a very athletic team as I have watched them several times this year. They are not a great shooting team by any stretch but if you allow them to get inside, if you allow them to grab offensive rebounds they can kill you. Obviously their conference record this year is outstanding, at 11-4. But, keep in mind that entering this game on Saturday, we are 5-0 against the west. SO, as good as the 11-4 record is, they are playing in the much weaker west. That being said, they did beat Kentucky at home, as we did. They also beat Tennessee in Knoxville just as we did. Their 4 losses, two were identical to us-they lost at Vandy and at Florida. They also lost at Arkansas and at Ole Miss, two team we beat on the road. What has really and I mean REALLY killed Bama in RPI, the following losses at the Paradise Jam tourney in December-Seton Hall, Iowa, St. Peters. They also lost at Purdue-but that certianly NOT a bad loss, at Providence (they are 14-16 on the season) and at Oklahoma State (they are 18-11 on the season). But, those three consecutive losses in that tourney really has hurt them badly. That being said, they have NOT lost a home game all season-this will be a huge challenge for our team to win this game, with our without Thompkins. Bama comes in after back to back road losses. The Ole Miss loss last Saturday really hurt them, then they got blown out in the second half against UF. Another feather in our cap this year, in all our losses, other than the UF OT loss, all our losses have been by 9 points or less. I am not sure the committee looks at losses in that much detail but a close loss to a quality opponent has to look better than a 20pt loss to a quality opponent.
In looking at the Bama roster, there is no question who the top two players are. First, JaMychal Green who averages 16pts and 7.5 rebounds a game, second would be Tony Mitchell, at nearly 16 pts and 7 rebound a game. Green is 6'8" and Mitchell 6'6", very quick, great leapers and truly the leaders of that team. The only other player in doube figures scoring wise is point guard Trevor Releford who averages 10.5 pts a game and 3 assists per game. A couple other key players for the Tide, guards Charvez Davis, Senario Hillman (Ga kid), and Andrew Steele. Another key forward is Chris Hines, who averages 6 boards a game, only about 5 pts a game but is another long/athletic kid at 6'8". This team really doesn't shoot a lot of threes, of the guys that get significant minutes, the best two are Releford and Davis both hitting 34% of their 3's. They do have some good FT shooters, Davis, Releford and Hillman all over 80%. Green and Mitchell are decent as well hitting 72 and 68% respectively. Green also has 56 blocks on the season. Bama has a 7'1" guy that NEVER plays, other than that, biggest guy on the roster is 6'8". So, you can see that if Trey was playing he would have an inside advantage BUT, Trey to me is not the physical player he should be at his size, he would prefer to come out and shoot threes just as much as bang down low. The bottom line, Bama is very athletic team and this will be a big test for us. We have a couple very athletic guys in Leslie and Robinson but it will be a challenge for Price and Barnes to stay with Green and Hines. I hope Marcus Thornton can come back, and Donte can play some crucial minutes as well. I don't fear this team killing us with the 3 but I do fear them grabbing offensive boards and easy put backs, forcing us to turn the ball over. If we could somehow grab the win over there, punch our ticket, we are 100% in.
As for the football team, wow, some big moves coming for spring practice. Biggest one was Alec Olgetree moving from safety to inside LB. Now, while some are not happy to be switching "Tree", I personally have to trust our coaches. We now have two former NFL defensive coaches on our staff, I trust that they know the best place for a kid like Olgetree. A kid that was listed last year at 6'3" and 210 but I feel sure will be up to 240 by fall practice, you could just tell he has the build to be biggest last year, when he already looking like a brute. I was not overly impressed with his coverage BUT I was VERY impressed in how he tackled and how physical he was at all times. I personally like the move, and our coaches must feel strongly that we have a safety that can come in and help us-whether it be one currenly on the roster or one of the kids coming in with the great recruiting class, Swann or Moore. Also, Cordy Glenn will be playing OT, along with Sturdivant and of course Ben Jones at center. Justin "Bean" Anderson moves back to the OL from the DL. So, the OG positions are now up in the air but you have to figure Kenarious Gates will get the nod at one spot, who will step up at the other-that is a ? It could be Bean or it could be one of the younger redshirted guys-Brent Benedict, Dallas Lee, Austin Long. Just have to see how that shakes out. Spring practice starts March 10th and then takes a break for spring break. Certainly should be an interesting spring, a lot of competition in some spots, like backup QB to name one, and lots of new faces for us to watch.
One last note, baseball team at 2-6, hosts the Florida State Seminoles this weekend for a three game series. FSU is only ranked #5 so not asking too much for us to win the series!! Like I mentioned before, Perno is not afraid to schedule some tough opponents non conference, let's just hope we can get a win-course with rain/heavy at times, in the forecast for this weekend, not sure how many games the two schools will actually be able to get in. Have a great weekend and Go Dogs!!
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