******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!!
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