So, just when it appeared just maybe the hoops team had turned the corner, along comes Wednesday night and a loss to the last place South Carolina Gamecocks. Sure, it IS tough for most teams to win road games, but considering we had just come from beating a ranked Miss State on the road, considering we were playing a team that had one conference win and a team that had lost 20 of its last 23 SEC games, this one was BAD. Once again our inside players proved they are just NOT very good. I had thought maybe Marcus Thornton had turned the corner with two nice games during our win streak but he was back to what is apparently his normal self against the chickens. He missed several EASY lay ins, he got in foul trouble, our leading scoring KCP, scored 9 points on 3 of 12 shooting. He had a WIDE OPEN 3 pointer at the end of the game that would have won it for us, CLANK. Gerald Robinson ended with 11 points but when your top two scoring players-on an already suspect offense combined score 20 when their season averages add up to 28, that equals a loss more than likely. If you look at strictly numbers though, Thornton was not bad with 7pts and lead us once again in rebounds but he was 2-8 from the floor and I know of at least 3 easy layins he missed. As a team we shot 35% from the floor, and from 3 point land. It was just a very frustrating loss to a team that we easily could have beat, would have put us over 500 on the season, 4-7 in conference play with a 3 game winning streak heading into the Sunday game against Vandy-a team that is solid but beatable. Now you wonder what happens on Sunday, if we had won at SCarolina, there might have been a decent crowd show up, thinking maybe we have turned this season around. Instead there is just more doubt about what direction we are headed. I guess time will tell how this season plays out, and it is not like I have lofty expectations for this year, nor would any sane Georgia basketball supporter. But, that being said, the SEC is NOT that great of a conference this year in my opinion. In fact, as it stands right now, I would say only two teams are a lock to make the dance, UK and UF. After that, you have several teams that figure to have a great shot-Vandy, Miss State but after that, I would say it will take a winning streak by say Bama, UT or Arkansas to have a shot. This conference is not one where a team even with our talent level, should win 4 games. I think it is possible that is how many games we win this year in conference, unless we pull the upset over Vandy, UF or @LSU. The only win left in my mind is SCarolina and they just beat us so that is no given. Will Fox survive, more than likely yes. SHOULD he survive, I am not so sure. 3 years is not very long to give a coach but we gave Ron Jirsa two years. He was 35-30 in two seasons, one season at 20-15 and making the NIT, the other season at 15-15. So far with Fox, he is 14-17, 21-12 and now 12-13 for a total record of 47-42. One could argue we should have been in the NIT last year!! So, my point is, I think McGarity has a TOUGH decision in front of him. Let's just suppose we win one more conference game this year, that puts our record at 13-17(pending SEC tourney) which puts Fox's three year record of course at 48-46. If Jirsa was shown the door after going 30-25 in two years, why couldn't Fox be out after 48-46. Why, more than likely because of two reasons-first he DID make the dance in year two regardless of how close he was to NOT making it or the fact he won with Felton's talent. Second, because of the contract extension signed after last year. I hate to get all doom and gloom but with us losing Robinson and Ware, bringing in two talented guards but not players near the level of KCP or Gerald, unless we see dramatic improvement in Donte', Marcus, Nemi, Dixon/Florveus, I just don't see this team being any better next year. Remember, next year we get games with Missouri and A&M and especially Missouri is a TOP basketball power right now. So, you let him hang for next year and the season is a 500 or so, do you then fire him?? At this point I think Fox needs a recruit to come to his rescue-Tony Parker, well, he has said he will shock the world with his college choice-but still seems VERY unlikely he lands in Athens. What about Charles Mitchell-he could certainly help us out and he could be headed our way. Just hard to say right now. Bottom line, I still firmly believe the UGA program can be a major player in the hoops landscape. Some say NO WAY but why the heck not if a school like UF can do it. We have a state that produces a boatload of top level talent, our facilities are nice enough, it is just a matter of finding the right guy to lead us where we need to go-which means MONEY. We have to pay someone what it takes to come take this program and run with it.
Finally, the baseball season starts today for the Diamond Dogs. We are a preseason ranked team, some have us at #11 or #13. Regardless, there is a lot of talent on the baseball field this upcoming year and hopefully we can make a long run again this year. Last year the team got back in the tourney, this is a year to maybe get back to Omaha, a place we have been quite a few times with Perno in charge, but not since the 2008 runner up to Fresno team. Here is a good preview of the season from the Athens paper, hopefully the weather will allow them to get the series in this weekend.
http://dogbytesonline.com/experienced-bulldogs-lineup-brings-big-expectations-into-2012-season-55183/
Hope everyone has a nice weekend, Go Dogs!
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