So I have not posted since last week but I have been watching UGA hoops and forming some opinions as we go along and this season plays out. First of all, last night was just an incredible performance by our team against a team in Miss State that has more talent, more depth and more experience. To beat that team twice in a season, that is a very impressive feat. BUT, it also makes you wonder WHAT IF-what if we beat a HORRIBLE GT team, a HORRIBLE SCarolina team on the road, a pretty bad AU team after having a week to prepare, what about the 2 point loss at Colorado where we were leading late only to let it slip away. Win two of those 4 and after last night we would be sitting in possible NIT land, considering this team, this season I think all UGA fans would gladly accept that. But, now we are looking at win the SEC tourney or the season is over. Certainly would think we have to make the conference final to even finish with a 500 record, and I am pretty sure you MUST have at least a 500 record to make the NIT. Anyway, let's focus on the good things and stop thinking about the could have beens. Still, as critical as I have been of this team and Coach Fox, I will give them credit for always playing hard and never quitting. That is certainly a great sign to see kids playing hard for Fox, and to see the development of our players under Coach Fox.
First of all, what more can you say about Gerald Robinson-he was outstanding last night and has really had an outstanding senior year-I am not sure if he has an NBA future but I can't imagine he is done with playing basketball somewhere. Take a look at his season stats-14.5pts a game, 3.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists, shooting 44% from the field, 80% from the FT line. A very sound defender, quick as a cat, a team leader for sure. Also Dustin Ware, although a struggle shooting the ball this year, still has been solid. His assist to turnover ratio is one of the best in the nation. He just knows what he is doing out on the floor. To say we will miss these two guys is an understatement. I know we have two really good guards coming in, Charles Mann and Kenny Gaines but you can't expect them to play to the level of these two guys.
KCP is a very solid all around player that while streaky, you can see the talent he has and the all around gama he has. He plays great defense, he averages about 2 steals a game, he has such a pretty shot is only going to get better. Nemaja Djurisic, he has been a real surprise to most this year I believe. His hustle is outstanding, he has good range on his jumpshots, has some post moves, is tough/physical and doesn't back down, he will become a huge crowd favorite moving into next year. Donte' Williams, wow, night and day from last to this year. He still needs to get bigger and stronger but he is now swatting shots, his shot has improved from the outside as well. He still needs to work on his inside post moves but the future is bright for him. Marcus Thornton, well, he rebounds well. I keep waiting for him to become more of a threat on the offensive end but he just still seems lost. Now, hopefully with him getting healthy over the off season, he can come back next year and add some offense to an already pretty solid defensive player. Our two veteran guards for next year will be Vincent Williams and Sherrard Brantley-let's just say we will need Charles Mann and Kenny Gaines ready to play because although I do think especially Vincent has improved, that is a HUGE step down from Robinson and Ware, and that is what scares me most about next year.
There is still slim hope we add Tony Parker-why is that, because his current teammate Brandon Morris, who is a rangy-long player that might can play some at 3 and thus let KCP play 2, will be coming to Athens. Also, former Parker teammate Donte' Willams is in Athens. From what I have read from TP, is Mom LOVES Coach Fox, loves the idea of her son staying close to home. THAT is what we have going for us, proximity to home, former teammates and a chance to make a real difference from day 1. The other programs he is looking at, he will get minutes but will he be the man like he would be in Athens. As good as KCP is and is going to be, adding a piece like Parker could put our team in a very good spot moving into next year. Teams would have to respect our inside game which opens things up for our outside guys. Let's keep our fingers crossed.
Next up today in the SEC tourney is Vandy. This is a TOUGH matchup for us because this team is very experienced-Miss State was as well but this team has size in the middle, but outstanding shooters. I honestly believe Vandy could do damage in the big dance because they offer such a balanced inside outside challenge to defend. We have played them two pretty tight games, losing by 11 at Vandy, by 9 in Athens. I attended the game in Athens and we had the lead in the 2nd half but Vandy exploded in the second half, built up a 10 pt lead and that was it. The main culprit that day was John Jenkins, he simply was on fire and he is capable of being just as hot today-hard to imagine that though. Here is a recap of his stats line that day, 8-11 from the field, including 6-8 from 3 point land. We fouled him TWICE shooting threes, his FT's for the day, you guessed it, 6-6. This means that day in Athens, Jenkins 14-17 overall shooting the ball. WOW!! That being said, we did a good job neutralizing the inside game as Ezeli had one point, their other big guy Tchiengang only had 2 points. Their other double figure scorer was Jeffrey Taylor who like Jenkins is capable of having a huge game. One thing to notice in the two games we have played against Vandy this year, the number of free throws attempted-up in Nashville Vandy was 30-44 while we were 16-20, in Athens Vandy 17-21 while we were 9-14. So, they shot 14 more freebies in one game, 7 in the other game. They are the far more aggressive offensive team and those numbers show it. Heck, in the game in Athens, Vandy actually had 19 fouls called on them while we only had 14, yet they shot 7 more FT's. Course we fouled Jenkins shooting 3's two times as I mentioned before, so there are 6 more attempts right there. Vandy is quite the amazing group of talent though-out of the normal starting 5, Taylor, Tinsley, Ezeli, Goulborne are all seniors, John Jenkins is a JR. How many schools in the SEC have that kind of experience. They have Tchiengang coming off the bench who is also a SR. Now, all that said the team we just beat Miss State beat Vandy in Nashville. This will be a very tough team to beat but when you are playing loose as we are, strange things can and will happen. If we lose, we lose and say thanks to our seniors and hope next year will be a better year. If we win, suddenly you are playing the winner of UT/Miss, neither of which to me are nearly as good as Miss State or Vandy.
Another big football recruit gave his verbal pledge to UGA this week-and for this kid, it was his SECOND time to commit. Tramel Terry, considered the top player in the state of SCarolina has said he will sign with UGA. From the sounds of it, this kid is a great talent and our coaches have told him he might play on either side of the ball, or possibly both. He has yet to play defense in HS but evidently our coaches have seen enough of him to think he can play either side when he gets to Athens. I personally believe this upcoming recruiting class is going to be a VERY special group. Many of the kids already pledged will be early enrollee kids which I believe truly does help these kids be ready to contribute right away. It will be interesting to see how many more kids jump aboard the ship this spring and summer. It does appear UGA is offering kids much quicker than ever before. Next up I really do hope they offer David Kamara, the kid from Grayson that plays corner for the state champs and happens to be best friends with Robert Nkemdiche. Ole Miss recently offered him, I think he is good enough to get an offer for sure. We need big Robert, we need to all we can to try to get him, and this kid is good enough to get an offer even if he doesn't come here.
Baseball team has lost a couple games in the last week but is still doing quite well despite not swinging the bats as well as they are capable. Last game out they beat Kennesaw State at Coolray-home of the Gwinnett Braves, 3-2 on a ninth inning bases loaded single by Kyle Farmer. Dogs are now 11-2 and ranked 9th and host #16 UCLA this weekend at Foley Field. UCLA comes in with a 9-3 record and without question this will the toughest competition for the Diamond Dogs yet this early baseball season. A good performance will be needed, as UGA gets ready for their first SEC series next weekend against UT. Let's hope for the Dogs to take 2 of 3 from a good UCLA team.
All for now, hope everyone has a great weekend and as always, GO DOGS!
No comments:
Post a Comment