In a shocker, UGA defeats Illinois at the Gwinnett Center. The game went down to the wire, and the Dawgs were able to pull it out at the end.
Don't have ESPNU, so I couldn't see the game. However, I hope there is some replay during the week. For those readers that watched the game, feel free to leave a comment with your impressions of the game.
By the way, although I'd like to take credit for predicting the outcome, my guess about the victory and the final score was a mix of homerism and luck. I won't be playing the lotto anytime soon.
Great job by Trey Thompkins in going to the line and sinking the pressure free throws. Travis Leslie played a great game, too. Huge block toward the end of the fourth quarter.
Congratulations to Mark Fox, the seniors, and the entire squad!
2 comments:
This is a cut and paste of my thoughts from a message board, but you asked, so here they are. Sorry if the formatting is a little weird. I just discovered this blog, so I'll add it to my roster. Glad to know there is somebody else besides PWD paying attention to Georgia hoops.
This was a weird game for me as I grew up an Illinois fan, and had
never actually watched the teams play (I wasn't able to watch last
year's game, and only listened to the tennis final a few years ago on
the radio). Nonetheless, like the Bear when Alabama offered the job,
when Mama calls, you listen, and the Dawgs were my rooting interest.
I wasn't expecting much, because what little I'd seen of Georgia this
year didn't look like it would be able to match up at all with
Illinois' guards. Illinois' big men, while not the bulkiest guys in
the world, are great scorers and good rebounders and shot blockers,
and I thought they'd get their points. How very wrong I was.
Georgia came out and imposed their will on Illinois all night, both in
the front court, grabbing all sorts of rebounds and blocking shots all
over the place, while the guards did a great job of defending,
shutting down Illinois' two star freshmen, Richardson and Paul.
McCamey had a big night for Illinois, but we don't have anybody that
could match up with his size (he's built like a safety) or his skill.
I was most impressed with the way guys like Jackson, Price and Barnes
worked on defense and rebounding. I couldn't believe some of the
blocks I saw, and loved how we went up and took the ball on rebounds.
Our outside shooting was horrendous, but McPhee came through with
just enough to keep us a live. I think Ware also had a very nice 13
foot jumper late in the game that pushed the lead.
If our guards learn to shoot at a respectable rate, this could be a
good team in another year. If we land a good shooting guard or two,
we can ascend the ladder in this league of mediocre coaches (nice job
last night, Pearl and Donovan!) much more quickly than I'd hoped. We
have a coach that knows how to coach a half-court offense, which is
more than the rest of the schools in our league not named Kentucky or
Vanderbilt can say (okay, maybe South Carolina, though it's early).
I am very excited about the future of this basketball program. I hope
the rest of the fans that live a bit closer than I get on the
bandwagon sooner rather than later.
Excellent Post, SSB Charley, and welcome.
There aren't a lot of us hoops fans, but hopefully more folks on the sidelines will jump on board as the team improves.
I try to keep interest up in the program by posting information about the current team, UGA basketball history, Dawgs in the pro's and international leagues, and recruiting.
Look forward to hearing a lot more from you.
DaugMan
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