Saturday, November 21, 2009

Herschel Walker to Fight in January

We'll see how this turns out.

I'm not a big fan of MMA, and I am certainly not a fan of the move by Walker to get into the sport.

More news later.

Debut

Friday, November 20, 2009

Billy Humphrey Scores Big

It's good to see Humphrey do well.

Maybe one of our guards will get hot in the next game or two. We are definitely better than our showing against Wofford.

Humphrey

Tobias Harris to UT

Bruce Pearl continues to roll on the recruiting front. Tobias Harris is a good combo forward who should fit in well with UT's style of play.

I'm still hoping that there will be good news eventually for the Dawgs. That may be a stretch, I know. The early signing period has come and gone without much activity. There aren't a lot of elite athletes left for the class of 2010.

I refuse to believe that the Dawgs will sign just one player. My understanding is that Josh Langford is interested. Well, let's get him.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Georgia Tech Loses to Dayton?

What's up with that?

I kind of figured that Tech would be pretty much unstoppable with Lawal and Favors as their big men. But Glen Rice didn't score, Mfon Udofia went just 1 of 5 from the floor, and Dayton beat Tech by 4.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Wofford Loss: What Needs to Happen

Georgia lost for the first time ever to Wofford. They played with a lot of poise and hit their free throws. We can't seem to shoot the ball.

1. Free throw shooting drills

Bring in Mark Price. Do something. Dustin Ware should be money late in the games. Chris Barnes needs to hit at least 6 or 7 out of 10.

2. Reduce Turnovers

Too many easy give-aways. Tennessee will absolutely kill us if we are this careless with the ball.

3. Recruit

I'm not ready to give up on this year, but it's hard to ignore the obvious. Travis Leslie and Howard Thompkins are players. If we can get a couple of others like them, even if it takes until next year, we ought to make it a priority.

Initially, I thought we needed a center most of all. Someone to replace Albert Jackson when he graduates. Now the obvious answer is that a center is down somewhere on our list of recruiting priorities.

We need a shooter. I don't know who's left on the board, but since we missed out on the Georgia talent this year, we should scour the world until we find a big shooting guard.

4. Bring on Marlon Brown

If Brown only has a few catches this late in the season, then he's not going to be used much for football. On the other hand, he is a big two-guard, a tough physical basketball player, and someone who could definitely help our hoops squad. In my opinion, as soon as football is over, Fox ought to be over at Richt's office, asking that Brown put sneaks on for the remainder of the basketball season.

Wofford Wins

Final score: 60 to 57.

We'll struggle. I thought we would be substantially better than last year. We beat them then without Terrance Woodbury.

But we're about the same. Even so, we had a chance to tie at the end of the game. Dustin Ware missed a free throw. He then had the ball at the end of the game with a chance to tie with a three, but he missed again.

We are really bad from the free throw line, and just as anemic from behind the arc. If there is any good news, it's that our big men are pretty good. Travis Leslie went 7 of 11 from the field, 2 of 2 from the line, and 1 for 1 from three-point distance.

I would play Leslie and Thompkins the whole game. Never take them out. We just don't have any others who can score the basketball.

Wofford leading 58 to 53

Under a minute to go. I would take a Zac Swansey three, now. He's gone, so Ricky McPhee or Dustin Ware will have to do something. I'd try to run something for Thompkins. Chances are he will have a big man on him who won't be able to challenge well on the perimeter.

Wofford up 43 to 38

If Georgia can get a decent lead on these guys, we have a shot at getting them discouraged. We are playing at home, so we should keep chipping away and hope somebody gets hot.

Trey has a double-double.

Wofford up 26 to 20

Sounds like we have an advantage in the post. We shouldn't rush to force things. Let's work it around so that we can make the entry pass at the proper angle.

We don't have good free throw shooting or anything working from outside.

Wofford up 14 to 8

We should blow this team out and probably will in the second half. I know that Wofford played Pitt close, but that doesn't mean that Georgia shouldn't beat this team. From all I can tell, we are being impatient in the triangle offense.

They are crashing the offensive boards, too.

Flip Murray

Flip scored 31 points on 13 of 21 shooting last night against the Orlando Magic.

Can anyone explain to me why the Hawks let Flip Murray sign elsewhere?

a) Charlotte gave Murray a 1-year deal for less than $2 million.

b) Murray would have gladly stayed in Atlanta for the same or less money.

c) Atlanta had roster space to keep Murray.

In the meantime, Atlanta drafted Jeff Teague. I don't remember the contract terms, but the rookie scale likely called for Teague to get a very nice deal (while maybe not as rich as Murray's, Teague's contract probably had terms that are not that far away).

Teague is fast enough to get to the rim, but opposing defenses are sagging off of him to see if he can make an outside shot. And there seem to be some serious mechanical issues with Teague's shooting form. Teague is averaging 3 points per game on a woeful 33% shooting.

Jamal Crawford was a great pick-up for the Hawks, and the team is having a fantastic early run. But could you imagine how much better the team would be if the second unit featured Flip Murray and Crawford at the guard spots?

Monday, November 16, 2009

Josh and Devin Langford

Cousins play well for Lee High. Both showed strong all-around games. Huntsville stayed in the game, but Lee was able to come out with the victory.

Recap

UK Escapes by Two, Virginia Walloped

They won the game against Miami of Ohio, but it was ever so close. 72 to 70 was the final score.

Anybody watch that game? If so, leave a comment.

Virginia lost by 17 to Mike Mercer and USF. That was a surprise to me. Mercer only scored 3 points, but Virginia apparently had nothing going offensively. Hard to imagine UVA having much success this year in the ACC.

Jeremy Jacob is Contributing for the Ducks

He plays center in their small line-up. They will press the ball and count on Jacob to hold it down in the post.

Jacob is averaging just 2 points over the first three games. He'll probably pick up the scoring as he gets more playing time.

Georgia native Teondre Williams is averaging 15 points for Oregon.

Georgia Southern not Getting Calls

They look really good against South Carolina. They have found a way to break the Gamecock press. Good coaching. Charlton Young has them well prepared.

Georgia Southern, even without the benefit of the calls, is down just 7 points at half-time. If they can maintain their poise, they can make a big statement, if not even win tonight's game. Look for South Carolina to try to break the game open at the beginning of the second half.

Teams are Playing UK Tough

Miami of Ohio is up by 3 at half-time. I can't imagine that they will continue to hit three-pointers like they have, but they are definitely not intimidated.

DeMarcus Cousins is 0 for 2 from the floor. I thought that he would be much better, but I imagine it's hard for him to find a role right now. Patrick Patterson is still the big talent on the floor. John Wall is 2 of 5 shooting.

Looks like UK will not run away automatically with the SEC East.

Auburn vs. Georgia Recap

Very well written.

Improbable

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Steve Newman Stars on T.V.

Well, almost.

Newman appeared three weeks ago in the front row of the audience in "The Price is Right."

They didn't ask him to "come on down," but if they had, I'm sure he would have represented the Dawgs well, and fought hard to bring home the "W."

Mike Mercer Dunks

The guy still has incredible hops. After two serious knee injuries, you would think that Mercer would forever be a below-the-rim kind of player.

Mercer shined in USF's game against LSU. He finished the contest notching 3 of 6 shooting, 2 of 3 from behind the arc, and he garnered 3 rebounds and 2 steals.

One of his baskets was an alley-oop that led to this incredible dunk.

Ben Watson Ready to Play as Pats Take on Colts

Got to love the attitude. Watson is playing hurt. Still performing at a high level. Ignoring his critics. Making plays.

Watson

The New England Patriots against the Indianapolis Colts is always a great game. Hope Watson plays well.

Kendrick to Memphis

How does this happen?

Do the great schools have superior coaching and tradition; the poor ones, playing time to offer; and the rest, pretty girls and money?

I guess we have to add Memphis to the list of teams that can swoop into Georgia and pick off our state's top basketball recruits.

The thing that concerns me is that Memphis has a first-year coach. To my knowledge, Josh Pastner has no previous head coaching experience, and would not seem to have a particular draw to Memphis, other than the fact that he says he will continue to run Calipari's dribble-drive offense.

One would think that Memphis would have been devastated after Coach Calipari left and took with him all of the high-level recruits from the Memphis 2009 class. Not so. I doubt they will be a top twenty team this year, but the future is definitely bright. Memphis has the #2-rated basketball recruiting class for 2010. Somehow they have successfully bagged the country's #8, #11 and #12-ranked players.

Memphis Stars in Basketball Recruiting

It was curious to me that Kendrick, who hadn't shared much about his recruitment, other than the fact that he would likely wait until the spring to commit, announced his decision for Memphis just a short while after the early signing period began. I'd be tempted to link Pastner to Calipari's previous questionable recruiting methods, but that would be pure speculation, unfair to Pastner, and it certainly does not answer the question on why other schools also are more attractive to Georgia recruits.

Well, I had hoped that UGA's days of missing out on key recruits from the state of Georgia would have ended quickly with the Mark Fox hiring. We can end it at some point, but it certainly will not be in the immediate future.

I don't think it would be helpful to the process to list the guys going elsewhere, but suffice it to say that there are 7 guys in the Rivals 150 from the state of Georgia, at least 3 others who were in Georgia but played at a prep school or another school out of state, and 2 or 3 more that we had a real good shot at getting based on relationships-- and we didn't get any of them.

What to do? Don't panic. Kendrick and a couple of the others would have helped, but Fox is not in an emergency situation.

If the 2009 and 2010 classes haven't gotten any of the coveted in-state recruits, Fox and his staff need to rebound by bagging some of the 2010 out-of-state guys. Signing those players will not strengthen our relationship with in-state high school and AAU coaches, but let's bring in the players we can. Add a slasher and a shooter to Cady Lalanne, mix them in with the current roster and we should be in decent shape.

And there are still lots of good 2010 players available. There's time for a surprise or two, or we can take a chance on a prep school guy or a Juco, or even find a late bloomer.

Further, we can always save the scholarships and work hard on future classes. Maybe some of the 2011 or even 2012 guys will commit early and give us a boost. In the meantime, let's go to war with Howard Thompkins, Travis Leslie, Dustin Ware and Jeremy Price, and see how the year turns out.

Update on Rambo

Good news. It was just a concussion.

"Just a concussion" doesn't sound right, because concussions are so serious. But compared to what it could have been, I think everyone is relieved to hear of the diagnosis.

Below is the article from the Red and Black.

Rambo and Recap

"I Love Me Some Herschel Walker"

Herschel Walker is giving back. He recently took a break from his mixed martial arts training to help out a couple that works with terminally ill children.

Walker told his audience of the problems he encountered growing up as an overweight kid with a stuttering problem. Through the guidance of his parents and the influence of his brothers' high school coach, Walker was able to discover a healthy sense of self-esteem and hidden natural abilities for sports.

Walker's Story

Dawgs Win!

Another UGA vs. Auburn game. Another contest that went down to the wire. Georgia escaped with a 7 point victory, 31 to 24.

Auburn went up two touchdowns on passing plays. Their guys looked wide open and things did not look good.

Georgia responded. The team showed the same never-die resolve that it had early in the season when Georgia seemed to always come back in the game after allowing the opponent to first get ahead.

UGA mounted a furious comeback. Somehow, Georgia got Joe Cox going throwing the ball, shifted the running game into gear, and scored with our special teams. When was the last time that happened?

Cox was accurate on a couple of throws. He hit Israel Troupe and Tavarres King for long passing strikes. He was even lucky on one play, when a ball thrown over the middle, without much zip, and almost a sure interception, went right through an Auburn defender's hands and ricocheted to Orson Charles.

In good news for Georgia's ground game, the offensive line started to open up holes. Washaun Ealey showed incredible balance and drive on a spinning whirling dervish play down to the one. He managed to squeeze into the endzone on his next run. Caleb King got into the act and scored on a short touchdown run.

After Georgia managed to get the lead, Auburn came right back with a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. Georgia received the ball, but was not able to move the football effectively.

Auburn tried to pass the ball down the field, and UGA came up with a play. Our front four collapsed the pocket, and the Auburn quarterback made an off-balance throw. Reshad Jones pulled in the interception, and Caleb King made them pay with a 20-yard+ touchdown run.

Auburn still had a chance to tie it. They ran the ball down the field this time and moved it effectively. Time was getting away from them, however, and Auburn was forced to throw it. On the play of the game, Auburn's quarterback hit an Auburn player in stride at Georgia's two yard line. Bacarri Rambo hit the Auburn player in stride, too. The jarring hit separated their player from the ball, and what would have probably been a touchdown for Georgia, ended up as an incompletion.

After the hit, Rambo collapsed in a heap. His right arm seemed stuck straight up in the air. Instant replays showed the violent collision, and players for both sides stopped to kneel in prayer.

I'm not sure what the status of Rambo is. I immediately thought that he had broken his collarbone, but then that didn't seem right either. I did know that his shoulder and neck received an incredible blow. There are sure to be updates, which I will link for the sake of the record.

After Rambo's injury, Auburn seemed out of sorts. Georgia recorded a sack. One of their linemen jumped and they were moved back 5 yards with a false start penalty. And on the next-to-last play, Auburn threw for the endzone.

Great-looking pass. In the far corner of the endzone. Very close, very accurate, and I wasn't sure right away what had happened. But somehow our players knocked the ball away.

Joe Cox took a knee and UGA won. Fantastic game.