Good group of guys. Tyler Whatley, Ricky McPhee, and Albert Jackson.
It's hard to believe how time flies. I remember writing about Jackson, hoping that he would be able to come in and help the team. Thinking about his transfer to Oak Hill, wondering whether that would work out for him. Being concerned that Jackson's Oak Hill teammate, Michael Beasley, seemed to be scoring all the points.
Jackson came to Athens and got to work. He battled through injuries, setbacks, and has now made it to the final stretch.
I will not soon forget his "parting of the Red Sea" dunk-- that play during the SEC Tournament when Jackson grabbed a rebound at about the foul line, took a couple of steps and rose up high toward the rim. Everyone in front of him leaned aside, as if moved by some invisible hand. Time had been running out and Georgia had a slight lead. I had wanted Jackson to throw the ball back out to one of the guards. "No, no--- Woo-Hoo!"
I never did know much about Tyler Whatley. However, you have to have contributions from all the players to make a team work. Even the guys who don't play much during the games do their part during the week. Practicing hard, going to class, making the starters better. From all I understand, Whatley was that kind of team player.
And where would Georgia's team be without Ricky McPhee? We didn't win a ton of games, but McPhee was in the thick of it in every contest. Making the long range jumpshot, defending, playing tons of minutes.
Wish we had our seniors for another year. Doubt any of them will continue playing basketball beyond college. And that's okay. I'm sure that they will all be key contributors during the week.
R&B Article
2 comments:
You were concerned that Michael Beasley was scoring all of Oak Hill's points? That team is always loaded. Went to a game during Albert's senior year and he wasn't even a starter. He was obviously going to be a project offensively, but would have been interesting to see how his game progressed if Fox had him for four years. Sadly, I don't think Albert developed at all under Felton...it was hard to truly appreciate just how bad a head coach he was until seeing what Coach Fox has done with these players in a short period of time.
Jackson never scored a ton of points in high school, but I thought the coach at Oak Hill might have helped. As it turns out, Beasley scored a lot because he was really, really good. Still is good, even at the pro level, although he needs to keep his head on straight, or he could end up out of the League.
Hard to say how Jackson would have performed under Fox. My sense is that Albert had the body type, but not the good hands and footwork that you need to be an elite player in the SEC.
A better test would be to see how well Chris Barnes and Jeremy Price play next year. Both of those guys have athleticism and pretty good fundamental skills. I'm hoping that with two years under Fox, added to the fact that they will get a ton of minutes, their scoring averages should increase substantially.
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