Hoop Dawgs to Have Breakout Year?

Loved this article.

ESPN writer Andy Katz has picked N.C. State and Georgia as the two hoops teams poised to make a big step forward this year. I heartily agree.

Fantastic news all around.

Hoops fans have a pretty good sense of what we have in Travis Leslie and Trey Thompkins. The buzz in the program is being generated by the expected contributions from the other guys.

Great to hear that Jeremy Price is making an impression during preseason workouts. Georgia needs either Price or Chris Barnes to step up in a big way. They'll be called upon to hold down the center position for the Dawgs this year. Neither one is tall enough to shoot over the top of the other centers in the SEC, so Price and Barnes will need to play big, hustle on defense, and catch the ball cleanly so that they can go up strong and finish.

Jeremy has always had a lot of potential, but his conditioning never was where it needed to be. Albert Jackson was logging a good bit of the playing time at center, so Price didn't get max minutes-- that, and the fact that Price often shot his playing time opportunity in the foot by picking up touch fouls on the perimeter. He'll get the minutes this year, and it sounds like he is ready to make the most of his time.

Gerald Robinson is doing very well. "No way he doesn't start" is high praise from Fox. Dustin Ware had a good assist to turnover ratio last year. Especially so, since he was the only consistent ball-handler that the Dawgs had. But Ware wasn't fast enough to create buckets going to the basket. Robinson is.

Fox is high on Marcus Thornton. If Thornton is healthy and stays that way, he will score a bunch of points for the Dawgs.

Sounds like our starting five will be Robinson, Ware, Leslie, Thompkins and Price. The first man off the bench is likely to be Marcus Thornton. If Leslie is able to handle the ball more, then he could slide to the two-guard and Thornton could start.

No matter who starts, Georgia basketball will be a lot of fun this year. I'm ready for a breakout season. How about you?