Great game for the Dawgs. Final score, 83 to 74.
No, we didn't do everything well. Missed entirely too many free throws. But you can see what Georgia has to work with.
Gerald Robinson, Jr., is exactly as described. A legitimate scorer. Not a pure shooter. But he can handle the ball and take it to the hoop and he has a little show-time in him. Would like to see him do better than 6 of 11 from the line, but he made so many other contributions, you have to tip your hat to him for the game he had.
I liked Connor Nolte's game. Unfair to compare him to Trey Thompkins, the guy he replaces in the starting line-up, so I won't do it here. What I like is that Nolte is very solid with the ball. Doesn't turn it over. Won't score a ton of points, but he gives us way more than I was expecting. Takes charges, passes well. A true "glue guy." Reminds me a little bit of Corey Butler.
Chris Barnes is almost there. I want him to post up aggressively. He can do so much more than he is giving us. I like the fact that he really has worked on his free throws. He didn't shoot them well tonight, going 5 of 13 from the stripe, but he'll do better. As I have said before, if he can keep his elbow locked in tight, just as he did on his first two free throws, he will make more than he misses. Might even raise his percentage into the 70's, like Jeremy Price.
JP is doing great. Had 17 key points tonight on 7 of 9 shooting. We need him to bring the thunder every night. He can do it. Great hands and has now become a pretty reliable free throw shooter.
Travis Leslie looked great, except for the missed dunk. I would like for him to study film of guys who consistently go to the line. Like Paul Pierce. Add a few ball fakes to Leslie's arsenal and he can pick up another 6 or 8 points a night.
Dustin Ware was steady. Didn't shoot all that well, going just 1 of 3 from the floor. But we was clutch at the end of the game, shooting 4 of 4 from the line. Even got into the lane tonight. More of that, please, sir.
Didn't get too much from Vincent Williams, Donte Williams, or Marcus Thornton, although Thornton did snare a couple of key rebounds late. Glad to see Sherard Brantley get a few minutes.
When Trey Thompkins gets back, we should really have something. We'll still need to watch foul trouble, since we're not deep, but adding his contributions to the group we have will make for an exciting brand of basketball.
Go Dawgs!
2 comments:
It seems we watched two different games. Nolte's rotations on defense were killing us throughout the entire game. He was so slow getting over and provided no resistance at the basket that Colorado was going at him nearly every time down court.
The team really seemed to spurt when Donte Williams came in for a couple of minutes late in the game. He immediately thwarted a couple of Colorado efforts at the basket and rebounded the ball. He needs to put on some weight and work on his hands.
Robinson is ok, but he still has a lot of that small-school ball in him. Just cannot play that out-of-control.
There was a stretch in the first half when Price, Ware and Robinson were out of the game, and this team was dead offensively. I had expected Leslie to be a little better off the dribble this year, but he could never turn the corner against his man last night.
Marcus Thornton will be the team's 2nd best player by March. The pass he made to Price on the baseline was beautiful. He is still really tentative, but it was easy to watch his improvement from the beginning of last night's game until the end. Also, he did not appear to be in top notch shape just yet.
Good win. Colorado played tough defense and had a couple of decent shot-makers. Hard to know if they are any good, but a win is a win, especially in today's college basketball.
I think we saw the same game, but we emphasize different things.
My comment on Nolte had more to do with my initial expectations. I was thinking that he would be a deep bench reserve kind of guy. Mop-up minutes, but not much more. Yet he has shown Fox enough to start in Thompkins' place until Trey recovers.
Nolte had 5 points, 4 boards, 2 steals and an assist. Just one turnover, even though he handled the ball a bunch in the triangle offense.
He won't lead the team in scoring, and he could use more quickness on defense, but if memory serves me, he had two important charges against.
Donte Williams and Thornton will come along. My sense is that they're not quite ready physically. Don't get me wrong, I'm high on both of them, but they'll have some freshman mistakes while they learn and get into game shape.
As for Gerald Robinson, he has some work to do, but he shot 60% from the floor and 66% from behind the arc. Had 6 assists to go with his 21 points that led the team.
Robinson had a key bucket when Colorado was threatening late. Blew by the guy and scored off the window. We didn't have anybody who could do that last year, so I am expecting big things from him this year.
In short, I'd describe GR's performance as better than just "okay." We get blown out without him.
At any rate, I appreciate your comments, Anon. It's great to have a quality hoops team to analyze and discuss.
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