Not Drinking the Kool-Aid

I know there are scenarios in which the Dawgs could win the SEC East. No one claims that Georgia will actually do it, but rather that they could.

Well, there's absolutely no way that Georgia can claim the East if they lose tomorrow. In fact, a loss to Tennessee would be like a Saturday morning cartoon in which one of the characters builds this incredible machine, only to accidentally hit the red self-destruct button.

We'll still play football, folks, win or lose, but a 1 and 5 start would be as close to total program collapse as any of us have ever seen.

Will Georgia in fact beat Tennessee? Some say, "Sure. We just have to win, UT's roster was decimated by their coaching changes, and the Dawgs will come out on top." Of course, a lot of us expected UGA to beat Colorado, too. That, too, was a must-win game.

Well, I let my heart lead me to predict a win over Colorado, when my head was saying loss. This week, I'm not drinking my own Kool-Aid.

And, sad to say it, I hereby predict another loss for the Dawgs. I feel free to make my prediction here, since I doubt that there are any football players who read the Blog. If I'm incorrect and there are Dawgs from the gridiron reading my words, let my prediction be a source of anger so that you can go out there and take it out on the Volunteers.

So, with that said, I feel that UT has had our number. The Dooleys emerge happy and victorious, 30 to 14.

Georgia Basketball: Feel the Buzz!

Yes, there is a buzz of excitement. No, it does not come from the Georgia Tech Yellowjackets, but instead from the Bulldogs basketball squad in Athens.

Georgia will be much, much better in hoops. SB Nation believes so, and they wrote a complimentary article about the team.

Let me say this, with Marcus Thornton and Gerald Robinson as the key newcomers and a solid cast of veterans, Georgia will make a big leap forward. There may even be good news on the recruiting front next week, which could give Coach Fox some additional momentum.

If we start practice amidst the enthusiasm from a couple of key commitments for the 2011 class, the buzz from Stegeman could drown out the boos from Sanford.

Marcus Sikes Hits Triple, Forces Overtime

But it was not to be for Anastasia* last night as they lost a heart-breaker to Montevideo.

After being down the entire game, Anastasia tied the game with just 1.5 seconds remaining in overtime. Marcus Sikes was the temporary hero of the game, hitting from long range to knot the contest at 87.

However, in overtime, Montevideo was able to take control. The final score was 108 to 97.

*As readers of the Blog know, Anastasia features former UGA players Marcus Sikes and Ajax (Albert Jackson).

Trey Thompkins Video

Awesome interview with Jeff Goodman of Fox Sports. I understand that it's not new, but I hadn't seen it before, and I wanted to link it in case the Blog's readers hadn't discovered it elsewhere.

Highlights:

Thompkins says that the Dawgs are the team to beat in the SEC East. Coming from other players with a bigger ego, I would immediately dismiss the high expectations as boasting. Hearing Thompkins say it, however, causes me to think that he is seeing something in the workouts and pick-up games that has him very, very confident.

Thompkins is getting lean and mean. He wants to be tenacious and his sense of aggression has started to come out. Sounds great.

Although Thompkins is just starting his junior year, he has played a lot of basketball during his college career. He was injured and missed conditioning his freshman year. But since then, he has gone seemingly non-stop with the FIBA training and gold medal, and this summer's time making the USA Basketball Select team.

The end result is that Trey has played against high level competition, different athletes with a mix of skills and physical ability. His body has taken the pounding from battling in the post with Robin Lopez, Kevin Love, and Javale McGee, and has responded to the challenge of having to guard the quicker players like Lamar Odom, Gerald Wallace and Kevin Durant.

The good news of Thompkins playing the 5 is that if Fox wanted to, he could go with a high-scoring line-up of Thompkins at center, Marcus Thornton at power forward, Leslie on the wing, Dustin Ware playing the point and Gerald Robinson sliding into the shooting guard slot.

Speaking of Robinson, Thompkins says that Gerald is one of the fastest players he has ever played with. That's high praise.

Awesome interview.

Trey Thompkins on Preseason Wooden Award Watch List

Congratulations to Trey!

The official site recognizes Thompkins for being on the list.

The SEC only had three players to make the Wooden Award's preseason group. Kenny Boyton of Florida and Jeff Taylor of Vanderbilt were the other two for the conference.

The full list is available from the Wooden Award's site.

Sundiata Gaines Leads Jazz in Scoring

Just an intra-squad scrimmage, but Gaines is working hard. Trying to make the roster, while being 4th on the depth chart.

You have to like his production, as he led the team in scoring. The attached article notes his two three-pointers and tough drives to the basket.

Gaines