Saturday, February 12, 2011

Dawgs Beat South Carolina

Ugly game. We had 17 turnovers, shot 60 percent from the free throw line and almost let the last place team in the SEC East beat us after they only scored 9 points in the first half.

We looked like a championship team in the first half. More like a rec team in the second.

I don't like the poor decisions with the ball. Sherrard Brantley needs to learn to fake one way with the basketball and then pass it.

Jeremy Price hit two clutch free throws late. Gerald Robinson had a chance to ice it from the foul line, but didn't quite get it done, hitting 1 of 2. We got a couple of good rebounds from Marcus Thornton. Still doesn't have his legs underneath him, but that will come back with time.

The good news is that no one will care how we won at the end of the season, but just that we won. We needed a win and we got it.

The Dawgs are now in second place in the SEC East. Tied with Vandy, both teams having a 6 and 4 record. Florida has an almost insurmountable 2 1/2 game lead at 9 and 2.

South Carolina is in last place at 4 and 6. Next to last is UT and Kentucky. How about that?

Maybe we're just not that good...

I have read the couple of articles out this morning about the Dawgs and how our team is hoping to close out the season with a push toward the NCAA tournament.

Slippage

Patch

While it's true that our team has had its fair share of troubles, and players have gotten sick-- the fact is that these kinds of things happen during a long season. It's winter and we can't avoid having to play through adverse circumstances.

As we go into the stretch, we're playing a tough South Carolina team at home today. The loser will be in last place in the SEC East.

We just about have to win this game. Can we do it?

I'm not feeling too good about our chances. Horn will have his guys trapping all over the floor. They arguably have a deeper team than we do.

If we can't pull out a win, team supporters will have to face facts. Maybe our players were over-rated going into the season. Perhaps our expectations have been too high. Maybe we're just not that good.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Winning Isn't Everything

In fact, it's nothing if you don't gain Christ.

I wanted to preserve the article on Mark Richt and his encouragement of the family of James Eunice. From the Thomasville Times Enterprise:

#23

Pic of the jersey

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Walt Hill Standing Tall at Shorter

Hill has scored a good number of points lately. He's been a consistent 20-point contributor over a pretty long stretch.

Every now and then I check on how he's doing.

From the attached article, it looks like he's gained a good bit of weight.

Hill

Monday, February 7, 2011

When was the last time that

Kentucky was last place in the East?

Georgia was in third?

Alabama was in first for the whole conference?

UK has a tough road ahead playing against Tennessee and Vandy. Either one of those teams could go into Rupp and pull out a win. The issue is that Kentucky does not have a big-time presence in the post. No Patrick Patterson. DeMarcus Cousins is gone. As a result, the team is decent, but definitely not great.

Georgia, on the other hand, has post scoring. If Gerald Robinson gets hot again, we're tough to beat. Hate to jinx us, but this team reminds me of the championship-winning squads that Florida had, with Horford, Brewer and Noah. Not as athletic and not as good defensively, but with balanced scoring and a good mix of bigs and shooters.

In fact, but for Florida's long-distance three at the end of regulation, Georgia would be in first place in the East.

As for Alabama, I don't know what Anthony Grant told his kids, but they have shocked me. Grant's players have bought into the defense-first game plan, and they're shutting other teams down. I did not expect to see them at the top of the SEC-- at least not so soon. I knew they would be good when Nick Jacobs arrives, but they are ahead of the curve at 7 and 1 on the year.

Should be fun to see how the rest of the SEC season turns out.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Will JP's Big Performance Help with JR?

Jeremy Price had a career night against Auburn. He matched his all-time scoring total with 22 points, and he shot 10 of 13 from the line. I'm pretty sure that's a first.

JP also finished with 14 boards. Absolutely huge, and Georgia needed all of his output in the overtime win.

I'll probably post a recap of the game later. However, in the meantime, I thought it appropriate to speculate-- Did Jarmal Reid watch the game?

Reid is one of the top recruits in the country and he is on high on UGA's wish list for 2012. You have to think that Reid cheers for his brother, Jeremy, and by extension, the Dawgs, night after night. That kind of connection could be the difference in Reid's recruitment.

I recently saw the article below about Jarmal's performance at the Prime-Time Shootout. He apparently had a great game, scoring from inside and out. After JP's outing yesterday, I thought that now was a good time to post the article.

Reid

John Florveus

The kid is not a prolific scorer by any means, but from all indications, he is the kind of player that will add length and some athleticism to the team.

I like for big men to go up and dunk the ball with authority. He seems to have at least a little bit of that in his game.

Slam!

Nick Marshall Goes for 38

After missing a couple of games with a back strain, Marshall exploded for 38 points against Turner County. Wilcox County won the game, 111 to 81.

Marshall can play. He had 5 three-pointers and multiple dunks.

Should be fun to have some fantastic options (Kentavious and Nick) at the two guard position for SEC play next year.

Marshall