Hoops Getting Started

Dawgs play exhibition game tonight against Young Harris. Pete Herrmann has those guys playing good basketball, but I expect it to be an easy win for Georgia.

The Red and Black article below talks about Coach Fox experimenting with different line-ups. I expect early in the year he will go with upper-classmen as his starters, which would be Donte Williams at center, Nemi Djurisic at power forward, Marcus Thornton at small forward, KCP at the two-guard, and Vincent Williams at the point.

Either way, the change of pace second team would be a good one, with Charles Mann, Kenny Gaines, Brandon Morris, Florveus and John Cannon.

Red and Black Article

The game will be broadcast live at 7:00 p.m. on georgiadogs.com. Admission to the game is free.

Terrance Woodbury to Japan

Woodbury is now playing in the Basketball Japan League. He has suited up for Ryukyu, the team that won the league last year.

Woodbury went for 31 points in his first outing, but has recently been coming off the bench and scoring less.

I'll update Wood's progress over time.

Leslie Cut by Clippers

The Clippers never were a good fit for Travis. Leslie was a high-flyer on a team that didn't need his skills. They already have Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan to catch lobs, plus a slew of other guards to throw 'em.

I suppose that the question is whether any NBA team is a fit for Leslie. Does Travis Leslie have NBA talent?

Leslie is a guy with pretty good speed straight ahead and excellent athleticism up and down. What he has lacked is the side to side quickness and the handle to get around guys.

Some will attribute Leslie being cut to his decision to leave school early. But the fact is that another year with Coach Fox was not going to help his game. Although Fox has a reputation for developing players, in reality our guards played worse last year than the year before. Dustin Ware went from 44 percent in field goal percentage in 2010 to 34 percent in 2011. Gerald Robinson fell off from 44 percent to 43. Brantley managed to go from a paltry 31 percent shooting to 25. Similar story for three-point shooting and assists.

Shucks, Leslie could have injured himself a la Marcus Lattimore. Besides, chances are that Leslie had more of a chance to showcase his skills playing with Trey Thompkins than he would have had running with Marcus Thornton or Donte Williams at the power forward for last year's 15 and 17 squad. I don't begrudge Leslie for bolting to the pro's when he had the chance. Would have loved to see him in the red and black one more year, but after all, it is his career.

The issue going forward for Leslie is how to move that career forward now that he has been cut at the last possible second prior to the season. Other teams have pared their roster down. They're likely not looking to add a player at this point.

Couple of options: Leslie could go play internationally, or he could look for a good D-League team, one on which he can play every night and get better. Although international teams are paying a lot of money these days and Leslie is young enough to enjoy time overseas, I'd probably pick the D-League route, at least for now.

Several NBA guards will not stick this year, either through injury or bad decisions or something else. Leslie has to keep his head in the game, get good counsel from family and other advisors, and be ready.

Good luck, Travis.

DM

If Kentucky Thinks They're Going to Win the SEC,

they need to know that Patric Young is going to battle them. Young and the other bigs at UF were already chiseled. Well, this summer they added to their physicality a level of explosiveness that the freshmen at Kentucky probably aren't ready to match.

This video was impressive.

Strength and Conditioning

Man, I sure hope that the Dawgs can have a good season. There are no easy victories in the SEC, though, so we'd better be working hard.

It Makes a Difference

Anybody notice the difference between the demeanor of Mark Richt and Will Muschamp?

On one notable occasion, a Florida player was called for a penalty (I think it was illegal substitution). When the player came to the sideline, Muschamp glared at him, almost going cross-eyed in his anger. Then, after an inordinately long stare-down, Muschamp got in the guy's face and screamed (if my lip-reading was correct), "G-D-you!"

I don't want to make more of it than it is, but I don't want to miss the point either.

Football is an emotional game. Coaches have pretty wide latitude in how they motivate their players and instill discipline. However it seems to me that Muschamp crossed the line.

I want the Florida coach to be passionate about the game. It's good for the sport. I do not want him, however, to have a coronary on the sidelines, nor do I want Muschamp to go all Woody Hayes on a player.

This post isn't even so much aimed at Muschamp as it is a reminder to myself. Attitude is important.

When Georgia lost to South Carolina, not having even showed up for the game, Mark Richt didn't jump and scream, nor did he throw players under the bus.

A lot of UGA fans were livid. Losing a key game was bad. Losing 35 to 7 was worse. Now Coach Richt wasn't angry, not throwing his proverbial visor? That was too much to take. Many wanted Richt fired. "He can't win the big game", "can't beat a top ten team," "can't motivate his players". On an on. But Richt was calm under fire. He said "the one thing Georgia was not going to do was panic." He knew that football is only a game, and that the game itself is played over a long season.

Richt wants to win. He is just as passionate, if not more so, than other coaches. He is just as conscientious about the requirements of coaching at a proud institution like Georgia. The difference is that he channels his passion in positive ways.

And that's a difference that makes a huge difference. I sure am glad we have Coach Richt at the helm. If I were the parent of a player with lots of options for which college to attend, no way I would send him to a school with an out of control coach. I would, however, be proud for my son to spend key formative years with Coach Richt.

Not only does the attitude of the coach pay dividends in recruiting, it more often than not shows up in the wins and losses columns. When Georgia's Aaron Murray was having the worst day of his career, when Malcolm Mitchell had let his excitement get the better of him, when Florida was driving with two minutes to play, when it came to crunch time, the Dawgs stayed calm and we were able to hunker down and make a play.

Go Dawgs!

Amazing Performance

I'm a basketball guy. That's what I know. Therefore, though I do follow football, I normally don't write much about it (and certainly not at 1:30 in the morning).

However...

That was simply the most dominant defensive performance by one player that I have ever seen at any level. Thirteen tackles, five tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, four sacks, and the game-saving play when Florida was just about to score. Then in follow-up interviews he gave the credit to the team and the coaching staff.

Truly amazing. Congratulations, Jarvis Jones.