Recruiting (Derrick Walker and Teshaun Hightower)

Teshaun Hightower and Derrick Walker are visiting Athens in January.

Hightower will come to Athens next week.  Georgia should have a good shot at securing Teshaun's commitment, since Hightower is from the Atlanta area and prior to his prep year at Mt. Zion, played high school ball at Collins Hill.  Our competition at this point is Middle Tennessee, La Salle, and Western Kentucky.

Walker will be on an unofficial on January 28th.  He was reported as having a final three of Tennessee, St. John's, and UGA.  Maybe Jonas and crew can get him committed.  Of the three finalists, Georgia may be the only school with definite scholarship room.  Besides, UGA is scheduled for his last visit, and Walker will have Yante Maten's big scoring outputs as examples.

Walker is a guy that could be a cross between Jeremy Price and Chris Barnes, power forwards recruited back in the Dennis Felton era.  Derrick impresses me as someone who is not super-athletic, but has good hands, is a willing rebounder, and has developing post moves.  There's a lot to work with, and he could end up as being a skilled big like Yante Maten.

If Yante stays for his senior year, we could have a starting front court of Maten, Derek Ogbeide, and Rayshaun Hammonds.  The second unit front court would be Nicolas Claxton, Mike Edwards, and Derrick Walker.  That rotation would be fun to watch, and Coach Fox would be able to substitute to his heart's content without huge drop-offs in talent.

As for the back-court, Georgia is not in as good shape.  We will lose J.J. Frazier to graduation this year.  That's huge.  Frazier is our primary ball-handler and scoring guard.

So, we'd have Turtle Jackson and Jordan Harris as the likely starters at the point guard and shooting guard positions.  Fox won't be able to keep Tyree Crump on the bench next year.  Unless Turtle improves his shooting, we probably need Crump to improve his point guard skills so that Turtle can continue to come in as a back-up point guard.

I suppose Juwan Parker will stay for his second medical red-shirt year.  That makes four guards who can be counted on as a reasonable rotation.  Pape Diatta is more of a small forward, in my mind.  I am focused on guys who can be counted on to bring the ball up the floor.

Per the Prep Showcase article above, Teshaun Hightower sees himself as a big point guard.  One site has Hightower at 6' 4".  Although Prep Showcase says he's 6' 6", I think the shorter of the two measurements is closer to reality.  Either way, Georgia has recent history with a big point guard, Charles Mann, and that experience should be a selling point to Hightower.

Teshaun looks to have a pretty good handle and shoots the ball with confidence and arc.  Don't know if he could run the point guard at the college level, but I'm satisfied enough that he can contribute and a give us a fifth quality guard.  Hightower scored 31 against a pretty talented Norcross High team last year.

The good news is that Walker and Hightower are enough under the radar that Georgia can potentially sign them.  They would likely stay all four years, too.  Kind of guys we need.

Recruiting seems to be on an upswing.  Jordan Harris, Tyree Crump and Pape Diatta were good additions for 2016, and I like the addition of Rayshaun Hammonds and Nicolas Claxton, the two signees for next year.  Although Hammonds would be the only highly ranked guy, if we add Hightower and Walker, to Hammonds and Claxton, the 2017 class would arguably be the best ever for Coach Fox.

Let's get it done.

No more Kool-Aid, please

I know when I'm at my limit.

Approaching the UGA hoops season I saw Wofford at Stegeman, Georgia Tech at Stegeman, and a mid-major on a neutral court.  That early schedule said to me a UGA record of 3 and 0.  Maybe 2 and 1 if we started the season slow.

Mark Fox pronounced to the world that Georgia was a Top 25 team.  I attributed Fox's comments to salesmanship, a coach trying to buoy his players.  Although I couldn't see Top 25, I willingly went along with the implied notion that we would be pretty good this year.  Solid in the fundamentals.  Competitive, beating the teams we should.    

Last night a winless Davidson squad took it to us.  Beat us by double digits.  Now in the cold light of reality, we are 1 and 2.

In that same light, I scan our roster.  We don't have pure shooters, elite defenders or dominant post players. No Jeremy Price, Ajax, Chris Barnes, Ricky McPhee, Travis Leslie or Trey Thompkins.  We got a fat zero on the fall recruiting trail.  No obvious help on the horizon.

My hope is that UGA will get better.  That Brandon Morris is the missing link.  That we will beat Temple tonight.

I'm a homer, but even the most ardent hoops supporters have to face facts.  We're not a top 25 team.  We're not a pretty good team.  We're in last place in the SEC, on the brink of yet another losing season.

We need to turn things around tonight.  I have hope, but that's about all.  I want Fox to show us he can coach, that he can win on the court and on the recruiting trail.  I'm done with Kool-Aid.

Congrats to the Dawgs for the 2010/2011 Season

Okay. So things didn't go as well as we hoped. Still, the team won over 20 games and made it to the Tournament.

The guys all acquitted themselves well. They competed and were in just about every game. We didn't finish games with a lot of energy. There were a few at the beginning of the season that we closed out fairly well. But by the time of the SEC season, our late-game magic disappeared.

Our last game, the NCAA Tournament contest against Washington, ended up just like so many other games this season-- We would have won if we could have gotten a couple more stops and scored one or two more baskets at the end. After playing well in the first stanza, we fizzled in the second and lost by single digits.

All in all, though, I'm fairly pleased. Before you can be great, you have to be good. Before you can be good, you have to be competitive. The Dawgs had a good season and I wanted to congratulate the entire team, and especially the seniors.

Thanks JP and Chris. You represented us well. Keep up the good work.

DM

Can Gerald Robinson be the Difference Maker?

Georgia needs to get out to a fast start tonight. We have to shoot well and play good defense without fouling.

Would love to see Gerald Robinson get hot from the outside. He likes to set other guys up, but until Trey is fully ready, we have to have 15 to 20 points from Robinson.

AJC Article

Dawgs Win!

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!

Dawgs Win Against Colorado

As badly as we played against Mississippi Valley State, I am expecting Georgia to perform better against Colorado.

Colorado can shoot the three and they like to put it up, so Georgia will have to do a good job in closing out against their shooters. I would expect UGA to have an advantage in the post. They have some big guys, but if we feed the ball to Price, he should be able to be effective.

I am hopeful that Travis Leslie will shoot the ball well. He was 6 of 14 from the floor last game, but since most of his made shots were dunks, teams will start playing off of him to take away the drive. He's got to start shooting well from the perimeter to keep teams honest.

If we get a total of 1 point and 2 rebounds in 38 minutes from the combined efforts of Chris Barnes, Marcus Thornton Vincent Williams, and Donte Williams, we will lose. These guys need to show up tomorrow night.

It could be a close game. Anyone remember that contest in which UGA was down 4 points with under 12 seconds to go? Jarvis Hayes hit a three, their guy made 1 of 2 free throws, and Jonas hit the desperation shot at the buzzer.

It may take similar heroics to pull this one out. Their guards are at least even with ours, but hopefully our post play and home court advantage will make the difference.

Dawgs Win!

Sure, it was an exhibition game. But still it was good to see the basketball Dawgs put their game uni's on and get up and down the floor.

Gerald Robinson has a nice game. Good speed. Looks to pass the ball, yet can take it all the way to the rim. He had a double-double in his first outing.

Dustin Ware was on from the outside. That's a good sign. He was 3 of 4 from behind the arc.

I was most impressed by Donte Williams. I had posted last year that Fox ought to consider Williams, even though at that time we already had Cady Lalanne committed. My thought was that Williams was a team player, could defend, came from a winning program, and had a nice skill package. Boy, am I glad that we went ahead and pushed for and got Williams. He'll help out, even though he did look lost a couple of times on offense. Donte had 9 points, 7 boards and 2 blocks on the night.

Marcus Thornton looked pretty good. He'll have to work hard to get up to the speed of the game, but you can tell that he has all the fundamentals.

Chris Barnes had some good blocks. Price looked a lot better on his free throws. Leslie didn't play all that much, and of course, Thompkins was out.

We defended well as a team. We seem to know where to go on offense, and we have a good mix of size and skill. We need Trey back soon, but as for now, so far so good.

Recap, Interviews and Box Score

Dawgs Play Augusta State

The 2010/2011 version of the Dawgs basketball team will officially be revealed tonight at 7:00 p.m. The exhibition against Augusta State will take place in a newly renovated Stegeman Coliseum.

Should be a good experience for the fans.

Augusta State comes into the game having had a lot of recent success. The Jaguars went 29 and 4 last season, and 110 and 23 over the last 4 years. Coach Dip Metress has a challenge in 2010, however, since he lost all five of his starters and just about all of his scoring from last year.

Georgia will be looking to see how the roster can adjust to the injury loss of Trey Thompkins. Thompkins' ankle sprain is a significant blow to the team. There is a bright side, however, as I posted recently.

Trey's injury occurred almost a full two weeks before the official opener against Mississippi Valley State on Friday, November 12. So with the way the schedule is looking, I doubt Thompkins can play in the first game, and I suppose he'll miss the contests on the 16th and the 20th against Colorado and St. Louis. I'm hoping that Thompkins will definitely be back in time for the Old Spice classic on November 25.

Given Georgia's depth at the power forward position, we should be all right. Fans will get to see more of Chris Barnes and Marcus Thornton.

Let's lace 'em up and tip the ball off!

R&B Article

Trey Thompkins Injures Ankle

Just when the season was about to start, too. Since it's a high ankle sprain, no one knows when Thompkins will be back and ready to play. Bad luck for the Dawgs?

Or just what we needed.

We needed to get some more minutes for our other bigs. Chris Barnes has to be ready to play. Marcus Thornton must learn the offense and be prepared. Donte Williams and has to get some experience. Someone else has to learn the high post. We figured that Jeremy Price would start. Without Thompkins, he'll have to play more. Fewer breathers.

And it's not just playing time. It's productivity. Who will put up the 18 points a game that the Dawgs will be missing? Who will snare the 8 rebounds that Thompkins averaged? We'll see now if Gerald Robinson can be that third scorer, because he might have to be the first one-- register the majority of the points some days. Dustin Ware may have to shoot more efficiently.

Of course, we may just decide to ride Travis Leslie. See how far he can take us. He might have to score 25 points a night instead of 15. I've said before on the Blog that Marcus Thornton can get it done. Fox just about has to play him now.

Hate to see Thompkins go down with a bad wheel, but if it had to happen at any point in the season, better for it to happen now than in the SEC portion of the schedule. With any luck, the end result will be that Fox knows more about what he's got, and UGA will field a more balanced team at the end of the season.

Thompkins

Mark Fox Interview

From the official site.

Gerald Robinson has picked up some muscle. Looks really good.

Donte Williams looks bigger. Don't think he'll ever be huge, but a lean guy coming into a Division 1 strength and conditioning program can put on 20 pounds in one year.

Would love to see Chris Barnes get back to being "Bam-Bam." In my opinion, he is playing at less weight than she should have. He'd be more accurate in free throw shooting if he learns to lock in his elbow.

Marcus Thornton is a real key to the season. If he plays hard and to his potential, Georgia will be much improved.

Travis looks ready. Last year he missed some of the buckets around the hoop that he used to hit in high school. If he mixes in a ball fake, up and under move, and learns when to go strong vs. acrobatic, then with his natural leaping ability, he will have more than one 30-point game this year.

Video

D - ####!

Fox is preaching defense. If the Dawgs can pick up some easy baskets from steals or transition buckets from blocked shots, then those close games that we lost last year should turn into comfortable wins.

We'll be a better defensive team, and here's why:

1) Shot-blockers

We lost Albert Jackson and Ricky McPhee to graduation, Drazen Zlovaric, Demario Mayfield and Ebuka Anyaorah to transfer. Albert Jackson averaged a block a game. Anyaorah had 6 blocks on the year, which is decent production for a guy with limited minutes, but he didn't get enough playing time to get a good read on whether he could block shots consistently.

Donte Williams and Marcus Thornton have been added to the post for the 2010/2011 Dawgs. Both are quick leapers. Williams will have to add some weight, for sure, but he is athletic enough to be effective.

The net result of the roster transition is that we will have more shot-blockers on the floor this year. Chris Barnes will get more minutes, and Williams and Thornton will boost Georgia's rejections and intimidation factor.

2) Steals

Ricky McPhee averaged a steal a game. The key to his defensive production was hustle. He didn't have the kind of quicks that would allow him to get out in the passing lanes and take the ball to the other hoop for a lay-in.

From all indications, Gerald Robinson has the speed to pressure the perimeter. Sherrard Brantley will be available, too. Hopefully, he, along with his three-point shooting prowess, will be able to give us tough defense.

3) Fresh Legs

Since the team has more depth, Georgia should be able to exert a high level of energy on the defensive end, without suffering offensively. And as Coach Fox has said, his deeper bench gives him the freedom to sit guys who aren't defending.

4) System

Coach Fox has a core of guys who understand the triangle offense. He can concentrate more on the nuances of the offense and use more of the practice time teaching about defensive assignments.

5) Commitment

The guys have bought in. They want to be good and defense is their ticket to the post-season.

Article

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.

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?

Thornton to Georgia

That's my take on it. It's a prediction, not a promise.

I've stayed away from writing in the Blog for a good bit. Main reason? Work schedule. But there was also the matter of recruiting. I wanted to post something more on recruiting, but I was so discouraged that I felt I might harm the process.

So now that Thornton has already made up his mind, I feel like I'm free to post whatever I want. But wonder of wonders, my opinion has changed. Where as I was pretty sure two weeks ago that we were going to miss out on Polee and Thornton, now my Spidey senses are telling me that Thornton will commit to UGA.

That means that I can keep my more critical post to myself.

If UGA can in fact suit up Leslie, Thompkins, Gerald Robinson, Thornton and Price, we will have a powerful enough line-up to compete head to head with the powers in the SEC East-- especially when the second unit can be selected from players like Dustin Ware, Chris Barnes, Donte Williams, and Ebuka Anyaorah. Fox will have a strong enough bench to be able to insert players into the line-up based on favorable match-ups.

I have made my prediction, and it is the only result that could possibly make sense. Recruits want to play now-- not maybe, possibly, dependent upon a successful appeal. Thornton won't commit to Georgia Tech or UNC. Alabama doesn't have any more tradition than UGA in basketball. They have a new coach, just like Georgia. No reason for Thornton to commit to an out-of-state school.

Texas has more recent success than Georgia, but they are farthest away. If the relatives want to be able to see young Marcus Thornton play, it looks like UGA is the only reasonable option.

I'm optimistic, and I'm calling Thornton to UGA.

What about Polee and Williams?

Fox has two scholarships that he can give out this spring. Anonymous mentioned that he thinks that UGA will bring in Dwayne Polee and Donte Williams.

Dwayne Polee and anybody sounds good to me. I have been really impressed with him so far, and it would be a real coup for Fox to go out to the west coast and steal him from the PAC-10.

A signing class of Lalanne, Williams and Polee would help our roster to shape up, too. The best news is that we would have 5 quality big guys. You almost have to have that number, since we don't have a true center. Williams and Lalanne, the new guys would help to shoot and defend. Jeremy Price and Chris Barnes would give us the bulk and experience in the SEC. Trey Thompkins, if he comes back, would rebound and score.

Price and Barnes will be seniors. Lalanne and Williams would need to prepare to play right away so they can get enough experience to be the key guys in the post for the future. Of course, one of the side benefits from signing Williams is that it might put UGA in a good position for snagging Tony Parker down the line.

Dwayne Polee and Travis Leslie would hold down the three spot, along with whatever Drazen Zlovaric can give us. UGA's high fliers would keep us on Sports Center, that's for sure. We would have an exciting brand of basketball.

My biggest concern would be on the perimeter. Dustin Ware can bring the ball up the floor, with an assist from Vincent Williams. Gerald Robinson, Ebuka Anyaorah and Demario Mayfield would be the key contributors at the two-guard. Can any of them score enough to give us fire-power against a zone? I think that if Robinson is as good as advertised, we might be okay offensively. The bigger question is whether our two-guards can defend the bigger shooting guards in the league.

Dawgs Whip Tide

In the end, it was the Trey and Travis show yet again. Georgia's terrific two-some led the Dawgs to a come-back victory over Coach Anthony Grant and the Alabama Crimson Tide.

The outcome of this contest was anything but certain. The Dawgs missed a few from the line early in the first half, which kept Alabama in the game. UGA looked to be on their way to another second half collapse when they found themselves down by 13 after leading by 1 at half-time.

Credit Alabama's defense. Anthony Grant wanted some player other than Dustin Ware to bring the ball up the floor. The scheme almost worked, too. The Dawgs started to turn the ball over against Alabama's full court press. But Thompkins and Leslie kept up their own pressure, hitting buckets around the basket and getting to the free throw line.

Thompkins finished with a huge 21 points and 17 rebounds. He may become a 20-20 guy before the year is out. Leslie scored 16 points with 7 boards and 5 assists. His follow jam off of a Ricky McPhee missed three will probably make ESPN Sports Center's top plays tonight.

Dustin Ware didn't score much, but when he did, it was huge. Ware hit a clutch three late in the game, and followed it up by stretching out Georgia's lead from the free throw line.

I was very proud of Chris Barnes. I've been waiting for him to have a really solid outing, and he achieved that and more-- a perfect 4 of 4 from the field, and 2 of 3 from the line. He ended the game with 10 points and 5 boards.

Congrats to Coach Fox and the Dawgs. We're 12 and 13, 4 and 8 in the SEC. Maybe we can carry some of our good play on through these next few games and beyond to the SEC Tournament.

Dawgs Down 3 at Halftime

Things could be worse. The Dawgs are lucky to still be in this one.

Vandy has missed a ton of shots that they normally make. Jenkins is 0 of 5. His release looks different for some reason. Ogilvy has been held in check.

Unfortunately, Beal has gotten hot from deep. He had 4 three-pointers in the first half? Not the fault of our defense, so much. If we stopped turning the ball over with careless passes, he wouldn't have found his touch.

Are we somewhere near 15 turnovers for the first half? Vanderbilt is defending well, forcing the first pass in the triangle offense way up away from the basket, and once our guy gets the ball on the wing, they are defending him tight to cut off the line of sight for the next pass.

Despite Vandy's defense, a bunch of our turnovers are unforced. And what was up with the missed dunk by Chris Barnes? I know he's embarassed by it, but if you don't have your legs underneath you yet when you get in the game, you have to put the ball in off the glass.

If we can get back to the efficient execution we had at the beginning of the game, we can pull this one out in the second half. If we keep turning the ball over, things might get ugly.

UGA Rebounding

In my last post, the recap of the UGA-Florida game, I asked the question: What happened to the Dawgs' rebounding?

We didn't get it done, and UF dominated on the boards. "Dominated," in this case means that the real key was not their higher rebounding margin, but that they got the clutch rebounds. We had a considerable size advantage, and they just out-hustled us.

Georgia prides itself on rebounding. The previous coaching administration targeted big guys on the recruiting trail, and the way the roster was built, we should have a size advantage in the post against just about every SEC team but Kentucky.

Speaking of Kentucky, Georgia's next game is against South Carolina, a team that is coming off of a big victory over previously #1-ranked Kentucky.

Darrin Horn's squad has lost a couple of inside players, but the guys they have, hustle plenty. In their win over Kentucky, the biggest story was not Devan Downey's clutch drives and 30 point scoring total. UK probably expected Downey to get the ball into the paint and take a bunch of shots. The real key was the play of the Gamecocks' big men: the team got 40 rebounds, 16 on the offensive glass, and 8 blocked shots.

Georgia should not go to Columbia expecting the game to go our way in rebounding. If we don't really fight for each missed shot, things could get ugly.

We need a win. Let's get it.

UK Wins. Georgia Put Up Good Fight

Anytime you have 26 turnovers, you're not going to win.

They shot 33 foul shots to our 15. We could have gotten a few more calls, but that's likely to be the case at their place.

We need something more from our bigs. I think the trio of Jackson, Barnes and Price scored 4 buckets.

We have to have better ball control from our guards. McPhee has to handle it. As our 2-guard, he can't just be a catch and shoot person. He has to help break the press, dribble the ball against pressure, and initiate the offense.

Other than Leslie, no one is taking the ball to the hole. We need at least one other guy who will attack the basket. I'd like to see Dustin Ware build his body up enough to be able to drive, jump into a defender's chest, absorb contact and finish. Devan Downey is great at it, even though he's no bigger than Ware.

All in all, I'm pretty happy with the result. We earned respect against the #3 team in the country up at their place. If McPhee hits a few more shots, we might have won that one. Travis Leslie showed out. Great game.

UGA vs. Kentucky: Could Winner Take All?

Not to put too much pressure on the Dawgs, but this Saturday's game at Rupp could be huge.

At the beginning of the season, everyone was picking the Dawgs to end up last in the SEC East. Georgia was understandably seen as being much weaker than the 5 other teams in the division.

But not even the best prognosticators could have foreseen the variety of on-court and off-court issues that have affected the opposition. As the SEC kicks off the first conference games this weekend, I think the pundits would agree that Georgia's prospects are much brighter, based on the following:

1. Volunteer Orange Sing Memphis Blues

UT is still figuring out what to do about the problems that have ensnared a few of their key players. Just a few hours after the team played Memphis, a car with Tyler Smith, Cameron Tatum, Melvin Goins, and Brian Williams, was pulled over. The smell of marijuana and the presence of two revolvers under the seat meant trouble for the group.

Law enforcement is still working its way through the investigation, but in the meantime, the four players involved have been suspended indefinitely. Even if Coach Pearl were tempted to give his guys a slap on the wrist, he can hardly do so, now that the police and UT's athletic director are closely involved. Given the bad press that UT's football players have generated, I expect that the four hoops players will not see the court this year.

Make no mistake about it, the 6 scholarship players that Pearl still has at his disposal can all play. And he has some walk-ons to help him fill out his bench. But Pearl's margin for error is now extremely thin. He certainly cannot afford much in the way of injuries, foul trouble, or off shooting nights from the members of his squad. And his style of play will definitely be affected. Can UT commit to run a full-court press all game long, all season long? I don't think so. Without the press, UT struggles to put points on the board.

2. Downey, Dominique and Dismissal in Columbia

As good as South Carolina looked last year, the Gamecocks could end up as lunch this season for the other teams in the SEC. Devan Downey seems to be in a bit of a slump. He's still averaging 18 points per game, but he is shooting right at 40 percent from the floor, and has just as many turnovers as assists.

Dominique Archie, an inside player who had been averaging 14 points per game, was injured last month and has had to have season-ending surgery. Now, just this week, Coach Horn has dismissed Mike Holmes from the team. As the attached article states, Holmes was averaging 11 points and 5 boards per game. South Carolina will still be a team to be reckoned with, but their record as they enter conference play is a rather pedestrian 9 and 5, and without Archie and Holmes, other SEC teams should be able to wear them down in the post.

3. Vandy Plays Beneath Potential

Vanderbilt will be good, and they have defeated Missouri and Depaul in Nashville. However, Vandy will always have a pretty decent record at home, based on the unusual sight lines in their gym.

The Commodores have an up and coming team, but they have lost already this season to Western Kentucky and to Illinois, a team that Georgia beat.

4. Can Florida's Guards Shoot?

Florida is still out there. They hit a lucky three-quarter court shot to beat N.C. State and go to 11 and 3 on the year. However, they have looked less than impressive. UF is last in the league in 3-point shooting, and 10th in the league in field goal percentage.

5. Georgia has the Mojo

Has anyone else noticed? We haven't won every game, and our record is about where it was last year. But, knock on wood, we haven't had a single key injury, suspension, or legal issue this season.

Ebuka Anyaorah was out all last year to allow him to recover from surgery on his shins. His legs are holding up, and he even has some explosiveness going to the rim.

Albert Jackson's broken hand healed up just in time to start the season. Chris Barnes seems to have suffered no ill effects from his wrist surgery last year. Jeremy Price recovered well from the ankle surgery he had before last year. Howard Thompkins, who had a stress fracture in his foot and a sprained knee just before last year's season started, has recovered completely and due to his playing time with FIBA over the summer and his ability to participate in fall workouts, he's in the best shape of his life.

Everyone else in the division seems to be breaking down, just when our players are finally all healthy at the same time.

Could it be that the perennial "UGA basketball snake-bite" has finally latched onto someone else?

6. UK

So that leaves Kentucky. UK is undefeated. They're as good or better as everyone expected.

Are they be primed for an upset? John Wall has had some cramping problems. Perhaps the Dawgs will GATA (Get After That Asp), and Calipari's squad will feel the fangs of defeat on Saturday.

How could it happen?

I would use the same strategy against them that we used against Tech. Pack the lane and make their guards prove they can shoot from outside.

Unlike the Georgia Tech game, the Dawgs will have to rebound like crazy and limit their second shots. If McPhee and Ware get hot from the outside, and our big men play their post guys even, UGA might escape with the W.

Not to get too far ahead of ourselves here, but win against UK and the Dawgs might then have the momentum to go on a streak against the other teams in the SEC East.

I know all of this sounds unlikely, but we just beat the #17 team in the country, and I'm greedy. We have the mojo. Let's take it one game at a time, leave it all out on the court on Saturday, and see what happens.

I'm ready for more basketball. Go Dawgs! Shock the world and win at Kentucky!