UGA Hoops Prediction: The Sports Bank

Well, The Sports Bank doesn't expect much from the Dawgs this season.

They are predicting that we will finish 10th in the SEC, which admittedly counts as "improvement" given the fact that the SEC has expanded from 12 to 14 teams. However, Georgia finished 11th last year (in a tie for 10th, but Auburn held the tie-breaker), so a move to 10th in 2012/2013 is like running in mud-- lots of effort, but no real progress and no one wants to watch.

Sports Bank

For what it's worth, I think the Dawgs will do better than 10th place. Sure, we lost Dustin Ware and Gerald Robinson from last year's team, but the combination of Kenny Gaines, Charles Mann and Brandon Morris more than makes up for it. If we add a healthy Marcus Thornton to a more experienced KCP, Georgia should fight our way into the middle of the pack in the SEC. We should be better than Texas A&M, LSU, South Carolina, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Alabama, and Arkansas. If that's true, we're at 7th. If we perform well and get past Florida and a much-improved Auburn squad, then we're in the top 5 of the SEC.

Any thoughts?

Could Georgia Get the Steg Rocking Again? Five Keys

2012/2013 could be a turn-around season for the Dawgs. A lot has to go right, of course, but Fox has enough to work with to take the Dawgs from next-to-last in the SEC to next-to-first. Here are five keys to bring the crowd and the emotion back to Stegeman Coliseum.

1) KCP has to increase his shooting percentage. He's shooting under 40 percent from the field, and below 70 percent from the line. I've talked about his shooting form a few times. If he can be consistent in doing the small things, his percentage should go up. Putting him back at his natural position should help him get out on the fast break more consistently, which will lead to easier buckets.

2) Marcus Thornton has to come back healthy. We haven't seen what Thornton can do. If he can get back to 100 percent, the Dawgs will be able to play a much more exciting brand of basketball.

3) Bigs will have to defend and rebound like crazy. We don't need a ton of points from the inside players, but we do need them to do the dirty work.

4) One of the new guys has to perform. Between Charles Mann, Kenny Gaines and Brandon Morris, Georgia has brought in real talent. In my mind, Charles Mann is the key because he will be running the point.

5) We have to avoid injuries, suspensions, and off-the-court problems.

If UGA can use this early season trip to Italy, the associated 10 extra practice sessions, and the three games against European competition to get off to a good start, maybe this year will be special.

Dawgs Exploit Home Court Advantage

Red and Black Hoops Practice Video

The Red and Black combined its coverage of the Mark Fox press conference with video of the team practicing. Pretty good stuff.

Begins at 1:37 mark

A few things that stood out to me:

Tim Dixon looks taller. Could be the camera angle, though.

Donte Williams is definitely bigger. He has put on a good bit of weight in his upper body.

Looks like KCP still lets his arm drift right on his shooting motion. When he keeps his elbow in, he's a terrific shooter.

May have to adjust my conclusions on Marcus Thornton. He is moving slowly in the first part of the video, but right at the end he participates in a drill and seems to be able to run and cut pretty well. He may be healed enough by the time the season comes around to get over the physical and mental hurdles of his injury.

Dawgs to Face Gamecocks, KCP to Return

South Carolina is weak where the Dawgs are weak. They don't have much scoring and from what I remember, don't have skilled post players. That gives the Dawgs a chance to pick up a road win.

UGA vs SC

Glad to see that KCP will be around for at least another year.

We ought to be able to beat the last place team in the SEC, so I'm picking Georgia on this one.

KCP Receives Media Attention

Columbus news says that he "lives up to the hype."

He has the size and the attitude to make an impact, that's for sure. We definitely need some more pieces, but it will be fun to watch KCP's development over the next year or so.

Kentavious

Dawgs Lose to Auburn

Final score: 59 to 51.

Awful display for the Dawgs. Scored 15 points in the first half. Been watching a lot of Georgia basketball over the years. Don't remember any game that bad.

We shot 22% from the field. KCP, 1 for 8; Marcus Thornton, 0 for 3; Nemi, 0 for 4; Vincent Williams, 0 for 3; Dustin Ware, 2 for 13 (all three-pointers). Total futility. No way to make the performance pretty.

Box Score

To play that pitifully after a bye week... To lose to Auburn. My one hope is that Donte Williams and John Florveus go into the weight room next year and emerge looking like Takais Brown.

We are in sole possession of last place. This year will get worse.

Nique, Kentavious and Elevator Remember

their first dunk.

Great article and I wanted to be sure to link it for those who enjoy reading sports history.

Looking back on when I (first learned how to dunk a basketball!)

Note: Is KCP the best nick-name we can come up with?

Georgia Loses to Kentucky

On the positive side, our big men played okay. Donte Williams was 4 of 6. Nemi shot the ball effectively, going 4 of 9 from the floor and 2 of 3 from behind the arc. Nemi also battled for rebounds. I would have liked to have seen some production from Marcus Thornton and John Florveus, but it didn't happen this game.

Our guards were not that hot. Gerald Robinson was 3 of 14, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was 3 of 12. I was proud of Dustin Ware for driving the ball to the basket. He needs to do that 3 or 4 times a game to keep people from so closely contesting his three-pointers. He shot 5 of 12 from the floor and actually hit a couple of floaters/layups against Kentucky's players. Of course you have to credit Kentucky's defense. Calipari is an elite recruiter. He has guards that are tall, a full bench and Anthony Davis in the middle.

To have a chance against Kentucky, our guys had to defend well and shoot lights out from the mid-range and three-point distance. We ended up shooting 33 percent from the field, 33 percent from the line, and 28 percent from behind the arc. Kentucky, on the other hand, shot in the 40's from the floor and from three-point range.

May feel better tomorrow but as it stands for now, I don't like where Georgia basketball is headed. We're 11th out of 12 teams in the SEC with a 1 and 5 conference record. We are 10 and 10 overall on the year. I don't see us getting significantly better in the near future, and unless recruiting picks up, we will not get much better next year either.

Hopefully, I'm wrong. We still have a shot at Tony Parker and Charles Mitchell. If Fox can recruit an elite low post scorer or even a solid big guy we can right the ship. As far as this year is concerned, I'd like to see Georgia move at least into the middle of the SEC, so we'll need to make sure we win against South Carolina and Auburn and some of the lower to mid-tier teams.

Dawgs Win! Beat Vols in OT

An ugly win is more beautiful than a pretty loss.

If the Dawgs are to right the ship, we have to win games like the one against Tennessee. We have to protect our home court. We have to defend. We have to run the half-court offense, avoid jacking up the early three-pointer, and our big guys have to run the floor on the fast-break.

If we do all those things, then we can survive an off shooting night. Georgia shot right at 35 percent from the floor, and our three top guards were mostly ineffective: Gerald Robinson 6 for 19, Caldwell-Pope 4 for 14, and Dustin Ware 2 of 9. That's a combined 12 for 42 or 28 percent.

With that kind of performance, we could otherwise expect to be run out of our own gym. But we instead won because we notched 73 percent from the free throw line, our bigs fought hard, matched them in rebounding, and produced pretty well around the basket. We were able to keep it competitive until late and they missed four more free throws than we did, which turned out to be the exact difference in the final score.

Box Score

Dawgs Beat Bowling Green

We got outrebounded by a huge margin. A better team would have blown us out.

However, there were still a number of positives about the game. We won, and we are now 2 and 0 on the season. We shot well from the free throw line when we needed to.

Marcus Thornton needs some help on his shot. It's too much of a two-handed cast. I think he went 1 for 6 from the foul line. The key is that he was aggressive, and that will only help him get his conditioning and explosiveness back. May take until mid-season, or maybe even next year, but at some point he may be able to put up Trey Thompkins-like numbers.

Very pleased with John Florveus. He runs the floor well and has great hands for a big man. Put some weight on him and he might become the Dawgs' version of Vandy's Festus Ezeli.

Vincent Williams looks like he's more committed to pushing the ball. He has to be ready to help this year.

Caldwell-Pope looked pretty good, too. If he locks his elbow in tight and follows through correctly, he will be a fantastic shooter.

Let's win the CBE tournament and beat Tech. That will be a great start to the season.

Georgia vs. Morehouse Recap

Sorry to say this, and I know it was an exhibition game, but that was awful basketball.

Gerald Robinson looked really solid. Dustin Ware will give us the outside shot and protect the basketball. But other than that, I didn't see much reason for optimism. Check that-- we played decent defense and shot well from the stripe.

My biggest concern is that UGA cannot score from the post. That makes the team a lot worse than last year. In the meantime, Vandy is stronger, Kentucky is stronger and Florida is stronger. Alabama will be much better. Even Auburn has upgraded their talent. Not happy that the latter two teams have recently recruited well in the state of Georgia (hauling in Nick Jacobs and Shaq Johnson, respectively).

Kentavious Caldwell can handle the ball and is a pretty good defender. However, it appears that he has some issues with his shot, which I see as a right-angled over-spin on his release. Hopefully, Fox can get that fixed. KCP went 2 of 9 from the field in the Morehouse game, if memory serves me.

Djurisic can shoot the ball. He has very little lift, though, and does not appear to be able to drive to either side. Teams will body him up and limit his chances to shoot the three.

Thornton still looks weak. Unfortunate. Donte Williams has some springs. The starting five of Ware, Robinson, Brantley, Djurisic and Florveus was a surprise to me.

Maybe a couple of the football players will help out. We have a decent squad, but we're a far shot away from being elite like the other teams in the SEC. We're going to struggle big-time this year.

SEC Preview

The SEC East is going to be tough. Kentucky, Florida, and Vandy are all superior teams. Georgia will probably struggle this year unless Marcus Thornton plays big.

Fox Preview

Ten Questions for the 2012 Hoop Dawgs

Questions, questions.

1) Will Fox Become a Wolf?

Apparently N.C. State wants to talk to Mark Fox. If I'm Fox, I listen. Why? State can pay a lot more than UGA, and to be honest, that's why coaches have agents. The coaches can offer up polite denials, saying that they haven't spoken with anyone from such and such college, while they and their representatives are discussing details several times a day. The rep's try to get things lined up so that if the offer does have the kinds of terms that an up and coming coach wants, the coach can sign quickly.

2) Will Trey and Travis Test the Waters?

My best guess is that Trey is gone, but Travis will stay. Thompkins ended the season with a 26 and 9 game, in which he shot almost 80 percent from the floor, 100 percent from behind the arc, and 100 percent from the free throw line. He also showed that he had great hands and could even bring the ball up against the press.

With the injuries that Thompkins suffered this year, he might want to protect himself and his family. Travis, on the other hand, went 4 of 14 from the floor against Washington. If I'm not mistaken, all of his made shots were right at the basket, and he didn't hit a single jump-shot. He has enough to work on that the smart money says that he will take one more year to improve his handle and his mid-range game.

Of course my guesses about Trey and Travis assume that Fox stays in Athens and that the NBA season ends and begins as normal. The League's collective bargaining agreement ends in June. If things break down, then the best thing to do might be for both to stay for their senior seasons.

3) Can John Florveus and Tim Dixon Play?

Hate to say this, but from all I can tell, both will need a lot of work before they're big enough and strong enough to score consistently against SEC competition.

4) Who Will Man the Post?

If Trey leaves, Georgia will have a big void in the middle. With no JP, no Chris Barnes and no Thompkins, Georgia may wind up with the Bermuda Triangle Offense. If you throw the ball into the post, no one knows what will happen.

5) What's up with Recruiting?

Will Phillip Jurick sign? Anyone else? Who is this guy from Montenegro, and is he really better than the available kids from right here in Georgia?

6) Can Georgia Attract a Transfer?

If Sidney Lowe and Bruce Pearl are let go, Georgia may be able to pick up a guy like Marcus Thornton. Either a guy who decommits and asks for his release from the letter of intent, or a person who wants to find a new place to play, even if he has to sit out a year.

7) Will Georgia be Good Enough to Escape the Lower Half of the SEC East?

Florida and Kentucky are in the Sweet Sixteen again. Georgia, again, is not. They will have a deep bench next year. Vandy will be good again and so will Tennessee. I know it's early yet, but we all hope that we can close the gap some between those guys and Georgia.

8) Can Thornton and Williams Step Up?

Marcus Thornton and Donte Williams will be the only post players with any experience. They both did quite well in high school, and they have a good bit of athleticism. They'll have to show it next year.

9) How well will Kentavious Caldwell Play?

He'll be a freshman, and he'll have to learn the triangle offense. But can Caldwell-Pope give Georgia the kind of size and shooting ability that the team needs?

10) Will 2012 be a Year of Stability and Steady Improvement, or Transition and Rebuilding for the Dawgs?

What do you think?

Could have used him in Gainesville

Sure, he'll need to gain some weight. Sure, he needs to balance his game some. But Kentavious already has the key qualities that have Dawg fans legitimately excited about what he'll bring to the table next year.

He's a big guard. Haven't had a really strong contributor at the two-guard position in forever.

Great shooter. He can ring it up from deep.

Willing defender. Most of the attention is paid to his offensive game, but he is showing pride in playing defense.

Capable ball-handler. He plays some at the point in AAU games. We'll have to see if he really can help bring the ball up the floor against Division 1 defenders, and also whether he can incorporate the creation off the dribble mid-range game. If so, Fox will just about have to start him.

Hops. When he first signed, I was not aware of his athleticism. Much more than I thought. Give him time in strength and conditioning, and Georgia will really have something.

Interview and Highlights

Video

Previously Posted Video from ESPN

Nice!

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

Mark Fox Prospecting for Talent

Not that it's that hard to find. There is plenty of good basketball in southwest Georgia. We've just got to find the right guys for positions of need. And for the immediate future that means big men.

Fox on the Prowl

If he can't get a championship just like his Dad,

maybe he can help bring back a more important one.

Glad to have spotted this article from ESPN.

Competitor

Dawgs Ink Three

Georgia has signed letters of intent from the three hoopsters who committed earlier. John Florveus, Tim Dixon and Kentavious Caldwell are all on board.

Welcome, guys!

Kentavious Caldwell's Plans for the Future

Georgia hasn't gotten a guy like Caldwell in forever.

He is a big guard. Enough of a handle to play some point guard, but a natural two-guard. He's a legitimate threat from behind the arc, while still having enough size to post up smaller players.

Caldwell's rankings are impressive. Five-star, likely Mr. Georgia Basketball, and a probable McDonald's All-American. Sure, he may not achieve all of his goals for his senior year, but he is in the running for all of the various awards.

And then there's the confidence. Caldwell thinks that he can come to UGA, play as a freshman and distinguish himself sufficiently that he can go to the pro ranks after a year or two.

What's even better for Georgia is that Caldwell wants to be at UGA. He is an early, solid commitment.

Been a long time.

KC

Kentavious Caldwell Shows the Complete Package

Caldwell impressed the analysts with his performance at the Nike Global Challenge. Although his shots weren't falling enough in game one, he bounced back in games two and three. Against Canada, Caldwell scored 23 points with 11 rebounds. He shot a respectable 9 of 22 from the floor (but just 2 of 12 from behind the arc), and also had 5 assists against just one turnover. He was 3 of 4 from the line.

Caldwell followed that output with 21 points and 11 rebounds in the championship game against USA Mid-West. He boosted his field goal percentage by going 7 of 15 from the floor, 3 of 8 in three-pointers, and 4 of 6 from the foul line. He had 3 assists, just one turnover, and had 3 steals and a block.

Here is ESPN's review.

ESPN gives Caldwell a grade of 97 out of 100, which according to their system, means that Caldwell has the ability to start and make an immediate impact as a freshman for a top 25 college basketball team. Impressive!

ESPN also has some video of Caldwell up. Nice!

Note: I liked the video and that's Kentavious in the action recorded, but I don't think that's his picture.