Killer B's

SEC Basketball will be fun to watch next year.  LSU will be much improved.  Hopefully, Ben Simmons will be a one and done guy.  Blakeney is no slouch, either.

Workout Session

Are our guys working just as hard?

Ten Questions for UGA Basketball (Post Double OT Loss to LSU)

1.  Can Marcus Thornton appeal for another year?

There has to be some rationale for an appeal, given his health issues and knee surgeries, right?

Sure hope so.  A UGA squad with sophomore Yante Maten, freshman Derek Ogbeide, and a returning Marcus Thornton in the post would be formidable.

Thornton might have played one of his best games against LSU.  Missed key free throws, but he was a warrior against a tough LSU front court.  Finished the night with 16 points and 16 rebounds.  Bad foul against Quarterman in the first overtime, but their guys were fouling him and he wasn't getting the calls.  He's won more games for us than he's lost.

2.  With Charles Mann on the free throw line, why pull potential offensive rebounders from the lane?

Fox knows that Mann is not a good free throw shooter.  As might be expected, Mann missed two foul shots late, and the second miss bounced off the rim and up the lane some.  Marcus Thornton or even Kenny Gaines might have been able to corral it if Fox had not pulled them away.

3.  Is it time to bring Nemi Djurisic off the bench?

He did have 15, and I know Nemi is a senior, but Georgia might hit the ground running better if Maten becomes a starter in Nemi's stead.

4.  Did Cameron Forte just earn a start at the 3 position?

Played well last night.  I said in a previous post that if Forte changes his shooting stroke, he can put up big numbers.  Good hands, crafty with the ball, good enough defense.  Liability away from the basket.  Clean that up, and Georgia has its small forward for the rest of the season.  Had 10 points on 5 of 8 shooting.  I say, start him next game.

5.  Why not press?

Arkansas does it, LSU does it.  So does Kentucky.  Gets you a few turnovers as guys get rattled.

6.  Did Fox make a serious effort to recruit Tim Quarterman?

I know I asked that question a couple of years ago, and I guess it's a moot point now, but I sure would like to know the answer.  Some fans argued back in 2013 that by signing Frazier, Fox had successfully recruited the best point guard recruit in the state.  Problem is that Fox hadn't.  Tim Quarterman was better, and UGA fans now see why.

Frazier had an off-night, and that's allowed, but the fact remains that he was 0 for 7 from the floor and finished with 2 points.  Meanwhile, Quarterman was 10 for 16, with 27 points, hitting clutch baskets, one after the other.  Quarterman will be a star in the league.  He lets the game come to him, but when LSU needs a big basket, Quarterman has become the guy.

Quarterman delivered for LSU last night.  Would have been nice to have him at UGA, but from what I could tell, Fox never seemed interested.

7.   What's up with Juwan Parker?

Is it a confidence thing?  Maybe he just needs to get in the gym and shoot.  He's not looking for his shot these days.  Defends and rebounds well, but if he's going to be our starting small forward, it would be nice to see him attempt a shot every now and then.  With his free throw stroke, one would think that that would translate into a nice mid-range game.  That's not happening.  Just wondering whether Fox told him not to shoot.

8.  Can we expect anything from Osahen Iduwe this year?

Didn't get any minutes.  Could be a communication barrier.  He's not a native English speaker, and even guys born here take a while to learn where to be in the Fox offense.  All the same, if he isn't going to play, why didn't we red-shirt him?  And I guess the bigger question is whether we can expect him to contribute at any point, this year or next.  I'm not familiar with his game, but you have to hope that Jonas Hayes is working with him to get him ready.

9.  Will Charles Mann learn a floater?

He's a 6' 5" point guard who has some muscle.  I get that.  I also get that he does not shoot free throws that well, and he turns the ball over on charges.  Can he keep his head up and use a floater or jump stop to shoot the ball?  Would love to see him add that to his arsenal.

10/  How will Georgia fare in a much tougher SEC?

We're 0 and 2 in the SEC and 9 and 5 on the season as a whole.  Hate to judge based on just a couple of games, but it's hard to see Georgia ending up in the top 5 of the SEC this year.  Our competition is tougher.

Alabama seems much improved.  They stomped Tennessee.  Missouri has talent.  LSU is better this year, even without Johnny O'Bryant.  Florida started slow, but they are improving.  South Carolina has taken a step forward.  Kentucky is a beast.  Texas A and M gave them trouble.  Arkansas has already beaten us.

There are no easy victories on the schedule.  If we're not careful, the season could get away from us.

LSU will be tough out

They press like Arkansas did.  Meanwhile, the kid from Georgia, Tim Quarterman, looks much, much improved.

Although LSU eventually lost in overtime to Missouri, they will be a force to be reckoned with in the SEC.

We need Frazier and Gaines to play well in this game.

Great Effort, Guys!

No need to hang your heads after this one.  We started off way too slow.  We didn't give up, though, and we made it a game at the end.  LSU wins, 68 to 63.

We needed a few baskets from our big guys.  If we go 3 of 20 from the field for our 3's, 4's, and 5's, we're not going to win.

Great game, though, by KCP.  Career-high 32 points and 13 rebounds.  I think he improved his draft stock, so it's really, really doubtful that he comes back.

Charles Mann had 15 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.  He's going to be a good one, folks.  Kenny Gaines had 6 points, 5 rebounds and 3 blocks.

We end the season 15 and 17.

If KCP comes back, I think the team should be competitive.  We still wouldn't have quality bigs, unless someone makes a huge step forward in the off-season.  Didn't happen this year, so it's kind of discouraging, but you never know what another year of strength and conditioning could do.

In any case, put KCP out there with Charles Mann, Kenny Gaines, and Brandon Morris, then see what Parker, Frazier and Kessler can do in a support role. 

Although I think Kentavious will not be back in Athens, my sense is that Mark Fox will.  His record over 4 seasons is not good.  He is now 65 and 63 overall, which is 50 percent.  He's just 43 percent in SEC competition, and has managed a losing record in 3 out of 4 years.  I've said it before, but if a coach is judged on wins and losses, Fox is doing about the same job that Felton did before he was dismissed.

Ultimately, I think McGarity likes Fox and wants to give him at least another year to see what he can do.

Extremely disappointed with this season, especially Fox and his substitution patterns.  LSU coach Johnny Jones decided to go small with his line-up, and they were tearing us up.  Wish Mark Fox had done the same.  Water under the bridge, at any rate. 

Let's support the Dawgs and see if we can come back better next year.

Why take out Brandon Morris?

Anybody noticed what happened when Fox pulled him?  We sent in Brantley, but with all due respect, Brantley does not drive the ball.  Morris looked great on the release on his free throws and I thought that if he gets open next time, he will be in rhythm.  Not to be.

We're down 20 at half-time, 39 to 19.  Please put in Gaines, Morris, Williams, KCP and Mann and let's see if we can get back into this thing.

Dawgs vs. LSU

Call me crazy, but I think the Dawgs win 2 or 3 games this SEC Tourney.  Doesn't mean we go to the post-season, of course, but if we win the first one and somehow get by Florida, we would have a great shot to get to the SEC Tournament championship.

Before I get too far ahead of myself, let me focus on today's game.

We start against LSU today at 1:00.  We match up pretty well with them, winning by 9 points over the Tigers back on January 19. 

The key today is that we have to hold down Johnny O'Bryant.  He had 16 points on 5 of 8 shooting and 14 rebounds against us.  Just a powerful guy in the paint.  6' 9", 262 lbs.  Donte Williams held his own last time out, almost matching O'Bryant's point production with 14 of his own. 

Kentavious was a 50 percent shooter, going 7 of 14 from the floor against LSU.  He always gives maximum effort, but he has started to wear down some, in my opinion, as the year has come to a close.  He was clicking on all cylinders middle of the season, but he went 27 for 80, right at 33 percent, the last 5 games.  Hope he is rested and ready to go today.

I think our guys step up.  We keep their short point guard Andre Stringer out of the paint, limit their second chance points, no easy baskets by O'Bryant, and our guys do enough to help KCP.  Dawgs by 8 today.

Dawgs Beat LSU!

Feels good to win one.  We hit our free throws and had some good defensive stops when we needed 'em.  Final score:  UGA 67, LSU 58.

We're not an elite team, but maybe we'll improve during the year.  Good to see Donte Williams show some signs of life out there.  If he can get us 14 and 5 every night, UGA can beat some of the teams on our schedule. 

KCP filled up the box score with 22 points, 5 assists, 6 steals and 3 rebounds.

Sounds like we'd better beat LSU while we can.  They'll be a lot better next year.  Tough to hear that LSU is bringing in three top-100 players next year, when we don't have any.   

Speaking of LSU players, I hope the guy for LSU that got injured there at the end turns out to be okay.

We're 7 and 10 on the year.  We need to go on some type of win streak.  Let's practice this week against the press because teams will be using that against us all year.

LSU Breaks Ground on New Practice Facility

Georgia was able to show off its practice facility and it has been pretty neat to have the newest, brightest, fanciest facility around. Now, more programs are getting into the act.

LSU's facility should be nice.

LSU