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.

Georgia Beats Auburn (Seven Lessons Learned)

Great job by the Dawgs.

1.  Bruce Pearl ain't all that

Lots of people love Bruce Pearl, and think that he's a terrific coach.  If Georgia had lost the game, fans would have rushed to praise him.

Pearl has his merits, but he's not the kind of coach I would look for to coach up my team.  His system, drive and kick basketball on offense and the press on defense, works when he has the players.  He will eventually get players.  With that said, I wouldn't trade him for Fox.  He's just not the right guy.

2.  Maten and Frazier

Enough said.  When those two guys are on, Georgia is a tough out for anybody.  Tonight, they were definitely on.

3.  Use the Chuck Mann Strategy

Charles Mann used to keep Georgia in games by getting to the free throw line.  He wasn't a great foul shooter, however, and he sometimes had too many turnovers.

The point still remains.  Drive the ball to the basket and good things happen.  Maten, J.J. and Jordan were terrific.

4.  J.J. is one tough hombre

He got bowled over a couple of times tonight.  He got back up and finished the drill.  Plus, he had five steals.  His defense was the catalyst that led the Dawgs to victory.

5.  Juwan is knocking the rust off

Hit a couple of key baskets tonight.

6.  Supporting cast came up big

We were one point shy of having all of our starters score in double figures.  Derek Ogbeide scored nine for the game.  We had five guys shoot 50 percent or better from the field.

Proud of KPG and Kessler for hitting two key baskets.

Turtle was off for the game.  See point 3, above.  I have mentioned his shooting form before, so I won't post anything about it now.

Turtle will contribute for us in future games.  With that said, I'd love to see Tyree Crump get some minutes, just to see what he has.

7.  The zone and press are tools

We might not want to be Syracuse, constantly in the zone, or Arkansas, trying to press all game.  But these tools help us win.  Fox went into the shed tonight and brought out the right equipment.  He needs to do it more


Again, great game for the Dawgs.  May have to watch that one again.

Giving Credit

where credit is due.

I have written more than once about Coach Fox and his use of talent.  All too often we have had talented freshmen on the bench, when they could have done so much more on the floor.

I wanted, for example, Kenny Gaines to play with Kentavious.  Not back him up, but rather, be on the court at the same time--  go to a three-guard line-up to make the best use of the talent we had on hand.  I had hoped that Yante Maten would have gotten much more time as a freshman.  Sure, we had Marcus and Nemi, but I wanted Coach Fox to find a way to play all three at once, or at least sub Nemi out more often.

This year, I have argued that we have to have Jordan Harris on the floor.

Well, Coach Fox actually gave Jordan right at 15 minutes of playing time in the last game.  Although Coach cautioned that he did so because of match-ups, Jordan deserves minutes.  He can defend and score and take his man off the dribble, something we need in the absence of Charles Mann.

Just as I complain when talent remains on the bench, I will encourage when our line-ups make more sense.  I see the progress.  More of the same, please, with additional minutes for Tyree Crump.

 

Season Ends

Congrats to the guys, particularly Charles Mann and Kenny Gaines.  You represented us well.  

I know that Juwan is frustrated that his bad wheel wouldn't let him get on the court this year.  If he has to hang up the sneakers and move on due to his injury, he's got a bright future.  

1.  Basketball when played well, is a fantastic sport

Not just to play, but to watch.  As Georgia gets better, the crowds will show up.  Jordan Harris plays an exciting brand.  So does J.J. Frazier.  

2.  UGA will be a better squad next year

Yante Maten will only get better.  This year's freshmen will mature and improve over the summer, and next year's freshmen are SEC-ready athletes.

3.    Still don't understand the sub patterns

Didn't watch the game, but from all I could tell, Derek Ogbeide was doing great.  Predictably, he was yanked right at what seemed to me to be the three-minute mark.  I don't think he scored another point all game.  Fort those of you who watched the game, let me know if I'm wrong.  I think we were leading or tied with St. Mary's when he was pulled.  We had an advantage with Ogbeide and the substitution broke his rhythm.  

4.  Yante Maten

Sad that he had to close out the season with a poor performance.  If he shoots under 30 percent for the game, Georgia will lose nine times out of ten.

5.  Wacky Gyms

Unfair advantage for the home team.  Hopefully, UGA will make the NCAA Tournament next year and it won't be as big an issue.  Still is a bit of one every time we go play at Vandy.  

6.  Recruiting

Hopeful UGA can pick up another Derek Ogbeide or Mike Edwards in the spring recruiting cycle.  

As I have posted previously, I would like to see us bring in Bruno Fernando, Harold Baruti or Deshaun Corprew.  It's frustrating to not see Georgia mentioned prominently by any of the top remaining recruits.

Proud of the Dawgs (Seven Thoughts)

1.  Momentum

 Knew we couldn't pull it out when J.J. got hurt.  He's the only guy on the roster with the speed to get past UK defenders off the bounce and finish with off-balance lay-ups or floaters.

It was one of those floaters that unfortunately led to Georgia's defeat.  Frazier penetrated, lofted up a floater, which went in, but he landed on one of their guys' foot.

Turned ankles happen like that all the time when you play basketball, but J.J.'s occurred at the worst possible moment for Georgia.

Calipari noted after the game, "The break we had was when J.J. hurt his ankle."  "That was a big break for us because we couldn't guard them."

2.  UK Strategy

Kentucky went right after J.J., post-injury, and Briscoe took advantage by driving him right to the basket.  J.J. is a willing defender, but with one bad wheel, Briscoe overpowered him.  Don't blame Calipari at all.

3.  UGA Strategy

Kudos to Coach Fox for finding a way to put UK on their heels.  Great coaching. It worked, too, for 3 quarters of the game.  In the end, we ran out of gas.  Kenny Gaines had a couple of good looks rim out that he might have hit when rested.

I guess J.J. probably "deserved" to have a chance to play through pain and give it his best shot. However, in retrospect, it probably would have been better to close out the game with Turtle Jackson at the point,

4.  Big Men

Once again, our big men outplayed Kentucky's.  Happened last year when Marcus Thornton and Nemi Djurisic led the charge.  This time, Maten went for 20 and Ogbeide did a great job on the boards.  Houston Kessler was scrappy.

UK starters Poythress and Labissiere didn't hurt us.  Lee was neutralized for the most part.  Kentucky has great depth, though, and as Georgia got tired, Willis hit free throws and open looks.

Proud of Derek Ogbeide, Mike Edwards, and Yante Maten.  Those guys will play a lot of great basketball for Georgia in the future.  Maten has another level to reach.  Want to see him come out chiseled next year.  When Edwards gets stronger and adds three or four inches of leaping ability, and Ogbeide gets down an improved right-hand jump hook, look out!

5.  Recruiting

I hope some guys watched UGA today.  Nothing better than representing the Dawgs on the floor.

Sure, you can choose to play way across the country, like Jaylen B. at California, Tony Parker at UCLA, or Kobi Simmons at Arizona.  But no one from this side of the country gets to see you play in person, and the games aren't even on t.v.  Tony Parker is finishing his senior year at UCLA.  His 13 points and 8 rebounds a game would have been huge for us.  Meanwhile, the Bruins are 10th in the PAC-12, and not going to the NCAA's.  With their losing record, it doesn't even look like they'll be invited to the NIT.

Some elite players may want to head north up the east coast.  Same answer as above.  Why go to Duke or another school, when you can be the man at Georgia?  Even out of state players should give Georgia a serious look.

Who wouldn't want to come in and help?  J.J. and next year's four sophomores will be that much better, and Jordan Harris and Tyree Crump will ratchet things up on offense.  We're just a player or two away from having an incredible run.

6.  Coach Fox

For those who wanted a coaching change, it ain't gonna happen.  If Fox will use his momentum and continue to play fast on offense and zone on defense, that would be enough of a coaching change for most of us.  That, and #5 above.

7.  NCAA Tournament

Makes sense to me to have four teams from the SEC in the NCAA Tournament:  UK, Texas AM, South Carolina and UGA.  I think we're in.  Sure, I'm biased, but Georgia closed the season with five straight wins and a close one against Kentucky.   That's a lot for the selection committee to disregard.


All in all, great game, Dawgs.  A win would have been huge, but you represented us well.

William Jarrell is a Player

If things turn out the way I think they will, UGA will have up to three additional scholarships to offer recruits from the 2016 class.

Georgia started out with three 2016/2017 scholarships open, since Kenny Gaines and Charles Mann are set to graduate this year and do not have any further eligibility.  Incoming freshmen Jordan Harris and Tyree Crump have already signed to take two of those slots.

That leaves one scholarship remaining.  However, two more scholarships would open up if Juwan Parker and Houston Kessler do not play next year due to injury and graduation, respectively.

William Jarrell is making a case for consideration for at least one of the UGA scholarships.  Jarrell's Crawford County squad whipped Seminole County last night winning 95 to 64.  Jordan Harris played big for Seminole County, scoring 37 points, to go with 14 rebounds and 5 blocks.  But William Jarrell was not too far behind, finishing with 27 points and 10 boards.

Jarrell is a rangy athlete who does a little bit of everything.   Defends like crazy, takes it to the rack, hits free throws and still averages six assists per game.  He's currently unsigned, and Georgia could probably lock up his commitment if we move soon.  

What do you think, Coach Hayes?

Can Dawgs Win at Rupp?

Very, very difficult to win there.  We have had some talented squads at Georgia, and we go up there and the environment, the talent and the refs get us all flustered.

With that said, we almost beat Kentucky last season (at Stegeman, though), and this year's Kentucky team isn't nearly as good.  Besides that, we haven't had a game all year during which Gaines, Mann, Frazier and Maten all play well.  If we can hit some outside shots and UK has a let-down after their big Florida win, UGA might steal one.  If we do, Georgia and Kentucky will be tied for second place in the SEC with matching 7 and 4 records.

Come to think of it, it's not inconceivable that Georgia could end up winning the SEC.  LSU will have to lose some, and Texas A&M and South Carolina will have to stumble, but it could happen.

Let's see what Fox does with the match-up zone.  Maybe Poythress will be out with an injury.  Perhaps Fox will start Mike Edwards and see if he can beat their big men off the dribble.

Are you ready?  Let's get started!

Why? Ten Things I Don't Understand

Got lots of questions.  Maybe some of the readers can help me, 'cause I don't get Coach Mark Fox's strategy.

1)  Why is Kessler still starting?

Nothing against him, but the centers in the SEC are bigger and stronger.  I suppose that Kessler knows the offense better than Ogbeide or Edwards, but by the time of SEC competition, the freshmen should know the plays.  I think Egbunu had 2 or 3 dunks on Kessler within the first two or three minutes in the game.  That allowed Florida to play from ahead, and we were playing catch-up from there.

Besides that, when Kessler screened a defender, Florida would double-team the ball and just let Kessler run loose, knowing that he isn't an offensive threat.  Kessler was 0 for 2 from the floor, with 0 rebounds, 0 assists and a turnover.  We have to get some production from that position, or it's going to be a long year.

2)  Why do we allow teams to walk the ball up the floor uncontested?

UF uses the 2-2-1 press as a staple to slow teams down.  By the time we get into our offense, the 30 second clock is working against us.  We have a press.  Mike Edwards played for a high school team on which the full court press was used every game with Edwards on the ball.  Why not press at least some?

3)  Why don't we put at least two guys along the lane to rebound missed foul shots?

If Ogbeide is shooting a one and one, then put somebody along the lane to catch the long rebound.  We generally don't have rebounders line up when we shoot free throws.  If we were shooting 80 percent or above as a team, I guess it would make more sense to me.  Predictably, Ogbeide missed the one and one, the ball caromed off the rim, but we didn't have anyone on that side of the line to rebound it.

4)  Why run the zone when we need to speed up their offense?

We sat back and let them run clock.  Made no sense to me.

5)  Why not foul when we need to get more possessions?

They shot 57 percent from the line.  Florida was already in the double bonus.  Might as well use the hack-a-Gator strategy so we can get the ball back.

6)  If Chuck is struggling, why not give Jackson more minutes?

Charles was 1 for 7 from the field with 3 turnovers and 0 assists.  Jackson did not score, but he needs to get minutes if Charles is off.  Most of Jackson's shot attempts were long ones at the end of the game when the clock was running out.

Chuck's free throws are better this year, but everything else seems off.

7)  Why not try some 1-3-1?

Seems like Fox goes with the zone when I would play man, and he plays man when I would play zone.  You can get some turnovers when you spring the 1-3-1 on opposing teams.  I don't think I've ever seen us use the 1-3-1.

8)  Why can't we get some rebounds?

I suppose this goes back to giving Ogbeide and Edwards more time.  Do we need to start Wilridge and bring Chuck off the bench?

9)  Why didn't we recruit Egbunu?

Egbunu went to school in the Atlanta area.  I pushed for us to give him a look.  Hard for me to believe that we couldn't have fought off USF for his recruitment.

10)  Are we really bad, or did we just have a bad night?

Hate to lose to a first-year coach when Fox has been here seven years.  I know you can lose a game down in Gainesville when they are shooting the ball well, but it just looked like they out-coached us.

Uggghh.  We'll play better, but the SEC is tougher this year.  Hope we can get things turned around.  As for now, I just have a lot of questions.

Georgia Can Win at Florida: Five Keys

Always difficult to come away with a victory when playing down in Gainesville.  However, the Dawgs can get it done.  Here are my five keys.

1)  Watch for the trap

Florida runs a 2-2-1 full court press.  The way to beat it is by using a 1-1-1-2 concept in bringing the ball up.

In other words, Georgia should keep a man behind the guard dribbling the ball up the floor,  If the trap comes, UGA's guard should throw the ball back to the guard trailing the action.  That guard should then have the angle to advance the ball quickly.

In addition, there should be a guy posted in the middle of the floor, and two guys on the baseline, close enough to their hoop so our guys have to be guarded, but far enough away so that they can become an outlet on the side of the floor, if needed.

In no case should we dribble the ball to the corner and stop. They will run us out of the gym if we give them easy steals and transition buckets.

Georgia's three-guard line-up of Gaines, Frazier and Mann should be able to break Florida's press.

2)  Make them shoot over the top

UF does not have a guy this year like Michael Frazier II, who was Florida's designated three-point marksman last season.  He set the Florida record for three-pointers made in a season, and once made 11 in a game against South Carolina.  Frazier declared for the NBA draft last season.

Since Florida struggles with outside shooting, I would sag on their on-ball screens and make sure the screen-man diving to the hoop isn't open.

KeVaughn Allen is a guy who can shoot the ball pretty well, but even still I'd make him prove that he is hot, before risking giving Florida the chance to drive the ball to the hole and make relatively easy shots or get our guys in foul trouble.

3)  Don't fall for the fake shot-clock

Some of their fans have started yelling out a count-down, as if the shot clock is going down to zero.  Our point guards should keep track of the actual clock and ignore their fans.

4)  Run when we can

If we get some turnovers, or rebound some of their long misses, we have to push the ball up the floor and score quickly.  Let's take their crowd out of the game.

5)  Play the match-ups

That means, use the match-up zone some.  Cut off their guards' penetration angles and avoid getting our guards in foul trouble.  But it also means that Fox should utilize his bench.  Give Ogbeide and Mike Edwards enough time for them to get Egbunu in foul trouble.  

We owe Mike White one.  Let's go to Gainesville and come back with the W.

Great Game Against Clemson

Charles Mann scored 18 points on 5 of 8 shooting, and 8 of 8 from the free throw line.  Fantastic game.  He did have the one offensive foul when he should have pulled up for the jumper or gone with the floater, but that's okay.  Aggressive players will have one of those per outing.  Otherwise, Mann handled the ball well and made great decisions.

Yante Maten went 3 for 3 from the field and 2 for 2 from the line.  Just 8 points in 15 minutes.  He had foul trouble going against Clemson's burly front line.

Kenny Gaines was 6 of 10 from the floor.  Was 3 of 6 from deep.  Finished with 17 points.

J.J. Frazier wasn't on.  He was 3 of 9 from the field and just 1 of 3 from the line.  He still had 5 boards and 4 assists with 0 turnovers.

DO got 11 minutes of playing time.  Seemed like more.  Ogbeide is steadily recovering from the shoulder injury. Shot 3 of 6 from the floor.  Mike Edwards had 3 points and 3 blocked shots in 24 minutes.  He'll get better as he learns what to do and gets stronger.

Clemson scored 48 points,  Just 27 percent shooting.  Georgia's defense was good.  Probably not that good.  Clemson is a bad team.  They've beaten Presbyterian, Wofford, and South Carolina Upstate, but not much of anybody else.  Clemson will struggle mightily in the ACC this year. They lack an elite ball handler and a few other pieces.

Still, Clemson is a major university, and the win should be a huge confidence builder for Mark Fox, Charles Mann and Dawg fans.

Keep Your Head Up, Chuck

Okay.  The Georgia Tech game was not Charles Mann's finest effort. He went 1 for 6 from the floor and 2 for 4 from the line.

Even still, Mann had that critical hustle play in the second half, where he split the double team, briefly lost possession, then somehow came up with the ball in the scrum, and from his knees fired a pass to a teammate (Kessler?) for a lay-in.

Mann has to adjust to how the referees are going to call the game.  As he does so, he will get more trips to the line, and his field goal percentage will go up.  As it stands, the hard work that Mann has put in is showing itself.  His form at the free throw line is much better.  He even has more arc on his outside shot.  He now has to trust his skill.  Make a couple of mid-range shots, Chuck, and the drives will become easier.

Keep playing hard.  Looking for a big game from you against Clemson.

Never, ever supposed to lose to Tech

in any sport.

Glad that order has been restored.  We still owe them a few games in basketball, though.  I think that with the recruits coming in next year and with what we have now, we should be able to win at their place.

Congrats to the whole Dawgs team.  Somewhat concerned that neither Charles Mann nor Kenny Gaines played well.  I know that Chuck has been moved around a bit and that Gaines had the knee injury, but I hope they get their mojo back.  Chuck was 1 for 6 from the floor. Maybe he needs to stretch more.  He has bulked up a good bit over the last couple of years.  I wonder whether he needs to work on flexibility.

After seeing James White play for the first time, I think Georgia fans will be thrilled that UGA ended up with Mike Edwards and not White.  White has potential, and he did score 4 points against us.  At the end of the day, however, I'm not sure how much he would have helped UGA this year if he had in fact signed with us.  Same with Tevin Mack.  Mack is averaging 5 points a game on 24% shooting.

The fact that neither White nor Mack signed meant the scholarship was open for Mike Edwards to take.  James White, having only one year of eligibility, would have had to fit in and produce right away.  Meanwhile, Edwards has four years to develop, and he has all the physical tools to have a breakout year next year.

J.J. Frazier was the story today.  Totally outplayed their guards and ended up with 35 points.  Hope it was a cramp there for him at the end.

Great win for the Dawgs.

Bring in Baruti Now!

Harold Baruti is a player.  Guy is 6' 6", shoots 40 percent from behind the arc, and has impressive hops.  Defends.  Gets you 10 points, 5 boards, and a steal per game on a Mountain Mission team with other D1 recruits.  What's not to like?

Harold Baruti has only one or two D1 offers, best I can tell from the published reports.  He's a diamond in the rough like Mike Edwards.

Bring Baruti in and he can play either the 2 or the 3 position.  We need another scorer, since we're losing Kenny Gaines and Charles Mann after this year.  I know we will have Jordan Harris and Tyree Crump, but we don't have any depth at the three position behind Wilridge.

While we're at it, let's recruit Jethro Tshisumpa, too.  Not the most skilled player right now, but he's a big man who can block shots, rebound, run the floor, catch passes cleanly and dunk.  With a year behind Derek Ogbeide, Tshisumpa could really blossom.  I don't see where that scholarship would come from, but if we had one available beyond the one given to Baruti, Tshisumpa would be a good catch.

Jonas, I know we might be eyeing another stretch 4.  I really think that in a year like this one, you bring in the best player available.  That's Harold Baruti, in my opinion.

Interesting Pieces

1,  News Articles

Good to see some news about the basketball Dawgs.  GeorgiaDogs.com has a video featuring Houston Kessler.  Here's the one on Kenny Gaines.

There's more out on the Web.  If you haven't checked it out already, you should visit the Dawgs' Twitter page.

2.  Roster

I'm about as curious as anyone on how Fox will develop and use his players.  Sure, Charles Mann and Kenny Gaines (if healthy) will lead the charge this season.  Yante Maten, as the only post with significant experience, will start.

But will we get anything from Osahen Iduwe this year?  How about Mike Edwards?  Derek Ogbeide?  How much will Turtle Jackson play?  Where will J.J. Frazier get his playing time?

The 3-position has been a mystery for Georgia since Brandon Morris left.  Does Wilridge have the talent to lock it down?  Will Fox go big with Edwards?  Is Juwan Parker recovered from surgery enough to give us minutes?  How about KPG?  Did he work hard enough during the off-season to contribute on the wing?

3.  Recruiting

UGA commits Tyree Crump and Jordan Harris can play.  Who else will we bring in?  I figure we need at least one big, but Fox may have different ideas.  How many spots will we have, anyway?

As I said, lots of interesting pieces.

Getting excited about basketball.

Mack to Texas

Great recruiting job by Shaka Smart.  Great effort  by Mark Fox and staff.

Let's move on.  We have better class separation without Mack, and I never was convinced that he would defend well.  Always can use a "maker", but Fox has two of those committed for 2016.  If he can hold onto Crump and Harris, UGA will have a really good line-up.

As far as 2015/2016 is concerned, without Mack I'm not sure who will play well at the three position, but we may go big with Mike Edwards out there, hope that KPG holds it down, put Charles Mann or Turtle Jackson with Kenny Gaines, or maybe sign James White and put him at the three.  At any rate, we have some athletic big guys for the first time in recent memory.  We can adjust the starting five as needed.

Tevin Mack Speaks Recruiting

Says he doesn't have a top five. UGA has been talking to him. Plans on visiting UGA, South Carolina and Texas.

Watch the video linked below.  But in case the link ever is taken down, here are a few tidbits:

Mack wants to go somewhere where the coaching staff is stable, and where he gets to play right away.

He knows he can score the ball, but he wants to work on defense and rebounding, getting stronger and being more explosive in his leaping ability.

Also says that his mother is heavily involved with the decision, although his college choice is ultimately his decision.  Lots of teams talking to him, but he has five actual offers on the table.


Sounds to me like Texas is in first place (relationship with Shaka Smart), then South Carolina (hometown hero possibility), then UGA (close to home, can play right away).

If I'm Ms. Mack, I wouldn't want my son playing for Coach Martin.  He's in a bit of a hot seat situation,  Even if he weren't, Martin is an in your face screamer.  South Carolina's version of Andy Landers.  Some guys need that, but I wouldn't entrust my son to that kind of treatment.

In UGA's favor, we really don't have a wing on the roster.  Fact is, we haven't had a scoring wing in a long, long time.  Only guy that comes to mind right now is Jarvis Hayes.

For the present, Georgia can make do with hybrid 3/4 guys, like Wilridge and Geno, or we can stick out there a combo guard, like Mann and Parker (assuming Parker comes back healthy). Bottom line is that if Tevin Mack comes to Athens, he starts right away.

Mack's eyes must light up a bit when he considers UGA.  We're offensively challenged.  We need a maker.  When we have guys that can score the ball, we can get them to the League.  Don't remember anybody recent from South Carolina who has made it.

Interview with WISTV

Part Two

We're in the mix, but can we close?

Fox Bottom Five in SEC Coaches

according to Clay Travis, Fox Sports commentator.

Article

In answering a reader's question about the upgrade in talent in the SEC coaching ranks, Travis put two of the new guys in his top five coaching picks.

I.  Top Five

1.  Billy Donovan

2.  John Calipari

3.  Bruce Pearl

4.  Rick Barnes

5.  Ben Howland

Hard to challenge his top five, though I probably wouldn't put Bruce Pearl in there.  Pearl can coach, but can he stay out of trouble?  His margin for error is very thin, but he has some good recruits coming in.  Will Auburn finish the year in the SEC's top five?  I doubt it.

Billy Donovan can flat out coach.  I wonder how his team will perform this year.  Will his guys take a big leap forward?  Will Chris Walker show why he was a five-star recruit?  Donovan has Noah Dickerson coming in, but other than that, I don't remember any significant recruits.  I expect Donovan to struggle next season.  Maybe he runs off to the pro's.

John Calipari will ride his ridiculous recruiting classes until he leaves for the NBA.  Jaylen Brown will probably end up in Lexington.

I believe that if Georgia gets Mike Edwards, we will win one of the two games against UK next year.


II.  Next Four

6.  Mike Anderson

7.  Kevin Stallings

8.  Andy Kennedy

9.  Frank Martin

I think that Kevin Stallings is a good coach.  Runs the motion offense.  I still argue that the Vandy arena gives their guys an unfair home-court advantage.  Even so, Stallings gets a lot out of his talent.

Disagree that Frank Martin over at South Carolina is any better than Fox.  What has he done?  I mean, other than yell at his guys.


III.  Bottom Five

10.  Mark Fox

11.  Johnny Jones

12.  Billy Kennedy

13.  Alabama's Vacant Spot

14.  Kim Anderson

Wow.  Johnny Jones will win his fair share of games this upcoming season.  Jordan Mickey declaring for the pro's will hurt some, but the new kid Ben Simmons can flat out play.  Jones won't be considered bottom five for long.

Alabama missed on Marshall from Wichita State.  Don't know who they will get.  I expect them to take a step back next year.

Fox is probably a year away from making a significant move.  He's got the program stabilized, but the SEC is getting tougher almost overnight.  The good news is that Jordan Harris and Tyree Crump from southwest Georgia are two 2016 recruits who will make a difference, assuming they sign their LOI's and enroll.  Team those two guys with Turtle Jackson and UGA has a perimeter line-up that can go toe-to-toe with anyone.  But that's year after next.

I expect 2015/16 will be pretty good.  Our line-up top to bottom is probably the best that Fox has had.

Turtle Jackson is better than most people think.  Fox may consider starting him at the point, keeping Charles Mann at the three and going to war with Kenny Gaines at the two, and Yante Maten and Derek Ogbeide in the post.  Now if UGA gets anything from Osahen Iduwe, we might end up quite good.  In any case, a healthy J.J. Frazier and Juwan Parker form a good guard rotation, and we are a recruit or two away from being competitive in the post.

If UGA ends up next season in the top five SEC teams for a third straight year, maybe move Pearl down and put Fox in his place.

Georgia is Close

The high water mark for Fox basketball was when he had the athletes.  Doesn't get much better than this.

Fox could put on the floor a point guard who would protect the ball and shoot clutch free throws (Dustin Ware), a shooting guard who defended well and was reliable from deep (Ricky McPhee), a bulky guy with a big butt in the low post (Jeremy Price), a tall athlete at the high post (Trey Thompkins), and a sky-walking small forward (Travis Leslie).

UGA gobbled up rebounds with Thompkins, Price, and Leslie, and we could employ the match-up zone effectively with a long athletic guy at the top of the zone.

The problem is that all the athletes were Felton recruits.  When they left, the cupboard wasn't exactly bare, but it definitely was not well stocked.

Dawg fans have been waiting for the glory days to come back.  Meanwhile, we won the best we could.  Lost games we should have won.  Endured ugly basketball.

Well, guys.  I think Georgia is close.  Given the 2015 signing class and the 2016 commitments, we may be able to mix and match pieces and deploy some guys who will bring the excitement back.

Next year Fox can put on the floor two point guards who will give us some of the contributions that Dustin Ware made.

Charles Mann will be a senior.  With better athletes around him and reduced minutes, he won't have to force the action.  This will cut down on his turnovers and boost his assists.  Mann is a career 69 percent free throw shooter.  If he can improve those numbers to hit 75 to 80 percent, Georgia will close out some games with victories that we previously would have lost.

J.J. Frazier won't have to start, though he might.  He'll man the point whenever Chuck doesn't.  He is a clutch free throw shooter already, averaging 83 percent from the line.  He shoots it well (40 percent) from behind the arc.  He even gets more rebounds, four per game, than you would think.  Don't know how much his wrist injury impacted his shooting late in the season, but if he heals in the off-season and gives us any part of what he delivered against Mississippi State, look out.

At shooting guard will be Kenny Gaines.  Between being sick and the shoulder injury and the ankle injury (did I miss one?), it was amazing that we got as much this year out of Gaines as we did.  A healthy senior class Kenny Gaines will continue to defend well and will find that the shots and drives to the basket come easier for him.

Behind Gaines will likely be combo guard Turtle Jackson.  Jackson is perhaps not the shooter that McPhee was, but when he's on, Turtle can hit it from deep.  Even better, McPhee was primarily a catch and shoot guy, while Jackson can shoot it, take the ball to the rim and finish, or dish it to teammates.

Derek Ogbeide is a more athletic Jeremy Price.  Not as skilled offensively around the bucket, but he has all the tools.  Yante Maten is more skilled, but not as physical as Ogbeide.  Either way, Georgia has some pretty good options at low post.

As for the tall high post?  Yante Maten and E'Torrion Wilridge are our best bets there for now.  Wilridge is not as tall as Trey Thompkins and he doesn't have the range to step out and hit the three, but he will give Georgia good moments.  If Fox seals the deal with Mike Edwards, he would be the perfect candidate to fill the Thompkins role.

What UGA has been lacking is the Travis Leslie-type athlete.  They don't come around every day.  That's why we're close, rather than already there.  Can Yasir Rosemond bring in Jaylen Brown?  If so, then we're there.  If not, then 2015 will have to wait until 2016.  Jordan Harris is a skywalker and defender like Leslie, and a better shooter at the same point.

Georgia is close.

Tookie Brown, Come on Down!

UGA might have a chance to successfully recruit Tookie Brown after all.

Some fans wondered why Fox did not go harder after Brown, since Brown is from Morgan County, just a short distance away from UGA's campus.  When Tookie committed to Mississippi State,  Dawgs hoops followers resigned themselves to hope that he would not be as effective at the college level as high school (over 3,000 points scored, including a recent 37-point outburst in a tournament game against #1 ranked Laney, and 25 points in the championship game against Jenkins).

Well, in perhaps a gift to UGA, Mississippi State has fired head basketball coach Rick Ray.

One of the school's commitments has already reacted by announcing that he is reopening his recruitment.  What does that mean for Tookie Brown?  We'll see over the next few days.

Bottom line:  We need to look very seriously at bringing in Tookie Brown, should he decommit.  The trend these days is that after a forced coaching change, the schools release their incoming recruits from their Letters of Intent, most of the time with no restrictions.  We did it when Harrick, and later, Felton, were fired.  It would be classy of Mississippi State to allow Tookie to sign with UGA, if he responded to the Ray firing by deciding to play closer to home.

That's basically how we got Marcus Thornton.  Clemson coach Oliver Purnell left, and we picked up Thornton on the rebound.  And where would UGA have been the last couple of years without Thornton?

Tookie Brown would be a fit for UGA.  Although it could be argued that he is an undersized point guard, and UGA already has one in J.J. Frazier, Frazier himself showed us against Mississippi State that if the player gets hot, whatever his size, feed him the ball.

We've seen how the Dawgs play when one of our guards is injured.  We just don't have a whole lot of options.  Bringing Tookie Brown in would allow Turtle Jackson to be more of a combo guard.  That would give Fox an effective five-guard rotation to work with, Charles Mann and Kenny Gaines as seniors, Frazier as a sophomore, and Brown and Jackson as freshmen.  We could even make the press a staple of our defense, rather than a last minute catch-up tool.

While we're at it, the player who announced his decommitment from MSU is none other than 4-star shooting guard D'Marcus Simonds from Gainesville, Ga.  Whatever Tookie Brown decides to do, let's be sure to let Simonds know that he is welcome as part of our 2016 class.  Either he or Jordan Harris could slide to the 3 position, giving UGA a fantastic recruiting haul next year, consisting of three long, athletic perimeter players, Simonds, Jordan Harris and Tyree Crump.

Tookie and Turtle sounds good to me.  If we can find a way to get Tookie and another big for the 2015 class, then let's do it.  If we don't have the room, then I guess we would have to go with signing a big since we're losing Thornton and Nemi.  In that case, be sure to get Simonds in the next class.

It's time to start making rapid steps up the basketball talent trajectory.  Fox, make it happen.

Proud of the Dawgs!

Great season.  20 wins.  Will make the NCAA Tourney.

Great game.  Beat a tough Auburn team at home.  Shot 90 percent from the free throw line.  If we made 90 percent against Kentucky, we would have beat them, if you count the second end of the one-and-ones that would have followed.  Would have won a number of the other games, too.

Great coaching.  Fox kept the team together despite all the energies.  Sure, we could have won a couple more, here and there, but on the whole, I say, good job, Coach Fox!

How about Charles Mann!  Hit 3 for 5 from the field and an amazing 9 for 9 from the free throw line.  That's what we've been hoping for from him.

Yante has come along nicely.  J.J. Frazier, Marcus Thornton and Nemi Djurisic made huge strides this year.  Kenny Paul Geno, Juwan Parker and J.J. Frazier have given incredible effort, considering their injuries.  Same for Kenny Gaines.

Let's make some noise this month!