Final Four: Is there any hope for UGA in 2018?

South Carolina defeats Florida, 77 to 70, and makes it to its first Final Four.

Kentucky loses to North Carolina and does not advance.

Great news for Georgia.  Here's why:

1)  The SEC is a pretty good league.

We got five teams in, and three advanced to the Elite Eight.  If Georgia is competitive next year, we might get an invite, just because the SEC arguably over-achieved with results in March 2017.

2)  Kentucky Loses

I would have loved for there to be two SEC teams in the Final Four--  as long as one of them wasn't Kentucky.  Yeah, okay.  Call it sour grapes if you want.  At the same time, I really do have issues with their one and done strategy.  It's legal, but at some point, churning guys through your squad and encouraging just about all your freshmen, some of whom aren't quite ready, to declare for the NBA, is bad for the kids, and bad for college basketball.

3)  Hard-Nosed Defense Works

South Carolina got it done with defense.  Don't know whether they will win the championship, but they are two games away, and they have made it thus far by being who they are.

The Florida game was an excellent example.  Florida was hot in the first half, ripping three-pointers.  For the game, South Carolina shot 10 three-pointers and only made 2.  But they kept going to the hole, getting fouled and going to the line.

In the second half, the fool's gold corroded.  Believe I saw that Florida went 0 for 15 from three-point range.  Meanwhile, South Carolina marched again and again to the free throw line.  Florida shot 30 three-pointers, and the Gamecocks shot 30 free throws.  Frank Martin's strategy won.

4)  Recruit the best you can

The Gamecocks don't have a bunch of five-stars.  Sindarius Thornwell was a four-star recruit.  Chris Silva was a three-star.  Maik Kotsar, the guy from Estonia, was a three-star.  Same for Duane Notice.

They don't have a bunch of seven-footers, either.  But they recruit to their system, and have enough guys in that 6' 4" to 6' 10" range who are wired in to giving it their all on the court.

Now, Frank Martin churns players, too.  I don't know if he intentionally pushes guys off the team, but he had a ton of players leave the program after a year or two.  I think the truth is that not everyone thrives under Frank Martin's in-your-face coaching style, and guys sometimes would rather go elsewhere.

In any case, my point is that Frank Martin has not been getting top-ranked recruiting classes.  He gets enough talented guys so that by the time they are juniors and seniors, they are very competitive.


So, there is hope for Georgia.  Frank Martin is the same coach that UGA beat three times in a row last year.  We knocked them out of the NCAA Tournament, it is widely believed.
 
This year, we lost by two at their place, and by six at ours.

If Maten stays and we get production from Mike Edwards, Derrick Ogbeide, and Rayshaun Hammonds, that front-court rotation, supported by Wilridge and Claxton, should be stout enough to make the NCAA's.

On the perimeter, we will have Turtle Jackson, Tyree Crump, and Jordan Harris, likely supported by Juwan Parker, Pape Diatta, and Teshaun Hightower.

Hopefully, we will bring in another contributor, a guy like Avery Wilson to play minutes at point guard, or Isaiah Miller (or even Isaiah Banks) on the perimeter.

We may actually be close to having the kind of team that we all want, one that can make it to the NCAA's, and even, advance.

Dawgs Edge LSU

LSU is really, really struggling.  Hard to even think of how they were set up for success last year with Ben Simmons running point guard.  Antonio Blakeny was in that same recruiting class.  He has been performing pretty well over the last few games, but I had no idea that the very next year LSU would beat Missouri in a race to last place in the SEC.

So glad the Dawgs pulled this one out.  Wasn't able to watch the game, but from all I understand, J.J. was huge yet again.  29 points, 8 assists.  Dude is incredible.

Well, I guess Mark Fox is your coach for next year.  If we had lost to LSU, I'm not sure he would have survived.  

However, after losing Yante Maten to injury, and has recently been revealed, Jordan Harris to a bone chip, Mark Fox has coached us to a win in the next two games.  Sure, we lost to Kentucky in that game that Yante was hurt, but we were neck and neck to the end.  Alabama and LSU aren't that great (Alabama will be a top three SEC team next year, though), but the point is that UGA finally was able to win close games.  

I'm thinking Yante will be back next year, and you have to like a front court of a seasoned and healthy Maten with Derek Ogbeide in the middle, and a multi-skilled Hammonds at the three.  You still have Mike Edwards and Nicolas Claxton off the bench.  Our back court will be challenged after J.J. graduates, but a rotation of Crump, Harris, Jackson, Hightower, and Parker might be okay if any of those five can advance the ball against pressure and drive the ball to the rim.

Can we bring in Isaiah Miller or Isaiah Banks?  I'd love Miller, since he could give us help at point guard.  But if for any reason Miller isn't the guy, then Banks from the metro Atlanta area is a 6' 5" shooting guard/small forward who can defend multiple positions.  Neither one of them are being heavily recruited, but both are super-athletic, and would be great additions.

As far as closing the 2017 season out, Georgia could indeed go on a run.  Have to figure that Auburn, our opponent in the last home game, won't be able to exploit the lack of Yante in the middle.  They mostly dribble-drive and shoot three pointers.  

We wouldn't play Kentucky until the end, and though we have Florida in our side of the bracket, they're not the same team without Egbunu.

Felton did it.  Perhaps Fox can harness the "Tornado Terriers" spirit and somehow win the SEC Tournament.  Let's play hard to end the season and see what happens.

Good Game, Dawgs

Gave it our all.  They have Malik Monk and we don't.

We lost by 9, but it was an overtime game.  UGA was right there.  If we had some outside shooting in the first half against their zone, we would have blown them out.  Like I said, they have Malik Monk and we don't.  He can rise up over defenders and knock down shots.  Monk scored 37 for the game and was 7 of 11 behind the arc.

Disappointed that we missed key free throws.  Yante missed two straight that we vitally needed.  Turtle missed one that would have put Georgia up three before their final possession.

All in all, no complaints here.  I don't particularly care for putting KPG in without having other scorers on the floor, but even so, Geno had a nice drive and dish to Ogbeide.  I suppose that it's not playing Tyree Crump earlier in the year that I have issue with.  Hard to expect him to come in at Rupp and do much.  Even still, Fox coached well enough to win.

J.J. didn't have his best game, struggling in the first half.  Hard to take him out, though, because we just don't have many other scoring options.  Frazier bounced back in the second and really toughed it out, especially after getting knocked in the head.

Really concerned that Turtle Jackson is not giving us much of a lift.  Kind of dribbles it around 30 feet from the basket.  Glad he can help break the press.  But like I said, if he does break the press and gets fouled, then he has to be able to knock down the free throws.

Anyway, after J.J. Frazier graduates, UGA could be in trouble.  Tyree Crump plays like a short two guard, and I fear that Teshaun Hightower will play like a tall one.

Yante played a great game. He had a few turnovers here and there, but he was doubled all night, so a few miscues are to be expected.  Maten still outplayed the higher ranked Bam Adebayo and Wenyen Gabriel.  Yante ended up with 22 points and 5 boards.

Great game for Derek Ogbeide.  He's a load in the post.  18 points and 13 boards on 7 of 9 shooting is one of the best games by a UGA big man at Rupp that I can remember.

Jordan Harris, for one, was not scared.  He was 3 of 5 from the field and 2 of 2 from long range.  When he gets his confidence up and his turnovers down, he will score a lot of points for Georgia.

Give it to Kentucky, though.  They find a way to win.

UGA is 13 and 9 overall and 4 and 5 in the SEC.  In danger of sliding down into the lower reaches of the SEC if we don't steal at least one of these next two.

Texas A&M Game Shows we need to Recruit another Guard

It was so obvious watching the Texas A&M game today that Jordan Harris is a small small forward, and Tyree Crump is a small shooting guard.  Maybe we can help both freshmen with their ball-handling skills over the summer, but for the present, at least, these guys aren't able to advance the ball against SEC-level defenses.

As it stands, we will have Turtle Jackson as our point guard next year.  I'm not convinced that Teshaun Hightower has point guard skills.

So, to keep UGA from losing every game next year to teams which press, we have to recruit someone like Isaiah Miller.  Better yet, find a way to bring in Avery Wilson as well.  He can probably get in to UGA as a student, so maybe we can ask him to come in as a preferred walk-on.

I like Derrick Walker, and would welcome him, especially if Yante Maten goes to the NBA, but since we only have so many scholarship spots, we just have to get a couple of unsigned guys who can handle the ball.

Teshaun Hightower to the Dawgs (plus recruiting update)

Welcome, Teshaun!

Solid pick-up.  Good shooter.   Will defend and fit in the well with the guys on the roster.


I've posted about Hightower recently, so it's time now to take a look at how the 2017 class is shaping up overall.

Four current players, J.J. Frazier, Kenny Paul Geno, Houston Kessler and Brandon Young, are graduating.  UGA has signatures from Rayshaun Hammonds and Nic Claxton, and now, a pledge from Teshaun Hightower.

Kessler, Geno and Young have been good Dawgs, but admittedly, they really aren't offensive threats, probably averaging four points a game between the three of them.  J.J. Frazier is another matter.  He's our primary ball handler, best free throw shooter and second leading scorer. Losing J.J. will hurt. Can't be helped though.  Guys graduate.

The issue for a college coach is whether he can upgrade his roster with the next signing class.

It's hard to argue that with the latest recruits Coach Fox is on track to do just that.  But can he really put recruiting over the top with his last spot?

Derrick Walker, the power forward from Kansas, will be on an unofficial visit on January 28th.  If he commits, that would give Georgia six bigs, two small forwards, and five guards.  Walker is also considering St. Johns and Tennessee, so if he ends up choosing one of his other suitors, we need to swiftly shift focus to a small forward or another athletic guard.

Besides Walker, there are other good possibilities out there who have gone overlooked.  Isaiah Banks, the rim-wrecking 6' 5" guard/small forward, only has one D-1 offer, last I checked.

Avery Wilson is an available true scoring point guard, able to help break the press and also convert from long range.  Wilson, who has a little bit of J.J. Frazier in his game, is averaging 29 points a game for his Forest Park squad.

And then there is Isaiah Miller, the high-flying combo guard from just east of Atlanta.  The video speaks for itself.

Of course, if we have a transfer, or Yante Maten decides to forego his senior season, then Georgia would have two more spots open, and we'd really need to close the class on an upward swing.

Stay tuned, folks.

Teshaun Hightower

Teshaun Hightower, a 6' 5" combo guard, is set to announce his college decision on February 14th.

UGA fans have to figure that the timing favors Georgia.  Hightower was in Athens earlier this week, so the fact that he so soon afterwards released a decision date, means that he was either really impressed by what UGA had to say, or really discouraged by our loss to South Carolina.

Best I can tell, Teshaun likes the idea of playing with Rayshaun Hammonds, a guy he went up against regularly in Gwinnett County, and would prefer to be fairly close to home.  That works well for us, since UGA desperately needs another point guard, with J.J. Frazier graduating this summer.  Teshaun can probably easily see playing time in Athens.

Hightower is not highly ranked, but he's a player that may be under-valued by the analysts.  Here are his highlights from his senior season at Collins Hill, before he took the prep year at Mt. Zion.

If it's any indication, the guys over at 24/7 seem to think it's down to Western Kentucky and Georgia.

I'm going to go out on a limb and predict he's a Dawg!

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.