Sports

Here are some quick thoughts and notes from the weekend.

Friday: My initial assesment of Vince Williams was a little bit off: I think he will be a good backup to Dustin Ware. His ankle was bothering him against North Georgia which, for a quick point guard, would obviously limit his effectiveness. But Williams looked much more capable in significant time against New Orleans. However, he really doesn’t pose much of a scoring threat. Williams is so skinny that he’d just bounce off people in the lane. Guards will have to stay on his jumper but probably don’t have to worry much about him driving past them.

The perimeter offense was about as bad as we thought. For Georgia to be competitive in the SEC, Ricky McPhee will have to be more consistent. We saw at the end of the game, when McPhee finally hit a few shots, that Georgia was able to increase the lead. I think his shooting percentage will have a lot to do with Georgia’s win-loss record at the end of the season.

Trey Thompkins is really good. The first two may be snap judgments from the first two games. This is not.

Saturday: Two things that I’d been harping on finally happened for Georgia in Sanford Stadium. Georgia won the turnover margin for the first time all season and also committed less penalties than Auburn. And finally, a story about defensive leadership (http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/111509/foo_516712808.shtml). These two aspects have been missing from the Bulldogs all year. It’s amazing what happens when you put everything together.

The “win-one-for-our-teammate” rally cry has to be the most effective in college spots. I’d love to know the win-loss record of teams who are in a close game and lose a teammate to serious injury late in the game. Was there any way Georgia was going to lose after the chilling knock to Baccari Rambo that had the whole stadium chanting his name? The emotional uplift given to the team by the fans 100% behind a player was too much for Auburn to deal with. The Dawgs knew we had their back when the going got really tough. What happened next? A big sack followed by a false start penalty. Phenomenal effort from the 12th man. Best of all, Rambo was released from the hospital without any serious symptoms.

And finally, did you know that Stegeman Coliseum had to reinforce the backboards when they hired Coach Pope? That’s how bad his jump shot is.

Until next time, Ball Hard.