Sports

You win this time, Georgia.

Check out a full bracket here.

What just happened?: UGA has officially been selected to play in the NCAA tournament.

What’s their seed?: 10th seed in the East Region

Who will they play?: The Washington Huskies, the 5th seed in the East.  They are 23-10 and 11-7 in Pac-10 play.  UGA has never played Washington in basketball.

Why is this important?: This is their first appearance in the Big Dance since 2001.  Their last appearance in 2002 was vacated by the NCAA.  This is obviously pretty big because it was widely speculated that Georgia, despite it’s 48 RPI and Top 40 schedule, was going to be on the outside looking in come Sunday night.  Much of this, of course, was based off projections by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, their resident “Bracketologist”.  As of Sunday afternoon, Lunardi had the Bulldogs in his “Last Four Out” of the tournament.  Well.  He was wrong.  A 10 is seed is pretty comfortably in.

Not entirely surprised here.  I’ll admit, I was getting a little worrisome just because I was letting the ESPN machine affect me.  However, I’m a big fan of the “eye test”.  And according to my eye test (albeit not a great one), I thought Georgia deserved a spot.  The SEC East was extremely strong this year.  Now, when it comes to advancing, we’ll have to figure that out as the week progresses.

Coach Mark Fox and other players will be available at 8:00.  Unfortunately, WUOG Sports won’t be there, so we reccomend you follow our friend Fletcher Page.  He’ll keep you up to date on tonight’s Selection Sunday madness.

We’ll talk a little later in the week about this match-up.

Quotable Quotes

Head Coach Mark Fox

On the loss: “It’s a hard fought game, tough  loss. Really  a  tough  loss. Have  to  credit  Alabama. They  made  the plays late. We just didn’t close the game. We had some chances at the foul line, for instance, and but really, we didn’t rebound the  ball  in  the  second  half. I  thought  for the first time maybe all year we saw some signs  of  fatigue  in  the  gut  of  the  second half. But   you   have to give Alabama credit, they played really hard and won the game.”

On calling the time-out in the final seconds of the second half: “We wanted to get the ball in the  front court for that  reason alone.  Didn’t want to have to go the length of  the floor because of their pressure.  I thought that we would have a little more time than 0.8.  I thought we would  get the timeout with a couple seconds. As a matter of fact, I think when  I first hollered, it was around 2 seconds,  I think I was trying to glance at the  clock, but the referee went  to the  monitor and obviously got it right.  Ended up with 0.8. The ball went in.  So, sure, I mean, I wish I hadn’t  called  it,  because the ball went  in. But, you know, that’s a tough, tough break.”

More on fatigue and how that may have affected free-throw shooting down the stretch: “I probably  should have  played  more  guys.    But  this  was  a hard-fought  game  and  I  rolled  the  dice with those kids who have carried us so far this year.  But their pressure wore on us. Second game in two days, and you really didn’t  see  the  effects  of  it,  I  don’t  think, until the second half. And   then   we   coughed   it   up   a couple times just with some turnovers we hadn’t  had  all  year.  Threw  one  in  the corner right there out of bounds that they got  and  went  in  there  and  we  just  fouled them.  And we haven’t made that play in a while. But  you  got  to  credit  their  defense for  being  pretty  relentless.    And  I  don’t know  if  fatigue  was  a  factor  on  the  free throws,  we  missed  a  handful  there  in  the gut of it.”

On whether or not his team is NCAA tournament worthy: “I think we’re a tournament team. I don’t think we had to have  this  game to be in the NCAA tournament. Our  RIP,  I  think,  going  into the  day  was  probably  –  when  we  started the  tournament  it  was  in  the  30s. But  a top 40 RPI, a top 40 schedule, a winning record away from home, a winning record in the SEC.  And we avoided bad losses. So  I  think  the  things  that  the  committee has traditionally asked us to do, I think that we   have   put   together a resume that answers all those questions, and we don’t have a lot of negatives on there. So I think that we are a tournament team.  If  I  don’t  call  that  timeout  and  the ball  goes  in,  you  know,  you  don’t  get  to ask that question. That’s how close it is. But this team, I think, they have put themselves  in a position  to  get  serious consideration.”

Dustin Ware

On Alabama’s increased pressure in the second: “They were  really good defensive team. They really started trying to pressure the ball a lot and trying to  keep  it  out  of  my  hands  and  out  of Gerald’s hands. I thought Trey really did a good job of handling for us, but in the end they just made the plays and we didn’t.”

On whether or not he heard the whistle when he let off his shot with seconds to go: “No, I  honestly didn’t. I  thought  it  was a clean shot, but then I saw kind of the referee waving it off, so I knew coach had called a time out.”

Trey Thompkins

On whether or not Georgia is an NCAA team: “To be honest with  you, it  would be  nice to be  in  the tournament, but that’s  out  of  our  hands right now.  I can’t tell you whether we are or not. Hopefully we can be selected.  It will be a great opportunity if we do get it, but that’s not up to us anymore. We have done everything we can.”

Final Thoughts

No matter how you quote it, this is a bad loss for Georgia.  When Travis Leslie finished an alley-oop dunk from Gerald Robinson with 7:33 remaining, Georgia, by all accounts appeared ready to wrap this game up, and send the tape to the NCAA selection committee.

But somehow, someway, Alabama found a way to not only get back in this game, but win it in over time.

Here are a couple reasons that happened:

-After the Oop: After Leslie’s highlight reel slam, Alabama went on a 19-5 run to close the half, including a 10 run from 5:20 to 3:19.  Like I said, most college teams would see that type of a play, see the scoreboard, and just start unlacing their shoes.  To their credit, especially to head coach Anthony Grant, this team kept fighting.

-Meeting the press: In an attempt to slow down Leslie and Georgia’s offense, Alabama went to a full-court press most of the second half.  It forced 9 turnovers in second half and in overtime.  However, that’s kind of a wash seeing that Alabama had the same amount.  Instead, Alabama’s press pushed Georgia up the floor, making them uncomfortable when they finally got in their sets.  Just really forced a lot of bad looks.  Grant tried to run the press in the first, but Georgia handled it a lot better.  Anytime you get Trey Thompkins and Gerald Robinson bringing the ball up the floor on a regular basis, you’re not playing good offense.  Nothing against those guys, but it makes your offense uncomfortable again and again.  That eventually adds up.  As in being on the wrong side of 19-5 run wrong.

-Free throws rear their ugly head again: After Georgia went 5-5 in the first half, Georgia went 7-13 for the rest of the game.  While that is not necessarily terrible, a lot of those misses came towards the end of the game, often on the front end of a pair of free-throws.  Make four of those, I’m blogging about how Georgia could beat Kentucky.

Just some quick thoughts on the two major themes of this loss.  The first one is why this team lost and, in my opinion, lost a lot of close games.  Fox mentioned fatigue.

Fatigue Problems

Now, from my perspective, this has been a problem for this team almost the entire season.  Fatigue affects a lot of things in basketball in addition to just being slow.  Shots fall short, free throws clank, hands get reckless and either cause a turnover or force a silly foul, you start blowing 10+ leads.

Sound familiar?

If so, it’s because these are a lot of factors that have attributed to Georgia’s close losses this season.  Whether it was Tennessee, Xavier, Florida, or Alabama.  I’ve never once gotten the feeling that this team was in great shape to win.  Now the Florida game was a bit different, that tip-in by Trey sent a rush of momentum Georgia’s way into the first overtime.  However, after Florida forced a second OT, it was extremely apparent this team was tired.  In all the games Georgia has blown a big lead, they’ve had a real problem hiding their disappointment.  Almost as if they were just as surprised and frustrated as their fans were.

Now, the big questions are why this team is fatigued.  If you’re looking for answers here, you’re not going to find them.  I’m not a physical trainer.  However, I do find it kind of interesting that in all of these games where UGA is up big and blows a lead, they are as good as done.  Not trying to criticize, just referencing the scoreboards.

NCAA Tournament

Now that Georgia is out of this thing, I’ve been using the opportunity to hang around the event, get the opportunity to see guys like Coach Calapari and Bruce Pearl in person, and how they interact with the media.  Extremely charismatic, if you wondering.

Coach Cal’s presser was interesting because he referred to Georgia and how they played a tough game against Alabama.  Even more, he said they deserve an NCAA bid.  I don’t have the exact quote, but he referenced the SEC in general, how all of the teams are extremely competitive amongst each other.

Just thought that was interesting.  Although, I’m not sure Coach Cal is the guy you want making a case for you to the NCAA.  On anything.

Here’s the thing.  I’ll say the same thing I said to James and Dayne on the Friday Pre-Game Show.  I’m not a numbers guy.  Joe Lunardi could be Albert Einstein for all I care.  So, the question now is whether or not this team passes the “eye test”.  Can this team, in one game, compete with the league’s best?  In my mind, yes.  They have competed in almost every Top 25 match-up they have played in.  And not just SEC games.  Notre Dame and Xavier had a tough time with the Dawgs.  In basketball, you need the ball to “bounce your way” sometimes.  That hasn’t happened in any of their competitions.

Get this team in the tournament, they have a shot to compete.  Probably not for a national title, but enough to cause those March upsets we all know and love.

Alright, that’s enough from me.  I’m disappointed UGA is out because I really had a good feeling heading into the weekend.  Unfortunately, it’s over.  Guess I’ll just have to watch basketball for free now.  Total bummer.

(more…)

Post Game Brain Dump

I’ll spare you the game write-up becuase let’s be honest, this game was over as soon as Trey Thompkins and Travis Leslie hit back-to-back threes.  The rest of the game was basket trading.

Instead let’s talk about some of the big themes from this victory and how it relates to tomorrow’s re-match against Alabama.

His name is Howard, but he goes by Trey.

Trey Thompkins most likely played his finest game this season, and quite possibly the best game of his career at Georgia.

His line: 22 points on 8-15 shooting, including 3-5 from three; 10 rebounds (8 defensive), and one block.  All in 31 minutes.

Thompkins said yesterday that his foot was “100%” and today it sure looked like it.

“Trey, he’s a very good   offensive   player.      When   he   is scoring,  it  really  helps  us  a  lot.    He  can really   pull   up   some   points,” said forward Chris Barnes. “With   him scoring inside, it really opens it up for our guards, like Dustin and Travis and Gerald to really hit that outside shot.”

Indeed, one of the biggest beneficiares of Thompkins play was easily Leslie who also registered a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.  However, the play of Thompkins actually helped Leslie more on the inside game.  Auburn attempted to double-team Trey regularly and were sometimes successful forcing some misses.  Instead of collecting the rebound though, Auburn would fail to contain Leslie who had seven offensive boards.  Five of his points came from the line where he often ended up after attempting to put Thompkins’ and other players’ misses in.

Like Barnes said, Thompkins play elevated everyone on the floor, but that does much more than open up the outside game.

As for his “best” game?  Coach Fox was unsurprisingly reticent to crown it, but he admitted it was certainly up there.

“It’s his best game in a long time. I   think   he   had   25   against   Kentucky, maybe.  But he really played well.  It’s the best he’s played in a long time,” said Fox.  ”Whether or not it’s his best game of the year, I don’t know.  But he did play very well.”

For Thompkins, it was another day at the office.  One with high expectations all around.

“I hold myself to a higher standard because my teammates do, my coaches do.  My coaches and my teammates expect a lot out of me and I expect a lot out of myself,” said Thompkins.

I’ll say this much.  It’s very difficult to beat Georgia when Thompkins plays like this.

NCAA Tournament Mumbo Jumbo

Of course, the press conference was alive and well with questions concerning UGA’s NCAA tournament hopes.  I haven’t seen Joe Lunardi’s sixteenth incarnation of his bracket of the day, but I’m assuming Georgia is now in his “Last Four In”.  However, it’s pretty obvious Georgia has no interest in talking about bubbles and bids.

Chris Barnes on whether or not  the team keeps up with the latest “Bracketolgy”, fighting laughter: “We  don’t.  We try not to look at that.  We just try to take it one  game  at  a  time.  Every  game  is critical.  We  got  to  come  out  and  play every game the same, no matter who the opponent  is.  And  that’s  how  we  go  into every game.  We just got to come out and just play hard. A  lot  of  people  been  saying  stuff about the NCAA, but us as team, are notlooking   at   that   right   now.  We’re   just looking  forward  to  the  next  game.”

Fox added: “Today was a chance to play in the SEC  tournament  and  a  day  to  try  and advance.  And  that’s  all  we  have  talked about  all  week.  And  I  haven’t  allowedthem to talk about anything else.”  Later adding, after being asked if he thought the game against Alabama was an elimination game or not: “No, we have played the  entire  season  to create a tournament resume in which the committee will evaluate.    And  we  have  tried  to  do  what the  committee’s  asked  us  to  do.  Play  a schedule  that’s arranged in the top 40 in the country, win enough games with their RPI’s in the top 40, win more games than we  lose  in  our  league,  have  a  winning record on road.  We tried to do the things that the NCAA committee has traditionally asked for. So  that  body  of  work  hopefully  will be   evaluated   as   it   always   has   been. Alabama’s  probably  tried  to  do  the  same thing.”

Georgia is an NCAA tournament team and today proved that.  Win or lose tomorrow, I think they’re in.  A win certainly wouldn’t hurt things though.  I’m such an idiot.

I’ll have a little bit later tonight previewing tomorrow.

(more…)

UPDATE 3/9

Taylor was taken of the ventilator and underwent physical surgery Wednesday and will move to the Shepard Center Thursday.

According to the family, this is a big step in Taylor’s recovery.

UGA Outfielder Jonathan Taylor underwent surgery to stabilize his spine Monday at St. Mary’s Hospital.

Taylor is now moving to the Shepard Center in Atlanta to continue his rehabilitation.

Individuals interested in offering their encouragement to Jonathan and his family can visit www.caringbridge.org/visit/Johnathantaylor.

The site will also provide updates as Taylor continues in his recovery process.

Taylor, 5-8, 181-pound native of Acworth, Ga., sustained the injury after colliding with outfielder Zach Cone.

The entire WUOG Sports staff wishes for a speedy recovery for Jonathan.

Quotable Quotes

Mark Fox on accomplishing 20 wins in the regular season: “I congratulated our kids because it’s certainly a big step for this program.  To get that in the regular season is certainly a major accomplishment and it’s something I’m very proud of these kids for.  They have won every game and I told them in there that I think they have more games to win.”

On Barnes and Price: “The both of them have grown up a lot so it was emotional after the game.  They are great kids and could have easily made life hard for me when I first came in here but they didn’t.  They bought into what were doing and did everything I asked them to do.  It’s been a privilege coaching them”.

Price on kissing the floor: “Me and Matthew Bucklin planned that out this morning.  I was like, ‘Might as well’”.

Barnes, who apparently planned it first: “I was supposed to do that but (Price) took my idea.  I didn’t have anything planned.  I would have gone running through the stands but my legs started to hurt…It was a special night.

Final Thoughts

I don’t think you can ask for a better second half from Georgia here.  After toying with LSU for much of the first half, Georgia came roaring out of halftime with a quick basket from Trey and that alley-oop from Ware-to-Robinson.  Second half struggles for UGA had almost become an understood part of the game for UGA.  No matter what the opponent, UGA seemed to come out strong in the first and limp in the second, often letting the game slip away against superior opponents and letting the game get too close for inferior ones.  In the past two games, Georgia has stood strong for a full 40 minutes and that is extremely promising heading into the weekend and the following tournament week.

Obviously the big story was Senior Night and the Jeremy Price and Chris Barnes certainly delivered.  Price turned in another nice night with 11 points with 4-7 shooting and while Barnes’ line doesn’t blow you away (6 points, 6 rebounds), he was undoubtedly a big reason why this game was such a blow-out.  Trey Thompkins struggled tonight and could likely be out this weekend with an apparent toe injury.  Barnes is going to be crucial inside against Alabama.  Georgia can get it’s scoring elsewhere from Robinson, Leslie, and Ware.  All Barnes has to do is play solid defense which he’s really come in to in the past weeks.

Big emotional night for both Barnes and Price.  If you know me, you know that my allegiance lies with the NBA.  The college game is just isn’t fast enough.  However, even I can admit that  the pageantry displayed tonight when Price and Barnes were checked out for the final time was something the NBA will never have.  The crowd erupted when Barnes came out with a minute left.  And when Price’s number was called, he jogged to the “G” in center-court, kissed it, and thanked the fans with open arms.  Fox admitted that these two guys could have easily caused trouble for him when he first took the job.  Instead, they bought into the system and were properly rewarded for it.  You can only hope the reward continues as this team looks at a probable NCAA berth.  I’ll see you guys next week in Atlanta.

(more…)

The NBA All-Star Break and trade deadline are fast approaching, and the Atlanta Hawks are in the middle of an identity crisis.  After an embarrassing 117-83 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers Tuesday night, the Half Hour of Power show were joined by the Human Highlight Blog (a.k.a. Jason Walker) of PeachtreeHoops.com.  They discussed if the team needed to make a change, whether it be in the starting line-up or through a trade.

Mr. Walker describes what it was like watching Dominique Wilkins during his time as a Hawk, even as a resident of Orlando, Florida.

The guys also discuss some SEC Basketball and what it will take to get UGA into the NCAA tournament.

Make sure to follow Jason on Twitter and check out Peachtree Hoops.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Podcast: Download

Today was National Signing Day, and UGA was one of the biggest winners, landing the best running back in the state of Georgia, Isaiah Crowell.  Crowell’s commitment capped off Mark Richt’s self-declared, and often mocked, “Dream Team” of in-state recruits.

Wednesday’s Half Hour of Power show welcomed Dawg Post’s Fletcher Page to talk about the incoming class and the impact it will have on the football team as it moves forward from a disappointing 6-7 season. Fletcher also shares his plans to compare this Dream Team to the actual 1992 Dream Team in an upcoming column.  Guess who’s Michael Jordan?

Make sure to check out Fletcher’s work on Dawg Post and follow him on Twitter.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

The Tuesday Triple Play (now four strong with Trey Roberts) pulled out all the stops for this week’s show, welcoming two former Bulldogs Kelin Johnson and Jeff Owens to the show.  Dave Tarter, Matt Lewis, Ben Williamson and Trey spend some time talking to Kelin about the upcoming Super Bowl between the Packers and the Steelers. They are then joined by Owens who talks about his  his first year in the NFL, including his experiencces with Andy Reid and Michael Vick.  Both former UGA players also discuss the upcoming year for Georgia football.  At the end of the show, Kelin shares some breaking news for the Bulldog Nation.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Credit David Goldman, AP

Quotable Quotes

Head Coach Mark Fox

“Well that was certainly a hard fought basketball game.  We beat a real solid Georgia Tech team and I thought their kids played really hard, I thought our kids played extremely hard and we feel like we’re leaving here with a good win.”

On Dustin Ware

“Dustin Ware, I told my staff last night, he’s going to shot the ball well.  He shot well at practice last night and I really felt like he was going to shoot it well.  Give credit to Gerald Robinson who made a great pass, he found the open man and Dustin was ready to stick it in the basket.  That’s certainly a big basket for our program.”

On playing in close games

“You can practice special situations every day, but there’s not the consequence of losing.  The fact that we’ve been in a lot of close games, that’s good experience for us.  It certainly paid it’s dividends tonight, because late in the game we didn’t panic…I think we played like a mature group.”

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get over to any players so you’ll just have to get those somewhere else.

Final Thoughts

Once again, it wasn’t pretty, but you’ll take it.  As my friend and co-host Josh Kinsey texted me, “A win is a win! Suck it RPI!”  Indeed, suck it RPI.

But really though, I know a lot of fans will take this win with a grain of salt considering how poorly Georgia Tech had been playing coming into this game, but I think you should take this win with some perspective:

-Tech is a little better than they seem.  Sure they lost to Kennesaw State and got blasted by Northwestern, but they also played a close game to Syracuse, then #9 in the country.  Wins and losses aside, Tech is a talented basketball team, what they lack is direction and that is why Paul Hewitt is on the hot seat every year.

-Georgia is a little worse than they seem.  But they’re getting better.  Georgia began this season with the Pre-Season SEC Player of the Year (Thompkins) and a First Team Pre-Season SEC (Leslie).  Then Thompkins got hurt.  Then Leslie had to pick up the load offensively where he usually fed off of Thompkins.  He assumed the role.  Then Thompkins came back.  Then, and now, Leslie is struggling to find his spot.  Against UAB, that wasn’t a problem because Price was able to bail him out, tonight it was Ware.  Fox admits though, Thompkins does not look “in rhythm” and Leslie is struggling a bit (he had 4 points and four fouls).  Admittedly, that’s not what you want to see out of a team like this, but compared to last Friday this team already looks better.  As opposed to a second half regression, Georgia shot 48.4% from the field and 63.6% from three, compared to 40% and 45.5%, respectively.  They came in focused in the second half and eventually won the game.  Really, you can’t ask for much else.  If you think I’m being nice, read the next bullet.

-The Bulldogs shot 7-15 (46.7%) from the free-throw line.  That. Is. Pathetic.  For any team that wants to smell March, much less the SEC title, there are two things you must do well: hit threes and hit free-throws.  After going 0-4 in the first and 7-11 in the second, I’ll admit, that’s progress.  But what’s more important is when they missed them.  Thompkins missed a one-and-one with less than a couple minutes remaining.  Robinson missed both with 4.5 seconds remaining and the score at 73-72.  Luckily Tech’s inbounds play was foiled by Travis Leslie, but still.  Good teams, not even “great” teams make their free throws.  At least when they count.  Period.

-The zone defense, while better played in the second half, is still giving these guys problems.  Without a consistent outside threat, Georgia can expect to see the 2-3 for the rest of the season.  Tech guard Brian Oliver admitted they knew Georgia wasn’t a great shooting team so they forced their hand.  And while the three party was great in the second, that kind of heat won’t be there every night.

All that aside, though.  A great win for Georgia who hadn’t won in Tech in 10 years.  This team is resilient, I’ll give them that, and they certainly entertain us, don’t they?  Hopefully these next couple games against Arkansas State, High Point, etc. will be a bit more entertaining, but for all the right reasons.

Oh yeah player of the game, of course, is Dustin Ware.

7-9 FG, 7-9 3PT, 6 assists, 21 points, and that nasty three at the end.  There were a lot of NBA Scouts watching and I’m sure Ware had them all talking.

(more…)