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The Dawg-gone Blog
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Friday, March 05, 2010
Today's the 5th B-day of the DGB. I thank you all and ramble about other things in the following video...which is the antithesis of actually "blogging" but you get the point.


Oh, and since it's the birthday of the DGB, I feel an appearance by resident Site Girl, Keira Knightley is in order. You're welcome.

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Wednesday, January 27, 2010
So we lost by 16 points Florida. It happens and we'll have our shot in Stegeman soon.

Some quick thoughts for you guys:

1) McThree -- Ricky McPhee is a VERY fun player to watch. He's another one of those clutch-shot white dudes that UGA always seems to have around. The previous ones were the Weehunt brothers from the early 2000s. Some of the shots he took tonight were amazing, from some very deep threes to a nice falling jumper on the baseline for two. He also single-handedly (apparently, "handedly" isn't a word, who knew?) kept the game from slipping into a tailspin with his play.

2) Trey Leslie -- If you took Trey Thompkins and mixed him with Travis Leslie, you'd have one of the most exciting basketball players ever. Leslie still struggles with his shot, but made some nice athletic plays. Thompkins did well tonight with some big shots and was hot early.

3) Better make it the first time -- We couldn't seem to grab a rebound to save our lives. Whether on our end after a missed shot, or on their end after they (rarely) missed a shot. We've got to rebound like we did against Tennessee or we'll get beat by a lot of teams in the SEC.

4) Oops! -- Turnovers were probably the biggest dagger for us tonight. We just absolutely got killed in taking care of the ball. Sloppy, sloppy play was the theme and probably gave us the biggest hindrance in mounting a significant comeback. As Dawgfan17 perfectly stated:
Looking at the UF game tonight and most of our games for the season, if we can cut down the to's they can be much much better. We have turned it over 10 more times than UF so far and the game is a 10 pt game. If we turn it over even just 4 less times with both teams shooting 50% that is +4 points for us and -4 for them and the game is basically a tie. Everything else we have done this season has been a huge improvement. Go Dawgs!
Couldn't have said it better myself. The best news is, that's a COACHABLE problem, and I have no worries about our coaching ability.

5) Coach, you can't say that on TV -- Fox got T'd up in what I think was eerily reminiscent to the way Bobby Cox gets thrown out of Braves games. Oh, don't get me wrong, he was right in being upset about the no-call, but instead of moving on, he let it boil over and let his players know he was OK with tossing etiquette out the window. He let his players know that he had their back. I liked it. A LOT.

6) I think I can, I think I can -- We've got some great things going for us right now in regards to overall improvement, but this team is going to have to learn to win on the road for us to get over the hump from being a mediocre team to even a good team. It's not the matter of winning, it's the matter of getting used to the idea of winning away from home. Our confidence sucks in that regard and it shows at times. Of course, when you have a team full of guys who haven't achieved road success in 4+ years, it's going to creep into their heads that they can't do it. A win against South Carolina this weekend would be HUGE for us.

7) Tick Tock -- I didn't remember to elaborate on this the last game, but one of the most overall improved things I've seen is our use of timeouts. It's been a blessing to see Coach Fox take timeouts to stop runs and coach up our guys. They're, for lack of a better word, quite timely. Felton never did that and it drove me crazy.

8) Ratings are up -- The biggest difference in a double-digit point loss to Florida this year versus last year? I was still tuning in this year. Last year's team quit in that game. Absolutely quit. It was disgusting and I had to turn it off. We all knew this game was over after the four minute mark, but I was still interested to see what this team would do. If any of us can take one thing away from tonight's loss, it's the proof in the pudding that this team is NOT last year's team.


So, there you have it. What stuck out to you?

Until next time kids.

Be safe.

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Saturday, January 23, 2010
So the game is fresh in my mind still and I've got about five minutes to burn, but here are some quick hits on the game from what I remember:

1) Travis Leslie is a beast. Just a flat out monster. His leaping ability makes him a threat off the glass and a very good shot blocker. If this kid can find some range from 13-17 feet out, he's going to be VERY dangerous. He's just a highlight reel waiting to happen. Oh, and don't underestimate his ability to dish the rock. He had some SPECTACULAR feeds tonight to guys around the rim.

2) The offense still runs through Trey. Thompkins had a good, but not extremely big night. The other guys still have to rely on him to be the "go-to" guy with the ball, though. When he turns it on, it raises the level of our play significantly.

3) Price is right. Jeremy Price had a nice game tonight, crashing boards, getting put-backs and converting on second chances. We'll need to him up his level of play to give us a strong inside presence going into the meat of our SEC schedule.

4) Dustin Ware = David Greene? Dustin Ware is not a flashy guy and he's good for roughly 7-10 points a game, but he takes care of the basketball and really directs that offense well.

5) No 5-hour energy here. There's definitely a late-game crash after our initial boost of energy. For everything we did right tonight, we still had our hiccups. Closing out the game, there was a stretch from 5:31 left to 1:37 left in the 2nd half where we didn't score a point. If the lead had been 10 or less, we would've found ourselves up a creek. We've got to find a way to dig deep and close out these big games. Close losses are still losses.

6) Thunderdome. Stege was rocking tonight. The students and fans really turned out and that's huge for us. We need that kind of support to build what Fox is trying to build in Athens.

7) Mark Fox just may be the guy. From his interviews, tweets and on-screen presence when coaching, he's creating an attitude in our team that has been missing for a while. The kids are having fun playing basketball again and the fans are enjoying watching it. If we can consistently get better week by week, we'll definitely see some type of post-season play. We just have to know we can do it.

Overall, big win and a very good way to get the fan base fired up.


Until next time kids.

Be safe.


P.S. -- Negative points to the student who covered himself in peanut butter. I get the enthusiasm, but peanut butter? Really? Of course, when you think about it, it's probably a lot cheaper than face paint. Hate it for the people around him though.

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Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Ok, I'm not going to claim to have a damn clue as to what UGA is currently doing. If you think you're going to get that here because maybe I have "sources," then you're dead wrong. I don't have sources. I have information, but none of that is "insider" worthy. You should go read the stuff PWD's been writing in order to get an accurate picture.

However, I would like to weigh in a bit on everything and just see what could possibly come of the search. Currently the names I'm hearing include Sean Miller, Tubby Smith, Mike Anderson and Leonard Hamilton (more on Hamilton in a second). MY OWN PERSONAL DREAM LIST would include:

Jay Wright
Jamie Dixon
Sean Miller
Tubby Smith
Mike Anderson

And here's the problems with each:

Jay Wright -- Ideally, he's my top guy. I pretty much *heart* Jay Wright. However, his contract is absurd, specifically his buyout clause. I doubt anyone is able to touch this guy when 'Nova's offseason begins. Here's what I posted about Wright verbatim on The Dawgvent earlier today:

When I look at the coaches out there and the ones that I have on my huge wish list, I still consistently have one name at the top, and that's Jay Wright at Villanova.

Dont get me wrong, I'd be thrilled to have Anderson, Dixon, Miller, T. Smith and a whole host of other folks, but looking at Wright's numbers, they've been EXTREMELY impressive.

In 15 years as a head coach, he's had:

* 7 NCAA Tourney appearances (5 in a row)
* 1 Final Four (which is still yet to be concluded)
* 2 Sweet Sixteens
* 1 Elite Eight
* Hasn't missed the NCAA or NIT in the last 11 years

His team has been by far the most well-coached team I've seen in the tournament thus far. The "hook and ladder" inbound pass against Pitt was nothing less than superb attention to detail and coaching. He mixes great defense with great shooters and dribble-drivers. He has a specific scheme for both offense and defense, which is something we've lacked under the Felton tenure. For everything Harrick did, he had a specific offensive scheme that his teams ran and it worked well while it was here.

The main thing that works against us is that EVERYONE loves Jay Wright, including Villanova, who have made it increasingly tough to interview and buy him out. His contract is a MAJOR challenge, even for a school like us who has money to burn.

In the end, I think we end up with Anderson, but I'd crawl butt naked backwards over a bed of pine cones to make it happen.


Jamie Dixon -- I like the way his teams play and you can tell he recruits well. Pitt always has a good team, maybe even very good, but rarely in that league of "great." However, I think his style would transition well to the types of recruits Atlanta produces. I also highly doubt he bolts for anywhere when the offseason begins, but if he does, I think it'll be for a much higher profile program than ours.

Sean Miller -- This is a guy much like Jay Wright in that his teams are always well coached and he consistently wins at the NCAA Tourney. Xavier had a relatively good run for the past two years in the field of 64 and I also think his level of coaching and style would transition well to what we're trying to accomplish. He's not completely off our list yet, but I haven't heard his name as much as others. I'd be thrilled with this hire though.

Tubby Smith -- I'd be thrilled with this hire too. Tubby has great AAU ties, can recruit lights out, his teams win consistently, he's not that old (57) and has a personal vendetta in the SEC, specifically against Kentucky. I think he can recruit the kids we lose state-wide to other programs and keep them away from the Florida's, UT's and Mississippi State's of the conference. Tubby has said that he's "very happy" in Minnesota, but who knows if that's true or not. Until his name leaves the list officially, I'm not counting him out.

Mike Anderson -- As PWD stated, Anderson's style of "40 minutes of hell" would play well in Athens and should fire up the fan base. The way Mizzou (RAH!) handled Memphis with their up-tempo style was a thing of beauty, especially since Memphis plays the same type of style themselves. However, with Memphis' Coach Calipari seemingly leaving for UK, it's possible that Anderson would rather go to Memphis than Athens. Also, the Tigers (of Memphis) have the same kind of money to throw at Anderson to make him want to come. If you had Memphis in one hand and UGA in the other, with the same amount of money offered, what would you do? That's the $64,000 question with this guy. I still would like the hire, but I'm not sure we're going to nail this fish.

Now, let's talk a bit about Leonard Hamilton. I'm sure most of you have no idea who he is, because I didn't either when I read his name. For those who need to know, he's the current head coach of Florida State, and the Seminoles made quite an impressive run in the ACC and the ACC Tourney. However, they were bounced out by Wisconsin in the first round as a five seed.

The problem with Hamilton is that 1) he isn't proven as he only has two NCAA Tourney appearances under his belt as a head coach and 2) He's only slightly over .500 as a head coach overall. That's not good...at all. Hiring Hamilton will be more of a whimper than a roar; more of a dud than a scud.

I've said it, PWD's said it, the message boards say it and even Damon Evans has said it. We need a coach that will fire up this fan base and breathe some life back into UGA hoops. The coach's name should do this alone, but it will take at least two years of winning to get the excitement back, as opposed to hiring a "name" and getting that immediately.

If we want to consider this search a failure, then we hire Hamilton. If we want to consider it a success, we need a name. Any one of those above would be ideal.

Also, before I let y'all go, I've heard Rick Pitino's name being thrown around some, but I think we have a 99.9% chance of NOT landing him. There's no reason for him to come here, he also makes an absurd amount of money at Louisville and there are more prestigious programs, namely Arizona, that will throw everything they have at him. However, if we do get that .1% and land him, you could consider the search an EPIC WIN for UGA and Damon Evans.

Stay tuned. This thing will be done sooner rather than later.


Until next time kids.

Be safe.

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Monday, March 02, 2009
So I promised in my last post that it'd be a few days before I would blog again soon. Is 25 days soon enough?

I also promised to blog about some more personal stuff than usual, so can I just vent for a second about this economy? Of course I can. My name's on the deed here, right?

There are a few things "grinding my gears" right now and they include 1) watching our basketball team play like...well, me 2) college football being over and 3) our financial "crisis." Let's tackle them in order shall we?

1) I get it that our bball team has lost focus, but do we have to play like we've never seen a basketball court? Honestly, I think the Lady Dawgs could give them a run for their money. At least the girls look like they want to win a game. Ridiculous.

2) This one speaks for itself. Do you know how ridiculously tough it is to keep conjuring up stories about college football without college football going on? I don't work at CNN. I can't manufacture news.

3) I understand things are bad. TRUST ME. Without getting into specifics, I KNOW how bad they are. However, I'm sick and tired of our leadership and the media scaring the ever loving crap out of everyone. Report the news. Don't scare us into a recession. Let these businesses flop. Set the marker back to zero and let the strong survive. It's called capitalism. Either jump on the boat or move along.

Anyway, that's me in a nutshell for right now. Be sure to click the Examiner stuff (link to the right). I could use the hits...LOL.

Until next time kids.

Be safe.

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Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Oh look who hasn't forgotten he's got a blog. I'm running out of "work's been hell, writing for the Examiner, blah blah blah" excuses. I get it.

So, here's some quick hits just to whet your appetite.

1. The Examiner thing is going. Pretty much any quick bit of info I come across will be posted there. You know, information like Greg Reid going to FSU instead of Georgia.

2. Anything non-football related will go here, such as my bitching about the basketball team. I'm not going to do it right now, except to tell you that if UGA hires Bobby Knight, we're much less serious about establishing a top-tier program than we've stated. I believe Damon is serious about our program, so I'm guessing he's serious about hiring someone who's mattered in the last decade.

3. By the way, now that I have the Examiner thing going, expect me to write a little bit more personal stuff than I have in the past. I used to write a ton of personal stuff regarding politics and so on, but got away from it when I started finding my niche in blogging about UGA sports. I have missed being able to write stuff more personally, so expect a few things here and there.

I promise I'll blog more in the coming days. 

And thanks to everyone who wished me happy birthday. It's been one of the best ones yet.


Until next time kids.

Be safe.

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Tuesday, March 25, 2008
I'm definitely not the first to report it, but Travis Leslie has committed to the Dawgs after coming to UGA and seeing what the team has to offer.  This wraps up a pretty good class for Felton, who still had great recruits coming in BEFORE we won the SEC Championship.

Leslie is a slasher like PWD said, but Groo brought up a good point over on The Dawgvent.  Leslie is not a shooter, but a high riser who uses his vertical skills to get points off of offensive rebounds.  If he's going to be a contributor to the team (and especially to our offense, which is still not great scheme-wise), he's got to learn to shoot the rock from 18 foot and in.   We'll be "OK" on the outside if Woodbury and Humphrey can get consistent and Albert Jackson and Jeremy Price have both shown that they can play the inside.  

I'm not sure if Leslie sees the court next year, but he probably will given that we'll have virtually no depth at PG and we'll need someone who can go inside and create plays.

So, welcome to the Dawgs, Leslie.  Here's hoping you can help take us back to the NCAAs.


Until next time kids.

Be safe.

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Monday, March 17, 2008
Something happened on Sunday. Something that we haven’t seen for a long time from those within the UGA Basketball Program. No, it wasn’t the improbable (damn near impossible as well) victories in the first, second, third, and final rounds of the SEC Tournament. It wasn’t Dennis Felton showing the emotion and pride for UGA Basketball that some thought he lost or even never had. It wasn’t even watching our kids run an offense that was as tenacious and aggressive as their defense.

It wasn’t any of those things.

It was watching these kids and that coach, who have endured years of ups and downs, smile. That’s it. They just smiled. They ran around the center of the Cremmins Court and just listened to the “UGA! UGA! UGA!” cheers from the faithful who also believed there was a chance we could go from worst to first in only four days.

Sometimes you can look at players and tell when they’re embattled. You can see the looks on their faces and know that all they want is a little glory because inside they’re competitors. Sundiata Gaines is one of those types of kids. All season long he kept his head up and continued to be one of the best point guards that UGA’s ever seen. He took this team on his back and the only fade you would get out of this kid would be the one that is completed by a ball touching nothing but net. He was the “African Warrior” that his name stands for. Watching him hold that piece of hardware justifying his hard work makes me proud to be a Dawg today.

Then you have guys like Dave Bliss who showed that sometimes athletes play bigger than their bodies. Bliss reminds me a lot of David Pollack. He cares for the game so much that he just won’t quit. He finally has a healthy year and look what he does. He beats up people down low, he keeps the emotion flowing, and he keeps on fighting no matter how dire the circumstances might have become. Dave Bliss is a leader and a good kid as well. He deserved this as much as anyone.

The list goes on and on, people. You could talk about Woodbury coming into his own as a legitimate outside threat. Albert Jackson showing that he can be the complete player that we have yearned for him to be. Billy Humphrey going hot, then cold, and then getting really hot when it counted most. Jeremy Price taking his lumps and showing true grit by getting back out on the court. Corey Butler for having the mental toughness after handing the game back to Ole Miss and then keeping cool enough to ditch the ball to the open man for the game-winner. And finally, Zac Swansey for giving us a taste of the future and how clutch the future can be.

But you can’t forget the coach. The mentally and physically exhausted coach that has had the Bulldog Nation in a tizzy as to whether or not his head deserved to be on a platter. You see it happens all the time in college sports where the pressure becomes too much and teams just buckle. But this man wouldn’t let it happen. I personally have been on both the Keep and Fire Dennis Felton bandwagons this season. The funny thing is, though, I was more on the firing side early on and the keeping side late in the season. Why? Because I could see what this man has done for this program and how his kids still play for him no matter what. Even our walk-on teams that we fielded a few years back played with fire.  On top of that, I have some good friends who made some good points about this man coming in when no one else would.  Now look what our "extended interim." coach has done.

There is one thing I saw from Felton in these past few days that I hadn’t seen from him before…his change from being a coach to being a Dawg. This man has earned our respect as a good person and coach. He earned mine for sure when I watched him hug Sundiata as time ticked down and embrace that kid as his own. He also earned it when he dove into the crowd of the UGA faithful and celebrated with them as any good leader would. Then, as he’s being interviewed, he still takes the time to thank those for their constant support, even when he knew he wasn’t getting it.

Is he the best coach in the business? Nah. But is he good for this program? YES.

UGA did something more special from Thursday to Sunday than any good writer could put into words. Hell, I’m an average one at best and I still know I won’t even come close to doing justice to our feat.  All I know is that it’s Monday after the SEC tournament and I’m looking forward to Thursday so I can catch these SEC Champion, NCAA Dancin' Defiant Dawgs in action at least one more time.



Until next time kids.

Be safe.

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Thursday, February 14, 2008
In a post that I put up just last night (that was actually started last Friday...that's how busy I've been), I said that we have problems with our basketball program.  Now, in Hey Jenny Slater fashion, I'd like to pose the question of "care to amend your statement?" to myself.

Do I think UGA is a bad basketball team?

No.

Do I think Felton is a bad coach?

In areas.

Do I care to amend my statement?

No.


You see, what we have here is a team that is as night and day as a team can be.  Our one bright spot is the will, determination, dare I say heart, of a few players who HAVE bought into Felton's system and are willing to play basketball to the best of their abilities even throughout tough times.

There should not be a person out there who can question Sundiata Gaines, Dave Bliss, or even Jeremy Price.  Those three guys have proven they can play ball and can put all they have into what's happening on and off the court.

I have said repeatedly that Felton's teams always play good defense, but have been inept on offense.  Sure, we might score points like we did last night, but it hasn't happened often.

There are bright spots, though.  The meat and potatoes of Felton's recruiting is currently sitting on the bench earning redshirts and the class for 2008 and 2009 have some big-time guys in them.  I'm not saying Felton is doing a bad job.  There are just areas that need VAST improvement.

We're already out of the NCAA tourney.  It'd take a SEC tourney win to even come close to sniffing the field of 64.  Are we out of the NIT?  I think we are, but if we can rattle off a huge home win against UT this Saturday, and make a remarkable (and damn near impossible) run towards the end of the schedule PLUS pick up a couple of SEC tourney wins, then MAYBE we get a look at the NIT.  With the SEC being so down this year, however, it seems that most of our conference's teams are looking to be in the second-best tourney which would leave us out.  

So, do I care to amend my statement?  Again, I do not.  I still don't think this program is focused enough on and off the court to really get things where we need them to be.  With Felton's defensive mind, if we could get some offense, we'd be dangerous as hell.  But until we find THAT kid who can take our program to the next level, we're not going to be feared.  We're respected because of our defense, but it will be our offense that will turn this program around.

Anyway, it's a great win for the Dawgs and The Bulldawg Blawg has a good post that is not related to mine, but makes you feel better for the time being.  

Let's just hope we come out with a win against UT on Saturday.  If we do that, then who knows?  The train might just find its way back to the tracks.


Until next time kids.

Be safe.

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Friday, February 08, 2008
It seems that our basketball program is fading slowing into the night, with a do-not-resuscitate order in place and no one to make us more comfortable. To say that I’m frustrated would be an understatement of grand proportions, and I really have no idea where the program goes from here.

It should be noted that what happened off the court with Humphrey is not the fault of Dennis Felton. Billy made a “mistake” when he had one stiff drink downtown and jaywalked. Of course we’re talking about Athens, where jaywalking and having only one drink will land you in the slammer. What’s concerned me most, however is how Billy really doesn’t seem to care about his situation. To summarize from the AJC article, Billy knew he wasn’t healthy enough to play so he wasn’t going to play the next few games anyway. The whole attitude seemed very “you guys weren’t going to have me anyway, so what’s the big deal.” That’s very troubling to say the least. If he doesn’t care about the fact that he’s not playing, regardless of reason, then he doesn’t have the drive to be effective on this team anymore.

PWD shares my sentiment that our program could have (and possibly should have) been in much better condition in the amount of time that Dennis Felton has been the coach there. Trust me, I understand that he took a thankless job with a program facing NCAA regulations where he knew up front he would be short on scholarships after he arrived. I agree with most when they say that he took a chance on us and he has earned our benefit of the doubt.

However, his out-of-pocket maximum regarding his benefits is coming dangerously close to being achieved. There are two things undeniable when summing up his tenure at UGA:

• His teams are offensively inept.
• His players are constantly at odds with him and the program.

When you look at those two things on paper you basically come to two conclusions:

• You can’t win if you don’t score.
• You’re always rebuilding if you’re always losing players.

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not calling for Felton’s head on a platter. There are things about his coaching that I have always admired. He’s a great defensive mind, he expects his kids to be great on and off the court, and he rules with an iron first. However, he has got to make some changes at the end of this year, or he may be looking for a new job come the first few games into next season.

What boggles me is that he has recruited well, but he hasn’t kept the studs he’s gotten on campus. You can’t count Louis Williams as a UGA player, Mike Mercer was dismissed, Takais Brown was dismissed, Billy Humphrey is a frog's hair away from being dismissed, and the hits just keep on coming. With Felton’s eye for talent, why can’t he keep his great players on the court? It doesn’t really seem to be a problem anywhere else, so what am I missing?

Some people believe that Felton deserves another year in order to have the “correct” amount of time in regards to building a program. I say “correct” amount, because you really can’t count his first two years of being at UGA since we were fielding a team that was similar to duct taping an airplane wing. Maybe Felton should get another year. Again, I’m not calling for his head, but there are significant issues with our program that are undeniable. Felton MUST get an offensive mind on his staff at the end of the season (which can’t come soon enough at this point). He also must get production out of a VERY young group next year, which starts by playing these kids today. Plain and simple, if he doesn’t double (possibly triple depending on how bad this season gets) his SEC wins next year, I think he’s gone. We’re too much of an athletic university and we have too much to offer to not field a respectable basketball team. It used to be the second most popular sport on campus. Now, I’d venture to say you’d find more students at an intramural underwater basket weaving contest than at our games.

Oh, and if the University is smart, they’d let people in for free against UF and UT. We’ve got to do whatever it takes to get asses in seats and bring some life back to this program. Felton can’t recruit if he can’t win. It’s mighty tough to win when no one notices you even exist.



Until next time kids.

Be safe.

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Saturday, February 02, 2008
Ok, I just finished watching today's contest against the Wildcats and there are a few observations to make.

The Pros:
  • Offensively, we showed vast improvement when compared to the last two games.
  • Defensively, we still continue to keep the pace of the game at a tempo we're comfortable with.
  • We called timeouts.  
  • Dave Bliss
  • We actually went on a scoring run.  17-5 at some point, I believe.
The Cons:
  • Not enough offensive improvement for me to sit back and say we had an offensive gameplan.
  • We're still not experienced enough defensively to play man coverage effectively.
  • We lost.

I'm sure there are many more things to touch on, but I haven't followed this year's team close enough to really be able to break things down like I normally would.  I'm sure PWD is going to take care of that, so be sure to run over there sometime in the next day or so and check it out.

Me personally, I know Felton is recruiting like his mind is bad, but unless we find a way to run an offense, we're always going to have sub-par seasons.  Things missing from this team include a dominant big man, consistent ball movement, and a clutch shooter.  Some of those will take care of themselves with the gained experience and the solid recruiting.  However, if we don't find an offensive identity soon, I don't know if Dennis Felton will ever get to coach these kids he's bringing in.


Until next time kids.

Be safe. 

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Sunday, December 09, 2007
In case you didn’t know, Dennis Felton still has enough players left on his roster to field a team and that team beat Delaware State two weeks ago 58-47, followed it up with a narrow escape of 1-AA Augusta State (81-74) a few nights ago, and then throttled Wake Forest (72-50) yesterday.


This is the look of hearing "We're up by twenty points" from the band.

I got to catch some of the Delaware State and Wake Forest games on TV and from what I saw, the talent is actually there for this team to piss a couple of opposing teams off this year. Are we NCAA tourney bound? Not by a long shot IMO, but there is enough talent on this squad to possibly pull a few upsets.

Offensively, we still take too many 3-point shots and we’re still having trouble running an actual offense instead of the “look he’s open, throw it to him” style we’ve been accustomed to over the past few years. The defense is not as tenacious as some of Felton’s defenses have been, but part of that has to do with the youth and the other, much smaller, part has to do with playing cupcakes. Hard to get jacked up when you’re playing in front of a standing-room-only crowd of 5,000 – 6,000 fans.

In fairness though, yesterday's effort against the Demon Deacons was this team's best so far this year. They understood how tough this game could have been, and played up to the level of the challenge. Wake Forest is a young team as well, but is very fast in transition; something the Dawgs kept them from utilizing a lot. Our youngsters played quite well, and shared the ball effectively. I'm hoping to see more of that offensive and defensive effort, but again, I'm not sure this team is old enough to make that a possibility.

I think our biggest problem is going to be the lack of a dominant inside game. We have good size all the way around the court, excluding Humphrey and Gaines, but is Dave Bliss really going to be healthy enough to become a physical Center? The lack of progress in Reshad Singleton and the suspension of Albert Jackson hurts us because those are the two most physically imposing players on our team. In “relatively good news,” Jackson came back this weekend against Wake Forest, and played quite well. He actually scored his first points of the year with "boom shaka laka" type jam. Reshad Singleton also had a decent game, but decent is where I would draw the line. No points from the biggest man on the court, but he did net seven rebounds and had two blocks.


"I CAN'T WAIT FOR CLASS ON MONDAY!!!!!!!"

All in all, if we could get have that inside presence to make defenses account for someone in the paint, then we could be dangerous. The one thing Takais Brown did for us was make other teams account for him, even if he wasn't producing that well. We need that type of presence to loosen up the outside and give our guys chances to hit some mid-range jumpers (which we shoot really well).

Aside from that, our biggest problem that I see is going to be cohesion. This team has not played together long enough to establish a chemistry that makes a player responsible for his assignment, and give him faith in his teammates to handle theirs. From what I saw, we’re going to constantly over pursue on defense due to some players trying to do too much. That will leave opposing teams wide open to drain run-ending 3’s or get us physically dominated in the paint.

This season is going to break down to how well the team can follow the gameplan, and how well we can play in the paint. Period.

Going forward, I expect Felton to play a ton of zone defense until the youngsters get comfortable with the system. Again, IMO it’s a talented team; they just don’t know how to play together yet.
Just my thoughts. I could be wrong.


Until next time kids.

Be safe.

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Friday, October 26, 2007
The Red and Black is reporting that Takais Brown has been dismissed from the team. Not much to comment on about this other than saying that it sucks.

We were going to miss a lot of him anyway this year due to the attendance policy violations, but losing him altogether is a pretty big downer.

Let's hope Reshad Singleton can get his sh*t together pretty quickly.


Until next time kids.

Be safe.

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Wednesday, March 14, 2007
I finally got it. March Madness has hit me pretty hard and I'm amped about my picks this year. I'll be honest, I don't really feel confident in ANY of my 4 brackets (1 with BeerBlogPongThis and 3 connected to work), but I'm just excited for the opportunity to beat people I like.

Before I get into the March Madness talk, I'd like to say that I'm watching the Dawgs take on Fresno State in the first round of the NIT and we look pretty solid. Sundiata hasn't shot the ball too well, but he's played great defense and Levi and Takais have both had really good games. What I'm really surprised about is how well Fresno State shoots the ball and how we've stayed in the zone the whole time (which I don't really like for this style of game).

Stukes just hit his 8th 3-pointer of the game and as the camera focused on him, you could read his lips say "I'm on fire right now, boy." Damn if he ain't.

Another game ball should go to the fans. They really showed up for this one even though UGA is currently on Spring Break. The Stege isn't full by any stretch of the imagination, but there are asses in seats. You can't really ask for more than that.

On a side note, the band has sounded good all night long.

At this point Stukes has 30 points and Brown has 21. We've got 84 total currently, so there's the tale of the tape. I tell ya, if we can shoot the ball like this, we could very well go deep in the NIT.

Dawgs win. Good game for us.

Now it's time to move on to March Madness. This has turned out to be a very good year for upsets in my opinion, even though I don't know if very many will actually happen. Make sense? If it doesn't then just know that I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of the top seeds go 2 rounds and then lose in the Sweet Sixteen to lower, but suprisingly evenly matched teams.

So who's in my Final Four? Well, that'd be Florida, Ohio State, UCLA, and Georgetown. I'm very high on Georgetown for no other reason than they seem to be a very sexy pick this year. There's a lot of buzz around them and they seemed prime to let emotion take them deep into the tournament. I've got them in the Championship Game in a couple of my brackets with Ohio State in the other ones.

The champion? Unfortunately it's Florida. I hate Joa-lyshitican'tspellthis Noah. The kid has a face for radio, I've seen him take a swipe at a UK cheerleader, and he just needs his ass kicked in general, but Florida is just too damn good. I'm not saying that because of what they did to Georgia, but more of because what they've done to everyone. Florida has been there before with the same starting five for two full years; this being the second. I just think they're too good. I've got Georgetown winning it all in one bracket, but I think Florida is your champ.

Damn it.

Anyway, got some post season thoughts? Drop them in the comments section. I'd love to hear about them.

Until next time (and until the next UGA NIT game) kids.

Be safe.

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Saturday, March 03, 2007
I did some playing around a couple of days ago on the internets and I found Howmanyofme.com through Stacy G's Blog (Vegas!). So, I figured "what the hell" and I gave it a go.

Interesting "facts" (not really interesting, though):
  • 0 people in this country have my name
  • Names similar to "Kit": Catherine, Christian, Christopher, Katherine
  • More than 99.9 percent of people with the first name Kit are female

Shit.

For those people who check this and somehow make it into Athens by 11:00 tonight, Modern Skirts with horn players will be at 40 Watt. I caught them last night at 10 High in Atlanta and I must say it's not about the quality of their music (which is still great), it's about who I get to see and how I get to feel when I watch/listen to them.

Blogging on Sunday about the Dawgs' loss to the Vols today and how UGA spells N-I-T in Swahili.

Until next time kids.

Be safe.

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Thursday, March 01, 2007
Well the Wildcats played one of their best games of the season last night to take the Dawgs down in really what was a tale of two halves.

BeerBlogPongThis came over to watch the second half and sadly, he saw UK completely blow up in the good way (for them) where they started draining 3-point shots left and right. The Dawgs played one of their most gutsiest games of the season and were tested on a night where a lot of things didn't go right. You play in Rupp, on Senior Night, against UK, lose another one of your starters, and can't get quality minutes from some great reserves...well, you're just not going to win. As PWD stated, though, we got great minutes from the guys that did play. I agree with his view on Woodbury. I think that kid has got the makings of something special if he gets the confidence.

Truth is, with the deck stacked against us last night like it was, if we would've walked out with a win it only would have come against a total implosion of UK, which probably could've cost Tubby his job. Instead, UK did what everyone expected them to do, but it took the second half to really put the Dawgs away.

Well, what does this mean?

Not much really. I don't think many folks gave us a solid shot last night and that's a fair shake. It's very tough to win on the road in the SEC this year, and it's especially tough to win at Rupp Arena, on a night where nearly every 3-point shot they jacked up went in. It just is what it is.

However, it does turn the UT game into the biggest game of the season for us. We beat UT and go 2 rounds deep in the SEC Tourney, then we have a shot at an NCAA bid. If we lose, then we have to go VERY deep in the SEC Tourney, have at least one major upset, and then we MIGHT get a bid. We're just on that side of the bubble.

UT has proven to be a hot and cold team at times this year. I think Bruce Pearl has his kids fired up, but I also believe that the UGA fan support is there this year for an "upset" when the Vols come to Athens. I'm VERY glad this game was picked up by TV because I really do think it might be one of the best of the season.

Anyway, I don't want to make a prediction on the UT game just yet, but I will say that our past two performances haven't been bad ones, which says to me this team is willing to step up when the time calls for it. Let's just hope we can overwhelm the Vols when they come to town.

If not, UGA might as well be spelled N-I-T.

Until next time kids.

Be safe.

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Saturday, February 24, 2007
As I write this, UGA is riding a 14-point lead over MSU with about 4 minutes left in the game. I was at lunch watching the first half and my honest opinion is that aside from stupid turnovers, we've played a very solid one so far. This is especially true in the areas of fouling and ball movement. I've seen a lot of inside play and great passes to create openings. It also doesn't hurt to keep beating our opponents on the boards.

Takais is having a very solid game as he has racked up 17 so far. ANOTHER great pass to share the rock as Newman drove in and dished it to Stukes for a 3-ball. We are really having great court vision today, and Stukes is no joke right now shooting the rock.

It's now 81-64 with a little over 2 minutes left. We've pretty much locked this one up and I say if it's still a 15-point lead with over a minute and a half left, we rest the starters and get some other guys quality minutes. However, MSU just hit two 3's in a row and have cut it to 13.

Game's over. The starters never got to truly rest, but it's all good. Big win for the Dawgs today.

I'll be honest; if we go into Rupp and play solidly off the glass, move the ball well, and shoot like we just did, we MIGHT have a chance. Rupp is one of the toughest places to play in the SEC, if not the toughest, and the fans there know what's at stake. We're playing for the second spot behind Florida, a decent seed in the SEC Tourney, and a trip off of the bad side of the bubble. Their fans know this because Kentucky is going after the exact same things (excluding the bubble part).

I'm really pumped about the fan support I saw on television. We had a good crowd in there today and the fans (especially the students) showed up for some support. All in all, a very solid win for the program today to ensure Felton does NOT have a losing season in the SEC this year.

As PWD said in his Ole Miss recap, you never really know which team is going to show up this year. The SEC is tough on the road and we could play our best game in Rupp and still walk out with a loss. However, if we play solid basketball like we did today, we'll definitely have a shot.

In a side-related note, it's obvious I have not been blogging as much, but I did want to take the time to say thanks to some of the Web sites that have linked up the South Park characters for the College Football Conferences that I sent PWD about a week ago. It's brought a lot of new people to the site, and I really encourage any new visitors to leave me a comment or send me an e-mail at KitZeus99 [at] aol.com with any thoughts or impressions you have.

Big thanks for the links need to go to:

PWD
Brian Cook with AOL Sports Blog
Scott with the Georgia Tech Sports Blog (he spells my name wrong, but hell, he DID go to Tech)

Also, it should be noted that I'm not the person who created the South Park Coaches Parody, so if you are, please leave me a note or shoot me an e-mail so I can give credit where credit is due.

Until next time kids.

Be safe.

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