Georgia Bulldogs at Tennessee Volunteers: The Haphazard Ill-Informed Roundball Preview
by T Kyle King on Feb 17, 2011 12:30 PM EST
in Georgia Bulldogs Basketball
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PrintThe Bulldogs went south in a hurry late in the game, missed out on a golden profile-building opportunity and are getting closer to making contact with the bubble. . . .
Given that trend, it's getting harder and harder to make excuses for them.
Ryan Greene (February 17, 2011)
Fans of the Tennessee Volunteers began the week the way fans of the Georgia Bulldogs did, by wondering whether their team would be able to perform well enough in its last six regular season games to earn an NCAA Tournament bid. Both clubs began their stretch runs with conference home games on Wednesday night, in which the Red and Black lost to the Vanderbilt Commodores and the Big Orange won against the South Carolina Gamecocks in a contest featuring Scotty Hopson’s monster dunk. (Evidently, a lot of fellows have those against South Carolina.)
Where does that leave us heading into Saturday afternoon’s showdown in Knoxville? Here is where the Hoop Hounds stand, from the point of view of this random dude:
To start our examination of this weekend’s game, we look not to Knoxville, but to Nashville, where the Vanderbilt faithful characterized the Bulldog squad they just vanquished as "a formidable test" who provided the Commodores with "their biggest road win of the season." I’ll buy the first part of that description, as the Athenians have proven that they can hang with anyone (or allow anyone to hang with them) for 35 minutes or so, but, frankly, I’m not sure how much outlasting the Red and Black really counts for anymore. After Georgia’s last meeting with Tennessee produced the season’s biggest hose job, I’m certainly not counting on this weekend’s game, or any aspect of it, to go the Red and Black’s way.
Still, if there is any remaining road game the Bulldogs have a shot at winning, it’s definitely this one. It is difficult to imagine Georgia pulling off an upset away from home against the division-leading Alabama Crimson Tide or Florida Gators, but the Volunteers have done a poor job of defending their home court, posting a 10-5 record in Knoxville that ties Tennessee with the Palmetto State Poultry for the worst record of any SEC East team in its own building. The Fox Hounds, on the other hand, boast the conference’s second-best road record, as Georgia’s 6-2 ledger in true away games trails only the Sunshine State Saurians’ 6-1 mark in hostile environments.
Prior to Wednesday evening’s outings in Athens and in Knoxville, Tennessee was two spots ahead of Georgia in the SEC in scoring offense and in steals, while Georgia was two spots ahead of Tennessee in the SEC in scoring defense and in field goal percentage. The two teams entered their respective midweek contests virtually deadlocked atop the conference in rebounding, with the Bulldogs pulling down a league-leading 38.7 boards per game to the 38.6 corralled by the Vols.
The Big Orange’s win in Athens last month was Tennessee’s 91st series victory over Georgia; if the Bulldogs are to card what the NCAA record book will show as the Athenians’ 51st all-time triumph over the Volunteers, they will have to do it against a team led by Bruce Pearl, who is back from suspension with his garish orange blazer after engaging in "inappropriate conduct" with high school juniors. (No, not that kind of inappropriate conduct!) Then again, Coach Pearl’s presence may not be a plus for the home team, as some fans are asking whether he has done his worst coaching job ever this year.
Perhaps the single biggest factor operating in the Bulldogs’ favor is desperation. The Red and Black entered the week as one of the last four teams into the NCAA Tournament who would not have to endure the indignity of participation in a play-in game, and last night’s loss dropped Georgia from Chris Dobbertean’s eleven line to his twelve line.
In short, Tennessee should have the benefit of home court advantage . . . but, apparently, they don’t. The Volunteers should be better off with their head coach back . . . but, evidently, they aren’t. The Big Orange should profit from being the better team . . . but, possibly, they won’t. As crazy as it sounds, Georgia actually has a chance in this one.
Tip-off in Thompson-Boling Arena is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday. Television coverage will be provided by CBS; here’s hoping the network doesn’t assign two random dudes to call the game.
Go ‘Dawgs!
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"The Fox Hounds, on the other hand, boast the conference’s second-best road record"
This needs to be stated again.
I admire the optimism.
I was optimistic until I watched this team blow a golden opportunity against Xavier, nearly lose to a team that had 9 points in the first half, and then proceed to score only 3 points in the last 10 minutes of its game last night—against a top-20 team (we needed that for our resume).
What’s our signature road win? Ole Miss? Arkansas? St. Louis? We’ve only beaten crappy to mediocre teams on the road. How is this team really going to win at Knoxville, Gainesville, or Tuscaloosa? We can’t even beat these teams at home.
I am a fan of the Dawgs, Falcons, and Braves...oh...and tacos, but I like the other three more.
Actually, it needs to be stated again
Because even under Harrick we were good for a mind-melting loss on the road every once in a while. I’m surprised more than anything.
“nearly lose to a team that had 9 points in the first half”
Is this blog covering Georgia Horseshoes and Hand Grenades now?
“We’ve only beaten crappy to mediocre teams on the road.”
Teams who haven’t even done that: Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Kentucky, Florida, Kansas, Duke…
If you want to look at the second half collapses this team has had all year...
and write them off because we didn’t collapse entirely and lose, then that’s fine, but you’re going to need to use a bit more logic-based analysis and a little less snark if you want to convince anyone else to do the same. The fact that we almost lost to South Carolina is important, because it showed the regardless of how poorly teams play in the first half, we have a penchant for allowing them back into the game. Teams that have outscored us in the second half this year: Notre Dame, Temple, Manhattan, UAB, Charleston Southern, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Florida, Auburn, Xavier, South Carolina, and Vanderbilt. That’s twelve games where we’ve allowed more points in the second half than we’ve scored, or just under half the time. It’s happened in six of the eleven SEC games we’ve played, and it’s happened in each of the last four games. It isn’t an exception for this team…allowing opponents to outscore us in the second half is becoming alarmingly common.
Being outscored in the second half is indicative of a team that lacks leadership and panics when the going gets tough. That’s what this team is…even though it’s a veteran team, it’s a rookie team in terms of playing games that matter late in the season. No one on this team has been on a squad that’s played games in late March that mean anything, and it’s evident in their performance. When we went cold for ten minutes in the second half, we were in dire need of someone to step up and say “Hey, guys, we’re struggling and they’ve gotten hot, but let’s settle down, set up a play and beat them just like we were in the first half. Control the ball, work the clock and find the open man by moving the ball efficiently. The ball can travel faster than a defender can run, so let’s exploit that and get some points back on the board.” Instead, our team panicked, teamwork vanished and it turned into a bunch of guys trying to do things alone.
As for the crappy to mediocre teams on the road thing, yes, the teams you’ve named have had their slip ups. However, they’ve won tough road/neutral site matches as well. Tennessee beat Pitt in Pittsburgh, Vandy beat UNC in Puerto Rico, Kentucky beat Louisville at Louisville, Florida beat Tennessee in Knoxville. Three of those four SEC teams you named have beaten us in Stegeman, and we’ve lost to all four of them. We’re at risk of going 1-7 against them entirely.
Frankly, this team hasn’t done anything to cement itself as anything other than a middle of the pack team. If they finish out the season strongly, they can certainly change that…but I’m not holding my breath.
by hailtogeorgia on Feb 17, 2011 2:43 PM EST up reply actions 2 recs
excellent rebuttal
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
Thanks.
Also, that should say “late February or March”…not just March.
by hailtogeorgia on Feb 17, 2011 2:57 PM EST up reply actions
"Being outscored in the second half is indicative of a team that lacks leadership and panics when the going gets tough."
On this you will have no argument from me.
Good comment.
Let me also clarify something: I am rooting for us in every, single game. While I don’t feel we will make the tourney (or, if we do, win a game), I will support this team to the end.
I am frustrated—but maybe this frustration is a good thing. Why? When we were absolutely terrible, games like these wouldn’t sit with me longer than it took to change the channel. I would shrug my shoulders, crack a wry smile, and think, “man, we’re bad…like…really bad…oh well.”
Now, this team irks me, for I honestly believe we have the tools to beat almost anyone in the country…consistently. Instead, as hailtogeorgia said, we fall apart in the second half. Logically, if we can outscore teams like Florida and ND in the first half, we should be able to outscore them in the second half…we haven’t. Thus, I am frustrated.
Despite all of the moaning from me, there is a silver lining: UGA fans, like me, are starting to give a damn again. That counts for something…right?
I am a fan of the Dawgs, Falcons, and Braves...oh...and tacos, but I like the other three more.
by Jman781 on Feb 17, 2011 4:35 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
I just read this:
What’s wrong with the Dogs? Travis Leslie, one of Georgia’s two underperforming NBA-bound players, said he thought "we got a little complacent in the second half and let them back into it."
h/t Bill King, AJC
How is this possible? I can see Texas, Ohio State, Pitt, etc becoming complacent. They can afford to be complacent. Maybe we should play from behind. Lately, we cannot manage a lead whatsoever.
"If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose."
-Erk Russell
I mean this not mean - he may not have understood what he was saying. I am not sure complacent was the right word. It would be better if our players let the coach do the talking.
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
looked like it!
"One thing I will never do as long as I’m at Georgia is lose to Florida." - Herschel Walker
"We got complacent"
is universal player-speak for “beats me, I’m sick of talking about losing.”
Dave, it's pretty obvious why we can't manage a lead...
and I mean this with no snark intended…our players can’t manage a lead because they aren’t used to playing with a lead. When they get up by a large amount, they literally have no idea what to do. Being down and playing against the odds unifies them and gives them an “us against the world” gameplan where they work together. When they have the lead, they don’t know how to remain solid and continue grinding and put a foot on the other team’s throat.
This is why teams that haven’t enjoyed success in a long time struggle to put it all together even when the talent is so clearly there…they really don’t know how to win. It’s the same reason coaches take into account whether or not a player comes from a program that wins. Oak Hill Academy, for instance, churns out great basketball players. This isn’t just because they have a great coach, it’s because the players learn how to enjoy and handle sustained success.
by hailtogeorgia on Feb 17, 2011 2:52 PM EST up reply actions
That's a good point and plausible...
but when we were trading “threes” as Jenkins started to heat up, despite the lead, that’s when the chips were down. And we blinked. Like I intimated during the USCe game, a killer instinct is indeed a learned thing…and we just don’t have it. We have the talent, the coaching, but not the intangibles.
"If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose."
-Erk Russell
Right.
That’s the point I’m getting at…when we were trading threes, we still needed a stop just as badly as we did when the game was tight in the first half. That’s what our guys can’t understand…they get up big, they start hitting threes, and they relax, not understanding that they need to prevent the other team from heating up in the meantime. The key to beating a high scoring offense in basketball is very similar to winning a game of racquetball, in that you have to stop the runs. Vanderbilt is the best offense in the SEC, so you know they’re not going to remain cold all night. The way to combat that is to keep building a lead, and then when they start shooting lights out, amp up the defense even more and get rebounds. Make them miss shots, stay in your original gameplan, and don’t try to get into a shootout with them. We outmuscled them in the first half and then fell into their game in the second. If you can keep their runs at 4-0 or 6-0 (as opposed to 11-0 or 13-0…which is what happened) you win the game. We were up 53-43 with nine and a half minutes to go…the final was 64-56. We scored THREE points in the time that they scored 21. That’s simply not going to win games.
by hailtogeorgia on Feb 18, 2011 8:48 AM EST up reply actions
I want to go back to being a football/baseball/gymnastics school.
At least when we experience morale-crushing failures in those sports, we can point to the grand successes of the past and wax nostalgic.
Show some swagger and/or leadership.
I tend to work until around 6:30 central time and I kind of monitor the game on my work computer, head home, and catch second halves on ESPNU when we’re on. Generally this leads to severe depression: the only portion of the game I get to watch is the inevitable late 2nd half collapse against quality teams.
Anytime an opponent goes on a 2nd half run, everyone seems to sort of look around at each other waiting for something to happen. We have arguably the best athlete in the SEC in Travis Leslie. We have arguably the top NBA pick from the SEC (excluding Kentucky’s guys) in Trey. Neither guy seems to want to step up and either take over the leadership role or take over the game. Watching Vanderbilt own us on the glass last night was brutal
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