re: UGA Season Long Basketball Thread (18-15, 7-11); Georgia to decline NIT bid

quote:

---

I didn’t get to see it today... but... If UGA protects home court, and wins 3 SEC road games... you’re looking at a 22 win team. It’s highly possible we accomplish that this year.

---

12/31 Wildcats at Kentucky Lexington, KY 6pm | ESPN
01/03 Rebels Ole Miss Athens, GA 6:30pm | SECN
01/06 Crimson Tide Alabama Athens, GA Noon | SECN
01/10 Tigers at Missouri Columbia, MO 9pm | ESPN2
01/13 Gamecocks South Carolina Athens, GA 1pm | SECN
01/16 Tigers at LSU Baton Rouge, LA 7pm | ESPNU
01/20 Tigers at Auburn Auburn, AL 6pm | SECN
01/23 Razorbacks Arkansas Athens, GA 6:30pm | SECN
2018 SEC-Big 12 Challenge
01/27 Wildcats at Kansas State Manhattan, KS 2pm | ESPNU
01/30 Gators Florida Athens, GA 7pm | SECN
02/03 Bulldogs at Mississippi State Starkville, MS 6pm | ESPNU
02/07 Commodores at Vanderbilt Nashville, TN 8:30pm | SECN
02/10 Tigers Auburn Athens, GA 3:30pm | SECN
02/14 Gators at Florida Gainesville, FL 9pm | SECN
02/17 Volunteers Tennessee Athens, GA 6pm | SECN
02/21 Gamecocks at South Carolina Columbia, SC 6:30pm | SECN
02/24 Tigers LSU Athens, GA 2pm | ESPNU
02/28 Aggies Texas A&M Athens, GA 8:30pm | SECN
03/03 Volunteers at Tennessee Knoxville, TN 6pm | SECN

Those 5 in bold look like the most winnable road games right now. Not to say that any are definite wins, but they are all currently looking like the lowest rated teams in various power rankings/RPI type evaluations.

With that said, "protecting home court" is not going to be a walk in the park by any means. Toughest 3 games (at least on paper in mid December) look to be:

2/28 Texas A&M (They look like a damn tough out right now... long time between now and the end of February, but wouldn't count on this one right now)
2/17 Tennessee (playing good ball right now... will be interested to see how they hold up through the season)
1/30 Florida (jekyll/hyde team... at their best, they will easily put us away... at their worst, we might do the same)

Decent write up from Legge:
LINK

quote:

---

Is Mark Fox’s program turning the corner?

I don’t know. I’m asking. Is this program, that has yet to win an NCAA Tournament game under a coach in his ninth season at an institution, finally building up enough talent to turn the corner and challenge for things like the Sweet 16 and the SEC Championship?

I nearly wrote about this earlier in the year, but then the turdlaying that was the loss last Saturday at UMass gave me pause. Now I’m back to the same point I was before that game. Outcomes of games matter more than anything else, but losing and playing horribly really stings, and that’s what happened in Amherst.

Since then, Georgia has gotten it together. Georgia Tech, seemingly lost in a pre-conference slog full of coaches and players being held out and reeling from losses to Grambling and Wofford, was destroyed by these Dawgs on Tuesday night. That was followed up by an equally impressive beating of the Temple Owls on Friday. The Owls have solidly beaten Auburn, Clemson and South Carolina this year already.

Georgia was eager and active Friday afternoon, and that was against a team that came into the day with the No. 12 RPI this early in the season.

Georgia leaves for Christmas with wins over St. Mary’s, Temple, Georgia Tech and Marquette. Some of those wins are better than others, but let’s not lose sight of the fact that nearly half of Georgia’s wins are over teams you have heard of before.

Why? Why is this happening? Mark Fox has to be given credit to be sure - this is his program, and aside from the sloppy result and play against UMass, this season has to be considered a success thus far.

But let’s make sure to give credit to this sudden recruiting turnaround to Jonas Hayes. Before the former letterman started recruiting at UGA, Fox and the Dawgs signed one Top 100 players.

Of late? Put it to you this way - Georgia entered this winter with its most talented team of the Fox Era (and probably its most talented since Hayes and his brother ran up and down the court at Stegeman). That UGA just added its highest-ranked recruit, 5-star Newton PG Ashton Hagans, of the Mark Fox Era has is another feather in Hayes’ cap. Experts consider Hagans a slightly better prospect than Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. He starts for the Lakers right now.

That has to open eyes around the league.

And this commitment isn’t just a one-off the way KCP was. By the time Hagans is on campus the Bulldogs will have at least three Top 100 players on the roster - it might get to four if 4-star Johnson PF Amanze Ngumezi moves up three spots to No. 100.

Most teams in the SEC don’t have that many Top 100 players.

That’s how you win - at least that how UGA should win in the future in a bigger way. The more high-level players on the roster the better. It will give UGA a margin for error the likes of which this program has never had during Fox’s nine-year run as head coach.

That should not go unnoticed.

The only way Georgia will truly turn the corner is by signing high-level players. It seems clear that means Hayes has to continue doing what he’s been doing of late, and the team has to continue its winning ways.

---

No fox said he didn’t fit the game plan.

I thought that article that Fib posted was pretty good. I really like the way Coach Fox has built this team and that’s why I defended him so much last year. We still have a ways to go but we are headed in the right direction.

I would disagree that we have arrived. When we are still putting guys like Mike Edwards on the floor. Also, just being honest, Derek Ogbeide doesn’t have the skill set to be a starter. He should be Yante’s back up. There is no denying DO’s character, work ethic, strength, and effort but he shouldn’t be a starter. Unfortunately we don’t have anybody else that could start in his spot and obviously, Claxton isn’t ready to start and Fox is doing his best with what he has.

Personnel wise we still haven’t arrived yet but I think people are pleased with the amount of depth we have because our team is significantly better as a whole.

I agree with your assessment of DO. However, i think our team would be better if he were 4 inches taller, more coordinated, and could hit an occasional jump shot. That isn’t his skill set but think if we had him come off the bench and could dominate the paint while we rested Yante.

Claxton will be that guy but unfortunately Yante will be gone when he gets there.

quote:

---

I’m simply pointing out that Ogbeide isn’t a true center and that limits this team. I said Claxton wasn’t as good as DO right now.

What in the heck is your deal man?

---

I’m just joking man. Of course we’d be better if Ogbeide was 4 inches taller, could make shots and was more coordinated.

I was giving you a hard time that your statement was pretty obvious.

Didn’t mean to make you upset

Yante SEC POTW!

Fox lands the #41 player in the nation, Elias King. It seems weird to see UGA basketball recruiting well.

Holy cow! 2 of the best 4 recruits of the fox era in one year.

No. 1 recruiting class for 2019 on 247 now ahead of Gonzaga. It's not just football boys.