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

I think making it ~2/3 seasons on average is not unreasonable expectations with the right coach. We've been a pretty consistent bubble team with Fox outright handicapping us for 9 years... saying "make the tournament every year" is of course a high standard, and I get that, but 2/3 or 3/5 of seasons we should be able to finish in the top 4 of the conference IMO - which is pretty rarely not good enough to make the tournament.

I think we all can agree that UK being down this year is a bit of an aberration, so let's presume that most years, they're fighting it out for one of the top spots... beyond that, probably the next tier (on average) is maybe some combination of Florida, Arkansas, and Texas A&M (I could be persuaded to change this up, just going off the cuff without looking up data points)... with the next tier being pretty close behind at this point but a lot more crowded... I don't see anything about those 3 programs that UGA should be categorically behind them most of the time... There will of course be some fluctuations, where one or more of these teams may not be up in a year, but another team is... but the point remains... the field is reasonably level within the SEC behind Kentucky. They're the only program that I'd say consistently out-recruits everyone else.

Florida can point to championships, but Donovan is gone, and while they have a good coach now, it's not quite the same caliber program that it was several years ago. Even with Fox, we've hung tight with them at home, and played many tight games with them on the road as well... better in game decision making and we come out on the right side of the coinflip in many of those.

A&M/Arkansas... I just don't see anything particularly special about either... not bad programs, by any means, but also no built in reason why they should consistently be better other than basketball hasn't seemed to be a priority for us. If we're investing in it, securing the right coach, I could see us competing for one of these slots... and even if you're on the outside, with SEC basketball on the rise in general, 5th in the conference will likely get you in the tournament most years.


**Note** - I excluded Tennessee and Mizzou here who both have a pretty solid basketball history due to recent trends prior to this season. Similarly, Auburn not referenced due to first season of real relevance in some time. We might have to adjust our expectations a bit if any/all of these programs come back next year with similar levels of performance... though I'd argue that Mizzou was a bit of fool's gold this season,

The right coach should help to un-handicap our players from an in-game management standpoint, fight for in-state talent and win some battles against the non-ultra-elite programs, and have a clear vision for the direction of the program... if it's primarily a defensive philosophy, so be it - then make sure there is offensive efficiency coupled with it... if it's high flying/fast paced, cool... make sure you couple that with opportunistic/disruptive defense even if it's not always consistent and hammer the boards... I think there are enough talented players in the state and the surrounding area, that we should be able to field any *style* team... but the next coach needs to have a plan that involves minimizing a weakness as best as possible... It's ok to be stronger at one thing than the other... we live in an era of specialization, but the best teams know how to make that weakness or "less strong" area minimal in terms of impact.








Unrelated, but out of curiosity, why did UGA have more away games than the rest of the conference - just the way scheduling worked out? 13 road games... couple at 12, couple at 11, but several at 10, and UF only played 9 away games if I'm reading the standings correctly?

Nm

If we can somehow pull the upset over UK today, we have a really good shot to make the SECCG. I like our chances against Bama a lot more than against Mizzou or UK.

Anyone else feel like Georgia is about to beat Kentucky?

Turtle sucks as a PG.

I don’t think U.K. gonna shoot in the 20s FG%, but it is crazy how ugly we’ve played to start the last two and haven’t just gotten blown out

Why is Wilridge playing?

What an UGLY game. 23 points in a half???

Did you watch the last game....?