Well, that sucked.The Georgia Bulldog basketball team shot lights out in the first half leading by as much as 19 points over Alabama. The first half ended with Georgia up 50-35. The Dawgs played exceptional defense, shot 9 of 13 from beyond the three point line and out hustled Bama....in the first half.
Unfortunately, UGA was out scored 43-26 in the second half. The Bulldogs finally surrendered the lead on the last shot of the game as Alabama won 78-76. The good guys from Athens were out scored 16-3 in the game's final 4 minutes.
(Image: Takais Brown. AP)
In my opinion, our players out played their players in the first half. And their coach out coached ours in the second half.
Yes, our players made bad decisions with the ball in the final four minutes. However, when the game is tied 76-76 with roughly 32 seconds left and 15 seconds on the shot clock, you have to execute something in a half court set. We couldn't. We passed around with a confused look on our players' faces until Sundiata Gaines missed an off balanced jumper at the shot clock buzzer.
The turning point of the game was Bama's switch to a 2-3 zone from the man to man defense that they had played for much of the first half. When the Tide went to the zone, the Dawgs looked totally and completely baffled. I'll post more later on the game.
At the end of the day, this loss doesn't really change anything. No one expected us to win this game to begin with, and there are still six SEC wins left on the schedule for an NCAA tourney bid. But the win would've been huge.
Kudos to Gaines, Mike Mercer and Takais Brown who played lights out.
PWD
10 comments:
Tough loss. We got jobbed by the officials. They called at least 5 ticky tack fouls in the second half. Take away all those FT opportunities and we win the game. I know, sour grapes.
it feels like this is becoming a habit for us - blowing leads in the 2nd half. Damn. We had this game won. This hurts BIG.
The end of the game felt like a kick in the family jewels. But, as frustrating as it was, a little perspective: we showed a lot to make it that close. Hopefully, it will be a learning experience for the the team and CDF. We could justifiably whine about the officiating - especially in the second half, but I hate that so I am not saying another word. Maybe we'll get those calls next time.
The refs didn't cause us to score only 3 points in the final 4.5 minutes.
That was our own offensive ineptitude in the face of a basic 2-3 zone.
That sucked the suckiest suck that ever sucked a suck. Since we're not USC, I refuse to call that a moral victory. But, if we just play hard and develop our inside play, we'll make a run in the SEC tournament and maybe get a bubble invite to the big dance.
There's a lotta parity out there. Arkansas kills Bama, but loses to UGA, right before slashing LSU, etc.
Hey, I was at the game today.
Kudos to UGA. Frankly, we stole it from y'all.
You could whine about the officiating, but frankly, so could we. All it proved to me is that suckage is not limited only to SEC football refs.
All in all, I give it up to the Dawgs for playing lights out today...Bright times ahead for the UGA BBall team.
BD
I tuned in with us up 10 and 6:03 left. I felt that we would tighten up and give this one away. And we did.
Our organization and execution (coaching, preparedness) on the half-court, last shot play is inexcusable. We couldn't even get a decent shot off.
Forget the refs, we lost the game b/s we choked and haven't learn to put the damn steel blade through the heart of the opponent. These guys need to get TOUGH and get SMART.
And another thing - BEAT the Tide in Tuscaloosa this year! As they say, payback is hell and the Dawgs need to bring hell with them.
It being the Dawgs' fault for not closing out the game and it being the refs' fault for calling an atrocious game are not mutually exclusive.
I was less concerned about the shot clock/inadvertent whistle call (one play is never the sole problem) than I was about how Alabama shot 15 more FTs in the second half than UGA. That seems a little odd to me.
And PWD, arguably, the refs did have something to do with UGA not scoring more than 3 points in the last 4.5 minutes - if Alabama was getting away with fouls (and I saw several as severe as any UGA was called for throughout the second half), Georgia should've been getting to the line more.
Felton's comment in the AJC was about right. Not only was Alabama able to play tighter defense (preventing shots), but we were forced to play looser, allowing shots like Steele's 3 to tie it.
Georgia should've closed out the game, but there's no doubt the referees also influenced the outcome. Both are true.
LD,
Good points - but excuses. Excuses are for losers.
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