The Bulldogs went through several painful to watch shooting droughts. Most highlighted with ill advised threes jacked up without even an attempt by Takais Brown down low.
Game Flow: Image: ESPN
The Droughts:
- 15:48 - 11:34 (1st half)
-- 4:14 with 1 FG9:52-6:16 (1st half)
-- 3:36 with 0 points
4:47 (1st)- 18:59 (2nd)
-- 5:48 with 0 FGs
15:07 - 11:09 (2nd)
-- 3:58 with 0 FGs
4:58 - 2:38 (2nd)
-- 2:20 with 0 FGs
RealtimeRPI.com has us our RPI at 45 and falling (as of 10:00 pm). That makes us roughly an 11 seed. We need a solid showing on Wednesday vs. the Gators. Or we're back on the NCAA bubble.
See Also:
-- Game Recap - AP
-- Box Score - AP
PWD
30 comments:
Does Mercer have pictures of Felton cheating on his wife or something? Seriously, what does this guy bring to the table and why does he lead the team in minutes played? He's a black hole who consistently throws up some horrible shots. Why not spread his minutes among Stukes, Humphrey, and Woodbury?
all the players have games like that except gaines and brown.
he plays great defense at times. that's why he plays the minutes.
Even his defense is erratic though. It's his sheer athleticism which keeps him on the court. I'd much rather keep Woodbury on the court for longer stretches since I think he's got considerably more potential than Mercer.
I'm the Georgia basketball naysayer, but until they get better perimeter players, they won't go anywhere.
Let's see, Mercer is the the team leader in points per game, second in assists, and is probably our best pure scorer. Did any of y'all see the Gonzaga game? Yeah, mercer sucks.
the way i look at it is this. if mercer shoots 20 shots a game, it's not necessarily bad that HE is shooting 20 times a game, but bad because Stukes, Brown, and Gaines aren't getting more shots.
The number of shots in a game is a scarce resource. Do we want the bulk going to Mercer or someone else?
Jmac - i don't think it's the perimeter players.
I just think Felton doesn't have the foggiest clue about coaching offense in the SEC, and he never has.
It is what it is.
PWD
PWD,
Felton = Donnan. Watch for the next guy to take us higher.
Westerdawg,
I get so tired of you hitting on Felton. When we win it's the players this and the players that. When we lose it's the Coach this and the coach that. Play on the road in the SEC is a losing proposition. Why don't you stay with something you have a little knowledge about.....football.
Aladawg
I guess perimeter shooters would be a better way to describe it, since I don't want to detract from Gaines. He's possibly the most underrated player in the SEC right now.
Still, most of their shooters are terribly erratic which wasn't necessarily the case in, say, the Harrick era. Of course most of our shooters are now taking legitimate classes, so there's that.
I've never been completely sold on Felton. I know the program was in disarray when Harrick left, and it was going to be a mess and massive rebuilding project for whoever came in. However, I think in college basketball, your program turnaround time can be achieved considerably faster.
With Georgia, I think the wheels are still spinning, and I agree with you PWD that we could be a legitimate basketball school. Shoot, if Florida can be No. 1 win a national title in that sport, we should be able to at least build a program which is consistently in the Top 20.
i was at the game in Nash-vegas and it was quite literally the WORST basketball performance i have ever seen. it wasn't even that the nerds played great either. and the Vandy fans are always mediocre at best. we should have waxed them, instead we played like crap and still almost won. the turnover with 1:30 left in play crushed our hopes.
anyway...go dawgs. beat florida.
For the guy defending Mercer, when you have to refer back to a game from a month and a half ago that is a bad sign. Given he has had a couple good games since then. But his last four or five have been horrendous. During the last four games, he has shot 12-46 from the field and 3-18 from 3 point.
He certainly does some good things too. But Felton seems to have such a short leash with other players that I don't understand why he gets such a long one. He takes some really bad shots. And really quick shots. He shouldn't take 3's. He should drive and dish or shoot.
Mercer should take the RCER off the back of his jersey because he is NOT a team player. All he's worried about is "getting his", making SportsCenter and showing "the league" what he can do...which is an absolute joke. He consistently turns the ball over in critical moments and takes HORRENDOUS shots at the most crucial times. He throws up 3 to 5 3 pointers every game even though he is a TERRIBLE outside shooter.
We would have won that game handily last night if we just had a solid role player(a team player) taking Mercer's minutes.
I agree with the first poster that Felton must have signed a sworn agreement when Mercer came on campus saying that ME, uhh, I mean MM, would play no less than 25-30 minutes in every single game. The way he's hurting the team more than helping it. He should be getting no more 15 minutes per game.
As for Felton, he has ONE legitimate big man. The rest of those guys try real hard, but are completely out of their element and can't get out of their own way most of the time. Once we get a few more post players that actually have a few offensive skills(and they are coming), the "inside out" game will be much more effective.
As for it taking Felton 4 years to get to this point, it's hard to believe any of you are so clueless to believe that someone could come to UGA(historically 10th of 12 among SEC schools) could go out and recruit great players and be an immediate winner with probation hanging over our heads for the first 2+ years.
We'll be nasty next year. Being on the bubble this year is better than any rational person would have expected. Why all the disappointment now? We lost two road games that odds indicated we would lose. We've still got a chance to go 9-7 in the league and the NIT is still a step in the right direction if we don't happen to make the NCAA's. Barring injuries to key players, we will definitely be a threat to go deep in The Dance next year.
I don't think that rpi #45 would necessarily make us an 11. There will be many teams lower than that that get in the tournament.
If we get in the dance, we'll win at least 9 league games and be up around 30-35 with top 10 sos.
I'd say that we;ll be anywhere from a 6 to a 9 if we get in the tournament.
As for it taking Felton 4 years to get to this point, it's hard to believe any of you are so clueless to believe that someone could come to UGA(historically 10th of 12 among SEC schools) could go out and recruit great players and be an immediate winner with probation hanging over our heads for the first 2+ years.
Except for the fact that, you know, Tubby did it.
I think all of this Mercer bashing is insanity. Yes He played HORRIBLE. But it's not his fault that Felton didn't yank his butt when he was jacking up those lunacy three point shots.
If Felton imposed the same level of discipline, direction and expectations on the offensive end as the defensive end, then Mercer would've been riding the pine for his shot selection. And he would've been better off for it.
As for the pace at which Felton is turning us around and as for the guy ripping on me complaining about Felton.
Felton IS improving the program. He IS stabilizing the program. He IS recruiting better than any of his predecessors since Tevestor and Hugh were working together AND he's doing it in the face of outrageous obstacles early on.
That said, the pace of progress at this point is reflective of his offense and game to game motivation. We were flat as a pancake against Vandy, Tennessee and Clemson. If we played with the intensity of any recent home games, we win the last 2 games.
It wasn't like UT or Vandy were blood thirsty crowds either.
Water finds its level.
So far, Felton has proven that he can get us to "the bubble." You could argue that the NCAA bubble has been our "par" since 1981 or so.
We're either a little above it or a little below it except for about 4 truly horrific years and 4 truly special ones.
So far all Felton has proven that he can do is get us to our historical "par."
We're going to make the NIT or NCAA this year. That's progress. Both will get Felton a contract extension. Next year, we should make a nice NCAA run.
If so wonderful. However, until he finds a way to develop some semblance of consistent player movement and mid-range shooting there is a ceiling on where he can take us.
Even talentless players can move without the ball.
PWD
Agree with you, anon 10:56. This team is overachieving. And, with all due respect to the lovely and talented pwd, I'm not sure "motivation" is the deciding factor in whether jumpers fall.
If we were flat, they'd have shot 70%.
We failed to match their intensity in the first half. That's all i'm saying. Not saying that's why we missed our jumpers...many of which ew should have never taken.
He IS recruiting better than any of his predecessors.
Serious question ... scandal with Harrick aside, you think he's done better recruiting than either Tubby or Harrick?
"Even talentless players can move without the ball.
PWD"
PWD - You didn't see the Church League 10th graders I coached this year.
Better than Harrick? are you kidding?
Harrick took in 3 great transfers. And 3 high school kids that lasted more than 18 months in 4 recruiting seasons. That's it. Without the miracle out of the blue transfers of the Hayes and Wilkins kids, who would've Harrick had playing?
So yes. Much better. In fact, I think Harrick is the worst recruiter at UGA in any sport in our history.
As for Tubby. Tubby recruited his kid, Ray, Chadwick and some jucos that first year (Dukes and Katu Davis) that made a real impact. Jirsa signed Jumaine and DA Layne.
But I'd say, YES. Given the obstacles facing Felton, hell yes he's done a better job recruiting.
You can't even look at the first year with Newman, Sikes, and Stukes. After we lost Abukar, Howell and the 2 Jucos (which were never going to sign with any UGA coach), then he took who he could get.
I absolutely think he's a better recruiter than Harrick or Tubby were at UGA.
pwd
PWD, I completely agree with your assessment of our team on the offensive end. Felton's coaching and direction on offensive are absolutely horrendous. I can't even stand to watch when we have the ball.
1.) We NEVER set on the ball screens. Maybe 2 or 3 a game. This would help our guys penetrate more an open up the pick-and-roll, but it isn't part of our arsenal.
2.) We cannot play effectively against the zone because Felton insists on popping our bigs out to the top of the key and we lose any ball movement. We don't make quick passes or skip passes to make the zone work. See the second half of the Alabama game.
3.) The high-low we use is absurd. We don't have good passing bigs, yet our favorite offensive set seems to be one forward at the high post trying to dump it down to another forward on the block. Why not swing it out to a guard and have him bounce feed the post??? I guarantee we would significantly cut down our turnovers if we didn't have Singleton trying to lob it into Bliss several times a game.
4.) No player movement, coupled with our lack of ball movement on the perimeter, makes us a tremendously pathetic offensive unit in the half court. And notice, when our players do move off the ball they do so half-heartedly, with no intensity.
5.) Consistently bad possessions out of timeouts. Watch for this as it is extremely indicative of poor coaching on the offensive end. We never come with a nice set play or anything. Most of the time it's mass confusion with Sundiata heaving something up at the buzzer.
6.) And my favorite, our bread an butter play...Sundiata handling the ball at the top of the key as time expires and the rest of our players in a spread set. It is the most unimaginative and pathetic offensive set I have ever seen, yet this is the "play" we always utilize when the game is on the line and we need a bucket. We don't even have Gaines drive to the rack!!! He always winds up shooting a contested jumper. And yeah, I know it worked against LSU, but even a blind squirrel finds a nut.
It just all seems pretty basic to me. Set a screen for the guy with the ball. This might set up the foul line jumper, something I don't think a UGA player has ever taken. And ditch the high-low, or if we insist on using it, how about using all of the space it creates with a big on the perimeter and send a cutter through the middle or have someone penetrate!! How brilliant!! And when faced with a zone, lets not put Bliss at the top of the key to stunt any ball movement we might have had, or again, if we insist on putting him there, how about a skip pass to at least make the zone move!
OK, sorry. I got it off my chest now. I do think Felton has done a good job with the program against impossible odds and has us playing very disciplined defense, but he has major problems coaching the offensive side of the ball and we will never be a great team with the system in place right now. Sad but true. Maybe he could take a page out of Richt's book and hire some type of O. coordinator...
I think you're underselling Harrick though. Reaching out to transfers, like it or not, is one element of recruiting. Plus he brought in Chris Daniels, Steven Thomas, Rashard Wright and Ezra Williams, two of three would develop into All-SEC caliber players.
And the final class he had lined up would have been ranked in the Top 10, if not Top Five, nationally with Abukar and Howell headlining the class.
Listen, I'm not saying the man was clean by any means and our program is much better off without him, but I also think that he did a very good job purely in the sense as a basketball coach at Georgia, and that includes recruiting.
Plus, I think you're viewing this in terms of graduation rates, when I'm viewing it as athletic talent. I think there's little question that the talent brought in by Harrick was a different level than the talent being brought in by Felton (though I'll concede a large reason for that is because of the shambles Harrick left the program in).
So, I'd be inclined to rate Harrick's athletic recruits as better than Felton's, but if we're talking graduation rates, then, sure, stick Felton atop the heap. But I don't think that's what this conversation should be about.
For my part, I was just surprised at how severely Georgia got challenged physically by a Vanderbilt group that was noticeably smaller than they were. If they'd been playing with any kind of emotion, particularly in the first half, that wouldn't have happened. And it disturbs me to see them come out so flat twice in a row against very beatable opponents.
Still, I'm hopeful about the potential for this program under Felton. Obviously I'm not happy with every single thing that has happened under his regime, but given the utter joke the Harricks made out of the program, I'd be hard-pressed to name anyone who could've done much better.
Ezra was a Jirsa recruit.
Harrick's other recruits were John Toombs, Kenny Brunner, Tony Cole, Nick Temen, Alexander Johnson, Larry Turner, the aircraft carrier from Arkansas who's name escapes me, Wayne Arnold, Moses White, the PG who signed with SC and several others that busted out or never enrolled. Plus, Evans and Coleman...who were studs in Year 1/2.
He didn't sign a single HS kid that stuck for 18 months in his final two classes.
As for Abukar, I think its speaks volumes about what kind of person he is that he signed with Harrick, Donovan and Steve Fisher within a 2 year period. Three guys who's peers and the NCAA have "colorful" opinions of their recruiting practices.
As for Howell, last Wednesday's game was the first in 4 years where he did pretty much anything near as I can tell.
PWD
BTW -- Just to be clear. Harrick was the best game day coach that we have ever or will ever have.
The lack of recruiting success vs. his on the court results speaks VOLUMES about what a towering monster he was on gameday.
I'd argue that he's one of the Top 5 greatest offensive minds in college hoops over the past 15 years. Which makes the past 4 years even more frustrating to watch.
... the aircraft carrier from Arkansas who's name escapes me
Who was that kid? He ended up at Arkansas after it was all said and done. But he was, physically, a monster, and I think he did OK with the Razorbacks.
Who was that big center who signed with Georgia a few years back? The 'project' who was, like, 7-foot-3 and 400 pounds or something? Was it like Joey Waldrop or something?
PWD:
it's not that Mercer shoots 20 times a game. It's WHERE he shoots them from. He couldnt hit water if he fell out of a boat from behind the 3 line.
I cant say if MM is forcing shots because he thinks he has to carry the team, or because he's a selfish prima donna, but let's give him the benefit of the doubt and say it's a mistaken effort to make something good happen. Felton has to be the guiding force that reins MM in a little, or coaches him up to improve his shot selection.
Good coaches encourage players to shoot from places where they have a good chance of making the shot. Bad coaches watch guys jack the ball up from hopeless spots and talk about their "athleticism." It's great to be athletic, but if you're athletic and you play stupid (even enthusiatically stupid), you arent really helping your team.
I'm glad MM has confidence. I agree MM is very athletic. I dont want Felton to crush his spirit. I just want him to teach the kid the difference between a good shot and a bad shot. So far, nada.
I certainly agree agree about JH. I still recall the zen-like feeling of calm that settled over me down the stretch against UF as I realized: "We going to get a good shot against them every time. And we 're going to hit most of them." I felt all warm and safe, a way I'd never felt as a UGA hoops fan.
I think we've been painful to watch mostly because of a lack of talent inside, which still persists, despite the addition of TB. More inside scorers (can't wait till you're here, Jeremy Price) and rebounders will make us more effective. We'll probably never be pretty, but we can be effective. But, yes, DF has a ways to go in coaching offense. It's a weakness, but a weakness a good recruiter who coaches defense and runs a clean program can afford.
I'd argue that he's one of the Top 5 greatest offensive minds in college hoops over the past 15 years. Which makes the past 4 years even more frustrating to watch.
pwd, i think you're selling the man short here. i'd put him in a higher category than that. jesus christ, it's amazing how good of an offensive coach that guy was. and coach overall. as far as coaching the game of basketball, i'll take harrick any day. good god, was he incredible... going to watch mark gottfried's teams try to run the same offense it became even more evident how great harrick was at teaching that. and then bob huggins? good god, i nearly stabbed my eyes out with my v5 watching that attempt at offense.
and love the thought about florida. god, jim loved beating billy donovan more than anyone else, i think because he knew he didn't have near the players billy did. if he had billy's players... it was amazing how much jim would just flat pull donovan's pants down.
I believe the "aircraft carrier" was Julius Lamptey.
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