Image: georgiadogs.com
Well, there goes the basketball season. Not really I guess. But it makes things that much harder. Needless harder.
- Mike Mercer - 15 Game Suspension (starts when he's medically cleared)
Takais Brown - 9 Game Suspension (including the exhibition game)
Albert Jackson - 6 Game Suspension (including the exhibition game)
- Takais - at Wisconsin, Wake Forest and the first game in Hawaii.
- Jackson - Wisconsin
- Mercer - at Wisconsin, Wake Forest, the entire three game Hawaii Trip, Gonzaga (at Spokane), Georgia Tech and at Mississippi State. That's the best case scenario. Depending on when he's cleared, he could also miss Alabama and Arkansas if his rehab is moving slowly.
Quick Take on it:
One of the most appealing things about having Dennis Felton around was his ability to "clean up the program" and "keep us out of trouble." If he can't keep his players in compliance with Athletic Association Policies, then what's the point of putting up with the offense and defense? That's my bitter instant take on it.
My more level headed reaction...It's awfully hard to win games without two of your top three players in a sport that only has 5 guys on the court at a time. We probably needed to go 10-3 non-conference and 9-7 in the SEC to make the tourney before this. We'll do well to go 9-4 non-conference now while struggling to find a "quality" non-conference win in that group. We're probably going to need to go 10-6 in SEC play to make the NCAA Tourney. That's a very tall order indeed.
From the Official Announcement:
ATHENS, Ga. --- University of Georgia basketball players Mike Mercer, Takais Brown and Albert Jackson will face suspensions during the 2007-08 season for violating Athletic Association policy, according to an announcement Thursday from head coach Dennis Felton. Mercer will miss 15 games of the coming season, while Brown will miss nine games and Jackson will sit out six contests.
Mercer’s 15-game suspension will begin once he has been medically cleared to participate. The junior from Snellville missed the last 10 games of the 2007 season after he suffered injuries to his right knee in the Bulldogs’ win at South Carolina on Feb. 10.
The suspensions for Brown and Jackson will begin with Georgia’s exhibition game against Clayton State on Friday, Nov. 2.
At the time of his knee injury last season, Mercer was the Bulldogs’ second-leading scorer at 13.7 points per game. He started all 23 games in which he played as a sophomore.
Brown, a 6-8 forward from Flint, Mich., led Georgia in scoring last season at 14.2 points per game and also in field-goal shooting at 56.6 percent. He also averaged 5.6 rebounds per game, second-best on the team.
Jackson, a 6-10 center from Earlington, Ky., played in 25 games as a freshman last year, averaging 2.2 points and 2.2 rebounds.
ht - David Ching
See Also:
-- Georgia Basketball Schedule for 2007/2008 - georgiadogs.com
PWD
4 comments:
A few thoughts ...
In terms of platooning our basketball aspirations, Mercer can sit out for the whole season for all I care. For every good thing he did on the court he did two bad things. Watching him showboat and jack up quick threes every other position was disgusting. Brown will be missed, and I still have high hopes for Jackson this season. Let's hope they keep their noses clean for the rest of the season.
On the plus side, this will hopefully give freshmen Jeremy Price, Jeremy Jacob, and Troy Brewer some early playing time. I'm especially excited to see Price, and since Brown / Bliss aren't coming back next year, he's going to need to grow up real quick anyway.
Singleton looks a lot thicker walking around the dining halls this year, and if he has developed any sense of aggression and some softer hands our front court might be OK.
Finally, I'm a big fan of Coach Felton. He seems like a genuinely good guy that just wants the students to get behind the team. He says the right things in the Red & Black, goes through the crowd during the game, talks to students standing in line for tickets, etc. Still, I fear he has a disconnect with his players. These are his recruits, after all, and he's got to do a better job of communicating with them. I know he can't hold Mike's hand and take him to class everyday, but really, c'mon. I had a breakout session with half of the football team and whether they contributed anything to class or not, they still showed up.
Can he at least get his players to make their Facebook profiles private? Some of them have some rather self-incriminating photos and comments up.
I still say we make the tourney this year. Go Dawgs.
One of the most appealing things about having Dennis Felton around was his ability to "clean up the program" and "keep us out of trouble." If he can't keep his players in compliance with Athletic Association Policies, then what's the point of putting up with the offense and defense? That's my bitter instant take on it.
I concur.
Of course, I fell off the Felton bandwagon a few miles back.
I don't really care who we have on the floor anymore Paul. Do we play better basketball is all I'm concerned with. Can we start running in-bounds plays, something we've done horribly the last 5 years. Can we play like a unit? Missing Takais hurts, but were we honestly expecting to win in Madison? We need Wake, and a good showing in Hawaii, so he hurts there, so we're likely an NIT team now unless we do great in SEC play. Same position we were before the suspensions. The question of the season still remains, can Billy Humphrey and Terrance Woodbury improve? Can Singleton catch? Can the freshman be solid contributors? Can we play better team basketball? That's what I'm concerned with.
The person who is totally screwed by this is Sundiata. No one has been as much of a warrior as he has while he has been with us. If anyone deserves a chance to dance, he does. I guess he still could; with all of the parts, this is a good team; I had high hopes of a very successful year.
Maybe the freshmen are as good as some others think - at least good enough to get into the SEC part of the schedule with a chance once Brown and Jackson get back.
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