Habemus Papam Nemanja

His line against South Carolina: 22 points. 6-6 from the field. 21 minutes.

HAM.

This is the player we thought we were getting from Montenegro. He's become more aggressive in the blocks on both ends of the court. He's found his shooting stroke. He's usually matched up against a smaller player on the wing. He dunked in a game.

The Pope of Podgorica. In Neme we trust.

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Dawgs beat George Washington

It wasn't pretty, but Dawgs get it done 52-41. Neme and KCP both score 17 points and the Dawgs held GWU to 24.6% shooting. We went through a maddening 4:30+ minutes where we had a line up that didn't score any points, hadn't scored any points, were sloppy with the ball by turning it over four times, missed multiple free throws.

I'm not sure if Charles Mann is in Coach Fox's dog house or what, but it is hard to understand him only playing 19 minutes when other are in the game and are sloppy with the ball. I am thinking about Brantley's turnovers and Vincent William's missed free throws. Any way, he should never play the line up he had in during that one stretch. That was a large part of us only scoring 19 points in the first half.

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Dawgs to face George Washington tonight

Is it a winnable game? Sure. GWU comes in at 6-6, with a schedule that looks a lot like Georgia's, with losses to strong Notre Dame and Kansas State teams, as well as a baffling home loss to Youngstown State. They aren't particularly good at anything but rebounding (40th in the country), thanks in large part to Isaiah Armwoods play. One other thing, Armwood hasn't taken but two three point shots all season, both with time expiring on the game or shot clocks.

(Image: @Bassindawg)

Is it a losable game? Sure. GWU has shown flashes of brilliance and gave 9-3 Rutgers and 10-2 Kansas State all they could handle, including coming back from double digit second half deficits, before the Knights and Wildcats put them away by three points. Armwood plays smart, grabs a ton of rebounds, leads the Colonials in scoring and blocked shots, and does not foul often.

So, shut down Armwood and Georgia wins, right? You'd think, but we need to play tough and careful offensive ball. Neme needs to be effective not awful down low, particularly when he is guarded by Armwood. GWU has a Serbian forward, Nemanja Mikic, who isn't afraid to get physical, and had a decent outside shot to compliment his game. With Marcus Thornton out indefinitely after knee surgery, it'll be on Neme to replicate his success against FAMU, but against a bigger front.

We'll have a good match up on KCP, but if the other four on the floor struggles, particularly down low, Armwood is the kind of player that will allow a team to double team a guard and dare folks to score from inside the lane.  Having the Pope of Podgrica back would be a very nice surprise going into SEC play.

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Fox's Hounds Tip Off Tomorrow Night

Jacksonville comes to town to tip off the season against Georgia at Stegeman Friday night. In case you were wondering, Jacksonvile is no longer coached by Hugh Durham, but is lead by Russell Powell, an A-Sun preseason all conference pick out of Newnan.

This game is a good test for Fox's squad, as they are guard heavy and will look to exploit ball handling ability to get open looks. Georgia should handle the Dolphins, but the margin will depend on how well KCP (who is on the Naismith watch list) and Kenny Gaines meshes, as well as how much Neme has picked up on playing the American version of hoops.

Tip is at 7pm.

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In Neme We Trust

@BassinDawg keeping up the good work:

Pope of Podgrica

Vandy is beatable, but beyond having big games from Neme, Gerald and KCP, we have to keep Jenkins from going all Rainman from 3pt range.

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Dawgs Advance in SEC Tourney; Face Vandy Tonight in Late Game

Neme for Pope. (h/t @BassinDawg)

Big defensive games from a couple of guys. Ware getting hot (finally). Gerald Robinson and KCP did their thing. For the first time all season, Fox let the team play without calling a time out, you know, just because we have them. Actually, this was a very well coached game by Fox. It doesn't hurt to have hot shooters, but he had answers for Stansbury's zone defense that allowed us to sustain a run late in the second half. He also had the right match-ups low to negate the size advantage the Bizzaro Dawgs had with Sidney and Moultrie.

Most of all, The Pope of Podgorica. First double-double of the year for the Dawgs.

Dawgs face Vandy tonight in the late game. I picked a bad time to stop sniffing glue.

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