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Some rambling thoughts on Georgia's three point loss to the Vols.
The good:
- Outrageously good effort. Felton has clearly NOT lost the team. Some of them may or may not like him (who knows and who cares), but they are still playing hard. That's impossible to ignore as an attribute in Felton's favor. It would be very easy to lose the kids at this point. Maybe it's more of a credit to Gaines. Who knows. But they haven't rolled over on him the way the kids did in Jirsa's last few games.
- Gaines is playing his nuts off. 23 pts, 9 rebs, 8 assist, 3 steals.
- Zac continues to progress.
- Price. 10 points, 5 rebounds and only ONE turnover. Sadly, he did have 4 fouls, but more progress from him.
- We had a shot to win it.
- We only took 16 three pointers and I'd say at least 12 were high quality looks.
- Lofton is a senior.
- The Vols didn't have more than about 1,500 people in attendance. As expected. Dantlzer said they had 9 full sections on the radio. I got into the gym and it was maybe 4 or 5. Then again, what do you expect from him?
- Ajax is playing stone cold terrible hoops right now. 18 minutes, 2 points, 3 turnovers, 4 rebounds, 3 fouls and umpteen dropped/mishandled rebounds. I sincerely believe that Singleton might have had better hands.
- When Bliss is in the game, he plays pretty solid. But picking up those quick fouls and making us play AJax more is a killer.
- The new fangled concept of executing inbounds plays continues to escape our team.
- The entire last 1:40 was a train wreck. Once again, we drag around and blow an absurd amount of time on consecutive possessions sandwiching a UT possession with 40 seconds left where we neither foul or play pressure defense. That stuff makes me want to pull my hair out. Who knows if we win if we manage the game better at the end or not. Probably not. But at least give yourself the best opportunity for success.
- They don't give trophies for "Most Moral Victories" nationally or in SEC play.
It's not Felton's fault when we miss shots. I can live with losing because quality, open looks that are within the aptitude of our players' abilities aren't falling. I can also live with losing to a dramatically more talented team.
But it sends me up a wall when we consistently blow basics like inbounding the ball or managing the clock. That drives me completely and totally crazy as a fan.
If we weren't completely craptastic on the road under this regime, I'd say that the "other NIT" was still within reason because of the way the schedule breaks and the overall better play lately. But I'll have to see us win two on the road back to back in one season to believe it.
Great effort in a game no one expected us to win. But still frustrating for most of the same reasons.
See Also:
-- Narrow margin of error snags Dogs - AJC
PWD
8 comments:
Happy with the effort. The kids and coach put this forth every game and the Dawgs are sitting on at least 15-8 (5-5). Good to see Felton hasn't lost the team.
Still shaking my head at the Dantzler observation. He thinks he's Someone else. Only Someone else can get away with negative hyperbole in that way.
Is it me, or does Felton coach like Gailey (did) at the end of a close game?
Did anyone else see what the deal was with the painted fan and JuJuan Smith during warmups?
More on the inbounds plays...
Why do they have Zach doing them? Clearly he has trouble finding the open guy and being able to look around the big guys they put in front of him. Nothing against him, but I think him being so small hurts him being able to find an open player and then get it to him around/over the guy in front of him. That was really frustrating to watch Felton have him continue to play that role when he should have been using his hands and speed to have someone get HIM the ball. I mean, shouldn't a guy who can't handle the ball real well be making the inbounds play to guys that can?
The last 90-120 seconds--While I was upset we didn't put together an effective play during that time, I thought for a second, should we call a timeout to set something up, or will us inbounding the ball be a bigger problem than not setting a play. Of course, to set a play for a shot, that would mean we actually have set plays in our offensive system.
I agree with Paul, and Jordan completely, and would just add Chris Barnes continued improvement as an energy-providing big man to the list of good.
Certainly can't fault the effort. Great ballgame that came down to a couple of plays- we just have no margin for error that allows us to overcome a couple of sloppy passes that UT converts and a couple of inbounds. Funny for the game to be "sold out" and have at least 1000 empty seats in the upper sections behind the goal. Actually paid $30 apiece on the sidewalk for great seats in F- worth every penny.
Losing doesn't feel good, but at least it was an exciting atmosphere at the game. My expectations are firmly at the "Spoiler" level and nothing more from here on out.
I was really impressed by Barnes. I don't think he'll ever be a prototypical post like Price, but he certainly brings the athleticism and energy. I hate to say it, but when he ripped his shirt and had to go out of the game when he was playing so well, it really hurt us from a front court perspective.
AJax just isn't getting it yet. I believe he's potentially the best player on the team. Unfortunately, he's as good as an unfinished jigsaw puzzle right now.
Swansey really grew up this game.
You can tell how badly Bliss and Gaines want it.
Go Dawgs.
Dantzler is an asshat - I can't stand to listen to him anymore.
I was sitting behind the painted kid who got into it with JuJuan Smith. I only caught the last part of it when JuJuan spiked the ball off the painted kid's leg and starting motioning towards the stands before his teammates pulled him back.
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