Saturday, June 26, 2010

Gerald Robinson, Jr., Article

Good work from the ABH.

I'm excited to see what Robinson brings to the table. I think that just having another ball-handler to go against the press will help a lot. Ricky McPhee was a solid shooter, but he wasn't the kind of guy that out-quicked a defensive player in a press. As a result, teams just muscled up on Dustin Ware and made him work all game. At the end of the contest, Ware didn't have much left in the tank.

From all indications, Robinson can handle the ball, get to the basket, and play solid defense. I really liked the descriptions given by Thompkins and Leslie, though I would imagine that the comparison to Devan Downey is a bit of a stretch. We'll see.

Even with Robinson, Georgia is still really thin at the guard position, and under-sized to boot. It did not help to lose McPhee to graduation and Mayfield and Anyaorah to transfer, all in the same off-season. Hopefully, Leslie can successfully move from the 3 position to the 2, and Thornton can hold down the 3.

Robinson will have to play a lot. I expect that he and Dustin Ware will be on the floor together to start the year, and Thornton will come off of the bench very early in the game.

Fox has some tools to work with. He'll need all of the guys to begin the year ready to play. We have no margin for error, but lots of reason for optimism.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Marcus Thornton Video

Pretty impressive video of Thornton going head to head against Terrence Jones.

I realize that there is only so much of the game shown and that there may be some bias working here in favor of Thornton, but the point remains: Thornton, Georgia's 3-star forward is shown on film holding his own against Kentucky's 5-star commit.

Thornton

I'm looking forward to seeing the results of the first game this year. UK's cast of freshmen should be good, but the Dawgs may take it to them in the 2010-11 season.

Kentucky Herald Leader on Trey Thompkins

Good article.

Thompkins is right. Georgia has the possibility of having a break-through season. If Gerald Robinson and Marcus Thornton play well, the team will be much better than last year. I'm glad Thompkins stuck around to find out.

The great news is that Thompkins and Leslie are working on the exact areas that will be critical for UGA's success. If Leslie can move from the three position to the two, then Georgia can probably start Marcus Thornton at the wing. Leslie has a lot of work to do to get there, but he's giving it the effort.

Thompkins needs more explosiveness. He's never been a particularly high riser. He's skilled enough and big enough that he hasn't had to out-jump guys to get his shot off. But imagine the player he could be if he did have a few more inches on his vertical, or just a little more foot-speed.

Glad to have the report from the Kentucky press.