Friday, November 5, 2010

Dawgs Win!

Sure, it was an exhibition game. But still it was good to see the basketball Dawgs put their game uni's on and get up and down the floor.

Gerald Robinson has a nice game. Good speed. Looks to pass the ball, yet can take it all the way to the rim. He had a double-double in his first outing.

Dustin Ware was on from the outside. That's a good sign. He was 3 of 4 from behind the arc.

I was most impressed by Donte Williams. I had posted last year that Fox ought to consider Williams, even though at that time we already had Cady Lalanne committed. My thought was that Williams was a team player, could defend, came from a winning program, and had a nice skill package. Boy, am I glad that we went ahead and pushed for and got Williams. He'll help out, even though he did look lost a couple of times on offense. Donte had 9 points, 7 boards and 2 blocks on the night.

Marcus Thornton looked pretty good. He'll have to work hard to get up to the speed of the game, but you can tell that he has all the fundamentals.

Chris Barnes had some good blocks. Price looked a lot better on his free throws. Leslie didn't play all that much, and of course, Thompkins was out.

We defended well as a team. We seem to know where to go on offense, and we have a good mix of size and skill. We need Trey back soon, but as for now, so far so good.

Recap, Interviews and Box Score

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Takais Brown to D-League

Takais Brown, former power forward for the Dawgs, has been drafted by the Reno Big Horns of the NBA's D-League. He was selected in the second round.

Dawg fans might be interested to know that Reno had the first pick in the D-League draft and they used it on Nick Fazekas. Fazekas played at Nevada under current Dawgs head man, Mark Fox. Reno chose James Florence, who played at Mercer, in the third round.

Hard to say if Takais will be able to stick with Reno. He probably has enough talent, but there is no telling if he is past the off-court issues that derailed his progress at Georgia. Hopefully he has put those matters behind him and is ready to contribute to his new squad.

Player and Coach Interviews from Official Site

Looking forward to seeing how Gerald Robinson and Dustin Ware play.

From all that Coach Fox says, the new guys (Robinson, Donte Williams, Marcus Thornton and Sherrard Brantley) have been working hard.

Preseason Interviews

Dawgs Play Augusta State

The 2010/2011 version of the Dawgs basketball team will officially be revealed tonight at 7:00 p.m. The exhibition against Augusta State will take place in a newly renovated Stegeman Coliseum.

Should be a good experience for the fans.

Augusta State comes into the game having had a lot of recent success. The Jaguars went 29 and 4 last season, and 110 and 23 over the last 4 years. Coach Dip Metress has a challenge in 2010, however, since he lost all five of his starters and just about all of his scoring from last year.

Georgia will be looking to see how the roster can adjust to the injury loss of Trey Thompkins. Thompkins' ankle sprain is a significant blow to the team. There is a bright side, however, as I posted recently.

Trey's injury occurred almost a full two weeks before the official opener against Mississippi Valley State on Friday, November 12. So with the way the schedule is looking, I doubt Thompkins can play in the first game, and I suppose he'll miss the contests on the 16th and the 20th against Colorado and St. Louis. I'm hoping that Thompkins will definitely be back in time for the Old Spice classic on November 25.

Given Georgia's depth at the power forward position, we should be all right. Fans will get to see more of Chris Barnes and Marcus Thornton.

Let's lace 'em up and tip the ball off!

R&B Article

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Travis Leslie Named Top Shooting Guard

Rivals picked Leslie in its ratings of the top shooting guards in the country. Leslie came in at #4, behind LaceDarius Dunn of Baylor, Nolan Smith of Duke, and Will Barton of Memphis (who has not even played a college game yet).

With all due respect to Rivals, I would not have picked Leslie as a shooting guard, since he did not exhibit real guard skills last year. He didn't bring the ball up the floor, had more turnovers than assists, and attempted only 11 three-pointers all year.

But if Rivals is basing its rankings on potential, and that's the only conceivable reason why Barton would be ranked, then you have to have Leslie somewhere in the mix. Of the 11 shots from behind the arc last season, Travis made 6, a 55 percent average. He shot right at 49 percent from the field and close to 75 percent from the free throw line. He led the Dawgs in steals, free throws per game and free throws made per game.

Simply put, Leslie can score the basketball and defend. So whether you have him at shooting guard, small forward or somewhere in between, Leslie is brimming with talent now and skills to be developed for down the road. If he cuts down his turnovers and improves his handle, he'll have a fantastic season.

Leslie Ranked

Trey Thompkins Injures Ankle

Just when the season was about to start, too. Since it's a high ankle sprain, no one knows when Thompkins will be back and ready to play. Bad luck for the Dawgs?

Or just what we needed.

We needed to get some more minutes for our other bigs. Chris Barnes has to be ready to play. Marcus Thornton must learn the offense and be prepared. Donte Williams and has to get some experience. Someone else has to learn the high post. We figured that Jeremy Price would start. Without Thompkins, he'll have to play more. Fewer breathers.

And it's not just playing time. It's productivity. Who will put up the 18 points a game that the Dawgs will be missing? Who will snare the 8 rebounds that Thompkins averaged? We'll see now if Gerald Robinson can be that third scorer, because he might have to be the first one-- register the majority of the points some days. Dustin Ware may have to shoot more efficiently.

Of course, we may just decide to ride Travis Leslie. See how far he can take us. He might have to score 25 points a night instead of 15. I've said before on the Blog that Marcus Thornton can get it done. Fox just about has to play him now.

Hate to see Thompkins go down with a bad wheel, but if it had to happen at any point in the season, better for it to happen now than in the SEC portion of the schedule. With any luck, the end result will be that Fox knows more about what he's got, and UGA will field a more balanced team at the end of the season.

Thompkins

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Jeremy Price Most Improved Player

If Price plays up to his potential, it could be a big year for the Dawgs.

Interview with Coach Fox

Monday, November 1, 2010

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Roy Skinner, former Vanderbilt coach, Passes

Won more games than any other Vandy coach. Remembered for his role in integrating the SEC.

Skinner

Seth Emerson was Spot On

Dawgs lose to Florida. Not even worthy of a headline. We just can't beat those guys. 18 of 21 is "purt near" 90 percent.

Hate it. As bad as we were early in the season, the year would have been a success in my mind if we had found a way to beat Florida and Georgia Tech. No chance to win both games, and at this point, I doubt we will win against Tech.

I started to post my prediction. I anticipated a loss against Florida, but my thought was that we would get blown out.

I didn't get around to it. Too busy to blog.

Well, I have to give props where they are due. Seth Emerson did get around to it. He posted his prediction, and he nailed it. Not only did he predict that Georgia would lose, he got the right margin of victory (3 points) and almost got the final score correct.

That is worthy of a headline.

Travis Leslie Working on 2-Guard Skills

Can he handle the rock?

That's the challenge for Leslie this year and for the future. He already has the pro body. Big-time athleticism. Great attitude.

Leslie did a fantastic job last year playing the 3. He already projects to be a high-level selection in the NBA draft.

But if Leslie wants to make the most of his potential, he has to play the hand that's been dealt him. He's not likely to sprout up another 3 or 4 inches. Travis knows that as talented as he is, as successful as he has been at small forward, he will make his living playing the shooting guard.

“He needs to play more in the backcourt just for his development as a player,” Georgia coach Mark Fox said. “If he can do that, then it allows us to play a big two-guard and Marcus (Thornton) at the three, and with them you’ve got two very athletic wings.”

Leslie's time this summer was spent developing the skills that a 2-guard needs. Handling the ball, passing, defending quicker players.

So far, so good. As Dustin Ware is quoted, "His (Leslie's) ball-handling between now and last season is like night and day."

Great article from the ABH.

Leslie