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MBB: Mike White Discuss Practices, Preseason Exhibitions

Georgia defeated Charlotte, 86-59, at Halton Arena last Saturday. Freshman Asa Newell led the Bulldogs with 20 points, while Silas Demary Jr. added 15 and Blue Cain and RJ Godfrey chipped in 13 apiece. 

The Bulldogs also will host UCF on Tuesday, Oct. 29 at Stegeman, with proceeds from that contest benefitting UGA Miracle. 

Georgia will open its regular-season slate on Monday, Nov. 4 against Tennessee Tech at 7:30 p.m.. That contest is the second game of a doubleheader also featuring the Georgia Lady Bulldogs against N.C. Central at 5:00 p.m.

Tickets for the exhibition game and doubleheader are available at www.georgiadogs.com/mbbtix.

Head Coach Mike White

On the exhibition game against Charlotte…

“I was really pleased with our effort from a cultural standpoint as much as anything else. I loved our energy level, our connection. Our bench was active and energetic. I thought we played unselfishly, thought we played connected offensively as well. We did some good things against a really good program coming off a really good year – a sound, solid, physical program on the road. It was a great opportunity for us, and I thought we took advantage of it. We got better this weekend.”

On what he saw from his team in the exhibition…

“We had a decent idea. We’re playing a little bit differently this year. Guys are playing, for the most part, their position. We’ve got one guy that brings us a lot of versatility in Dylan. He’s being asked to execute more stuff, primarily offensively, than some of these other guys. For the most part, we did what we’ve seen in practice and tried in practice. We played a bunch of guys. Again, I thought we played well.”

On upcoming matchup against UCF and what he can learn about his team…

“I think it will be really similar to our last opportunity at Charlotte. It’s different in that it’s a little bit of a higher level. The Americans are a really good league, but the Big 12 is a higher level league. Johnny (Dawkins), I’ve got respect for the job he does in their program, and they’re going to have a higher level of talent. We’ll be able to learn a lot offensively and defensively. It’s also a great opportunity to play in front of our fans and play in Stegeman and get that out of the way. You’re always leery as a staff, as a coach. First time, first couple times you play in front of your fans, how’s that going to be? I liked our approach and how we handled it on the road. It wasn’t a true road environment, of course, but I liked how we handled it. I hope I’m saying the same thing, how we handled it, playing in front of our people, our fans, and whether we’re just as connected, especially offensively.”

On how the new players did communication wise…

“I thought they did really well. There weren’t a bunch of just glaring communication mistakes. There weren’t glaring effort mistakes. Some stuff to clean up, of course, and there’s a few possessions there defensively where we were just okay, primarily in transition. Sometimes that’s after a negative, a live ball turnover, things like that. We’ve all got to get mentally tougher and respond better to those things. But it’s early. I’m sure that there’s a lot of us out there in college basketball thinking the same thing, that we’re good at these type things and we’ve got to get a little bit better at these others.”

On molding a roster into a team…

 “I really like where we’re at from a cultural standpoint, I really do. I think our guys are pretty connected, especially for this time of year, it being this early. We’ve got a good roster. Every team in the SEC has got a good roster. We’re as talented as we’ve been here in the three years, the two-plus years I’ve been here, for sure. But how well these guys gel and connect and play for one another and buy in and accept roles, those are huge factors. To this point, I feel very good about it. I hope I’m saying the same thing in a month, or even being more positive about it, because those would be good signs.”

On the opportunity to learn from playing different teams…

“It’s huge. I’m really glad we did it early. I know some other teams had even played earlier than us, but I think this was pretty early for what I’ve tended to do in the past few years. I’ll do it again. It gives you a chance to evaluate earlier. It gave our guys a chance to play against somebody different. People talk about it every year: ‘I bet your guys are sick of playing against each other. They want to see a different jersey.’ This team, I wasn’t saying that until a couple of days before we took that road trip. They were about ready to play somebody else, and now we get a chance to really learn from it, evaluate it, watch it closely with our guys, and try to take a big step this week.”

On how different teams impact film study…

“No, it definitely carries over because it’s an opponent. It’s not each other. You’re not trying to defend or play offense against what you see every day and what Georgia does, what you’re doing on the other end of the floor. It gave us an opportunity to prep for a team that we weren’t fully sure of because we don’t have any film on this year’s opponent that we just played. But we made some points of emphasis and decided how we were going to guard certain actions in certain ways. And so we can evaluate just how well we did with the scout, with our focus and our attention to detail.”

On how the exhibition helped the team bond…

“The guys had about eight hours together on the bus, so I don’t think it can hurt unless you’ve got guys that don’t like being around each other. But these guys, it’s not cliche, it’s the truth, I wouldn’t say it. These guys spend a lot of time with one another. It’s pretty rare. Our guys did last year to a certain extent. I think this group, especially for this early, again, has got a pretty high level of connection. We wanted our first road trip, we wanted to be able to use this one. I called Mike Hill, the athletic director at Charllotte, to give us a road game. We wanted it just to have the opportunity to learn from.”

On excitement to coach Asa Newell…

“It’s awesome. It’s a great opportunity every day, with all these guys. Asa as much as anyone, of course. He’s super talented. He’s driven. It’s really important to him to maximize his potential. He’s unique. He’s special in that he’s not just a talent, he’s a talented kid who plays really hard, who plays the right way, who takes good shots, who’s just as focused on rebounding and defending. He’s a winning player. It’ll translate to games. We see it every day in practice. He’s not overly vocal as an 18-year-old freshman, but he leads by example every day.”

On what coach has seen from Silas Demary Jr., Blue Cain and Dylan James…

“Added consistency. Silas played with confidence. Blue’s an improved overall player. Dylan is too. Silas is shooting it better. They’re all improved. It’s nice to have that, even though it’s not a ton of continuity. We’re talking about three guys, right? But they were three guys that were on the court for the majority of the game late in the season. To see that paying off for these guys, they’re getting better and they’re leading in certain ways – sometimes vocally, sometimes by example. They’ve become staples of this program. They’re pieces that we’ve built around, and we’ve complimented them with other good players. We have a chance to be good, and those guys all obviously individually have a chance to be very good.”

On adjustments with Savo Drezgić…

“Savo is so used to having the ball in his hands and give me a ball screen, I’m going to go get somebody a shot or myself a shot. If it doesn’t work, I’m going to go get it again, come off another ball screen. He’s the best passer that I’ve ever coached, and I’ve coached some really good passers. He’s got to make a big jump with the level of intensity and the level of defensive effort and intensity as part of that freshman learning curve. From a basketball IQ, skill level, passing standpoint, he’s got a lot there. He’s got to learn how to affect the game in other ways, specifically defensively right now.”

On freshman Jordyn Kee’s progress…

“Jordyn is a good player. Throughout the recruiting process, we talked about him coming to Georgia to redshirt. His initial plan was to go do a fifth year and do a prep year. He had a few Division I’s recruiting him and evaluating him and he had some offers, but he wanted to play at the highest level. We said, ‘Hey, here’s an idea. Why don’t you trade a prep year for prepping here? Redshirting at Georgia and being a part of this rebuild.’ And we believe in his future, his character. He’s a really good fit for us, and I’m happy to coach him every day.”

On whether or not being predicted to finish 12 in the SEC is what coach expected…

“Yeah, somewhere in there. I’ve never really cared about that. I just don’t, and we don’t have a goal. We’ve talked about it a lot. Our goal is to finish here or finish there. Our goal is to be the best we can be. Our goal is to be a good team. We’re a good team. We are a good team. Our goal is to continue to grow, develop, and play high-level basketball and win some close games in the SEC. There’s just such a fine line between where you finish based on some of those, making a free throw here or there, making an open three, whether or not you get a call down the stretch on the road at home, what have you. Our league right now is just nuts. It is an unbelievably talented league with double-digit teams, for sure, that have a chance to make the NCAA Tournament. We’re going to focus on us and getting better today.”

WTEN: Dasha Vidmanova and Anastasiia Lopata Earn Wins in ITF Hilton Head W35 First Round

HILTON HEAD, S.C. — Dasha Vidmanova and Anastasiia Lopata each earned first round victories to advance to the ITF Hilton Head W35 main draw second round at the Van Der Meer Tennis Center on Wednesday.

Fast Facts

• WTA #382 Dasha Vidmanova’s dominant form continued as she made quick work of Ishika Ashar in the main draw first round. Vidmanova jumped out to an early lead, winning the first set 6-3 followed by a complete takeover in the second as she won the match 6-3, 6-0.
• Anastasiia Lopata, who ranks as the WTA #735, opened her competition with a three-set win over WTA #596 Eszter Meri. Losing the first set 6-3, Lopata stayed alive late in the second to win a tiebreaker 7-6(1) and force a third frame. After leveling the match, it was all Lopata as she dominated the third to secure the comeback win 3-6, 7-6(1), 6-0.

ITF HILTON HEAD W35

Date: Oct. 21-27

Location: Hilton Head, S.C.

Site: Van Der Meer Tennis Center

Tournament Central Page: https://gado.gs/c8y

Up Next

Vidmanova and Lopata will return to action on Thursday, Oct. 23 where the two Bulldogs will face off against one another in the main draw second round.

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