Welcome to the Bulldawg Illustrated Hoops Report: Georgia vs. Alabama. It’s like a swift kick in the groin. Which is exactly what the Bulldawg got last Saturday in College Station.

While we were totally robbed at the end by a clock operator, that’s not an excuse for the loss. We were up nine with two minutes to play and got outscored 10-0. That’s unacceptable and that’s the reason we lost. The fact that they have either a cheater or a knucklehead operating their clock is really a secondary issue. What is clearly a primary issue is the fact the Dawgs have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in their last two road games and that could end up being the difference in going to the Big Dance or the NIT. Now tell the truth. Would you rather go to a post-season tournament that gives you the mental picture of people dancing and having a good time, or one named after head lice?

Now we have Alabama coming to town. They’ve actually been a lot better than people thought. However, they’re not as good as their record indicates. They’ve taken a page out of the Mark Fox playbook of old and they’re making things ugly. Avery Johnson realizes he doesn’t have much, if any, firepower. So he’s preaching defense. It’s a solid strategy and can beat teams that struggle to score. So the Dawgs need to turn this into a track meet. Get the ball up and down the court quickly and play inside out. If you let Bama dictate things, you’ll get stuck in a 55-53 score with seconds left and one shot wins it. We don’t need that. We need to jump on them early and keep the throttle down. They’ve only broken 70 once in SEC play. Just hang a big number on them and the game is over before it starts. Get bogged down in a half-court game, and we could lose.

Now listen up, please. The Dawgs are not out of the Big Dance regardless of what the idiot at your company’s water cooler says. That guy has not only never watched a Hoop Dawgs game, he gets his info from an even bigger idiot than he is. Just take the idiots out of the equation and start watching yourself. You can even show up if you want. Wednesday night at 9 p.m. at the Stegasaurus! The Dawgs need to get this win and then beat Texas at home this Saturday. After that, we have Kentucky, the Gamecocks, and Florida in three straight. So that’s when we find out where we stand. Anyone that says we’re done right now is just another of the misinformed masses that you shouldn’t waste your time talking to. Tell the guy he doesn’t have to go home, but he does need to go. And by the way, Go Dawgs!!