[break] Welcome to the Bulldawg Illustrated Hoops Report. It’s like clinical depression meeting diagnosed schizophrenia. However, most treatments lead to confused euphoria or a feeling of walking away forever. After watching us beat Alabama 66-65 in OT in one of the weirdest basketball games I’ve seen in a long time this past Saturday night, the Dawgs are 8-6 in conference and most likely two regular season wins away from the NCAA Tournament. Three more wins would be a lock and I’d personally feel much better about our standing as well. However, with the Dawgs now heading to Oxford for some more late night basketball, we really haven’t answered any questions yet about the Dawgs future. A win at Ole Miss would go miles in erasing the agony of the two horrible home losses. It would also give the Dawgs another quality win. A loss wouldn’t really hurt our chances based on how things currently look. The two things that are hurting the Dawgs sort of feed off of each other. First, we’ve not played many good games in conference this year. The Florida win has lost it’s luster as they sit at 6-8. Ole Miss and Texas A&M are our two best SEC wins at present. But we really didn’t look majorly impressive in either game. That leads to the next issue. We’ve not beat many tournament teams this year. While Seton Hall was a great win six weeks ago, they’ve lost like seven straight. K State looks good after beating Kansas last night, but their overall record is sub .500 I believe. So the only two possible tournament teams we’ve beaten so far are the two mentioned above. Plus, when you mix in the two disastrous home losses, our resume is not where it should be. So Ole Miss would go a long way in helping our chances. But before we discuss that, let’s talk about Saturday.
[break] [break] Our Dawgs were up to their old tricks this past Saturday missing several point blank layups early and often. Even with the poor play, we jumped to a 20-11 lead. For the second or third time in the last month, we had a chance to bury them early and blew it. After a number of missed shots and two really dumb turnovers, Bama came back and tied us 24-24 at the half. The second half was a little back and forth, but we did extend our lead to eight with 8:42 left. Obviously though, this team can’t stand prosperity and allowed Bama to come storming back. They took a 60-58 lead in the final minute of regulation. However, after a bizarre set of circumstances we went to OT tied at 61.
[break] [break] OT was just as strange. To save you all the gory details, Cameron Forte scored our only FG of the period with :10 to go and the Dawgs won 66-65. If you were wondering why Forte took the last shot, Marcus Thornton and Charles Mann had both fouled out. While I would’ve gone to Gaines or JJ, you have to give Coach Fox and Forte credit. He hit a darn tough shot and the bench erupted. Hopefully that was the shot in the arm this team needed. While we shot a respectable 70% from the FT, Bama did not. They were shooting 72% as a team coming in and went 16-31, or 52%. For the third game in a row, we shot 38% from the floor. That won’t win too many games. But it did win this one and now it’s time for Ole Miss!
[break] [break] The Ackbar’s Bear Rebels have been impressive this year. We won’t spend much time addressing them because we already know what’s coming. They’ve have two really good guards that can hit shots and drive to the hoop. They both can score from anywhere on the court. We have to play outstanding defense and finally have a good shooting night offensively. We’re certainly due one at this point. We’ve done a decent job of holding onto the ball lately, but 38% from the floor just won’t cut it. One thing I will say. As screwed up as it was losing to AU and USCe back to back at home, it would be just as outrageous to sweep Ole Miss. So I think it’s very possible based solely on how disjointed and nonsensical this year has been.
[break] [break] We’re on the backstretch of a long season. I’ve talked to a lot of people that claim to know a lot about UGA basketball and what ails the program the last several days. Most of these so called experts deem themselves to be such because they’re season ticket holders. I could be a season ticket holder to the Metropolitan Museum of Art but that wouldn’t mean I knew a damn thing about Impressionism.
[break] [break] Let me set a couple of opinions about our program straight. If you’re not a Fox guy, I hope it’s because you think he’s not a good recruiter. Outside of that, the guy is one of the best possible coaches UGA could have. If you claim to know a lot about UGA basketball because you own season tickets but you’ve not gone to a game this year and maybe have watched a couple on TV, then you’re opinions are baseless. If I’m talking to you, don’t take it personal. You’re just a composite of several good friends of mine that think Fox is the problem. He’s not for a multitude of reasons that I don’t have time list them all right now. They’re the people that think Marcus Thornton is far and away our best player because he happens to lead the team in scoring. Just make sure if you have an obnoxiously strong opinion on anything in life, you’re very educated on the topic. I don’t think that’s too much to ask. If you think guys missing an average of eight layups a game is Mark Fox’s fault, then you’re misinformed . If you say since Mark Fox can’t recruit we’re stuck with guys that can’t make layups, then you have a debatable position. And while I am a Fox supporter, the program means more to me. So I want whomever is going to do the best job at UGA. If you have someone better, get McGarity to bring’em in. For right now though, let’s pull together and try to get three more wins. Fox knows he can’t put lipstick on a pig. So we’re going to try and win ugly. Even uglier than normal on the road. We’re due a good game or two one would think. I’m going to be watching every second. Let’s hope the next two weeks doesn’t put us all in a straight jacket. Go Dawgs!