Quick exit shouldn’t overshadow Dogs’ turnaround
Trey Thompkins came up big in what may have been his last game as a Dog. (Associated Press)
It may have indeed been, as the headline put it, “one and done” for the Georgia Bulldogs in this year’s NCAA tournament, but Mark Fox’s players still can hold their heads high.
After years of being an SEC doormat, the Dogs were picked for the tournament in just Fox’s second year as coach and managed to make a game of it against a higher seed that’s become a regular at the Dance.
The streaky first half, which saw both teams hot and cold at times, held great promise, as Georgia kept the high-scoring Washington Huskies from setting the fast pace they like and played some tough defense. The Dogs even led by as much as seven points, as U-Dub shot poorly for much of the half and their star Isaiah Thomas was held to a mere four points while Georgia’s Trey Thompkins was superb, with 15 points and eight rebounds.
But the problems that plagued Georgia all season were still present at Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, and one of them was turnovers, which allowed the Huskies to get back into the game and tie it 28-28 at the half. The other was depth. Georgia only had three players score in the first half: Thompkins, Gerald Robinson and Travis Leslie (who had a highlight-reel breakaway dunk).
Then another perennial Bulldog problem cropped up, as the Dogs got off to a poor start in the second half, not helped by a horrendous goaltending call against Leslie that the replay showed was clearly wrong. Fox was justifiably enraged.
Shooting much better than in the first half, Washington continued the way it had closed that half, going on a 17-5 run that gave them a 10-point lead and then managed to hold serve for much of the rest of the game.
Thompkins was stymied for much of the second half, though he eventually finished with 26 points and 11 rebounds, and Georgia was hurt inside by having to keep big man Jeremy Price on the bench much of the time because of foul trouble, which meant the Dogs didn’t have much going offensively to counter their lack of an outside game. And, again, the turnovers hurt. For the evening, the Huskies turned 15 Georgia turnovers into 17 points.
Another big factor that had recurred all season: Lack of a bench. The Huskies had eight players score and got 28 points from their supporting cast while Georgia’s bench contributed nothing. Zero points.
As the clock ticked away, a feeling of inevitability settled in and yet the Dogs still made a game of it late. Having trailed by eight with 36 seconds to play, a combination of a big 3-pointer by Thompkins and some mistakes by the Huskies saw Fox’s Hounds pull to within two with 3.7 seconds to play. When a Huskie missed the second of a pair of foul shots, the game was there for the taking, but a long pass downcourt was disrupted by Thomas, Washington’s Mr. Everything, and a desperation last shot never really looked on target.
So the season ends for the Bulldogs, who never quite became a great team thanks to that lack of a bench and too many second half collapses, but managed to be competitive against almost everyone they played and, as athletic director Greg McGarity noted the other day, made Georgia basketball relevant again.
Thompkins, who probably played his last game for the Dogs, summed it up nicely afterward when he said, “Being in the tournament is a blessing; it’s an experience that I feel like every ballplayer should have while they’re in college. It takes a lot to get here and we’ve worked so hard as a team. Coach reminded us every day that we were good enough to win in the tournament. And we just fell short.”
Baby steps, as they say. Georgia made the NCAA tournament without having to do so through a freaky SEC tournament run, and this year that’s worth celebrating.
Next time, we’ll expect them to stay on the dance floor longer.
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104 comments Add your comment
tony
March 19th, 2011
4:09 pm
1953Dawg, I see the same flaws in certain players as well. I call it poor fundamentals. Poor passing, poor shot selections, poor ballhandling and poor execution. To Fox credit this team have improve tremendously since he took over the program. Remember, unlike Mr Richt, Fox is coaching mostly 3 star athletes. Four and five star athletes are more skillful and have a lot more spunk to their game than 2 and 3 star athletes especially at the gaurd positions.
Look at Duke, NC, TX, Kansas, Ohio St and Ky. If these teams had 2 and 3 star recruits like uga, they would be in the same situation. Give Mark Fox time to get those top recruits. I think the man is doing a good job.
Big Time coaching...not
March 19th, 2011
5:03 pm
Until UGA gets good gameday coaches it will continue to wallow in medocrity. Mr. McGarity I dont want my Dawgs” in the Hunt” I want them to WIN CHAMPIONSHIPS. Thats goes for the big three sports. Basketball, Baseball and Football. The excuses are really starting to get old and the demand for patience has gone out the door too.Im tired of watching Florida.Auburn,LSU and South Carolina getting it done in the big three sports and UGA lagging behind.
NYCDAWGFAN
March 19th, 2011
5:32 pm
Who is the impostor using my name and making remarks about Fox to N.C. State? Use your own name PLEASE… My friends that have posted with me know that I am the real “NYCDAWGFAN” that is originally from Burke County GA….. Get your own da$% name!!!
NYCDAWGFAN
March 19th, 2011
5:44 pm
Bo Williams, It wasn’t me posting that garbage about Fox to NC State… Some fake that obviously knows nothing about the game… Fox won’t go to state for a few reasons… Here are a couple. A. He will use the leverage and get a nice wage increase at UGA B. State and Wake are both suffering right now. The gap between those 2 schools and UNC/Duke is getting wider by the day…. My point is, with Tech hurting and UGA growing, recruits will look at UGA as a much more attractive place than State… This is a fact… UGA is now getting big time recruits (finally) while NC State is losing them….
Bill King
March 19th, 2011
6:05 pm
Just to keep things straight: Be aware that two different fans have posted as NYCDAWGFAN today. As the one who first posted under that name has already made pretty clear, another fan, not him, posted a couple of comments saying that Fox is likely headed to NC State. The first NYCDAWGFAN does not concur.
GR82BAG8R
March 19th, 2011
7:08 pm
Bill, there can’t possible be two dog fans in New York City, can there? I mean, there are only 7 million people in NYC, so one dog fan is about right….
GR82BAG8R
March 19th, 2011
7:09 pm
oops…there I go again…change possible to possibly
John
March 19th, 2011
7:17 pm
Bottom line, Ga lost
Upstate Dawg
March 19th, 2011
8:49 pm
It’s nice to see you write an entry about the basketball team, Bill. The program continues to make progress and despite the detractors, Coach Fox is still the right man for the job. It’s nice to see us on the way up as others (Auburn, Tech, and Tennessee) struggle in one way or another. GO DAWGS!
NYCDAWGFAN
March 19th, 2011
9:55 pm
Thanks Bill!! … Always a hatin’ gator with a smart remark on a UGA post…. I don’t post on U of F boards…. Love to hate man colors..
Red and Black til Death
DawgVoiceofReason
March 19th, 2011
10:23 pm
A little too much negativity here for my taste. Honest criticism is fine but the comments here are either from fans of other schools or people who very obviously have an axe to grind. Perhaps UGA could have done slightly better during the season and perhaps they could have won the tourney game. They definitely had a lot of second half collapses during the course of the season. But, let’s look at what they accomplished. They significantly improved their overall record and SEC record from last year. They made the NCAA tournament and they played very competitively against a higher seeded team, despite having no bench strength and one of their scorers in foul trouble the entire game. There is reason for optimism and pride in what was accomplished this year. And it would be great if either or both Trey or Travis came back next year.
Nick
March 19th, 2011
11:08 pm
Why can’t Georgia hire the Butler coach?
Nick
March 19th, 2011
11:12 pm
I’d like to see McGarity actually spend the money it takes to get the best coach at Georgia and that’s Brad Stephens. Offer to double his salary.
VinceVanGo
March 19th, 2011
11:14 pm
I’m a big mark Fox supporter but I would have liked to see more players come off the bench and some pressing this year. A thin bench stays thin if you don’t exercise it. More experience for the bench would have helped next year. If Trey Thompkins goes Pro we’re going to have a very thin experienced front line next year. I hope Georgia can add a power forward recruit in the late signing period but perhaps Coach Fox should look to the JUCO ranks for a real good power forward and point guard to help balance the team out next year. Get the players to cut down on the turnovers, make more of their free throws, and play better defense(swarming type) and we could have a real good team again.
Nick
March 19th, 2011
11:14 pm
Fox should take the $3 million NC State offers and their incredible basketball facilities. Fox will never make 1/2 that at Georgia.
Nick
March 19th, 2011
11:24 pm
I will be right back, gonna put my pants on and head upstairs for dinner, mom making meatloaf tonight!
Chris
March 19th, 2011
11:30 pm
Leslie will be back, if he goes he would be in Europe in 2 yrs. If he stays gets better jumpsuit he could be first round. Thompkins is good as gone, may regret waiting, he lost money by playing this yr, too soft. He ought to come back, but he won’t. He will be 5 yr NBA guy, and get some money. Neither will be 1 st Rd picks this yr though, both might be if they came back and made real run, which would put uga and them on espn, and get talked about a lot. When you are top 15 team, you get all kinds of pub. Perception is reality, NBA folks would be all over them if uga were to really be good next yr. Be sweet 16 team for sure
Nick
March 19th, 2011
11:34 pm
Dang, I am out of ketchup, mom knows I can’t eat meatloaf without ketchup, dangit!!
John
March 19th, 2011
11:37 pm
Hey moron, many teams have tried to get butler coach, you aren’t the first to come up with that idea Genius!
Maybe putting an airbag in a car would help for safety too? Do they have that yet….genius nick, just genius!
Jerry loves meatloaf
March 19th, 2011
11:38 pm
Or maybe nick, uga could hire duke’s coach, he seems to be good too, think anybody would like to have him coach? I think it’s worth a try
Je
March 19th, 2011
11:38 pm
Enter your comments here
Heinz
March 19th, 2011
11:39 pm
Meatloaf, haha hilarious!
Scott
March 19th, 2011
11:43 pm
If both Leslie and thompkins go uga will be at best 500 next yr. But back to competitive yr after that
Thornton has shown zero progress, zero. Seems like a great kid but really needs some confidence, hopefully he will be a much different player over next 6 months, we really need 10-10 from him next yr. Juco may be needed to fill big man holes. Think about it, barnes, thompkins, and price all gone. No size left, guessing fox is meeting with top juco center right now
Nick
March 19th, 2011
11:55 pm
I have a pet gator named meatloaf
Nick
March 20th, 2011
12:00 am
Hey Bill King:
Can you go ahead and ban the clown who keeps hijacking me starting at 11;24 here until this comment?
Just block his computer isp, he doesn’t deserve to blog here. He has no ability to debate, only tries to hijack my name because of his inferior skill.
Gator Man
March 20th, 2011
7:59 am
Once again you losers sports writers in AJC always find a way to spoon feed this sorry program at UGA it does not matter if its football or basketball, with the talent these guys have this program always find a way to lose.
The main problem is you idiots sports writers, you dont put pressure on this program to perform to high standards, look at the gators program in basketball, football when they dont win the Florida newspapers and fans rip them apart not tell them you played good like some little high school and pee wee league.
Next season you will tell Mark Richt, and basketball team the same thing again, what a bunch of losers at this school.
1953 Dawgs' pet donkey Eyore
March 20th, 2011
8:35 am
1953 Dawg taught me everything I know:
The sky is falling
We suck
We’ll never make it
I was last happy in 1959
Im never satisfied
did I mention the sky is falling?.
Seriously ‘53, when was the last time you posted a positive comment, when Theron Sapp scored his TD?
LakeDawg
March 20th, 2011
9:02 am
Fox has done a great job. From 12-20 to 14-17 to 21-12 and a tourney invite. Give him some time. UGA was in horrible shape when he arrived. It’s going to take some time. What UGA needs are guards. They have a shooting guard coming in next year. Next and most important step is to get a big time point guard. Easier said than done.
Jborodawg
March 20th, 2011
9:53 am
Good synopsis of the season and the game, Bill. Turnovers and bench did seem to be the two main culprits.
“…Fox had the talent coming into the season…” Hmmm…Trey was the only pick from the coaches and media coming into the season. I think coach Fox did an admirable job with what he had to work with.
I do think, however, that he should have had the bench developed a little more by tournament time. And, many here don’t seem to realize the importance Price shoulda/coulda played in their success/failure. Barnes just didn’t fill-in for Price when he had his chances. And, it seems Brantley only played a couple mins per game and he showed he could hit tres, sometimes. Thornton was just non-existent.
Trey actually digressed from last year. So, that’s an argument for him to return. Travis is a freak, athletics-wise; but he needs to return also to improve his overall skills.
Considering where the program had been upon his arrival, coach Fox has done an admirable job. I also give these Dawgs a lot of credit for the grit they showed in the last few minutes of the tournament game. It looked like the Huskies had em where they wanted em; but the Bulldogs staged a pretty game comeback….against a top 20 team.
Coach Fox is a good one; he’ll have the Dawgs competing and “relevant” again next year. Hopefully Caldwell-Pope (and Thorton) can help.
Go Dawgs!
Jborodawg
March 20th, 2011
9:56 am
Gator Man…so, the sports writers in the state of Flawduh put pressure on your program; thus making it successful? I didn’t know college sports worked that way. I learn something every day.
Hoops Dawg
March 20th, 2011
12:08 pm
I concur that Trey digressed a bit from last year when he was clearly the best player on the court in most UGA games. Much of that digression is due to lagging physical ailments. Nonetheless, many NBA teams may be reluctant to offer the really big bucks after his performance this season. We started to see the true Trey in the last 2-3 games. A season of play like that would make him a high lottery pick in my opinion. Yet, even if Trey and Travis return, we will struggle to be much better than we were this year unless we get much improved production out of Donte Williams, Marcus Thornton, and at least one of the bigs coming in. Price will be sorely missed. When he played well, Georgia almost always won.
Bawbie
March 20th, 2011
12:59 pm
Fire Dave Perno !
To Nick and the rest of the haters
March 20th, 2011
1:19 pm
To all of the haters: I bet you act this way when you go out to eat, the grocery store, pick up your dry cleaning, etc… Where ever you go you spread gloom and doom and create an atmosphere of negativity I’m glad that I do not have anybody like that in my life. Go Dawgs!!
college is forever
March 20th, 2011
1:20 pm
http://www.collegelunchboxes.com Get a head start on back to school shopping with the UGA Classic Tin Lunchbox.
Nick
March 20th, 2011
3:46 pm
Bill,
Never mind, while in my moms basement I blacked out from blogging, so please don’t cancel my ISP, everyone knows my arguments and superior blogging skills are what make me great.
Thanks, go gators!
John Kasich
March 21st, 2011
7:25 am
THE University of Kentucky basketball team will beat ohio state.
12 CRIMINAL CHARGES, 6 wins 7 LOSSES
March 21st, 2011
7:51 am
So the over hyped and over rated AJ Green has one of the 5 lowest scores of 330 NFL prospects…LOL….now we know why he goes by “AJ”, HAHAHAHA!!!
Buzz 2010
March 21st, 2011
9:11 am
Dawgs are the best 20 minute team in the mighty SEC
Auburn is All in jail
March 21st, 2011
9:22 am
Bama threatening Auburn’s insurmountable lead in the 2011 Fulmer Cup with Barron getting arrested.
I thought Saban didn’t allow that?
Dirty Dawg
March 21st, 2011
10:25 am
Was feeling pretty stupid about picking UGA to win their first two tourney games, but now that they showed they coulda beat Washington and that Wash almost beat NC, it doesn’t seem quite so idiotic. And why wasn’t more made of the fact that time should have been put back on the clock following that last foul of Wash? It appeared that Coach Fox was calling for it but nobody did anything. It was clear to me that the clock continued to run – for at least a second and a half – after the foul and the ref’s signal. With that time Leslie, or whoever, could very well have had time to ‘right’ himself for a better shot…and if the refs hadn’t blown that call on the Leslie ‘put-back’ earlier, a two-pointer would have made the difference. Point is, that even with all our failure to take care of the ball, we still coulda done it…we just didn’t.
And since it came up…that last year of school, AJ, would have made all the difference on the ‘Wonderlic’…take that as a hint, Travis and Trey – or is it Trey and Travis?
Bulldog Arch
March 21st, 2011
11:47 am
I can’t help but be slightly disappointed however this team and season was very exciting,hardly a dull moment.Way to go Dawgs,would love to see Thompkins and/or Leslie don the Red and Black one more time.
dawgfacedboy
March 21st, 2011
12:07 pm
What’s the word with Milton’s Julian Royal? It came down to Tech and UGA and now Hewitt (whom he admits is why he signed)is fired.
AltamahaDawg
March 21st, 2011
12:08 pm
Good point! Been a long time since the season was at least exciting. Appearantly some folks think that anything less than outhouse-to-penthouse single year turnaround is unacceptable, but the bottom line is: Nothing took a step back, and plenty of things took a step forward.
Obviously everyone would have “hoped” for a better outcome in a few games. When is that ever not going to be the case?
The U
March 21st, 2011
12:24 pm
Recruit a point guard please. I don’t care if he’s 5′8″ as long has he is a true point. Robinson is a very good talent. He’s more of a combo guard which explains the high turnovers UGA committs. Ware is more suited for instant offense, zone buster etc.come of the bench for the good of the team next season. Please Mr. Fox go recruit a point guard.
buzz
March 21st, 2011
1:25 pm
Julian will remain at Tech. Travis Leslie needs to stay put, see Javaris Crittenton.
Kone
March 21st, 2011
4:02 pm
What hurt us more than anything is not having a true PG. We don’t have someone that will breakdown a Def and dish or score. We have descent role players especially Robinson but he not a top D1 starter. Also the lack of having someone shoot the outside shot is terrible. We do not have legitamite threat on the outside. Therefore teams can clog the middle. With some of the players I see coming in next year hopefully this will change.
D A DoubleU G
March 21st, 2011
6:37 pm
Yes, we could’ve used a point guard this year but when Thompkins and Leslie move on to the NBA we will also need some big men next year. Fox’s success will be dependent upon his ability to recruit. So far the jury is still out; we’ll have to wait and see.
D A DoubleU G
March 21st, 2011
9:23 pm
Fox’s success iwll depend on his ability to coach, recruit, and win games. So far, the lawyer is still out, and the jury has spoken.
Kone
March 21st, 2011
9:24 pm
We need a PG, not rated R, or even G, we need a rated PG player.
buzz
March 21st, 2011
9:25 pm
Leslie guarantee top 30 pick, but needs to stay put and pass up the millions.