AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2007 > January > 24
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Win gives Dogs reason to believe
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
Athens — The feeling has persisted these past two months: For as many strides as Georgia had made, the Bulldogs hadn’t yet grasped how good they can be. They should know a bit more about themselves today. They should know that their pulsating overtime defeat of the nation’s winningest program wasn’t a home-court fluke but an accurate measure of these teams in the year 2007.
Kentucky is still pretty good.
The Bulldogs are simply better.
The Bulldogs shouldn’t be satisfied with winning the occasional big game. They have it within themselves to win games in March. When Georgia topples some towering seed in Round 2 of the Big Dance, don’t say you weren’t warned.
Owing to post-Harrick sanctions and the general disinterest toward Georgia basketball that exists even in the best of times, the Bulldogs have built a good-looking roster without benefit — indeed, perhaps due to the lack — of fanfare. “We’ve got the team,” Sundiata Gaines said. “We’ve got every player. We know we’re under the radar right now, but if we keep doing what we do, we’re going to win a lot of games.”
If not for a second-half lapse in Tuscaloosa, Georgia would have beaten Arkansas, Alabama and Kentucky in the span of eight days. The Bulldogs were unlucky at the end against the Tide, but such a loss, however poorly adjudicated, is often a reflection of a low-profile team that still isn’t sure it deserves to beat a high-falutin’ opponent. Wednesday’s second half and overtime should help disabuse Georgia of that notion.
The Bulldogs yielded 43 points in the first 17 1/2 minutes. (“The worst basketball we’ve played in a long time,” said Dennis Felton, the Georgia coach.) And then, for no reason other than that these Bulldogs are too talented to do so little for much longer, they turned the game and left the proud Big Blue looking outclassed.
Kentucky managed but 26 points over the final 27 1/2 minutes. The Wildcats could find no one other than Joe Crawford to score, while Georgia found all manner of playmakers. Gaines was terrific all game — there’s no SEC point guard, not even Florida’s Taurean Green, who ranks as his superior — and Takais Brown overwhelmed all the big ‘Cats, Randolph Morris included, down low. Terrance Woodbury made four massive baskets down the stretch. Mike Mercer shot poorly but did everything else nicely.
Georgia trailed only once in the final 10:48, and the Wildcats were thankful just to reach OT. (Gaines missed two free throws and a contested shot at the shank of regulation.) Anyone following this lopsided series — the Wildcats had won 30 of the past 35 games — would have been excused for thinking the teams had switched jerseys, that there was no way the callow Bulldogs should have been the ones with the better and more resourceful players, but that’s the new reality.
And maybe this will be the game that finally alerts Georgia to its vast potential. It’s a hard sell for any coach, persuading some of the same guys who were 8-20 only two seasons ago that they’re now capable of standing toe-to-toe with the sport’s giants. “It’s part of our progress,” Felton said, “convincing them that we’re good enough and that what we do is good enough, persuading them to stay with what we do and to stay in character.”
Georgia didn’t have to soar above and beyond to beat Kentucky. Georgia had only to trust itself and its talent. Felton again: “We haven’t been in position to impose our will [the last few years]. We were competing really hard just for self-respect. But we’re working at turning the corner, at not just competing but expecting to be successful.”
The job isn’t anywhere finished. The job has only just begun. LSU comes to town Sunday, and mighty Florida arrives Feb. 7. But the feeling here — actually, the conviction — is that Wednesday was no one-off moment. It was, on the contrary, the first of many.
Permalink | Comments (37) | Categories: Mark Bradley, UGA / SEC
“Pressure’s on” big-time college coaches
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
Just like that, the pressure is on Mike Krzyzewski.
And Bob Knight.
And Lute Olson.
And Rick Pitino.
And Paul Hewitt.
They have Bruce Pearl to blame, especially after the men’s basketball coach at Tennessee exchanged his sweaty sports coat for a painted chest to support the women’s basketball team during a home game.
This was refreshing. There was Pearl, jumping and screaming in the student section with a chest painted orange and with the letter “V” for Volunteers on it. Several of his players followed suit with enough painted chests to spell out “Go Vols.” They were supporting the Tennessee women against No. 1-ranked Duke.
Tennessee lost, but so what? Bruce brought the old Beach Boys’ edict to “be true to your school” to a new level.
A fun level.
Permalink | Comments (36) | Categories: Quick Hit, Terence Moore
