Georgia basketball coach Mark Fox gets credit for putting together an extremely challenging schedule for the 2014-15 season. But sooner or later, the Bulldogs have to do their part and win some of these marquee games.
Georgia (4-3) will get another crack Sunday as it plays host to Colorado. The Buffaloes (5-1) return all five starters from last year’s NCAA tournament team.
“Our schedule is a lot harder than it’s probably ever been,” Fox said. “We’ve totally subscribed to the SEC’s theory of upgrading scheduling and, when you do that, you’re going to have more challenges. We probably could win fewer games (overall) this year and be in better position for the NCAA tournament. But you’ve got to win some.”
The Bulldogs have come up short so far every time they’ve locked up with a major power. They’re 0-3 so far against Georgia Tech (80-73), Gonzaga (88-76) and Minnesota (66-62).
To change that trend, it would behoove Georgia to get off to a fast start. The common theme in each one of those losses is the Bulldogs fell behind significantly in the first half. Minnesota (21-8) and Gonzaga (16-6) both opened big leads shortly after tipoff, while Tech started both the first half (14-5) and second half (16-3) with big runs.
“We’ve definitely coming out to slow starts in some of the bigger games, even in some of the other ones,” junior guard Kenny Gaines said. “That’s the thing we’ve been struggling with and something we’ve been addressing. We’re working on it on a day-to-day basis. We’ll possibly be changing our pre-game routine.”
Fox made one move to address the slow starts in Georgia’s last game against Chattanooga. He started sophomore J.J. Frazier ahead of Charles Mann at point guard. The Bulldogs seemed to respond well. They won the road game 86-55.
“J.J. had played well and Charles hadn’t,” Fox explained. “I thought Charles was trying too hard a little bit. I thought I just needed to calm him down and bring him off the bench. And he responded well.”
Mann ended up playing 31 minutes and finished with 16 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Fox indicated Mann will start Sunday.
Mann’s early-game struggles mirrored those of the team.
“I think sometimes the guys have been overly aggressive out of the gate and just have been trying hard because they know we have a solid time,” Fox said. “But you’ve still got to have some poise. I think some of that we’ve tried a little too hard and taken some quick shots we didn’t take. It’s not all been offense either. Our defensive starts have been poor, too.”
Georgia will need to be at its best throughout if it’s going to handle the Buffaloes. Colorado features one of the best frontlines in college basketball. Junior forward Josh Scott (6-foot-10, 245 pounds) comes in averaging 16.3 points and 8.2 rebounds.
Playing hard but under control will be a key for the Bulldogs.
“You’ve got to be balanced; you’ve got to be at the magic level,” Fox said. “You can’t be so high that you’re making mistakes by being too aggressive, and you can’t be so cool that you don’t have any edge to you. There’s a magical level you’ve got to play at and you’ve got to be able to sustain that magical level. That’s the key for every team.”
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