Kenny Gaines’ health meter has been all over the dial this week. He went from saying he was “4,000 percent” sure he would play in Friday’s NCAA Tournament game against Michigan State earlier in the week to “50-50” the day before the game.
“I’ve still got a ways to go,” Gaines, who has a sprained left foot, said before the Bulldogs’ shoot-around at Time Warner Cable Arena on Thursday. “I’m just trying to rest it as much as I can before game time. It’s like 50-50. I think I’m gonna play, but it’s up to the doctor and coach.”
Gaines’ coach, Mark Fox, expects the Bulldogs’ No. 2 scorer and No. 1 perimeter defender to play against the Spartans. The real question is just how effective he might be.
“He’s doing everything he can,” Fox said. “He had treatment last night. He had treatment this morning before breakfast. The trainers are doing a great job trying to get him back. I anticipate we’ll be able to use him, but it’s something we’re just having to deal with.”
The news was not as promising for Juwan Parker. The junior small forward is expected to miss his 15th game because of a chronic Achilles injury.
“Juwan Parker will be dressed for the game, but in all likelihood, it will be for emergency-use only,” Fox said. “He had another setback and he’s been through a lot.”
Parker, who opened the season as the Bulldogs’ starter, has a chronic Achilles injury that will require surgery at season’s end. He tried to come back and play in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals and was cruising along fine in the first half against Arkansas until he got the foot stepped on and left the game in tremendous pain.
J.J. finding his range: Sophomore guard J.J. Frazier had scored in double figures in seven of eight games — including 37 points against Mississippi State — midway through the SEC schedule. Then he broke his left hand against Texas A&M in one game and had an orbital socket fracture and concussion against Auburn in the next.
Frazier’s production went down after that. He has scored in double figures just twice since. But Frazier said he’s starting to feel like his old self.
“I can actually shoot the ball like normal,” said Frazier, who is averaging 9.8 points and 3.5 assists per game. “Ever since I hurt my hand I’ve had to adjust my shot, but now it’s healthy. The mask is off; my face is healthy. I’m looking for one of those games. I’m due for it. My rhythm is coming back, and I’m excited.”
Family feud: Here's how Michigan State coach Tom Izzo opened his news conference Thursday: "Yes, I have a nephew that works on Georgia's staff. No, he will not be invited to Thanksgiving day meals at my mother's house."
Izzo’s nephew is Matt Bucklin, a former Bulldogs player who is the team’s operations coordinator. Izzo inadvertently offered some insight into the pressure on Fox and his staff to win this season when he talked about his nephew.
“I told him I was proud of him, that I appreciate what they’ve done,” Izzo said of a recent call. “Their jobs are a little bit on the line, and I love guys that battle through some adversity. Mark has done an incredible job there doing that after losing some players to the pros and losing some players to injuries.”
Etc.: Izzo admitted that the Spartans mishandled the recruitment of Georgia forward Yante Maten. "He made the right decision," Izzo said of the Michigan prep player of the year. "We didn't recruit him like a guy you would recruit or like he deserved to be recruited. But it wasn't out of disrespect for him. It was more out of what our needs were, what we had." … In addition to Georgia's NCAA-allotted, 40-minute shoot-around at Time Warner Arena the Bulldogs had a full practice at UNC-Charlotte on Thursday afternoon. … UGA sold out of its allotment of 350 tickets. … UGA is sharing its locker room this weekend with Duke. Also playing in the Charlotte regional are Belmont, Robert Morris, San Diego State, St. John's and Virginia.
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