Tom Crean is not ready to give up on the basketball season.
The Georgia coach points out that at 16-16 his team qualifies for an NIT bid, should it decide to invite. He points out the Bulldogs have been playing their best basketball late in the season, especially in Nashville at the SEC Tournament.
That said, Crean said he is completely understanding of and in agreement with the SEC’s decision to cancel the SEC tournament, where Georgia was scheduled to play Florida in the tournament’s second round Thursday afternoon.
“We didn’t treat it like (the season) was abruptly ending; we just treated like the tournament is over,” Crean said during a conference call with reporters Thursday.
» More AJC coverage of the coronavirus outbreak
Crean said the Bulldogs (16-16) were just getting chairs pulled up to watch more game video in a meeting room at the Vanderbilt Marriott in preparation for the Gators late Thursday morning when they got word that the tournament was being canceled. At the time, Alabama and Tennessee already were on the floor at Bridgestone Arena warming up for their second-round game when they told to leave.
“We saw on social media that the Big Ten tournament had been canceled and about 30 seconds later we heard that the SEC was canceled,” Crean said. “So we didn’t start the meeting right away. We went out into the hallway and waited for some official word. And then we got it.”
Crean said the players were disappointed not to play, but also understanding of the circumstances created by the coronavirus pandemic.
“The bottom line with the team is, this is such an incredible, tumultuous time for everybody,” Crean said. “The most important thing that (the players) can learn from all this is that when they’re responsible for their own families someday, that they will always put their safety, their health and their well-being in front of everything. That in fact is what everybody is doing throughout the world. When our part of the world is basketball, we have to trust that’s what happened here. The most important thing we can have now is flexibility and understand the fluidity and that things are constantly changing and be thankful for our health.”
That’s not to say that the players just shrugged off the news and went about their business. They were disappointed not to play.
“They were probably stunned at the time,” Crean said. “They’re just trying to treat this for what it is. Things are happening so fast. They’re seeing things coming up every couple of minutes. I think the Donovan Mitchell situation probably stunned them this morning, just like Rudy Gobert did last night. That hits close to home for a basketball player.”
The two NBA players tested positive for COVID-19, better known as the coronavirus. The league also postponed its season Wednesday.
“The bottom line is they have to have some time to process this,” Crean said of the Georgia players. “But I want them to process it from a place of being flexible. We’re not bringing closure to anything right now. We don’t know what’s next, in basketball or in the world.”
The Bulldogs were scheduled to check out of their hotel and fly back to Athens late Thursday afternoon. As of this writing, the University of Georgia is on spring break, but was scheduled to resume clashes Monday, per a state board of regents’ decision.
Georgia’s hope remains that its season is not over.
“We’re eligible for the NIT at .500, I would think,” Crean said. “I just said to them, there’s no way we can bring closure to this right now. It’s all happening too fast. If it comes to a point where we have to (accept the season being over) we will. But right now things are changing so rapidly, the only thing you can be is flexible, open-minded and trusting. That’s what we have to do until we see what happens.”
In the meantime, Crean hopes to continue to work with his young team, which includes 10 newcomers, nine of them freshmen, including the SEC freshman of the year in Anthony Edwards. Other than a couple of lopsided losses in the final week of the regular season, the Bulldogs were playing well. Before that, they’d won three of four, with the one loss coming in overtime at South Carolina.
Georgia was extremely impressive in dispatching Ole Miss 81-63 on Wednesday night.
“We were playing our best basketball at the end season,” Crean said. “We practiced extremely well. … The way we played last night, I was really pleased. The ball moved, bodies moved, we had a lot of balance, we had a lot of guys impact the game, including Anthony even though he wasn’t scoring. … The guys did a really good job.
“It’s been a challenge with this group because it’s so young, and it’s so hard to win with that kind of youth. But it’s also been a group that has really, really worked to get better, worked hard, learned a lot about hard work, they’ve learned a lot about intensity and persevering. They’ve gone through so many different experiences.
“Other than that, I don’t have a way to bring closure yet. I’m not there.”
