Georgia didn’t have a very strong representation on the Coaches’ All-SEC team. In fact, senior Marcus Thornton was the only Bulldog included.
The 6-foot-8 power forward was named to the second-team All-SEC squad and to the five-man all-defensive team.
“People respect Marcus,” Georgia coach Mark Fox said. “I’m really excited he was recognized because he’s had a really good season and based upon all he’s had to overcome, I think that’s a remarkable accomplishment for him.”
Thornton, a former Mr. Georgia Basketball out of Westlake High, has had three knee surgeries during his career and had to medically redshirt two seasons ago. But he has steadily gotten better over the past two years and leads the Bulldogs in scoring (12.2 ppg) and rebounding (7.0) this season.
But it was the all-defensive team that really excited Thornton.
“I’ve been after that one for a while,” Thornton said with a grin. “I really enjoy defending. It means a ton to be honored in any sense with any of the other great players in this league. I’m definitely thankful for it and humbled by it.”
Fox said it was very well deserved. Thornton also leads the team in blocks with 34 and has 20 steals.
“He’s versatile,” he said. “He can guard five positions, and at times, he has done that. I mean, he can effectively guard almost anybody. Oftentimes that gets overlooked. He’s been a very effective defender. He’s also our leading scorer. That says a lot about what a complete player he has become.”
Dogs get work in: Georgia is in the unusual position of having to play last among all the teams in the SEC tournament for the second consecutive year. The Bulldogs also received the No. 3 seed and the double-bye to Friday's late game last year. They hung on to beat Ole Miss 75-73 in the quarterfinals before losing to Kentucky 70-58 in the semifinals.
“Does that help us? I don’t know,” Fox said. “I know it makes the turnaround the next day a challenge. But you’ve got to win the first one to have that challenge.”
The Bulldogs are following a similar routine. They arrived in Nashville on Wednesday evening. Early Thursday morning, they came to Bridgestone Arena for a brief shoot-around. Then they conducted a full-fledged practice at Vanderbilt on Thursday afternoon.
Slive still on duty: While SEC executive associate commissioner Greg Sankey was named to succeed Mike Slive as the SEC's commissioner Thursday, Slive himself is still very much on the job and working.
In fact, Slive is present and accounted for at the SEC tournament this week. That’s saying something considering the 74-year-old is still in the throes of a battle with prostate cancer. On Tuesday, he underwent his second chemo treatment in Houston. But he was in Nashville on Wednesday and oversaw the five-hour meeting with the SEC’s athletic directors.
Slive is going through the resident physical stresses that come with such treatments, including bloating and losing his hair. And though he declined comment coming out of Wednesday’s meeting — he’s made none since his cancer diagnosis was announced — he has kept a sense of humor and joked about his new hair-do. Slive said he planned to attend some of this week’s games, though he’d probably do so from one of the suites in Bridgestone Arena.
NCAA or bust: All the Bulldogs are excited about the opportunity to possibly play in the NCAA tournament. But none more than Nemanja Djurisic. The senior forward from Montenegro in has never had the opportunity to play in "March Madness," as he calls it.
“I’ve never been there,” he said this week. “We’re in good position. We just have to take care of what we can control. We don’t want to leave anything up to other people. We want to do what we can do to control our destiny, and that’s by winning the next game.”
Djurisic said the NCAA tournament has grown in popularity in his country in recent years.
“Since I came over a lot of the channels now have March Madness on them and those big games get on,” Djurisic said. “Montenegro people have had some opportunities to watch me on TV. I know they saw me against Kentucky and Florida and those Tuesday games that we have. Over time, NCAA basketball has become more and more popular over there. There’s a little problem with the time difference, but people do pay attention, especially the young people.”
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