ATHENS — Desperate times call for desperate measures. The Georgia Bulldogs most assuredly are a desperate team, and they were operating accordingly as they boarded their Nashville-bound plane at Ben Epps Airport.
In Music City – where the SEC Tournament will commence in three short weeks – the Bulldogs (14-11, 4-8 SEC) will face Vanderbilt at Memorial Gymnasium (8:30 p.m., SEC Network). Losers of six consecutive, Georgia desperately needs to win a game. It needs to win THIS game.
There is no other way to put it: Of their seven remaining SEC games, this one is the most winnable for the Bulldogs.
Of course, the Commodores (7-18, 2-10) are looking at it the exact same way. Coach Jerry Stackhouse’s team hasn’t won many games home or away this season. But Vandy did beat Texas A&M 73-72 in their most recent outing in their quirky old gym with the team benches on the baselines. And Georgia certainly doesn’t appear to them as an intimidating force coming to have its way. The Commodores, too, will be looking to get well.
The deciding factor could come down to how the Bulldogs feel about themselves. At the moment, that’s mostly desperate. They also must be determined.
“It’s huge,” guard Noah Thomasson said of the team’s positive attitude going forward. “Over five years, I’ve been on a lot of different teams. I’ve been on both ends of it, on teams that weren’t really that good and teams that had a lot of promise. You’ve just got to figure it out. One game can flip it.”
Coach Mike White has spent a lot of time and effort trying to find the switch. After spending the first three months of the season with basically the same starting lineup and overall rotation, he has shaken it up lately. The Bulldogs have deployed eight different starting lineups, including five variations in the past six games. Don’t be surprised to see another one Wednesday.
Struggling to put two consistent halves together all season, White has tweaked the team’s halftime routine in recent weeks. The latest adjustment has been the Bulldogs’ travel schedule. On Tuesday, Georgia left several hours earlier than usual. The assumption is that that was to get in a full practice at the competition site as opposed to the proverbial walk-through/shoot-around.
In the end, it comes down to fundamentals. The Bulldogs have to play better offensively and defensively in the paint, and they have to take better care of the basketball, among other things.
“We’ve got to guard a lot better,” White said. “We’ve got to make simpler decisions with the basketball. … We can’t make (unforced) turnovers and ill-advised fouls. We’ve got to be more accountable and disciplined.”
Other factors sometimes get in the way. After a mid-week bye heading into Saturday’s game against Florida, Georgia planned to unleash freshman forward Dylan James and utilize two post players more often than it has all year. But James suffered a nasty poke in the eye not long after tipoff and played only 1:03. That left the Bulldogs with just three “bigs” to go the rest of the way and senior Russel Tchewa, who was rolling in the first half, played a team-high 34 minutes.
James is a 6-foot-9, 217-pound freshman from Winter Haven, Florida, and was a top-100 prospect when he signed with the Bulldogs. He has recovered from the eye injury and probably could have played against the Gators in the second half.
“We probably should have called his number,” White said of James, who has averaged just 8.2 minutes and 2.5 points in 10 games. “He’s practiced well lately, and we’re going to continue to try to get him experience.”
The Bulldogs are seeking answers wherever they can find them. A season of such promise, which included a 10-game win streak and included a 3-1 start to conference play, has devolved into trying to avoid another Wednesday night play-in game at the SEC Tournament.
On the other side of Vanderbilt awaits No. 14 Auburn (20-6, 9-4), which is coming to Athens off a mid-week bye following its first home loss of the season to Kentucky.
“We’ve just got to figure it out,” Thomasson said.
Desperately.
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