ATHENS – When it comes to questions about Georgia’s shooting woes, the Bulldogs have had about enough.
Case in point, Sahvir Wheeler’s answer Friday when asked how the Bulldogs were addressing their miserable perimeter efficiency in a blowout loss at South Carolina on Wednesday.
“Um, we shoot the ball in practice,” Wheeler deadpanned.
This was right before Georgia’s practice Friday. They planned to shoot some jumpers, among other things.
On Saturday, the Bulldogs (9-6, 2-6 SEC) hope to be doing much more making when the Ole Miss Rebels (8-7, 3-5) visit for a 6 p.m. tipoff (SEC Network).
The fact is, Georgia shot the lights out when it last played Ole Miss, making 9-of-15 3-pointers on the way to an impressive 78-74 win in Oxford on Jan. 16. The Bulldogs actually made a season-high 12 3-pointers in what ended as an overtime loss to LSU earlier this season.
So, obviously, Georgia can shoot the ball effectively at times. But it definitely couldn’t Wednesday in Columbia. The Bulldogs were 4-of-26 from beyond the arc in a shockingly one-sided 83-59 loss to the Gamecocks.
What made it all the more frustrating for Georgia is most of the misses were wide-open attempts by players designated to make them from the place they were launched. Justin Kier and P.J. Horne were a combined 0-for-11 from 3-point range. One of the main reasons those graduate transfers were recruited to Georgia was their outside shooting skills.
Sometimes, however, shots just don’t fall. The key, Georgia coach Tom Crean said, is the quality of the shot.
“Keep getting good shots,” Crean said. “We missed quite a few open shots the other night, and that’s always the worse. It’s a lot easier to pinpoint problems when you’re missing shots that are being challenged. But these were open, and you just have to be able to play through that.”
An offensive-minded coach throughout his career, Crean is not about to tell his designated shooter to stop shooting. In fact, he’s telling them to do the opposite.
“We can’t lose confidence when we’re not making shots,” Crean said. “That’s easier said than done. You’ve just got to be able to work through it and grind through it and keep competing.”
For whatever reason, the Bulldogs are in an extended team shooting slump. Georgia ranks last in the SEC with a 3-point shooting percentage of .307, which actually is slightly better in conference games, .320. Horner, who made 44 3′s on 35% shooting as a junior at Virginia Tech, is .298 in league games at Georgia. Kier is shooting .371 from 3, but has cooled lately. Toumani Camara, a 6-foot-8 forward who came into his sophomore season with a promising outside shot, is down to .200 from 3-point range (7-35) and has effectively quit trying.
Freshman K.D. Johnson, activated four games ago, represents the Bulldogs’ best hope. He’s shooting 44 percent from behind the arc, but he is still adjusting to the when-and-where to take them.
It’s been particularly frustrating for Wheeler, who is a tireless worker in the gym. The 5-10 point guard’s game is built on driving the lane. So, increasingly, teams are sagging off of him on defense and daring him to shoot. He has made only 25.5% of his 3′s overall and 30.4% in SEC play.
Interestingly, though, the emphasis in Georgia’s practices this week hasn’t necessarily been on putting up a bunch of outside shots. The Bulldogs have been focused on intensifying and tightening the defense and “gang rebounding.”
“We’re emphasizing more on the defensive end,” senior forward Andrew Garcia said Friday. “We feel like if we can control that. And if we can get those boards, it can really make a difference.”
It makes sense. While teams can never be sure how well they’re going to shoot, they can control the effort and intensity that it takes to rebound and play defense.
An undersized SEC team, Georgia ranks at the middle to the bottom of the league in those statistical categories, as well. But they’re lightning quick. At times they’ve given opponents fits with steals, deflections and loose-ball dominance.
Lost in the debacle against South Carolina was the defensive ferocity and effectiveness with which the Bulldogs started that game. Georgia stopped the Gamecocks on 15 of their first 18 possessions.
“Our fault was we didn’t put the ball in (the goal) when it was in our hands,” Wheeler said. “Whether it was turnovers, some missed open shots or whatever the case may be, defense can always be a great thing to work and focus on. Offensively, we always have to get better. We’re finding new ways, listening to the coaches, watching film and taking it one day at a time.”
And putting up some jump shots, too.
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