ATHENS -- In Georgia’s 66-52 exhibition win against Georgia College Tuesday night, questions were answered about how the offense would operate, considering the turnover from last season.
Junior guard Kario Oquendo was the leading scorer for the Bulldogs with 15 points.
Georgia played its first game under new coach Mike White.
Oquendo struggled from 3-point distance in the first half, going 0-for-5 from behind the arc. He did get on track in the second half, making two of his three attempts. He had a team-high 12 shot attempts as the No. 1 scoring option for the Bulldogs.
Oquendo said that’s not necessarily by design, but more because of the flow of the game allowed it.
“When I was getting in the corner, I was wide open in the first half,” Oquendo said. “But, I had to get settled down, came back and made some in the second half.”
Similar to last year, most of Oquendo’s impact on the game came from his ability to drive through the lane. He got past defenders to get to the basket for either a dunk, layup or free-throw attempts.
Although, it does seem that teams are getting adjusted to his playing style as they look to cut him off and force him into jump shots more.
“They’re gonna try to come up with a scheme to stop me from getting to the rim,” Oquendo said. “I just gotta take what they give me – just like in the second half (tonight). I started being more aggressive going downhill, playing harder.”
When Oquendo came off the court, the offense moved the ball around more, as Georgia felt out who would be the go-to option in those moments.
Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe stepped up in an effort to keep Georgia’s offense afloat in its cold stretches with Oquendo off the floor. He had 15 points too and played a game-high 33 minutes.
Still, with Oquendo off the court, the offense stagnated and some plays ended with a last-ditch 3-point attempt that didn’t hit the mark – an issue that seemingly hasn’t been resolved with Georgia’s offense from last season.
According to Oquendo, the Bulldogs are still in the process of finding each player’s individual roles on the court.
“It’s always gonna be hard when you go out there with 10 new guys,” Oquendo said. “We had trouble with that last year, trying to find the (players’ roles) early in the season for how the offense is going to work out. When we get to that – figuring out whose role is what – we’ll be a lot better.”
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