UGA Over Kentucky: Quick Thoughts.
Here it is, your stream of consciousness analysis of the Dawgs overtime win over Kentucky Wednesday night:
*This team is still young and inconsistent. The first half made it appear that the team really had not gotten over the Alabamahackjob abomination loss. That said . . .
*Coach Felton deserves major credit for pulling things together in the second half. The individual stats for the second half are downright surreal: Takais Brown, proclaimed a grown ass man by PWD, scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half, making clear that he can hold his own against the type of elite level post players who dominate tournament play. Sundiata Gaines scored 16 of his 19 after the break, shrugging off a couple of bad shots to hit a clutch three and a pair of free throws when it really counted.
*Unless my quick review is wrong, Gaines had 0 turnovers. Mike Mercer had 1 turnover. For a backcourt that has looked inexplicably lost sometimes with the ball in their hands, this could be a sign of progress. Otherwise it's still a cool statistic which we may never see again.
*This team will be deadly late in the year if/when we put two halves together. If we could do that in, say, a Sweet Sixteen game, that would be nice.
*Admittedly, this Kentucky team is not one of the Kentucky teams of days gone by. They came in ranked #25, and even that was partially because they're Kentucky. This ultimately works to our advantage in tournament selection because the geezers who sit in a room and put together the bracket have at least some subconscious respect for wins over teams like Kentucky.
* We outrebounded the Wildcats 43-31. That's almost unheard of in recent times, and is reason to be excited. This kind of rebounding edge can go a long way toward making up for our inconsistent backcourt shooting. Again, you win in March by shooting well from 12 feet out, preventing others from doing the same, and winning the rebounding battle either way. This team may be able to do that.
* The Dawgs RPI climbed to #41, which in addition to being a classic Dave Matthews song is also approaching the #30 and under range which all but assures an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament for SEC/ACC teams.
*Looking back to preseason expectations, you have to pleased with this team so far. Their record is probably in line with what people expected, but they've accomplsihed it by playing some great teams (Florida, Alabama, Wisconsin) a lot closer than anyone would have expected. The record doesn't really do justice to how much better this team is compared to this time last year.
*This team is still young and inconsistent. The first half made it appear that the team really had not gotten over the Alabama
*Coach Felton deserves major credit for pulling things together in the second half. The individual stats for the second half are downright surreal: Takais Brown, proclaimed a grown ass man by PWD, scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half, making clear that he can hold his own against the type of elite level post players who dominate tournament play. Sundiata Gaines scored 16 of his 19 after the break, shrugging off a couple of bad shots to hit a clutch three and a pair of free throws when it really counted.
*Unless my quick review is wrong, Gaines had 0 turnovers. Mike Mercer had 1 turnover. For a backcourt that has looked inexplicably lost sometimes with the ball in their hands, this could be a sign of progress. Otherwise it's still a cool statistic which we may never see again.
*This team will be deadly late in the year if/when we put two halves together. If we could do that in, say, a Sweet Sixteen game, that would be nice.
*Admittedly, this Kentucky team is not one of the Kentucky teams of days gone by. They came in ranked #25, and even that was partially because they're Kentucky. This ultimately works to our advantage in tournament selection because the geezers who sit in a room and put together the bracket have at least some subconscious respect for wins over teams like Kentucky.
* We outrebounded the Wildcats 43-31. That's almost unheard of in recent times, and is reason to be excited. This kind of rebounding edge can go a long way toward making up for our inconsistent backcourt shooting. Again, you win in March by shooting well from 12 feet out, preventing others from doing the same, and winning the rebounding battle either way. This team may be able to do that.
* The Dawgs RPI climbed to #41, which in addition to being a classic Dave Matthews song is also approaching the #30 and under range which all but assures an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament for SEC/ACC teams.
*Looking back to preseason expectations, you have to pleased with this team so far. Their record is probably in line with what people expected, but they've accomplsihed it by playing some great teams (Florida, Alabama, Wisconsin) a lot closer than anyone would have expected. The record doesn't really do justice to how much better this team is compared to this time last year.
posted by MaconDawg at 9:18 AM
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