Most important pre conference games to make tournament?

5,332 Views | 22 Replies | Last: 4 yr ago by StevieBuckets
MidseasonFromm
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What do you guys think are the most important pre conference games on Georgia's schedule?

Which games are a *must win* in order for us to make the NCAA Tournament?


jpzd33
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MidseasonFromm said:

What do you guys think are the most important pre conference games on Georgia's schedule?

Which games are a *must win* in order for us to make the NCAA Tournament?



There is no real must win game... Just the overall body of work... Maui, GT, Memphis, SMU and AZST are the big NC games though. And making sure to not lose one of the other games. The next week is going to be good early litmus test for the team. If they can somehow go 3-1 that would be absolutely HUGE
SidViciousDawg
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GT, 3 games in Maui, ASU, SMU & Memphis = 7 games... 5-2 would give hope that this team would be tourney worthy. 4-3, it'd still be a possibility but that 0-5 start we're staring at to start league play will squash that hope quickly. Our schedule softens from there but 6-12 or 7-11 is probably this team's upside. I'll take the under and predict 5-13 in conference play to finish 15-16. Steal a win or two somewhere and we'll be on the bubble for the NIT.
Monkdawg
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I don't see an 0-5 start in conference. UTjr, Aubie and MSU are all beatable. UK lost to Evansville, so they aren't perfect either.
SidViciousDawg
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Jump on out there w/ a prediction Monk (or others), who thinks this team will finish .500 or better in SEC?

UT in Athens is our best chance for a W in those first five. @Auburn, @ Miss St and UK twice sure look like 4 L's. If Ant goes for 30ish and somebody else (Hammonds, Crump) is hot and goes for 20ish we can beat some folks, I'm just not confident that'll happen enough to make this a .500 team or better.
jpzd33
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SidViciousDawg said:

GT, 3 games in Maui, ASU, SMU & Memphis = 7 games... 5-2 would give hope that this team would be tourney worthy. 4-3, it'd still be a possibility but that 0-5 start we're staring at to start league play will squash that hope quickly. Our schedule softens from there but 6-12 or 7-11 is probably this team's upside. I'll take the under and predict 5-13 in conference play to finish 15-16. Steal a win or two somewhere and we'll be on the bubble for the NIT.


I know it's 7 games. I was referring strictly to the next week. GT and Maui
jpzd33
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Monkdawg said:

I don't see an 0-5 start in conference. UTjr, Aubie and MSU are all beatable. UK lost to Evansville, so they aren't perfect either.


Kentucky also just struggled a lot with Utah Valley. But Cal's teams usually gel a ton as the season progresses. Most teams do of course, but his moreso than a lot of others
Haney
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Starting 4-0 had to happen and did. From here, I look at getting at least one win in Maui, so let's just say 1-2, then beat the 4 schools coming to Athens-toughest likely SMU, that gives us 9 non conference, then we have Arizona State and Memphis-both will be tough, but if we can split and get 10 wins non conference, that would be HUGE.

So as far as SEC slate goes, Kentucky at home, we could get that-they play better as the season goes so playing them that early helps, also think we can beat UT at home, and Miss State and AU are not the same as they were last year-but will certainly be tough on the road. If we even 1-4 to start, 2-3, you are looking at 12-5 and I think schedule after the first 5 is not nearly as difficult.

This team is going to be tough if Hammonds plays like he did last night. Edwards still has a lot to learn and is going to get better and better, and with teams focusing so much on him, guys like Hammonds, Crump, Harris (when he comes back) and Gresham are going to get a lot of easy looks, and Wheeler is a great high energy guy coming off the bench. Also, you guys have to remember all the talent lost last year from SEC teams, and we played some of those really good teams TOUGH down the stretch, granted we lost Clax but I just think this team has the capability to play 500 in conference and if they do, having a player like Edwards gets us in the dance.
RedDawg
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To answer the original question, I think the most important non-con game is the 1st one in Maui against Dayton.
The pre-SEC home games should all be winnable. Yes, SMU is no gimme, but if we think we're a tourney team, we should beat them at home. If we lose any of the others (NC Cent, Ga South, AP) we might as well forget about it. We'll be hard pressed to win at ASU or Memphis.
But the Maui tourney is interesting. If we can get the W vs Dayton, we may well go 1-2 (we're not going to beat Mich St, and then we'll have UCLA in the 3rd place game). But if we lose to Dayton, we may go 2-1 because we'll have Va Tech, then either Chaminade or BYU. But I think we might actually have a shot to beat UCLA, we match up pretty well with them, and they haven't looked that great so far. Getting a W vs UCLA would be a big feather in our cap. And might draw parallels to another successful 2nd year coach who raised eyebrows in Hawaii 20+ years ago. All starts vs Dayton.
neKKiDawg
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Memphis will still have a lot of talent on the floor, but if I understand correctly regarding the suspension, Wiseman will not be back yet. I will take anything to help our chances in any of these games!
Haney
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You are correct, Wiseman will still be out when we play Memphis. Considering he is a dominant big man, and that is an area of weakness for us (that being said, we did a fine job on Banks the other night) I think not having him play against us can only help.
RedDawg
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Well, forget everything in my post above.

What a freaking disaster in Maui. Yeah, it's only halftime, but this team did not show up. If this is the best we can do on a big stage, then we might as well just give it up. Different coach, different players, same result. Just pitiful.
StevieBuckets
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I dream of a day when we are not flushed down the toilet in a Thanksgiving tournament...
StevieBuckets
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And per my post in a different thread - https://dawgpost.com/forums/3/topics/14262/replies/96984 - I never expected this to be a tournament team. But that was embarrassing. Even if Dayton ends up in the tournament (and we sure made them look like they could), that was completely unacceptable.

If Crean is attempting to teach defense, it's clearly not sinking in.
blackmountaindawg
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Dayton had a 19 point lead with a minute left in the 1st half. Game ends with a 19 point loss. So maybe our young guys learned something in those first 19 minutes and played Dayton even the final 21 minutes.
Haney
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It is one game and MSU today will likely be the same, but with a young team, these early tests against quality opponents make you get better-we can't win many games with Fagan as our leading scorer, Edwards with only 6 points, but again, young team playing a long way from home, some of these kids have never been so far away and Dayton is a quality team with a potential 1st round pick playing for them-and when I was watching, they couldn't miss from the 3, even with defenders on them.

It would be nice to get a win out there, then come home and take care of business at home. But each game is going to be a learning experience for this team. We can't get too down after one game, or too high after a game either.
MidseasonFromm
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Yo. 33 points in the second half.
SidViciousDawg
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SidViciousDawg said:

GT, 3 games in Maui, ASU, SMU & Memphis = 7 games... 5-2 would give hope that this team would be tourney worthy. 4-3, it'd still be a possibility but that 0-5 start we're staring at to start league play will squash that hope quickly. Our schedule softens from there but 6-12 or 7-11 is probably this team's upside. I'll take the under and predict 5-13 in conference play to finish 15-16. Steal a win or two somewhere and we'll be on the bubble for the NIT.


Had to bump this one for you Dawg44.... I'm a bit above average when it comes to realistically evaluating and predicting Dawgball as my November 20th prediction of 5-13 and 15-16 shows. Crean & Staff have performed below average, it's hardly debatable.
Dawg44
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Agree. Any average coach would not have lost any games with all of our talent.
SidViciousDawg
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Hopefully we can hire one after the 2021/22 season. Until then carry on...
Nostradawgus
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By all objective statistical measurement this team was effin' awful defensively. We're talking nine year old rec league basketball awful. I get the youth, and the seven new players. But this team didn't play defense, and I think worse of all, appeared to not know HOW to play defense.

I don't know where this program is going. I fail to see how it improves in 20-21 unless there is DRAMATIC improvement on defense (not to mention a player to be named that will fill the Edwards ppg about to walk out the door).
Monkdawg
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To me, we started out with the idea that we could switch everything on defense. You might able to do that with an experienced team, but not with a bunch of young guys and upperclassmen who never played defense in their lives. Switching everything creates mismatches that can be exploited, and, even worse, defensive players get lost and confused about who they should guard and how they should rotate in help defense. We got away from all the switching later in the season and defended better.
Dawg44
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If we gave a coach (Fox), who has never won an NCAA Tournament game nine years, shouldn't we give a coach (Crean) who has been to multiple sweet sixteens and a final four a few more years? Just asking for a friend.
StevieBuckets
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Dawg44 said:

If we gave a coach (Fox), who has never won an NCAA Tournament game nine years, shouldn't we give a coach (Crean) who has been to multiple sweet sixteens and a final four a few more years? Just asking for a friend.
Yes.
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