How many fast break opportunities did we squander by being careless with the ball? And the 3-pointer we let them hit just before the half was pure laziness. And that was the difference in this game.
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Just got too lazy at the wrong times
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Last: 4 yr ago by Dawg44
As soon as the Edwards dunk happened the whole team thought they had won the game. They were celebrating on the court at halftime after giving up a 3!
One team played hard in the second half, got open shots, and rebounded, and one team was Georgia...
One team played hard in the second half, got open shots, and rebounded, and one team was Georgia...
Just a young team being young.
Every man should believe in something, I believe Florida sucks
To me, the game showed the best and worst of what we can be. First half was amazing but as you mentioned, some celebration/look at me crap cost us as did Hagans making some great defensive pokes in both halves-he was clutch in a lot of situations that seemed we were heading for a run.
I don't want to beat up one of the best players to ever wear a UGA uniform, but you have to call out the Antman some as this season plays out. Yes, he hit two nice 3's in the second half and you were like, here comes Maui again but that didn't happen and I feel like he took some bad shots over and over (Crean actually appeared to pull him after he missed two straight 3's by the UK bench). This kid is a freak but he has to drive the ball more, get to the FT line, he only took 5 FT's last night, with his ability to finish at the basket, he should be getting double digit FT's every game. He hit only 3-9 from the 3 point line and honestly his D at times was non existent last night letting guys drive right past him to the basket.
You then look at Crump, he continues to play and get a lot of minutes but his play doesn't justify it. 1-6 from 3 point range last night, he needs to come off the bench with Harris starting. Harris had a couple bad TO's but he also shot 5-7 from the floor, had 3 steals, 1 incredible block and 5 rebounds.
Hammonds, had a bad second half and honestly, you can trace most wins and loses to him as much as anyone because he is our legit big man. Had 15 points and 12 rebounds at Memphis, but last night only 9 points and 4 rebounds. I really like Gresham, a very heady player and I am ok with him starting but Wheeler continues to play well-he had a VERY tough matchup last night with Hagans but still chipped in with 8 points, 3 assists and 3 steals.
I really like that we have guys like Camara, Brown, and Fagan that are good players-Camara I think can be a great player in time, but those guys will stick around for 3 years at least. This team is a work in progress and will only get better, but they have to grow up and learn that a game is 40 minutes. Crean has to get his rotations figured out, there was a stretch where he had Edwards and Hammonds out for a long stretch. Those two are your primary scorers, you have to have at least one in the game at all times-that coupled with less Crump and more Harris I think makes us better.
In closing, on TV the crowd was awesome and that is certainly a great thing to see for us fans and the recruits. Normally in Athens there is a lot of BLUE when UK comes to town but I saw the least amount of blue I have seen in years, that is a great testament to what Crean and his team are doing to change the culture of hoops in Athens. Saturday is going to be VERY difficult and I don't expect a win, but hey, I didn't expect a win at Memphis either. BUT, in getting UK/Auburn out of the way early in the year, (well Auburn visists us later), I think that is setting up nicely for us to close strong and the committee is going to look at how a team closes the season, big road wins and also star power when picking at large teams for the NCAA. This team I still think can go 9-9 in conference play, that puts us at 19-11, win a tourney game and I think we are a lock, lose tourney game and still on bubble. BUT, from what I see from the SEC, besides UK/AU, I don't see anyone that is head and shoulders above us, and we proved we can play very competitive with UK last night.
I don't want to beat up one of the best players to ever wear a UGA uniform, but you have to call out the Antman some as this season plays out. Yes, he hit two nice 3's in the second half and you were like, here comes Maui again but that didn't happen and I feel like he took some bad shots over and over (Crean actually appeared to pull him after he missed two straight 3's by the UK bench). This kid is a freak but he has to drive the ball more, get to the FT line, he only took 5 FT's last night, with his ability to finish at the basket, he should be getting double digit FT's every game. He hit only 3-9 from the 3 point line and honestly his D at times was non existent last night letting guys drive right past him to the basket.
You then look at Crump, he continues to play and get a lot of minutes but his play doesn't justify it. 1-6 from 3 point range last night, he needs to come off the bench with Harris starting. Harris had a couple bad TO's but he also shot 5-7 from the floor, had 3 steals, 1 incredible block and 5 rebounds.
Hammonds, had a bad second half and honestly, you can trace most wins and loses to him as much as anyone because he is our legit big man. Had 15 points and 12 rebounds at Memphis, but last night only 9 points and 4 rebounds. I really like Gresham, a very heady player and I am ok with him starting but Wheeler continues to play well-he had a VERY tough matchup last night with Hagans but still chipped in with 8 points, 3 assists and 3 steals.
I really like that we have guys like Camara, Brown, and Fagan that are good players-Camara I think can be a great player in time, but those guys will stick around for 3 years at least. This team is a work in progress and will only get better, but they have to grow up and learn that a game is 40 minutes. Crean has to get his rotations figured out, there was a stretch where he had Edwards and Hammonds out for a long stretch. Those two are your primary scorers, you have to have at least one in the game at all times-that coupled with less Crump and more Harris I think makes us better.
In closing, on TV the crowd was awesome and that is certainly a great thing to see for us fans and the recruits. Normally in Athens there is a lot of BLUE when UK comes to town but I saw the least amount of blue I have seen in years, that is a great testament to what Crean and his team are doing to change the culture of hoops in Athens. Saturday is going to be VERY difficult and I don't expect a win, but hey, I didn't expect a win at Memphis either. BUT, in getting UK/Auburn out of the way early in the year, (well Auburn visists us later), I think that is setting up nicely for us to close strong and the committee is going to look at how a team closes the season, big road wins and also star power when picking at large teams for the NCAA. This team I still think can go 9-9 in conference play, that puts us at 19-11, win a tourney game and I think we are a lock, lose tourney game and still on bubble. BUT, from what I see from the SEC, besides UK/AU, I don't see anyone that is head and shoulders above us, and we proved we can play very competitive with UK last night.
Sure, I get it, but youth has to stop being an excuse at some point. UK only played two guys older than sophomores.
I understand there is a talent disparity. It's the obvious maturity disparity that concerns me. I guess it's true that winning (knowing how to win, knowing how to handle winning, etc) is a culture, and it's not a culture that's been built at UGA yet. That's one of Crean's challenges.
I understand there is a talent disparity. It's the obvious maturity disparity that concerns me. I guess it's true that winning (knowing how to win, knowing how to handle winning, etc) is a culture, and it's not a culture that's been built at UGA yet. That's one of Crean's challenges.
UK had a HUGE size advantage too, also don't kid yourself, Hagans was a 5 star and now is in his second year, can you imagine how good Edwards would be next year if he stays (which he will not). Edwards reclassified so truly should still be a SR in HS this year and then we have other young guys playing vital roles, and UK basketball is on the same level as Duke when it comes to having 5 star talent. Also keep this in mind, in the 2000's, UGA has beaten Kentucky 9 times, overall series history is now 128-26.
Look, I was frustrated last night because I thought that was a game we could win but Kentucky talent/size wise is on a different level-and Cal is a really good coach. Not that Crean is not, but Kentucky basketball is like UGA/Bama/LSU in football, they have 5 stars all over, and we have a lot of 3 stars. All this being said, we match up well with most of the SEC this year because a LOT of talent was lost last year all across the conference.
Look, I was frustrated last night because I thought that was a game we could win but Kentucky talent/size wise is on a different level-and Cal is a really good coach. Not that Crean is not, but Kentucky basketball is like UGA/Bama/LSU in football, they have 5 stars all over, and we have a lot of 3 stars. All this being said, we match up well with most of the SEC this year because a LOT of talent was lost last year all across the conference.
I agree with StevieBuckets. Not only can we not use youth as an excuse on this team, we can't really use any "excuse". We have a ton of talent on the roster - maybe as much as we've ever had. And we are a very experienced team compared to other teams in the SEC. Harris and Crump are both Seniors and were both 4-star recruits. Hammonds is a Jr and was also a 4-star. We are also tremendously deep with 9 guys in the regular rotation. Of those 9 guys, only two are 3-star players (Fagan and Gresham). Edwards is a 5-star, and Crump, Harris, Hammonds, Wheeler, Camara, and Brown are all 4-star guys. All of those guys can play, they're all legitimate SEC players. How many SEC teams have a better combination of talent and experience than that?
Every team in the conference has shown some vulnerability. Crean just has to find the right combo of guys on a game-by-game basis who are "on" that particular night and/or match up well with the opponent. He also has to get them to play both smart and hard for 40 minutes. Dumb mistakes and laziness is what beat us last night. Gotta coach that out of them. With the SEC being down, this team is completely capable of finishing in the top 4 of the league this season.
Every team in the conference has shown some vulnerability. Crean just has to find the right combo of guys on a game-by-game basis who are "on" that particular night and/or match up well with the opponent. He also has to get them to play both smart and hard for 40 minutes. Dumb mistakes and laziness is what beat us last night. Gotta coach that out of them. With the SEC being down, this team is completely capable of finishing in the top 4 of the league this season.
Yeah, I guess I need to clarify that it's not the loss that bothers me so much. UK is talented. Lots of teams will lose to them. We'll probably lose to them again in a couple of weeks.
Crean is just going to have to convince these guys that they haven't actually accomplished anything yet. So they beat Memphis on the road. Great! Nice win. But they've lost to every other good team on the schedule.
Imagine if, after the Edwards dunk, the team had gotten back, played defense, prevented the 3-point shot, and gone in focused at the break up 9. Think the game might have turned out differently?
I don't want to come across too curmudgeonly here. They're kids, and they're allowed to act like it. They obviously love playing together, and I love that about them. It's refreshing.
But they're also D1 athletes, and they have to learn that it's going to take more than raw talent to beat most of the teams on the schedule. That's the culture change that's needed. I hope we get to see the exact scene we saw coming off the court at the end of the first half many, many more times...after 40 minutes of basketball!
Crean is just going to have to convince these guys that they haven't actually accomplished anything yet. So they beat Memphis on the road. Great! Nice win. But they've lost to every other good team on the schedule.
Imagine if, after the Edwards dunk, the team had gotten back, played defense, prevented the 3-point shot, and gone in focused at the break up 9. Think the game might have turned out differently?
I don't want to come across too curmudgeonly here. They're kids, and they're allowed to act like it. They obviously love playing together, and I love that about them. It's refreshing.
But they're also D1 athletes, and they have to learn that it's going to take more than raw talent to beat most of the teams on the schedule. That's the culture change that's needed. I hope we get to see the exact scene we saw coming off the court at the end of the first half many, many more times...after 40 minutes of basketball!
I get you guys and the points you are making but we have NINE FR on our roster, I have never heard of that much turnover, and our starting PG (for now) is a grad transfer. That turnover is simply amazing to me and although Harris/Crump/Hammonds were all 4 star recruits, do you really believe they are 4 star players at this point?? Hammonds is still inconsistent, when he plays well, we typically win. If he doesn't play well, we lose-because he is a vital cog to the team. Harris has only been back for what 4-5 games, but you can see that he provides a lot of spark/energy on the court and I think needs more minutes. Crump, his specialty is shooting the 3 but he is not good at it, and otherwise offers little.
My complaint about Crean at this point is finding his top 9-10 and figuring out good rotations-during the UK game, he had a stretch with Edwards and Hammonds out for a long stretch of time, you simply can't do that, he was trying to steal some time and get those guys rest-and I think Hammonds was also in foul trouble, but you can't have both out for more than a minute, they are your two leading scorers.
I have said it before and will say it again, Crean needs to convince Edwards of two things-he is a much better player driving to the basket than shooting 3's and that he better take defense more seriously. Kid has amazing talent, and seems like a great kid but him jacking up 3's down the stretch the other night instead of driving, was driving me crazy and I have seen it all season.
My complaint about Crean at this point is finding his top 9-10 and figuring out good rotations-during the UK game, he had a stretch with Edwards and Hammonds out for a long stretch of time, you simply can't do that, he was trying to steal some time and get those guys rest-and I think Hammonds was also in foul trouble, but you can't have both out for more than a minute, they are your two leading scorers.
I have said it before and will say it again, Crean needs to convince Edwards of two things-he is a much better player driving to the basket than shooting 3's and that he better take defense more seriously. Kid has amazing talent, and seems like a great kid but him jacking up 3's down the stretch the other night instead of driving, was driving me crazy and I have seen it all season.
On this we are in full agreement: Edwards needs to stop with the James Harden threes.
And here is the rule I'd set for Crump: if your feet are set, you can shoot the three. If you shoot a three while moving, you will be pulled from the game.
I kid, but only slightly. I've said it around these parts before: on "good" threes (feet set, receiving a pass, not NBA range), I bet Crump is a 40-45% shooter. But he takes so, so many bad ones...
I don't want to come across as pessimistic about the team, either. If Crean can keep their spirits up during this brutal January stretch, and if they continue to improve, a strong finish to ths SEC schedule is a distinct possibility.
For now, UT next Wednesday feels like a must-win.
And here is the rule I'd set for Crump: if your feet are set, you can shoot the three. If you shoot a three while moving, you will be pulled from the game.
I kid, but only slightly. I've said it around these parts before: on "good" threes (feet set, receiving a pass, not NBA range), I bet Crump is a 40-45% shooter. But he takes so, so many bad ones...
I don't want to come across as pessimistic about the team, either. If Crean can keep their spirits up during this brutal January stretch, and if they continue to improve, a strong finish to ths SEC schedule is a distinct possibility.
For now, UT next Wednesday feels like a must-win.
I just don't understand how anyone could be down on where this team is right now.
Year 2 of Crean looks like better basketball than anything I have seen since Harrick and I think nearly everyone would agree that this freshman class looks like it will be a program changer. Our best 2 players are freshman (Wheeler and Edwards) and Camara looks like he may be #3 or 4 by season's end. Rebounding has gotten better despite losing our best rebounder, turnovers have certainly gotten better, and our offensive and defensive effort and execution is better than last year despite losing Claxton.
I love Hammonds when he plays with intensity and effort, unfortunately that only occurs ~50-60% of the time. That's not Crean's fault, he didn't recruit him and we don't have enough talent yet to force his hand by withholding playing time. Hammonds looks to have a grown a ton under Crean in his good moments, unfortunately he's still inconsistent.
I also love Harris, but he is only available to actually play 50% of the time and he has grown by leaps and bounds under Crean while on the court.
Prior to this year, losing a player of Claxton's capability would have set the program back for 2-3 years, we have clearly improved despite losing our best player as an underclassmen.
I'm not all sunshine and rainbows over here, and I don't know if we have what it takes to get a bid, but the state of the program appears to squarely be moving in the correct direction to my eye.
Year 2 of Crean looks like better basketball than anything I have seen since Harrick and I think nearly everyone would agree that this freshman class looks like it will be a program changer. Our best 2 players are freshman (Wheeler and Edwards) and Camara looks like he may be #3 or 4 by season's end. Rebounding has gotten better despite losing our best rebounder, turnovers have certainly gotten better, and our offensive and defensive effort and execution is better than last year despite losing Claxton.
I love Hammonds when he plays with intensity and effort, unfortunately that only occurs ~50-60% of the time. That's not Crean's fault, he didn't recruit him and we don't have enough talent yet to force his hand by withholding playing time. Hammonds looks to have a grown a ton under Crean in his good moments, unfortunately he's still inconsistent.
I also love Harris, but he is only available to actually play 50% of the time and he has grown by leaps and bounds under Crean while on the court.
Prior to this year, losing a player of Claxton's capability would have set the program back for 2-3 years, we have clearly improved despite losing our best player as an underclassmen.
I'm not all sunshine and rainbows over here, and I don't know if we have what it takes to get a bid, but the state of the program appears to squarely be moving in the correct direction to my eye.
Every man should believe in something, I believe Florida sucks
I agree with what you are saying for sure, I like the direction and I think a lot of people are now down on the next recruiting class because this class is so good-but that goes both ways, it is good that we will lose only Edwards from this class-knock on wood-but bad that the recruits see how MANY FR we have and so why come here. I would suspect Crean will put together a great class of 2021.
To me Hammonds is the key to how the results of the team-look at his performance against our losses and decent competition-
UK-9 points 4 rebounds L
Memphis 15 points 12 rebounds W
Ga Southern 8 points 10 rebounds W
SMU 21 points 11 rebounds W
ASU 4 points 8 rebounds L
MSU 13 points 4 rebounds L
Dayton 5 points 4 rebounds L
GaTech 26 points 9 rebounds W
So, you can see that when he has a good game, typically we win. Edwards is going to score, in all the games against above average teams, he has scored double digits, (except Dayton), but he could/should be scoring more if he would stop shooting 3's, like you mentioned Harden or Trae Young. Not many can stop him one on one, and when he drives, it opens up the floor for everyone else.
I am not sure why Harris can't play more, unless it due to him being suspended and maybe not in playing shape quite yet, but he makes things happen when he is in. Crump, totally agree with you, set your feet, spot up and shoot, much higher percentage-this goes along with Edwards or Wheeler driving and kicking to him for wide open looks.
Coach Crean, love him and the enthusiasm he brings, he is the best coach we have had since Harrick or Tubby, no question. I want him to settle on a rotation and only go away from that when/if foul trouble. And I say this knowing full well that he knows a TON more about basketball and our team than I do, but just based on what I see from watching games only-
Starters-Edwards, Harris, Wheeler (Gresham is fine as well), Camara and Hammonds. Next in-Wheeler/Greham, Crump, Brown, and Fagan-with Howard/Peak coming in when if Hammonds/Camara are in foul trouble or we are struggling in the middle.
I definitely believe this team can play its way on the bubble at the very least if we can survive the early schedule. Looking at it realistically and if we play to the level capable, I see wins against UT, Ole Miss, A&M, Bama, South Carolina, and Florida all at home which gives us 6, and then toss ups are @ Miss State, @ Missouri, @ Florida, @A&M, home vs Auburn, @Vandy and SCarolina, home vs Arkansas, @ LSU and that is 9 games, win 5 and we have 11 conference wins. The only games I can say probably throw up the white flag (although you really can never say never would be @ AU and @ UK.If we get 10 wins in conference, we have 20 wins and I think we are a lock, as the Edwards draw (along with Coach Crean) I think gets us in. I really think we can get at least 9 and with that I think we are likely a lock too. All things being equal, having a top 5 lottery pick helps us a TON and unless we really struggle and get 6-7 wins, I think we have a very legit shot at the dance. I honestly just don't believe the SEC is nearly to the level it was last year, I don't think it is a bad league but last year it was a super powerful league.
To me Hammonds is the key to how the results of the team-look at his performance against our losses and decent competition-
UK-9 points 4 rebounds L
Memphis 15 points 12 rebounds W
Ga Southern 8 points 10 rebounds W
SMU 21 points 11 rebounds W
ASU 4 points 8 rebounds L
MSU 13 points 4 rebounds L
Dayton 5 points 4 rebounds L
GaTech 26 points 9 rebounds W
So, you can see that when he has a good game, typically we win. Edwards is going to score, in all the games against above average teams, he has scored double digits, (except Dayton), but he could/should be scoring more if he would stop shooting 3's, like you mentioned Harden or Trae Young. Not many can stop him one on one, and when he drives, it opens up the floor for everyone else.
I am not sure why Harris can't play more, unless it due to him being suspended and maybe not in playing shape quite yet, but he makes things happen when he is in. Crump, totally agree with you, set your feet, spot up and shoot, much higher percentage-this goes along with Edwards or Wheeler driving and kicking to him for wide open looks.
Coach Crean, love him and the enthusiasm he brings, he is the best coach we have had since Harrick or Tubby, no question. I want him to settle on a rotation and only go away from that when/if foul trouble. And I say this knowing full well that he knows a TON more about basketball and our team than I do, but just based on what I see from watching games only-
Starters-Edwards, Harris, Wheeler (Gresham is fine as well), Camara and Hammonds. Next in-Wheeler/Greham, Crump, Brown, and Fagan-with Howard/Peak coming in when if Hammonds/Camara are in foul trouble or we are struggling in the middle.
I definitely believe this team can play its way on the bubble at the very least if we can survive the early schedule. Looking at it realistically and if we play to the level capable, I see wins against UT, Ole Miss, A&M, Bama, South Carolina, and Florida all at home which gives us 6, and then toss ups are @ Miss State, @ Missouri, @ Florida, @A&M, home vs Auburn, @Vandy and SCarolina, home vs Arkansas, @ LSU and that is 9 games, win 5 and we have 11 conference wins. The only games I can say probably throw up the white flag (although you really can never say never would be @ AU and @ UK.If we get 10 wins in conference, we have 20 wins and I think we are a lock, as the Edwards draw (along with Coach Crean) I think gets us in. I really think we can get at least 9 and with that I think we are likely a lock too. All things being equal, having a top 5 lottery pick helps us a TON and unless we really struggle and get 6-7 wins, I think we have a very legit shot at the dance. I honestly just don't believe the SEC is nearly to the level it was last year, I don't think it is a bad league but last year it was a super powerful league.
Haney, I agree with you!! Hammonds is the KEY!! When he scores 15-20 and gets 8+ rebounds we WIN!! Even when losing, this team is 100% more watchable than what we had with Fox!! We are getting better and better each games in ALL areas and the results overall will also get better IMO!! GO DAWGS!!
We're just going to have to learn how to play on the road. We have no intensity or energy at all. No ball movement, no defense, just a completely lackluster effort in every way. Sure we can bring it at home, but with this kind of effort on the road, we are not a tournament team. And Edwards is not playing like a lottery pick. No where close. It's like he doesn't even care if we're not in the Steg. And this is against a team who lost at home to Louisiana Tech and New Mexico State.
No where close to this team's potential. Just extremely disappointing.
No where close to this team's potential. Just extremely disappointing.
We lost by 32 to an average team in a not so great league. According to TeamRankings we are #124 in Offensive Efficiency Per Possession and rank #284 in Opponents Efficiency Per Possession. But boy are they enjoyable to watch and showing improvement? Really??
I watched the entire Memphis game and cleArly remember thinking I'll be disappointed a little if we had lost.
I watched the first ten minutes last night and that team couldn't have given two ****s. They loafed and lollygagged on offense, defense and acted like transition defense was a foreign concept.
Youth, I get it. Effort, pride are a whole other thing.
I watched the first ten minutes last night and that team couldn't have given two ****s. They loafed and lollygagged on offense, defense and acted like transition defense was a foreign concept.
Youth, I get it. Effort, pride are a whole other thing.
Yep, the youth excuse is BS, we need effort and execution. Seven players played meaningful minutes for us, which includes 3 seniors, a junior, plus a one and done.
We have enough players that Crean needs to play the ones that WILL show the effort that we should be seeing by now-take minutes away, perhaps these kids will start playing harder. I thought the effort was better against UK but even with that, still a lot of sloppy play and Edwards being shut out for an entire half shouldn't happen. Despite that, we were down by what 6 at the half and played within 4 in the second half-something we couldn't do in Athens against the same team.
Fagan showed me something like last night, he should get more minutes. Edwards maybe needs to sit more, watch the game next to a coach and learn how he can help the team. The long 3's he takes most games are a killer, especially knowing that when he is going to the basket, he is nearly impossible to stop.
Fagan showed me something like last night, he should get more minutes. Edwards maybe needs to sit more, watch the game next to a coach and learn how he can help the team. The long 3's he takes most games are a killer, especially knowing that when he is going to the basket, he is nearly impossible to stop.
Fagan helps us everytime he plays. He is the most improved player from last year's team. Even in his bad games, he doesn't hurt us when he's in there.