If so, thoughts?

I was there. We don't have anyone close to filling Asa's position on the inside. But I honestly think we are better everywhere else. Lots of good depth. We are penetrating much better this year. We are full court pressing this year. We seem to be quicker at the guard positions this year. My biggest concern is, can we ring the basket? That is the most important thing in a basketball game. If we consistently shoot well, we will make the tournament.

How was the shooting yesterday? Against State it was atrocious

Dawg44 said:

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I was there. We don't have anyone close to filling Asa's position on the inside. But I honestly think we are better everywhere else. Lots of good depth. We are penetrating much better this year. We are full court pressing this year. We seem to be quicker at the guard positions this year. My biggest concern is, can we ring the basket? That is the most important thing in a basketball game. If we consistently shoot well, we will make the tournament.

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I was there as well, and I agree: to my eyes, talent has been upgraded almost across the board. A few bullet points:

• It remains to be seen how Wilkinson's skill set translates to the SEC, but the dude is an athlete - he can jump out of the gym
• Kanon Catchings isn't Asa, but he he might be able to play a similar role; probably less of an interior defender, but more athletic and potentially a better shot-maker
• Blue had a very bad first half and a very nice second half; this may be a "he is what he is" situation at this point
• I like Kareem Stagg - a lot
• Somto was able to avoid fouls and stay on the court, and the only meaningful success Troy had came with him on the bench; just his presence changes almost every opponent shot attempt
• Abson is still Abson, and that's a complement
• Smurf Millender was solid-but-not-spectacular, and I think PG will continue to be a position of weakness (I loved Silas, but I will die on the hill that he was not a great point guard)
• Wilkins isn't ready and he'll struggle to find playing time
• Dylan James plays hard, and I love him for it, but he shows all the same warts as previous seasons; he's no better than 8 or 9 on this squad

Troy is not a bad team (they are #124 in KenPom rankings right now), and we could have named the score. They made a nice run early in the second half, but it was their starters against our bench. White put Somto and Wilkinson back in and immediately stretched the lead back to double digits. As has been mentioned over and over in these threads, shooting is the primary concern with this team - as with seemingly every UGA team over the last decade.

In a lesser conference, this would be a team contending for a conference tournament bye. In the SEC, it's gonna be a tough road. I have absolutely no idea what's going to happen, but I'm excited to tip it off next Monday!

DenmarkDane said:

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How was the shooting yesterday? Against State it was atrocious

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Better. Still not good enough, but better.

Thank you for the individual player evaluations. I see the same with Blue and James. I feel like both may have reached their peak. I don't see a potential for too much improvement beyond where they are now.

Dawg44 said:

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I was there. We don't have anyone close to filling Asa's position on the inside. But I honestly think we are better everywhere else. Lots of good depth. We are penetrating much better this year. We are full court pressing this year. We seem to be quicker at the guard positions this year. My biggest concern is, can we ring the basket? That is the most important thing in a basketball game. If we consistently shoot well, we will make the tournament.

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thanks so much dawg44

StevieBuckets said:

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Dawg44 said:

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I was there. We don't have anyone close to filling Asa's position on the inside. But I honestly think we are better everywhere else. Lots of good depth. We are penetrating much better this year. We are full court pressing this year. We seem to be quicker at the guard positions this year. My biggest concern is, can we ring the basket? That is the most important thing in a basketball game. If we consistently shoot well, we will make the tournament.

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I was there as well, and I agree: to my eyes, talent has been upgraded almost across the board. A few bullet points:

• It remains to be seen how Wilkinson's skill set translates to the SEC, but the dude is an athlete - he can jump out of the gym
• Kanon Catchings isn't Asa, but he he might be able to play a similar role; probably less of an interior defender, but more athletic and potentially a better shot-maker
• Blue had a very bad first half and a very nice second half; this may be a "he is what he is" situation at this point
• I like Kareem Stagg - a lot
• Somto was able to avoid fouls and stay on the court, and the only meaningful success Troy had came with him on the bench; just his presence changes almost every opponent shot attempt
• Abson is still Abson, and that's a complement
• Smurf Millender was solid-but-not-spectacular, and I think PG will continue to be a position of weakness (I loved Silas, but I will die on the hill that he was not a great point guard)
• Wilkins isn't ready and he'll struggle to find playing time
• Dylan James plays hard, and I love him for it, but he shows all the same warts as previous seasons; he's no better than 8 or 9 on this squad

Troy is not a bad team (they are #124 in KenPom rankings right now), and we could have named the score. They made a nice run early in the second half, but it was their starters against our bench. White put Somto and Wilkinson back in and immediately stretched the lead back to double digits. As has been mentioned over and over in these threads, shooting is the primary concern with this team - as with seemingly every UGA team over the last decade.

In a lesser conference, this would be a team contending for a conference tournament bye. In the SEC, it's gonna be a tough road. I have absolutely no idea what's going to happen, but I'm excited to tip it off next Monday!

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thanks so much for the notes

I just have a feeling we take a step back this year
small team and will struggle to shoot

But obviously quicker and have good potential to take care of the ball better and have less turnovers.

DenmarkDane said:

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But obviously quicker and have good potential to take care of the ball better and have less turnovers.

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Yeah, I should have mentioned turnovers. The final number wasn't great (15-ish), but several came in garbage time. The starters took decent care of the ball.