As I watched Georgia vs. Ole Miss, it is becoming even more apparent that something is wrong with our game plan this year. Our talent level, other than at point guard, is the best dawg fans have seen in years. Yet we continue to lose games and seem out of control and undisciplined. The dawgs are near the top of the NCAA basketball in turnovers. Could it be that the "fast paced at all cost" game plan that GA seems to be playing this year does not fit with the strengths of our players. We have plenty of talent, but not the right players to run an all out fast paced, fast break offense. When 1/3 of our possessions end in a turnover something is wrong. We do not have a good floor general. It is discouraging to see so many out of control guard drives towards the basket ending in another turnover. We need to slow it down a little more at times and look for a good shot or good pass rather than the first one available. Our defense, other than shot blocking, has been terrible this year. I'm not calling for a return to a Mark Fox style offense, but an offense which is somehere in between combined with some great, Fox style, defense would win more games.

"We have plenty of talent." Okay :-).

Our talent level is greater than our results is the point. I cannot imagine Fox and Staff would be 1-9 at this point in Conference play. I'm not saying a change in leadership wasn't called for but I don't like what I'm seeing out of Crean and Staff. Maybe they will make up for it in recruiting and we'll get positive results in the next few years but this season has been awful by every possible measurement.

I agree with you Sid Vicious. Georgia is a much better team than we have shown this year. We also need to see more playing time for our starters (with Crump at guard). Claxton, Obeide, Hammonds, Jackson and Crump are our strongest lineup in my opinion. Stop taking them out just when they are getting hot!

In his radio interview after the game, Crean said it may be time to stop trying to play so much transition basketball with these guys because he can't get them to make good decisions. Apparently he said some other stuff, too...

Anyway, I'd imagine he's in a tough place. He can't (and shouldn't) change his style of basketball because 1) recruits are watching to see how they'll be used, and 2) many of his current players will still be his players next season. This season is lost; in fairness to the seniors he can't just say that, but he's coaching for 2019-20 right now.

I wouldn't mind if Georgia slowed things down a bit in transition, especially if it cut a few turnovers out of each game, but I'd rather he keep trying to teach them the way he wants them to play.

Yeah, this team was not recruited to play Crean's style of ball. Crean is looking to the future. He's not really that concerned with the now. Hell, these kids turned the ball over 25 times per game under Fox and under Crean - 2 diametrically opposed styles. Our guards practically hand the ball at times to our opponents. I've never seen anything like it. They simply don't play with any basketball IQ. Crean will remake this roster in 2 seasons. Then we will see whether he can coach or not. My bet is he can.

The problem is we turned it over in bucket loads under both Fox and Crean. Our guards turn it over playing slow or fast - either way. Slowing it down won't help. The problem IS the roster, not the system.

Recall that we were picked 13th out of 14 SEC teams before the season by the media. The media disagree with your assessment of our roster. We lost the SEC player of the year and perhaps one of the best players to suit up in Red & Black, and you expect us to improve? There is not 1 complete player on our roster. Hightower had 4 TOS on 4 straight trips down the court on simple handoffs. Harris is a walking TO. Crump has no handles and only helps when he makes shots. Hammonds is soft. Claxton has no real offensive game yet. Turtle is mediocre. Wilridge is terrible. Fagan and Ngumeze get lost on the court. DO is limited. We have to upgrade our talent. Some people's expectations for this team were too high.

I totally disagree with your assessment of our talent level Monkdawg, except for some of our guards (particularly Harris and Hightower). It would he great to have Maten back but Obeide, Hammonds and Claxton have improved dramatically this year. Obeide can be a real beast at times and Claxton's skill set may be even better than Matens was. Any coach that blames his players for the team's problems as Crean did in his recent interview cannot hope to inspire the team's confidence. He showed a real lack of maturity and leadership which even a later apology to the team cannot overcome. Our turnovers were never this bad under Fox. Talent is not the problem, coaching is the issue.

They also had Ole Miss 14th and most had SC 12th. Kermit and Martin have done an excellent job this year, can't say that for Crean.

We did just get a commitment from Anthony Edwards so Crean and Staff get a pass I guess.

We can agree to disagree. I love DO, and he has improved, but he has a limited set of skills. He's a solid rebounder and good offensively around the basket. He's made some good slashing baskets this season, but he is just as likely to turn it over and make the shot. Every shot from the FT line is an adventure. Hammonds is soft, and he disappears in important, physical games. Just look at his stats. Claxton has a world of talent, but he doesn't have a consistent shot or a go-to move offensively. He can dominate on the defensive end; he is not ready to do so on offense. I stand by my assessment of the talent, or lack thereof, on this team.

I didn't have a problem with what Crean said. I think the whole thing was blown out of proportion. He didn't single out any kids, he was discussing the lack of maturity and physicality of the team as a whole, and he took much of the blame himself. He just said what we all know - these scholarships are 1 year deals. They can be non-renewed by the school every year. Fox did it to several kids when he came in. Go back and check. I remember several players being told to go elsewhere, even kids Fox and his staff recruited during their tenure. Fans screamed about a certain center who ended up a 4 year starter at Tech, who Fox releases from his commitment. I can think of at least 2 guards he let go who went on to have good careers elsewhere. I disagreed with Fox letting some of those guys go. They could have helped us, and he couldn't recruit over them, so I thought his decisions were a mistake. But he had the right to do it, like it or not. Pretty much every coach does it. Why is LSU so competitive this year? They brought in at least 6 new players after last season. It may be some kind of secret that coaches do this, and Crean may have let the cat out of the bag, but it happens all the time.

Oh, and as for the TOs under Fox, they were pretty bad. We played slow and still turned the ball over at about the same rate we do now. Check the stats.

Ole Miss has better guards than we do, particularly Tyree. That has allowed them to compete better than us. USCe started off really badly. They lost an exhibition to Augusta St., for example. They are just a tough, physical team. They have improved since then. We had a difficult start to our conference schedule, have poor guard play and we aren't tough. Not a good combination in our conference.

Tom Crean committed a Kinsley Gaffe.

"A Kinsley gaffe occurs when a political gaffe reveals some truth that a politician did not intend to admit."

In other words, he's mostly guilty of accidentally telling the truth.

As for the turnovers, we're about 4-5% worse if you consider turnovers per possession (~22% this year and ~18% last year). Bad, but in my opinion, entirely explained by the fact that guys who were asked not to do things on offense are now being asked to do them.

This season has sucked. No doubt. But I remain hopeful.

Steve Bucket, I agree with you and Monk on the talent level of this team!! We do not match up with most of the teams in the SEC by any stretch of the imagination!! The SEC is a much improved league than the past 8 years that Fox was here!! The coaching across the league has been totally revamped throughout the league and with their improved recruiting and us staying about even has created what we have today!! Hopefully with the Two 4 star recruits signed in NOvember, signing Anthony Edwards will be HUGE and if the Kesler kid and another of Ant's fellow recruits come , it will be a different team we see next year!! We have players that on given nights play really well and then the next night don't show up!! We need;some players who show up EVERY night especially at the guard position!! Just like someone stated about DO, one night he goes 2/11 (misses 5 in a row)FT's then next game he hits SIX in a row!! We are CONSISTENTLY INCONSISTENT!! Leads to more losses than wins till the talent level is raised!! We have to just ride out this year and HOPE THE FUTURE WILL BE BETTER!! TURNOVERS HAVE TO BE REDUCED IN HALF IF WE EXPECT TO WIN CONSISTENTLY!!

Just don't count of Kessler signing with us. I just don't hear anything positive on that front. But we will upgrade our talent either way.

Agree on the TOs. We have to cut them waaaaaay down to be able to win.

Another thought on the comments of Coach Crean at the press conference.

He could have chosen his words more carefully, but as I think about it, it's good for him to let his players know where they stand. Apparently most of them are auditioning for a spot on the roster next year, and if that is the case, it is only fair to them to know that.

In the post-game comments after this last game, he made it clear he is not happy with the defensive effort. He complained that we are not getting hands up, not seriously contesting shots. I'm sure we have all noticed that. It is a run-killer to give up uncontested threes and watch the lead build right back up immediately.

Defense is a matter of effort, determination, hustle. If these guys want to play with Anthony Edwards, they had better start showing it.

I can excuse the mistakes on offense, but not on the other end.

Preseason, our talent was rated13th in the SEC.

Is Crean sending a message to Toppin, Fagan and Sargiunas by playing a walk-on Senior while they ride the bench?

Ugapitcrew said:

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Preseason, our talent was rated13th in the SEC.

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Was that our talent rating, or where we were predicted to finish in the conference? Ogbeide, Crump, Harris, Hammonds, and Ngumezi were all rated consensus 4-star players when they signed. That's not Duke or Kentucky level final four type talent, but I'm not sure that's next to bottom in the league either.

But for whatever reason, none of those guys has played like a 4-star player this year.

SidViciousDawg said:

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Is Crean sending a message to Toppin, Fagan and Sargiunas by playing a walk-on Senior while they ride the bench?

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I think a lot of guys are getting messaged, including Tyree Crump.

We played a much better game yesterday than any previous conference game. Another fluke? Or are some of the guys starting to come around? If this were a month ago I would be more excited. Still, it's improvement.

Yes

What was the big difference between Saturday and previous games? I would argue Christian Harrison and his emphasis on defense. Now, we obviously didn't shut LSU down, but Harrison helped to make it a game. He's a great kid, and I'm happy for him.

Yep, I agree on Tyree. I wonder if he (or Harris) is anywhere near a degree? It might also be that Hightower considers sitting out and transferring. I don't buy into the idea that these guys are eager to play w/ Edwards next year. Claxton and Hammonds probably are but other guards just see less playing time for themselves.

Your last line says it all. Once the players are in school and playing, those rankings don't mean a thing. It becomes about results. Our ranked players haven't produced at the level we need them to. I think it's fair to say they were over-ranked. We started an unranked, nonscholarship player. That says a lot.

I agree on Harrison's play. The stat sheet doesn't show much but he did contribute defensively and had no turnovers.

Yeah, he did an admirable job, no question. I was happy to see him be rewarded for his hard work. As for scholarships, I feel sure we will have at least 2 extra spots next season, and I could foresee the possibility of as many as 4. Crean could flip the roster in 2 years. Next year, we will be a whole different animal on court. Still worried about our defense though. So few freshmen come into college ready to play the kind of defense we need them to in the SEC.

SidViciousDawg said:

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Yep, I agree on Tyree. I wonder if he (or Harris) is anywhere near a degree? It might also be that Hightower considers sitting out and transferring. I don't buy into the idea that these guys are eager to play w/ Edwards next year. Claxton and Hammonds probably are but other guards just see less playing time for themselves.

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Harris could be good next year w Edwards. He'll probably start. He's actually progressed quite a bit throughout the season and should be a good player alongside a true playmaker like Edwards... Wouldn't be surprised to see Hightower, Topping, Fagan or Ignas leave.

Jordan is playing hard the last few games, but he makes a ton of floor mistakes. He takes way to many crazy drives to the basket. If he puts the ball on the floor, Harris is just as liable to turn it over as a make a play - maybe moreso. I hope he comes into his own next year, but I'm not sure I wouldn't rather have a tough, hard-nosed PG starting with Edwards.

Edwards cannot start at the point. It would do him and us a disservice. He is not coming here to play point. Our #1 priority at this time has to be a quality PG. Fagan and Hightower don't quite fit the bill. Pretty desperately need help at 4/5 as well. Claxton, Hammonds and Ngumezi ain't nearly enough.

It'll be pretty miraculous if we fill enough spots to be a tournament team next year even with "Antman". Then if he leaves as most expect, where are we the following year? This sh;+ ain't easy.

SidV, I think Antman can play just about wherever he wants to.. He can take defenders off the dribble or pull up for 3 pointers or dish like LSU's guard or SC or Auburn or Alabama or U Mass andit goes on and on!! He is the NUMBER ONE RATED GUARD IN THE USA!! That is HUGE!! We also have 2 four stars coming in and hopefully ANT will bring another Top 50 player with him!! A great guard can make a lot of players around him a lot better IMO!! This team can be TOTALLY DIFFERENT next year and fun to support and watch them play exciting Basketball!! Go Dawgs!!!

Michael Jordan could do all those things as well but playing at the point was not optimum, same for Edwards. He's not the answer to our PG deficiencies.

SidViciousDawg said:

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Michael Jordan could do all those things as well but playing at the point was not optimum, same for Edwards. He's not the answer to our PG deficiencies.

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It doesn't matter what position you call him. He's a playmaker. The offense is going run through him. He is going to have the ball in his hands. Like Jordan, like Kobe. He is going to facilitate UGAs O. Doesn't matter if you call him a point guard, shooting guard, center or shortstop. He is going to be the focus and he is going to create for himself and others.

All that is pretty obviously expected to be the case. Still, Kobe and Mike always had a sharpshooting PG... Fisher, Van Exel, Armstrong, Paxon, Kerr, Hodges... To maximize our talent, Claxton, Hammonds & Edwards are 3 damn good ones, I hope we have a better PG than Hightower, Fagan or Crump. I don't see how anyone can disagree with that.

MJ had shooters off the bench, and not real PGs. BJ Armstrong I guess, Paxson, but the second go round was Ron Harper and Steve Kerr. With Pippen and Kukoc as point forward types.

Kobe had Harper too. Harris can be that type of bigger defensive PG who can still do work offensively once he's the third or fourth option and not drawing the opponents best perimeter defender. Once the ball is up the court, Edwards or Claxton can also initiate the offense. That is if Crean is leaning towards a position less style offensively.