Georgia's lack of size and physicality fails them in Florida loss

ATHENS- Momentum and emotion are two aspects in sports that can propel teams to victory, and that is what Georgia carried with them heading into Saturday's matchup against Florida. Unfortunately, momentum and emotion were not enough to erase the shortcomings that the Bulldogs played with on the court. 

Against Florida, the picture became clearer than ever that Georgia is just not ready to compete with the major basketball programs in the Southeastern Conference. After jumping out to a fast start, the Georgia Bulldogs (9-5, 2-5) could not keep up with the Florida Gators (8-4, 5-3), falling 92-84. 

That final score was closer than what it felt like it should have been. The Gators bullied Georgia in the paint and took better advantage of what the defense gave them. Florida was the much more physical team and out-executed Georgia. 

The most glaring stat: Florida outrebounded Georgia 41-27. That is the worst rebounding margin that Georgia has suffered all season, and they have been outrebounded in six out of their seven SEC contests. 

Adding more fuel to the fire, Florida dominated in the paint on offense, racking up 52 points in the paint. There was a point in the first half where 24 of Florida’s 36 points came inside the painted area. 

Georgia just lacks an inside presence and that starts with their size. The tallest player in the starting lineup is Toumani Camara, standing at just 6’8” with a small frame. He finished the game with only three rebounds.

The tallest player in Georgia’s starting five had just three rebounds. That is not going to cut it if the Bulldogs want to have a chance to beat their better SEC counterparts. 

Georgia’s small size is one thing that is difficult to overcome, but lack of effort is a killer. The Bulldogs are not the tallest team, yet they have strength and physicality. The problem is that they are not using that to their advantage. 

Fundamentals are where games can often be won, and Georgia was not executing fundamentally, specifically on box outs. Florida rose over the Bulldogs to grab many of their rebounds on both ends of the floor, and the reason that it was so easy for them to do that was because Georgia was not boxing out their opponent on several shots. 

Florida snagged 16 offensive rebounds, leading to 22 second chance points. Not only does that add to the score, but these kinds of events can bring a team’s energy down. The defense was one issue for Georgia, and that has been discussed enough. 

An offensive theme that has been recurring is Georgia’s inability to hit their free throws. The final number was 54.2% from the free-throw line, missing 11 total foul shots. Even hitting just a few of those would have changed the whole game in the end. 

There were seldom bright spots in what was a sloppy and disappointing game for Georgia, but they did not give in, and neither did coach Crean. They were fighting to win the game, even when the crowd in Stegeman Coliseum knew that it was over. 

Up Next

Georgia will travel to Columbia to take on South Carolina who just got dominated by Auburn. Wednesday’s game against the Gamecocks will be a great opportunity for the Bulldogs to bounce back before returning home to face tougher competition. Falling to 2-5 in conference play is bad enough, but 2-6 will feel impossible to come back from if Georgia cannot get it done against South Carolina.