Florida Atlantic: post mortem

Hey, listen...until my predictions go way off the rails (which they will), I have to brag when I get close.  Four more points out of Georgia, and I would have nailed it.  Marcus Thornton, I'm looking at you and your 4 missed free throws.

Some thoughts:

• Georgia only attempted 8 3-pointers.  With this team, that's a feature, not a bug.
• The defense, especially early in the game, continues to be a concern.  They're allowing way too much penetration, and they're giving opposing post players some pretty good catches in the lane.  That's going to become a big problem in New York if it's not fixed.
• I really like Yante Maten's soft touch around the rim.  He's not there defensively, yet, but he's going to be a scorer.
• When Thornton catches, gathers, and makes a controlled move, he's difficult to stop right now.  When he gets frustrated and just "goes," he stops himself.
• Speaking of Marcus, seeing him limp off and hobble to the locker room two minutes into the game was scary.  Glad he's ok.
• Another night, another jumper thrown backwards by Kenny Gaines.
• I loved pretty much everything we got from Kenny last night.  A nice mix of drives, mid-range jumpers, and smart 3-point shots combined with his usual level of defensive intensity.  He's the best player on the team right now.
• Eight more missed free throws.  This is absolutely, positively going to cost Georgia a game at some point.
• Fifteen more assists, though.  Not a mind-blowing number, but I'll take it.
• Georgia dominated the boards, too, which was a huge key to the success in conference play last season.
• I heard someone say Jaylen Brown was at the game last night.  I have no idea if that's true, but if he was, he would have had to be blind not to see the glaring hole at SF for this team right now.  He'd start tomorrow if he cared to.

There seem to be two iterations of the Georgia basketball team right now.  One is under control, runs the offense, and gets good shots - often near the rim.  The other is impatient - often playing to the level of a sloppy opponent - and rushes possessions, pushing tempo and settling for bad looks with plenty of time on the clock.  Fortunately, so far, it's been more of the first than the second.  Which team shows up in New York will go a long way to determining whether or not Georgia can come away with at least one win it desperately needs.