Tennessee: post mortem

That was a bad loss.  If Georgia thinks it's a tournament team, it has to win games against teams like the Volunteers, especially at home.  56 points just isn't good enough, and 20 turnovers is an absolute disaster.  We may have just witnessed Georgia's tournament hopes slipping through their fingers.

Wait...what?  They won?  How is that possible?  There is no way that team I just watched beat a quality SEC opponent.  I guess sometimes the other team is just worse:

• Seriously, though, 20 turnovers?  Georgia now averages 13.8 per game, which is good for 80th in the country.  80th worst, I mean.  It makes you wonder how good this team could be if they valued the ball a little.  The fact that 11/18 of them belonged to Mann and Gaines is really concerning...
• Georgia took 18 less shots than Tennessee.  18!  If your goal is to make things way more difficult than they have to be, that's a good way to start.
• So why did they win?  You can start with the fact that J.J. Frazier and Kenny Gaines were the only Bulldogs who shot less than 50% from the field.  When they were able to hold on to the ball, Georgia was incredibly efficient on offense.  The ball made it inside the zone, and they got good looks all day.  If I remember correctly, Georgia only settled for 2 mid-range jumpers, and one of them was a good shot (Maten's miss from above the free throw line).
• Maten had himself another nice game, by the way.  I love how confident he is with that free throw line jumper.  He has the post moves of an upperclassman, and he's starting to rebound like a grown man.  Tack on another 3 blocks just for good measure.
• Keep shooting, J.J.  You're always one shot away from being hot.
• Cam Forte's offensive fouls and turnovers are starting to look like Brandon Morris's travels.  You just assume two per game and live with it.  I still love the energy he brings, and he racked up 4 assists yesterday, so it wasn't all bad.
• Speaking of assists, Georgia assisted on 16/21 field goals.  That's a spectacular percentage.
• Taylor Echols did not cover himself in glory.  His two turnovers were back-to-back and extremely careless, but his 3-pointer got Georgia going after a sluggish start, so it wasn't all bad.
• Tennessee had 10 points at the first media timeout, but they only scored 43 the rest of the way.  My favorite thing about our guards is that, even when the shots aren't falling, the defense doesn't suffer.  If you want to find the last time Josh Richardson was held to 2 points, you have to go back a full two years.
• I like Armani Moore a lot.  He plays bigger than he is, and he filled the stat sheet yesterday.  He kept the Volunteers in the game.
• It was good to have Marcus back, even if he wasn't at peak efficiency.  The offense just runs better when he's out there.
• Second straight good game from Nemi.  He had 4 of the team's 5 offensive rebounds.  He has been working really hard on the glass.
• Game ball goes to the ballboy who neglected to towel off the Tennessee lane.  Keep up the good work, son.

Three straight games under 60 points.  It's not a winning formula, and Georgia will need more than that Tuesday night.  This was another game that could have and even should have been a blowout.  Cut out a few of the turnovers and there wouldn't have been any drama.

That is not the team we cheer for, though.  These Bulldogs insist on making everything as difficult as possible.  Another challenge awaits with an Aggies team currently tied for second in the league.  Expect another close game, because that's what Georgia does.