Auburn: post mortem

I almost just cut-and-paste my Vanderbilt post mortem, but Georgia showed enough life in the last few minutes to make that impractical.  I apologize in advance for the tone of this post.

That the team eclipsed its first half point total in the last 5 minutes of the game clearly demonstrates the biggest problem with this team and presents the most obvious solution:

• Mark Bradley beat me to this, but he says exactly what I've been thinking ever since the LSU game: why does Georgia look so much better in desperation mode?  The answer should be obvious.  Mark Fox's sets aren't working.  When the Bulldogs run the offense as designed, they stagnate, and the shots are terrible.  When they run and ad lib, the shots are better.  J.J. Frazier is free to pull up in the lane where he is absolutely deadly.  Guys like Kenny Gaines are able to create shots that they can make as opposed to force shots they cannot.
• So why won't Fox turn his team loose?  The cynic in me thinks he'd rather give up 70 points and lose than give up 80 points and win.  That's insane, right?  It can't be true...can it?
• Because yes, when you go faster, you give up more points.  But something is not working right now, and I'm very hesitant to blame the players, because when things are at their worst, it looks like they're simply doing what their coach tells them to do.
• Auburn is not a good team.  In fact, they are a bad team.  Yes, they hit a lot of 3-pointers, and that's literally their only chance at winning games this year.  But when Cinmeon Bowers left the game with 2 fouls, the ball should have entered to Yante Maten and/or Derek Ogbeide every single time down the court and Georgia should have run up the score from there.
• That didn't happen, of course, because Maten inexplicably rode the pine almost the entire first half.  Mark Fox said he "wasn't playing well."  I'm no coach, and maybe he wasn't playing well...but it's almost like Fox is creating excuses as the game goes on.  "We might lose this game, so I'll bench our best player and use that as an excuse in case we do."  Too cynical?  Again, it probably is.  But every game is must-win right now, and he's just not coaching like that's the case.  It's hard to watch.
• This really isn't a post mortem, is it?  It's just me complaining.  Sorry.
• J.J. Frazier and Kenny Gaines average a combined 22.1 field goal attempts/game, and Georgia averages under 70 points/game.  Against Auburn, they combined for 30 shots and Georgia scored 81 points.  Hmm...
• With the exception of Ogbeide, the freshmen are playing with 0 confidence right now.  With the season lost, Fox may want to consider rectifying that in the last four games.
• This loss wasn't quite as bad as the home loss to an undermanned Vanderbilt team a few years ago.  Does that count as a silver lining.

Georgia has put up 3 50+ point halves this season.  Two of them came in losses.  This is not a coincidence.  The team plays better when they dig a big hole because they have to play differently.

The formula for this team seems simple to a dumb fan like me: go fast, and allow Maten, Gaines, or Frazier to take the first good look they get.  I'm certain it's not that easy, but I'm also certain that whatever Fox and his gang are doing is way too hard.

[DawgNation]