Farewell, Marcus Thornton

Let's take a moment to appreciate those who won't be lacing them up again for the Bulldogs next season.

Previously:  Taylor Echols
Previously:  Cameron Forte
Previously:  Nemanja Djurisic

I regret that it has taken me so long to post this.  Marcus Thornton goes down as one of my favorite Dawgs to cheer for, well, ever.  The personal fortitude it took to overcome early illness and injury was remarkable.  That he did all of that while transforming himself from a high school small forward into one of the SEC's best post players is just incredible.

Marcus Thornton

Relevant Career Totals

• 133 games played
• 6.2 ppg
• 5.0 rebounds per game
• 36% 3-point

Now You Know

Marcus improved his free throw percentage every year on campus, from a low of 41% during his true freshman campaign all the way to a high of 69% during his redshirt senior season.  His attempts increased each season as well, peaking at 6.6/game.

My Favorite Marcus Thornton Moment

If it was hard to pick a single moment with Nemi, it's near impossible with Marcus.  His game isn't flashy.  Unfortunately, what could have been his best dunk instead turned into a season-defining play for Georgia (and not in a good way).

If pressed, though, I'd say the disastrous tournament in Charleston stands out in my mind.  Why?  Because that's when a finally-healthy Marcus Thornton started to flash some of the post presence that would ultimately transform his career.  None of the lines he put up were spectacular, but the pieces started to fall into place.  The body was there.  The spin move was there.  The rebounding was there.

I left that tournament dejected, but I also left thinking, "Hey, Marcus may be onto something here."

It's too easy to get lost in what-ifs with Marcus.  What if he had been healthy from the start?  What if his knees never gave out?

Let's not play that game.  Instead, let's be thankful we had Marcus at all, by all accounts as good a citizen off of the court as he was a player on it.

Farewell, Marcus.  You're a DGD, and you're welcome around these parts anytime.

Two tweets

Everything I had, I gave. Thank you for everything #DawgNation what a ride.
— Marcus J. Thornton (@MarcusThornton2) March 20, 2015

This team gave us a great effort this season. Thank u from all of us 4 the great support. A pic our Sr's post game: pic.twitter.com/x08FbiW0o7
— Mark Fox (@coachmarkfox) March 20, 2015

Marcus Thornton takes home some hardware

Marcus Thornton is All-SEC second team and all-defensive-team.  Well deserved, son.

John Calipari is coach of the year, because it takes some serious coaching chops to win consistently when you have 5X the talent of the opposing team on any given night.  He had to deal with an injury, too.  Great job, Cal.

[SEC]

Pivotal play

I got to thinking:  when's the last time Georgia actually played well?

It's an important question, because the pattern with Mark Fox teams has been to start ugly and finish strong.  With the Bulldogs fading fast, it looks like they're going to buck that trend in a big way.

The answer, it turns out, is January 27th at home against Vanderbilt.  Georgia capped off a 5-game winning streak with a 70-62 win over the Commodores.  What else happened in that game?  This:

It doesn't look like much, but that was the flagrant foul that sent Marcus Thornton to the bench for two games with a concussion.  Since then, Georgia is 2-4 and has only scored over 60 points twice (once in a loss).

The injuries have been bad, but it looks like the whole season may have turned on that one play.

Thornton out again

This is not good:

Marcus Thornton, who sustained a concussion last week, is expected to miss Tuesday night's game at undefeated and No. 1-ranked Kentucky, according to a source.

Read more here: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2015/02/02/3545979_thornton-likely-to-miss-georgias.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

Time to start finding excuses not to watch this game.

Is it possible this is Mark Fox buying some extra rest for Thornton as opposed to playing him in a game the Dawgs probably wouldn't even win full strength?  The cynical side of me wonders...

h/t Seth Emerson

Another week, another injury

The hits keep on coming:

A worried Mark Fox said Tuesday night that his Georgia men's basketball team needed to get some players back. Instead it appears the team is losing another player, and a very key one.

Leading scorer and rebounder Marcus Thornton is likely out for Saturday's game at South Carolina because of a concussion, according to a source. Thornton sustained the injury when he was fouled during the first half of Tuesday's win over Vanderbilt.

Read more here: http://www.macon.com/2015/01/28/3555687_georgias-thornton-likely-to-miss.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

That's a big one.

The scoring, in this case, worries me less than the rebounding as South Carolina rebounds the ball pretty well.  Hopefully it's just one game and the Bulldogs can, once again, find a way.  Yante Maten, you're up.

If this team does make the tournament, an often maligned Mark Fox is going to deserve a lot of credit for holding things together.

h/t Seth Emerson

Player profile: Marcus Thornton

Photo Credit:  redandblack.com

Previously:  Yante Maten 
Previously:  Juwan Parker 
Previously:  Nemanja Djurisic 
Previously:  J.J. Frazier 
Previously:  Osahen Iduwe 
Previously:  Cameron Forte 
Previously:  Kenny Paul Geno 
Previously:  Houston Kessler 
Previously:  Dusan Langura 
Previously:  Brandon Young 

Marcus Thornton

Height:  6'8"
Weight:  235
Position: PF
Year:  Senior
Role:  Pied Piper

Overview:  Marcus Thornton originally committed to play for Clemson after being named 2010 "Mr. Basketball" in the state of Georgia, but he was released from that commitment and allowed to come to Georgia when head coach Oliver Purnell left Clemson for DePaul.  Even though Mark Fox needed a little help to win the recruiting battle, it was a big get at the time.  Thornton appeared to be the kind of player that could come in and make an immediate impact.


He showed promise as a defender almost immediately during his freshman season, but Thornton's offense was nowhere near polished enough.  He looked timid and, at times, downright lost on the offensive end.  Nonetheless, he showed enough to get Georgia fans excited about his sophomore campaign.

Unfortunately, knee issues and mono took their toll, and Marcus never looked like the promising player he was coming out of high school.  Ultimately, a medical redshirt cost him most of the 2012-13 season.

Marcus easily could have packed it up at this point, but to his credit, he continued working hard and emerged in 2013-14 as a completely different player.  He led the team in rebounds, played tenacious defense, blocked shot, and flashed some quickness and fluidity on the offensive end.  Georgia's overall turnaround can't be credited to a single player, but the conversation probably starts with Thornton's resurgence.

I confess I'm not entirely objective on Marcus.  His quiet perseverance in the face of quite a bit of adversity (nagging injuries and sickness) have absolutely won me over as a fan.  I'll be sad to see him go, but I'm already looking forward to standing and applauding Marcus when Senior Day rolls around.

Expectations:  It's a good thing Marcus has broad shoulders, because there will be times when he has to carry this team inside.  Quite frankly, I expect a fantastic year out of the big fella.

His defense is fine.  Any improvement there should be considered a bonus.  The real question is what kind of improvement Marcus can show at the offensive end.  What we saw out of him last year was night and day from where he was his freshman season, but he still has issues finishing around the basket at times.  I suspect polishing up the post offense has been a point of emphasis with him, and I believe Thornton's scoring numbers will tick up a bit because of that.  Combine that with some steady defense, and he's a guy who could be in the team-MVP discussion once March rolls around.

Areas for Improvement:  Free throw shooting.  Marcus finished last season shooting 65% from the line.  That's a big improvement for him, and it got better and better as the season progressed, but he needs to keep working and get it closer to 75%.  The way Marcus plays, he will get fouled, and he has to make other teams pay when that happens.

2014-15 Stats I Could Get Excited About:  9.9/7.4/1.4 points/rebounds/blocks per game.

Let's go Marcus, and let's go Dawgs!