Player Profile: Osahen Iduwe

Previously:  Cameron Forte 
Previously:  Kenny Paul Geno 
Previously:  Houston Kessler 
Previously:  Dusan Langura 
Previously:  Brandon Young 

Osahen Iduwe

Photo Credit:  247sports.com

Height:  6'11"
Weight:  225
Position:  C
Year:  Freshman
Role:  Eraser

Overview:  First thing's first.  When researching Iduwe, you should consider the following searches:  Fred Iduwe, Osahen Iduwe, Fred Iduwe Osahen, and Iduwe Osahen.

Until he is officially christened Big Tabasco, this blog will henceforth refer to our new center as Osahen Iduwe.

Iduwe is relatively new to the game of basketball, but, as they say, you can't teach height, and he brings a lot of that to the table.  His high school numbers are what you'd expect from a very tall, raw young man playing against smaller competition:  lots of blocks and rebounds.  Fortunately, that lines up perfectly with what Georgia needs from the young man:  lots of blocks and rebounds.

Expectations:  It's almost impossible to know what to expect from a guy like Iduwe.  He is fairly new to basketball, and the level of competition is about to go way up.  Most nights, though, he'll still be the tallest guy on the court.

I'm guessing it is going to take at least a year or two before we see the best of Osahen, but that doesn't mean he can't contribute right away.  An elite shot blocker can change a game without ever scoring the basketball, and that's what I'm hoping to see right out of the gate.  Even if he blocks, contests, or alters 4 shots a game, that's enough to take 4-6 points off the opponents' score.

As for his offense, an offensive rebound and putback per game would be a great place to start.  If we ever see polished post moves from Iduwe, it won't be this year.  That's fine, because we have enough scorers on this team to get by.

You may recall I am ordering these by player impact.  I have Osahen as our tenth most impactful player for the upcoming season.  If he performs to his potential defensively, he could easily find himself in the top 5 going into the 2015 season.

2014-15 Stats I Could Get Excited About:  1.4/3.2/1.7 points/rebounds/blocks per game.

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

Attendance figures

DawnoftheDawg runs down last year's attendance figures, and neither they nor I are surprised by what they show.

I do, however, think their ranking of the reasons for the low numbers is a tad off.  I suggest you click over and read the whole thing, but here's a summary of their list of reasons attendance was lower than it could have been:

1. Georgia is a football school in a football state.
2. Georgia basketball didn't do enough to connect with students.
3. The team got off to a poor start.
4. The home non-conference opponents were not appealing.

 Let me reorder to my preference and add my own two cents:

1. The team got off to a poor start.  After the first 5 games, who thought this team was going to be worth watching?  It's a fact that many of the fans coming to Georgia games are driving an hour or more to get there, and it's a fact that not many people want to drive an hour or more to watch bad basketball.  The poor start, along with an uninspired loss to Georgia Tech killed any chance at early season momentum.  I'm a pretty big fan, I went all the way to Charleston to watch the team, and while driving home wasn't even sure I wanted to go to any more games.
2. Georgia basketball didn't do enough to connect with students.  This has been a recurring issue during the Mark Fox era.  The head coach is also head of the marketing department, and Fox has fallen flat there.  Remember the positive press he received when he tweeted out that he'd be paying for students to attend the Vermont game?  Remember the excitement when students were admitted free?  We need more of that.  I've said here before I think students should be admitted free to all non-conference games.  You need 5% of the student population on board.  That's doable.
3. The home non-conference opponents were not appealing.  It was a bad home slate, and that's not all Mark Fox's fault.  Florida and Kentucky are guaranteed sellouts, and neither came to Athens last year. The bump from those two games alone likely would have put Georgia at about 75th in the nation in attendance.  Of course, the non-conference scheduling was ugly too.  All of the above will be rectified this year, and the attendance numbers will benefit because of it.
4. Georgia is a football school in a football state.  I continue to roll my eyes at this one.  Is basketball second fiddle to football?  Yes.  But you're not trying to fill a 90,000 seat arena.  Folks everywhere - and Athens is no different - have proven they'll turn out for a winner.  It will always be difficult to sell out on a Wednesday night.  But people will make the drive to see a winner.

 And that's the key, of course.  As I've said before, and as DawnoftheDawg says to end the article:

Just win, baby.

h/t DawnoftheDawg

SEC draft picks

When I saw that DraftExpress.com was predicting 8 SEC players will be drafted, I wasn't surprised.  My immediate reaction was, "Of course, but how many of those are from Kentucky?"  That's just an automated response at this point.

The surprisingly low answer is 2.

With a little thought, the small number from Kentucky makes perfect sense.  Many of their star freshmen chose to stay in Lexington, and they don't really have any upperclassmen to put into the draft.  There's a very real chance that 10% of the 2015 NBA draft will be Kentucky players alone.

Instead, it's the fact that 6 other players from the league may be drafted that caught me off guard.  In the end, the much-maligned (and for good reason) SEC could be responsible for 8 out of 60 selections in the draft.  That's not a bad tally, and it's ammo for coaches in the league.  "Our reputation as a league may be hurting right now, but we can still get you to the show."

h/t MrSEC.com

Moments

It's Friday, and there is not much going on, so I got to thinking about game- or season-defining moments from last year.

Georgia came into the game at Missouri with a disappointing 6-6 record.  The best team they had beaten was Wofford.  Waiting was a #21 Missouri Tigers team that had won 26 straight games at home.  Few actually believed Georgia had a chance to pull an upset, myself included (and I always think there is a chance).

The game was close throughout, and Georgia actually clawed its way to a three point lead with just over a minute left.  Charles Mann was at the line for two free throws.

Miss.

Miss.

A mere 15 seconds later, a Jordan Clarkson 3-pointer tied the game and we were headed to overtime.

Then this happened:

I distinctly remember thinking "game over" after the Earnest Ross 3-point play.  Then came the moment:

That deep Djurisic 3 (also in the video) changed everything about that overtime, and it began to change our perception about the 2013-14 Georgia Bulldogs.

Was Missouri a bit overrated?  Sure.  But that doesn't mean that win wasn't hard-earned.  It gave us hope that maybe, just maybe, Mark Fox had learned from non-conference play.  It showed us that what the team may have lacked in talent, they could more than make up for in hustle and heart (see:  43-34 rebounding advantage).  It gave us a hint that this group's best basketball may be in front of them after all.

Out, damned scaffolding

The scaffolding is coming down.  Good riddance.

It's nice to know there is a high degree of confidence that the glass isn't going to shatter and rain down on our heads, yes?

h/t Red and Black

Player Profile: Cameron Forte

Previously:  Kenny Paul Geno 
Previously:  Houston Kessler 
Previously:  Dusan Langura 
Previously:  Brandon Young 

Cameron Forte

Photo Credit:  247sports.com

Height:  6'7"
Weight:  220
Position:  F
Year:  Junior
Role:  Powerforwardwhatup
2013-14 Points/Rebounds/Assists Per Game:  3.4/2.0/.8

Overview:  What do you see when you look at Cameron Forte?  He's lanky.  He's a tad goofy.  He's got that tweener size that can be so valuable in college.  But really, who is he?

Forte averaged 36.2 points and 12.7 rebounds during his senior year of high school.  He then went to Howard junior college where he averaged 22.5 points over 37 games, shooting a gaudy 63% from the field.  Those scoring figures suggested he could play a key role in replacing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope's scoring.

Reality showed otherwise.

Thus the reason I ask what you see when you look at Forte.  Because, honestly, as I sit here and try to recap his first year at Georgia, I'm not sure I have an answer myself.  I expected him to make a big splash last season, but the result was quite the opposite.  With every other player on the team, I have a moment that stands out in my mind.  A 3-pointer.  An unexpected stretch of dominance.  A defensive performance.  Not so for Forte, though.

Go back and look at those high school and junior college scoring numbers, though.  There is clearly some talent here and maybe, just maybe, 2014 is when we see it bloom.

Expectations:  Forte seems stuck at power forward.  I don't see the handles or outside shot necessary to be an effective 3, and I don't see the height or bulk to be a worthwhile 5.

That may be bad news, too, as power forward could be a position of strength for the 2014-15 Georgia Bulldogs.  Take a look at the players who Fox could conceivably play at the 4:  Marcus Thornton, Brandon Morris, Nemanja Djurisic, Yante Maten, Cameron Forte, Kenny Paul Geno, and Houston Kessler.

Dig deeper, though, and you realize many of those guys will be forced into the rotation elsewhere.  Odds are good, for example, that Thornton and Maten will see as much time at center as they will at power forward.  Brandon Morris' athleticism and developing outside shot mean he's a candidate for heavy minutes as a small forward.

So where does that leave Forte?  If you told me he'll be the first guy off the bench at the power forward position, I'd believe you.  If you told me he'll struggle to find minutes behind Thornton, Morris, Djurisic, and Maten, I'd believe you.

The reality is that I have no idea what to expect from Forte this year.  Absolutely no idea.

2014-15 Stats I Could Get Excited About:  4.7/4.5/.6 points/rebounds/assists per game.

Areas for Improvement:  First of all, Cameron shot 30% from the free throw line.  That's not good enough.  That's not close to good enough.  If he wants minutes, he needs to get to the line more often, and he needs to convert at the line way more often.

Second, his rebounding numbers are a bit thin.  With Donte' Williams gone, there will be a few more boards to go around.  Some of those need to find their way into Forte's hands.

Things I Learned About Cameron From GeorgiaDogs.com:  His nickname is Smoothiewhatup.  I have complained about nicknames here before (ahem, Houston Kessler), but I won't complain about this one.  That is a nickname.

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

Mitchell chooses Tech

Well that's a bummer.

If he really is transferring only to be close to grandma, then Tech was the obvious choice.  It's disappointing, as he would have been a very, very nice piece for Georgia this year or next, but it's not the end of the world.

It does make the Giddens announcement in a few weeks that much more important.  Unfortunately, Georgia fans probably need to be prepared to be disappointed then as well.

h/t AJC