We're talking about practice?

A few random observations from the open practice this afternoon (to which I was 15 minutes late thanks to Atlanta traffic):

• J.J. Frazier had the hot hand today, hitting multiple contested threes.  That was nice to see.  If he really did gain 5 pounds, though, I'm not sure where he put it.  He looks as slight as ever.
• Nice touch out of Juwan Parker, too, who canned a few mid-range jumpers.
• Yante Maten looked really good around the basket.  One of the first things I saw was him backing down Iduwe and scoring.  I can see why everyone is high on the guy.
• Maten also hit a few jumpers, including one in rhythm just inside the 3-point line.  He also calmly drained about a 38-foot three to give his team possession just as I sat down, but I doubt we'll see that one drawn up during any games.
• Marcus Thornton looks as healthy and happy as I've seen him.  He scored fairly easily a couple of times in the paint.  He also wins the award for most sincere smile and handshake.
• Kenny Paul Geno hit a couple three pointers out of the corner.  That's good to see.
• Cameron Forte had a few aggressive drives to the basket.  His shot is still very wonky, but that matters less if he can get to the rim.
• Iduwe may contribute defensively, but I wouldn't expect much out of him on offense.  He's very raw.
• Kenny Gaines sat out, but I heard Fox say it was just illness, which is a relief.
• Charles Mann's jumper is still really flat, but he didn't shoot much today, so I'll withhold judgment for now.
• The free throw shooting at the end of practice was not encouraging.

All in all, I was pleased with what I saw.  I missed a great photo opportunity when J.J. Frazier was standing "shoulder to shoulder" with Osahen Iduwe, so sorry about that.

Next up is the "secret scrimmage" with N.C. State on Saturday in Charlotte.  We'll see if any news leaks out from that...

Open practice

I'm headed to the open practice in Stegeman today, and here's what I'll be looking for:

1. How does the freshman Maten look next to the senior Thornton?
2. Is Osahen Iduwe a basketball player, or is he just a big bucket of potential right now?
3. Are Charles Mann and Kenny Gaines acting like the leaders they need to be heading into their junior seasons?
4. Who is looking like Brandon Morris' replacement at the 3?

It's just one practice - and there will be spectators - so I doubt we'll come away with much.  It'll be good to see these guys on the court, though.

Bits and pieces

More articles have trickled out this week concerning the Dawgs early practice results and media predictions.  There's a lot of overlap, but let's hit the highlights.

First, Seth Emerson talks about elevated expectations, not just for the team, but for Yante Maten as well:

No one’s expecting Maten to be the equivalent of Matt Stafford and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, at least in pure ability. But Maten could end up being very important for a Georgia basketball program trying to take the next step.

The Bulldogs have lacked a true, reliable post man ever since Jeremy Price graduated in 2011, which also happens to be the last year they made the NCAA tournament. After coming close last year, the team now adds Maten, who was Michigan’s Gatorade Player of the Year last year.

I'd argue that Marcus Thornton was both true and reliable last season, but his point is taken.  The day Brandon Morris was dismissed, it started to become clear that Maten was the "next guy up" even though he plays a different position.  In a perfect world, Yante would have a year in the system to learn and mature, but circumstances have dictated otherwise.

Next, the Red & Black weighs in on the push for the NCAA tournament:

“There’s a lot of positive talk about us right now,” forward Nemanja Djurisic said. “We’re trying really hard to get in the best shape we can be. We’re learning things right away and stepping in. We see our non-conference games as challenging as everything else, so we’re really going to focus and try to start strong.”

It's been a while since there was any sort of preseason buzz about the Georgia Bulldogs.  In fact, Marcus Thornton is the only one on the roster with any sort of experience there.  Nemi's quote tells you they're thinking about it, so how will they handle it?  Will it galvanize them and help them start better than they have the past few seasons?  Or will it compound the early season problems even more?

Finally, media days gave us the annual first- and second-team SEC selections:

First Team All-SEC
Bobby Portis – Arkansas, F, 6-11, 242, So., Little Rock, Ark.
Michael Frazier II – Florida, G, 6-4, 194, Jr., Tampa, Fla.
Aaron Harrison – Kentucky, G, 6-6, 212, So., Richmond, Texas
Jordan Mickey – LSU, F, 6-8, 235, So., Dallas, Texas
Jarvis Summers – Ole Miss, G, 6-3, 186, Sr., Jackson, Miss.

Second Team All-SEC
Charles Mann – Georgia, G, 6-5, 215, Jr., Alpharetta, Ga.
Willie Cauley-Stein – Kentucky, F, 7-0, 240, Jr., Olathe, Kan.
Andrew Harrison – Kentucky, G, 6-6, 210, So., Richmond, Texas
Alex Poythress – Kentucky, F, 6-8, 238, Jr., Clarksville, Tenn.
Karl-Anthony Towns – Kentucky, F, 6-11, 250, Fr., Piscataway, N.J.

Way to go, Charles.  And Kentucky...ugh...

Projected SEC finish

CBS Projected #SEC Basketball Finish 1. UK 2. UF 3. Ark 4. LSU 5. UGA 6. Bama 7. OM 8. AU 9. UT 10. SCar 11. TAMU 12. Miz 13. VU 14. MSU
— Around the SEC (@AroundTheSEC) October 21, 2014

If CBS is to be believed, Georgia slips to #5 in the SEC this year.  I might nudge UGA up past LSU, but that's nitpicking (and possibly homerism).

Georgia fifth certainly isn't out of the realm of possibility, and it would likely put the Dawgs right around 10 conference wins and, assuming non-conference competence, squarely on the tournament bubble.

The above rankings would also mean that Georgia's home-and-home games are against the #1, 7, 8, 10, and 13 teams in the conference.  That's about as favorable as it gets - a chance to knock off the best and feast on the worst.

Where is he now: Tubby edition

Been wondering what ol' Tubby Smith is up to?

If you answered "crashing a motorcycle on the court while dressed as Shaft," take a little something from the prize bucket.

h/t Sports Illustrated

Practice tidbits

Like a cold glass of water on a hot summer day, Marc Weiszer finally tosses some basketball news our way.  There are three videos - interviews with Mark Fox, Charles Mann, and Yante Maten - and a bunch of tidbits.  You should check it out, but I'll hit some highlights for you.

First, Mark Fox says what's on many of our minds:

“The goal for us is just to keep getting better,” sixth-year coach Mark Fox said, “but this is a team that I think can take another step forward if we stay healthy. We’ve got to continue to stay focused and really go into the season and the entire offseason with a response to success. …Do you stay hungry and driven after having some wins?”

Georgia has been slow out of the gate under Fox in the past.  This year, after tasting some success, it just can't happen.  From the opening tip, Georgia has to act like they belong.

He also continues cranking up the Yante hype machine just a little bit:

He’s shown good scoring touch around the basket and is a good rebounder.

“You see flashes where, `Wow, that play was easy for him to make,’” Fox said. “I think he’ll play significant minutes.”

It may just be coach speak, but don't underestimate a freshman post who knows where the basket is.  Some guys come into college as natural scorers (Trey Thompkins), and others go a full four years without ever really finding the cup (Chris Barnes).  If Maten can be more of the former, that can only be good news for Fox and company.  (as an aside, Yante looks pretty nervous in front of the camera, but here's betting he turns into a pretty good interview before it's all said and done)

Meanwhile, the effort to replace Brandon Morris is well underway:

With the dismissal this summer of starting small forward Brandon Morris after an arrest for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, the job at the “3” spot is “totally up for grabs,” Fox said.

The candidates include junior Cameron Forte and sophomores Kenny Paul Geno and Juwan Parker.

The 6-foot-7 Forte said he’s up to 217 pounds. He knows what’s key for him to be counted on.

“The key thing for me being on the court is me locking down and focusing more on my defense than my offense,” he said.

Fox said Georgia could turn to a three-guard lineup as an answer.

I think it's interesting Juwan Parker is mentioned as a candidate.  I would love to see more three-guard lineups out of the Dawgs this year.  Sounds like Fox may experiment with that after all.

And finally, two fantastic quotes from Fox.  The quote-of-the-day runner-up concerns the reason Fox didn't vote for his own team in the coaches' poll:

“You know what? We practiced so bad the day before I voted, I didn’t vote for them. I was mad at our team that day.”

The winner, though, concerns freshman Osahen Iduwe:

“He’s asked me to slow down,” Fox said. “He speaks five languages. I said I just need you to listen to a sixth. I don’t care if you can speak it, just as long as you can listen to it.”

Go check out the rest.

h/t Marc Weiszer

Player profiles: what it all means

We've finished our rundown of your 2014-15 Georgia basketball team, complete with glass-half-full thinking, wild, unfounded speculation, and uneducated fan rambling.  If that's your sort of thing, here are the links:

Guards:
Charles Mann
Kenny Gaines
Juwan Parker
J.J. Frazier
Kenny Paul Geno
Brandon Young


Forwards/Centers:
Marcus Thornton
Yante Maten
Nemanja DjurisicOsahen Iduwe
Cameron Forte
Houston KesslerDusan Langura

But what does it all mean?

Here's a table laying out all my statistical guesses:

Player	Minutes	Points	Rebounds	Assists	Blocks
Charles Mann	26	12.4	4.2	4.1	0
Kenny Gaines	26.5	15.4	2.6	1	0.5
Marcus Thornton	27	9.9	7.4	0.3	1.4
Yante Maten	16.7	6.1	5.3	0.1	0.9
Juwan Parker	20.5	7.3	3.2	1.6	0
Nemanja Djurisic	23	8.1	4.1	0.8	0.3
J.J. Frazier	15	6.5	1.1	2.3	0
Osahen Iduwe	11	1.5	3.2	0	1.7
Cameron Forte	13.5	5.1	4.7	0.6	0.3
Taylor Echols	6.3	1.1	0.3	0.6	0
Kenny Paul Geno	8.3	1.9	1	0.1	0.1
Houston Kessler	2.5	0.2	0.5	0.1	0
Dusan Langura	2.5	0.7	0	0.1	0
Brandon Young	1.2	0.2	0.1	0.1	0
	200	76.4	37.7	11.8	5.2

A few notes:

1. Minutes per game are averaged out over a season.  In other words, I don't expect Brandon Young to play 1 minute in every single game.  Instead, I expect him to eat up about 1 out of every 200 game minutes, meaning he'll play 3 or 4 minutes in a few games, and 0 minutes in others.
2. 76.4 points/game would have tied Georgia for #47 in the country last year.
3. 37.7 rebounds/game would have tied Georgia for #41 in the country last year.
4. 11.8 assists/game would have tied Georgia for #241 in the country last year which, sadly, would be a huge improvement.
5. 5.2 blocks/game would have tied Georgia for #30 in the country last year.

Considering the style of basketball Georgia plays under Mark Fox, top 50 in scoring may be asking a bit too much.  However, the farther north of 70 points/game that number goes, the more likely Georgia is having a great season.

The good news for Georgia is that, in the end, basketball is not a complicated sport:  get good looks, don't turn the ball over, and don't give up offensive rebounds.

The first two points fall squarely on the shoulders of Charles Mann and, to a lesser extent, Kenny Gaines.  The third is on Marcus Thornton and his two young understudies.  Now ask yourself:  do you have faith that they can get it done?

I do, which is why I expect nothing less than a tournament berth this season.  What about you?