Game preview: Alabama

Let's hope Kenny Gaines and Charles Mann go out in style.

See you there.

The problem with Charles Mann

It should be noted how highly I regard Charles Mann.  You have to think a lot of someone who is averaging 11.1/5.6/3.7 if you're then going to assert that there are problems.  That alone tells you I believe his ceiling is very high.

Let's also be clear that I admire Mann's attitude this season.  Someone whose season - through no fault of his own - has not gone as planned could pack it in and pout.  Charles has not done that.  He continues to play hard at both ends of the court and do whatever is asked of him.

With that said, there are problems.  Here's what I see:

1. Charles is not a point guard.  More than anything, his high turnover numbers suggest this.  He does not have elite ball-handling skills, and his court vision is lacking at times.  His career assist/turnover ratio is just under 1.  Unfortunately, until this season, Georgia has never had a better option at that position so Mann was tasked with running the point.  Until now, he was masked some of his inefficiency by playing with reckless abandon and getting to the free throw line at a fairly astonishing rate (over 8 times per game last year).  That is no longer happening because...
2. The referees have changed the way they officiate Charles.  The freedom of movement emphasis last year was the best thing that could have happened to Mann.  His lack of efficiency in the drive-and-kick game was compensated for by the fact that most of his drives ended in shooting fouls.  This year, the relaxation of that emphasis combined with (I believe) a conscious decision by SEC officials not to reward Mann with free throws on his more careless drives has led to a less trips to the line (down over 1/game) and a lot more missed layups.  Mann still drives looking for contact instead of looking to finish, and you can see the frustration when he doesn't get the calls.  This leads me to believe that...
3. Charles is struggling with his confidence.  More than anything, this is evident in his free throw shooting.  He actually started the year well, shooting well over 70% for the first seven games of the season.  However, as injuries have taken their toll and Charles has been forced out of the role he's played for the past two seasons, his free throw shooting has suffered.  Fortunately, the last two games have been better, and hopefully that portends good things down the road.

Keep in mind, I'm a fan, not a coach, so I could be way off base.  The good news is, all of this is fixable.

Coach Fox's offense is notoriously difficult to learn (but fun to watch when run correctly), so it's hard to blame Charles for looking lost now that he's playing more small forward.  The good news long term is that small forward is a much better fit for him.  With the addition of Turtle Jackson next season, Georgia will have a strong 2-deep at point guard (with a veteran Echols for emergencies), and Charles Mann will likely have a full offseason of training at small forward.  We can expect to see a lot more confident player.

As for the officiating, the best way to force their hand is to drive looking to score instead of just looking to get fouled (easy for me to say).  Many of Mann's drives end in wild shots that look designed to get a call, and that's no longer happening.  Getting to the basket (intelligently) and finishing is the best way to get the officials back on your side.

That Charles is averaging 5.6 rebounds per game and scoring 11.1 points while not playing his best basketball should ultimately be encouraging.  Charles - just like his team - has yet to reach his full potential, and that's ok.  That's the beauty of college basketball.

Just keep fighting.

Mann still the man

I suggested in my LSU post mortem that perhaps it's time to sit Charles Mann down again and start J.J. Frazier at the point.  Mark Fox isn't there yet:

"He's been a good player for us and we'll stick with Charles, and hopefully he'll fight his way through this," Fox said on Monday.

To be fair to Charles, it hasn't been all bad.  He's shooting an OK 44% from the field and 36% from the 3-point line and he's pulling down almost 6 rebounds per game.  He's also still getting to the foul line at a high rate...though he's not making nearly enough of them.

Even worse than his foul shooting, though, are his turnovers.  His assist-to-turnover ratio sits at an anemic 1.0 because he has turned the ball over 50 times already this season.  That's way, way too many for a starting point guard.  Much of it is his ball-handling, but some is just poor decision making, which is disheartening coming from a junior who has played big minutes since the moment he set foot on campus.

With a shorthanded team tonight on the road, Mann has to get it cleaned up.  It may be time to experiment more with Charles at SF (something we've already seen a little bit this season) and try to get a few quality minutes from Taylor Echols off the bench at PG.

Either way, Mann is going to be on the floor, and Georgia will be leaning on him.  How he plays is as likely as anything else to determine the outcome in Nashville.

h/t Seth Emerson

Tonight's exhibition

Fletcher Page does some good work in giving us a few things to watch for tonight.

He starts out talking about Charles Mann.  I've been tough on Charles and his jumper, but Fletcher hits the nail on the head when he talks about what needs the most work:

The former Milton High (Alpharetta) standout spent this offseason attacking the weaknesses in his game, particularly his assist-to-turnover ratio. Mann dished out 2.9 assists while committing 3.4 turnovers a game, a stat he says he wants to improve this season. 

“I’ve been watching film and tightening up on my ball handling skills,” Mann said. “I feel like I’m a much better player than last year and have improved my decision making as well.”

We'll find out soon enough if this is just happy offseason talk, but if he really has cleaned up that part of his game, look out.

Page also touches on my favorite offseason topic, the emergence of Yante Maten:

The early word is the 6-foot-8, 240-pounder has impressed with his ability to score in the paint and also to use teaching moments in a constructive manner.

Rumor is that Maten played well in the secret scrimmage against N.C. State.  I'm really looking forward to taking this kid out of the box tonight and seeing what he can do.

Go read the whole article, and I'll see you tonight in Athens.

h/t Fletcher Page

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 profile: Charles Mann

Photo Credit:  redandblack.com

Previously:  Kenny Gaines 
Previously:  Marcus Thornton 
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 

Charles Mann

Height:  6'5"
Weight:  215
Position:  PG
Year:  Junior
Role:  El Capitan

Overview:  At the Charleston Classic last year, I happened to sit in front of Charles Mann's mother.  On the monitors in front of us, we saw an advertisement for the upcoming Georgia - Davidson game (ugh), and Mann was used as the face of the Bulldogs for the promo.  I asked her if it was still weird seeing her son like that.  "It's still a little crazy," she told me.

She better get used to it, because this is Charles Mann's team.

Mann has NBA size, and maybe even NBA upside, but he doesn't quite have a full NBA skill-set yet.  He was a 3* recruit with quite a few major offers out of high school, and he was thrown into the fire pretty quickly at Georgia.

It was clear right away that he would round into an impact player, but there have been plenty of rough edges to sand off.  His jumper has never been a weapon, and he has a tendency to get himself in trouble on his drives, leading to turnovers or fouls.  In fact, early foul trouble had him riding pine in the first half of a few key games last year for the Dawgs (the SEC tournament semifinal leaps to mind).

When Charles is right, the offense can really hum.  When he's disengaged, things tend to stagnate quickly.  There are other scorers on this Georgia team, but no one who can initiate the offense quite like him.

Expectations:  I am really curious how Charles spent his summer.  If he spent it working on that jumper, then we can all expect big things from him this year.

We already know he will pile up some points (he was 11th in the nation in free throws attempted).  I suspect that trend will continue.  However, if he can prove to be a legitimate 3-point threat, the court will open up for him, and for Georgia.

Areas for Improvement:  This is probably obvious by now, but the outside jumper needs work.  He doesn't need to be deadly, but he has to force defenses to respect him.  He shot 31% from 3-point range last season (a slightly lower number than his freshman total, but with quite a few more attempts).  That needs to be closer to 35%.

It's also time to occasionally turn drive and shoot into drive and kick.  Getting fouled is a huge part of Mann's game, and there's no reason to try to take that away from him.  However, if he can get defenses to collapse on him, then, depending on rotations, he will have at least one of Kenny Gaines, Nemanja Djurisic, or J.J. Frazier camped behind the 3-point line.  Not a bad plan B if there's no clear path to the bucket.

Finally, it's time to raise the free throw percentage from 70% up to around 80%.  Simply doing that last season would have raised his per-game scoring average almost an entire point.  That's nothing to sneeze at.

2014-15 Stats I Could Get Excited About:  12.4/4.2/4.1 points/rebounds/assists per game.

That's the last player profile.  I'll wrap it all up later, but for now, let's go Charles, and let's go Dawgs!

Let Them Play

One thing that is hard to dispute is that Charles Mann was not playing well as Vermont made their run last night:

Vermont (22-11) trailed by nine at halftime but vaulted into the lead with a 21-2 run in the second half. Mann was struggling immensely, committing many of the turnovers himself.

But when Georgia’s deficit reached nine, it was Mann who spurred the comeback, then carried it through.

“During halftime my teammates told me to keep my head up, and just play the way I play,” Mann said.

What happened next was uncharacteristic of Mark Fox.  He left him in the game, and Mann rewarded him by playing spectacularly down the stretch and carrying Georgia into the second round.

I have complained here in the past that Fox is way too quick with the hook, especially with his best players.  Finally, last night, Fox coached as if the game was win-or-go-home.  Despite all the sloppiness, he knew Mann and Gaines were his best chance to win, so he let them play.

Did it represent a shift?  I doubt it.  But it was nice to see.

h/t Seth Emerson

Read more here: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2014/03/19/3012649/georgia-slips-past-vermont.html#storylink=cp

One More Game

So there will be at least one more game for these Georgia Bulldogs.

But what to say about this team?  Georgia was obviously the more athletic team on the court tonight.  They were playing at home in front of a small but very spirited crowd.  They shot 50% from the field.  They out-rebounded a smaller team 31-18.  All these things point to what should have been a blowout.

Yet at the under 8 timeout, it looked like Georgia's season might end.  They gave up a 21-2 run on their home court.  They turned the ball over 22 times.  In the end, the game was won at the free throw line - not typically a strength of this team.

Charles Mann deserves a lot of credit - and a little blame - for putting Georgia on his shoulders down the stretch.  Vermont could not handle his quickness, and he made them pay in the lane and at the foul line.  Any offensive possession in the final 6 minutes that did not end with him going to the bucket was a bad one.

There are those who believe Mark Fox has saved his job.  I am not so sure.  Well-coached teams do not give up 21-2 runs to inferior opponents - home or away.  Well-coached teams do not turn the ball over 22 times, especially when at least 15 of those were unforced errors.

You know what well-coached teams do?  Well-coached teams bury a team like Vermont in the first half and crush their spirit.

I am excited there will be another game.  This team has won 20 games, and that means something.  I hope to see you next week at Stegeman.

Might as well win another one, right?

All-SEC

Kenny Gaines and Charles Mann get honorable mention all-SEC.

There are 17 players total on the 1st, 2nd, and honorable mention lists, and my guess is only 5 of them will return to school next year.  Two of those belong to Georgia.

So that's something, right?

Substitutions

One of things that admittedly drives me bonkers about Fox is his substitution patterns.  Basketball is about rhythm and momentum, and it's hard to come by either of those things if you aren't able to stay in the game.

The philosophy of sitting a guy with 2 fouls for the remainder of the first half is something I want to get into more later, but consider this fact from tonight's game:

Charles Mann is Georgia’s leading scorer, but he sat for a big chunk of the second half despite only having two fouls.

“Coaches decision. I don’t know,” he said.

Fox sat Mann down early in the first half because he hit his two foul threshold.  Then he held him out of much of the second half.  Why?  Let him explain:

Fox said the decision was a combination of Mann’s play and that of his backup, freshman J.J. Frazier. The 5-10 freshman once again provided a spark when he entered in the first half, after Mann picked up his second foul. Mann started the second half, but was yanked early after missing a 3-pointer, and stayed out for an extended period.

“Charles, we’ve had to ride him hard,” Fox said. “And just trying to get him back started into rhythm, get him loose, get his mind right, I think it was about both of them.”

Fox wanted Mann loose and in rhythm, so he sat him down?

Frazier played very well, and he has proven himself as a very capable backup.  I am excited about his future at Georgia.  However, today, Charles Mann and Kenny Gaines are the Bulldogs' two best players.  This game was the definition of a must-win, yet Fox decided it was a good time to teach Charles a lesson.

Teach him a lesson tomorrow in practice.  If you can't get his mind right during the game, you're not doing your job as a coach.  That's as much a Mark Fox problem as it is a Charles Mann problem.

h/t Seth Emerson

Read more here: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2014/03/15/3005512/georgias-sec-run-a-big-step-in.html#storylink=cp 

Read more here: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2014/03/15/3005512/georgias-sec-run-a-big-step-in.html#storylink=c