Game preview: Alabama

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

See you there.

Murray State: post mortem

You win some, you lose some, and Kenny Gaines puts you on his back and drags you to victory in some.  It's clearly not a sustainable strategy, but it was good for at least one night:

• If there was any doubt who the best player on the Georgia roster is, that doubt was erased against Murray State.  The combination of explosive offense and suffocating defense you get out of Kenny Gaines is unmatched in the locker room.  I've said it before: if Kenny was three inches taller we'd be talking about him as a late first rounder.
• Had you told me Maten and Mann would combine for 9 points, I might not have made the drive to Athens at all.
• Their nights felt different, though.  Charles was a victim of his own shot selection (that is to say...it felt poor).  Yante just couldn't get anything to roll in.  I liked the looks, though, and they'll go in more often than not.  Remember, he's just a sophomore.
• The rebounding was so much better than in the Chattanooga game.  Maten, Mike Edwards and, surprisingly, Houston Kessler were all strong on the glass.
• I wonder how often J.J. Frazier has missed two consecutive wide-open threes.  The whole arena thought the second one was going in.  Keep shooting J.J.
• The free throw story was better, largely due to who was taking them.  Maten and Mann still have work to do, and they're going to be at the line a lot this year.
• Kenny Gaines: 10 field goals.  The rest of the team: 7 fields goals.
• Lots of missed bunnies tonight, too.  This game could have easily been a 20 point win for Georgia.
• E'Torrion Wilridge had an incredibly quiet 16 minutes.  He's going to be really good once he gets more comfortable, but he just wasn't assertive at all against the Racers.
• It helped that Murray State just isn't a high volume 3-point shooting team.  They had some nice looks but didn't knock them down like the Mocs were able to.
• Brilliant spin move by Wayne Langston that made Yante Maten look silly on defense (hard to do).  Then he tried to go to the well again and Maten blocked it easily.  Fun to watch.
• Osahen Iduwe needs to keep his feet on defense.  He tends to get himself in the air.
• Only 10 turnovers.  Much better.
• The defensive strategy against Georgia is going to be pretty obvious from here on out: blanket Kenny Gaines.  Can guys like Mann, Maten, and Frazier take advantage?  If they can, Georgia becomes a very dangerous team.
• Traffic-wise, these Friday games are brutal.  Just brutal.

Another scary game next Wednesday.  The crowd will be light, and High Point is no joke.  So if you can, bring the family to Stegeman Coliseum and make a little noise.  These guys are fighting hard.

OK then

My gut was right about at least one thing...

Make it stop

The severity isn't yet clear, but Kenny Gaines hurt his foot in practice.  This continues a pretty staggering run of injuries for the Georgia basketball team.

In this case, the offense isn't the primary concern.  As Georgia heads into Auburn to face lights-out shooter KT Harrell, Gaines' defense will be sorely missed if he can't go.

Fox meets the media at 2, so we'll likely find out more then.

Update:

It's not that bad.  Day-to-day with an ankle injury.  If he's iffy on Saturday, I'd be tempted to hold him out if I'm Mark Fox.  Very few (Joe Lunardi included) believe it's a game Georgia has to win, so protecting Gaines come tournament time may be more important.  We'll see what happens.

[Ledger-Enquirer]

Take a day off

There is a lot to discuss.  Tournament resumes!  Coaching decisions!  Injuries!  Marcus Thornton's haircut!

However, it's Monday, so I propose we discuss none of that.  Instead, let's watch this video of Kenny Gaines dunking all over Shannon Hale:

First, I'd like to appreciate Marcus Thornton's beautiful bounce pass.  The video title tries to give the assist to Mann, but it was clearly Marcus.

Second, I'd like you to enjoy this very important screenshot I got:

Happy Monday, everyone.

[ESPN]

Dawgs are rolling

How about an article talking about how well Georgia's basketball team is playing...in December:

It’s a rare thing to say this time of the year that good things are happening for the Georgia men’s basketball program. And three weeks ago, that couldn’t be said.

That has changed, in a big way. Georgia routed Seton Hall on Sunday, 65-47, giving the Bulldogs their second straight win over a strong opponent.

The fans seem to be noticing, and they responded by putting their butts in the seats for a game less than a week before Christmas.  It's been a while since that has happened:

“I’ve been here five years. I’ve never, in December, over Christmas break, seen a crowd like that before,” Georgia senior Marcus Thornton said. “I mean that was the best crowd we’ve had all year. … And we’re glad we’re able to give them a pretty good performance.”

The season has been far from perfect, but things seem to be clicking right now - something that hasn't happened early in any season under Fox.  Georgia has two really nice wins over Colorado and Seton Hall, and the chance to grab another in Manhattan, Kansas on the 30th.

A lot is going right, of course, but a few things stand out.  First, the defense has been getting better and better.  The team we saw on Sunday would have run Minnesota out of the gym.  The scoring continues to be distributed, as well, which is key for a team that has struggled in the past with large scoring droughts.

The fact that all of this has been done without a completely healthy Kenny Gaines bears mentioning, as he and Marcus Thornton are the Dawgs' two best players.  If Gaines can stay healthy and get a few more practices under his belt, Georgia will cause a lot of problems in the SEC this year.

Be sure to watch the video attached to the article, as well.  In it, Gaines talks about his reaction to his injury ("I thought it was over") and whether or not he would have done the reverse dunk in a close game (yes).

h/t Seth Emerson

Gaines should play

Good news as Kenny Gaines looks set to play on Sunday against Seton Hall:

“I would say I think he will play,” Fox said. “We were able to get him partially back in practice, but it’s been a slow recovery.”

It would be unrealistic to expect him to do much scoring, as his jumper is so key to what he does.  However, his defensive presence could loom large against a Seton Hall team that scores the ball pretty well.

The game is shaping up to be a big one for Georgia against a Pirates team that currently holds a top 20 RPI.

h/t Marc Weiszer

Kenny makes peace

Nice story from Seth Emerson about Kenny Gaines reaching out to Josh Perkins, the player whose jaw he unintentionally broke.  He got in touch with him via Dusan Langura, of all people.

Hopefully Perkins comes back strong and Gaines keeps any momentum he found in that Chattanooga game.

h/t Seth Emerson

Kenny is questionable

I mentioned that Kenny Gaines did little more than shoot on the side during the open practice last week.  Turns out, it's mono:

Kenny Gaines, the team's dynamic shooting guard, has been ill and might miss the team's season opener on Nov. 14 against Georgia Tech. Gaines will definitely miss Thursday's night's exhibition game, and head coach Mark Fox said he was "a little pessimistic" about Gaines' availability for the opener.

Fox would not disclose the illness, though indications were it was mononucleosis.

On the one hand, I had seen speculation that it may be a suspension instead of an illness, so finding out it's the latter is good news.  However, Gaines is no worse than third on the list of players Georgia can ill afford to lose this season:

Gaines, a 6-foot-3 junior, was Georgia's second-leading scorer last year, and its main outside shooting threat. He accounted for 34 percent (52) of the team's made 3-pointers, and 32 percent of its 3-point attempts.

If he can't go, expect to see a healthy dose of Juwan Parker at shooting guard and (just a guess) Kenny Paul Geno at small forward.  You may even see some 3 guard looks with Mann, Frazier, and Parker on the floor together.  Fox does have Thursday night's exhibition to play with lineups ahead of the opener next Friday.

There's no sugar-coating this:  it's bad news.  Fox, more than ever, needs a strong start to non-conference play, and the oddity of playing Georgia Tech right off the bat may come back to bite him.

Get well soon, Kenny, will ya?

h/t Seth Emerson

Player profile: Kenny Gaines

Photo Credit:  dawnofthedawg.com

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 

Kenny Gaines

Height:  6'3"
Weight:  200
Position: SG
Year:  Junior
Role:  Fire Starter

Overview:  If Kenny Gaines were 3 inches taller, we would be talking about him as a potential first round draft pick in 2016.  That's how high the ceiling is.

Gaines came to Georgia as a relatively modest 3* prospect out of Whitfield Academy in Georgia.  Rivals.com had him rated just outside the top 100 (127 to be exact), and during his freshman season, it was easy to see why.  There were moments when Gaines looked capable of taking over a game, and there were long stretches where he was just invisible.  A nothing-but-net 3-pointer would be followed by an airball.  From the beginning, it's been clear that Kenny is just a little streaky.

Last season, though, he got hot and stayed hot, especially from the 3-point line.  He twice hit 6 of them in a single game, and he led the SEC in 3-point percentage (45.1%) during the conference schedule.

Beyond that, his defense is stellar.  Just ask Marshall Henderson who, regardless of how you feel about him as a person, was the most dangerous scorer in the SEC the past two seasons.  If not for a really, really bad flagrant foul call his freshman season, we would be talking about how Kenny Gaines led Georgia to three victories over Henderson's Ole Miss teams.

Consider this 2 minute stretch in last year's game at Stegeman:

11:26		40-40	Kenny Gaines made Three Point Jumper. Assisted by Juwan Parker.
11:24	Foul on LaDarius White.	40-40
11:24		40-41	Kenny Gaines made Free Throw.
11:08	Derrick Millinghaus missed Three Point Jumper.	40-41
11:08		40-41	Nemanja Djurisic Defensive Rebound.
11:00		40-41	Juwan Parker missed Three Point Jumper.
11:00		40-41	Donte' Williams Offensive Rebound.
10:29		40-44	Kenny Gaines made Three Point Jumper. Assisted by Juwan Parker.
10:15	Ole Miss Timeout
10:11	Marshall Henderson missed Three Point Jumper.	40-44
10:11		40-44	Kenny Gaines Block.
10:10		40-44	Kenny Gaines Defensive Rebound.
10:10	Foul on Marshall Henderson.	40-44
10:10		40-45	Kenny Gaines made Free Throw.
10:10		40-46	Kenny Gaines made Free Throw.
10:02	Jarvis Summers missed Three Point Jumper.	40-46
10:02		40-46	Charles Mann Defensive Rebound.
9:31		40-46	Kenny Gaines missed Three Point Jumper.
9:31		40-46	Juwan Parker Offensive Rebound.
9:26		40-46	Juwan Parker missed Jumper.
9:26		40-46	Kenny Gaines Offensive Rebound.
9:11		40-48	Donte' Williams made Dunk. Assisted by Juwan Parker.

This was literally the most fun I had watching Georgia basketball last season.  The block at 10:11?  That was a Marshall Henderson 3-pointer (one of at least two Kenny blocked in that game alone).  The foul on Marshall Henderson immediately afterward?  A frustration foul, plain and simple.  This all happened in front of a sold out Stegeman which was as loud as it was all year after the 4-point play, and it broke open a game that would eventually be won by a single point.

The bottom line?  Kenny Gaines is good enough to take over a game at either end of the floor.  For Georgia to meet expectations this year, he's going to have to shake off the "streaky" label and bring it every single night.

Expectations:  This may be Charles Mann's team, but Gaines is no worse than co-pilot.  I expect big things from Kenny this year.

Offensively, Kenny is Georgia's biggest 3-point threat, so there can't be any regression in that area.  If that continues (and there's no reason to believe it won't), it opens the court up for Charles Mann.  That's huge since Mann is at his best when he's driving and getting to the line.

Defensively, Kenny is a pest, and I mean that as a compliment.  You stick Kenny on the other team's best scoring guard every single night.  If you like defense, you'll want to watch him work on that end of the floor.  He's tireless, and it's fun to watch.

Areas for Improvement:  Anything I say here will be nitpicky, but there are always thing to improve.

Kenny shot 77% from the free throw line, but his form is pure, and that number should creep over 80% this year.  I'd also like to see the 3-point percentage north of 40%, which would simply require a continuation of the way he was playing in conference last season.

Finally, I'd like to see a tad more aggression at the offensive end.  Gaines is athletic enough to get to the basket on his own, and if opposing defenses have to worry about him taking it to the rim, they can't over-commit to blocking his 3-point attempts.  In other words, it makes him a nightmare to defend.

2014-15 Stats I Could Get Excited About:  15.4/2.6/1/.5 points/rebounds/assists/blocks per game.

We're about 6 weeks away, folks.  Let's go Kenny, and let's go Dawgs!

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?

Marshall's Angry

Ole Miss it is.

Those who believe we're on a tournament bubble should be happy about this pairing.  A win over Ole Miss helps our RPI a lot more than a win over Mississippi State.  Those like me who believe we have to win the SEC tournament to dance are a bit disappointed that MSU wasn't able to hold on last night...

I won't provide any in depth preview here.  I will just say that, on paper, Georgia should win this game.

Ole Miss has Marshall Henderson, Jarvis Summers, and not much else.  If you asked him who defends him the toughest in the SEC, Marshall Henderson would probably say Kenny Gaines - assuming he was feeling honest.

Henderson and Gaines are the key to this game.  I truly believe the winner of that match-up will be on the winning team.

Henderson, as usual, will be the most dangerous player on the court.  His ability to get hot and hit bad shots sets him apart in our league.  With that said, Gaines is a (much) better defender, takes better shots, and has been shooting close to 60% from 3-point range over the last month.

Expect Georgia to come out sluggish.  This often happens when a team that hasn't played in almost a week plays a team that played less than 24 hours ago.  However, if Kenny can continue his hot streak, Mann and Thornton just need to be their steady selves for Georgia to play again on Saturday.

Oh, and a partisan crowd in the dome wouldn't hurt.  Unfortunately, I am travelling tonight and will not be able to support the team in person.  If you find yourself with nothing to do, go scalp some tickets and yell for me.