SEC Tournament: post mortem

Georgia will come up one game short.

I don't just mean the Kentucky game.  If you change any single loss on Georgia's schedule to a win, I believe they'd be dancing.  Instead it's a likely NIT home game as a 3 or 4 seed:

• If you're tempted to get down, just remember: Yante Maten and J.J. Frazier are coming back next season.
• Georgia played 30 minutes of great basketball against Mississippi State, followed by 6 minutes of garbage-ball, followed by 4 minutes of clinging desperately to a lead.  This team is a roller coaster.
• The maroon Bulldogs really never had a chance.  They played well in stretches, and they hit some timely shots, but Maten just completely overwhelmed them.
• The top of the key 3 is officially part of Maten's arsenal, arriving a year earlier than I thought it would.  That guy has 1st-team SEC written all over him next year.
• As great as Georgia looked in stretches during the Mississippi State game, they barely played with a pulse for the majority of the South Carolina game.  Had the Gamecocks played with any sense of urgency they would have run the Bulldogs out of the building.  Instead it set up Frazier's heroics.
• That sequence by J.J. at the end of the game was simply spectacular.  Splitting the double team was hard enough.  Hitting the floater over a seven footer?  High degree of difficulty.  Getting the steal and taking a foul?  Come on.
• Have you ever seen Mark Fox so emotional on the sideline?  I haven't.  He knew what that game meant to his team.  Say what you want about Fox, but the man sure can coach with his back to the wall.  I'd like to see that same sense of urgency out of him in November.
• The first half of the Kentucky game is as much fun as I've had watching Georgia basketball since...last year's Kentucky game.  That was big boy basketball, and Georgia hit them in the mouth, matching them punch for punch.  I didn't believe for a second it would hold, but I can handle losing when my team fights like that.
• Are we seeing the emergence of Mike Edwards?  Listen, if Jonas Hayes can duplicate whatever he did with Yante Maten this summer, Edwards, Derek Ogbeide, and Maten are going to be an absolutely terrifying front court next season.
• To state the obvious, the game turned when J.J. re-retwisted (intentionally redundant) that ankle.  I still think Georgia loses if it doesn't happen, but that sucked the life out of the team.  Frazier is clearly their emotional center.
• Have I mentioned how much I hate Kentucky lately?  Or how pretentious and over-hyped "Big Blue Nation" is?
• Jamal Murray, though...phew...go get your money, son.
• It's not a stretch to say that Georgia would have beaten all but about 5 teams in the country with the game they played today, and they would have beaten Kentucky on most nights, too.  The Cats managed to shoot 50% and hit 9 3-point shots.  They're a great team, but someone with great defensive length and interior presence is going to send them packing sooner or later.
• It may be Texas A&M tomorrow.  LSU...yikes...
• Turtle: stay hot.

It wasn't the season we hoped it'd be, but there are reasons to love these Dawgs.  They will fight until there are no more games to play, and I will be right there with them.

Mississippi State: post mortem

Don't feel too bad, Mississippi State.  Sometimes Yante Maten happens:

• That's two years in a row the Bulldogs from Mississippi have been victimized by a career day from a Georgia Bulldog.  Last year it was J.J. Frazier, and this year it was Maten, who had his way all night long.  He did get a tad sloppy with the ball, but that nit-picking, especially since he was hardly alone in that.
• If Maten extends that range out past the 3-point line next season he is going to be an absolute terror.
• Once Gavin Ware went to the bench with his second foul, Mark Fox was content to let Mississippi State shoot themselves to death, and they obliged.  Almost every shot was contested, too, unlike in the debacle against Kentucky.
• Ware's last 4 games: 28 pts, 14 pts, 21 pts, 6 pts.  Georgia took him away.  Yes, the foul trouble played into that, but it wasn't the whole story.
• Georgia won a game in which Kenny Gaines scored 0 points.  Amazing.
•  Let's not ignore what Charles Mann is doing.  The last few minutes of the game were bad, sure, but he went for 21/7 and has been playing quite well of late.  Maybe it's a sense of urgency as his last season winds down.  I don't know.  Whatever it is, I hope he harnesses it and carries it forward.
• Derek Ogbeide had 13 rebounds.  Are you excited about he and Maten in the post next season?  Of course you are.
• Mike Edwards splashed a free throw.  Unfortunately, this is noteworthy.
• Did you get worried when Mississippi State cut it to 10 after a 12-0 run?  I did.
• Four bad shooting nights in a row for J.J. Frazier.  We'll all be happy if he manages to break out of that mini-slump on Tuesday night.
• Georgia pressed and immediately forced a turnover.  It just about brought a tear to my eye.
• The reaction to State's press was less exciting.  In fact, the last 8 minutes of the game were downright disturbing, not because the game was ever in jeopardy (it wasn't), but because Florida is going to press for 40 minutes Tuesday night.  Mississippi State scored 13 points in the last 67 seconds of the game!  Georgia relaxed, and that can't happen against better teams.
• Unfortunately for Kenny Paul Geno, that was probably his last trip to Starkville.  He sure seems to have fun there!
• Quinndary Weatherspoon is worth getting excited about if you're a Mississippi State fan.  If Malik Newman sticks around and grows into the player he was supposed to be, that'll be a nice one-two punch.

Georgia needed a win and they got it.  Mark Fox needs to have the team just as prepared on Tuesday night.  Literally every game matters for this team right now.

I'll be in my seat cheering them on.  I hope you will too.

Mississippi State: post mortem

I have to apologize if my observations lack some punch.  I was a bit distracted watching the game on Saturday, as I was with the in-laws and unable to fully engage.

What strikes me about this team right now is their resiliency.  Mississippi State came out and punched Georgia in the mouth, yet the good guys clawed back and led at halftime.  Then Mississippi State drew within 1 point after it looked like Georgia was going to run away with it, but the Dawgs stayed calm and closed things out.

Georgia took the best shot Mississippi State can give, and they won anyway.  That's something:

• Keep shooting, J.J.  That was fun to watch.
• You may be tempted to say, "Oh, but Georgia shot lights out or they wouldn't have won."  Guess what?  So did Mississippi State.  They hit twice as many 3's as they normally hit and scored five points above their average.
• And yes, Georgia was hot.  Specifically J.J. Frazier.  You have to go back at least as far as the 2013 SEC tournament where Kentavious Caldwell-Pope almost brought Georgia back from the dead to find a Bulldog that unconscious.  Then you look at the box score and see that he added 7 rebounds and 3 assists.  That was a special game.
• Off night for Marcus Thornton.  Really off night for Nemi Djurisic.
• Cameron Forte continues to bring the energy and hit his free throws.  He's pulled his free throw percentage up by almost 30 points in the last two games.
• Georgia, on the other hand, shot below their season average from the charity stripe, which is hard to do.  They made enough down the stretch to win the game, but I sure am getting tired of talking about it.  And as rough a night as he had, Djurisic has to be commended for knocking down two huge free throws late in the game.
• The Dawgs now have 5 players averaging over 10 points/game.  Go figure.
• I believe I read that it was Mississippi State's biggest crowd of the season.  Is Georgia good enough to draw on the road now?  Either way, kudos to their fans.  They were loud.
• Rebounding, a team strength last year, is becoming a concern.  I think Georgia is still out-rebounding opponents, but giving up 18 offensive rebounds is a great way to get beat.
• Mississippi State, normally sloppy, only turned the ball over 9 times.  I don't know if they deserve credit, or Georgia's defense deserves blame.
• I have no idea if Rick Ray will be around next season, but he finally has his team playing some decent basketball.  He inherited a steaming pile of poo and, for his sake, I hope he shows enough promise to earn another year or two.  His kids are sure playing hard for him.

Any road win counts as a good win at this point.  If you feel the need to make excuses for the win, go ahead.  I'm ready to move on to Vanderbilt, who has still won 9/10 against the Dawgs.  Every game is big from this point on.  See you Tuesday night in the Steg.

Game card: Mississippi State

Opponent:  Mississippi State
Mascot:  Bulldogs
Primary color(s):  Maroon and white
Record:  9-9 (2-3)
Best player:  Gavin Ware
Line:  Georgia -6

Why Georgia will win:  This matchup is very favorable to Georgia.  Mississippi State turns the ball over a little too much, and they don't shoot the 3-ball very well.  Georgia's defense has been fantastic at times this season, and they should feast on the other Bulldogs' offense.

Why Georgia will lose:  In case you missed it, Mississippi State has won two in a row, including a win at Auburn, which has been a tough place to play this year.  They go 10 deep and Gavin Ware is a handful inside.  They're 7-4 at home with a pretty good win against Florida State.

What I think will happen:  This one won't be easy, but a good team wins this game, and I believe Georgia is a good team.  Good Dawgs win kind of ugly 67-59.