All eyes on Travis and Trey

Lots of interesting articles about the waiting game to see Travis and Trey's intentions. If they were both to return, the addition of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to the mix would give Georgia the bomber they desperately need to bust zones and open things up inside for Trey.

There haven't been many Georgia rosters that had a slasher (Travis), an All SEC post player (Trey), a bomber (KCP) and a steady PG (Ware). I doubt we'll be so lucky as to them both back, but why not hope for a miracle.

Their return would also buy Fox enough time to get 5-6 of the uber talented 2012 in state recruiting class on campus. For more articles:

-- What now for Georgia
-- Quick Exit Shouldn't spoil Season
-- Almost but not quite
-- Different look for UGA next season
-- All eyes on Travis and Trey

Update: Numerous sites are saying the 2011 draft could be the weakest in either many years or potentially ever. For a guy like Travis or Trey, the agents will position this weakness as an opportunity for them to fill a talent void and be drafted high. However, the reality is that the weakness of the draft also translates into much less predictability in terms of player placement.

Meaning...if you're an NBA GM and you believe that there's very little difference in the #10-#40 or #30-60 players in the draft, your draft selection order will be all over the place. A kid like Travis or Trey may think he's going late 1st round and end up watching the entire process end without being picked.

It's also important to remember that getting drafted in the NBA's 2nd Round means nothing. You are not guaranteed a roster spot in the NBA unless you go in 1st round.

Ultimately - players view draft projections and advice the way most people view weather forecasts. They keep looking around until they find one they like. Which is why I think Trey is gone, and we'll be lucky to keep Travis. Just hope for the best. What other option is there?

PWD

Hoops: Moving Forward

In Coach Fox's first season, the team's record was 14-17 overall and 5-11 in the SEC. In his second season, we improved to 21-12 overall with a 9-7 SEC record. By any definition, that's tremendous improvement. The kind of improvement that warrants pay increases and contract extensions. The kind of improvement that should facilitate more high profile recruits selecting Georgia.

However, everything isn't sunshine and lollipops.

In Fox's first season, UGA lost 8 of those 17 games in the final two minutes. The reasons for those losses included lack of depth, athleticism in the back court, experience, mental toughness, etc. In fact, Coach Fox said last year that having Gerald Robinson on that team would've resulted in 6-7 more wins. It's tough to argue with his logic given that the team improved by exactly 7 wins this year.

However, we did lose 8 games again this year where we had a legit chance to win in the final 2 minutes. This year, it wasn't about athleticism in the back court. It was a parade of different issues resulting in a series of car crash like final moments.

Regardless, a major point of emphasis for the program going forward has to be avoiding what looks an ABC After School Special on the Dangers of Sugar Crashed Bed Wettings. Some of this will be resolved with recruiting more natural leaders as well as more talented kids overall. But whatever it is...it has to be fixed.

The good news again...we won 50% more games than last year with the addition of only two more players of note in Robinson and Thornton.

The bad news...we're likely losing Trey, Travis, Jeremy and Barnes off a team who's bench only contributed to 14 percent of the points and who finished 281st in the country in bench minutes played. The rest of the bad news...Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is only one kid.

Fox can and should build on this moment. He just has to close the door on more recruits and find a way to toughen up the ones we have next year...both mentally and physically. We have to walk through the door.

I'm optimistic for the future, but I'll be much more optimistic if we close guys like Evan Nolte, Jordan Price, Jordan Adams, Jarmal Reid, Tony Parker, Shaq Goodwin, etc for the 2012 recruting class. We'll have much more visibility into that process over the next 4-6 months.

PWD

Dear Bama fans

I know you're pissed about being left out. But don't point your anger this way. And honestly...why get mad at UAB? Your anger should be pointed at Anthony Grant. How did he not have you ready to play in Puerto Rico? The loss to 11 win Iowa probably cost you 15 RPI points, and the loss to St. Peter's probably cost you another 10-15 RPI spots.

It just goes to show you. St. Peter doesn't just guard the entrance to the Pearly Gates. He also watches over Bracketville.

PWD

Motivational Speech for Tonight

We'll save Hoosiers clips and the reading of 1 Samuel 17:49 for tomorrow.

PWD

Georgia gets Vandy Tonight

I really like our chances tonight for several reasons:

1. We beat Vandy soundly at home, and only lost by a very narrow margin in overtime at Memorial Gym.

2. This game isn't not in Memorial Gym. The Vandy crowd will be relatively small given that UK and UT fans own almost all the tickets to the event. If you've never been to an SEC Tourney, you can't appreciate how incredibly slanted the entire affair is towards UK. It's basically the Big Blue Invitational.

3. Vandy has nothing to play for. Their seed is pretty much set. Historically, Stallings is at his best in the tourney when he's on the bubble. The 'Dores know they aren't going to beat UK to win it all. So what are they really playing for?

I'm not guaranteeing a victory or anything insane, but I do like our chances. Especially, if we play defense like we did last night against Arkansas.

Interestingly, the Macon Telegraph reports that UGA doesn't have to finish with a winning record to get invited to the CBI or CIT tournaments. Those are Tier 3 tourneys behind the NCAA and NIT events. CollegeRPI.com and WarrenNolan.com have us with an RPI of 99 and 100 respectively. With a win over the Gators on Saturday and the emerging star power of Trey Thompkins and Travis Leslie, the Dawgs might be an attractive get for those lesser tourneys, and we clearly need the experience.

Update: In news of the very weird...Jim Harrick is on the selection committee for the CIT's 16 team tournament. I've heard strong rumblings that he's a big fan of the Mark Fox hire. The CBI tourney is also a 16 team event played on campuses, but the final round is a best 2 out of 3 affair. Based on last year's attendees, the CBI is the more prestigious event.

UF and Miss State are both beatable opponents on Saturday, but we have to win tonight first.

See Also:
-- A high note in Nashville - ABH
-- Tired of talking about 2008 - AJC
-- A good time to win outside of GA - AJC
-- A hunch that Thompkins will be back - AJC

PWD

If the SEC Tourney were tonight...

Georgia is tied with South Carolina at 5-10 in SEC play. Because of tie-breaker rules, we would be the 5 seed in the East if the SEC Tourney were tonight.

We would fall to the sixth seed if South Carolina wins at Vanderbilt as we'd move to head to head tie breaker C, which gives the nod to the chickens based on their win over Kentucky.

Said differently:

If UGA beats LSU and SC beats Vandy, UGA gets the 6 seed.
If both UGA and SC both lose, we get the 5 seed.
If UGA wins and SC loses, we get the 5 seed.
If SC wins and UGA loses, we obviously get the 6 seed.

The most likely scenario is that both of us lose on the road or UGA wins and SC loses. In either of those scenarios, we're the 5 seed in the East. Which means our most likely tournament path would be:

Round 1:
E5 UGA vs. W4 (Alabama/Arkansas/Auburn)

Round 2:
E5 UGA vs. E1 Kentucky

Round 3:
E5 UGA vs. W2 (ARK or Ole Miss) or E3 Tennessee

Round 4:
E5 UGA vs. E2 Vandy, W1 MSU or E4 Florida

In other words, we got a brutal draw with UK in the 2nd round. Damn.

PWD