SEC Season Preview: Georgia Bulldogs
Posted by Greg Mitchell on November 10th, 2014The SEC microsite will preview each of the league teams over the next week, continuing today with Georgia.
Strengths. Mark Fox will roll out one of the best backcourt duos in the SEC this season. Charles Mann had a breakout season for the Bulldogs last year and ended up on the all-SEC Second Team. He led the team with 13.9 points per game and posted the 10th best assist rate in the conference (22.7 percent). Fellow junior guard Kenny Gaines was not far behind him at 13.0 points per game and proved reliable from the free throw line (77.7%) and the outside (37.5% 3FG). The problem is that Georgia doesn’t figure to be very deep at the guard position. Fox didn’t bring in any backcourt newcomers, so he’ll rely on J.J. Frazier and Juwan Parker to make similar leaps in their sophomore years like Mann and Gaines did last season.
Charles Mann is looking to build on a 2013-14 season that landed him on the all-SEC second team.(msn.foxsports.com).
Weaknesses. On the intangibles side, the Bulldogs will need to prove that they can play with expectations. They won’t sneak up on anyone and will be playing with the pressure of a team with legitimate NCAA Tournament aspirations. Georgia was unable to build on Fox’s only NCAA Tournament appearance four seasons ago, going just 15-17 the following year. But that team had to replace NBA Draft picks Travis Leslie and Trey Thompkins. This season’s team, on the other hand, returns the bulk of its contributors from last year’s 12-6 SEC finish. The lights will be shining on the Bulldogs this year; can they respond?
Toughest Non-Conference Test. The Bulldogs muddled through an uninspiring non-conference schedule at 6-6 last year before their unexpected SEC run to second place. This year, however, the schedule is much more difficult. Georgia faces Kevin Pangos and Gonzaga at the NIT Season Tip-Off on November 26, and that might not even be the toughest game. The Bulldogs also travel to Kansas State to face Marcus Foster and what figures to be a salty Wildcats team on New Year’s Eve. An opening game at Georgia Tech this Friday is also a challenge — Brian Gregory might be on the hot seat but it’s never easy to draw another major conference team right off the bat.
Toughest Conference Stretch. Georgia’s one game against Florida and two games against Kentucky are spaced out pretty well, so with that in mind, the Bulldogs’ toughest SEC stretch might be their first two conference games of the season. Georgia tips off league play against two teams carrying similar expectations, Arkansas and LSU. Given the down opinion of the SEC at the national level, it will be vital for the few teams fighting for respect to separate from each other early on.
Projected Starters:
- G J.J. Frazier (5’10’’)
- G Charles Mann (6’5’’)
- G Kenny Gaines (6’3’’)
- F Nemanja Djurisic (6’8’’)
- F Marcus Thornton (6’8’’)
Mann is about as good as there is in the conference at creating offense by using his size to get to the free throw line. A slight uptick in efficiency from both the free throw line (70.4 percent) and three-point line (30.9 percent) would make him one of the best scorers in the SEC. Gaines is reportedly “very sick” and could miss a few games to start the year — here’s hoping for a speedy return to full health. Frazier only played 10 minutes per game last year, but he fits nicely next to Mann and Gaines as a pure point guard. Djurisic is an efficient stretch four that will need to contribute more on the glass this season. Thornton struggled with injuries two seasons ago, so it was nice to see him play in all of Georgia’s games last year and Fox will rely on his steady work on the boards (16.7 percent defensive rebounding rate).
Projected Bench:
- G Juwan Parker (6’4’’)
- G Taylor Echols (6’1’’)
- G/F Kenny Paul Geno (6’6’’)
- F Houston Kessler (6’8’’)
- F Cameron Forte (6’7’’)
- F/C Yante Maten (6’8’’)
- C Osahen Iduwe 6’10’’)
Parker shot a dismal 29 percent from the field last season and needs to take a step forward as a sophomore since Fox needs him as part of the backcourt rotation — especially with Gaines out indefinitely. Geno didn’t see much time as a freshman but is an athletic wing who could provide excellent versatility. Maten has drawn high praise from observers and picked Georgia after late offers from Indiana and Michigan State. If he can score consistently on the low block, it would add another dimension to the Georgia offense. Kessler, Forte and Iduwe will be pressed into bigger roles than Fox probably would prefer given Brandon Morris’ dismissal from the team over the summer.
Mark Fox needs several players to take big steps forward in order to pick up his second NCAA Tournament appearance at Georgia (AP photo).
If Everything Goes Right. Quite simply, this is a team that hears its name called during Selection Sunday. The Bulldogs return virtually all of the pieces from a solid defensive team, as they allowed only 0.99 points per possession and a 40.3 percent effective field goal percentage (both under the national average). On the offensive side, Mann and Gaines became borderline stars during their sophomore seasons and further growth this year gives Fox a rock-solid foundation. The key might be Maten, though. If he is as good offensively as many think he can be, the Bulldogs would have a potent inside pair with him on the block and Djurisic spacing the floor with perimeter shooting. Georgia needs a number of unproven players to take a step forward, but the top-end talent is there for Fox’s second NCAA Tournament team in Athens.
If Nothing Goes Right. The concern for Fox is that his top-end talent might be all that he has available. Several players — guys such as Frazier, Geno and Parker — need to take considerable steps forward for Georgia to have the kind of depth it needs to successfully navigate a high-major college basketball schedule. The team also needs Maten to become an immediate contributor since Morris is no longer with the program. It might be somewhat unrealistic to ask for that level of growth, especially with tough games against Georgia Tech, Gonzaga and Colorado waiting during the first month of the season. If these things don’t click right away, the Bulldogs will find themselves mired in the SEC’s middle tier of mediocrity, unable to build on their success from last season.
Gooooo !