Georgia Basketball: One Tattoo Short of Twenty Wins
Clemson tried to turn Saturday’s game against the Dawgs into tag team wrestling match. That suited Georgia just fine as the Bulldogs cruised to a win. Vroom!
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You keep needlin’ me, if I want to, I’m gonna take this joint apart – Johnny, The Wild One.
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The Georgia Basketball team is 6 – 3, including a two game run against ACC schools. The word should be out on these cagers: leave your inner thug in the locker room – these Dawgs have found their identity.
These Big Dawg bikers are taking to the highway.
Gang up on Yante Maten and it’s two bounces, a hop, and a slam. Come back at him with the ball and he’s climbing up from his national 40 rank in blocks. Avoid Maten inside and a host of Bulldogs are there to swat the ball away as the Dawgs rank seventh nationally in blocks.
Defensively it’s a road block. No press, no high-speed chases – just-in-your-face-in-your-way forcing bad shots for a nationally seventh ranked field goal percentage defense (top 5%) and a national 36th rank three-point percentage defense (top 11%).
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These Dawgs are bikers. They don’t put on the blue lights. No chasing steals and creating holes that allow opposing attackers to ply modern player one-on-one skills. This five-man gang pounds back on defense and fights as a pack. When the ball goes up on a shot or springs loose to the floor, Georgia scraps like heck to get it – earning a national 69 rank in defensive rebounding (top 20%, even with a puppy-Dawg front line).
Figure Georgia’s defensive numbers come against the nation’s top schedule – number one SOS – and their value increases.
Playing like bikers – not thugs – Dawg defenders avoid on court legal snares, ranking 33rd nationally in fewest fouls – in the top 10 percent. With clearly defined roles, this well-organized Bulldog gang applies physical force when required, dispensing and receiving contact with purpose.
All these Dawgs need to get another 20-win season is to embrace their identity. Down to the Midnight Iguana Tattoo and Piercing Parlor for Houston Kessler and Kenny Paul Geno.
These Dawgs are just a couple of tattoos away from another NCAA Tournament bid.