All that glitters is not gold... For as good as the Georgia Bulldogs looked on paper, and at times on the hardwood this season, the best regular season in program history was for naught. At the very start of the season, Mike White had a vision. He decided early on that Georgia was going to win with pace and space. They hustled up and down the court, trying to use its deep 11-man rotation to its advantage.
In the end, they got worked in the first round of the NCAA Tournament again. The Saint Louis Billikens completely outclassed them from opening tipoff. Robbie Avila and the Billikens got whatever they wanted in the paint. In return, Georgia was hoisting up one broken 3-pointer after another like the ill-fated Daryl Morey/James Harden Rockets were the end-all, be-all in the sport of basketball. Let it rain!
Rather than seeing what what came along with Polly, those deafening bagpipes Sandy Lyle once played were far more enjoyable than this steaming pile of crap in Buffalo. Not to say White made a mess of it like Lyle did at an art gallery, but the point remains. The product on the floor might intrigue people at times, but the core of it all holds true. White cannot run it back with fool's gold next season.
If he is really building something special in Athens, this inherent recklessness needs to go away now.
Mike White needs to do some major soul-searching after this disaster
Part of what made this season so frustrating was Georgia was every bit capable of beating every team it played, just as easily as it could have lost to them. This is the greatest consequence of playing with complete and utter reckless abandon for 40 minutes of self-inflicted hell. Yes, the hurry-up-and-run era of Auburn Tigers football won Gus Malzahn a lot of games, but he got ran out of town in 2020.
That is not to say that Josh Brooks needs to put White on the hot seat ahead of next season, but something has to give, man... If the soul of this team is Blue Cain, then why is he being empowered to play like Drew Lock at Missouri? The best way to deteriorate awesome talent is through sloppy and lousy mechanics. Even a second's more composure out of him would have done Georgia some good.
While Jeremiah Wilkinson and Marcus Millender were almost always able to get theirs, Kanon Catchings is too talented to be the SEC version of Harden from three in crunch time. As for Somto Cyril, this was a big opportunity to assert his dominance vs. Avila. He and the rest of the Georgia front-court protected the paint about as well as any Atlanta Falcons team of note ever did a lead.
Overall, Georgia can bring back the same players and cast of characters, but White's team needs a whole philosophical makeover. This is not to say Georgia needs to play with a Tony Bennett at Virginia pace, but a little more deliberation with each possession would be so amazing. Moreover, Georgia has to make rebounding something it actually cares about. Good teams do not give away possessions...
Ultimately, the entire Georgia fan base has to be furious about what we just saw. Getting to the NCAA Tournament is still a big deal around these parts. The talent on the floor is undeniably there, but the execution and game plan is seemingly non-existent. You cannot squander away growth opportunities like this out of pure hubris. In the end, we fell for this team hook, line, and sinker. What a brutal watch...
If you are either coaching it or allowing it to happen, then what does it say about White and his staff?