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Excited for the basketball team and will exceed expectations I think
lightspeednate
Posts: 26 ✭ Freshman
Bigs
Hammonds I think will be much improved from his freshman year. He's an NBA type talent. Becuase the team is so deep in the frontcourt, he will look to expand his backcourt/wing role as well.
Nic Claxton is another giant alongside the super athletic Hammonds and like Hammonds played in all 33 games last year as a freshman.
Derek Ogbeide tops off the teams the teams tremendous size coming in at 250 pounds and 6 foot 9. He will look to improve off of a little bit of a down year from last season.
Mike Edwards will have a chance to fight for serious playing time at the PF/C position after the graduation of Maten. If Claxton/Ogbeide struggle to improve from their prior season, dont worry, Edwards will come in and bring serious experience, size and talent.
JOJO TOPPIN is another 6'6" guy alongside Wilridge, and an incoming freshman. With the depth they have though, he may find it hard to see big minutes.
WILRIDGE, E'TORRION is yet another big body Senior that might fit a little more into the SF/PF category, but since the team is so heavily loaded on size depth and guard depth, he may find it hard to find a serious role. Only time will tell though.
AMANZE NGUMEZI more tremendous size for the future and was a highly regarded recruit. Will learn alot from Hammonds and Ogbeide.
Guards/Wings
Tyree Crump is starting to shoot the ball better and should see an uptick in playing time for his Junior season.
William Jackson II will be the much needed veteran presence as he went from 1.1 assists in his sophomore year to 3.5 assists a game last year during his junior season. That suggests he's becoming a lot more efficient with his usage.
Jordan Harris **brings a lot of size to the shooting guard position and is poised to bounce back from a tough sophomore season last year. Freshman year he shot the 3 ball very well and he hopes to get back to that.
**Tye Fagan **adds a lot of depth to the guard position, and has a really good all around game, probably will compete for serious playing time despite only being a 3 star recruit. He is a lot better than his scouting reports suggest.
**Teshaun Hightower Saw a start in the exhibition game, and Like Harris another brings great size to the SG/SF position, but finds himself in a crowded and experienced backcourt, so may find it hard to hold the starting job. Coach likes him because hes a good option at the 3.
IGNAS SARGIUNAS He saw offers from the likes of Arizona state and SMU. Like Fagan, only a freshman, but very mature for a freshman and can definitely find himself in the mix for playing time. Competed in some very competitive Lithuanian leagues.
I think its unusual for a college basketball team to see 13 players who have a viable shot at serious playing time, but this is one of them. Outside of Hammonds the team isn't exactly glowing with premier talent though, and will need Crean will really need to soul search in order to find a little more of a reliable rotation. I think offensive flow was a bit of an issue last season, so I think Crean will be looking for the players who find their knack to score.
I think Crump and Claxton are definitely big candidates to really see huge upticks in playing time from last season. Last exhibition game Crump got 18 points, while Claxton (who is already regarded as a starter for team) got 14 points.
I see this team as being a team that could sneak into the NIT or even more, which could shock some people as the SEC will continue to get more and more competitive.
Comments
I was excited about them too this year until I saw the Kentucky/Duke game. I know were not on their level but I doubt were even half as good. Middle of the SEC is about the ceiling for georgia this year which is still exceeding expectations. Hammonds/Claxton/Ogbeide are a good trio but turtle/edwards/crump/Hightower REALLY need to step their game up from last year.
It would have been nice to see Ashton Hagans in Athens. He would have made us a contender. Maybe one of the freshman can fill some voids for us while Crean starts recruiting better players.
Yeah they have premier talent, but if you actually put Duke and Georgia head to head, I don't think it is as bad as it seems. Like Duke, UGA is more heavy on forwards than guards, so size wise Duke wouldn't be the problem. I think defensively UGA is competitive, but they need to find some scoring for sure. Duke has go to scorers while UGA is still searching for that.
somewhat seriously, you should see an optometrist/ophthalmologist if you watched Duke and still think UGA would not get run off the floor by them.
True, but I am not ready to even call Duke a final four team quite yet. There's some really deep teams in college basketball this year and I think teams with depth could be the answer to containing duke. Duke usually runs with a smaller rotation. Look at Nevada for example, extremely talented and has like 9 serious contributors. My only question mark surrounding duke is: can those freshman meet those expectations on a game to game basis. I will still consider having them go deep on my bracket, but im hesitant to punch their final four ticket quite yet.
fast doesn't always win the race but it's the way to bet.
Not like the bar is high. 11th in the SEC is expectations. I like Crean for the job, but this side of program doesn't have the rocket fuel to take off like kirby got with UGA football. Need to be patient here I think.
style matters not...can you get the players to win utilizing your style...side note: this yrs duke team is an anomaly...the point margin this yr for them will blow minds...to use them in comparison is grossly unfair...
This team will be more fun to watch and I think you can see the future is brighter. Wouldn't hurt to get a few unexpected wins to help with recruiting. Kessler for 2020 class would be huge.
I think we have already been counted out by everyone. I believe this team has potential to make the tournament.