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Debunking 3 freezing cold Georgia takes: Kirby Smart, Tom Crean
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Posts: 11,468 admin
Debunking 3 freezing cold Georgia takes: Kirby Smart, Tom Crean
Georgia football is on the rise with Kirby Smart, but the Bulldogs' men's basketball program is considerably more challenged
Comments
It's not , Now or never" as much as it is, " If not, Why not?
No way BAMA loses a top 3 QB, 1st round RB, OL, DB, and Center and then multiple players following and be as strong this season.
Same for FLA, they lose Trask, and Pitts and a couple of more really nice offensive threats to the 1st 2 rounds of the draft. No way they are as good a team this season with those losses.
Clemson loses Lawrence and Entienne and a couple of more nice pieces.
Ohio St. loses Fields, their RB (I believe) and their nifty WR(I believe).
So, of course the best teams simply reload, but I think a discerning person would have to say at least on paper UGA's chances look pretty good this season.
Or, we can just kick that Natty can on down the road a little farther. Wait for a few more top recruiting classes and cross our fingers. At what point can we expect something more than what we've been getting?
Correct me if I'm wrong but even though they lost so many top players over at BAMA, I don't think their fan base is saying, "Don't get too excited about this season", or "don't expect too much."
No, they know they have a stable of top notch players as we do. And they know they have the GOAT coach. The true difference maker.
Maybe Crean has a responsibility to teach his players how to shoot, etc.; in other words, I think your "argument" amounts to cherry picking certain statistics and positing claims without sufficient perspective.
My guess is that a big buyout amount is what keeps him in the seat.
Why would you even consider a coach, (Mark Fox), that was fired from UGA, for the same reasons he was fired from his last coaching job at Cal??..Ridiculous!
Mike, I'm going to continue the narrative on what you said, BUT I'm going to be the devil's advocate...
I agree, Kirby is NOT on the hot seat this season. BUT, the pressure is definitely ON in his 6th season. No doubt. He is the best coach and recruiter we've had in decades. However, expectations are high, and the talent we have far exceeds anything anyone else has in most of the SEC. We may indeed lose to Clemson (I see the game as a tossup), but we have the talent to beat them. Even so, we should win the SEC East with ease, and I expect the DAWGS to be in the SECCG against either Bama or Texas A&M. Anything less than that milestone will be a HUGE disappointment and an abysmal failure by Smart, his staff, and the DAWGS. It would be a step backwards in the development of the DAWGS' program. The 2nd milestone - winning the SEC Championship - is certainly within reach even against a reloaded Bama or hot Texas A&M. The 3rd milestone - making the playoffs- will come automatically if we complete the 2nd milestone. If we fall short again then I'll have to assess our season's execution, coaching, and results to determine what happened that led to our falling short of the goal.
I will say this, inexperience and youth can no longer be used as an excuse for failure when a program like Georgias keeps recruiting at the highest levels of the game...that's where coaching and development come in. Injuries, bad luck? Every team has them. It's part of the game. But you can't afford to squander opportunities like we have going into 2021. Bama and Clemson simply reload every year and do it all again. The SEC East is a weak division - much weaker than the West - so we should be in the SECCG most years (like we have done), BUT need to figure out how to win the Championship consistently (not 25-30% of the time). Let's get over that hump. Winning the SEC East is the easy part.
Remember, Bama has only had 2 undefeated seasons since 2009 (2009 and 2020). Yet, they have had multiple National Championships in that time frame. Saban just knows how to win the games he needs to win to make it to the promised land.
Smart needs to figure out how to do the same.
Well, all that really matters is what the big donors think. I would certainly think that they love Smart. If they don't, they should.
Look, it's always "this is going to be the year" and frankly, EVERY major program's fans think that way too. There is only one champ every year however. I see no reason why we, fans, would give up after this year. Yes, JT will absolutely go Pro after this year, but last time I checked we have a superstar (Vandagriff) getting close with a solid backup (maybe starter) with Beck. And then, we have Gunner committed behind him.
Look, last year **** that JT didn't start sooner... but Bama was clearly better than they've ever been and NOBODY was going to beat them. We have solid players, but it's not like when we got back Chubb and Michel and said "okay, we HAVE to do it this year". I could see us scoring a huge WR transfer/recruit and really have the potential to score 50+ points per game and have next year be the obvious choice. G Day was a reminder that our O-line and WR core is far from flawless at this point.
Buyout drops considerably after this season, so we may be seeing the last of Crean as UGA Coach after the 2021 season is complete. Suffer through 1 more dismal season, save UGA a few million in buyout, and cut Crean loose. He may have won at Indiana, but sadly, UGA doesn't even compare to the Indiana program in basketball. If you are an elite player, would you choose a tradition rich basketball program (but not recently) like Indiana? Or one that has made it to ONE Final 4 in school history (UGA)? Not a tough decision to make..all about Recruiting the best talent, and coaching them, and UGA has never been on par in that aspect with other schools. With the exception of a handful of stars over the years..Dominique, Vern Fleming, Antman, and maybe a couple more I can't remember, UGA just doesn't sign top players. Same story, same ending, since John Guthrie was HC for the UGA Basketball program back many years ago.
Kirby Smart is HC at UGA for one reason... to win...and a natty...at some juncture. Mark Richt...had a record many SEC schools would envy...but over time....could not produce the winner...a natty. In fact he could not beat FL, say nothing of Alabama. My point is Josh Brooks is new and is seeing UGA come alive on may sports fronts....baseball, tennis, track & field...etc. and Kirby Smart and Georgia football among them....but he will not suffer another football bridesmaid I do not believe. Josh is overseeing personally millions upon millions of dollars being allocated to create a UGA football environment that will be the envy of the SEC and NCAA...why? To win it all at the national level. Goal....period. Not to be good as in the past...the best. That is what AD's do. Josh has a time line for Kirby, I am sure. Covid has made him alter it I am also sure. Kirby, in my estimation, has matured exponentially in his role as HC and now is on track to make his and Josh's dream of a natty a reality. Maybe not 2021...but very soon. The excitement is palpable. It will happen. It is not only in my bones but in my soul.
Mike, your comments made me wonder. At UGA, do athletes who enter the transfer portal get to continue using UGA's facilities and dining room?
I also wonder about the football guys who sit out bowl games - do they get to continue to use UGA weight and dining rooms while preparing for the NFL Combine?
Mike, having a record 10 players possibly getting drafted is great, but they are projected as 2nd, 3rd+ rounders except 1. If our players were developed a little better, a few more of them should be 1st rounders like a Bama, Clemson, Ohio St. A good example is Tyson Campbell, he has all the tools of a 1st rounder, the #2 CB coming out of high school behind Bama commit Surtain. Surtain is going to be a top 10-15 pick bc he was developed to the max at Bama, we don’t do that. That’s great that next year we will beat that number, but makes you wonder in what rounds they will go in? Pickens and JT might be the only ones in the first round.
I have no idea where #1 and #2 come from. I haven't heard anyone saying that Kirby is on the hot seat or that he must win this year, or else. If that's being said anywhere, it's coming from opponents, not within the UGA family.
Now with regard to #3, I'm not sure. Certainly, Crean was once a good coach and PERHAPS, he still is. But he's clearly not resonating here at UGA. And he's not the first basketball coach to have problems here. Our program is such dumpster fire, that I think it would take a coach with a truly big name to turn it around. I had personally wanted UGA to go after the Texas Tech coach, Chris Beard, because certainly we can pay more than Texas Tech and Lubbock, Texas is a wasteland. But his alma mater, Texas, came calling and that was that. But we need a name that all the kids KNOW can coach, not an up-and-comer but an established coach. We need to do what LSU just did with its women's team hiring Kim Mulkey away from Baylor. Simply by hiring her, LSU's women's team has automatically become a legitimate national title contender. Yes, hiring someone of that stature in the men's program will cost us some money, but if we want to get to and win on the big stage (and I'm not convinced that we do) I think that's what it will take. Go Dawgs!
@Mike123456789 ,
A kid should learn how to shoot and other BASIC basketball skills before he gets to college. This should primarily be the job of the individual kid, his parents, Personal Trainers and supplemented by REC League, AAU, and High School coaches. College Coaches do not have the time to teach basic basketball skills. They have to implement their systems and then WIN. If Wheeler's Dad is such a basketball expert ( as I have previously read), then how is that Sahvir still can't shoot and still can't use his right hand? Fagan can't shoot and Camara mainly scores on put-backs because he can't shoot either. All three of these kids struggle in half court ball and eventually you're going to have to play half court ball because not every possession is going to be transition ball. Nic Claxton became a better shooter his second year in the program than he was in his first year and I doubt Crean had more to do with it than the work Claxton put in on his own time.
Derrick Rose and John Wall could not shoot in college but that was not Calipari's fault. If they had stayed beyond one year the staff could have possibly helped improve their skills. They got to the NBA and both became better shooters as pros than as college players. Draymond Green still can't shoot and his teammates are two of the greatest shooters in the history of the game. Surely they can help him. Skill development is more on the players than the Coaches especially at the college and pro level.
Some good reads on the posts and the three points by Griffith.
Just one note about college basketball in general.
College basketball has become a glorified AAU league. Who knows, that may actually help UGA.
Frankly, you're seeing players jump from teams with great coaches too.
One thing is for sure, you got to have players that can shoot!
Baseball team plays the enemy tonight - GO DAWGS!!
Hey Mike- I respect your columns but lets be real. Kirby Smart is soooo overrated. He has done less with more than any other Division 1 school in the country. You keep harping on the top classes Kirby have recruited, yet he continuously fail to find a way to win the big game. And the Jake Fromm/Justin Fields fiasco will hunt him until he wins a championship...kinda sorta like his senior counter-parts in ATL (28-3) Meanwhile, I think it's fair to say that Kirby has under-achieved. Its just a matter of how much longer will Dawgnation wait to make a change because I'm afraid Kirby will not get it done at Georgia. Great recruiter but that's it. I've seen enough to surmise Kirby is not the HC to get us to the promise land.
I’m not a Crean hater, but I’ve never liked the “he didn’t forget how to coach” argument just because some coach had success many years ago.
Heck, Mike DuBose is available for some team if they want him. He did win the SEC in 1999, and he “didn’t forget how to coach”, right?
See what I mean?
People change over time. Energy. Innovation. Mental acuity. And yes, coaching ability.
I really don’t care what Crean did at Marquette or Indiana, quite frankly.