Some might say that the Lady Dogs’ sluggish performance in their 53-36 opening round win over Belmont on Saturday was the sign of a team still a bit shell-shocked from their SEC Tournament loss to Vanderbilt. Everyone wondered whether or not they could shake off that loss and show up at the NCAA Tournament with a resolve and looking to take out two weeks of frustration on an overmatched opponent.

They couldn’t. Georgia played sound defense but struggled to score. It’s become apparent that the SEC Tournament loss wasn’t the cause of Georgia’s funk; it was a symptom of a problem that has been eating at the team and its coach for a while.

What’s troubling if you’re looking for improvement is that the problems seem to be more fundamental issues of leadership. "When a team plays the way it is playing right now, there is no leadership," said Coach Landers. Georgia’s top scorers are upperclassmen, and you’d expect the team to look to them, but Landers doesn’t hold out much hope in that area. "I have asked juniors and seniors to step up and assume some accountability for that, for these kinds of things, and they haven’t. So I don’t hold out any hope that it will come from those two classes."

That showed itself in Saturday’s game. Tasha Humphrey was closely defended and double-teamed, limiting her effectiveness. Foul trouble would also limit her minutes. The close attention given to Humphrey opened things up outside, but Georgia couldn’t capitalize and shot under 20% from beyond the arc. It’s a nod to Landers’ comments that the three three-pointers Georgia did hit in the game were made by freshmen. Houts and Marshall were also Georgia’s leading scorers.

In short, this does not sound like a team with the head to make a deep tournament run. Let’s not forget that this is a team that finished second in the SEC. It has beaten Rutgers, Stanford, LSU, and Vandy. It has three members of the SEC’s all-freshman team and two all-SEC team members. But they’re in a fog now and have been for much of the season. The leadership for the future looks to be brewing among the stellar freshman class, but that’s not a present-day solution.

With the season on the line, Landers has to try a different approach. "I am the leader. I just hope I have willing followers. I don’t think by any stretch that I am perfect. I think we have got a good game plan. I am determined to come out and win and kick tail if we can. They can line up and go with me or we do something else." "Something else" at this point is going home with the season over.

Iowa State is a check for this group of upperclassmen. Georgia is a better team and has beaten teams like Iowa State all year. Georgia is bigger inside and should be able to score and rebound in the paint. That was the case against Belmont also, and they got outrebounded and struggled to score inside. Those are effort stats. As Landers said after Saturday’s game, the good defense was hurt by the fact that Georgia too often failed to "clean up" and capitalize on their defense by allowing offensive rebounds. Iowa State might not be as good of a team as Georgia, but they are quite dangerous. They have been forged in a tough Big 12 conference, and, to put even more pressure on Georgia, they can score. To make things worse, the crowd should solidly favor Iowa State as busloads of fans will make the trip from Ames, Iowa.

The Lady Dogs have been to four consecutive Sweet Sixteens and sixteen overall in the tournament’s history.

We continue today’s legislative roundup with this nugget. Eight wins at most top football programs, if done consistently, gets you fired. One eight-win season gets the fans grumbling…even a nine-win season leaves some natives restless. Not at South Carolina.

Eight wins gets you an increase in ticket prices and also a glowing pat on the back from the South Carolina state house:

A HOUSE RESOLUTION

TO CONGRATULATE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA HEAD FOOTBALL COACH STEVE SPURRIER AND THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA FOOTBALL TEAM FOR AN OUTSTANDING 2006 SEASON WHICH CONCLUDED WITH A TOTAL OF EIGHT WINS INCLUDING A VICTORY OVER HOUSTON IN THE LIBERTY BOWL, IN MEMPHIS, AND FOR BRINGING TO THE GAMECOCK PROGRAM A RENEWED SENSE OF PRIDE AND ACCOMPLISHMENT.

Read the whole thing. It gets better. They commend him for winning a Heisman and titles at a competing school…in a different state. This might also be the first mention of recruiting analysts in a legislative resolution.

It needs to be investigated whether the phrase "the University of South Carolina football team recently concluded an outstanding 2006 season with eight wins including a thrilling high-scoring victory over Houston in the Liberty Bowl in Memphis" can be challenged in court. I expect to see it in negative campaign ads against the sponsors of the resolution.

As much as we know about Spurrier, this resolution probably didn’t come as an honor to him; it was surely an embarrassment to him that these overzealous fans in the state house would fawn all over an eight-win season and a "thrilling" Liberty Bowl win.

Such a legislative act isn’t unprecedented though. We’ve obtained an etching of the Continental Congress in Philadelphia deliberating a resolution to honor Joe Paterno’s first bowl win.

The Banner-Herald reports that some Georgia legislators are trying to use legislative pressure to revive intercollegiate wrestling programs in the state. The University of Georgia dropped its program in 1980, and Georgia State in 1998 was the last state school to drop its program.

Republican state Senator Seth Harp of Midland is behind the effort. He says,

"We’ve had a number of people who made inquires about having a wrestling program. We’re losing some very fine students to out-of-state schools."

That might be true, but I’d be a lot more concerned about the "very fine students" who are leaving the state because of the quality of Georgia public higher education rather than the availability of a wrestling program.

Possible co-ed wrestling team

Look, I have nothing against Georgia colleges having a wrestling program. Georgia has a strong high school program. There are lots of other sports I’d like to see added too. We just have a few realities to face:

• Funding. The University of Georgia’s athletic association is in the black, but it’s an exception. Tech is struggling and working through financial issues. Other state colleges can’t be raking in the cash. How do these legislators propose we fund these programs?
• Title IX. This is really the big gorilla in the room. There aren’t many schools who don’t struggle with the requirements of Title IX. Few schools are totally compliant, and even those who come close do so with a careful balancing act. UGA’s recent addition of a large equestrian program was surely motivated with an eye towards increasing the number of female student-athletes. In a nod to the Missouri Compromise, schools attempting to keep the balance required by Title IX can’t add scholarships for male athletes without adding them for females. No, that doesn’t mean a female wrestling program or a coed program; it means that adding wrestling would probably have to come hand-in-hand with another female sport. So the funding problem is now a problem times two.

Sen. Harp can’t be all bad; he’s a driving force behind reforming the remaining Blue Laws, and I support him completely on that issue. He just needs to think this wrestling thing through a bit. "Coach Goldberg" doesn’t sound too bad though.

The announced crowd last night was somewhere just over 2,000. It was, as they say, "intimate" even with some great promotions going on. With the general lack of interest in the NIT combined with the ghost town that is Athens during spring break, last night’s small crowd wasn’t a surprise. The fans that were there were great. That kind of crowd is comparable in size to those we get for some women’s games, and the enthusiasm is rarely as high as it was last night. You had people who wanted to be there; there were no vast gaps left by absent season ticket holders, nor was the crowd diluted by the morgue that is the faculty/staff section. The fans filled in close to the court, and the effect was impressive considering that the gym was only 20% full.

One of the best scenes of the evening happened off-camera during player introductions. Dennis Felton often spends time in the student section before games, but last night he went up ten or more rows into the stands behind the bench with a wide grin thanking those fans for coming out. Many of those fans probably didn’t have season tickets in that area, so they saw in person for the first time Felton’s genuine gratitude for their support. After the game, he took time before media interviews to thank those who remained on the student side. His grin was as wide as you’d expect if Georgia had just advanced to the Sweet 16 of the "other" tournament. Though he’d surely much rather be playing today, this win was still progress, and he seemed truly grateful for those who are coming along for the ride.

It’s suddenly a story that Georgia basketball fans are scarce. Jeff Schultz wrote about the game and crowd last night, and Chip Towers filed a note from the SEC Tournament last weekend contrasting the thin Georgia hometown support with that of the many Florida fans in attendance.

Life as a Bulldog hoops fan.

It’s not a recent development that Georgia basketball fans are notoriously fickle, slow to jump on board, and quick to jump off. It’s how life is for any Georgia sport other than football. and when it comes to SEC basketball nearly every school’s fan base ebbs and flows with the fortunes of their team. The exception of course is Kentucky. Mark Bradley, also writing from the SEC Tournament last weekend, noted with sadness that the Arkansas traveling fan base, once strong enough during their mid-90s run to rival the Wildcats, had lost around 80% of its size. If basketball-crazy Arkansas doesn’t turn out for a decent team that ended up in the SEC finals and headed to the NCAA Tournament, I’m not really surprised by the Georgia fans.

Dawg fans have shown that they’ll turn out for a winner. The twilight of the Harrick era was a wonderful heavyweight slug fest with Florida. Stegeman was rocking for that game as it had been for many big games over those two seasons. The game was as intense and the crowd was as electric as you’ll ever find in college hoops. Then the rug was pulled out from under the season less than a week later. Fans saw the postseason, the star player, and an entire recruiting class disappear. It wasn’t the first time that Georgia fans had a taste of success evaporate. To be a Georgia basketball fan is to be Charlie Brown trying to kick the football.

As Felton keeps building the program and the wins continue to come, the fans will come back. Considering the history of the program, I can’t blame them for being a bit hesitant to believe.

Chances are this shot went in. (Photo: Georgiadogs.com)

Derrick Dukes was known for two things as a basketball player at Georgia in the late 1990s: never seeing a three-point shot he didn’t like and also attempting some of the most fearless dunks seen at Stegeman since ‘Nique.

He would have been proud of Fresno State last night. When they weren’t putting up three-pointers (40 of them to be exact, a record for a Georgia opponent), they were trying lob passes and power dunks, often with spectacularly bad results. They hit a gaudy 18 of those three-pointers (also a record by a Georgia opponent), but all those shots served to do was to keep the game from getting completely out of hand. Georgia controlled this game in every way from style to tempo to statistics en route to an 88-78 win in the first round of the NIT. They shot well, outrebounded the opponent, and had an effective inside-outside game that the visitors couldn’t match.

Fresno’s scouting report must have simply read like this: "Deny Takais Brown at any cost." The game opened with the "other" Bulldogs doubling down on Brown and leaving Georgia’s sharpshooter Levi Stukes without a defender in the same ZIP code. Used to intense pressure from SEC defenses who know him well, Stukes seemed to have a "WTF?!" look on his face when Fresno started the game by daring Georgia’s career three-point leader to hit an open shot. He hit three of them in quick succession. Fresno State called a timeout and righted the ship, even taking a 22-17 lead, but the damage had been done. Those first three shots got Stukes’ rythym going, and he didn’t let up for the rest of the night. He scored 30 points and hit 8-of-9 from behind the arc to spark Georgia.

Only a toe on the line on his third attempt of the night and a shot before halftime that was just off the mark kept Stukes from tying the Georgia record for most three-pointers in a game (G.G. Smith hit nine of them – also in the NIT and also against Fresno State).

Fresno did a decent job of bothering Takais in the first half; they held him to just six points. The slack was picked up by Stukes and Dave Bliss. Bliss in limited action was effective against the smaller Bulldogs due to the attention given to Brown. He made the most of it and scored in double-figures. Brown got things going in the second half. With Fresno tired and dealing with some foul trouble inside, the added pressure of Stukes outside opened things up for Brown. He showed everything from a nice mid-range touch to strong post moves and scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half. His tendency to be deliberate with his post moves (really…he could be timed with a sundial) might have cost some additional chances to score, but he was often able to work out of those double-teams and pass the ball to an open shooter.

Defense (or lack of it) was on a lot of minds after the game. Some wondered why Georgia stayed in a zone (either a 2-3 or 1-3-1 for nearly all of the game) while Fresno proved to be effective zone-busters from outside. Coach Felton explained after the game that we would rather they take those shots than use their size and explosiveness against some bad matchups in a man defense. As it turned out, they hit just enough shots to make it interesting and keep it from becoming an ugly game, but Georgia took advantage and built their lead during the few shooting lapses Fresno did have.

The challenges are very different in the next game. Georgia advances to play at Air Force on Monday night. The time is yet to be announced, but we expect it will be 9:00. Air Force got a little fight from Austin Peay in the first half in their first round game, but they pulled away in the second half for a comfortable win to break a four-game losing streak. Air Force will be a test of patience and discipline for Georgia. The Falcons play that Princeton-style offense that lulls you to sleep and then kills you with backdoor cuts or penetration. They have an incredibly balanced and experienced starting lineup, so you can’t count on them to make many unforced mistakes.

Just a quick update to write that tonight’s NIT first round game in Athens will be broadcast by ESPN2 at 7:00.

I’ll be the one in the stands.

Photo: Rivals.com

The AJC’s recruiting writer, Jeff D’Alessio, has an impressive introduction to incoming linebacker Charles White from Blythewood, S.C. From the reaction on the message boards today, he’s already well on the way to becoming a fan favorite.

Really…read the whole thing. Some choice quotes:

I received a text message that I had a scholarship to the University of Georgia. And I promise you there was not a happier young man anywhere in the world. What a blessing.

I want to prepare myself mentally, physically, and emotionally to flourish in college. And push for a national championship.

I really pride myself on being a student of the game, but to do that you need to be under the instruction of teachers of the game. So I am looking forward to being on campus so I can learn every day.

After I committed, I really was blind to any other schools’ sales pitches. I was and am firmly convinced that the best thing for me, my life and my family is to be a Georgia Bulldawg.

Academically at Georgia, I want to … Maintain a 4.0 GPA, major in psychology and also be named an Academic All-American.

How can you not pull for a guy like that?

The Journal News, a newspaper serving the Lower Hudson Valley of New York, has a nice feature up on local product Cori Chambers and the twilight of her college career.

“It’s my last shot at doing something I’ve always wanted to do,” said Chambers.

Cori is the leading career three-point shooter at Georgia, but her senior season has been a story of ups and downs. Just as she seemed to be shooting herself out of a long slump against Kentucky in the SEC Tournament, she injured her toe.

I will go so far as to say that the play of Chambers alone might be one of the top three factors determining how far the Lady Dogs can go. Limiting turnovers is especially important, and that’s a team effort. Defensive intensity is also a key indicator. Then there is Chambers. With Tasha Humphrey inside, the perimeter game is the real question mark. It has been feast or famine. If the outside shots are falling, teams can’t zone and double-team Humphrey inside, and Georgia puts up points inside and outside. If the outside shots aren’t falling, teams have been able to strangle Georgia’s offense and get them in low-scoring battles.

Chambers and backcourt teammate Janese Hardrick are seniors with important roles to play in that perimeter offense. They are in position to have a lot to say about how their college careers will end and how their legacies at Georgia will be written.

“I thought (the #3 seed) was pretty generous,” said wing Megan Darrah.

That’s pretty much the reaction after last night’s selection show, but they shouldn’t be too surprised. Georgia was still very much in the running for a #2 seed, and until the SEC semifinal they were a better candidate than Purdue or Vanderbilt. That one loss wasn’t going to kill them.

The Lady Dogs have six losses this year, and all came against tournament-bound teams. The “worst” of them were to #5 seeds: George Washington and Middle Tenn. State. They are 8-6 against the NCAA field this year. Coach Landers was correct that “There were a lot of two and three seed-type teams,” but Georgia had more than enough quality wins to separate themselves.

Tournament coverage and reaction:

• AJC
• ABH

The Georgia Lady Bulldogs were awarded the #3 seed in the Dallas region. They will face #14-seed Belmont in the first round on Saturday March 17th at 2:30 p.m. in Minneapolis. The game will be televised by ESPN.

If Georgia advances, they will face the winner of the Iowa State (#6 seed) vs. Washington State (#11) game.

Seeds of note in the Dallas region:

#1: North Carolina
#2: Purdue
#3: Georgia
#4: Texas A&M
#6: Iowa State
#7: Georgia Tech

I can see several storylines forming already. Georgia’s last trip to Minneapolis was for the 1995 Final Four. They upset Purdue the last time they met in the 2004 NCAA Tournament. Georgia beat Iowa State in the 1999 Elite Eight to advance to their most recent Final Four. Andy Landers is very familiar with Texas A&M coach Gary Blair; Blair used to coach at Arkansas. The Lady Dogs destroyed North Carolina in the 2000 Sweet Sixteen, the last time those teams met.

Georgia Tech also has some storylines. They had their best conference finish ever and finished over .500 in the ACC for the first time in program history. A #7 seed is a very appropriate recognition for that accomplishment. If they advance to the second round, they will likely face Purdue, and then things get interesting. Tech coach MaChelle Joseph is one of the most decorated women’s basketball players in Purdue history. She also served as an assistant coach there but left under less-than-ideal circumstances and with some pretty hard feelings. It would be an emotional challenge if she faced the Boilermakers.

Halftime should be fun

Fresno State and the University of Georgia have agreed to have some very special guests recognized at Wednesday night’s NIT first round game in Athens.

Basketball legend Kenny Brunner will throw the ceremonial jump ball. Brunner, aka “Bad Santa”, is currently having a cup of coffee with the Buffalo Silverbacks of the ABA. He played at Fresno State in the late 1990s and intended to enroll at Georgia but was denied admission. Brunner will return with Aaron Scranton to give a martial arts demonstration at halftime.

Honorary coaches Jerry Tarkanian and Jim Harrick will lead the teams onto the court before recognizing academic achievers from local Athens elementary schools.

All University of Georgia students showing a Western Union wire transfer receipt at the door will be entered into a drawing for a new television set.

ESPN will have the women’s NCAA selection show tonight at 8:00.

Once we learn where the Lady Dogs are headed, I’ll have it here. I expect them to land a #3 seed.

The UGA release:

The Men’s Basketball team is returning to the postseason when it takes on Fresno State in the 1st Round of the National Invitational Tournament on Wednesday, March 14 in Stegeman Coliseum. Tip-Off is scheduled for 7:00pm.

Reserved Seat tickets are $15 and can be ordered online www.georgiadogs.com beginning late Sunday evening. Beginning Monday at 8:30am, fans can also order by calling the Athletic Ticket Office 1-877-542-1231(toll free) or by stopping by the Athletic Ticket Office located in the Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall in addition to the online sales. Also, Stegeman Coliseum Ticket Windows will open two hours prior to tip-off for day of game sales. Mastercard, VISA and cash are all accepted forms of payment.

Due to Tournament policies, no fan is guaranteed the same seat as they have during the regular season. However, a limited amount of seats in Sections D-E-F-G will be held for Basketball Enhancement Fund (BEF) donors and men’s basketball season ticket holders and assigned upon availability.

Due to the limited turnaround time, all online and phone orders will be held for pickup at Will-Call Ticket Booth 3 at Stegeman Coliseum beginning two hours before tip-off on the day of the game.

The first 500 UGA Students will be able to attend the game for FREE by showing their valid UGA ID Card at Stegeman Coliseum Ticket Booth 4 beginning two hours before tip-off on the day of the game. All other UGA Student Tickets will be $4 each when showing a valid UGA ID Card at Stegeman Coliseum Ticket Booth 4 on the day of the game. All UGA Student Ticket sales are cash only.

Georgia men’s basketball has life beyond the SEC conference tournament for the first time since Coach Felton’s debut in 2003-2004.

They will host Fresno State as the #4 seed in the South bracket in the NIT. Should they win, they would play the winner of the Air Force / Austin Peay game. We’ll have times and ticket information as soon as we get them.

The NIT field, though not the NCAA field of course, still has plenty of decent teams. Squads like Akron, Clemson, Syracuse, and FSU who just missed out on NCAA bids will be competing for the trip to New York.

There are four SEC teams in this NIT field: Georgia, Alabama, Ole Miss, and Mississippi State.

Georgia had a tougher time against this field than the NCAA field: they are 1-3 against NIT teams with the sole win coming against Mississippi State.

Fresno State is 22-9 overall and 10-7 in the WAC. They have two wins over NCAA-bound teams, Creighton and New Mexico State, and they’ve beaten Utah State who joins us in the NIT field. They finished well after being left for dead midway through the season.

A February 1st loss to Hawaii had them at 15-7. Starting guard Ja’Vance Coleman was kicked off the team. Backup point guard Tyson Parker broke his hand. Instead of packing it in, they played better. They have won seven of nine to finish the season, and their only two losses since have been by a combined eight points to NCAA-bound Nevada and Boise State. They have won four straight road games entering the postseason.

They are led by a trio of athletic big men. 6’6″ swingman Quinton Hosley is the leading scorer at around 14 ppg. He can put it up from outside and gets around nine rebounds a game. He was ejected from the WAC Tournament loss to Boise State, but he won’t miss any more time because of it. 6’8″ forward Dominic McGuire will be a tough matchup. He can bang inside to the tune of 10 rebounds a game and 110 blocks this year but can also step outside. 6’9″ forward Hector Hernandez puts up the most three-pointers of anyone on the team. Point guard Kevin Bell is capable enough running the show. He has a solid assists/turnover ration over 2.

You see immediate matchup issues as Takais Brown and Georgia’s other wings and forwards will have to chase these guys all over the court. Depth is obviously an issue; they don’t go very deep at all especially after the midseason losses.

Arkansas’ trip to the SEC finals earned them a questionable 12-seed in the 2007 NCAA Tournament. They join Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt in the tournament.

Georgia played eight teams from this year’s NCAA field and is 4-9 against them:

• Florida (0-3)
• Georgia Tech (0-1)
• Wisconsin (0-1)
• Kentucky (1-1)
• Gonzaga (1-0)
• Arkansas (1-0)
• Vanderbilt (1-1)
• Tennessee (0-2)

Georgia is 4-3 against tournament teams seeded sixth or lower.

Killing time until the NIT brackets are announced at 9 on ESPN2.