DawgsOnline
Since 1995 - Insightful commentary on the Georgia Bulldogs

Post The last thing Georgia hoops needs now is a wet blanket

Wednesday January 27, 2010

I’m glad to see fans like Kyle, for whom basketball is extraneous, taking an interest in this year’s squad. It’s hard not to like them, and part of making sure that Stegeman is full more often than not is capturing the interest of the casual fan. But is it really worth a post pointing out that – guess what – Georgia’s really not that great of a team? At this point in Mark Fox’s turnaround job, it’s a bit like chiding your kid not to get too pleased with herself for that refrigerator drawing – it’s just not Louvre material.

Picking apart Georgia’s record doesn’t really get to the point of what’s going on in Athens. I don’t think anyone – short of another miracle at the SEC Tournament – is expecting the team to go on a run that will have anyone thinking about the NCAA Tournament this year. It’s going to be tough enough just to remain at .500 overall and have a shot at any postseason. The margin of error for this team remains very thin, they play in a division with three ranked teams, and they’re going to lose more games.

The Dawgs were a unanimous pick to finish dead last in the SEC East this year. They still might. But most of the enthusiasm around the program centers not around its postseason prospects but around these observations: win or lose, they’re never boring, they continue to improve, and the Dawgs might just have hired the right guy. The development of Travis Leslie gives the Bulldogs two destination players – people come to watch what he and Thompkins will do. Interest is building in the program. For the time being, building and sustaining that fickle fan base matters far more than wins or losses.

One Response to 'The last thing Georgia hoops needs now is a wet blanket'

Subscribe to comments with RSS

  • Amen Groo! No offense to Kyle, but after reading his post it’s pretty obvious he just doesn’t get it. Given our history, i’m pretty surprised he doesn’t have more tempered expectations for year one of the Fox regime. Fortunately, we do have a lot of great fans that are getting it and are thrilled with the improvements we’ve seen thus far. Even after some losses i’m still smiling. I haven’t see our players this excited & hopeful in a long time. And i’m not alone, we sold out Stegeman before winning our first SEC game-that certainly wouldn’t have happened in recent years past.

    Most importantly i just hope fans get that packing out Stegeman & traveling to as many road games as you can makes a difference. We heard as much from our players directly after than win against the Vols.

    Great post as always!