RE: Official Game Thread: Georgia
I loved the last 4 minutes of this game. The Bucs had played really well for about 25 minutes, dominating the game. But the momentum had shifted, the lead had been lost, and collars were getting tight on the Bucs side.
What the Bucs did here they will have to do again in a tough SoCon: take hold of a game that has turned decisively against them. Get their focus and belief back, and turn things around.
You had big players making big plays. Hustle and defensive stops. A first year head coach asserting himself, with his team responding. And a little bit of luck.
To set the stage: after Sloan missed a layup, Mohab Yasser got a big rebound and put back. But Aaron Cook followed with an equally big 3 for Georgia.
So at 3:56 Georgia had an 8 point lead, 74-82.
At 3:27 King, who was getting overplayed for the 3, drove it in to score with a nice finish, bringing the Bucs to within 6, 76-82.
On the next offensive possession, the Bucs came out running a simple weave, Just to loosen up a Georgia defense that had pressed out to the perimeter and gotten much more aggressive and confident. But Georgia’s Bauman stepped in between the passer King and the receiver Sloan to knock the ball loose, and Sloan could not haul it in, kicking it out of bounds. Time out, again, at 3:01
And this time, Oliver was angry. King and Sloan got the initial brunt of it for muffing what should have been a simple exchange, but others were getting a wakeup call, too. To their great credit, the team seemed to respond with renewed energy and toughness. This little sideline exchange, and the team's response to it, was big move #1 in the end game.
Coming out of that time out, the Bucs had a fine defensive stop with good team defense, causing a shot clock violation. The defensive stop was big move #2. Bucs ball.
And at our end of the court, Ledarrius nailed a 3 at the 2:15 mark to cut it to 79-82. A great stop, and a great shot and suddenly the lead was down to 3, and everybody woke up to see that the Bucs were not dead and buried at all (“5 feet under” said the announcers), but within reach of winning this thing. Ledarrius shot was big move #3
On the defensive end, Georgia leader Aaron Cook missed a contested 3. But the ball went out of bounds to Georgia, inbounding at 1:42. And in one of the biggest plays of the game, Sloan read the inbounds pass, tipped it forward hard and snagged it himself for a breakaway layup to bring the Bucs to within 1 point at 81-82. Sloan’s steal and finish was big move #4.
On the defensive end again, 6-5 Ledarrius Brewer blocked a shot in the paint by 6-10 235 Braelen Bridges, resulting in a tie up with the possession arrow pointing to ETSU. That block and tie up was big move #5.
On the ETSU end, scrapper Mohab Yasser was fouled and made 1 of 2 free throws to tie it, 82-82 at 57.1 seconds left. Getting any free throws for the Bucs on this night and in this situation was big move #6.
But on the other end, Georgia’s Bauman drove to make a short jumper, and Vonnie fouled out trying to step in front of him at 35.6 seconds. So Georgia up by 2, 82-84 with the excellent shooting Bauman going to the line for the “and 1”. Which he missed! Rebound to Ledarrius.
So the Bucs are now down by 2, with an offensive possession with a chance to tie with a 2 or win with a 3. And with 8.4 seconds left, David Sloan stepped back for a 3 and nailed it! Bucs up 85-84. Big, big move #7.
Sometimes it helps to get a little lucky. On Georgia’s next possession the Brewer brothers, probably the Bucs best defenders, were defending the back line. But somehow with only seconds left the Bulldogs' best shooter Bauman got wide open in the corner. He was having a career night, going 7-8 from 3. But he missed the wide, wide open 3! Regardless of how many 3’s you’ve made, that last one with your team down, time running out and time to think about how wide open you are can be a wee bit tougher. Especially when you've just missed a free throw.
King grabbed the rebound, was fouled and made 1-2. The diving rebound was big move #8. The Bulldogs now had only a fraction of a second, time for a 1-100 prayer – a full court heave and deflection. No time for a catch and shoot. Which prayer was not granted. Bucs win
Without Silas, and without Charlie, with the momentum turned hard against them, the Bucs learned that they could turn around the momentum, pull together and make the plays to pull one out. They will no doubt need to do that again in SoCon play.
The Bucs have had their down moments this year. But this finish along with a dominating performance against #71 Missouri State and a gritty win over #78 8-2 Murray State, show what is possible for this team. If you can beat those teams, you can beat anyone in the SoCon. But... the SoCon will not be easy. Furman, Wofford and Chattanooga are very tough and experienced at the top, and lower ranked teams like VMI, Samford, the Citadel and even Western Carolina have the long range fire power (top 20 in D1) to win over anybody in the league on a given night. There is not one ‘easy out’ in the entire league.
It’s going to be a long Covid ridden January and February slog through the SoCon. Which starts against the physically toughest team, Chattanooga, in just a few days. Everything is still possible for this team.
Go Bucs!
|