The Junkyard

Thompkins and Leslie are not who we thought they were. Very underachieveing. Good players do not vanish in close games like those 2 have done all year. A game we HAD to have and we don't have one FG in the last 9 and a half minutes? That is hard to do.

This was such a tough loss to take. In the second half when the Dawgs had their 14 point lead, I remember looking at the clock and thinking "run clock, run". I just had the feeling that the more time on the clock, the more likely it was that Vandy was going to come back and win. It was like deja vu all over again.

I just don't know what it is with this team. The slightest thing goes wrong- an ill timed turnover, a call that doesn't go our way, a ball that bounces to the other team, ANYTHING- and the wheels just completely fall off, regardless of how well things were going 5 seconds prior. I believe it all started with the blown call against UT. It got in Mark Fox's head and translated to the rest of the team. He still talks about that call and you can tell that its on his mind- just look at the end of the game last night.

I REALLY like coach Fox. I think that he has done a great job so far, but a good portion of the blame for the team's slide the second half of the season has to fall on his shoulders. I can actually recall a moment in the game where I thought "What the HELL?!?- How did you not know that play was coming?!?!?!" UGA played great D and deflected the ball out of bounds with 2 seconds remaining on the shot clock. The Dores were inbounding the ball from beneath the goal. I looked at my wife and said "They're going to run screens to try and free up Jenkins in the corner for a 3. If they get it to him, he's going to drain it and it will be the beginning of the end. They can't let Jenkins get the ball. ANYBODY but Jenkins". Now, I am by no means a basketball guy and I saw that coming. Hell, everybody in the building and watching on TV knew that was coming, yet we didn't stop it. Thats coaching. Thats a mental lapse at a crucial moment in the game that good teams don't make.

It saddens me to say, but I think that the bubble burst for our hoops team last night.

Not trying to be a jerk and truly curious- what have you seen from the team this year that makes you think we'll go on the road and beat UT or UF? Not to mention that our final game, which seems like a must win at this point, is at Bama. They've been extremely tough at home.

I'm really not trying to be negative- last night just sucked the wind out of my sails. I agree that its not over as far as our tourney hopes go, but I can hear the fat lady warming up her voice...