Guest Post: Who is Mark Fox and what has he done to our team?

Friend of the blog and regular commentator here at B n' E, MT, attended the basketball game against Tennessee in Athens last night. Here are his thoughts on Mark Fox and how he is transforming Georgia basketball:

Who is Mark Fox and what has he done with our team?

By MT

We look more and more like a team that is starting to buy into Fox’s triangle system and believe in themselves. Even though Fox is dealing with a short bench, he is making the most out of his depth, with 11 players rotating in during just the first half.

Georgia led the rest of the way after 3 minutes into the game. Even though Bruce Pearl quickly turned on the full court press against Georgia for the rest of the game, we had little difficulty inbounding and moving the ball around, unlike in the Felton era. Once the game started to truly get out of hand, we surprisingly saw a lot of minutes from Stevie Pearl… I wonder why?
Travis Leslie’s dunk five minutes into the game blew the roof off of the Stegasaurous and will definitely end up in Sportcenter’s Top 10 tonight. Leslie has to be Georgia’s best recruiter right now, with the amount of highlights the WWL is giving him each game. I don’t think I have ever seen as many unmolested dunks as I did tonight, as Tennessee seemed to collapse on the driving player every time, opening up the paint.



The students were packed to the rafters over an hour before the game even started. There was a lot of good signs in the game, from “You shoot better off the court!” to a Tennessee hostess escorted by three USC clad students with Orgeron, Lane and Monte Kiffin masks. For some reason, there was also a student that lathered himself in peanut butter too. Ultimately at the end of the game, we were thwarted at storming the court.

Chants echoed throughout the night, from “Where’s your handcuffs” to “Please don’t rob me!”

It was all good fun with our rivals to the north. The Vols showed up in jumpsuit-clad force, but after Leslie’s NBA Jam-esque dunk, they were not heard from again. It’s got to be noted that we’ve got one serious head ball coach, and we need to make sure he’s locked up for a long time. March Madness is a magical time and Georgia Nation deserves to be a part of it each year.
After this win, I think we can legitimately start talking about making the tournament this year. Sitting at 9-8 (1-3) with one of the nation’s most impressive schedules, a couple more big wins would put us right on the bubble. Add two wins in the SEC Tourney and we truly enter the discussion.

Random Thoughts from the Columbus Airport

I am stuck at the airport in Columbus, Ohio waiting for my flight home. Here are some thoughts on what has been going on lately:

- G-Day is on the Saturday of The Masters - Throw in the fact that I don't think the game will be on ESPN this year, and we should be back to the normal G-Day crowd of around 5,000.

- Who will be the final coaching hire? - I would still love to bring Travis Jones from the Saints to coach the line but I don't that is going to happen. If we can't get Jones, I would rather get a special teams coach. Grantham, Gardner, and Lakatos will be fine with the defense.

- Da'Rick Rodgers taking his visit to Tennessee - If he switched to UT, I guess it would be fair since we stole Marlon Brown from them on Signing Day last year. But, I really hope Da'Rick is in Athens next fall.

- Signing day is just a couple of weeks away. Barring any major changes, Georgia should end up with around the 10th ranked class in the country. Pretty good considering it is a smaller class and we had a pretty young team last season. The mass exodus leaving Florida with Tebow caused a lot of players to pick the Gators. I've got a feeling a fair number will be transferring after the 2010 season.

- Chan Gailey gets hired by Buffalo - You think Chan can get Reggie Ball to try out for QB? I guess the Bills figured since Georgia is not in the AFC East, Gailey should do alright.

- Despite losing all three games, the Georgia basketball team had 3 of the top 4 teams in the SEC on the ropes to start the SEC schedule. I really wish they could have held on against Mississippi State last Saturday, but clearly they are much better coached team under Mark Fox. Travis Leslie is going to be a big name in a couple of years.

Let's Get to Know: Jakar Hamilton

With the start of spring classes in Athens, Georgia officially welcomed two new members of the Bulldog nation. Offensive lineman Kolton Houston and junior college safety Jakar Hamilton enrolled early and will be with the Dawgs when they begin spring practice in March. Houston will be a true freshman and with a veteran line returning in '10, is most likely headed for a redshirt season. Hamilton on the other hand is expected to compete for one of the open safety positions left by the graduation of Bryan Evans and the decision by Reshad Jones to leave early for the NFL.

Hamilton will be starting his SEC career two years later than oiginally planned. Hamilton originally committed to the University of South Carolina as part of the class of 2007 following a stellar career at Strom Thurmond High School (Johnston, SC). During high school, Hamilton played defense and offense, where he was a scoring machine during his junior season in 2005 scoring 20 touchdowns. He led his team to the state championship that year, but missed most of his senior year to injury. Academic issues ultimately led Hamilton away from South Carolina. He spent the following two seasons at Georgia Military College, where he quickly became a Junior College All-American. During his two seasons at GMC, Hamilton totaled 88 tackles and 6 interceptions playing primarily safety.

Jakar comes to Athens after choosing Georgia over Alabama, making his announcement at the Wild Wing Cafe in Augusta. (You can watch the video here.) Hamilton will have two years of eligibility left to display his talents. He is described as a physical safety who excels in run support and is known for making big tackles. The only knock on Hamilton appears to be his coverage skills, so hopefully new DB coach Scott Lakatos can help him improve in that area.

Hamilton wore #10 during his playing days at GMC. Hopefully he can live up to the last Dawg that wore #10 at safety, Thomas Davis.

Go Dawgs!!!

The Jets in the AFC Championship: A Strike Against Playoffs in College Football

The New York Jets defeated the San Diego Chargers on Sunday to advance to the AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts next week. The most interesting part of the Jets run in the playoffs has been that it almost did not happen. Following a week 15 loss to the Falcons, the Jets were on the outside looking in. With games left against an undefeated Colts team and a division leading Bengals, the playoff chances for the Jets looked grim. In college football, two tough games left on the schedule would almost certainly mean losses for the Jets. But this is the NFL, and unlike college football, playoffs allow teams to rest players when their playoff seats are already decided.

Over the next two weeks, the Jets took advantage of both the Colts and Bengals taking it easy in preparation for the playoffs. They won both games and made the playoffs as the final team in. On Wild Card weekend, they had a rematch against the Bengals who had taken it easy on them the week before. The Jets won easily and after beating San Diego, will now get another shot at the Colts next week. Wouldn't it be funny if the team that the Colts and Bengals went easy on (allowing them to make the playoffs) ultimately knock both of them off?

Now the question ultimately arises, if there were playoffs in college football, would teams rest players late in the season much like the Colts and Saints did this year? If a team knew that they had a playoff game the next week, would they be willing to lose a season finale (most likely against a rival) to rest players?

I know the immediate reaction is to say no. Of course Georgia would not rest players against Georgia Tech. But take a minute and think about basketball. Georgia plays Georgia Tech every year and ultimately the game means very little to the season as whole. If Georgia had already clinched a spot in the SEC Championship and knew they would have a playoff game the week after, would they risk losing the Tech game to give their players a chance to get healthy before two games that really meant something?

I am personally torn on this subject. I would love to see a playoff but I also think it would take away from the regular season.

Leave your thoughts in the comments.

*Thanks go out to Evan and Earl for stirring up this conversation over email today.

Dawgs get their DC, Vols still looking

Todd Grantham has been hired as the new defensive coordinator of the Georgia Bulldogs today. Grantham, who is currently the defensive line coach for the Dallas Cowboys, has had coaching experience at both the collegiate and NFL level. Grantham was a member of Nick Saban's staff at Michigan State and later served as the defensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns. He runs a 3-4 defensive scheme and it should be exciting to see how he brings this defense to Athens.

Meanwhile, Tennessee tried to go the safe route by offering their vacant head coaching position to former Vol OC David Cutcliffe. While some media outlets reported the deal as done, it turned out to be as real as the deal Georgia had with Kirby Smart (in other words, a final deal never existed). They have now whiffed on Muschamp and Cutcliffe, let's see if they make it 3 strikes with their next target.

Sundiata Gaines Making the Most of a 10 Day Contract

Last week, former Georgia basketball player Sundiata Gaines signed a 10 day contract with the Utah Jazz. Gaines, who was the team leader on the 2008 Georgia Bulldogs team that went on a run to win the SEC Tournament, went undrafted out of college. After playing in the NBA Development League, Gaines finally got the chance to make an impact.

Last night against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Gaines made his mark on the NBA:

Hi, my name is Kippy Brown....

...and I am the current head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers.

I wonder if Junior ever actually learned the words to Rocky Top. With the fact that Tennessee will now be replacing pretty much its entire staff, I don't feel so bad about our Defensive Coordinator search.

Wonder if Kirby is a candiate? (just kidding)

Stop the Kirby Hate!

He decided to stay at the job where he just won the national championship, the Broyles Award as the nation's best coordinator, and is probably getting a huge pay raise. I have absolutely no anger at him for his decision and no other true Dawg fan should either.

Would I have liked Kirby Smart to come home to Athens? Hell yeah.

Am I going to disown him as a Dawg because he didn't want to leave the great situation he was in? Hell no.

I wish Kirby Smart the best of luck at Bama and I hope he finds a head coaching position in the near future. Mark Richt will get the right man for the job. If Kirby did not want the job, he was not the right man for it.

WHO'S NEXT???

80's Video of the Day: In Honor of Kirby Smart

We have not had an 80's Video of the Week in quite some time, however I feel this vidoe may be appropriate for the current situation around Kirby Smart's decision to either came to Athens or stay in Tuscaloosa. So, with that in mind, here is the Bubba N'Earl 80's video of the day, "Should I Stay or Should I Go" by The Clash:

Good Luck Rennie!

Junior linebacker Rennie Curran has decided to leave Georgia early and head to the NFL draft. Despite is short stature, Curran made a hell of an impact during the last three seasons. Curran made his splash as a freshman on the 2007 team that finished number two in the nation. Here are the highlights from his freshman season:


During the 2008 season, Rennie became the leader of the Georgia defense. He seemed to always be "around the ball", making big plays including forcing a fumble at the goal line against South Carolina that preserved a 14-7 lead and laying a huge hit on Rudy Carpenter to set the tone in the victory over Arizona State:


Rennie was one of the bright spots on this year's defense as he led the SEC in tackles and was named All-SEC. Image what the season would have been like if Curran had not tipped this pass to seal the win against South Carolina:


We wish the "Liberian Nightmare" good luck in the NFL.

GO DAWGS!!!