Georgia Basketball; Epic Fail Thusfar

I shouldn't be surprised. I've even said so before. Last night, the UGA men's basketball team played an epic, OT thriller and lost on a last second half court. Their mighty opponent, you ask?

The mighty Texas A&M - Corpus Christi Islanders, of course!

Sigh....

Where does the basketball program go now? I realize it's quite a knee jerk reaction to immediately place the blame on a coach, but seriously... This is the second loss this season to a team with hyphens in its name. I really don't expect a lot when it comes to our basketball program. I realize that Georgia is, and always will be, a football first school. To use a quote from Damon Evans, there isn't even a "blind spot" with this program. The perception outside is that it's crap, and quite frankly the perception within the Bulldog Nation is that it's crap.

Coach Felton got dealt one turd of a hand when he took the reclamation job from the pits of the Harrick downfall. He literally put up flyers in the dorms asking students to come out and walk on because he was so desperate for warm bodies. But we're past that point now. The scholarship reductions are gone. No, the lack of talent is a product of kicking our most talented players off the team, or guys like Billy Humphrey having multiple run-ins with the law. I really don't know where to go at this point, but it can't get any worse, can it?

The only reason Coach Felton wasn't on the chopping block last year was because of that miraculous run on GA Tech's basketball court. Damon Evans didn't tie his hands by making some contract extension to Felton, which was smart. My belief is that Felton was as good as gone otherwise. The way this team is playing right now, the NIT looks like a far reach. Heck, maybe we'll turn it around and post some impressive showings in conference play. Right now, I'm just not seeing it. I implore you Coach. Please do not lose to Kennesaw. That would just give bragging rights to every stripper in Atlanta. (For those not in the know, next time you're at the Cheetah or Pink Pony, ask the lady where she goes to school. I guarantee you she will say Kennesaw State.)

Bowling & Basketball

Whoo!!!  We're playing a bowl game in Florida.  What, that's not the one we wanted??  Aww, gee shucks, I'm just thankful we got some SEC wins this year.  (That was my best Mark Richt impression, BTW)  Hopefully the boys come out fired up and bring hell to Michigan State, but I have to agree with the good Senator.  I don't know what would be more frustrating; for the team to make a marked improvement showing they had the ability all year long, or the team to continue playing without a care in the world and showing that it's continued regression from the beginning of the season never stopped.  

With the basketball team's awesome show in Chicago yesterday, I'm real fired up about what I hope is the last year in the Felton regime.  The first post I made in this blog regarded Coach Felton, and I advocated he should be fired (granted, this was before the miracle run in Atlanta, but I was one of the few that felt he should still be out of a job).  While I attended UGA from 2002-2007, I worked as a basketball usher from 2004-2006, so I got to see a lot more basketball than the average UGA fan.  The typical Felton team has not changed one ounce from his first year.  Every game the team plays relatively solid defense, but seems to always go on a 10 minute scoring drought and still can't make a free throw if a gun were held to its head.  I don't expect much from our mens hoops team, but I think we can do better than cellar dweller.  Florida was a perennial joke in basketball until they made the effort to improve.  Unless Coach Felton gets this team to the NCAA tourney this year without needing some kind of miracle again, he should be shown the door at season's end.  If I weren't so adamantly against mid-season firings, I'd suggest he be shown the door now.  The program's talent level and stature within the SEC has not improved at all during his tenure.  We're now in year 6 and he's been free of the reduced scholarship burden long enough that the team should be at full strength.  Coach, I love your hard-nosed attitude, but sometimes the results have to match the effort, and I'm not seeing it with you.  In the end, wins are all that matters, and sadly there have been not enough wins to keep Coach around.