WHAT: Georgia at Kentucky
WHEN: Tuesday, 7 p.m.
WHERE: Rupp Arena, Lexington, Ky.
RECORDS: Georgia 10-6, 1-3; Kentucky 13-4, 4-1
TV/RADIO: ESPN (Karl Ravech, Jay Bilas, Marty Smith); Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Scott Howard, Chuck Dowdle, Adam Gillespie); XM/Internet (381/971).
Tom Crean didn’t sugarcoat his team’s performance in Saturday’s blowout loss at Mississippi State.
Anytime you lose by 32 points, no matter the circumstances, there’s no convincing way to excuse the massacre, no matter how young his Bulldogs may be.
Nevertheless, with Kentucky up next Tuesday night in Lexington (7 p.m., ESPN), Crean said getting away from Athens against another talented team might be just what his team needs.
“I’m glad we’re going on the road again, I really am. We have to test ourselves,” Crean said. “I would love to play at home every night, but it doesn’t work out that way. I’m glad we get to go test ourselves right now, because we have to bounce back and bounce back quickly.”
The question is, can the Bulldogs make enough corrections from Saturday’s debacle to give themselves a chance at Rupp Arena?
Georgia (11-6, 1-3) played their worst game of the year against Mississippi State, and now they face a Kentucky team that rallied to win 78-69 two weeks ago in Athens.
“The biggest thing for us is, we just didn’t compete the way we needed to, and so that’s the stuff, that’s an internal thing that we just have to take care of,” Crean said of the loss to MSU. “We just have to continue to understand that whether we’re home, whether we’re on the road, we have to play a physical style when it comes to getting to people, blocking out, getting 50-50 balls, getting back on transition defense, being more active with your hands, all those kinds of things. That’s the biggest thing.”
Recent slow starts by Anthony Edwards haven’t helped the Bulldogs.
Naturally, teams are paying much closer attention to the Atlanta native, who remains the country’s top-scoring freshman with 19.1 points per game. But Crean said there are areas of Edwards’ game that still need to still improve.
“I don’t think we were getting the cutting that we needed to have, and we weren’t getting the reversal that we needed to have. When we go through the paint and get ball reversals, whether we make it or not is really good. That’s just what needs to happen,” Crean said. “There are a few situations where he’s got to get better at getting rid of the guy that’s in front of him, because when you’re just dribbling and the guy can stay in front of you, well now four other defenders are there to help that guy. Those are the best things. I think that’s part of it. He’s a confident shot maker, but he’s got to get more escapability from the defense, as we all do. That makes a huge difference for us.”
Crean knows his team can’t have a repeat performance against the Wildcats (13-4, 4-1).
“I think when the other team gets off to that quick, easy start, we just didn’t give a lot of resistance the other night. That’s where we’ve got to be better,” Crean said. “Mature teams don’t need their offense to feel that. That's a hard, hard thing to get in college basketball these days. Mature teams come out and establish physicality, establish a defensive mindset, and let the offense come from there. We’re not there yet, and we need to continue to grow into that.”
The lack of a physical presences inside hasn’t helped the Bulldogs, either.
Opponents have continued to take advantage of Georgia’s lack of a physical presence, which is why Crean said he’s considering getting 6-foot-11, 245-pound freshman Rodney Howard additional minutes.
Howard has played sparingly for the Bulldogs, averaging just five minutes in his last four appearances.
“We need to get Rodney in there. We really do. We need the size,” Crean said. “He just hasn’t been that consistent yet. He goes through what a lot of freshmen go through, with a level of consistency at practice. We have to get him in there.”
