Bulldog Basketball Bites (Gator Hater ed.)

By Patrick Garbin—Twitter @PGarbinDT

Leading you up to tomorrow’s game against Florida, this week’s five-bite piece on UGA basketball…

ON THIS DATE: 35 years ago on January 13, 1982, was the beginning of perhaps the most unusual two-day outing in UGA basketball history. First, the Bulldogs’ game with Mississippi State in Starkville was postponed a day when Georgia was unable to leave Athens by plane or bus because of an intense snowstorm hitting the area. The next day, the two Bulldog squads finally faced off in Humphrey Coliseum, whereby the host team put the game on “freeze.” As reported, and four years prior to the introduction of the shot clock for the men’s college game, “if there ever was an endorsement for a 24- or 30-second clock in college basketball, it was put forth” as Mississippi State held the ball for 19 of the game’s 40 minutes without taking a shot, resulting in a 26-20 Georgia victory. The host Bulldogs did not attempt a single free throw in defeat whereas Georgia, leading by just two points at the time, made 4-of-6 free throws in the contest's final 13 seconds alone. Junior Dominique Wilkins, who entered averaging 20 points per game, led the visiting Bulldogs with eight points.

…LOOKING BACK: Georgia’s 69-47 win at Ole Miss on Wednesday was impressive for a number of reasons, including it marked the Bulldogs’ second consecutive victory as an underdog (after an 0-2 start as an underdog to begin the season). Currently, in 225 lined games as Georgia’s head coach, Mark Fox and his teams have not been favored on 121 occasions (53.8 percent), recording a 39-82 mark under such conditions (.322 winning percentage). By comparison, and very similarly, Jim Harrick (1999-00 through 2002-03) was not favored in 59 of his 110 lined games as the Bulldogs’ head coach (53.6 percent), achieving a 20-39 record when not favored (.339 winning percentage).

LOOKING AHEAD…: I remember as a kid, 30 or so years ago, repeatedly hearing how the Georgia and Florida basketball traditions were essentially equal (perhaps the former slightly ahead of the latter) as far as achievement. Because of the supposed balance, I took pride in the fact that at least the Bulldogs’ football program was easily head and shoulders above that of the Gators’. However, over the last three decades while Florida has gained on Georgia in regards to football, the Gators have long since surpassed the Dogs on the basketball court—and, I have pinpointed my opinion of when the outpacing began. Granted, come to find out, he was cheating to deliver the Florida program to the beginning of prominence, head coach Norm “Stormin’ Norman” Sloan did so 30 years ago during the 1986-87 season, when the Gators reached their first NCAA Tournament. Ever since then, and despite its former cheating ways, Florida has flourished on the hardwood, whereas Georgia has been stuck in mediocrity, or worse. A comparison of the Georgia and Florida basketball programs before the 1986-87 season, and since then:

STAT OF THE WEEK: Also as a kid, before the Internet and complicated player performance ratings, I was intrigued with a simple individual performance formula introduced by basketball guru Barry Jacobs’ in his Fan’s Guide to ACC Basketball. I dug up one of these old issues, rediscovering the formula. In a nutshell, if a player had the same total number of rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots as personal fouls and turnovers, made 50 percent of his two-point shots, one-third of his three-point shots, and 75 percent of his free throws, he’d have a season rating of exactly .000. From what I recall, a rating of .200 and higher was really good and, invariably, at least one, maybe as many as three or so of a team’s top 10 players would have a negative rating. I figured the ratings of Georgia’s top 10 players through the season’s first 16 games, and was a little surprised who the leading Bulldog was, while rather amazed no one in the top 10 was in the negative:

VIDEO CLIP OF THE WEEK: As is the case tomorrow, where Georgia is currently a 10-point underdog at Florida while having lost eight of its last 10 meetings with the Gators, the Bulldogs entered the series matchup on February 27, 2010—during head coach Mark Fox’s first season—a two-point underdog at home while having lost 12 of the previous 13 meetings:

In snapping the Gators’ winning streak over the Bulldogs, Trey Thompkins scored 20 points, and Albert Jackson ended Florida's comeback attempt by knocking a last-second pass out of bounds to help Georgia in a 78-76 victory. Reserve Jeremy Price finished 6-for-6 from the field, scoring 13 points with five rebounds and three assists in 22 minutes. In addition, Travis Leslie chipped in 12 points and Dustin Ware added 10.