The start of Georgia’s basketball season is just over a month away, and as you might expect, head coach Mike White says there’s a lot of work still to do be done.
“I think we’ve got a ways to go. I’m sure the other 13 coaches in our league feel the same way, though,” White said after practice Wednesday. “I like, again, our seriousness in terms of our consistency and approach on a daily basis, but my biggest issues today—and I addressed this after practice—was getting out of our comfort zone, to fight through that wall of fatigue, if you will. We’ve got to get tougher.”
White’s comments came after the Bulldogs held an open practice session for interested media, which followed an approximate 20-minute film session with White and the assembled scribes.
There, White took reporters on a video tour of some of the concepts he has planned for this year’s Bulldog squad before heading to the practice gym, where the team worked out for almost two hours.
“It takes a lot of mental physicalness and toughness to make it through the SEC,” White said. “I think we’ve got a fair amount of physical toughness, but we’ve also got a fair amount of players at this point in their careers who don’t know how to win consistently at this level, and mental toughness is a big factor.
"We’re going to put guys in a position to fail in practice, and we’ve got to handle it consistently better than we are right now.”
Athleticism does not appear to be a problem.
Among the players who impressed were Syracuse transfer Frank Anselum, Oklahoma State transfer Matthew-Alexander Moncrief, and North Texas transfer Mardrez McBride.
Returnees Jaxon Etter, Braelen Bridges, and Jabri Abdur-Rahim were there.
Absent were Terry Roberts (illness), Justin Hill (hamstring), and Jaden Newell (illness). Freshman KyeRon Lindsey had to leave practice early following a collision early in practice, but seemed to be OK.
“We had a couple that've had a lot of success that didn’t go today. You could feel it,” White said. “But to this point in practice, they’ve put a stamp on this team and this program. But we’ve got to take it a little bit further, and it’s got to spread. Throughout this year, we’ve got to learn how to win in the SEC, starting with our returners. We’ve had some other guys who have won, but at other places, mostly lower levels. This is a real league now in men’s basketball.”
Getting players out of their comfort zone in practice is one of the bigger daily goals.
“Terry, Justin Hill, M.A. Moncrief, Frank Anselum, and Jaxon Etter are just a handful of guys. I probably left a handful out that are getting out of their comfort zones, making multiple efforts defensively,” White said. “When guys are a little bit winded, sometimes they will stick out a little bit.”
Georgia opens its season on Nov. 7 against Western Carolina.
NOTE: Saturday’s practice marked the return of graduate Jailyn Ingram, who saw his first on-court action with the team since tearing his ACL in last year’s 10th game against Jacksonville. Although Ingram only repped a couple of drills, White liked what he saw. “It was the first thing I’ve seen him do since we’ve been here,” he said. “I missed his second rep, but his first time up and down the court he went 4 for 4 (sprint drills); that’s a pretty good percentage.”
