Frustration is not a word used often in Tom Crean’s vocabulary. Perplexing? Well, that's another story.
Georgia’s 70-63 loss to Florida Saturday afternoon in Gainesville certainly qualified as that.
It's been that kind of season for the Bulldogs, who fell to 13-9, 6-9 in the SEC with the loss to the Gators. Defensively, Georgia played well enough to win, holding Florida to 44 percent from the field, including just 6-of-23 on three-pointers.
However, if you've been following the Bulldogs this year, you know Georgia has occasionally struggled shooting the ball. Unfortunately, Saturday was one of those occasions. The Bulldogs made just 37.5 percent of their shots (24 of 64) and wound up losing the game by seven points.
"It's perplexing, but we just have to keep moving on. It's not like those guys are trying to miss. But at the end of the day, Florida went 6-23 from three,” Crean said. “Our defense was keeping us in there. Our offense was not giving us the edge to give us a chance.”
One quick glance at the final box score explains why.
The Bulldogs received an outstanding game from sophomore guard Sahvir Wheeler. Besides providing the Bulldogs with a career-high 27 points, Wheeler picked up five steals and turned the ball over just once.
Unfortunately, he didn't have a lot of help as Justin Kier and P.J. Horne went a combined 1 for 15 and finished with just three points.
Freshman guard KD Johnson also endured a tough night (3 of 11 from the field), while Andrew Garcia could only play three minutes after taking a shot to the face. Crean revealed after the game that Garcia underwent surgery to his nose last Wednesday.
“We do hit pockets of not scoring, pockets of not making threes,” Crean said. “That does happen to us, but we still must find a way to be in the game, so we have a chance to win at the end. It's a matter of sticking with it and looking for what keeps us moving forward."
Tye Fagan was Georgia’s only other player in double figures, with 14.
Another slow offensive start doomed the Bulldogs, who went just one of 13 on 3-point attempts in the first half, despite seemingly getting plenty of open looks.
“Even when we got down in the first half, the key was not to lose our spirit, defensively,” Crean said. “We were having trouble scoring, and we were not making shots. We were not as aggressive at the basket, and we were not getting awarded at the foul line.”
Crean said he would have to watch the film to see exactly what the problem was.
"I'll have to watch the film. There were some challenges—we should have taken one more pass or taken another dribble. I don't have a great answer,” Crean said. “But a lot of those shots just didn't go in. Maybe I'll have a different answer after I watch the film.”
Speaking of answers, with just two more games left in the regular season, the Bulldogs are running out of time to find them.
After hosting LSU on Tuesday, Georgia entertains South Carolina in what will be the final game before the SEC Tournament gets underway the following week in Nashville.
However, when asked if he thought the team was heading in the right direction, Crean declined to say.
"I don't know, I'm not a big picture guy. We just beat Missouri the other night; I don't have a great answer for that,” he said. “We're just looking to build and improve every day. When you lose on the road, you're not really into the big picture; you're more into what you've got to do to get ready for the next game.
“That's where I am at with it, but I think we've got a lot of guys that are making improvements right now. So I'm not really sure what your question entails, but we're getting better, and there are still games left this season. We're just doing our best to improve daily."
