CLEMSON, S.C. - Georgia opened the 2016-17 basketball season on Friday night at Clemson and took a 74-64 loss to the Tigers. The Dawgs trailed from almost start to finish and had moments where they made runs, but could never get over the hump.
Here is what we learned from the season opening road loss.
1) Early Season Struggles Continue For the third straight season, Georgia has lost its first game of the season. To be fair, the Bulldogs haven't lost to bad teams. Two years ago, they lost to Georgia Tech on the road. Last year, they opened with a loss to Southern Conference champions Chattanooga. Friday, they lost on the road to another ACC team in Clemson, a team that will probably finish towards the top of the best league in America and make the NCAA Tournament.
That being said, this is a bad trend for Georgia. From the opening jump, Georgia could never get into any sort of rhythm offensively. This loss won't prevent Georgia from making it to the NCAA Tournament, but it would have gone a long ways towards helping its case come Selection Sunday.
2) Needed: More Perimeter Scoring Outside of J.J. Frazier, Georgia is going to need to somebody to step up on the perimeter and be a consistent scorer. Juwan Parker might be able to be that player on some nights, but he struggled with his shot tonight. To be fair, the redshirt junior hasn't played in a game in 20 months, so it's possible he may just need to shake off the rust and get back in game pace. Kenny Paul Geno doesn't give Georgia any scoring punch. Turtle Jackson had back to back three-pointers at one point, but didn't score the rest of the game. Tyree Crump will eventually be ready to score in a big way for Georgia, but he only saw limited playing time in his first college game. Jordan Harris, another talented freshman scorer, didn't see the court. Finding more scoring punch from outside is going to be key for Mark Fox going forward.
3) Perimeter Defense Lacking Too Part of Georgia's struggles had to do with Clemson simply getting too many open looks from outside. For the most part, the Tigers guards did what good players do and they took advantage of their good looks and made Georgia pay. It was not an encouraging night for Georgia in the back-court.
4) Front Court Did Its Part Between Yante Maten, Derek Ogbeide, and Mike Edwards, Georgia's post players did their share. Maten led the way in scoring for the Dawgs and mostly had his way when he got the ball in the paint. He's even continued to show he can connect on three-pointers as he knocked down two of them. Ogbeide battled foul trouble late in the first half and through the second half, but he was dominant in the first portion of the first half. He looks to be Georgia's most improved player. Edwards came in and gave Georgia some good minutes in the post as well, so Georgia should be encouraged by the way their big men played in the opener.
5) Newcomers Need Time Fox sent the message that he's not quite ready to unleash his newcomers just yet. Pape Diatta, junior college transfer small forward, was the first newcomer to see action, but didn't receive a ton of playing time. Crump came in late in the first half and gave Georgia some good minutes, and actually a quick scoring boost, but didn't see the floor much in the second half. Harris didn't see any playing time. It's early and it's not unusual for newcomers to not see big minutes right away, but for Georgia to win this year, they will need all three of their incoming players to help out.
