Men’s basketball team seeks outside production

DANIEL SHIREY

Georgia's Ricky McPhee has struggled with his outside shot this season, only connecting on 2-of-10 from three-point range.

Georgia’s interior players were expected to bear the brunt of the offensive load this season.

Georgia coach Mark Fox talked about the quartet in the preseason, saying he thought the returning veterans in the post would “anchor the team.”

However, even Fox couldn’t have projected just how little help the Georgia frontcourt has received in its first two games, with sophomore Trey Thompkins, juniors Chris Barnes and Jeremy Price, and senior Albert Jackson scoring 77 of the 124 points. Thus far, Georgia’s big men are good for 63 percent of the Bulldogs’ offensive production. The Bulldog frontcourt has been efficient, too, shooting a combined 56 percent from the field.

It is that early impressive performances in the frontcourt from the Dogs, which has University of Alabama-Birmingham head coach Mike Davis concerned when his 3-1 UAB Blazers face Georgia Saturday at 8 p.m. at UAB’s Bartow Arena.

“Their inside guys are very good. Thompkins is talented and can really shoot the ball. Barnes is really athletic. Price is really good,” Davis said of the challenges Georgia presents to his Blazers. “I like their inside guys. They have three really good inside guys, and on the tapes I’ve watched, Jackson hasn’t played because of the wrist injury. So they are really going to be a challenge for us.”

Though Davis is obviously concerned with containing the Dogs’ frontline, Georgia’s guard play won’t be causing him to miss any sleep.

Surprisingly in Fox’s new triangle offense, Ware and McPhee have done an excellent job of controlling turnovers, only turning it over six times in two games. However, the Bulldogs’ only players with experience in the backcourt have struggled to find their niche offensively and have received little help from the bench, as Georgia’s trio of freshman guards – Ebuka Anyaorah, Vincent Williams, and DeMario Mayfield – have looked somewhat inexperienced in their opening two games.

For sophomore Travis Leslie, whose shooting was a bright spot for Georgia Friday night with 17 points, it is all about “staying calm, having poise, relaxing, and it will fall.”

Georgia has received little offensive punch from its starting backcourt of sophomore point guard Dustin Ware and senior shooting guard Ricky McPhee. The duo have coalesced for only 18 points in 111 minutes and are a combined 4-24 (17 percent) from the field, connecting on only 13 percent (2-15) of their three-point baskets.

Fox often praised Ware in the offseason, saying he “functions like a winner in every way,” and no one wants to win worse than Ware. Ware proved he has what it takes last season as a freshman, scoring in double figures in five of the Bulldogs’ last seven SEC games, including a breakout 18-point performance at Kentucky.

Perhaps the most troubling for a team in desperate need of an outside threat has been the shooting of McPhee. Known as “Ricky McThree” after shooting 40.4 percent from behind-the-arc in SEC play last season, McPhee has only connected on two of his 10 three-point attempts, leading Barnes to theorize that the Dogs are just in a shooting rut.

“We’ve been in a pretty good shooting slump these past two games,” Barnes said. “But you know we’ve gotten pretty good looks, so I think further on in the year, we’ll knock those shots down.”