ATHENS - Georgia spent last season lighting up scoreboards, piling up wins and playing at a pace that made the Bulldogs one of the most dangerous offenses in the country. The problem was that the same team that averaged 89 points per game - fifth nationally - also gave too much back on the other end.
That imbalance showed up again and again in conference play, where defensive lapses kept Georgia from pulling away from opponents. It was part of what doomed the Bulldogs in their blowout NCAA Tournament loss to Saint Louis, too.
Georgia’s offense produced plenty of fireworks, including nearly 20 fast-break points a night to lead the nation. But the defense rarely gave that production enough support.
The Bulldogs allowed nearly 80 points per game overall, a number that jumped to 84.1 in conference play. Even with about eight turnovers forced per game on the perimeter, opponents still found success from deep, shooting 33.6% from three and hitting 271 threes.
A lot of those baskets came after second chances, a direct reflection of Georgia’s struggles on the glass.
That was especially glaring for a team that ranked sixth nationally in blocks per game but still finished 125th in defensive rebounds and 206th in rebound margin.
“Last year we were so electric and so good offensively,” Saint Louis transfer forward Brady Dunlap said. “Then we were not great on defensive rebounding and defense in general.”
Dunlap is one of several transfer additions Georgia brought in to try to fix those issues. The 6-foot-8 senior played at St.
John’s under Rick Pitino before spending last season at Saint Louis. He believes trimming that rebounding gap, even by a little, could make a real difference in the win column.
The Bulldogs also added guard Freddie Dilione V, who has played for Penn State and Tennessee, and center James Scott, who comes from Ole Miss. All three arrive with experience in systems shaped by defensive-minded coaches.
Mike White said he sees a team that should be improved defensively while still pushing the same kind of pace that defined Georgia a year ago.
“I think this team will be better defensively than last year’s group; I don’t know that we’ll score quite as easily. We’ll play just as fast,” White said. “I hope we do score quite as easily as we did last year to complement that with what I think will be a better defensive team and definitely a better rebounding team.”
White said the group has been relentless through the summer and fall in its effort to get better on that end of the floor.
“We got guys that want to play defense, that want to buy in and do the little things,” guard Smurf Millender said.
For Dunlap, one lesson that stuck from Pitino was the importance of owning the possession battle. But Georgia’s path to real improvement still comes down to the basics: better team defense, stronger rebounding, and holding its own against bigger lineups like Florida, Duke and Tennessee.
Whether the newcomers can change that equation down low will go a long way toward determining how many more games Georgia can win this season.
“At the end of the day, it’s all about winning games,” Dunlap said. “So I think if we can focus on defending the basketball, creating turnovers, as well as just winning the glass every game as much as we possibly can … just going to be crucial to winning the game.”
In Other News...
Kirby Smart Seemed To Send A Message In Georgias Vanderbilt Win
Jared Curtis did not suit up in Vanderbilts recent meeting with Georgia after the quarterback, who had flipped his commitment from the Bulldogs to the Commodores last year, was injured. Georgia handled the game the way a team trying to stay in the thick of the national title race needed to, while Vanderbilt came away with its season outlook looking far less secure than the one in Athens.
Afterward, Curtis made his way toward Kirby Smart, setting up a moment that drew attention for what happened as much as what did not. Smarts body language suggested he was not eager to linger, and the interaction felt like the sort of understated sideline scene that can say plenty without anyone having to say much at all. [Read more 🡒]
Georgia Left Vanderbilt With Two Concerns Alabama Will Test
Georgia left Nashville with a win and a cleaner record, but not a clean bill of health on the details that usually travel with them into bigger games. The Bulldogs beat Vanderbilt 38-14 to move to 5-0, and Carson Beck turned in another efficient day by completing 25 of 32 passes for 295 yards and three touchdowns. Even so, the outing had the kind of uneven stretches Georgia cannot ignore when the schedule sharpens, especially with the ground game not finding much rhythm.
The defense also had its lapses, most notably on third downs, and Alabama is the sort of opponent that tends to expose those cracks quickly. Georgia did settle in after halftime and looked more like itself down the stretch, but next weekend brings a far sterner test of whether those second-half corrections can carry over. For a team that has mostly handled business through September, the trip to face Alabama now feels less like a checkpoint and more like a revealing exam. [Read more 🡒]
Kirby Smart Is Already Pressing Georgia On One Concern Before Alabama
Vanderbilt kept things interesting for a half before Georgia pulled away for a 38-14 win, scoring the final 17 points to close it out. Clark Lea had reasons to point to some progress on the Commodores side, especially in protection and the run game, while Kirby Smart came away talking about the kind of things he likes to see from his own team this time of year: conditioning, execution and the steadier finish that can matter when the schedule tightens.
Smarts focus now turns quickly to Alabama, and it sounds like he is already sharpening one concern before that matchup arrives. Even after a comfortable win, Georgia is still looking to clean up areas that can become costly against a better opponent, and Smart did not hide that there is more work to do before the next test. [Read more 🡒]