ATHENS \u2014 Georgia coach Mike White had an old-school, grounded reaction to the new-found success he\u2019s creating in the men\u2019s basketball program.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re human, and we\u2019d rather be ranked than unranked, win than lose, all those things, right?\u201d White said when asked his thoughts on UGA breaking into the AP Top 25 for a second straight season after a previous absence from the poll dating back to 2011.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s ok to feel good about, it\u2019s good for our fans, but \u2026. we\u2019ve got to get better.\u201d<\/p>\n
White, a former four-year starting point guard at Ole Miss (1995-99) who led the Rebels to three NCAA appearances and the program\u2019s first-ever NCAA win, understands how fleeting a ranking can be.<\/p>\n
Especially when a team, in this case, Georgia, hasn\u2019t beaten any significant opponents at this point of the season.<\/p>\n
On paper, the Bulldogs\u2019 basketball program looks good, leading the nation in scoring, scoring margin, blocked shots and fast-break points.<\/p>\n
Georgia has the No. 18 \u201cNET\u201d ranking, too, which represents a computerized rank similar to the more familiar \u201cRPI,\u201d weighing difficulty and location of results with a formula the NCAA selection committee finds valuable enough to consider in its process of putting the field together,<\/p>\n
But Bulldogs, who have played a schedule that ranks 204th, have a long way to go before that Selection Sunday, as White knows better than anyone.<\/p>\n
\u201cCommunication has been something that has been a detriment for us, especially defensively \u2026. we\u2019ve thrown a lot at our guys, we\u2019re doing different things defensively, which makes communication even more important,\u201d White said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIts not a generic, basic defense that we can just get really good at, because there aren\u2019t a lot of reads or a lot of changes. We\u2019re playing a defense that can change throughout We\u2019re pressing in different ways, going in different ways, switching in different ways. And so we\u2019ve got to talk at a higher level.\u201d<\/p>\n
The communication and fluid defensive transitions White speaks of are part of the team\u2019s high-scoring personality, with this team built around the players\u2019 athleticism, versatility and quickness.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got to block out at a higher level, that\u2019s our base defensive number that we\u2019re focused on,\u201d White said, no doubt aware that having a smaller, transition-oriented team puts the team at risk if an opponent can control the tempo and create more of a half-court pace.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got to shoot it better, of course. But again, I like our shot selection. I think that number will continue to increase, to improve.\u201d<\/p>\n
Georgia has been able to overcome what has collectively been streaky perimeter-shooting to this point, the team currently firing up treys with 30-percent marksmanship.<\/p>\n
The next three games (all at home) against Western Carolina (4-6) at 7 p.m. on Thursday, West Georgia (5-5) next Monday and Long Island University (6-5) on Dec. 29 wouldn\u2019t seem to pose much of a threat even if the Bulldogs have another off-night shooting beyond the 3-point arc.<\/p>\n
But the new year will bring a new reality for Georgia basketball when the Bulldogs open the SEC-portion of their schedule against No. 21 Auburn (8-3) at Stegeman Coliseum before a Jan. 6 road trip to defending national champ and No. 23-ranked Florida (6-4).<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve scored a lot of points, but there\u2019s been some games and some segments in games where there\u2019s not a great flow at times, although we end up maybe scoring 80 or 90 that game,\u201d White said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen it comes down to it, in our league, the best defensive league in college basketball, when we\u2019re stuck in the half-court with five minutes left, who are we getting the ball to where and how and what are we executing? We\u2019ve got to figure that out as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then, as White noted, the defense remains a work in progress.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re still a ways away from really figuring out of our six or seven things we\u2019re throwing off the wall defensively, what are our two or three biggest strengths, especially against the highest level opponents,\u201d White said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, there\u2019ll be a couple more pivots in league play. And we\u2019re trying to get better this week.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hence, White\u2019s reluctance to get too carried away with a ranking, even if there is some historical context to it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve said it for a long time, you know, Georgia can be good basketball, right? There\u2019s no reason we shouldn\u2019t be, so we\u2019re pretty good,\u201d White said. \u201cThe rest of our league is too, and we\u2019ve got to continue to get better.\u201d<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ATHENS \u2014 Georgia coach Mike White had an old-school, grounded reaction to the new-found success he\u2019s creating in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":479734,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3723],"tags":[7,217,26144,231,772,1544,6433],"class_list":{"0":"post-479733","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-basketball","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-college-basketball","10":"tag-holiday-hoopsgiving","11":"tag-ncaa","12":"tag-ncaa-basketball","13":"tag-ncaab","14":"tag-state-farm-arena"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115737557947625790","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=479733"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479733\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/479734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=479733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=479733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=479733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}