So I, I know you, you did the
Kentucky post game already, but I do want to
ask you one question when, when you're sitting in
Lexington and you find out that of all games,
this is gonna be the one they clear the 72
Croatian. Do you just kind of think, you
know why that, why? Now that seem unfortunate
, you know, it's funny we were at a
, a media time out and, uh, Rupp
went crazy and I'm looking around wondering what the heck's
going on and one of my assistant coaches said they
just put the big fella in. So, um
, the Kentucky fans were excited to see him play
, obviously and he played really well. He's a
really, he's a high level talent that complements them
moving forward, I think, helps them become one
of the best offensive teams in the country they already
were, but even better. Did you have any
inclination that he might or could, or possibly that
day? And, and did you have any tape
on him? Any scouting report, you know,
kind of thing? We, we found some quickly
, we've got a big staff and yeah, so
we watched, we watched some in, in the
pregame. I showed our guys for the first time
and, you know, this kid might play,
might not, I'm sure he'll be rusty. Um
, I don't know how many minutes he'll play.
You know, we were honest with our guys.
We're always honest with our guys, you know,
with scattering boards and, um, you know,
really skilled, uh, who knows how much they'll
utilize him offensively. He gets in the game and
wow, just, uh, made an immediate impact
from three and with his passing ability, uh,
altering shots at the rim, he's a talent.
You guys haven't had too many losses this season,
but how do your guys kind of digest it and
move on? You know, I, I think
our in-game response kind of speaks for itself as it
did in Tallahassee and, and obviously we lose the
game and, and it was, it was ugly
there for a little bit. Not that we didn't
compete. I thought we competed at a really high
level, finished really strong. But that inga response
I think is, um, it is correct,
you know, um, if you like the big
picture with our team, it's, um, it's
appropriate because we've responded after every loss. Uh,
the right way, had a really good practice yesterday
. Anticipate another one today. Do the metrics take
care of themselves. I mean, I know we're
, we're watching this bracketology and I know you're focused
on the game but you keep knocking out the wins
at home and stealing a few on the road,
you feel pretty confident that will give you the resume
you need. Yeah, I, I'm more confident
that if you're focused on, on having a good
practice today, you'll play better tomorrow and give yourself
a chance to, to be in a good position
against a really good LSU team. Yeah, if
you, if you win enough good things will happen
, but it's a waste of time for us to
talk about it. Uh That's why we, we
, we try to have those conversations on the front
end, get them out of the way. Let's
focus on how the heck we keep Jordan Wright off
the foul line, you know, and, uh
, how do we guard big fella in, in
the post? And the, and, and,
uh, cook is tremendous at creating his own shots
and this is a team is three and two in
our league. So, um, we've got to
have a great practice today. That's where we're at
tomorrow, you know, let's touch on it a
little bit. But what challenges do they bring?
Oh, they execute. They, um, they
space you, they drive you. I mean,
I think they're led by those two guards, uh
, Cook and Wright Wright is one of the most
improved players in our league, um cooked the transfer
from two lanes recently eligible and made them different,
uh, credit there in my opinion that their,
uh, their, their staff in terms of,
they're playing a lot different now, you know,
with him eligible, um, especially offensively compared to
how they were playing early in the season. So
they've adapted a little bit and they're playing really,
really well, uh, uh, could easily be
sitting here with, uh, with four wins and
, uh, this, this team is, uh
, you know, top 50 defense and a very
dangerous offensive team as well. Jabree, uh,
uh, has been steady in his progress, but
it seems exponential, the improvements he's made this year
, score 34 in a row has come a long
way. He worked his butt off. So happy
for him. Is that what to, what do
you owe it mainly, uh, coaching? Right
. Clearly, his work ethic, hi his,
so he, he's a gym rat. He's,
um, he's so consistent with his work ethic.
You know, he, uh, he's growing as
a leader becoming, he has become, not becoming
and I now I should probably change my terminology when
we're talking about him. You know, he's become
a leader, he's become consistent. He's learned how
to overcome a couple missed shots where he can move
on to the next play. Um, hang his
hat on, on, on the next split second
of the game, which could be a transition defense
, it could be going to the offensive line,
what have you. Um, and he's playing with
, uh, a really high level of confidence,
but no one that I've coached has been in the
, in the gym more individually, uh, than
, than he's been in the past couple years,
um, consistently when you hear a ball bouncing and
you walk by the gym and you stick your head
in the door, somebody might be in there with
him, but he's in there. You've been run
a ton of times. How many you said when
you say that, you know, it's a,
it's a big deal to score 34 4 points and
r arena play. Why, why is that?
Explain why that is, I mean, it's,
you're talking about one of the winningest programs in,
in the history of, of, of our game
, right? And um the one of the toughest
places to play 20 something 1000 fans, by the
way, it was the loudest I've ever heard in
there, you know, with, with Z coming
in the game and hit a couple of those shots
. Um It's always loud in there, but that
was electric and uh for, for Jabree to put
on the offensive performance that he did. Um It
was great for him. It made it uh more
respectable for us. Of course, we kept swinging
, it shows you his character, um and his
development and, and hopefully something that he can continue
to build on and how are you see the rest
of his teammates kind of feed off him a little
bit now they love him. He's a likable guy
. Um And when he's having success you know,
his, his teammates enjoy that. And I thought
our guards did a good job um, of finding
him when he, when he was open and a
few of those shots he made off of screens.
I thought our bigs, you know, we're getting
better at screening and, and using screens and,
um, as we continue to kind of morph offensively
into our best version here, and you mentioned Russell
too did a really good job of a film of
guard lay ups. There you go. And,
and those weren't necessarily for Jere, but Russell got
, um, I, I believe he held uh
nine, I think he had nine seals, nine
seals for layups. So those don't show up for
points for him in the, in the box score
. But, you know, arguably his best offensive
game, you know, just getting, uh,
uh, Justin and Silas Open looks at the rim
. You got, you got players now that people
know their name, people are talking about NCAA tournament
. I know it's your job to keep it day
to day and the, the steady plod. But
there's, there's an energy outside this program that Georgia
basketball hasn't had in a long, long time.
When did you know that this group of guys you
assembled might be able to put together something special like
, like we've seen so far this year? Yeah
, we, we were hopeful, we were hopeful
last summer that, um, that this team,
that's why we amped up our, our schedule a
little bit late, late spring, early summer,
uh, try to give us opportunities. Um,
the numbers aren't quite what we thought they would be
. Um, that said that we were able to
, to beat some high major teams. Um,
when we won on the 10 game streak, it
, it started hitting home a little bit that,
hey, these guys are super consistent. You know
, the way that we, that our guys responded
to some of those early losses, the way we
responded in Tallahassee in game showed the resiliency, the
competitiveness of this group. I don't know where this
, this group ends up here, you know,
uh, in, in, in the final stretches
of the season. Uh, we got a ways
to go but, um, I, I do
know this group, they compete consistently. They like
to work, be shocked if we don't have a
, a sharp practice today. We've got some,
got a healthy locker room, you know, you
really, I mean, I, I like,
I like working with these kind of excited about going
to practice today. We had a great practice yesterday
, you know, coming off of a game,
we're down 28 at one point, right. And
there's no sul and guys are just getting after it
yesterday and they understand they believe in, in the
process and just getting better. Uh, but George
has got a George got a strong history. We're
just trying to, trying to rebuild it and there's
no reason that we can't be successful. Here.
Was there a time this off season or early in
the season that you thought Jib could take his game
to this level? He had a really good summer
. Um, really good fall. Not, it
probably, probably over the course of a, of
a, of a few months there. Not,
not, not necessarily, there wasn't just a one
moment where we said, boy, Jabree is just
a totally different guy. Um, because he had
kind of had some ups and downs a little bit
, um, late summer, early fall and we
had a lot of competition in practice and then he
probably, I, I would say, um,
mid December, you know, we, we look
around each other as staff and so, you know
, he's about 34 straight weeks of just really good
days and confidence rising and had a couple of big
games and then boom, boom, boom, he's
just getting better and better. And coach, you
mentioned rebuilding before th thinking about the broad term of
this season so far, what have been some of
the changes that you have been trying to implement with
this team to get to where you are today.
You know, we don't talk a ton about the
past, of course, but there, there,
there have been some really good players here and some
really good coaches and some big time seasons and,
uh, there's no excuse for us not to get
it going and we like our roster and daily we
just talk about getting better, you know, enjoying
the process and growth on and off the court.
And, um, again, I really like our
culture. We've got good players who continue to get
better. It's that simple. I mean, for
us again, it's, uh, it's about all
she right now. Um, the bigger picture stuff
I'm sure will address more when the ball stops bouncing
for this team. You know, this spring,
you're talking about the, uh, the rough atmosphere
that was as loud as I can ever remember.
I, I can't remember if it was after Deery
dunk or Blues three toward the end of the Tennessee
game. Uh, you've obviously implemented those changes.
I don't know the genesis of them all, but
, uh, I just suggested it, I really
did, you know, credit goes to, to
, to Jerry and, and Josh and his administration
, um, for being open to it and making
it happen and, and also for the openness to
some of our fans had to move seats, you
know, and, um, not everyone was super
excited on the front end, hopefully, hopefully as
we build this thing, right? And we do
our part that, uh, that one day all
of our fans will look back and say, well
, that, that was a good decision and I'm
excited about it regardless of where I used to sit
and where I'm sitting now, we're just appreciative to
their consideration because I'm with you. That's the loudest
. I just said that about r that's the loudest
I've heard the stag uh when we had Tennessee on
the ropes, uh uh the other day and we
certainly hope it's that loud tomorrow night. And coach
, how would you describe that fan base? Helping
your team out to play as good as they have
? Well, it's huge, you know. Um
we've got a proud, proud fan base, a
hungry fan base. Um We've redone some things.
Instead, our administration has been great. It's super
loud in there and it just puts us on par
. I mean, wherever you go in this league
, it's, it's crazy now that the fan bases
are, are, are crazy. They're proud.
The um the arenas are, are beautiful. The
facilities are great, right? And um it just
puts us on par steg if we want Georgia basketball
to get going, then the, the stag better
be rocking. It gives us a chance. It
puts us in the game. Any other questions for
just real quick about RJ Melinda's energy. He's bringing
off the bench right now. He's an energy guy
. You know, he's, um when we tip
it in our first competitive drill today, he's gonna
be competing his butt off. That's who he is
. Um He's had some, some good games for
us and I, I think that he's got a
high ceiling and, and he's got a chance uh
potentially to probably as much as anyone on our team
to um to finish strong, you know, to
maybe impact as much or more than he's impacting right
now. He's a good player. Thanks Mike.
Thank you.