Last season it took a miracle for Georgia to down the Terriers, as Wofford missed two consecutive free throws with four seconds on the clock to allow Zac Swansey to hit a miracle 25-foot buzzer beater for the one-point win.

In addition, they were up 10 with 10 minutes to play on Pittsburgh Friday night and had them by nine points with six minutes remaining before collapsing to an 8-0 stretch by Pitt in the final minute to lose by three.

Look out for Wofford forward Noah Dahlman, as he is the Bulldogs leading returning scorer after averaging 18 points per game last season.  He opened the season with a 20 point, 8 rebound performance against Pittsburgh and could give Georgia fits tonight.

Tonight should prove a much tougher test for Georgia.

1st Half

10:14 – Fox calls 30 second timeout.  Dogs struggling to score early.  Down 14-8.

8:26 – Diggs of Wofford scores a running and-1 late in the shot clock to put the Terriers ahead 17-8.

7:48 – Fox calls another timeout.  Georgia down 19-8 early.

6:26 – Barnes receives a terrific pass from Leslie and throws down a monster slam to go along with the foul.

5:35 – Barnes continues to impress, with a nice move in the post for the score.

Travis Leslie has hit two perimeter jumpers this half – an extremely promising sign if you’re a Georgia fan.

1:26 – Wofford 29 – Georgia 22

40.4 – Dustin Ware hits both free throws for Georgia to put them within 3 of Wofford.

Halftime Score – Wofford 29 – Georgia 26.  And Fox does not look happy leaving the score.

Leslie with 10 at the half.

PG – Ware

SG – McPhee

SF – Leslie

PF – Thompkins

C – Barnes

Weak crowd thus far.  More people in Stegeman for the North Georgia exhibition, at least with three minutes left until tip-off that is.

19:15 – the first points of the Fox era are in the books, as Trey Thompkins slams home a dunk.

17:39 Travis Leslie unleashes a vicious dunk, attacking the rim over the North Georgia defender.

15:46 – Beautiful backcut alley oop for the bucket by Thompkins.

14:45 – Great duck-and-under move by Chris Barnes for the bucket.

14:24 – Travis Leslie continues to impress with his athleticism, scoring a nice driving finish.

13:53 – Drazen and Ebuka are the first two off the bench, replacing Mcphee and Leslie.

Surprisingly Tyler Whatley, now a walk-on at Georgia but former scholarship player at Wofford, is now in.  This is likely just due to the fact that Jackson is out, though, as it is hard to foresee him getting any substantial minutes throughout the season.

11:38 – Monster dunk by Jeremy Price, after a great look by Ebuka.

7:17 – Another nice up-and-under move.

6:59 – Huge breakaway dunk by Leslie.  Bringing back memories of Nique in Stegeman with his dunking display.

So far, to give you an idea of who Fox plans on playing, we’ve seen along with the starters, Price, Mayfield, Whatley, Williams, Zlovaric, and Anyaorah.

Not a bad showing attendance wise for an exhibition game, with the lower bowl pretty full.  Obviously not where coach Fox would like to see it, though.

Dogs look outstanding defensively thus far, but I’m not sure that’s not as much of an indictment of just how bad this North Georgia squad is.  The difference in talent disparity is outstanding, and North Georgia has a whopping 12 points with 5:33 in the half.

5:07 – Gorgeous alley-oop pass on the break from Dustin Ware to Travis Leslie for another one-handed highlight-reel throw down.

One of the first real bad signs of the game – an air ball three by Travis Leslie.  If Leslie is to play up to his potential this year, he’s going to have to at least respect his shot.  He doesn’t have to be like Ricky McThree, but they must at least respect the jump shot.

2:49 – Really strong finish on the break by Demario Mayfield.

I hate to say this this early in the season, but I’m not sure Drazen Zlovaric has the lateral foot speed to stay with SEC wings on the perimeter.  He’s struggled a couple of times in staying with the wing from North Georgia.  It will be interesting to see how Fox manages this throughout the season.

It’s pretty obvious this team really struggles shooting the ball.  A lot of teams are going to play zone, as North Georgia has done in spurts, to counteract the Bulldog’s weak perimeter shooting but strong interior play.

1:00 – Drazen Zlovaric hits big three.

Ebuka Anyaorah takes the ball to the hoop strong.

Halftime score: Bulldogs: 45 –  North Georgia: 20.

Halftime Thoughts

Positives

Balance – the scoring has come from all over, with being responsible for six, Leslie for eight, and Thompkins for seven.

Leslie dunks – Leslie has eight points, all of the acrobatic variety.  His athleticism is amazing.  If he could ever blend that athleticism with some perimeter shooting, the sky is the limit.

Turnovers, or lack therof.  The Bulldogs were only responsible for five turnovers in the first half.  A welcomed sign for coach Fox who has made taking care of the ball a major priority in the offseason.

Negatives

Pretty concerning to only be outrebounding North Georgia by 1 at the half.  While this team is bigger than most Division II squads, the Dogs will certainly have to rebound better as the year goes on.

2nd half is now underway.

18:20 – Ware with a beautiful drive and dish to Chris Barnes, who is fouled.

Never under coach Dennis Felton did the Bulldogs ever run this much…EVER!   And that’s a great thing for Dustin Ware, who excels in the open floor and has done some very nice things early.

15:45 – McThree hits a deep three.

15:31 – Travis Leslie scores again as he continues to use his athleticism to dominate the Saints of North Georgia with 15 points already.

They just posted a booster education tutorial on the jumbotron.  Clearly don’t want a repeat of the Harrick days.

Score update: Bulldogs 58 – North Georgia 25.

14:56 – Vincent Williams commits a typical freshman mistake, as he is forced into the corner against the full court press, committing a turnover.

13:53 – Vincent Williams drives for a beautiful finish.

12:25 – Drazen Zlovaric hits a beautiful 12-foot hook shot.

11:47 – Score update: Bulldogs 62  - North Georgia 27.

10:04 – Drazen Zlovaric nails a three-point basket out of a half-court set, but Jeremy Price is whistled for a foul away from the ball, and it doesn’t count.

9:25 – Another electric one-handed slam by Leslie.

7:50 – Ricky Mcphee hits another three.  He is pretty much automatic from the perimeter, but he still struggles on defense at times.

7:18 – Score update: Dogs 71 – North Georgia 35.

6:00 – Thompkins with a huge block from the weak side.

While watching this Bulldog team, it’s impossible not to think about how much Gerald Robinson could help this team.  They are going to really struggle to get shots in the halfcourt at times, as Ware and Thompkins are really the only two people that can create their own shot.  And with that being one of Robinson’s strengths, he could solve a lot of problems.

Coach Fox is going to see a lot of full court presses thrown at his team this season.  They have really struggled tonight, especially in the second half, at breaking the press of North Georgia.

3:48 – Deep, contested three made by Ebuka.

3:34 – Score update: Georgia 80  - North Georgia 42.

3:00 – Tyler Whatley scores on the exact same move that Thompkins and Barnes were earlier called for a walk on.

2:00 – This game is wrapping up, and I’m headed to the Press Room. Score update: 82 Dogs – 46 North Georgia.

Surprised to see Barnes start?  Don’t be.  Albert Jackson is out for precautionary measures, while still recovering from a fractured hand.

Despite that fact, stop and take a second to think about what the squad will look like when Williams is eligible to play in Fox’s second year.  You soon realize the very real possibility of Fox having a ridiculously talented starting lineup that season.

Look at the possibilities.  First off, simply put, the combination of a junior Dustin Ware and Gerald Robinson, in the same backcourt, is one of the best backcourts in the SEC, especially if Ware’s game takes the growth expected in his sophomore season under a new coach.  Throw in junior Travis Leslie, who might be the best athlete in the entire nation, I mean that, with two years of improvement under Fox, and the three looks pretty secure.  Then, if junior Thompkins bypasses the NBA draft for another year of college, all the sudden you have an SEC Player of the Year type.

You then fill the starting spot at center with one of the pair of seniors in Barnes and Price, and I think there exists a very talented team, with plenty of depth and experience.  And one that could have this rebuilding project erected a lot sooner than anyone could have possibly expected, with the Dogs perhaps cracking the top-25 for the first time since the end of the 2003 season.

It can’t be underestimated just how important the addition of Gerald Robinson was.  We’re talking about a kid that averaged 18 points per game last season, who will now have a year to work on his game before lacing them up for the Dogs, and can play either guard position because of his defending ability.

When asked if the job was what Fox expected so far, Fox said:

“I don’t think there have been any real surprises since I took the job.  I pretty well educated myself before I came, so I think a lot of it has been what we expected.  Certainly some things were better than we thought and some a little tougher than we thought.  But for the most part, it has been what we’ve expected and we know that guys had a tough year, and one of the first things we were really going to address was the mentality of our team, so we put a lot of emphasis on that.”

But it is the two players that have surprised him in his time thus far as coach of the Bulldogs that has him excited, and should have Bulldog fans thinking a possible return to the NCAA tournament in year two.

Fox on who has surprised him thus far:

“Dustin Ware functions like a winner.  And I didn’t know him as a kid before I came, I had watched him work out one time in high school, but I didn’t know him well.   He functions like a winner and carries himself as a guy that has some experience with him, only in just his second year.  Trey has had a good start to practice, and I think statistically had a double double over the weekend and that was a real plus.  He has been maybe more complete than people said he was and defended a little better and rebounded a little betteer and scored it, so he’s been maybe a little more complete than what people said.  But I didn’t base it on what people said because But I’m one of those guys that has to see it for myself.”

All coach speak aside, the fact that they have been even better than he thought, coming from a guy who watched tons of tape of his squad before accepting the job and received weekly reports of the SEC throughout the year last year from his best friend and mentor Trent Johnson at LSU, that can still spell nothing but good news for the future of Georgia basketball.

1) It will be interesting to see how players like Mcphee and Drazen fit into coach Fox’s system.  Are these two vital components in Fox’s rotation this year, or does their perceived lack of athleticism, in comparison with players like Leslie and Mayfield, limit their playing time?  Fox’s squads at Nevada always had great shooters, and that is what this Bulldog team seems to be missing, with Mcphee and Ware being the only proven shooters on the squad.  Can these two answer the call, while still being able to guard their respective positions?

2) How much more explosive does Trey Thompkins look with the shedded weight and increased focus on conditioning in the offseason?

3) Is Dustin Ware going to look like a more seasoned version of the way he played in the second half of last season?

4) How is freshman Vincent Williams going to look? And can he provide the outside shooting, and more complete game than Mcphee, that the Dogs so desperately need in backing up Ware? The Bulldogs have said nice things about his game in the offseason, and coach Fox swooped in and signed him late in the spring signing period, so is this one of Fox’s diamond-in-the-rough finds?  We shall see.  I asked Fox Tuesday if he was planning on playing Ware and Williams together at all, and he said, “you know, we’ve talked about that, but that’s probably a littler smaller than we’d like to go, but I’m not going to rule that out.  A lot probably depends on who we’re playing together.”

5) Does Travis Leslie’s game look more refined?  He is a huge key for this team.  With unreal potential, thanks to rare athleticism, if he could somehow tap into that potential and become the player he’s capable of, this team could be an NCAA tournament squad.  Every player mentions him when asked about who is going to surprise, and that is exactly what the Bulldogs need.  His development is that critical, in my opinion.  With Corey Butler and Terrence Woodbury gone, it is vital that someone steps up on the wings, and Leslie knows “there is a big opportunity on the wing.”  Will he take advantage of that opportunity?  Yet to be seen.

Coach Fox will obviously play a few different lineups tonight to see what works, so it will be a nice chance to see certain lineups play together that you may not see the rest of the year.

I’ll update more closer to game time.

“Drazen has been playing the 3 for us.  I think he’s naturally comfortable there.  I think he arguably has had as good of first two weeks of practice as anyone.”

Pretty high praise considering his roster boasts preseason 2nd team All-SEC power forward Trey Thompkins.

However, Georgia coach Mark Fox believes that claim is completely bogus.

“I think the great success of our football program only helps us.  We have a national football program that garners national attention, and we don’t just have a great football program, we have a great athletic association, we have a lot of great teams, and I think that our football program and the great success and the wonderful tradition only helps us.  I don’t see in any way how that could hinder the development of our program.  I just don’t subscribe to that theory because it just doesn’t make any sense to me.  And I know I’m not the brightest guy in the room, but I don’t believe that it hurts us at all.”

In fact Fox believes it helps the program, giving prospects on visits the opportunity to see the passionate Bulldog nation during the fall when basketball season hasn’t begun yet.

“We have great fans and people get a chance to see that, just how wonderful of fans we have.  They get to see passion that they bring to the arena and see the opportunity to play in front of them.”

Don’t worry, Coach, Florida, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas all agree with you!

“We didn’t consider taking him at Georgia because I didn’t think that would be fair to Nevada.”

Cooke, who is from Charlotte, N.C., ultimately decided on South Carolina, signing with coach Horn, and Fox says they are getting a terrific player and person, who Fox says “loved Nevada but was homesick.”  Fox will have to sit out this season per NCAA transfer rules but will be a nice addition for Coach Horn at South Carolina, who continues to do a stellar job early in his career with the Gamecocks.