Here’s a shocker to many: Quincy Carter used marijuana while at Georgia. In an interview with ESPN’s “Outside The Lines”, he admitted the weekly use and said he had “somewhat” of a problem at the time. We’ve all heard the rumors going around about the mysterious “thumb injury” and the causes of the downward spiral of the 2000 season. While we don’t know the extent to which Carter’s drug use played in all of that, we at least now know beyond rumor that something was going on.

I’m not surprised by this news, but I would be surprised to learn that he was the only one.

The men’s and women’s basketball teams weren’t the only Bulldog squads to taste defeat this weekend.

The Diamond Dawgs added to the misery on Sunday with a series sweep at the hands of Southern Cal. Georgia led or tied the score in each game, but the Trojans made the plays each night to get three wins in their first visit to Athens.

Not even the Gym Dogs could survive the bad karma. UCLA handed Georgia their first loss of the season. Losses aren’t that significant in gymnastics as average scores determine ranking, and Georgia’s 197.0 is still a respectable score.

Only the #1-ranked men’s tennis team came through this dark weekend unscathed. They beat LSU 6-1.

Spring football practice starts this week – let’s hope that’s a sign of brighter days and that everyone out there stays healthy.

There are a lot of words that can be used to describe Vanderbilt’s 81-56 rout of Georgia in the semifinals of the SEC Women’s Tournament. “Disappointing” might be the one I’d settle on.

Just a day after giving fantastic defensive effort, they didn’t match the intensity against a better team. Things weren’t much better on offense; the outside shots weren’t falling when needed, and even the inside game struggled. Georgia hadn’t looked this bad since an earlier game against FSU. Vanderbilt was not about to fold like the Seminoles did, and their offensive firepower made Georgia pay for their defensive lapses.

The real disappointment came from the missed opportunity. With Tennessee’s loss in the first semifinal, Georgia had beaten every possible remaining opponent in the tournament. Georgia had dominated Vandy last season, knocked them from the 2006 tournament, and beat them solidly in Athens earlier this year. Georgia’s two seniors had to remember a missed opportunity against Vanderbilt in the 2004 SEC Tournament final. That Georgia could play another tournament game against Vanderbilt with no heart and with a scared, on-their-heels reaction to Vandy’s initial first half push was more than many fans could take.

They had a real chance to compete for the tournament title and wrap up a sure #2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Now that seed will likely go to Vanderbilt, and Georgia will have to hang on and hope for a #3 seed. Hopefully the momentum and winning streak with which Georgia entered the SEC Tournament is not completely gone. They had come a long way and improved over the final month, and if any good comes from this loss, it will remind them what happens when they do not match their opponent’s will to win.

We’ll find all of that out on the women’s selection show on Monday March 12th.

Georgia basketball has come a long way since the 2-14 days when you just hoped they would be competitive. They’ve progressed to the point where we are let down when they come up just short against one of the SEC’s hottest teams. It’s disappointing to be on the other side of the bubble heading into the SEC Tournament, but that’s where we are this year. A 71-65 loss to Tennessee in the regular season finale provided a contrast between a team that was ready to head into the Big Dance and one that wasn’t quite there yet.

• They finished strong. Tennessee has won seven of eight to end the season. Left for dead at 3-5 after a loss to Florida, they took their fate in their own hands and left no doubt about their postseason fate.
• They took care of business at home. They were a perfect 8-0 in home SEC games. In fact, they didn’t lose a home game all season. Though they struggled to add a quality road win to their ledger, the ability to defend the home turf and pick up a few late road wins more than solidified their position.
• They have a genuine go-to guy. Tennessee actually has THE go-to guy in college basketball. Though Chris Lofton struggled for much of the game, he was able to change Saturday’s game at Georgia with just two perfectly-timed three-pointers late in the second half. The shots let Tennessee reclaim the lead for good, and Georgia wasn’t able to respond. You won’t find many teams in the tournament without someone they want with the ball at the end of a game.
• They play to their strengths. Tennessee put the ball in the hands of their guards. Ramar Smith, JaJuan Smith, and Lofton had the bulk of Tennessee’s field goal attempts and points. Meanwhile, Georgia struggled to get the ball inside against a smaller Tennessee team. Takais Brown only had five field goal attempts. Georgia shot 59% for the game inside the arc (17-of-29) but still insisted on putting up 21 three-point attempts and missing all but five of them

Georgia’s heading in the right direction, and hopefully they can pick up a few more of the qualities that they’ll need to get over that final hump and become a regular NCAA Tournament participant. In the meantime, the season isn’t over yet, and Georgia will have a chance to build on something in the SEC Tournament and then likely the NIT.

I was a bit nervous about playing Kentucky in the SEC quarterfinals. They had just taken Georgia to overtime two weeks ago in Lexington. They were still alive for an NCAA Tournament bid, so they had plenty to play for. They had a chance to shake off the opening night jitters on Thursday.

Blue by you: Janese Hardrick’s penetration was just one of many things that gave Kentucky trouble. (Photo: Jason Getz / AJC)

Fortunately, Georgia was ready. In no mood to have a repeat of a close overtime game, Georgia jumped out to a 12-0 lead and didn’t allow a Kentucky basket for nearly eight minutes. The Wildcats went on a run of their own to close to within 16-12, but that was their last gasp on offense for the afternoon. Georgia led by 20 at halftime, didn’t let the lead get below 19 in the second half, and eventually won 72-40. They held Kentucky to SEC Tournament record lows of twelve field goals and 20% shooting.

Poor outside shooting from both teams made this a battle of inside games. Georgia won decisively. They held Kentucky star Jennifer Humphries scoreless, and big center Sarah Elliott only had four points. Coach Landers said of the effort, “We had a reasonably good idea of what they were going to do and how they were going to go about doing that from an execution standpoint. Our kids locked in on it, disrupted it, stopped it, just stopped it.”

Coach Landers had a great explanation of some of the defensive strategy in reply to a postgame question.

COACH LANDERS: Do you want me to explain what the strategy was? On the ball screen, step up hard with the post players very, very close, jam ’em and go under. Know that they’re going to dishonor ball screens and drive it to the baseline, which is what they did yesterday: Drive it to the baseline, drive it to the basket and score. We’re not going to let that happen. There’s a way we defend against that.

They got a high low game. We’re going to push ’em up, push ’em out, deny the four man out a little bit farther than she wants to be, extend the pass. Getting all this? You’re not writing anything down now. You wanted to know this (laughter).

You know, on stagger screens, beat the guards to the first screen. They were running a lot of stagger screens. You can handle stagger screens. If you’re behind when you get the first screen, you’re dead. A couple times they got shots because we were behind.

What else? The elbow to elbow screen with their two bigs where they screen for each other and roll down the middle. The play we ran on them and scored, they run that a lot. Switch hard, disrupt the ball handler, drop in.

On the other end, Georgia kept feeding the ball inside and driving to the basket. They had 15 assists on 23 made shots, and they got to the line 26 times (and hit an impressive 24 of them). Landers gushed over the unselfish play from the guards. “We got kids on the perimeter that usually shoot the basketball. But, boy, they were just terrific on continuing to feed the ball inside, feed the ball inside, feed it in.” Angel Robinson and Tasha Humphrey did a great job of getting position inside and then finishing on the passes that came from the perimeter.

Even with the big win, there are always things to improve on. Rebounding was one; though Georgia outrebounded Kentucky, they did give up 15 offensive rebounds. I guess that’s going to happen when the other team misses 48 shots. The other area was outside shooting. Though Georgia didn’t need the long ball and worked it inside effectively, they were only 2-11 on the outside shots they did take.

Contrast Georgia’s outside shooting with that of their next opponent: Vanderbilt hit 11-of-15 three-pointers (73%) en route to a 105-77 drilling of Florida. Vandy can obviously shoot; that’s no surprise, so Georgia will need another strong defense effort plus better shooting of their own if the Commodores remain hot. The Lady Dogs took an 83-71 win from Vanderbilt back in January as they broke open a close game with a 12-2 run midway through the second half and held on at the foul line down the stretch.

The Georgia-Vanderbilt semifinal will take place at around 9:15 on Saturday night at the Arena at Gwinnett Center. Single-session tickets should still be floating around before the game, so come on down. This game will be half of a great semifinal lineup. Tennessee and LSU will face off first at 6:45. Four Top 15 teams playing in one night – it’s big-time basketball.

I’m looking forward to a fun triple-header of Georgia sports tomorrow. First we’ll have Georgia baseball at 2:00 against Southern Cal. The Trojans are one of college baseball’s most tradition-rich programs, and this is their first visit to Athens. At 4:00, the action moves over to Stegeman Coliseum for a Senior Day showdown with Tennessee. That should be an incredible game and a crucial test of Georgia’s postseason mettle. That’ll give us time to head back down 316 for the 9:15 Lady Dog semifinal. It’s a full day, but it’s a rare chance to catch three of Georgia’s programs in one day playing some very significant games.

The three-team tiebreak scenario came up today on the DawgVent, and I might as well put the answer here too. We know that Georgia has to beat Tennessee on Saturday, and a Bulldog win would give each team a 9-6 SEC record. Florida plays Kentucky also this weekend, and a Gator win would lead the Wildcats at 9-6 as well. With Florida and Vanderbilt firmly in control of the #1 and #2 seeds and South Carolina bringing up the rear, how would the three-team logjam at 9-6 be broken?

Here is the SEC’s tiebreaker rubric.

With our hypothetical scenario of three 9-6 teams, here is how the tiebreaker would proceed:

• Head-to-head records: Georgia, Kentucky, and Tennessee would all be 1-1 against each other.
• Divisional records: A win over Tennessee would give Georgia and UT each 5-5 records in the SEC East. A Kentucky loss to Florida puts them at 4-6 in the East. Kentucky would be eliminated from the tiebreaker and given the 5th seed.
• Record against divisional opponents, starting at the top: Tennessee is 1-1 against Florida; Georgia is 0-2. The tie is broken in favor of Tennessee.

If the games play out that way, Tennessee would get the #3 seed, Georgia the #4 seed, and Kentucky the #5 seed. Of course the games could turn out differently in which case the tiebreakers might not be necessary. Kentucky can take the #3 seed outright with a win over Florida and a Tennessee loss. If UK wins, Georgia would finish fifth in the East regardless of how they do against Tennessee. Georgia cannot finish third under any scenario; fourth or fifth are their only possibilities. Tennessee will earn the #3 seed with a win or a Kentucky loss.

Confused yet?

Georgia wants to avoid that #5 seed. The #5 seed leads to a Friday draw against Florida in the SEC Tournament. With the #4 seed, Georgia would be on the same side of the bracket as Ole Miss or whoever wins the West. It still wouldn’t be an easy road, but it’s not Florida either. If it comes down to Georgia needing two SEC Tournament wins, the difference between the #4 seed and the #5 seed is tremendous.

Update: It’s good to get backup from the horse’s mouth. The SEC has their “what-if” scenarios posted including what I’ve outlined above as well as a stab at the unholy tangle that is the SEC West.

I said yesterday that I was surprised that Levi Stukes would get suspended for something other than an academic or legal violation. I was hoping that he wasn’t being punished so severely for something as trivial as being late for the bus. It looks as if it was quite a bit more serious than that. Chip Towers of the AJC reports that Stukes missed a manditory weight session and then had "’an inappropriate verbal altercation’ with a member of Georgia’s strength and conditioning staff." Insubordination and disrespect for the staff, even the support staff, isn’t acceptable.

It’s just so bizarre that all of this comes days after Stukes has a brilliant game against Mississippi State. He was met and recognized by D.A. Layne for breaking Georgia’s career three-pointer mark. He reflected on his career in the Lincoln Financial postgame interview and seemed every bit the elder statesman ready to put the finishing touches on his senior season. He’s never been much of a malcontent, at least not in public, and he’s stayed out of trouble. To be on the cusp of something great as an individual and as a team and then to pop off at a strength coach and blow off a workout seems very out of character. We all have our bad days and tantrums, but what amazingly devastating timing. As the Georgia Sports Blog reminds us, these left-field stories just seem to be the fate of Georgia basketball. Unlike the 2002 game at Rupp where Georgia overcame Chris Daniels’ questionable SEC-imposed first half suspension, they didn’t have the horses last night.

It might not yet be over. Felton sounded in the postgame interview as if there were still some unfinished business regarding this incident that would have to be sorted out when the team returned from Lexington. With Senior Day coming up on Saturday, it will be very interesting to see how this story develops and to what extent the fallout affects the rest of Stukes’ career. The team needs him on Saturday; not just for offense but for perimeter defense against Tennessee guards that can shoot lights out. Some great Georgia-Tennessee games have been decided by Georgia’s three-point heroics. Who can forget Ezra Williams’ heroics in 2002 and 2003? I’d love to see Stukes get a chance to have that kind of an impact in this important of a game, but it’s still unknown whether he will earn that opportunity.

As for the Kentucky game itself, it just reminded me of the Ole Miss game a week ago. Georgia played close in the first half, but a brief flurry right at the end of the half gave Kentucky some cushion. It didn’t take long in the second half for them to push their lead into double-digits as three-pointers started raining. Georgia at least made it interesting this week with a comeback attempt down the stretch, but it wasn’t nearly enough. Steve Newman and Terrence Woodbury performed well with more playing time.

One thing does puzzle me – with Georgia’s three-point specialist at home, the Dawgs attempted more three-pointers than usual. Over 30 of them. They managed to hit 11. In January’s win over Kentucky, Georgia came back and controlled the second half by being much more assertive inside. They outrebounded Kentucky and attempted more foul shots. They attacked and fouled Randolph Morris out of the game. Last night’s game was a completely different story. Morris didn’t have a single foul. Takais Brown looked tentative inside and attempted half as many shots as he did in the earlier meeting. I understand that Georgia had to attempt more three-pointers as the deficit grew, but they were firing from outside from the beginning. It also hurt that Dave Bliss and Albert Jackson were injured, leaving little depth inside.

Our manic-depressive fans who saw this game and Tennessee’s impressive win over Florida are surely back on the ledges today. But if this SEC season has taught us anything, it’s the value of the home court. Georgia, as a rule, plays well at home. Tennessee, as a rule, struggles on the road. Georgia will have the home crowd and all of the motivation they need in Saturday’s game, and it’s in their hands to direct the legacy of this season. It’s just a shame that the postseason isn’t played in Athens.