Entering the tournament the conventional wisdom said that Memphis would be done in by free throw shooting. Through five games, they just got better and better from the line. But with the pressure of the lead in the national title game bearing down on them, the charity stripe did indeed prove fatal. The free throws were just symptomatic though. Memphis looked like a team unfamiliar with playing in big, close games, and free throws were just one of the mistakes they made down the stretch.

Congratulations to Kansas for not packing it in down by nine and fighting back to force overtime. A classic game all around, and the outcome shouldn’t make us overlook great performances on both sides.

You can’t talk about a football team for two minutes without some element of scheme coming up. Do they run the option or a pro-style offense? If they run an option, is it the spread or a wishbone attack? Is the 4-3 or 3-4 defense in style this year? How about the 3-3-5? Though the relative importance of a particular scheme to a team’s success is one of those things that’s debated among fans, it’s hard to talk about or watch football without understanding some elements of scheme.

When it comes to basketball, so much of the discussion of scheme revolves around defense. Everyone can recognize at the most basic level a zone defense versus a man-to-man. Analysts are even willing to go deeper and talk about different flavors of zone like the matchup or the 1-3-1. There’s not that level of depth when it comes to discussion of offense. Sure, you’ve heard of some of the systems – the Princeton offense, the high post, the motion offense. If you’re a Georgia fan, you might have even heard of Dennis Felton’s 4-out, 1-in offense. Unless you’re really familiar with the game though, it can be hard to recognize a certain system at work within games, and broadcasts don’t do much to illustrate scheme.

Memphis has had an impressive season culminating in tonight’s national championship appearance. It’s an appropriate time to point to this SI article from earlier in the season about the "dribble-drive motion" offense which Memphis adopted this year. It’s a fascinating story not only about Memphis but also about innovation and the roots of this system from an unknown California JUCO coach. Now the offense is the rage not only of Memphis but also professional teams like the Boston Celtics.

In many ways, this dribble-drive motion offense is somewhat of an analogue to football’s current rage – the spread option. Both offenses spread the field/court to exploit weaknesses in individual matchups. Both offenses involve players in flexible roles whether it’s receivers involved in the running game or post players taking perimeter shots. And if Memphis wins the national title tonight, both offenses will have produced a national champion in relatively little time after their adoption at major programs.

Like Urban Meyer and Rich Rodriguez, John Calipari and Vance Walberg are poised to become the gurus for the evolution of offense within their sport. Whether or not Memphis wins, the success of the offense at the college and professional level will have many more coaches experimenting with it in coming seasons. Of course it will be mis-applied in some programs where the personnel doesn’t match the system, and detractors will say it’s been exposed as a fad like any other system. There’s a useful bit in the SI article about defensive adjustments to counter the DDM offense, and we should expect to see the defensive masterminds of college hoops continue to innovate on their side as well. On it goes.

If nothing else, I’m interested in seeing whether or not this innovation in offense will bring the discussion of offensive systems in college basketball out of the shadows.

Head over to Kit’s Dawg-gone Blog for a thorough live-blogging from yesterday’s game. Pretty much as I remember it.

A better crowd than I expected turned out to see the Red beat the Black 17-3 at G-Day.  Though around 40,000 tickets were supposedly pre-ordered, an announced crowd of 19,874 braved the rain.

• No real surprise to see the Red team with the first team offense come away with the win.  The shortened nature of the game made it tough to put up much in the way of gaudy stats or scoring.  Michael Moore was he star of the day with two touchdown receptions to account for all of the day’s touchdowns.
• Matthew Stafford is aiming for a 62% completion average, and he came close with a 6-10 performance.  He did have one perfectly-placed touchdown pass and got lucky when Asher Allen dropped a sure interception.  Had Kris Durham not dropped a sharp pass, we’re looking at a 70% day, so it was a pretty fair day for the starting QB.
• It was a ho-hum day for the running game.  No one looked awful, and several guys did well creating yards, but no one really ripped off a long run.  It says enough that Caleb King was the leading rusher with 6 carries and 31 yards.
• An unexpected highlight of the day was placekicking.  Andrew Jensen nailed a 47-yard field goal, and Brian Behr hit one from 52 yards as the first half expired.  They weren’t being rushed, but it was good to see some distance on a wet field.  Punting was a different story…
• Once they settled in after a touchdown on the opening drive, the first team defense held their own.  Curren, Atkins, and Allen all had nice games.
• Two defensive newcomers had plays worthy of the highlight reel.  Akeem Hebron, who spent last season at GMC, had a key 40-yard fumble recovery after a botched snap.  He also had a game-high five tackles.  Safety John Knox looks like the next pain delivery specialist in the defensive backfield.
• Caleb King showed plenty of the elusiveness that’s supposed to be his hallmark.  You’d like to see what he could do behind the starting line, and I’m sure we will get plenty of chances to see that this fall.  He definitely needs to work on his pass protection though. 
• Logan Gray’s debut was impressive, and he showed off both the arm and the mobility that makes him a likely successor to Stafford.  I wouldn’t be surprised if he sees some real playing time this season.
• It was hard to get a read on the offensive line.  The second team line got beat for five sacks, but the first team line “did well” according to Coach Richt. 
• The only injury of the day was Vince Vance with about a minute remaining.  Coach Richt said postgame that it was an ankle sprain, so it looks as if the Dawgs dodged the injury bullet on a wet track.  That’s the best news of the day.

Now let’s hope that the traditional night on the town after the end of spring practice stays under control.  We only need to read about highlights in the papers tomorrow.

One other thing…nice job by Buck Belue of sneaking a Tommy Bowden reference in there. Well done.

Mark Richt wants a lot of people at G-Day on Saturday. “I hope a lot of people show up so it will make it more and more exciting and more like a real game,” he said after Wednesday’s practice. Of course it’s left to the fans to make the spring scrimmage seem “more like a real game” because it’s doubtful that the action on the field will resemble one.

Richt’s priorities for the day are “a crisp game without a lot of penalties and fumbles, probably without a lot of scoring and for everyone to come out healthy.” Sounds like big fun, right? You certainly can’t blame a coach for just wanting to get through the day – G-Day might be that day of spring practice where the least gets done, but it is still a chance for the team to have some fun and show off in front of the fans after weeks of hard work.

Players like early favorite Kalvin Daniels will battle it out for the Brown-Powell Award after Stafford and Moreno put in their couple of series, and fans will gauge the team’s worthiness for a national title run based on the outcome of a single scrimmage. We all know what G-Day is like, so I can’t really be down on Georgia fans if they have more options in life than Alabama fans and don’t pack Sanford Stadium. There’s a ton of anticipation around this year’s team though, so, weather permitting, Coach Richt will probably get his wish and have a decent crowd.

I like Ching’s take: we know that G-Day is a dawg-and-pony show for the fans that doesn’t mean much in the big picture, but I’m curious as anyone to see some of the names and groups that have been in the news.

One of the challenges for a fan looking to see how the Dawgs are doing is not reading too much into each bit of news that comes out of spring and preseason practices. We should know by now that certain statements in the press and even depth chart decisions at this time of the year can be as much motivational tactic as they are real news. As we sift through all of that, we’re left with a few main storylines going into G-Day:

• Everyone in the world wants to see Caleb King, but the other newcomers at tailback might be as intriguing. Richard Samuel and Dontavius Jackson would be the center of attention on a team that didn’t already have players with the hype of Moreno and King.
• I questioned myself for pointing to the offensive line as a possible weakness for this team, but it has been a big story so far in the spring. Clint Boling has been sidelined with mono, Ben Jones has tweaked his ankle, and the battle for the center position will continue on into the summer. I think the staff has a general idea of who they’d like to see on the starting line, but Boling’s illness and the unsettled center spot have meant that the ideal starting line hasn’t seen much work as a unit. With G-Day unlikely to settle much in this area, the line should be a focus well into August.
• Injuries at some positions will peel back the layers of the depth chart. Receiver might be the one position where this is most noticed. Massaquoi, Wilson, and Harris are all injured. Young players like Israel Troupe, Walter Hill, Tavarres King, and even Aron White should benefit from extra playing time. I’d also like to see some of the veterans who have lurked down the depth chart – guys like Demiko Goodman and Michael Moore. At other positions, center Ben Jones has an ankle sprain, and defensive tackle Jeff Owens is out with a separated shoulder.
• Is the defense really that good? Aside from Owens’ shoulder, there just hasn’t been much bad news from the defensive side this spring. The biggest question is at defensive end, and that seems to be more a case of seeing which promising player will win the job. We remember how bad the defense looked last year, so G-Day performance isn’t the best indicator of things, but I will be curious to see how things have changed and improved since the dominant performance in the Sugar Bowl.

We aint one-at-a-timin’ here, we’re mass communicatin’!

For those who aren’t making the trip to Athens, UGA is making G-Day available on television, radio, and online. It won’t quite rival the overexposure for Florida’s spring game (featuring Tebow healing Percy Harvin at halftime live on ESPN), but most Dawg fans who want to tune in should be able to find the game.

Television

CSS will have the game live at 2:00. If you can’t catch it on Saturday or DVR it, one would expect CSS to replay this game a few dozen times in the next couple of weeks.

Radio

AM750 WSB will carry the game for the first time since 1993. The game will also be broadcast across the Bulldog Radio Network; check your local affiliate to make sure that they will have the broadcast. XM subscribers nationwide can find the game on channel 199. If you XM subscribers leave it on 199, you’ll get the LSU spring game at 6:00.

Online

For the first time, UGA’s GXtra will stream a football game live. GXtra has had its shaky moments in the past few months (anyone else get that great mousepad?), but this is the best option for distant fans who want to watch the game.

Oh…and if you’re in Athens for the game, head over to Foley Field after the G-Day game.  There’s a big weekend series with South Carolina.  Georgia’s coming off of a nice two-game sweep of Clemson, and it would be huge for the Diamond Dawgs’ SEC chances if they can take another series from a Palmetto State team.

Up until now I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but this brings it all together.

The arrogance about his offense, chip on the shoulder, 1-AA success, confrontational style with the media, even the references to Oklahoma’s offense under Switzer…

Paul Johnson is Georgia Tech’s Jim Donnan.

This Johnson quote is right out of a 1996 Georgia press conference:

"If something wasn’t wrong, if what they were doing was so great, we wouldn’t be here…It’s not like we’re coming in here and dismantling this high-powered machine that was lighting everybody up."

If nothing else, the rivalry is about to become a lot more entertaining. Tech fans will lap up the tell-it-like-it-is style (at first) as Georgia fans did, and Dawg fans should look forward to years of colorful quotes coming from the enemy.

If the Lady Dogs are going to make their fifth straight Sweet 16 appearance, it’s going to take one of the bigger upsets of this season. The #8 seed Lady Dogs play second-seeded North Carolina at 9:30 tonight on ESPN2 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Georgia survived a back-and-forth opening round game with Iowa. Though Georgia got some key outside shots from Megan Darrah, it was the interior game and specifically Angel Robinson that overcame Iowa’s success from the perimeter.

If you’ve watched the UNC men this year, their women play the same style. They love to push and get out in transition. Team speed is superior at almost every position. They will gladly concede turnovers if it means that they’re playing on the edge of going too fast.

Speed hasn’t been a hallmark of this Georgia team, and that’s quite a change from the days in the not-too-distant past when Sherill Baker’s disruptive speed gave opposing point guards headaches. Ashley Houts has many great attributes, the least of which is the ice water in her veins that helped her sink 100% of her free throws in the final minute of the Iowa game despite playing 40 minutes, but she had trouble keeping up with Iowa’s short but quick Kristi Smith.

Carolina’s Cetera DeGraffenreid is one of the best newcomers on the national scene this year, and some claim that she is even faster than the hyperactive Ivory Latta was. If Houts struggled with Iowa’s Smith even in the halfcourt game, DeGraffenreid will be twice as tough to defend. Similarly, Rashanda McCants will present a defensive challenge on the wing for Megan Darrah. McCants is an extremely aggressive and active player on offense who can drive to the basket.

The matchup inside will be very interesting. Tasha Humphrey and Erlana Larkins are nearly clones. Humphrey might have a little more range and Larkins might have a little more control of her game, but both are tough, physical forwards. Angel Robinson and LaToya Pringle also seem to match up well. Both are described as "finesse" players at center, but Robinson has a height advantage while Pringle probably has better leaping ability.

If Carolina has one weakness, it’s from the perimeter. Though the Heels have several players who could knock down the occasional outside shot, they average well under 30% as a team. The ideal defense is to slow them down inside with a zone and force the game to the perimeter, but their transition offense and ability to penetrate means that opponents are rarely able to turn Carolina into a jumpshooting team.

Andy Landers sounds up for the challenge, and he does have a 5-0 career mark against North Carolina. But none of those games were against these kinds of odds. If the Tasha Humphrey era at Georgia is going to last beyond tonight, Georgia’s star and the rest of her teammates are going to have to play their best basketball of the season.

Going by the reaction, it seems as if a drunken weekend in Vegas has provided the death knell for the college football playoff. I look forward this year to Ohio State’s campaign for their third consecutive regular season national championship.

As the impact of "this week in basketball" for Georgia continues to sink in, I think a message board post I saw put it best: the ghost of Jim Harrick got sucked up by a tornado.

Five years ago, Georgia was a pariah. "All Ronnie Gaines knew of Georgia was that the school had NCAA sanctions on the way," according to an account of Sundiata Gaines’ recruitment. The school, thanks to an academic scandal within the basketball program, was a punchline. As recently as this year, Dennis Felton’s disciplinary actions implied a program out of control.

The swing in perception has been the biggest boon from the past week. Win or lose, Georgia was everybody’s underdawg. Xavier found themselves pulling for the Dawgs during the SEC Tournament. They were a "national inspiration." this New York Times article from Thursday morning (h/t pwd) sums it up.

While Georgia finished 4-12 in conference, think back to how many of those games hinged on a play or two down the stretch. I can think of four or five without trying. The difference last weekend might have been as small as those handful of plays going Georgia’s way for once. Thanks to those results, Dennis Felton is now able to go into living rooms with a new sense of legitimacy, a tangible accomplishment, and, best of all, a positive national perception for the first time in years.

As those few extra plays made the difference in an SEC Tournament title, getting that one extra player in recruiting can make all the difference for a team’s success. With this incredible story to tell, a glistening practice facility, and a nice returning cast, Georgia has become a whole lot more attractive for basketball prospects.

I wrote before the game that "Xavier wants to go to the line – don’t help them get there."

Unfortunately, that worst-case scenario unfolded as Xavier came from 11 down in the second half to defeat Georgia 73-61 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Musketeers were in the bonus with over 12 minutes remaining in the game, and they drilled 27 of 33 free throw attempts (81.8%). In contrast, Georgia made it to the line only five times in the game, hitting three shots.

Terrence Woodbury was in double-figures by halftime, and a strong first half from Jeremy Price helped the Dawgs to a 9-point halftime lead. The Dawgs were able to extend that advantage to as many as 11 points in the second half before Xavier made their move. Georgia’s only counter to Xavier’s run was a pair of Billy Humphrey three-pointers as the Musketeers turned an 11-point deficit into an 8-point lead thanks in part to a 22-6 run. Georgia drew to within as few as three points with a minute and a half remaining, but they couldn’t keep Xavier off the free throw stripe down the stretch.

Officiating can be blamed for specific calls, but foul trouble isn’t an exception for Georgia. Think back to the SEC Tournament. Georgia put Kentucky on the line 25 times; Mississippi State attempted 20 free throws. Sundiata Gaines fouled out twice. Things were better, and Georgia’s situation was much more secure, on Sunday when the Dawgs committed only 16 team fouls against Arkansas and put the Hogs on the line just 15 times. Even accounting for the fouls at the end, Xavier had over 20 legitimate trips to the line, mostly in the second half. If you want to blame refs, you also have to recognize undisciplined defense that picks up too many unnecessary fouls in the name of being aggressive.

The Bulldogs shot 47% and outrebounded Xavier, but free throws and nine second half Georgia turnovers made the difference. Georgia’s decisive second half lull was familiar to anyone who watched the team before last weekend, and Xavier was good enough to make the Dawgs pay. The big swing came on a back-to-back pair of Xavier three-pointers inside of 8 minutes remaining that turned a three-point Georgia lead into a three-point Xavier lead in just a few seconds. The Bulldogs never recovered.

Josh Duncan led Xavier with 20 points, but 11 of those came from the stripe. Derrick Brown was the key Musketeer weapon from the floor, hitting 7 of 9 shots and pulling down ten rebounds for the double-double. Though Xavier didn’t shoot particularly well from the floor, they turned it over only seven times – only three of which came in the second half. Xavier played the final minutes as you’d expect from an experienced, well-coached team worthy of a high seed – valuing possession, playing sound defense, and converting opportunities at the line. If they can do that in both halves, they’ll be a tough team to beat.

Woodbury’s 16 points were the team high for Georgia, but Xavier did a good job containing him after an explosive first half. Sundiata Gaines in his final game at Georgia had a solid afternoon with 13 points and 5 assists, but his 5 turnovers and 4 fouls proved costly. Billy Humphrey was Georgia’s main source of big baskets in the second half, and he finished with 12 points. Jeremy Price finished with 10 points, but he did his damage in the first half.

I realize that we should just be happy that the team got to the tournament in the first place, but up by 11 with the end in sight the prospect of advancing became a cruel tease. I can’t deny a sense of disappointment, but this group has accomplished so much more than we thought possible of them just a week ago. And, damn, was the ride fun.

Georgia finishes the season at 17-17 and with the program’s second SEC Tournament title. As with most seasons, there is plenty to build on with the returning talent, but there’s also much to replace with Gaines and Bliss moving on. Billy Humphrey and Terrence Woodbury move into the leadership roles as seniors, and both look poised to accept those roles on the offensive end.

Georgia returns today to NCAA Tournament action for the first time since 2002. The excitement has been building all week, but there’s a ballgame to play now. Here’s what to watch for on the court:

1) Xavier will see your Sundiata Gaines and raise you a Drew Lavender. Alphabetical order is about the only stat in which Gaines doesn’t appear first for the Georgia team. That’s not the way it works for Lavender and Xavier. He can definitely score, but he’s also the engine and the creator. He sets a tempo for the rest of the offense, and the other Musketeers seem to play better with him in the game. They are efficient, shooting in the high-40% range with a decent team assist-to-turnover ratio, and they spread the scoring around. Lavender has been injured but is reportedly fine now. Slowing Drew Lavender is probably the single most important job for Georgia in the game, and it might take more than one defender.

2) But Lavender won’t be defending Gaines. Stanley Burrell, the A-10’s defensive player of the year, will draw the assignment of defending Georgia’s playmaker. Burrell has contained a who’s-who of scorers this year including Chris Lofton. With that in mind, the focus shifts to Billy Humphrey. The 6’2" shooting guard will have a size advantage over 5’7" Lavender, but he’ll have to step up his game after a disappointing weekend in the SEC Tournament. Humphrey did hit a couple of key shots down the stretch in the SEC championship game, so hopefully he left his shooting woes there.

3) We’ve seen bursts from Terrence Woodbury before, but he’s put nothing together like his performance last weekend. With Humphrey struggling from the floor and Gaines battling fatigue, Woodbury’s shooting carried the Dawgs for stretches all weekend. Georgia is so much better when it’s Gaines + someone else scoring from outside, and last weekend was Woodbury’s turn to be "someone else". Though Georgia is playing very well right now, the team isn’t very far removed from some ugly nights from the perimeter leading to some bad losses. Woodbury and/or Humphrey need to remain hot from outside for Georgia to have a chance.

4) Xavier shoots 75% from the line as a team, and four of their top six scorers shoot over 84%. That’s unheard of. Georgia’s aggressive defense has a tendency to put opponents on the line early and frequently. That defense can result in a lot of unnecessary fouls away from the basket (right, Sundiata?). Xavier wants to go to the line – don’t help them get there.

5) Can the frontcourt be an advantage? Many fans would just be happy to have the frontcourt be a push and let the game be decided by the guards. But with Jackson, Bliss, and Price forming an increasingly-effective rotation, there’s an opportunity for the frontcourt to be a factor. Even if they don’t score a lot, this group has shown recent ability to affect games through rebounding and blocks. Like Georgia, Xavier’s strength is the backcourt, but their big men are no pushovers.

Eleven years ago against UT-C, Georgia saw first-hand how dangerous a #14 seed can be. Let’s hope that the Dawgs are on the other side of that outcome today.

As I mentioned earlier, Bobby Knight made some noise last night with his insistence that the NCAA Tournament either do away with automatic bids or expand the field to 128 teams so that "everyone’s happy."

What Knight and others lose sight of is that the tournament is first a system to determine a champion for Division I basketball.

If you are going to have a sanctioned NCAA Division I championship, the process must be open to every Division I conference and team. Football gets away with a system that excludes most conferences and teams because, as we hear so often, the NCAA does not recognize a national champion from Division 1-A. At-large bids are fine, and many of them might be more appropriate participants than some of the automatic bids, especially when so many of the automatic bids are handed out as the result of a weekends’ conference tournament.

But never forget that at-large bids are essentially grace. They are teams who did not qualify for the tournament by objective means and are included subjectively to round out a 65-team tournament. Until 1975 there were no at-large bids, and #5 Maryland was left out of the 1974 NCAA Tournament because they lost the ACC final in what some call the greatest game ever played. Imagine this year’s tournament without Duke, Texas, or Tennessee.

We know that bubble teams rarely make much of a splash past the first few rounds of the tournament. So when Knight and other power conference proponents make arguments that conference champions should be cast aside in favor of more major conference teams struggling to stay above .500 in their leagues, remember that it’s mostly about access for these bubble teams. Virginia Tech or any of the other bubble teams weren’t going to compete for the national title. What matters is status – playing on CBS this weekend and adding a 2008 NCAA Tournament banner in the arena.

It might be that recipients of automatic bids don’t belong playing with teams like UNC and UCLA. I’m not going to act as if Georgia’s spot in the tournament is anything but surreal. But I’m not going to take that away from legitimate conference champions just so some 9-7 ACC school can pretend that it belongs in the national title discussion.

Cowherd had a great point today – if we’re this hung up over the 65th seed to the basketball tournament, how bad will it get when we’re talking about the #8 or #16 seed in a football playoff?

It has yet to be determined whether the Georgia Dome is able to host the remainder of the SEC Tournament. More severe weather is possible in Georgia on Saturday. Besides the state of the Dome itself, there’s still the question of asking tens of thousands of people to return to a possibly hazardous natural disaster scene downtown.

It seems unfathomable, but in an extreme situation, might the SEC decide to play the games elsewhere in metro Atlanta?

Philips Arena seems out. There is a concert scheduled for Saturday evening, and it’s right next door to the Dome. If there are concerns for public safety getting to the Dome, that would apply to Philips as well.

Gwinnett Arena is also booked on Saturday evening with an Arena League game.

Alexander Memorial Coliseum at Georgia Tech is yet another option, but is it available? Much of Tech’s athletic staff is either on spring break or at the ACC Tournament in Charlotte. I doubt they could prepare the arena.

It really does look as if it’s the Dome or nothing at this point. As Dennis Felton said in a telephone interview on WSB-TV, one could expect the NCAA Selection Committee to be pulled into the rescheduling discussion. The outcome of the SEC Tournament of course has major implications on NCAA seeding, and the Sunday evening selection show means that things in Atlanta must be settled unless the NCAA takes the unprecedented step of delaying the selection announcement.

I guess this is always an option.

A little corner of the Bulldog Nation woke up bleary-eyed this morning. The game couldn’t have finished any later if it were the Maui Classic or the Sugar Bowl.

Blame three hours of sleep, but I’m still a bit giddy over the win. Yes, I realize it probably shouldn’t have even gone to overtime. Georgia reminded us at times why they were the East’s #6 seed, and I feel fairly confident that Dennis Felton will have a sniper standing by to pick off any Georgia defender that gets near a perimeter shooter in the final seconds of tonight’s game. Yes, we’re celebrating an overtime win over an average bubble team in an SEC first round game. Kentucky fans must think that’s so adorable.

Butler-to-Bliss probably isn’t up there with Belue-to-Scott in terms of significance, but it’s all we have right now, so we’ll take it. It’s inevitable though that the win quickly turns to a discussion of Dennis Felton’s future. Already several writers have tried to read the tea leaves to determine what the outcome means for Felton.

As happy as I am with the win, look…it’s one win. The five years of Dennis Felton shouldn’t be reduced to the outcome of one night or even one tournament, win or lose. His future with the team, whatever it is, should be based on the whole of his five years in the position.

Like Paul Westerdawg, I’m a bit puzzled by the logic in the Banner-Herald’s endorsement of Dennis Felton this morning. I’m not saying that I disagree with the recommendation (more on that later), but, well, let’s start here…

Read this John Kaltefleiter column following a loss earlier this season to Kentucky in Athens. Felton’s "Stalin-like" approach? A season slipping towards "an embarrassing morass?"

There’s more.

Right now, Price is defeated. He projects the look of a freshman dreading the next two or three seasons with Felton. Of course, that’s if he doesn’t take the out route so many of Felton’s players have taken.

And finally…

Felton said he didn’t pay attention to Price’s zero playing time in the second half Saturday, which is like standing in the pouring rain and claiming to feel dry. But that’s been Felton’s way the last three seasons. He’s publicly ignored problems and hoped his stubbornness won out when it came to proving a point.

As usual, the rest of the team suffers the consequences.

Does that sound like a writer ready to endorse a "wait and see" approach? Yet Kaltefleiter is the one saying this morning that Felton should get another season. Read his reasoning again in the context of what he had to say back in February.

The thing is, Kaltefleiter identified what he deemed to be some pretty fundamental long-term issues with Felton’s coaching. Players – the ones who stick around – apparently look like they dread playing for the guy. By Kaltefleiter’s own admission, Felton’s approach for the "last three seasons" has been to "publicly (ignore) problems and (hope) his stubbornness won out when it came to proving a point" to the detriment of the rest of the team. That’s a pretty serious charge. If one buys that, how in the world can one think that one more year of the wrong approach will lead to different results?

Kaltefleiter places his faith, like so many of us do, in the arrival of another nice recruiting class next year and the offseason development of the current freshman class. Yet the issues with Felton he raised after the Kentucky game have nothing to do with the quality of talent on the team. The whole premise of the post-Kentucky column was that Felton’s stubbornness kept a more talented freshman on the bench and might have hurt Georgia’s chances Georgia in a very important game.

I appreciate the media avoiding the temptation to jump on the bandwagon to ride Felton out of town, I really do. Truth be told, the professional punditry has been pretty kind to the program. Even the critical pieces that dove into issues like attrition have generally been mild. Still, if Kaltefleiter and others see such grave flaws in Felton that go back at least three seasons, what difference is one more year going to make?