Mike White not interested in discussing big picture for Georgia, focused on moment

Georgia started off SEC play with a stretch of four straight games against ranked teams, creating a very difficult setup going into the heart of the season.

The team lost to Ole Miss on the road to open the gauntlet, then put together back-to-back home wins over No. 6 Kentucky and No. 17 Oklahoma.

Fans can sense that the program is entering rarefied territory, truly competitive on the national stage and pushing for high seeding in the NCAA Tournament potentially. Coach Mike White isn’t having any of that just yet.

“We’re just not going to do big picture. I’m sorry,” White said. “Just great environment, fired up about the students and all the fans that came. Our administration’s done a great job. It was a fun win. Really happy for our guys.”

Georgia has lost only two games all season so far. Both were to ranked opponents.

White has his team playing excellent basketball, led by forward Asa Newell and his 15.4 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. A slew of guards check in behind him in scoring, giving Georgia a deep and talented backcourt.

Still, the third-year head coach isn’t satisfied.

“We’ve got a ways to go. We do,” White said. “We’re going to lose. We just are. We lost in Oxford and, boom, we bounced right back and had some really good preparation leading into the Kentucky game. Some pretty good preparation leading into this one.”

That’s what White wants his Georgia team to replicate going forward. Every single game has to have excellent preparation ahead of time to give the guys the best shot to win.

“We’ve got to be really sharp on Monday, take advantage of the day off. That’s it,” White said. “I want to keep these guys in that mindset. They’ve embraced that. I think it gives us the best chance obviously to continue to grow and develop as a team. Everything else will take care of itself.”