Scouting Report: Georgia Bulldogs

We have officially reached the point in the season where the schedule flips over and you start to play teams for a second time. Conference play is never easy, but it gets even harder the second time around. The Kentucky Wildcats (16-8, 7-4) took down the Georgia Bulldogs (14-10, 4-7) 85-71 at Rupp Arena on January 17th and now will face them once again down in Athens. It took a big second-half comeback, including 37 points and 24 rebounds from Oscar Tshiebwe, to come away victorious the first time around. Now, the Wildcats find their backs against the wall once again after a 15-point home loss to Arkansas on Tuesday. For NCAA Tournament purposes, this is a must-win road game for the ‘Cats. That is never an easy situation to be in.

As usual, Kentucky had some struggles guarding the ballscreens when they faced the Bulldogs a few weeks ago. Those defensive problems have persisted off and on ever since including allowing 88 points in a dreadful home loss to the Razorbacks. However, Georgia has had plenty of defensive issues of their own allowing over 80 points per game in their recent stretch that has seen them lose six of seven games. It is possible that Saturday’s matchup turns into a bit of a track meet at Stegeman Coliseum.

As always, we’ve been hard at work in the KSR Film Room putting together another scouting report for your pregame consumption. Here you will find a full personnel deep-dive, breakdowns of their offensive and defensive schemes, and the keys to the game. Let’s dive on in and learn more about the Georgia Bulldogs.

Georgia Bulldogs Personnel

Starters

#0 Terry Roberts: 6’3″ 180 lbs, Senior Guard

15.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 4.2 apg

Primary ball handler. Going to bounce it a lot. Very aggressive. Willing shooter. 31-99 from 3. Better attacking the basket off of the dribble than he is as a shooter. Plays off of a lot of ballscreens. It is okay to hop underneath as long as you are ready to contest if he shoots behind. If you go over the top we need to give ground and stay between him and the basket. Be willing to switch to stay in front. Very aggressive trying to attack off of the ballscreen. Need to stay between him and the basket. Error on the side of giving up contested jump shots. Contest all jump shots. NO RIGHT HAND DRIVES. Don’t over help when he drives it left. Not as likely to finish going left. Make him score contested 2’s going left. No right hand drives! No layups for him.

#3 Kario Oquendo: 6’4″ 220 lbs, Junior Guard

12.7 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 0.7 apg

Elite athlete. Very physical. Willing shooter. 28.3% from 3. More aggressive as a right hand driver than as a shooter. Be there to contest the initial catch-and-shoot and then you can bounce back to guard the right hand drive. NO RIGHT HAND DRIVES! Very physical at the end of his drives. Need to make him finish over you. You can hop underneath the ballscreens and handoffs. Very aggressive trying to turn the corner to his right hand of off the ballscreen. He is not thinking about passing when he drives it. 14 assists, 36 turnovers. Come take it off of him when he is driving right. Crashes the offensive glass from the perimeter. Box out! Excellent in transition. Have to get back and protect the rim. No uncontested catch-and-shoot 3’s. No layups or dunks driving it right.

#4 Jusaun Holt: 6’7″ 190 lbs, Sophomore Guard

3.3 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 0.6 apg

Thin, athletic wing. Willing shooter. 46 of 77 shots have been 3’s. 28.3% from 3. Shooting a much better percentage from 3 than 2. Get a hand up to contest the catch-and-shoot 3’s. Will drive it right. Brings it in transition after a rebound. Will attack off of the throw ahead in transition too. Need to get back and protect the basket. No right hand drives! Low percentage finisher when he drives it. Only 7-31 from 2-point range this season. Just get your hands up and make him finish over you on his way to the basket. You can pick your spots to pressure him some. Make him uncomfortable when he is bouncing it. 14 assists, 16 turnovers. Stay between him and the basket. No uncontested catch-and-shoot 3’s. No layups.

#12 Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe: 6’8″ 215 lbs, Junior Forward

6.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.0 apg

Athletic 4-man. Non-shooter. Has not attempted a 3 this season. Closeout short to him on the perimeter to stay between him and the basket. Will put it on the floor and drive it right. No right hand drives! Should closeout under control enough that he can’t attack. Very good and active cutter off of the ball. When you are helping off of him you have to be aware of him cutting to the basket. Don’t get backcut on the perimeter. Shouldn’t be out there far enough to get backcut. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. Be physical and get him off of the block. Really likes to make the quick drop step to the baseline. No drop steps! Make him finish with you between him and the basket. Don’t let him turn the corner on you, especially to his left shoulder. Excellent offensive rebounder. Box out!

#23 Braelen Bridges 6’11” 245 lbs, Fifth Year Center

7.8 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 0.7 apg

Lefty post. Back to the basket scorer. Looking to score on the block. Left hand, right shoulder in the post. Really trying to turn the corner, especially to his right shoulder, and score around you. No drop steps! Will utilize a lot of spin moves and shot fakes around the basket. Stay down on the fakes, be physical, and wall up. Make him score with you between him and the basket. If he faces up in the post he is either going to drive it left or go right to spin back left. Keep him going to his right hand. Not comfortable under pressure. You can pick your spots to aggressively come dig the ball out of the post and take it off of him. 16 assists, 39 turnovers. Good rim-runner in transition. Active on the offensive glass. Box out! No right shoulder baskets inside.

Bench

#11 Justin Hill: 6’0″ 185 lbs, Junior Guard

7.4 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 2.9 apg

Backup point guard. Willing shooter. 29.4% on two attempts per game. Need to be there to give a hard contest to catch-and-shoot 3’s. More aggressive off of the bounce as a right hand driver. Looking to attack closeouts on the perimeter. No right hand drives! Really probes the defense off of ballscreens and when he attacks in transition. Likes to play off of ballscreens and get downhill going to his right. Loves to reject ballscreens. No rejects! You can start by going under the ballscreens and handoffs. Be ready to contest if he shoots behind, but those aren’t the 3’s he is hunting. Always coming back to his right hand to finish inside. Will spin back right and use a lot of shot fakes at the end of his drives to score with his right. Stay down on the fakes! No layups for him.

#1 Jabri Abdur-Rahim: 6’8″ 210 lbs, Junior Forward

7.5 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 0.3 apg

Bigger wing. Stretch 4-man. SHOOTER! NO 3’s! 93 of 126 shots have been 3’s. 37.6% from 3. He is their best shooter. Really looking to squeeze off catch-and-shoot 3’s. Tighten up to him as the ball is driven towards you. No help off of him. Chase off of downscreens and get over the flares. Switch if he ballscreens to take away the pick-and-pop 3’s. Will use the shot fake on the perimeter to drive it right. We are more worried about him shooting the catch-and-shoot 3 than driving it, so error on the side of taking away his attempts from the perimeter. Need to find him in transition. He is the next most dangerous guy. Will crash the offensive glass. Box out. He and #13 McBride are the only “no help” guys. No catch-and-shoot 3’s!

#13 Mardrez McBride: 6’2″ 180 lbs, Fifth Year Guard

5.1 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 1.1 apg

Lefty. Looking for catch-and-shoot 3’s. No catch-and-shoot 3’s! 82 of 113 shots have been 3’s. Shooting a much better percentage from 3 as he is from 2. Be tight enough to him to give a hard contest to all catch-and-shoot 3’s. Chase off of downscreens and get over the flares. Once you take away the catch-and-shoot 3’s he is looking to drive it left. No left hand drives! Will drive it left to score at the rim, but will look for the pull-up more going right. Contest all jump shots. Would rather him drive it than get an uncontested look on the perimeter. Shooting below 30% from 2-point range. Make him finish. No layups going left. He and #1 Abdur-Rahim are the only “no help” guys. No catch-and-shoot 3’s.

#15 Jailyn Ingram: 6’7″ 225 lbs, Sixth Year Forward

3.5 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 0.7 apg

Face-up 4-man. Good shooter. 14-38 from 3 in 17 games. Shooting a much better percentage from 3 than 2. 38 of 58 shots haven been 3’s. Need to be there to give a hard contest to the catch-and-shoot 3’s. Once you take away the catch-and-shoot 3’s he will look to attack your closeout going right. Has only made 5 two-pointers on the season so not too worried about him driving it. Physical driver. Need to be physical and wall up to make him score over you around the basket. Just make him finish over you. Only 5-20 from 2-point range this season. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. Give a hard contest to the catch-and-shoot 3’s!

#5 Frank Anselem: 6’10” 215 lbs, Junior Center

3.1 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 0.3 apg

Backup 5-man. Exclusively looking to score at the rim. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. Will use a lot of spin moves and shot fakes to try and finish around you inside. Wall up and make him finish over you. Looking to duck you in hard and the front of the rim. Be physical and don’t let him bury you inside. Make him catch the ball off of the block. His percentages will go down significantly the further off of of the block you make him catch it. Take away the quick drop step to the baseline. Don’t let him turn the corner, especially to his left shoulder. Box out! Make him score with you between him and the basket.

Georgia Bulldogs Offense

The Georgia Bulldogs set a lot of ballscreens, will attack in transition, and rely heavily on getting to the free throw line. 22.6% of their points come from the charity stripe which is the 16th most in the country. Georgia converts at a 72.9% clip at the line. However, despite their success from the free throw line, the Bulldogs struggle from three-point range. They are 32.6% from deep. In the half court you will be guarding a lot of high ballscreens, some 4-around-1 Motion offense, and set plays that are generally either isolations for #3 Oquendo on the perimeter or #23 Bridges in the post. We need to focus on staying between them and the basket and getting back in transition to limit their opportunities for “easy” points.

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Georgia’s offense has been inconsistent this season, but they do find success in transition. They are averaging 1.094 points per possession on the break thanks in large part to their super athletic guards. #3 Oquendo is the best of the bunch in transition with his ability to attack the rim off of the throw ahead. As always, the checklist in transition is protect the basket, stop the ball, and then matchup beginning with the next most dangerous guy. The first person back has to sprint to the front of the rim to help keep Oquendo from getting layups like this.

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Especially in the first half, we struggled mightily at staying between the Bulldogs and the basket off of the dribble. You have to be more ready for #0 Roberts to drive it at you if he plays. This is way too much of a straight line to the rim for him. We want to make him shoot contested jump shots. Back up, stop the ball, bring some help if needed, and do not let him score layups.

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The Georgia Bulldogs will test our ballscreen defense once again on Saturday afternoon. #11 Hill is a sub-30% 3-point shooter and is just 2-13 shooting off of the ballscreen this season. That means we should go UNDER the ballscreens because he is not a threat to shoot behind it. However, if you do get stuck going over there needs to be quicker recovery to #23 Bridges on the roll. We are more worried about taking him away on the role than Hill finishing at the rim. Have some urgency getting back in front of Hill and then don’t over help at the rim.

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Coach Mike White runs some unique offensive actions in the half court to help free #3 Oquendo for drives to the rim. This is a staggered double set for him to come off into an Iverson cut. Anytime he has the ball you have to be thinking about him bringing it at you. He is a 28.3% 3-point shooter. We would MUCH rather force him into perimeter jump shots than allow him to get all the way to the rim where he is a high-level finisher. Back up, stay in front, and then be physical at the end of his drives. Allowing him to score beyond you at the rim will get us beat.

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A lot of the Georgia Bulldogs half court set actions will be run out of a Horns alignment. This is a simple play to try and isolate #23 Bridges on the left elbow. He slips into a pop and starts to attack down the lane line. Once cut off, Bridges spins back and finishes the right handed hook shots. He is good over both shoulders, but much more dangerous going left. We will live with right handed finishes this far out from the rim.

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Coach White will dial up some set plays for #23 Bridges to get a catch inside. He is coming off of a 26-point performance on 10-13 shooting against Ole Miss. You have to be physical on his right shoulder when he gets the ball inside. Do not let him spin back to finish with his left hand. Wall up, be physical on the right shoulder, and make him score over you outside of the paint.

Georgia Bulldogs Defense

The difference between the Georgia Bulldogs’ early success and recent struggles has been due to a total collapse on the defensive end of the floor. During their 3-1 start to SEC play the ‘Dawgs held opponents to just 63.5 points per game. Since that time, Georgia has gone 1-6 and allowed 81.7 points per game. They really struggle to protect the rim, do not rebound well, but they do hold teams below 30% 3-point shooting. We will go against them icing some ballscreens and general ball pressure on the perimeter which funnels you towards the rim. However, they don’t have the size to successfully keep you from scoring consistently inside.

The Georgia Bulldogs mix in quite a bit of token full court pressure as well to slow down the offense. When they extend the press they typically fall back into a 2-3 Zone. Despite playing as much zone defense as anyone in the conference, Georgia is quite a bit worse on a points-per-possession basis in their 2-3 than their base man-to-man defense. This clip below is an example of their full court pressure back to a 2-3 zone.

Keys to the Game

• Contain #0 Roberts, #11 Hill off of the ballscreen. Very aggressive offensive players. Have to stay between him and the basket. Contest everything. More shots than points for him. Stay in front of them on the ballscreen.
• Dominate the glass. The Georgia Bulldogs are a bad defensive rebounding team. We must score on second chance opportunities. They are solid on the offensive glass, but we must be 77% or better on the defensive glass.
• No catch-and-shoot 3’s for #1 Abdur-Rahim or #13 McBride. Limit them to 3 or fewer combined 3’s. It will be hard for the Bulldogs to score enough if we can limit their 3’s.
• Shoot 75% or better from the free throw line.