Scouting Report: Georgia Bulldogs

We aren’t even a quarter of the way into the Southeastern Conference schedule and it already feels like the grind is here. The Kentucky Wildcats (13-3, 3-1) are in the midst of their first of three Wednesday-Saturday-Tuesday stretches of the conference slate. That means three games in seven days and only two full days in between each game to prepare and recover. Especially this season, where parity is sweeping the nation, it feels like the name of the game is surviving more so than thriving.

For the Wildcats, this week is all about holding serve at Rupp Arena. They did so on Wednesday night by defeating the Mississippi State Bulldogs 90-77. Now, the Georgia Bulldogs (13-4, 3-1) come to Lexington on Saturday night for a 6:00 p.m. EST tip-off on the SEC Network. Coach Mike White is already just three wins away from matching his overall and SEC win totals from last season. An underrated transfer portal haul and a solid high school recruiting class have sped up the rebuild in Athens. The Bulldogs have won 11 of their last 12 games and are arguably playing as well as anyone in the country. They have the look of a team that is absolutely going to compete in the top half of the Southeastern Conference this season.

As always, we have prepared a full, in-depth scouting report for Kentucky’s next opponent. We will take a deep dive into the Bulldogs’ personnel, break down their offensive and defensive schemes, and highlight the keys to the game for the ‘Cats. Let’s dive in and get to know more about the Georgia Bulldogs.

Georgia Bulldogs Personnel

Starters

#4 Silas Demary Jr.: 6’5″ 190 lbs, Freshman Guard

9.2 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 2.6 apg

Big, athletic guard. Handles it alongside #3 Thomasson and #11 Hill. Capable shooter, but much better and more aggressive as a right-hand driver. NO RIGHT-HAND DRIVES!!! You have to back up and be ready to contain the drive. Be there with a hand up to contest the obvious catch-and-shoot, but then bounce back and guard against the right-hand drive. Go UNDER the ballscreens and handoffs. If we decide to hard hedge you have to get out and force him AWAY from the rim. Don’t let him turn the corner. Uses his size and strength at the end of his drives. Be ready to be physical. Always coming back to his right to finish. Stay down, wall up, and make him score over you. Extremely athletic at the rim. No right-hand drives. No dunks for him.

#3 Noah Thomasson: 6’4″ 210 lbs, Graduate Student Guard

12.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 1.6 apg

Left-handed. Handles it alongside #4 Demary Jr. and #11 Hill. Shooter! No 3s! 36.4% on over 5 attempts per game. You have to be tight enough on the perimeter to take away his catch-and-shoot 3s. Break his rhythm when bouncing it so he can dribble into a pull-up 3. Go OVER the ballscreens and handoffs. If we decide to hard hedge you have to get out and force him AWAY from the rim. Don’t let him turn the corner, especially going left. CHASE him off of downscreens and get OVER the flares. Be willing to switch anytime there is too much space. Tighten up to him as the ball is driven towards you. Do not help off of him. Also, don’t over-help when he is driving it right. He is ALWAYS spinning back left to finish. Make him finish going right. No 3s! No left-hand drives!

#10 RJ Sunahara: 6’8″ 205, Graduate Student Guard/Forward

2.1 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 0.6 apg

Bigger wing. Very capable shooter, but better and more aggressive as a right-hand driver. No right-hand drives!!! You need to be there to contest the obvious catch-and-shoot but then bounce back to guard against the right-hand drive. Athletic and physical at the end of his drives. Will turn his drives into a post move some. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. No quick drop steps. Be ready to contest the turnaround jump shot. Stay down, wall up, and make him score over you. We want to stay between him and the basket at all times. You can help off of him when he doesn’t have it and then close out a step short with high hands and choppy feet. Don’t get back-cut when he is on the perimeter. No right-hand drives!

#1 Jabri Abdur-Rahim: 6’8″ 215 lbs, Senior Forward

12.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 0.4 apg

SHOOTER!!! NO 3s!!! 94 of 139 shots have been 3s. Shooting a much higher percentage from 3 than he is from 2. You have to be tight to him at all times to take him away from 3. Absolutely no help off of him. Tighten up to him as the ball is driven towards you. If he isn’t dribbling you aren’t close enough. We need to run him off of the line and make him score 2s. 31.1% from 2 compared to 41.5% from 3. Pressure him on the perimeter. 6 assists, 16 turnovers. He will turn it over if you make him dribble. Contest all jump shots. Not really looking to score aside from catch-and-shoot 3s. CHASE him off of downscreens and get OVER the flares. Be VERY willing to SWITCH anytime he ballscreens or if there is too much space. Absolutely no help off of him. No 3s!!!

#54 Russel Tchewa: 7’0″ 275 lbs, Graduate Student Center

6.6 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 1.1 apg

Big, strong 5-man. Very physical around the basket. He will initiate some offense out of the high post and top of the key. Get up and pressure him. We don’t want to let him drive it right, but you should be able to pressure him and still stay between him and the basket. 18 assists, 28 turnovers. You don’t need to help on him in the post, but if you do go you have to either steal it or foul him. Don’t get caught in the middle. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. He is not a good finisher with you between him and the basket. Stay down, wall up, and make him score over you. Don’t bail him out by fouling. Get him off the block. His percentages will go down even more the further off the block you make him catch it. Be physical. Box him out!!!

Bench

#15 RJ Melendez: 6’7″ 210 lbs, Junior Guard/Forward

9.8 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 1.2 apg

Backup wing. Physical and athletic. Willing shooter, but shooting a very low percentage. 21.7% on 60 attempts this season. Much better and more aggressive as a right-hand driver. NO RIGHT-HAND DRIVES!!! There is no reason to run at him on the perimeter in a way that allows him to drive it to the basket. Closeout short and stay between him and the basket. Just throw a hand up to contest and we will adjust if he makes a couple. He is looking to drive it right and back-cut to the rim. You should be playing off of him in a way that doesn’t allow you to get back cut. You can bring some help when he is driving it right. Come with the mindset of taking it off of him. 20 assists, 31 turnovers. Not thinking about passing. No right-hand drives!!!

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

9.5 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 3.4 apg

Dynamic playmaker. Point Guard. Handles it alongside #4 Demary Jr. and #3 Thomasson when he is in there. Very aggressive offensively. Good shooter. You need to be there to take away the obvious catch-and-shoot 3s. Break his rhythm as he is bouncing it on the perimeter so he can’t dribble into a pull-up 3. Be ready for him to drive it right. No right-hand drives! Play him as straight up as possible. Contest the jump shots and guard against the right-hand drives. He is their best passer. Do not over-help when he drives. He is a better passer than finisher. Make him finish contested 2s. Uses a lot of shot fakes and spins at the end of his drives to come back and finish with his right. Stay down, wall up, and make him score over you.

#0 Blue Cain: 6’5″ 194 lbs, Freshman Guard

7.1 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 0.9 apg

SHOOTER!!! NO 3s!!! 65 of 105 shots have been 3s. Shooting 36.9% from 3. You have to be tight to him at all times to take away the catch-and-shoot 3s. He will squeeze them off even when tightly contested and will shoot it from deep. You have to get all the way out and take him away. The goal is to limit his attempts. Tighten up to him as the ball is driven towards you. Get OVER the ballscreens and handoffs. CHASE off downscreens and get OVER the flares. Switch anytime there is too much space and switch OUT to take him away 3. Once you take away the catch-and-shoot 3s he will look to drive it right. We would rather make him finish 2s than get clean looks from 3. Pick him up early in transition. No 3s!!!

#23 Jalen DeLoach: 6’9″ 220 lbs, Junior Forward

3.6 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 0.5 apg

Backup 5-man. Looking to ballscreen and roll to the basket. Not super aggressive offensively unless he is right at the rim. Just stay lower than him on the roll and make him score with you between him and the basket. Right hand, left shoulder in the post. Do your work early and get him off of the block. His percentages will go down the further off of the block you make him catch it. Stay down, wall up, and make him score over you. Very good offensive rebounder. You have to make contact when the shot goes up. Box him out!

Georgia Bulldogs Offense

There are some things about the Georgia Bulldogs offense that don’t fit together. The metrics will tell you they are outside of the Top 100, but the film suggests they are very dangerous. Georgia shoots it at over a 35% clip from three-point range and they do an excellent job of getting to the free-throw line. However, despite their aggressiveness attacking the rim off of the dribble they are not good at finishing inside of the arc. Their 47.2% mark from two-point range is 283rd nationally. Also, the Bulldogs do a pretty good job of taking care of the ball despite their aggressive nature. While it doesn’t all necessarily make sense, it has led to success for Coach Mike White in year two. Georgia has good, athletic guard play and some guys who can really shoot it.

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We were better defensively against Mississippi State on Wednesday, especially when it came to not over-helping and running at the ball. That will need to continue on Saturday night against the Georgia Bulldogs. The first breakdown here is on the perimeter guarding #0 Cain. Yes, we want to take him away from 3, but you can’t leave your feet for no reason. Then, you can’t compound the mistake by over-helping off of a shooter like #3 Thomasson. There is no reason to help with two hands and two feet when Cain is driving it left. You should never help this much off of Thomasson no matter the situation.

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Georgia runs a handful of set plays out of a Pistol formation like you see here. It starts by ghosting the step-up screen into a flare. Then, they set a staggered double on the perimeter to bring #3 Thomasson back toward the ball. We want to chase Thomasson just as Tennessee does in this clip. However, we don’t want to get caught closing out to #15 Melendez like this. He is 13-60 from 3. There is no reason to fly at him like this and allow him to drive it right. Closeout short and guard against the right-hand drive!

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This possession begins with some Spain action for #0 Cain to pop for a 3 at the top of the key. Tennessee covers that up pretty well so the Bulldogs flow into Pistol. They will almost always ghost that first step-up ballscreen, but you can still see it coming and switch it if you want. Regardless, you shouldn’t be out guarding #4 Demary Jr. 30 feet from the basket. He is much more dangerous as a right-hand driver. Back up, stay inside of the three-point line, and be ready to guard against the right-hand drive. This is what happens when you are out too far and allow him to turn the corner.

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The Bulldogs will run some action in the half-court to get their shooters coming off of a flare screen. You have to get over the top with urgency anytime they flare. If you run into the screen then you need to communicate the switch and get your teammate to close out with urgency. Here, you see #30 James for Tennessee just stop when he gets flared in. We have to play with a much higher degree of urgency in order to take #1 Abdur-Rahim away from 3. All he wants to do is shoot catch-and-shoot 3s!!!

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Just as he did at Florida, Coach Mike White is still running some Princeton stuff with the Georgia Bulldogs. This is where they are really looking to get a back-cut to the rim. When they come together on the wing, as is standard in a Princeton offense, one player will back-cut to the rim while the other pops. Here you see #1 Abdur-Rahim flash to the rim and get fouled. It is especially hard to cover him on the back cut because you do have to be out to take him away from 3. However, guys like #10 Sunahara and #15 Melendez should never be able to back cut you because we don’t need to be as aggressive with them out on the perimeter.

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Georgia does a good job of running some called half court action to get their shooters loose for 3-point attempts. Here they begin from Pistol once again and run #0 Cain off of the ghost step up screen into a flare. However, that is really just to set up bringing him back towards the ball in a “Gator” action. This is where you just have to really concentrate on staying tight to him even when he is deep beyond the line. We need MORE urgency to take him away.

Georgia Bulldogs Defense

On the season, the Georgia Bulldogs are holding opponents to just 70.0 points per game. That equates to an adjusted defensive efficiency that comes in 44th nationally in KenPom. They have specialized in limiting the long ball as opponents have shot just 29.2% from three-point range this season. Similar to Mississippi State, it’ll be strength vs. strength between the ‘Dawgs and the ‘Cats on Saturday night. Coach White deploys primarily a man-to-man defense that will extend pressure a little bit, but primarily will sit down in the half-court and look to stay in front of the ball. A lack of forcing turnovers and ending possessions with a defensive rebound should play into the hands of our strengths as well. Going out and scoring 90 should once again be the goal.

Keys to the Game

• No 3’s for #3 Thomasson, #1 Abdur-Rahim, or #0 Cain. Have to hold these three guys to five or fewer combined 3s.
• Control the glass. After a couple of games against some of the best rebounding teams in college basketball, we should be able to dominate the glass against the Georgia Bulldogs. 30%+ on the offensive glass, 77%+ on the defensive glass.
• No right-hand drives for #4 Demary Jr. and #15 Melendez. We have to contain these guys off of the dribble and stay between them and the basket.
• Shoot 75% or better from the free throw line.