Can Mark Fox Get The Dawgs Back in the Tournament?

Mark Fox has a great opportunity to get his Georgia Bulldogs Men’s Basketball Team back into the NCAA Tournament for the second season in a row. Fox has built a solid program the last several seasons in Athens, as the Dawgs have become a contending team in SEC Conference play.

As Georgia has steadily improved in the non-conference, the Bulldogs have started to gain some national recognition for their play, including thrillers against Kentucky and Michigan State. Though the Dawgs lose many important players in the front court in 2016, can Mark Fox get UGA back into the Tournament in 2016?

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Fox will bring back one of the most explosive backcourts in the SEC this upcoming season. With guards Charles Mann, Kenny Gaines and JJ Frazier, Georgia brings both experience and versatility to the court this winter. In an era of college basketball where scoring is at an all-time low, Mark Fox might just have the guards to offset that trend in the Classic City.

I’m not saying that any of UGA’s guards are on Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s level as a go-to scorer on the outside, but each ball handler brings a different skill set to Georgia’s backcourt. Mann has an uncanny ability to draw contact when he attacks the paint. His ability to control pace makes him one of the league’s most dynamic point guards.

Gaines to me can do it all: attack the paint, distribute the ball, and make clutch shots from the outside. Though he has struggled staying on the court in Athens, Kenny gives the Dawgs the edge they need to get over the top when he’s playing for Mark Fox.

Frazier has been a perimeter threat that I haven’t seen in Athens, arguably ever. As an underclassmen, JJ has shown the ability to make deep threes from anywhere on the court. After his takeover game against Mississippi State last season, I feel that Frazier is bursting at the seams with many 15+ point games for Mark Fox’s Dawgs.

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As Georgia learns to play without Marcus Thornton and Nemanja Djurisic in the front court, Georgia has the offensive firepower from its three primary guards to overcome its potential deficiencies down low and contend again in the SEC. Should Yante Maten and other front court players improve as expected in the low post, Mark Fox’s Georgia Bulldogs should have enough to get back into the NCAA Tournament again this winter. I see the 2015-16 UGA Men’s Basketball Team winning over 20 games again this fall for Fox as the Dawgs continue to build their program to national relevancy.

Next: Georgia Bulldogs: Better Year, Jenkins or Carter?

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