Backcourt Depth Key to Dawgs' Revival

It was February -- midway through was proved to be a redemptive, yet unfulfilled season for Georgia's men's basketball team -- and Mark Fox decided to hold an impromptu pick-up game between the starters and reserves.

The game lasted just five minutes. The backups won by 10.

When it was over, one of Fox's student managers quipped, "Coach, I think we're playing the wrong guys."

"That may be true," Fox said, "But Gerald Robinson isn't eligible to play."

That's the type of impact Fox is expecting this coming season from Robinson, the transfer from Tennessee State who spent last season wowing teammates and coaches in practice but unable to see a minute of playing time in the games due to NCAA regulations regarding transfers.

In fact, when ESPN's Andy Katz listed Georgia -- a team that finished last in the SEC East in 2009-10 -- as No. 25 in his preseason top-25 ballot a few weeks ago, Robinson was one of his primary reasons.

"Gerald has a lot of respect from certain people," Fox said. "He's played well at the college level, and I think he turned down a lot of schools of this caliber out of high school, so I think people who are close to the game expect him to be an impact-type player. And I think he will make an impact on our team, and that's what we brought him here to do is really help us."

The help couldn't come at a better time or at a better position.

Fox estimates Georgia could easily have won five, six, maybe seven more games last season had Robinson -- a 6-foot-1, 165-pound junior, who averaged nearly 18 points and four assists per game as a sophomore at TSU -- been able to play last season.

More than anything, it was an issue of depth.

During exit meetings with players, point guard Dustin Ware confessed to his coach what had been obvious all season: He was exhausted.

"Dustin told me in our exit meetings, 'Coach, I wore down at the end of games,'" Fox said. "But he had to shoulder a ton of responsibility, and every team we played knew it, so they just came at him and at him and at him for 40 minutes. I have to give him credit for hanging in there like he did, but he was the first one to tell me, 'I'm going to invest the summer in my endurance.' But we have to help him out some, and I think Gerald will be a part of it."

Fox said he expects Robinson to play a hybrid role this season -- working at the 2 alongside Ware often, but playing his fair share at the point as well, with junior Travis Leslie getting an increased workload at the 2-guard spot, as well. Add in JuCo transfer Sherrard Brantley as another perimeter shooter along with the continued development of sophomores Vince Williams and Ebuka Anyaorah, and Georgia's backcourt could become a strength in 2010-11.

Brantley is a strong shooter, hitting 106 3-pointers Northwest Florida CC last season, while Williams showed some promise down the stretch running the point. Between Brantley, Leslie, Ware and Robinson, Fox expects experience to be a benefit as well.

All of that is huge in planning his scheme this season, Fox said. Last year was all about covering up weaknesses. This year has the potential to be much more.

"I played more zone last year than I played my first five years as a head coach," Fox said. "I don't want to sit in a zone the whole game, but when you're playing four guys 30-plus minutes per game, that's a way to keep them on the floor and keep them out of foul trouble. So we needed to continue to add depth and add perimeter guys because last year, that was a huge weakness for us."

Even with the lack of depth and hefty responsibility, Ware still finished third in the SEC last season in assist-to-turnover ratio, which speaks volumes about the junior's determination. But Fox said the key for this season is finding multiple players to rely upon, giving Ware a chance to be at his best for every minute he's on the court.

That's still a bit of a work in progress, but with Robinson's availability and the continued maturation of the rest of Georgia's backcourt, the prospects for 2010-11 are much brighter than the bleak situation Fox inherited last season.

"We're a lot closer if we'll continue to mature," Fox said. "We'll have the same number of guys on the team that we had last year, but it's the quality of the depth that's the issue. We need some guys to mature and continue to develop. Ebuka made some strides late in the year and we need him to have a really good summer. Brantley is a kid who understands winning. I think he'll help us. But we'll be a lot deeper team, and we'll be able to play more like we want to play and not be so worried about foul trouble and fatigue like we were last year."

From the Mailbag: Ware Gets Some Help

Before the SEC's meetings in Destin last week, I asked some of you to submit questions for Mark Richt and Mark Fox. I've answered some already, I have more answers coming in stories I have planned for the near future. But throughout this week, I'll be posting the answers to a few of them here.

This one comes anonymously (but let's assume it was posted by TV's Erik Estrada): With the recent announcement of the transfer of Gerald Robinson and the signing of Vincent Williams in the spring period, is it fair to say your recruiting focus has shifted to signing more wings and posts, and perhaps another SG, for next year's class?

OK, Fox didn't address his new focus in recruiting directly, but he was happy to talk about the addition of the two new point guards.

First off, Gerald Robinson Jr. will have to sit out the upcoming season, but Fox said his addition will have a big impact long-term. Robinson's dad is a coach at Tennessee State, which was the reason he signed there out of high school, but Fox said his new guard is clearly SEC material.

"He has SEC and ACC offers out of high school," Fox said. "He stayed home, but I think he realized he can play at a high level and we're excited to get him. He's a scoring point guard, a great kid and just wants to come and win. That's really important to him that our team is successful no matter where he fits in, and I think he can really make a difference a year from now."

With Corey Butler graduating and Zac Swansey transferring, that left Georgia with just one point guard on its roster when Fox arrived, so finding players to fill out the roster was essential. So the first two players Fox brought into the program were Robinson, Tennessee State's leading scorer last season, and Vincent Williams, a point guard from Homestead, Fla. who averaged 26 points and six rebounds per game his senior season. Even though Robinson won't be able to play next season, his addition should still be felt during practice.

"You need three point guards ideally on your roster so you can scrimmage, practice and give a guy a break now and then," Fox said. "That position expends so much energy. You have a tendency to wear those guys down if you don't have some depth. Like everybody else, when I first started we saw there was only one on the roster, and we needed to get him some help."

That one point guard is Dustin Ware, who was Georgia's starter down the stretch last season -- his first in Athens -- and made as big an improvement during the course of the season as anyone on the roster. Fox said that he has been extremely impressed by Ware so far, saying that Ware has the best approach to preparation of any player he has ever had. That's a big compliment coming from a coach who has put a half-dozen players into the NBA.

"As a freshman he went through a lot of the growing pains most freshmen do, but usually as a sophomore the game slows down for you just because of all the experience you get as a freshman," Fox said. "I've been real pleased with Dustin and his approach and I think he's working hard to have a great sophomore year."