JH: Opened by telling everyone he deeply cares about UGA and apologized for
making a serious mistake by recruiting Cole. He apologized to everyone connected
with the school, beginning with President Adams, as well as to the fans, and
said the experience has humbled him and really hurt his family. (
NOTE:
I've got the gist of the statement, but could not get it quoted verbatim.)
Then JH kinda chuckled and noted this has been a very good week for UGA hoops.
Ezra got hurt during the game, couldn't get anything on his shot, was throwing
the ball away, and finally JH pulled him and Wehunt shot us back into the game.
While this game was a defensive struggle, the
Florida game was an offensive
duel. JH was impressed with the period in which we settled down and rallied
from 11 down to win by 5.
SC missed 10 of its last 11 FG attempts in regulation, scoring only 2 points
in the last 10 minutes of regulation and committing 5 turnovers in that stretch.
(UGA outscored them 13-2 in the final 10 minutes).
JH also thanked the fans for the great crowd against Florida last Tuesday.
Jeremy from Memphis .. thanked JH for playing such a tough schedule - the second
or third straight year we've played the toughest schedule in the nation.
He is worried about rebounding against Arky since they outrebounded us by 20
when we played them in January.
JH noted UK is playing very well. As for Arky, one guy got 17 of those rebounds.
There were so many missed shots early, then we settled down. Steve Thomas is
really starting to get going; his presence makes us a different team. He definitely
thinks Thomas is playing better than either of the inside guys at SC, for instance.
Robert in Atl. - appreciates Harrick's comments and all he has done for
UGA hoops. Also hopes we've got many more years of 10-11 SEC wins per year
from JH. Will the bench be "expanded" during post-season, getting more
minutes from Wehunt and perhaps also Gibson? He also noted Thomas's much
improved play of recent games.
JH does plan to expand the bench - Wehunt in particular will get more playing
time. We've had too many cold stretches when Ezra and/or Jarvis was out.
A secret - Thomas' whole game expands when he gets touches. He's always
the undersized guy, but has gotten a couple of double-doubles. Scott noted he
was even trying to make some ball-handling moves.
Al from Knoxville said all Dawg fans need to stand up behind Harrick. JH thanked
him and said making a recruiting mistake really humbles you. Al said he heard
Dale Brown talking about Cole, saying if anyone could get Cole on the right
path, it would be Harrick.
Bill from Richmond, VA - echoed other calls tonight thanking JH for all he's
done for UGA. Also, he complimented JH's coaching and preparation at crunch
time. He especially talked about JH overruling his assistants at the end of
the Florida game. And what about today?
JH is a "hunch" guy, sitting around thinking about plays to call in
certain situations. You don't get 'em all right, though. He's still
second-guessing himself over the UK game. Today, SC was double-teaming Jarvis,
with Ezra out. Daniels saw it since he's so smart, and made the play to
Thomas. When you double-team guys you'll leave some open. JH also explained
the play at the end of the Florida game; he called the play he did because he
figured Jarvis could get a good shot down close by simply jumping over a guy.
Derrick (car phone) asked about defense. JH - with 8 seconds left today,
SC had the ball for a last shot, but got called for charging. We work on taking
charges every other day in practice. JH calls it "courage" - sticking
your nose in to knock a ball away or take a charge. It takes a lot to sacrifice
your body for the good of the team. Defense daily develops defense.
John from Cobb Co. - congratulated JH on a great season and Scott for a great
job on game calls. He was worried about Ezra; JH said he would be OK for the
tourney. Ezra told him he was hurting when JH got upset with him for turnovers
early in the second half. JH & Scott noted SC started covering Wehunt more
closely after he drained a couple.
Ted from Savannah said watching our practices was like watching Princeton, but
with athletes. What about Chris Daniels? JH loves how he plays, but isn't
sure whether any weight work would help. Why so much zone defense? JH said it
just came up from how the games have gone. We often zone on out of bounds plays
and it just went from there. The zone was generally effective today at SC and
also was important in the Florida game.
We've got three plays we run going the length of the court. JH called one
today and wished he'd called another.
Allen from Athens - hoarse because he (along with about 50-75 other Dawg
fans) went to the game today. Reminded Dawg fans how far the program has
come, and how bad it was in 1999 (w/o Evans & Coleman, we may only have
won two games that first year). Don't let a small mistake tear down
a whole basketball program. He encouraged fans to send letters or e-mails to
keep JH at UGA.
Andrew in Columbus - asked another question about Wehunt. JH said it was just
the stupidity of the coach that kept Wehunt from getting in more.
Brian from Athens - had an old story about a player from UCLA .. how does a
recruiting mistake impact what is going on, and what actions can be taken? JH
says he doesn't need to do it anymore; we've signed five guys who have
already qualified. He was just trying to build the program too fast. Odum was
questioned at RI, but turned out to be a great young guy. We needed a guy when
someone didn't qualify and took a chance on Cole. Whew.
JH thinks Wehunt is one of the best pure shooters he has ever coached, along
with Tracy Murray at UCLA and a couple of others.
James in Gwinnett wonders about Wayne Arnold, who he watched play at Berkmar.
JH: Wayne's mother died last January, it has just devastated him, and JH
can't seem to get him out of it (depression?), to do schoolwork,
go to class or come to practice on time. He has given Arnold the rest of the
season off to get his act together. He is a terrific pure shooter, but you have
to get it done in the classroom. It's way beyond JH to understand. Great
kid and could really help the team.
Scott said Arnold was out there with Jarvis and a couple of other guys early
before the Florida game, really putting on a show knocking in 3-pointers.
Scott asked about
Arkansas - JH said they are much improved since we played
them in January. JH noted he had predicted Arky would not win an SEC game after
we played them, but the Hogs won four.
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