It only took a few minutes after Georgia's elimination from the NCAA tournament for the big questions to come: Would Trey Thompkins and Travis Leslie be leaving, or was there a chance either or both could return?
Here's my story on the subject.
“Those decisions will have a great impact on our team,” (head coach Mark) Fox said. “They both could come back, and we would have a great team. They both could leave, and we would have a young team. One might stay, one might go. I don’t know.”
The story also looks at the team's incoming talent, and Fox indicates that next year's team will move to an up-tempo style.
But back to the decisions facing Thompkins and Leslie. You would expect that each will at least declare for the draft without signing with an agent, since they still have that option and there's no harm. Here's a look at the potential starting lineups in all scenarios:
THOMPKINS AND LESLIE LEAVE
F: Marcus Thornton, Soph.
F: Donte' Williams, Soph.
PG: Gerald Robinson, Sr.
SG: Dustin Ware, Sr.
G-F: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Fr.
Also: C John Florveus, Jr.; SG Sherrard Brantley, Jr.; F Connor Nolte, Sr.; F-C Tim Dixon, Fr.; PG Vincent Williams, Jr.
Analysis:You can see how many questions this team would have. Is Donte' Williams ready for a starting role? Would either of the incoming bigs (Florveus and Dixon) be ready to play significant minutes? In any case, this is a team that would definitely fall in the rebuilding category, although the presence of two senior guards and a highly-rated recruit certainly don't make it hopeless.
LESLIE STAYS, THOMPKINS LEAVES
F: Marcus Thornton
PG: Gerald Robinson
SG: Dustin Ware
G-F: Travis Leslie
G-F: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
Also: F Donte' Williams, C John Florveus, SG Sherrard Brantley, F Connor Nolte, F-C Tim Dixon; PG Vincent Williams.
Analysis:In this scenario, I could see Fox electing to throw aside the need to have two true post players, and just play his best five. Leslie is a good rebounding guard, so he could make up for it. It may not be a classically built team, but it would certainly be fast and exciting.
THOMPKINS STAYS, LESLIE LEAVES
F: Marcus Thornton
F: Trey Thompkins
PG: Gerald Robinson
SG: Dustin Ware
G-F: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
Also: F Donte' Williams, C John Florveus, SG Sherrard Brantley, F Connor Nolte, F-C Tim Dixon; PG Vincent Williams.
Analysis: If the Bulldog coaches were given truth serum (and were off the record) they'd say that if they got to pick one to return, it would be Thompkins. Not just because he's been more productive (not that Leslie hasn't) but because Caldwell-Pope can more easily replace Leslie. It would still be a more up-tempo team because of the departure of Price.
THOMPKINS, LESLIE STAY
F: Trey Thompkins
PG: Gerald Robinson
SG: Dustin Ware
G-F: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
G-F: Travis Leslie
Also: F Marcus Thornton, F Donte' Williams, C John Florveus, SG Sherrard Brantley, F Connor Nolte, F-C Tim Dixon; PG Vincent Williams.
Analysis:Obviously, this would be a pretty potent team, giving Fox the versatility to go big if needed. In the (probably unlikely) even that Thompkins and Leslie each stay, another NCAA bid wouldn't be the goal, it would be the minimum expectation.
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3 comments:
D Williams will be a soph next year, not a junior
There is not a chance in hell that Fox would have a starting line-up in which the tallest player is 6'7".
The dawgs need up tempo badly. Watching them squander most of the shot clock while "running the offense" made me nuts. We got bad shots and were lucky enough to have athletic players who could make something out of nothing. Leslie was born to run and most of the rest of the tema were too. Price kept missing layups (Although he was as good a big man from the FT line as I've seen) and had little business being out there.
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