Little Fight, Bad Loss

The biggest difference between Fox's previous Georgia team and this one has been the play on the road. Saturday it seemed like we went back to our old selves and really stunk up the joint. The HoopDawgs 65-57 loss to Alabama is its worst of the season. Instead of pressing into the off season riding high, the team seemed to be content with the body of work thus far.

"The last game of the regular season, I wish we would have gone out with a bang," said Travis Leslie, who scored 15 points. "It just didn't go our way."

Said Gerald Robinson, who endured a 2-for-12 shooting day: "We were just a little offbeat. I don't know what to attribute that to, but we just weren't on the right page. ... It's definitely disappointing, especially with the scenarios we had at hand."

A victory would have kept alive the possibility of a No. 2 seed and, significantly, a first-round bye in the SEC tournament, which begins Thursday at the Georgia Dome. But the loss reduced Georgia's seeding scenarios: The Bulldogs will be the East's No. 4 seed if Tennessee loses at home to Kentucky on Sunday afternoon and the No. 5 seed if the Vols win.

As a No. 4 seed, Georgia would open against the winner of Saturday night's Auburn-LSU game; as a No. 5 seed, the Dogs would open against Arkansas.

"The next game, we have just got to do better than what we did [Saturday]," Leslie said. "We had a lot of mental mistakes, a lot of turnovers. ... They just played harder than we did."

Georgia is now either a 4 or 5 seed in the SEC tourney, which begins Thursday in Atlanta. With 4 days off, I hope to see a team emerge that is eager for the post season, and not content. There's little doubt that this team has yet to play its best basketball. At least from what I can tell. The only question is will we get to see dance with a purpose before it ends.