Georgia basketball has one of the top duos in the nation, but J.J. Frazier and Yante Maten need more help.
Because the SEC is the worst of the Power Five conferences, we haven’t talked much about the Georgia Bulldogs and their underrated duo, J.J. Frazier and Yante Maten.
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The Bulldogs have an important game on Wednesday night at home against the South Carolina Gamecocks. Georgia is 9-4 on the season (with one bad loss to Oakland on the road), but they won their first SEC game in Alabama against Auburn.
The scouting report on the Bulldogs is very simple: J.J. Frazier and Yante Maten are awfully difficult to contain, but their supporting cast isn’t all that good.
Frazier and Maten are one of the most underrated duos in all of college basketball, and are expected to dominate the SEC over the course of the next couple of months.
Frazier, a 5’10” senior point guard, is averaging 16.0 points, 4.4 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game. He is shooting only 29 percent from beyond the arc, but is hitting 40 percent of his shots from the field and a highly efficient 91 percent of his free throws.
Then there’s Maten, who is having an All-American type of season. The 6’8″ junior big man is putting up 20.6 points, grabbing 8.2 rebounds and dishing out 1.5 assists per game, while shooting 56 percent from the field and 46 percent from beyond the arc. Maten is also playing solid defense, as he is blocking 1.6 shots per game.
But beyond Frazier and Maten, what do the Bulldogs really have?
Juwan Parker is the third leading scorer, however, he averages only 8.2 points and is shooting just 10 percent from beyond the three point line (!). Sophomore big man Derek Ogbeide was supposed to have somewhat of a breakout 2016-17 campaign, but he is a current role player who is being asked to do a little bit more than that.
Beyond Frazier, Maten, Parker, Ogbeide and Jordan Harris, no one else is averaging more than five points per game. That’s a sign of poor, poor balance, and ultimately, regardless of how disappointing the SEC is this year that won’t get it done.
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If the Bulldogs want to make the NCAA Tournament, they need to take advantage of their opportunities. Tonight is their first chance, but they also have match-ups against Florida on the road, Kentucky on the road, South Carolina on the road and the Wildcats at home. It won’t matter though. Unless the supporting cast finds it’s rhythm, Frazier and Maten will be left on an island by themselves.