Mike Strange: Tennessee has to slow J.J. Frazier of Georgia
NASHVILLE – Georgia wrapped up practice at Bridgestone Arena with each player taking a shot from the half-court circle. J.J. Frazier went first. Swish.
Hey, better Wednesday than Thursday, Tennessee would say.
Frazier will be headache enough Thursday (TV: SEC Network, 1 p.m. EST) without half-court shots as the Vols try to hang around the SEC tournament for more than 40 minutes.
Tennessee and Georgia tip off a day of great significance for eight teams with varying degrees of hope to extend their season into next week.
The Vols, January bracket darlings turned February fades, know they have to play, and probably win, on Sunday to make the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2014.
"To win multiple games, you've got to win the first one,'' senior Robert Hubbs III said Wednesday after the Vols spent a while shooting at Bridgestone. "So that's our goal.''
There is some historical comfort to be had. Tennessee has won its opening game in the SEC tournament four consecutive years and eight of the past nine. The extended forecast isn't so comforting. The Vols have reached the title game only twice, 2009 and 1991, since their most recent championship in 1979.
One more contextual tidbit, and it might be the most significant: No player on Tennessee's roster has ever beaten Georgia.
Hubbs was injured and done for the year as a freshman in 2014 when UT last beat the Bulldogs. Georgia has won the three games since, including 76-75 last month in Thompson-Boling Arena.
The abiding memory of that day is extremely relevant. Frazier, Georgia's senior point guard, put on a display of wizardry, leading the Bulldogs from a 14-point deficit to victory. He scored 20 of his 29 points in the second half, carrying the fight after All-SEC center Yante Maten fouled out. He hasn't cooled off since.
"He’s just a winner,'' Georgia coach Mark Fox said Wednesday. "It’s really been an honor to coach him four years.
"We were all frustrated (at the rules committee) taking some timeouts away. They’re more valuable, now. You don’t use them as much. Having a senior point guard who’s going to say exactly what needs to be said has really been important to us.''
Careful, Rick Barnes. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's point guard. Tennessee's freshmen point guards, Jordan Bone, Lamonte Turner, and Kwe Parker, have played like, well, freshmen.
As for Maten, he was injured Feb. 18 and hasn't played since. He practiced Wednesday, however, and while not 100 percent, will likely play some against Tennessee.
But the bigger concern is Frazier. In the five games Maten missed, Frazier averaged 29.6 points.
"I don't think my game has changed,'' Frazier said with a shrug. "I just did a little bit more shooting.''
Tennessee's defense better have changed or else the Vols won't have to worry about playing Kentucky on Friday. Back in Knoxville, the Vols had no answer for Frazier, who can shoot with range or slither through the big trees to the rim.
Barnes noticed. Last Saturday, sophomore Shembari Phillips started at point guard in a 59-54 win over Alabama and will do likewise Thursday. The switch is 100 percent about defense.
"But we know it's not just Shembari,'' Barnes said Wednesday. "He’s going to have to have great help from his post guys and his teammates on the edges.''
Although Alabama didn't have anyone with Frazier's arsenal of skills (not many teams do), Tennessee's defensive effort in the regular-season finale was still encouraging. If nothing else, it stopped a losing skid. Whether it can be the springboard to a postseason renaissance remains to be seen.
"We didn’t deserve to win those other games because we didn't play with the kind of tenacity we had played with throughout the year,'' Barnes said, "but we got back to it. And we need to do that here.''
Find out Thursday. Frazier will be the litmus test.
Mike Strange may be reached at mike.strange@knoxnews.com. Follow him on Twitter at Strangemike44.