Birmingham, Ala. – “Consistently inconsistent.”

Those were the words of Georgia coach Andy Landers Thursday at SEC Basketball Media Day, describing his team last year. And after suffering what senior Angel Robinson called, “the roughest season since I’ve been here,” times are changing, working to get back to consistency of “the Georgia of six or seven years ago” according to Landers.

“What a great quote by Coach. That would be the perfect quote for last year,” Robinson said of hearing of her coach’s description. “How can we beat Auburn, giving them their first loss and the next game lose to Arkansas?”

“I mean we didn’t finish in the top-25 last year. I think they thought we would. So we got to talk about that. Why? … So we had a lot of discussions about those kinds of things to try to get them to understand that you know why you’re at Georgia,” Landers said.

The difference in Georgia will not only be in its intensity and effort, but the way it plays this year, placing an emphasis on running more, pressing more, and operating a quicker offense by running less sets.

“And it’s a work in progress. We’ve been through, I guess you would say, a re-educational process with our upperclassmen and a real detailed orientation with our youngsters. And now we’ve pulled them together and it’s all about change. It’s all about change,” Landers said.

But with a pair of returning senior preseason 1st team All-SEC performers in Robinson and point guard Ashley Houts, a projected third place finish in a strong SEC, and seven newcomers – six freshman and a junior college transfer – there is reason for Landers to be optimistic.

“I love those two,” Landers said of his senior stars. “That gives you a starting point, you’ve got two solid players there, and at this point, a third in Porsha Phillips, who looks really, really good this fall.

“How well we do this season really depends on how well we mix the young and the old.”

Despite the Lady Dogs obvious youth, Auburn head coach Nell Fortner, whose undefeated record was ruined by the Lady Dogs last year, thinks they will win a lot of ballgames.

“They’re always so tough. They’re always so athletic and quick. I think Ashley Houts is a tremendous point guard, and anytime you have a point guard that good, you have a chance to win a lot of ballgames and Angel Robinson in the post. That kind of experience is great in being able to bring their young kids along,” Fortner said. “But you know, every year Georgia is competitive and every year they give themselves a shot to win this league and I don’t expect anything different.”

As for how the Lady Dogs’ seven newcomers are adjusting to the college game thus far?

“They’re coming along very well,” Robinson said. “They’re very young. I have to be more patient with them, and I have to communicate more because they freeze. They’re like robots out there because if they make a mistake they’re like what is coach going to think. So we just have to tell them to relax and play basketball, play in a Georgia style, and I think that is going to take a while.”

For Landers, the development process will have to be expedited, as his freshmen will be forced to contribute early, especially with returning contributor Christy Marshall suffering a season-ending knee injury on Oct. 21.

“We’ve got to get minutes out of people other than our starters,” he said. “Houts has played way too many minutes, Robinson has played too many minutes. They’re not going to be ready early on, but they’ll grow into it and they have the ability to grow into it.”

Fortunately for the newcomers, they will have the non-conference slate to become acclimated before hitting the brutal SEC schedule. In fact, the league is so talented this year that Tennessee coach Pat Summit was quoted as saying she would put her team fourth in her preseason rankings – a statement Landers jokingly responded to with “I think she’s absolutely sandbagging – that borderlines being dishonest.”

“We’ve got to go out there with a bang pretty much,” Robinson said. “The non-conference season is going to help us prepare for SECs because the SEC is going to be a lot tougher than last year.”

Especially if Tennessee is only the fourth best team in the conference.