New breed of dog

Season shows promise after Mark Fox whips men’s basketball team into shape

Undisciplined. Unfocused. Uninterested.

A team would never want to be associated with those three words. But last season, those three words described the Georgia men’s basketball team to a tee.

The team turned the ball over too much and showed up late for practices and team meetings – and their play showed it.

This spring, new coach Mark Fox sought to change that – literally one step at a time.

After his team once again was late to a workout, Fox sent the guys to Sanford and ordered them to run, and to touch every single step in the stadium.

“I was running by the pigeons and they were just looking at me as I ran, so I’ve never been that tired in my life,” senior center Albert Jackson told reporters at SEC media days Wednesday. “It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life.”

The Red & Black’s editorial board couldn’t be happier to hear that Fox is changing the culture and mindset of his team.

The Southeastern Conference is a weak basketball conference, but considering that Atlanta is a basketball hotbed, the Dogs have a legitimate chance to make themselves a contender.

Former head coach Dennis Felton lost his team and it showed. Georgia needed new blood and a new voice for them to have any chance for success.

Under Fox’s coaching, every player has increased his vertical leap by three inches and has lost weight. Just look at forward Jeremy Price, who has already lost 22 pounds this season.

If the preseason serves as any indication, the Georgia bite might actually draw blood this year.

- Michael Fitzpatrick for the editorial board