This guard combo is proving to be a key to success for Georgia men’s basketball

Even a positionless basketball team needs point guards.

With that philosophy that Georgia basketball head coach Tom Crean preaches, an offense still needs players to bring the ball up the court and get the offense rolling. That’s an area the Bulldogs struggled mightily in a season ago.

So far this season, it’s been mainly freshmen Anthony Edwards and Sahvir Wheeler handling those duties, with others chipping in as well. It’s this rotation of distributors that will be crucial for the Georgia offense as it looks to take the next step in year two under Crean.

First, an examination of the two main factors in this equation. There’s Edwards, the do-everything player and future NBA lottery pick who leads the team in scoring and loves to get his teammates involved.

Then there’s Wheeler, the 5-foot-10 (on a good day) guard who teammate Christian Brown likened to Speedy Gonzalez with his quickness and ability to push the ball up the floor.

“I think Anthony brings everything pretty much, scoring, he can pass,” graduate transfer Donnell Gresham said on Monday. “Sahvir brings leadership and quickness. He can get to the basket whenever he wants to and definitely can pass the ball pretty well.”

Gresham is one of several secondary players that also occasionally get things started on offense for Georgia. He, along with Bulldogs like Tyree Crump, Rayshaun Hammonds and Tye Fagan, can take the burden off Wheeler or Edwards for a possession or two when needed.

But make no mistake: the load is mainly shouldered by the two freshmen. They’ve earned that honor through doing what Crean looks for in his point guards.

On this team, that’s mainly two things. One is throwing the ball ahead after rebounds, speeding up the tempo of the game.

“You know when you’ve got guards that are used to having the ball in their hands a lot they’re used to bringing it up the court, instead of understanding how quick you got to get it up, move without it, get it back, play out of it,” Crean said. “That’s what we’re trying to get all of these guys, especially the younger guys that we have, to understand that.”

The second is having the ball touch the paint. That can come in several forms: a drive to the basket by a guard, penetrating into the paint before dishing out for a 3-pointer, or passing down low to a big man who can either pass or shoot.

“That’s more important than any of the assist-to-turnover ratios because there’s a really good opportunity you have to get a great three because of that,” Crean said. “If we can build up and keep cutting back our turnovers and make simple plays, make simple passes, don’t try to hit doubles, triples and home runs.”

In the first half of that contest against The Citadel, ball handling duties were split about equally between Edwards and Wheeler. The latter came off the bench and served as a change of pace, at one point recording assists on three straight possessions.

The same held true early in the second half. But as the game went on, Wheeler took over more and more of the point guard duties. Edwards moved more off the ball, which he said after the game was a product of the defense played against him.

“I didn’t have no choice but to get off the ball and just cut and just play for my team,” Edwards said. “Sahvir, he does a great job when he has the ball in his hands all the time. He doesn’t make too many mistakes. He can attack the rim.”

The final stats reflect the heavier distributing workload on Wheeler. He finished with 10 points and eight assists, while Edwards poured in 29 points and added four assists.

Hammonds said the team works plenty with different players bringing the ball up in practice, which helps when gametime rolls around. With players that are different like Edwards and Wheeler, that becomes even more critical.

Brown described it this way: Edwards is a scorer that also has the ability to facilitate. Wheeler, on the other hand, is a true born and bred point guard.

Crean didn’t make it as black and white as that. Prior to the Bulldogs’ tilt against Delaware State on Friday, he said the team needs multiple decision makers. He noted that Edwards and Wheeler play well together, but also have room to grow in decision making and movement without the ball.

Even so, against Delaware State the duo helped lead one of the best offensive performances Georgia has had under Crean.

The Bulldogs as a team registered 30 assists, hitting that milestone for the first time in Crean’s tenure. They also only turned the ball over 11 times, a low total for a team that has been careless with the rock at times the past two seasons.

The ball movement started with the guards, who ended with more combined assists than points. Edwards and Wheeler each had seven assists, with the former ending with six points and the latter with seven. The sharing mentality permeated the whole team.

“Once you see that people are getting open shots and good shots, you don’t want to be the first person who looks like he is forcing a shot,” sophomore Amanze Ngumezi said. “I guess we saw that in the first half. We didn’t want to be the person who took the bad shot.”

This game was particularly notable for Edwards, who entered leading the team in scoring but couldn’t get much going against the Hornets. Still, he exhibited that same enthusiasm that has been a hallmark of his young Georgia career.

“If you asked who was the happiest player tonight, playing the game, Anthony should win it,” Crean said. “We had a lot of guys playing with a lot of joy. But he wants to win and he wants to see his teammates do well.”

Through three games, the offense has looked much better than the last in terms of movement and sharing the ball. But the competition is about to step up, starting against Georgia Tech and continuing with top-level competition in the Maui Invitational.

Crean said after the Delaware State game he was in disbelief when athletic director Greg McGarity told him the the team had 30 assists. He recognizes how far his team has come, as well as how far they still have to go.

“I loved the way (the ball) moved,” Crean said. “It’s just another step in our journey of how much better we’ve got to get, because there’s a lot of things we have to get better at.”