‘Earn your belief.’ UGA basketball confidence grows as season turns to conference play

Belief is a powerful thing. It’s what makes Christmas magical for children, what turns a goal into an accomplishment.

In basketball, belief can be the difference between a win and a loss. Georgia head coach Tom Crean stressed this point after a particularly tight contest, a 87-85 double overtime win over SMU on Dec. 20.

“They did it all on belief,” Crean said. “It’s a huge win, because we had to learn how to believe, and that’s not a corny statement. You have to earn your belief.”

Three wins later, the Bulldogs are on a four-game winning streak and are coming off a 65-62 road win over No. 9 Memphis, the team’s first victory over a top-10 team since 2011. With every victory comes a growing sense of belief among one of the nation’s youngest teams.

Georgia is 4-0 this season in games decided by four points or less. They also pulled away in the final minutes to defeat Georgia Southern 73-64 on Dec. 23 after trailing at halftime.

“Every game you hope is just a little more experience that they have, a little bit more knowledge but, most importantly, confidence and belief,” Crean said. “SMU, that helped us. Coming back from behind against Georgia Southern, that helped us. Those kind of things help you get better.”

The Bulldogs won a pair of close games in a week in November, 82-78 over Georgia Tech and 80-77 over Chaminade on a buzzer-beater from star freshman Anthony Edwards.

But this most recent stretch has been even more grueling. The Georgia Southern game was tight throughout, and the run was bookended with the victories over SMU and Memphis, all in a span of 15 days.

After the win over the Tigers, Crean praised his team’s poise as he was interviewed by CBS.

“I never looked back at these guys and didn’t see them not believing we’d find a way to win the game today,” Crean said. “As a coach, that’s the best possible things you can look at is look in their eyes, they’re looking back at you, you’re not trying to convince them we can win the game. That’s huge.”

This is a group that welcomed nine freshmen and a graduate transfer to a squad that won just 11 games last season. Among the 21 losses a season ago came a stretch of four straight losses by a combined nine points in SEC play, part of an 0-6 record in games decided by four points or less.

Where is this belief coming from?

Sure, the in-game experience helps. Freshman Sahvir Wheeler said the team is looking less and less at Crean on the sidelines in those late situations, and instead relying on teammates to get things done. Junior Rayshaun Hammonds even said he views those first year players as sophomores now at this point in the season.

But all of this starts in practice. Crean puts the team to the test in late-game situations every day, with one team trying to hold a lead and the other attempting to mount a comeback.

It hasn’t always come easy. One of the first times the staff set up a scenario, Crean had one team down by seven with 1:50 left to play. He told the trailing team that they didn’t need to shoot a 3-pointer, which resulted in the Bulldogs looking at the coach “like I’ve got three heads.”

“It’s so important for guys to understand how long the game is and I think young players struggle with how long the game is,” Crean said. “How much time is there in the game, and how you shorten a game or how you lengthen a game. I think trying to get them to understand that mindset is more important than any scheme. It’s more important than any play.”

On top of that, Crean stresses to his players that young or old, they’ll be counted on down the stretch in close games.

“No one cares if we’re all freshmen or all seniors, the game calls for winning, making winning plays,” Wheeler said.

Wheeler made one such play late in the game against Memphis. With just over a minute remaining, he buried a jumper from the free throw line to put the Bulldogs up by three.

The freshman took that shot with all the confidence and belief of a grizzled veteran. Now, as the SEC schedule starts Tuesday night with Kentucky, it’s that belief that will carry the young Bulldogs to whatever success they achieve in the conference.