University of Georgia Athletics
Frazier Making Most Of Green Light
January 15, 2016 | Men's Basketball
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
J.J. Frazier often makes the extremely difficult look ... well, difficult but doable.
Georgia's junior guard is becoming a master of the hyphenated shot, as he thoroughly demonstrated in his 28-point performance against Tennessee on Wednesday. He went 10-for-14 from the field, 4-for-5 from 3-point range, and there wasn't a gimme in the bunch.
Frazier regularly hits pull-up jumpers from up close to well beyond the 3-point line. He hits step-back 3-pointers and fall-away 3s. When he attacks the basket, not always easy for a player listed at 5-foot-10 and 155 pounds, Frazier makes the off-balance lay-up look routine.
"That's just J.J. being J.J.," Bulldogs sophomore forward Yante Maten said after Georgia's 81-72 win over Tennessee.
Watching from the seats of Stegeman Coliseum or from home, how many times have you seen Frazier put up a shot from an improbable location or physical position, and started to wonder what he was thinking? But before you can get "What are you doing?" out of your mouth, the shot has swished through the net and Frazier was jogging back the other way.
"Of course we're used to it because we see it in practice every day and watch it on film all the time," junior forward Kenny Paul Geno said Friday, a day before the Bulldogs (9-5, 2-2 SEC) host No. 15 Texas A&M (14-2, 4-0).
"Especially the other night [against Tennessee], some of those surprised me. I'm going for the rebound because I might have a chance to tip it in and sometimes they're off-balance [shots] and I'm like, wow."
It is indeed Frazier being Frazier. The tougher the shot, it seems, the more likely it is to drop in the basket.
"I haven't been surprised since last year, really," Maten said Friday of Frazier's vast array of shots. "He's a great shooter and he may be a little bit off balance sometimes or it may look like not the best of shots, but good shooters make tough shots — and he's a great shooter.
"He definitely has a lot of different moves in his arsenal. Sometimes he attacks and then pulls up really quick, and it may look like that wasn't the best shot, but he's a good shooter and he's proven that he can make those types of shots."
Five times this season Frazier has made at least four 3-pointers, including a 6-for-9 outing when he lit up Georgia Tech for a career-high 35 points. He and Kenny Gaines, who also has a 35-point game this season, put on a shooting clinic in the second half against the Vols, combining to go 13-for-20 from the field and 7-for-11 on 3s. Frazier scored 21 points and Gaines had 17 to lead Georgia back from a 10-point deficit with 16:55 to play.
Coach Mark Fox said after the game that Frazier has "earned the right" to have the green light. Fox expanded on that idea Friday.
"He's been a consistent scorer and I don't think he took any crazy shots — he's a terrific shooter," Fox said. "You have to give a guy some freedom and the green light to make decisions as to when to shoot and when not to shoot, and he's obviously confident in his ability to do that, and we're confident in him.
"I think just the fact that he's been a successful player has given him that right."
Frazier is enjoying more success than ever this season. Last season he played 29.5 minutes per game and averaged 9.5 points and 3.8 rebounds a game. So far this season, he's playing 30.6 minutes and averaging 15.6 points and 5.3 rebounds.
He's second to Maten (16.3 ppg and 7.5 rpg) on the team in both categories. One of those might be surprising, the fact that it's the 5-10 Frazier who is second in rebounding.
"That did take me by surprise," Maten said. "If someone would have told me that [before the season], I would have been like, are you sure? I believe it, because that's just how he plays. He's not afraid to do the dirty things."
Through four SEC games, Frazier's numbers have been even better: 16.3 points (tied with Maten for the team lead), 7.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists. For the season Frazier is shooting 43.0 percent from the field and 43.0 percent from 3-point range. In SEC play, those numbers are up: 51.2 percent overall and 61.1 percent (11-for-18) on 3s.
Frazier's all-around play in SEC games have him listed among the top 13 in the league in nine of 11 major statistical categories. No other player is listed in more than five.
"A little guy with a big heart," Geno said of Frazier. "He takes pride in everything on the court."
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
