Bliss extended for Dogs

ATHENS, Ga. — It was a bit optimistic, even for coaches seeking a bright spot.

Minutes before Georgia’s basketball season continued to spiral downward on March 8 against Ole Miss, Bulldogs coaches allowed seniors Sundiata Gaines and Dave Bliss to address the team however they wished. It was senior day at Stegeman Coliseum, and Gaines used his opportunity to thank the coaching staff for lessons they had taught during four mostly trying seasons.

“Then we asked Dave what he would like to say,” Georgia assistant coach Pete Herrmann said this week, “and Dave said, ‘I don’t have anything to say. We’re not done yet. I’ll say something when we’re done.’”

Bliss waxing sentimental remains on hold.

Georgia’s unprecedented season resumes Thursday afternoon in the NCAA tournament when the Bulldogs (17-16) face Xavier (27-6) in Washington, D.C. The Bulldogs went 4-12 in Southeastern Conference play in the regular season but won four SEC tournament games last weekend in Atlanta, including the last three in a 30-hour stretch.

A 6-foot-10, 255-pound center from Wisconsin, Bliss propelled Georgia to a 97-95 overtime upset of Ole Miss last Thursday with a 10-foot bank shot with 0.4 seconds remaining. By the time the Bulldogs defeated Arkansas, 66-57, in Sunday’s title game, he was more emphatic, outscoring Razorbacks counterpart Steven Hill 8-0 and outrebounding him 11-1.

Bliss and his teammates were supposed to be too tired against the Hogs, and they were supposed to be too tired for Mississippi State on Saturday night after beating Kentucky in overtime Saturday afternoon.

“I guess I’ve got a lot of experience,” Bliss said of the demanding weekend. “It was definitely tiring, but we were just so determined at that point that we just kept saying, ‘We made it this far. We might as well go ahead and finish this thing.’”

After Georgia’s program became a national embarrassment under former coach Jim Harrick and his son, assistant Jim Harrick Jr., successor Dennis Felton was looking for anybody willing to help clean up. Bliss, the valedictorian of his 400-member class at Wausau West High, came along, selecting the Bulldogs over William & Mary, Southern Illinois and Central Michigan.

Bliss and Gaines were forced to become team leaders from their very first game, a 71-61 loss to Western Kentucky on Nov. 23, 2004. Levi Stukes was the lone returning starter that year and fouled out of the opener, so Gaines led with 17 points and Bliss added 10 points and nine rebounds.

Despite their best efforts that season, Georgia was woefully outmatched and went 8-20. The Bulldogs went 15-15 when Gaines and Bliss were sophomores and 19-14 last season, reaching the second round of the National Invitation Tournament.

The tandem was expected to complement forward Takais Brown and guard Mike Mercer in an NCAA run this season, but Brown and Mercer were dismissed from the program.

“It was a big disappointment at first, obviously, with those guys not meeting the expectations of our team,” Bliss said. “But we moved on, and we kind of took it on ourselves to keep the team together and keep fighting. We’ve wanted to make the tournament ever since we came in as freshmen.

“It was kind of a roundabout way of getting here, but we did it.”

Bliss, who graduated from UGA’s political science honors program in three years, has made 92 of 173 shots this season (53.2 percent) and averages 7.6 points and 5.6 rebounds a game. The Bulldogs are decided underdogs against the Musketeers, but Bliss can’t remember the last time he wasn’t an underdog.

“Dave has been a leader by his actions on and off the court,” Herrmann said. “You can’t say enough about a person like that. He’s a pleasure to coach and a pleasure to have around all the time.”