Landers said Monday night he has kept a copy of the Athens Banner-Herald's coverage of Georgia's 2009 NCAA first-round loss to Arizona State on his desk all year. So he called in his veteran players to show them the printed reminder of the loss.
"I said 'That's not what we want,'" Landers said. "That just wasn't a good experience for any of us. They got it. They're all in agreement. They would shake their head yeah and say 'It's not going to be like that.'"
The 2009 first-round loss came in Duluth, about an hour from the Georgia campus in Athens. This time Georgia will take a long trip west for its opening game in Tempe.
The Lady Bulldogs (23-8), the No. 5 seed in the Sacramento region, will face No. 12 seed Tulane (26-6) on Saturday.
"We really just want to be more focused for the game and come ready to play," said sophomore Meredith Mitchell. "We don't want to have that feeling again, especially for the first round."
Arizona State would have had the home-court advantage in Tempe but it did not make the NCAA field. Landers said that leaves an opening for other teams to take advantage of the neutral setting.
"I'm excited that we're playing basically on a neutral floor and I think it does open it up, very much so, compared to how it would be if Arizona State were there," he said.
Georgia set a school record by winning its first 16 games this season and was ranked No. 6 before losing six of eight late in the season.
The Lady Bulldogs recovered to win their last two regular-season games and their Southeastern Conference tournament opening game before losing to Mississippi State in the quarterfinals.
Georgia will be playing in its 27th NCAA tournament. Landers has coached the Lady Bulldogs to five Final Fours, but none since 1999.
Andy Landers
http://accesswdun.com/article/2010/3/227822