Yellow Jackets Head to Littlejohn

By Peacone36 Mychal Hunter Tuesday, Jan 15th 2019 at 10:46am EST 81 community comments

MIAMI, FL - DECEMBER 01: James Banks III #1 of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets celebrates with Michael Devoe #0 against the St. John's Red Storm during the HoopHall Miami Invitational at American Airlines Arena on December 1, 2018 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

At 10-6 (2-1), some might consider Georgia Tech to be the surprise of the ACC. They are a couple of free throws and layups away from being 11-5 (3-0). Coming off of an impressive win at the Carrier Dome, Josh Pastner's feisty bunch head to Clemson on Wednesday. Littlejohn Coliseum has not been friendly to Georgia Tech over the years, the last win coming in 2005.

The Tigers are led by longtime coach Brad Brownell, who has a shiny new contract extension. He is 159-119 overall and 67-76 in league play during his tenure.

Clemson 10-6 (0-3) came into the season with high expectations after a sweet 16 appearance in 2017-18. They eventually fell in the dance to Kansas but were impressive in the loss. Gabe Devoe and D'onte Grantham are long gone, but Marcquise Reed, Shelton Mitchell and Eli Thomas remain. Reed, an all-ACC guard is a stud both offensively and defensively, playing the passing lanes aggressively leading to easy buckets. Thomas, who suffered a foot injury in the preseason, came into the season a little out of shape but has still been effective. He is averaging a career high in points at 13.2, but his rebounding and block numbers are both down from last year.

Shelton Mitchell has been the most disappointing of the trio. The historically steady guard is posting lower than expected numbers across the board following a very productive junior campaign. In conference play so far he's averaged just 7.0 points and 2.0 assists in over 28 minutes per game. His 29% from deep and 24% overall are by far career lows.

While the Tigers' Kenpom number is still a respectable 47, their best wins are Lipscomb at home and Georgia on a neutral floor. Those are not exactly needle movers, though Lipscomb is a tournament team. The biggest difference from last year to this year can be boiled down to turnovers and shooting. Clemson's turnover rate is nearly 21%, up from 17.5% last year, ranking 269th in the nation. Last season, the Tigers shot 36.6% from deep; this year only 30.6%.

If you look at individual match-ups, you would give Clemson the edge all day. Reed, Thomas and Mitchell are household names to any ACC fan who pays attention, but the on-court performance hasn't quite been there this year. Combine that with the fact that Brad Brownell never knows what he will get out of sophomore forward Aamir Simms and it is difficult to trust the Tigers regardless of venue. In their three conference losses this year they have averaged a dreadful 54.7 ppg.

I'm going with the good guys here. Georgia Tech is long past due to get a win at Littlejohn. Jose Alvarado and Mike Devoe have been very good lately outside of Devoe's shooting woes. Coach Pastner shortened the rotation against Syracuse and the results were impressive. Trusting a Tech team on the road is always shaky, especially after they just landed a big road win, but I like our coaching and I like our guards. Keep the rotation short, don't let Reed take over the game and we get out of town with a W.

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Tech hosts Gardner-Webb Monday night

By Peacone36 Mychal Hunter Saturday, Dec 15th 2018 at 02:17pm EST 90 community comments

Georgia Tech freshman forward Khalid Moore (photo courtesy of ramblinwreck.com)

Finals week has concluded and it is time to get back to business on the court for Coach Pastner's Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Coach's crew will get back into the swing of things on Monday evening against Big South opponent Gardner-Webb.

The Runnin' Bulldogs out of Boiling Springs, NC come into Monday night's game with a 7-5 record and winners of 5 in a row. Two of those wins are a against non-D1 opponents, while the other three are against teams that rate 328 or worse in KenPom.

Gardner-Webb is led by sixth year head coach Tim Craft. This is Coach Craft's first stint as a Division 1 coach and he has compiled a record of 95-83. He was an assistant coach at the program under Rick Scruggs in the early 2000's as well. He has served as an assistant at Auburn and East Carolina (not ECU). He is the program's third head coach since they joined D-1 in 2002-03, and he was preceded by current Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann.

Gardner-Webb is led by two dynamic scoring guards, senior David Efianayi and freshman Jose Perez. Efianayi owns over 1,300 career points and is currently on pace to set a career high for triples made in a season. He is averaging 17.2 points per game and shooting 42% from three on the season. In his last three contests however, he is only connecting at a 31% clip. He has scored in double figures every game this season and has had 20 or more five times.

Perez, a 6'5 wing out of the Bronx, is also averaging 17.2 points per game. He has been named the Big South freshman of the week twice and recorded Gardner-Webb's first triple double in nearly 20 years earlier this season. He had exactly one scholarship offer out of high school that I could find. Over his last five games, Perez is averaging 18.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.8 steals and shooting 53% from behind the arc. Regardless of competition, that is really impressive.

A couple of additional players that should be mentioned are Nate Johnson and DJ Laster. Johnson, a 6'4 RS sophomore guard, is averaging 11.3 points per game. He has kind of burst onto the scene this year. He is shooting 42.6% from three and has an effective field goal percentage of 63% on the season.

Laster, an undersized forward, also averages double figures at 11.6 points per game, he is also good for about 5 rebounds. He is the only player on the roster taller than 6'6 that plays more than 12 minutes per game.

Gardner-Webb is an interesting team. While their numbers have certainly been impacted by the level of competition they have played, they have also played VCU, VPI and Furman. They are currently 291st in the country in tempo (KenPom) while being a top 50 team in points per game at 82.2. They do not have one particular player who dominates on the glass, but they are a very good rebounding team, ranking 23rd in nation in total rebounds.

This game will again give Georgia Tech an opportunity to flex their perimeter defense muscles as the Bulldogs rank 27th in triples made and 29th in the country at 39%

Make no mistake, Craft will have this team ready to play and Georgia Tech has a long history of playing poorly after finals week. During his time in Boiling Springs his program is 1-3 against the ACC. The win was on a neutral court against Clemson in 2014-15.  He also owns a win at Purdue (same season) and a win at Nebraska in 2016. This year they lost to Furman on the road by only two points in overtime.

To make a long story short, this is not a team the Yellow Jackets can afford to take lightly.

 

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Jackets head to Miami to take on St. John's

By Peacone36 Mychal Hunter Friday, Nov 30th 2018 at 06:14pm EST 131 community comments

KNOXVILLE, TN - NOVEMBER 13: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets guard Michael Devoe (0) takes a shot over Tennessee Volunteers guard Jordan Bowden (23) during a college basketball game between the Tennessee Volunteers and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on November 13, 2018, at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, TN. (Photo by Bryan Lynn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Coach Josh Pastner's Jackets remain on the road this week. After dropping a game to Northwestern in the ACC/B1G challenge, they head down to Florida to play an undefeated St. John's squad on Saturday. The contest is being called the Air Force Reserve Hoop Hall Miami Invitational and tips at noon EST on ESPNU.

St. John's is one of 17 remaining undefeated teams in the NCAA and is currently ranked 46th by KenPom. This game will mark the first time St. John's has played outside of the NY/NJ area this year. The Red Storm currently rank 245th in strength of schedule and their highest rated opponent, according to KenPom, is Rutgers. Despite the poor schedule and their ability to score in bulk (83 points per game), their average margin of victory is only 11.5 points.

The Red Storm are led by dynamic junior point guard Shamorie Ponds who averages 2o points, 5.2 assists, 3.3 assists per game. Going back to 1992-93, he is the only St. Johns player to have a season of 550 points, 100 assists, 65 steals and less than 10o turnovers. He has done it twice. He is joined this year by high scoring Auburn transfer Mustapha Heron, who was granted immediate eligibility by the NCAA. Heron is currently averaging 18.2 points and 6.2 rebounds. He is also shooting 43.5% (23 attempts) on the young season. As a team St. John's shoots an impressive 38% from three. LJ Figueroa, a budding star for Coach Chris Mullin, shoots 54% from deep on the season.

As mentioned, St. John's is coached by former Red Storm superstar Chris Mullin. As a player, Mullin appeared in 125 games, averaged 19.5 points and won the Big East Player of the Year award for three straight seasons. His coaching acumen thus far has been a bit underwhelming, having yet to lead his alma mater to an above .500 season in his first three tries. His record coming into the 2017-18 season was 38-60.

This is an interesting match-up for Georgia Tech. The Johnnies are a live by the three, die by the three team and the Jackets currently rank 14th in the nation in three point percentage against at 25.7%. The good guys only give up 59 points per game, good for 16th in the nation. The contrast in styles is one of the most intriguing parts of this contest. St. Johns is 56th in adjusted tempo (KenPom), while Georgia Tech is currently 190th.

The KenPom metric currently gives St. Johns a 73-70 edge. If Georgia Tech can maintain their defensive intensity and put together a complete game on the road they have a chance. The Red Storm have yet to really play anyone of consequence, while the Jackets have played two opponents inside the top 50 (Kenpom) and both on the road. The Jackets hold the edge as far as being battle tested.

Georgia Tech needs to defend and they need to shoot it. Stop me when this sounds familiar. It is always a grab bag when this program goes on the road. I guess we will just have to see what we see.