1/13/2018 - GT @ Pitt

[gtpi]

It still kills me that we have 7 losses. No way we have all of them if Okogie, Jackson and Lammers are on the floor together and are healthy. Only games we no doubt lose are UGA and @ND. Beat UCLA, Grambling and Wofford. Tennesee is a toss up but considering we were within 1 in the final 2 or 3 minutes, I think Josh O. makes a difference. I guess you can count Wright State though we had no Haywood and Lammers was still banged up. Worse case scenario, we're what.....13-4? Shame....

for a brief second i almost typed "we were at full strength for ucla" but we werent. thanks for reminding me that tadric and josh were at home.

 

[gtpi]

thought at first it said chewbaka , didnt he sort of look like a wookie?

sounds like a name youd see in australia or new zealand.

 

[gtpi]

A little bit of confidence has gone a long way for him. We are also using him in the right way now. You can tell he feels confident that what he does adds value even when he isn't converting.

he stopped trying to hit 3 pointers and started acting like a power forward. from the very beginning i noticed he was in position to grab a lot of rebounds but fell a bit short.... he was in a position to put back a lot of shots but just fell short... he was in position to block shots but just fell short....

imo he looked out of sync by a hair.

now his shots are falling. he is grabbing those rebounds and he is a force on d. im happy for him and the team. we need him to be consistent.

go jackets

 

[gtpi]

Some of the comments on AD may be underselling what he has done in this win streak:
16 pts 8 reb,
8 and 6
14 and 9
7 and 5
Tech has to have a minimum of 3 players a night with at least that average of 10-11 pts and 6-7 rebounds to compete in the conference.

I think AD is being used in a manner that has taken some of the around the basket game away from Lammers (well offensively I mean). So he is getting some of the buckets Lammers would have had last year. This is an interesting decision. I think it clearly plays to AD's strengths, and best to develop a big man in to out. Then, it may be helping Lammers in terms of his fatigue level since they don't sub for him. Possibly he runs the length of the floor less often under this set-up? Also it may incidentally be helping Ben prepare for graduation and a pro career. Green lighting him to develop moves from the foul line, as well as his fade away and range, is his next step in professional development. It can't be said enough, Reveno truly is a big whisperer. Q, Lammers, and AD, all impressive.

Is it okay to think Alvarado is one of my favorite Tech players all-time? I mean, I can't really think that this soon right? I meant to post after the Yale game about his Nesbitt imitation early in the game. He got his pocket picked, and immediately channeled Nesbitt by snatching the ball back. He didn't blow up the stat sheet today, but he just makes good decisions at a better rate than the average freshman pg. And, many of them who nail back to back 3s and have 8 points in the first 4 minutes, would then simply call their own number for the rest of the half. Finally, defensive intensity by him has always been fantastic, and immediate vocal leadership as well (see his reaction to AD's Technical).

Haywood ran point for a stretch didn't he? To get Jose rest. First time I noticed that since Curt's return. He will shoot his way out of this rust.

im thinking part of the plan on big ben is to help him improve his draft status by helping him move his game to the 3 point line WITHOUT HURTING THE TEAM.

 

[AE 87]

im thinking part of the plan on big ben is to help him improve his draft status by helping him move his game to the 3 point line WITHOUT HURTING THE TEAM.

I think it's just that AD has better O from the post and Ben has a better jump shot.

 

[DH9387]

ill ask this question again as i probably missed the answer....

where can i get an explanation of all the various colors etc for the recruiting labels? thanks

Yellow - offered by us
Green - committed to us
Grey - offered by us but committed elsewhere
White with goldish outline - signed to us

 

[wreckrod]

What is interesting to me is that he did not *look* visibly upset to my old, tired eyes. I grant he likely said something 'unkind' to the ref, but wonder if that could just be a competitive edge coming out, and not real anger issues. He seemed to immediately take responsibility and I thought I read his lips to say "my bad" to the bench when it happened.

lol here's my thing - yeah he's gotta be smarter than that. But! I was cussing the refs up one side and down the other cause they were TERRIBLE. So, it was kind of understandable to me. I do agree it doesn't need to be a pattern for him. I can't help but like that competitiveness and intensity though.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

What is interesting to me is that he did not *look* visibly upset to my old, tired eyes. I grant he likely said something 'unkind' to the ref, but wonder if that could just be a competitive edge coming out, and not real anger issues. He seemed to immediately take responsibility and I thought I read his lips to say "my bad" to the bench when it happened.

I think it was Suiguira, but it was tweeted out that AD got the T because of what he said to the Pitt bench in response to their trash talk. Nothing was directed to a ref, just heard by him.

Agreed he needs to control his temper, I can say with conviction that I am glad he deals with flashes of anger verbally. I havent seen him get physically dirty in a game. I mean, if he started tripping guys, we may have to suspend him a game after the 3rd or 4th time he does it. We need him playing, wouldn't want that.

 

[gtpi]

lol here's my thing - yeah he's gotta be smarter than that. But! I was cussing the refs up one side and down the other cause they were TERRIBLE. So, it was kind of understandable to me. I do agree it doesn't need to be a pattern for him. I can't help but like that competitiveness and intensity though.

complaining about the refs after the easy win we had would be like smacking a gift horse in the mouth. imo. i didnt count to see if we got more calls than they did. i looked at the score board and was happy.

 

[wreckrod]

complaining about the refs after the easy win we had would be like smacking a gift horse in the mouth. imo. i didnt count to see if we got more calls than they did. i looked at the score board and was happy.

Except that doesn't remotely apply. Pitt didn't gift us a win. We fought for it. Both the other 5 guys on the floor AND the 3 referees. I'm happy with the win, not remotely complaining about the win.

I DO think it's fair to say the refs in the game were pretty awful. Regardless of the number of calls either way - the quality was lopsided. Pitt players were consistently beating our guys to death and not getting called for it, while our guys were getting hit with ticky tack stuff.

 

[CuseJacket]

 

[AE 87]

That's awesome. It's like a religious icon. The eyes follow you at every angle.

Think twice brothers. Smoooov is watching.

This reminds me that Andy did mention Justin during the game. I really geeked out syncing TuneIn app to WatchESPN app through the whole game.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Except that doesn't remotely apply. Pitt didn't gift us a win. We fought for it. Both the other 5 guys on the floor AND the 3 referees. I'm happy with the win, not remotely complaining about the win.

I DO think it's fair to say the refs in the game were pretty awful. Regardless of the number of calls either way - the quality was lopsided. Pitt players were consistently beating our guys to death and not getting called for it, while our guys were getting hit with ticky tack stuff.

In the first half about the time it was 20-1 I began to think the refs were taking pity on Pitt and trying to effect the game in their favor, a bit, to make it less embarrassing. I was starting to feel bad for them as well (because they were at home). So it could have been my own pitying heart that made me think the refs were tilting that way. We all know college basketball refs have no soul, so compassion is impossible from them.

I should add, that I don't think such compassion or "mercy rules" has any place in collegiate sports beyond the discretion of the head coaches (like not stopping the clock in the 4th quarter of a football game). Refs have to do their best to be stoic and inhuman robots, calling it as they see it, and by the book. I am just commenting on my own emotionally influenced perception.

I guess this can happen when you become a father to a daughter.

 

[Peacone36]

Who is that? Reggie Ball?

 

[LibertyTurns]

Who is that? Reggie Ball?

Mark Price

 

[MWBATL]

I think it was Suiguira, but it was tweeted out that AD got the T because of what he said to the Pitt bench in response to their trash talk. Nothing was directed to a ref, just heard by him.

Thanks for the clarification. That actually makes a ton of sense to me.....

 

[FightWinDrink]

Who is that? Reggie Ball?

Calvin Johnson

 

[gtpi]

Except that doesn't remotely apply. Pitt didn't gift us a win. We fought for it. Both the other 5 guys on the floor AND the 3 referees. I'm happy with the win, not remotely complaining about the win.

I DO think it's fair to say the refs in the game were pretty awful. Regardless of the number of calls either way - the quality was lopsided. Pitt players were consistently beating our guys to death and not getting called for it, while our guys were getting hit with ticky tack stuff.

dont disagree. just happy for the win .

 

[kg01]

I found evidence sLammers is a savage ...


SIAP

 

[Jacket Forever]

On the matter of Haywood looking uninspired, I suspect Haywood will be ok. While he sometimes may have LOOKED uninspired against Pitt, I think it’s because he is still somewhat lost on defense although I did see him cause one turnover against Pitt. His jumper is not falling yet, but I’m convinced it’s just a matter of time and confidence. Other than his lack of FGM against Pitt, his other stats, I thought were impressive in 17 minutes including 4 rebounds and 3 assists. I doubt he would have gotten 17 minutes if Pastner thought he was dogging it. The jumper will begin falling at a good percentage pretty soon.