1/16 - MBB vs. Clemson

[GT33]

Going to need some offensive wrinkles

our wrinkle was 15-35 from 3, 16-20 from line

 

[spdrama]

Going into this game I looked at Nait George as a nice freshman, but still a project. Coming out of this game I now look at him as the team leader. Look where he has come from sitting the bench the first 3 games. You’d think he had a coach that knew something about being a great point guard.

 

[GaTech4ever]

Obviously don’t need to say anything else about Nait, just wow.

I’d like to specifically point out that Sturdy is the reason this game was close late in the second half. His spurt brought us back in it and prevented Clemson from running away.

Claude has seemed to embrace his role and is stepping into it nicely. Over the last 2 games he’s only taken 2 shots, but is 9-10 from the line and has 13 boards with a 4:1 assist to turnover ratio.

 

[57jacket]

Going into this game I looked at Nait George as a nice freshman, but still a project. Coming out of this game I now look at him as the team leader. Look where he has come from sitting the bench the first 3 games. You’d think he had a coach that knew something about being a great point guard.

Wow. Pressure doesn't seem to affect him. Clutch plays.

 

[Techster]

Man...not gonna lie. They way we just seemed to find ways to lose the last few games, I just didn't have a good feeling towards the end of regulation...or the end of the first OT.

Give our guys credit. They kept battling, and battling. Never put their head down, or folded. Heck of a game by the entire team. Claude and Coleman, two guys who have been getting grief on this board, made some great defensive plays. We don't win this game without Claude's efforts tonight, or Coleman's timely 3's.

Nait is maturing before our eyes. 20 pts, 6 assists, only 1 TO. Hit some HUGE shots to put some bounce back in the team's step. The one thing I want to see him do is when he beats his guy off the dribble and he's deep into the post, just shoot the ball and quit looking to lay it off in traffic. That's what he did on the last possession of regulation. Tiny quibble for the game he had tonight. I'm sure Stoudamire will talk to Nait about that because that was the aggressiveness he played with as a player.

Clemson absolutely crushed us on the boards, especially on the offensive end, but we outshot their rebounding advantage. Probably one of the best shooting games we've had all season. Not only from the field, but at the foul line.

So much to be happy about tonight, but it's late. Hopefully, this is the game that gets us over the hump the remainder of this season.

Is Stoudamire going to resurrect Pastner's gas station trips after road wins?!!

 

[GaTech4ever]

Meant to say this in my previous post but Kowacie literally hit every single must-have 3 he took. No hesitation on any of them. Incredible.

 

[Techster]

Meant to say this in my previous post but Kowacie literally hit every single must-have 3 he took. No hesitation on any of them. Incredible.

The team had a BUNCH of clutch shots tonight. This is the type of offensive game I thought we could have at the beginning of the season when looking at potential scoring...except we're getting double digit contributions from our freshmen as well.

This team has a lot of firepower when guys don't play below their potential. To think Abram and Terry were two guys we counted as having the ability to give us double digit scoring threats, but both are not playing for various reasons.

 

[gte447f]

What a game! The white and gold just kept finding ways to hang on down the stretch. On the flip side, you could say we kept finding ways to not put the game away, but hey, we won, so let’s focus on the positive. Great team effort by pretty much everyone. So many players made contributions at various key times in the game to either keep us in it early, claw us back late, push us ahead in OT, or keep us ahead. Way to go Yellow Jackets!

 

[Tom]

The team is in a limbo where they’re not good enough yet to win a game easily & not give fans so much stress (maybe against Louisville) but they’re good enough to fight in every game to the end regardless of the opposition. I think the zone in OT was to save some legs for offense and just outlast Clemson energy wise.

Once the team figures out the go-to plays & players at the end more consistently then that’s when GT will start to win on a more consistent basis. Nait George & Kowacie Reeves had clutch moments when Ndongo & Kelly weren’t able to. That’ll provide more options going forward and tougher for an opponent to decide who to cover. But like Stoudamire said, they have to learn to hate losing and figure out how to win and maybe tonight is the start of that.

 

[iceeater1969]

Who is Claude?
Down the stretch he was clutch foul shooting and getting a clean block at the rim.

 

[gte447f]

Who is Claude?
Down the stretch he was clutch foul shooting and getting a clean block at the rim.

Claude is a transfer from Western Carolina. He was a southern conference leader in scoring and rebounding (3rd team all conference I think). He’s been a role player for us all season. Athletically, he is limited as a scorer at ACC level, but he has a stout frame that can defend down low and get some rebounds. He shoots well from the free throw line for a big guy. I thought tonight was his best game of the season as far as being impactful on the outcome. He had a tough assignment against pj hall, but he made a few clutch plays and was money from the free throw line.

 

[gte447f]

Will we get an after midnight post game presser from CDS tonight?

 

[forensicbuzz]

The team is in a limbo where they’re not good enough yet to win a game easily & not give fans so much stress (maybe against Louisville) but they’re good enough to fight in every game to the end regardless of the opposition. I think the zone in OT was to save some legs for offense and just outlast Clemson energy wise.

Once the team figures out the go-to plays & players at the end more consistently then that’s when GT will start to win on a more consistent basis. Nait George & Kowacie Reeves had clutch moments when Ndongo & Kelly weren’t able to. That’ll provide more options going forward and tougher for an opponent to decide who to cover. But like Stoudamire said, they have to learn to hate losing and figure out how to win and maybe tonight is the start of that.

I think the zone was to protect our players from fouls.

 

[techgrad]

Will we get an after midnight post game presser from CDS tonight?

 

[dtm1997]

 

[GaTech4ever]

For now, it seems like Gapare is one of those guys who gets minutes on a game-by-game/situational basis, although he clearly is in the rotation. But 0-4 from 3 with 2 fouls in 9 minutes and a crucial missed defensive rebound on the FT line (probably more) really hurts. He gave us some good offensive minutes against Duke, and I guess CDS has to see what version of Gapare he’s getting any given night considering we don’t have much else.

 

[OG-T]

The whole roster has the skills to contribute on any night, but Reeves, Ndongo and George are so enjoyable to watch, not only their talent and potential, but those three in particular seem to have a fiery WANT for every play and game. Others may have it, but specifically these three show it and it’s intoxicating for players, fans and the culture. I posted WAY back in Jose’s freshman year, he quickly seemed like a culture changer. George definitely has that already - in fact, he plays like a mix between Alvarado and Steve Nash.
Can’t wait to see Nait hide in the corner of court and sneak up from behind for a tribute steal to Jose.
Nice to go to Clemson and win one at Poquito Juan.

 

[awbuzz]

Agreed. It sucks every time we play there. We are playing poorly as of late. The fans are questioning our coaching hire. Support for our veterans is faltering. The highest rated recruit from the Pastner era is being called chunky and is being predicted as a likely transfer. What we are doing on the floor just isn't working.

This is usually when the team throws a rope around the fan base and reels you back in.

Good guys by 9

@Peacone36
Even though you were "wrong", you still get an A for calling the good guys to win. If we'd have won by 7 or more, I would have given you an A+

 

[awbuzz]

...
Great win.
Huge road win.
Slide stopped.
Hopefully corner turned.

To paraphrase (improperly) a coach we all know... Good teams don't lose 6 in a row.

 

[slugboy]

To paraphrase (improperly) a coach we all know... Good teams don't lose 6 in a row.

“No one beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row”


Sorry—tennis reference—but glad to get off the schnied in Littlejohn.