1/16 - MBB vs. Clemson

[GTLorenzo]

Great win! On the road!

 

[SecretAgentBuzz]

Wow! What an amazing game. So many positive things to come out of this game. Man am I glad we didn't have to settle with a "moral victory!"

Here is what I liked:
-Resilience from the whole team. Congrats to all of them and congrats to the coaches for keeping their spirits up.
-Nait George's...er...fortitude. He took the big shots and he made them. He was smart with the ball almost the entire game and he has shown everybody that he can shoot too. He is more and more resembling the great PGs of GT's past.
-Ty Claude and Sturdivant. THose two guys have played a lot of basketball and they each made big plays to win the game for us. So thankful to see them make the clutch free throws over and over.
-ZONE! I thought CDS did an excellent job of mixing in the zone. We don't have to use it a lot for it to be effective. Using it after Ndongo went out was a genius move that paid off (even though the rotations were a bit rusty).
-Getting over the Littlejohn Hump. That place has been a house of horrors for us, but this team paid no attention and took care of business.
-Shooting. I'll admit I got a little frustrated with the lack of driving to the basket and settling for long jump shots in the first half, but (1) that is what the defense was giving us, and (2) we actually made enough of them to stay in the game. We shot 50/43/80 on the game--that is good offense. It hasn't always looked pretty but it did for most of this game.
-Kowacie Reeves. He plays with such energy and effort. And his 5 threes were ALL huge. Well done.
-Depth. Our bench outscored theirs 33-8 and that helped keep us in the game and then helped keep our starters less tired than theirs at the end.

What I didn't like:
-Lots of strange calls by the refs. They mostly swallowed their whistles until it got late, and then they had some bad calls (noted above by @forensicbuzz)


This was a really nice win. Rankings-wise this puts us back where we where after Hawaii. We still have a lot to do to resurrect the season but this was a HUGE step in the right direction. Hopefully we can keep it up against a tough Virginia team. Go Jackets!

 

[Connell62]

The officials made horrible calls from when I started watching at 8 minutes left in the 2nd half. They were pushing us out of the way to get offensive rebounds all game. Debo does it and we get called for the foul. Nait's toe was clearly behind the line and they review it and don't overturn the call. The side angle shows irrefutable evidence he was behind the line. Reeves clearly gets the shot off before the clock and they roll the game clock back to when the buzzer went off. That's not the right call. Since the ball had left Reeves hand, the clock doesn't stop until the ball lands, that's 2.2 seconds or less. Horrible officiating to end the game. No clear evidence that Kelly touched the ball when they called out-of-bounds under our basket with 2.5 in the 1st overtime. Ball doesn't change rotation, which indicates it didn't touch him. They review it and can't get it right. Horrible officiating.

We overcame that. Nait was Money. Ndongo was money. Kelley stepped up when he was need. Sturdivant money from the line when the pressure was on. Claude money from the line when the pressure was on. Fantastic effort.

No doubt, since we won, we can ***** about the refs without it sounding like sour grapes. We did foul a lot and have to get better, but they weren’t calling it both ways. Our guys were getting moved out of the way quite often on the boards.

We would get hacked underneath the basket, no call, but then go to the other end get whistled for the same. The two worst were the ones you mentioned (Nait’s step back and the shot clock violation).

There was another late in the game where Miles got fouled going to the basket, and they called it on the floor. In short, the officials need to step their game up.

 

[Connell62]

Woo Hoo. So happy for these young men. Man, if we had an ACC caliber post guy, this team would be really good. I thought they would kill us on the glass, and they did. But our 3's beat their 2nd chance points. Great winn.

For sure, but we don’t win that game last night if not for Claude. He played great last night and was clutch at the line.

 

[awbuzz]

Just to drop these





this one starts with or temporary and only (I think but maybe not) lead in the first half

 

[Peacone36]

I dozed off and woke up just in time to see Roger Ayers use replay to still get a call incorrect on a NTG triple that was called a deuce. That guy just sucks.

To win a game when you give up 22 offensive rebounds, lose the free throw and turnover battle is downright wild.

15-35 from deep is something id love to get used to. We continue to be the bane of Girard's existence, holding him to 2-9 with just two assists.

Nait's performance was incredible, we have a winner of a point guard ladies and gentlemen.

 

[Connell62]

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.

His role is defensively (for now) and rebounding. He often is used to guard the other teams PG or SG.

CDS is not looking to him for offensive production. He does need to stop shooting so many threes, but I believe that he will continue to develop into a really solid player for us.

 

[awbuzz]

Just some perspective on Kelly's shooting... He WAS 4 / 13 before ending 6 / 16... made his last 2 of his last 3 shots (no 3 pt. attempts), way to come through.

 

[awbuzz]

Too add salt to the poor 3PT review, the side view showed the foot obviously behind the line. I have to assume that ESPN didn't provide that angle to the refs.

 

[GTHomer]

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.

I mentioned this also in the Duke game post. I like how George has become more aggressive with his outside shooting these past few games. This with a pretty good shooting percentage also (8 - 13 this game). He is becoming another weapon that opponents will have to account for.

Hopefully we will see a floater/jump stop shot develop when he penetrates the paint as the season progresses. This will make his lobs even more effective. There were a few occasions where he drove too deep and didn't have good option to dish. I know that his decision making in this area will improve with time.

There will be a few more 'bumps in the road' as the season progresses however I would urge patience. I like the direction of the team along with the players being assembled!

 

[Northeast Stinger]

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

Interesting that some of us thought we might not ever see a zone from Stoudamire. This seemed very strategic last night. Quite the surprise move.

 

[GTNavyNuke]

I think your general premise is correct. People begin to contemplate what they can do with all their extra time now that they are no longer watching Tech basketball / football / baseball and then a little ray of hope starts to creep back in.

fify

And the ray of hope showeth through.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Wow! What an amazing game. So many positive things to come out of this game. Man am I glad we didn't have to settle with a "moral victory!"

Here is what I liked:
-Resilience from the whole team. Congrats to all of them and congrats to the coaches for keeping their spirits up.
-Nait George's...er...fortitude. He took the big shots and he made them. He was smart with the ball almost the entire game and he has shown everybody that he can shoot too. He is more and more resembling the great PGs of GT's past.
-Ty Claude and Sturdivant. THose two guys have played a lot of basketball and they each made big plays to win the game for us. So thankful to see them make the clutch free throws over and over.
-ZONE! I thought CDS did an excellent job of mixing in the zone. We don't have to use it a lot for it to be effective. Using it after Ndongo went out was a genius move that paid off (even though the rotations were a bit rusty).
-Getting over the Littlejohn Hump. That place has been a house of horrors for us, but this team paid no attention and took care of business.
-Shooting. I'll admit I got a little frustrated with the lack of driving to the basket and settling for long jump shots in the first half, but (1) that is what the defense was giving us, and (2) we actually made enough of them to stay in the game. We shot 50/43/80 on the game--that is good offense. It hasn't always looked pretty but it did for most of this game.
-Kowacie Reeves. He plays with such energy and effort. And his 5 threes were ALL huge. Well done.
-Depth. Our bench outscored theirs 33-8 and that helped keep us in the game and then helped keep our starters less tired than theirs at the end.

What I didn't like:
-Lots of strange calls by the refs. They mostly swallowed their whistles until it got late, and then they had some bad calls (noted above by @forensicbuzz)


This was a really nice win. Rankings-wise this puts us back where we where after Hawaii. We still have a lot to do to resurrect the season but this was a HUGE step in the right direction. Hopefully we can keep it up against a tough Virginia team. Go Jackets!

Thanks for pointing out the bench stats! Seems hard to remember the last time Tech’s reserves so totally destroyed the other team’s reserves.

 

[Rzunz]

Just to drop these





this one starts with or temporary and only (I think but maybe not) lead in the first half

 

[Peacone36]

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.

I didn't post it yesterday because i figured it would be divisive but heading into yesterdays game GT was 4-3 when Gapare plays 16 minutes or more and 2-4 when he plays 15 minutes or fewer. Is that coincidental? More than likely. If i had the time or inclination Id look to see what our opponents points per possession was in the games he logged heavy minutes as I figure that would be his most likely impact. I still might just to see but I doubt the bossman wants me to do it while im at work.

 

[spdrama]

1:33 left in regulation GT down 9
0:22 left in regulation GT down 5
0:11 left in regulation GT down 3
0:23 left in first overtime Baye Ndongo fouls out
TECH WINS 93-90 in double overtime
Past seasons down 9 with 1:33 left at 11pm, lights out and heading to bed. This team and its coaches never give up. As fan I can’t give up on them. And look how they rewarded me.

 

[Rzunz]

1:33 left in regulation GT down 9
0:22 left in regulation GT down 5
0:11 left in regulation GT down 3
0:23 left in first overtime Baye Ndongo fouls out
TECH WINS 93-90 in double overtime
Past seasons down 9 with 1:33 left at 11pm, lights out and heading to bed. This team and its coaches never give up. As fan I can’t give up on them. And look how they rewarded me.

The Clem’s Son fans were thinking they’re home by 11:00 with a W

 

[kg01]

Still unsure how a player can land on Kelly, force him out of bounds, and have that be a play-on ..... until he loses it outta bounds.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

I didn't post it yesterday because i figured it would be divisive but heading into yesterdays game GT was 4-3 when Gapare plays 16 minutes or more and 2-4 when he plays 15 minutes or fewer. Is that coincidental? More than likely. If i had the time or inclination Id look to see what our opponents points per possession was in the games he logged heavy minutes as I figure that would be his most likely impact. I still might just to see but I doubt the bossman wants me to do it while im at work.

Look forward to your analysis.

Gapare is obviously inconsistent but would be great to get some definitive insight on what exactly that means. I am bullish on him but clearly that is based on his very best games. When he is at the top of his game I love the floor play that starts happening as he plays off what Ndongo and Reeves are doing.

 

[Techster]

I mentioned this also in the Duke game post. I like how George has become more aggressive with his outside shooting these past few games. This with a pretty good shooting percentage also (8 - 13 this game). He is becoming another weapon that opponents will have to account for.

Hopefully we will see a floater/jump stop shot develop when he penetrates the paint as the season progresses. This will make his lobs even more effective. There were a few occasions where he drove too deep and didn't have good option to dish. I know that his decision making in this area will improve with time.

There will be a few more 'bumps in the road' as the season progresses however I would urge patience. I like the direction of the team along with the players being assembled!

As fans, we want to win right away, so we get impatient with mistakes from young players. I've noticed that Stoudamire has been more patient with some of the younger guys and letting them play through mistakes. I said in another thread, Stoudamire knows which players will be the foundation for this team over the next few seasons. He's willing to sacrifice early to get a big payoff later. He's letting guys like George and Ndongo grow through their mistakes, even if some of us are impatient for wins now. George doesn't perform like he did last night if Stoudamire doesn't let him play a lot of minutes each game leading up to Clemson.