1/4 - MBB vs. Boston College

[Techster]

Admittedly, I've just been box score surfing the past few games. I'm glad this team is heading in the right direction.

It seems getting McCollum back has been HUGE. @Connell62 mentioned this earlier in the thread. In basketball, having the right guy back in action can be all the difference. It's also cool to see him accept coming off the bench. IMO, being a starter has always been overplayed...McCollum has played starter level minutes off the bench the past two games.

Looks like Stoudamire is also shortening the bench, though it appears it started with Duke. Past couple of games Stoudamire has only used 8 guys. In the Duke game we used 9 guys. Before that, it was 10+ guys a game.

Was Doryan "addition by stubtraction"? I haven't watched, so I'm just assuming, but it appears Mutumbo's and Souare's presence seems to have settled this team in different ways? Doryan is obviously super talented and has a high ceiling, but something was always missing from his play in the post. Those who have watched us play the past few games since Mutumbo and Souare started getting more minutes feel free to correct me. Something was going on with Doryan that led to him taking time off from the team.

Now that the holiday commitments are over, I'll get to focus more on watching GT play.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Admittedly, I've just been box score surfing the past few games. I'm glad this team is heading in the right direction.

It seems getting McCollum back has been HUGE. @Connell62 mentioned this earlier in the thread. In basketball, having the right guy back in action can be all the difference. It's also cool to see him accept coming off the bench. IMO, being a starter has always been overplayed...McCollum has played starter level minutes off the bench the past two games.

Looks like Stoudamire is also shortening the bench, though it appears it started with Duke. Past couple of games Stoudamire has only used 8 guys. In the Duke game we used 9 guys. Before that, it was 10+ guys a game.

Was Doryan "addition by stubtraction"? I haven't watched, so I'm just assuming, but it appears Mutumbo's and Souare's presence seems to have settled this team in different ways? Doryan is obviously super talented and has a high ceiling, but something was always missing from his play in the post. Those who have watched us play the past few games since Mutumbo and Souare started getting more minutes feel free to correct me. Something was going on with Doryan that led to him taking time off from the team.

Now that the holiday commitments are over, I'll get to focus more on watching GT play.

With regard to the bigs, I think you have three different situations. Mutumbo is older and more mature and you would expect him to play a little better as a result. It’s been suggested that he doesn’t have a very high ceiling or we would have seen that by now. On the other hand, a coach with professional experience may be able to get some great minutes from him.

Souare is young and learning. We see that with coaching and more playing time he seems to have some potential. Improvement can be steady but slow.

I think DO was in the same young and learning, steady but slow progress. I do not know what the personal issues are that he’s dealing with but it obviously impacted his game quite a bit.

Any one of these three could or could have been the key at the 5 but each has a different time table and learning curve. CDS has been shuffling the pieces on the board given the parameters of his personnel. Any combination of pieces may end up fitting but I don’t think one player playing or not playing at the 5 has been the key. McCollum, George, and Terry have pulled this team together with a major contribution from Powell. Any quality minutes we add after that is icing on the cake.

 

[orientalnc]

Admittedly, I've just been box score surfing the past few games. I'm glad this team is heading in the right direction.

It seems getting McCollum back has been HUGE. @Connell62 mentioned this earlier in the thread. In basketball, having the right guy back in action can be all the difference. It's also cool to see him accept coming off the bench. IMO, being a starter has always been overplayed...McCollum has played starter level minutes off the bench the past two games.

Looks like Stoudamire is also shortening the bench, though it appears it started with Duke. Past couple of games Stoudamire has only used 8 guys. In the Duke game we used 9 guys. Before that, it was 10+ guys a game.

Was Doryan "addition by stubtraction"? I haven't watched, so I'm just assuming, but it appears Mutumbo's and Souare's presence seems to have settled this team in different ways? Doryan is obviously super talented and has a high ceiling, but something was always missing from his play in the post. Those who have watched us play the past few games since Mutumbo and Souare started getting more minutes feel free to correct me. Something was going on with Doryan that led to him taking time off from the team.

Now that the holiday commitments are over, I'll get to focus more on watching GT play.

You missed two excellent games. Tomorrow night at Syracuse should be interesting. Our guys need to be prepared for the dome. That environment is very different. With three of our next four games on the road, we should have a much better idea about how well this streak reflects our prospects for the last half of the ACC schedule. We could win all four or lose all four.

The short bench is partly due to two rotation/starter players recovering from injuries. I suspect the minutes Souare and Mutombo are getting will be reduced if/when Reeves & O'Brien are able to play. That said, CDS may continue with an 8-player rotation through most of the ACC schedule. Once players get in the game you don't want to keep them sitting for long unless there is a specific reason.

 

[Techster]

With regard to the bigs, I think you have three different situations. Mutumbo is older and more mature and you would expect him to play a little better as a result. It’s been suggested that he doesn’t have a very high ceiling or we would have seen that by now. On the other hand, a coach with professional experience may be able to get some great minutes from him.

Souare is young and learning. We see that with coaching and more playing time he seems to have some potential. Improvement can be steady but slow.

I think DO was in the same young and learning, steady but slow progress. I do not know what the personal issues are that he’s dealing with but it obviously impacted his game quite a bit.

Any one of these three could or could have been the key at the 5 but each has a different time table and learning curve. CDS has been shuffling the pieces on the board given the parameters of his personnel. Any combination of pieces may end up fitting but I don’t think one player playing or not playing at the 5 has been the key. McCollum, George, and Terry have pulled this team together with a major contribution from Powell. Any quality minutes we add after that is icing on the cake.

I always felt Powell brought an intangible quality to this team outside of what you see on the stat sheet. Kind of like what Draymond Green does for the Warriors.

 

[cpf2001]

LOL. Look the players who came out of the ACC in the 80s and 90s. You could fill 5 All NBA team with that level of talent and it came from almost all the ACC schools.

Now it’s Duke putting out a stud freshman and not much of anything.

The league now is Both Soft and lacking top tier talent.

80s and 90s are too early, before one and dones or skipping college entirely. Plus Euros.

Early-2000s Duke/UNC were often loaded without filled up with All-NBA guys.

Last year’s All NBA team had these college guys:

First team:
SGA - Kentucky (one and done)
Tatum - Duke (one and done)
Three international guys

Second:
Brunson - Villanova (three years)
Davis - Kentucky (one and done)
Durant - Texas (one and done)
Edwards - UGA (ugh) (one and done)
Leonard - SDSU (two years)

Third:
Booker - Kentucky (one year)
Curry - Davidson (three years)
Halliburton - Iowa State (two years)
LeBron - none
Sabonis - Gonzaga (two years)

So Duke is in there, and has Flagg this year. Kentucky has crushed recruiting over the last decade, no surprise.

ANT to UGA is a big coup for the SEC.

Where the hell is UNC in the last ten years?

The ACC definitely has some work to do. But overall the best players are still usually going to be in college only one year (or none) so the league will have to build back more with depth.

 

[Connell62]

With regard to the bigs, I think you have three different situations. Mutumbo is older and more mature and you would expect him to play a little better as a result. It’s been suggested that he doesn’t have a very high ceiling or we would have seen that by now. On the other hand, a coach with professional experience may be able to get some great minutes from him.

Souare is young and learning. We see that with coaching and more playing time he seems to have some potential. Improvement can be steady but slow.

I think DO was in the same young and learning, steady but slow progress. I do not know what the personal issues are that he’s dealing with but it obviously impacted his game quite a bit.

Any one of these three could or could have been the key at the 5 but each has a different time table and learning curve. CDS has been shuffling the pieces on the board given the parameters of his personnel. Any combination of pieces may end up fitting but I don’t think one player playing or not playing at the 5 has been the key. McCollum, George, and Terry have pulled this team together with a major contribution from Powell. Any quality minutes we add after that is icing on the cake.

Good post and I agree....I think that ultimately what we are seeing is people falling into their roles. Ryan is BIG and he has good basketball IQ for a big man, but he lacks the athletic ability of Souare. That being the case, I think that you'll see Souare on the court in the most critical minutes.

Mutombo and Souare man the 5 in our biggest line-ups, and he often goes to Duncan Powell as the 5 in our small ball line-up.

 

[alagold]

Good post and I agree....I think that ultimately what we are seeing is people falling into their roles. Ryan is BIG and he has good basketball IQ for a big man, but he lacks the athletic ability of Souare. That being the case, I think that you'll see Souare on the court in the most critical minutes.

Mutombo and Souare man the 5 in our biggest line-ups, and he often goes to Duncan Powell as the 5 in our small ball line-up.

On Square- if critical moments includes end of close game ,he needs to shoot MUCH better FTs or he will be a target

 

[AUFC]

On Square- if critical moments includes end of close game ,he needs to shoot MUCH better FTs or he will be a target

Shouldn't be a huge deal. He is a very smart player who takes care of the ball. If he pulls a late rebound, he already knows the ball needs to be in Javian's hands by the time he lands. On inbounds plays, he knows to screen and stay away from the play and let the guards play keepaway. He's got a great basketball IQ, is a strong defensive presence, and I really enjoy watching him play. He knows his role and seems like a true team player. He would rather win than get a highlight on SportsCenter.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Shouldn't be a huge deal. He is a very smart player who takes care of the ball. If he pulls a late rebound, he already knows the ball needs to be in Javian's hands by the time he lands. On inbounds plays, he knows to screen and stay away from the play and let the guards play keepaway. He's got a great basketball IQ, is a strong defensive presence, and I really enjoy watching him play. He knows his role and seems like a true team player. He would rather win than get a highlight on SportsCenter.

I’m really liking what I’m seeing from him too. More than pleasantly surprised.

 

[Techster]

You missed two excellent games. Tomorrow night at Syracuse should be interesting. Our guys need to be prepared for the dome. That environment is very different. With three of our next four games on the road, we should have a much better idea about how well this streak reflects our prospects for the last half of the ACC schedule. We could win all four or lose all four.

Yup...looking forward to being able to focus and enjoy GT BB again.

 

[BeeRBee]

I always felt Powell brought an intangible quality to this team outside of what you see on the stat sheet. Kind of like what Draymond Green does for the Warriors.

In the first 8 games Powell shot 2 of 17 from 3, and while I loved his energy I kept wondering why they let him shoot threes at all. But he‘s gone 10 of 18 in the last 6 games and it makes a lot more sense.