1/9 - GT MBB vs Notre Dame

[AUFC]

I just hope Baye sticks around because the tools are incoming next year for a tournament run. It would be really nice if we could get Oswin but I think you will see CDS have the same success in the transfer portal this offseason that he’s had in HS recruiting. Players I’m sure notice that GT logo in the top 20 of the 247 rankings and see us as buy low right now.

Even if Baye leaves, players definitely will notice CDS/Hobbs getting kids into the league and take note.

 

[Techster]

Some of you would know better than me, but have we run any zone defense? One thing I did like about Pastner was his mixing of different defenses to keep the other team off balance and uncomfortable.

 

[AUFC]

Some of you would know better than me, but have we run any zone defense? One thing I did like about Pastner was his mixing of different defenses to keep the other team off balance and uncomfortable.

Listen to the latest CDS coaches show. He got asked about this and basically doesn’t like switching to zone because it concedes your defensive identity. Couldn’t tell you the timestamp unfortunately.

 

[slugboy]

Sounds like @deeznats, except he wouldn't complain about the free Costco samples.

He might get the $1.50 hot dog to top it off though.

Sorry to keep the off topic trend going, but after decades of a membership at Costco, I’ve never eaten there, but people obviously do. I guess it’s worth eating?

Thought he played great... He was good defensively too. He played Burton tough without fouling, whereas Kyle was getting torched by the kid.

9 pts / 11 assist / 3 turnovers. That's big dog stuff for a kid that should still be in high-school. He would have had more assist if some of our guys could throw it in the ocean.

We missed a number of shots that were wide open, including lay-ups. We always miss free-throws in close games... The missed front end by Miles in crunch time was an absolute back-breaker.

Remember when Jose missed that FT against Clemson. He took complete ownership, damned near cried, but vowed not to miss another. That's the type of leadership we're missing.

Sucks but it is what it is....

Pardon the dumb question of someone who could only catch part of the game, but what’s happening on defense?

I tuned in towards the end of the first half. I forgot that we were wearing black, and I thought we were playing decent defense and ND was shooting poorly. Then I realized I had it flipped and ND went down the court to take the first half lead.

 

[YlJacket]

Some of you would know better than me, but have we run any zone defense? One thing I did like about Pastner was his mixing of different defenses to keep the other team off balance and uncomfortable.

CDS talked about that in his last show - they practice zone but have not run it in a game yet. He talked about BC but said he was worried about their shooters. I expect he thought the same last night. I too would like to see us have that in our arsenal when teams get going downhill like ND did last night.

 

[57jacket]

We'll be fine. Simply put, rebounding was our problem last night. ND got a lot of 2nd chance points and we got very few. We need a big to step uo. Gdongo is really a 3-4 player. The big kid he signed for next year may let him play his normal position. My other concern is the lack of a penetrating G. Coaching or player problem?? I can't tell.

 

[Techster]

Listen to the latest CDS coaches show. He got asked about this and basically doesn’t like switching to zone because it concedes your defensive identity. Couldn’t tell you the timestamp unfortunately.

Interesting. I get what he's saying, but doesn't mean it doesn't work. We saw it with Pastner, our defensive philosophy was a big factor in winning the ACC tournament. The other team also needs to be able to beat your defense.

I would say our defense has been my biggest disappointment this year. Stoudamire came in with a reputation for defense, but we've not been playing up to that reputation. Maybe the pieces just aren't there yet.

 

[AUFC]

Interesting. I get what he's saying, but doesn't mean it doesn't work. We saw it with Pastner, our defensive philosophy was a big factor in winning the ACC tournament. The other team also needs to be able to beat your defense.

I would say our defense has been my biggest disappointment this year. Stoudamire came in with a reputation for defense, but we've not been playing up to that reputation. Maybe the pieces just aren't there yet.

Agree with you. Interestingly that team did not have anywhere near length we have now but they absolutely had heart, which goes back to basically missing that Jose leadership that Connell mentioned earlier in the thread. I think you will see Nait step into that role more as he matures - just might not be this season.

 

[Peacone36]

Nait is the key to this whole thing, maybe not this year but in the grand scheme of things. He showed some fire in the BC game (I didn't catch all of last nights game, I tried to watch the replay at about 2am) and he makes solid decisions for a freshman. I see a lot of Kihei Clark in him and I think all of us would take four years of that without question. If Baye and some others stick around and we can add a quality big (portal?) we are going to put the most talented/deep squad on the floor that we have boasted in recent memory.

 

[57jacket]

Jackets go dormant in OT, lose to Notre Dame for fourth straight defeat

Georgia Tech was outscored 9-2 in overtime Tuesday and lost 75-68 to Notre Dame just 30 minutes before midnight at McCamish Pavilion.

www.ajc.com

 

[57jacket]

We need a rebounding big to complement Gdongo. Period. FSU and ND exposed our inside game.

 

[MtnWasp]

I begrudgingly agree with Peacone. Shrewsberry is the latest of several guards to have a career night against us. He took the game over at the end. We got killed on the boards. Six of our 8 shots in overtime were for three and we missed them all. We are losing because the opposition is making clutch shots on us and we are not making clutch shots.

The team misses a second post presence/producer. We lack, surprisingly, a consistent outside threat. Teams are going to give us the three while they collapse on us in the paint.

Maybe it is my imagination, but it looks to me that the only player that tries to pass the ball to Ndongo is Nait George. Baye needs to touch the ball more.

We are ranked #220 in offensive efficiency and #175 in defensive efficiency. That is out of 362 teams. Mediocrity on both ends. We are ranked #65 is Free Point % defense, which means we are allowing a lot of dribble penetration. We are getting abused by screens at the top.

Two home losses against two weaker ACC clubs will be a difficult blow to overcome.

 

[YlJacket]

Nait is the key to this whole thing, maybe not this year but in the grand scheme of things. He showed some fire in the BC game (I didn't catch all of last nights game, I tried to watch the replay at about 2am) and he makes solid decisions for a freshman. I see a lot of Kihei Clark in him and I think all of us would take four years of that without question. If Baye and some others stick around and we can add a quality big (portal?) we are going to put the most talented/deep squad on the floor that we have boasted in recent memory.

I agree that the PG is the key to the system CDS wants to run. Nait's numbers last night were good but he didn't stress the ND defense - certainly not like Burton got downhill routinely and stressed our D. He often will get around the high ball screen and stop to see what he can do instead of going hard to make the defense react. Reduces errors but lowers impact. That growth will be the key to him taking over the way he needs to.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Once George improves his shot, he's going to be unplayable (soccer term for someone hard to defend). He's got some shot selection issues, but you can tell he's going to be a very good PG for us. There are times I want Sturdy in for his scoring, but you live with some of George's shots not falling because they eventually will, then we'll see this team take on a different complexion.

I fear people think I rag on Sturdy. I’m not. I just think he is a role player. We will have far more athletic guards in the future and George may be the start of that.

 

[spdrama]

To be competitive at this level a team must be comprised of the right pieces, both quantity & quality, including a floor leader, acknowledged by his teammates as such. GT did not have the right pieces closing out last season and did not have them arriving for this season at the time of CJP’s dismissal.

A new coach and his well selected staff, taking over a losing team, did their best, with an available player inventory shortage, to fill out the roster with enough athletic pieces for some early season wins, a few against significantly higher ranked teams that failed to show up with their A games. Those victories have entertained and excited the GT fan base beyond expectation for this season. Losing, always a disappointment, had become even more so. We got to see some of the present pieces show individual flashes of excellence, with enough big ones to register improbable wins. Some fans even began looking forward to post season play.

But GT isn’t even close to having the right pieces yet. A respected floor leader has not emerged. Acquiring them is a recruiting work in progress. The coaches’ success on the recruiting trail so far, and the encouragement from the Institute’s President & AD to compete in the NIL wars show promise that next year’s team will have more of the missing pieces. A big step forward to becoming a team that can compete and win consistently at this level is at least one year away.

In the meantime overall, I like what I see, will continue to cheer, be disappointed at losses, ecstatic at wins and understand the best is yet to come. Just not this year.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Listen to the latest CDS coaches show. He got asked about this and basically doesn’t like switching to zone because it concedes your defensive identity. Couldn’t tell you the timestamp unfortunately.

I get that but, every once in a while? I used to hate it when we couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn and a team switched to a zone and said, “Be my guest.”

 

[Techster]

I fear people think I rag on Sturdy. I’m not. I just think he is a role player. We will have far more athletic guards in the future and George may be the start of that.

Sturdy was pretty dang good the end of last season. Outside of Kelly, he was probably our second best player down the stretch. He's shown flashes of being a good player this year, but he also has disappeared in stretches. I don't expect him to threaten a triple double every night, but he's capable of being a double digit scorer and good distributor.

IMO, Sturdy just doesn't have the lateral quickness on defense and it hurts him. When he's feeling it on offense, he's been very good. I think coming off the bench is probably his best role with this roster, but he's definitely a better player than he's shown this year. As with most things GT basketball this year, he's just been inconsistent.

 

[GaTech4ever]

Deebo actually plays starter level minutes (5th in minutes per game), and has actually played even more minutes above his average the last 4 out of 5 games. Sturdy plays about 4 minutes less this year than he did last year, but when he's playing well he's actually playing as many minutes as George.

I think it's the same for all the players. Stoudamire gives about 9-10 players minutes...and he'll ride the guys late into the game who are playing well that night.

Stoudamire has been pretty consistent with that even if our team has been pretty inconsistent everywhere else.

What you’re saying regarding minutes makes sense from a coach/fan perspective, but players don’t think like that. Sturdivant lost his starting job, in the last season of his career, to a freshman who enrolled four months ago. Both George and Reeves get the benefit of the doubt over Sturdivant and Coleman to show they’re playing well (which I think is a good thing). But I don’t think Sturdivant or Coleman imagined that happening two months ago.

This would be a moot point if their body language was consistently positive instead of wildly swinging depending on their individual play.

 

[MtnWasp]

When Sturdivant is hitting shots, he is good. But he is not a great playmaker so he doesn't make the players around him better. His big problem is that he is sub-par containing dribble penetration. He is a minus defender at the ACC level. So, if he isn't hitting shots, his presence on the floor is a problem.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Sturdy was pretty dang good the end of last season. Outside of Kelly, he was probably our second best player down the stretch. He's shown flashes of being a good player this year, but he also has disappeared in stretches. I don't expect him to threaten a triple double every night, but he's capable of being a double digit scorer and good distributor.

IMO, Sturdy just doesn't have the lateral quickness on defense and it hurts him. When he's feeling it on offense, he's been very good. I think coming off the bench is probably his best role with this roster, but he's definitely a better player than he's shown this year. As with most things GT basketball this year, he's just been inconsistent.

Don’t disagree with any of this.