11/15 Tech v. UGA

Jack

Jolly Good Fellow
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257
True confessions...I don't mind that we lost. I don't expect to win every game, and I understand that bad games happen. It's how we lost that bothers me. We let them be the aggressor for most of the game, and we were slow in making adjustments and overall, it looked like they wanted it more. I don't think U(sic)Ga has a more talented basketball team than GT does. More and more, it seems like CDS' plan is 1)Recruit really good players, 2) Let those really good players play, and 3) Profit. It remains to be seen if he can follow through with that plan. Here are some things I liked and didn't like:

What I liked:
-The crowd. Finally a crowd that was into the game and gave our guys some juice. Thanks to those who attended.
-Lance Terry in the last five minutes. Dude made up his mind he's wasn't going down without a fight and almost single-handedly willed the team back into the game. This is the kind of attitude we need from him and the rest of the team for all 40 minutes. I was amazed at the way he played and kept thinking, "Where has this Terry been?" More please!
-D.O. and his passion for the game and aggression on the boards. Keep bringing it, kid.

What I didn't like:
-Baye and Nait and Kowacie all had really really poor games for their standards. TOs, missed shots, disappearing acts on the boards. They played a total of 85 minutes between the three of them and totaled 4 rebounds and shot 8-31 from the field. From probably our three best players, that was a HUGE fail. Baye missed a ton of early shots at the rim and George and Reeves never seemed into it. Reeves either got benched in the 2nd half or possibly injured.
-The refs. I know, I know, we didn't lose because of the refs, but they left a lot to be desired. They called a dumb Technical on DO for a brief hold on the rim, and they generally let UGA get away with a lot of elbows and pushes and hacks, particularly early in the game. Every single high screen included the screener reaching out to grab the defender as he tried to fight through and they called it maybe once. And I lost count of the number of times their bigs sealed off and held our guys to clear a lane for their guards. Is that legal? I don't think so, but it never seems to be called.
-UGA's 46 points in the paint. Same, same, no need for change, right?
-1 point on fast breaks. 1.

This one + the UNF game point to a pattern, and it ain't pretty. I reserve hope for a turn-around, but this was a difficult game to watch. Come on, CDS and team, let's turn this thing around before it is too late! Go Jackets!
The good trends I saw in the UGA game:
As stated above, Lance Terry set an example I hope will inspire the team.

Mustaf had a bad game but what he has shown so far is his strength in going to the hole. He is thick and defenders can’t slow him like the other guards on the team.
When he makes s few adjustments and tweaks, he will be highly productive.

DO showed signs of coming out of his shell and if he keeps it up, he will be a solid contributor.

Baye is a double double machine.
It wasn’t pretty for him but he produced again.
 

alagold

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A classic "not ready for prime-time"team.One game in which they think they can outscore the competition and can't--- even though they score a bunch of points 2 games in a row.Then they choke AT HOME vs a real team not being ready to play from the start.Brutal words but true.
I'm not sure what they did for training/practice. in the pre-season but it wasn't enough.
 

57jacket

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,474
"About this year’s team, Stoudamire said: “I just don’t like our mental makeup.”"

Speaks loudly.

Like the article stated. Points in the paint. It's so obvious. Our D in the paint is awful. Yes the O needs work too.
 

MtnWasp

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
986
Like the article stated. Points in the paint. It's so obvious. Our D in the paint is awful. Yes the O needs work too.
A point of emphasis is surely to cover three point shooters. Stoudamire has pointed out that wins are strongly correlated to the three point shot and limiting second shots.

To the team's credit, the team has only allowed 24 made threes on 78 attempts (.308) compared to our 37 made threes (only .322 Not good enough).

When a defender plays tight on the perimeter, it invites dribble penetration.

The problem is the staff doesn't want our perimeter defenders to sag off their marks to help on dribble penetration. He doesn't want to be beat by the kick-out three. But we don't have rim-protector down low to thwart dribble penetration.

But the team's problem so far this year (and last year) is more fundamental than that. This team does not consistently bring adequate intensity, focus and toughness into the each game. Players are not machines but we have made roller coaster intensity, focus and lack a toughness an art form relative to the competition.

Stoudamire wants his players to become men, and then, he thinks, they will play well. It hasn't happened yet and I'm not sure we've seen signs that a punch-through is imminent.
 

Techwood Relict

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,412
LOL. Losing record at GT after a 7 year run. The roster was barren when he left. He hit on Jose and Moses for sure. Besides those and Okogie his rosters were void of high level ACC talent.

GT’s current roster only has one high level ACC talent in Ndongo. There are many solid ACC players on the current roster and some seem to have real potential.

We are in year 2. Bobby was 23-31 after 2 years. We will know after year 4.
All true, but much like football, the recent parched years have us basketball fan nomads wanting, needing a cold cool splash of success.
I'm rooting for CDS, it'll come. I just wish it would come together faster.
 

57jacket

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,474
A point of emphasis is surely to cover three point shooters. Stoudamire has pointed out that wins are strongly correlated to the three point shot and limiting second shots.

To the team's credit, the team has only allowed 24 made threes on 78 attempts (.308) compared to our 37 made threes (only .322 Not good enough).

When a defender plays tight on the perimeter, it invites dribble penetration.

The problem is the staff doesn't want our perimeter defenders to sag off their marks to help on dribble penetration. He doesn't want to be beat by the kick-out three. But we don't have rim-protector down low to thwart dribble penetration.

But the team's problem so far this year (and last year) is more fundamental than that. This team does not consistently bring adequate intensity, focus and toughness into the each game. Players are not machines but we have made roller coaster intensity, focus and lack a toughness an art form relative to the competition.

Stoudamire wants his players to become men, and then, he thinks, they will play well. It hasn't happened yet and I'm not sure we've seen signs that a punch-through is imminent.
Love all your posts Mtnwasp. Always look forward to reading them. But driving to the basket is not as serious as poor defensive rebounding and giving up 2nd chance points. It happened many times with UGA. I stopped counting after 4 put backs in the first few minutes.
 

Root4GT

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3,025
Love all your posts Mtnwasp. Always look forward to reading them. But driving to the basket is not as serious as poor defensive rebounding and giving up 2nd chance points. It happened many times with UGA. I stopped counting after 4 put backs in the first few minutes.
UGA got 9 offensive rebounds and we got 10 offensive rebounds. Now scoring off the offensive rebounds is too hard to assess with the public information.
 

57jacket

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,474
UGA got 9 offensive rebounds and we got 10 offensive rebounds. Now scoring off the offensive rebounds is too hard to assess with the public information.
Well they got 4 in the 1st few minutes, so I don't know where the stats come from. Only know what I saw mr contrarian.
 

GTNavyNuke

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Some of the excuses you guys come up with are gold. Same every year. Baye, NTG, Wacie, Terry have all been with CDS over a year now. They’re the core of the team. If they haven’t got it by now, I doubt a couple more weeks are going to help.

I watched the first half and didn't like it, but a large part was our shots just weren't falling. Either short or long shots.

Stoudamire got us playing a lot better later in the season last year. Hope that happens here. That should be the expectation.

Agree that there is little reason for an expectation of a sudden change in the team play; except shots will start falling more regularly. There is variance in basketball like other sports. (The most variance in baseball but there we have been on a dead end for the last 15 years.)

Give Stoudamire some time guys; he and his assistants have a good chance to succeed. Key has turned things around stunningly and Hall has just sucked for a long time. Stoudamire is in between somewhere and will hopefully get things going since we have the talent and you can't make a good meal without good ingredients.
 

spdrama

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
549
I watched the first half and didn't like it, but a large part was our shots just weren't falling. Either short or long shots.

Stoudamire got us playing a lot better later in the season last year. Hope that happens here. That should be the expectation.

Agree that there is little reason for an expectation of a sudden change in the team play; except shots will start falling more regularly. There is variance in basketball like other sports. (The most variance in baseball but there we have been on a dead end for the last 15 years.)

Give Stoudamire some time guys; he and his assistants have a good chance to succeed. Key has turned things around stunningly and Hall has just sucked for a long time. Stoudamire is in between somewhere and will hopefully get things going since we have the talent and you can't make a good meal without good ingredients.
NIL is a big headwind. Can’t always buy the ingredients you prefer if you can’t afford them.
 

Connell62

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3,090
Some of the excuses you guys come up with are gold. Same every year. Baye, NTG, Wacie, Terry have all been with CDS over a year now. They’re the core of the team. If they haven’t got it by now, I doubt a couple more weeks are going to help.
Serious question...Do you think Kowacie's disappearing act is on CDS? How about Nait not being able to throw it in the ocean?

Damon is right, the mental make-up of this team is not good at the moment. When things start going bad, we haven't responded very well.

Baye is our most talented, also seems the most disinterested. Damon said that the transition from freshman to sophomore can be really tough, and I think that we are seeing that first hand for Baye and Nait.

Not sure what's going on with Wacie, but we are not going to beat anyone if he puts up goose eggs across the board. We need him, Baye, and Nait for this team to be successful, its as simple as that.

For those ****ting on UGA, you may want to start paying attention. They have a talented team and Mike White has them playing well.
 
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Connell62

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Isn't that his history? Consistent, impressive production against the small schools and then very little against the Power and conference schools?
Not to the level of Friday night. I don't recall exactly, but it was something like 2 pts and then no boards, assists, etc.

Guess there's a reason he didn't see the court a whole lot in the second half.
 

Golden Tornadoes

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
758
Serious question...Do you think Kowacie's disappearing act is on CDS? How about Nait not being able to throw it in the ocean?

Damon is right, the mental make-up of this team is not good at the moment. When things start going bad, we haven't responded very well.

Baye is our most talented, also seems the most disinterested. Damon said that the transition from freshman to sophomore can be really tough, and I think that we are seeing that first hand for Baye and Nait.

Not sure what's going on with Wacie, but we are not going to beat anyone if he puts up goose eggs across the board. We need him, Baye, and Nait for this team to be successful, its as simple as that.

For those ****ting on UGA, you may want to start paying attention. They have a talented team and Mike White has them playing well.
There will always be nights where you couldn't hit a wide-open layup if you were the only guy on the court. Even the best of players has bad shooting nights. But you have to be able to push through that and figure out other ways to have an impact on the game. I don't mind bad shooting nights IF: 1). You are getting open looks and not just forcing up shots, 2). You are actively trying to impact the game in other areas.

Jose may not have been the best 3-point shooter, but you could bet your bottom dollar he was terrorizing opposing guards for 94 ft. even on his worst shooting nights. Guys like Moses Wright and Ben Lammers would sell out for rebounds regardless of their point total on the night. I agree with CDS in that the mindset just isn't there. Blame that on whoever you will, but these guys have got to understand that putting up points isn't the only way to make an impact on the game. I'd have these guys watching endless film on Tony Bennett's UVA defense to show them how to impact a game without scoring.
 
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