11/2 Faulkner Game Thread

ASURAMS07

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I just realized Ogbonda didn't play last night. Was there a reason why he didn't play? Is he hurt or something? Just trying to see did I miss news about him.
 

jbix80

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I just realized Ogbonda didn't play last night. Was there a reason why he didn't play? Is he hurt or something? Just trying to see did I miss news about him.
I think they said he had a sprained MCL. He practiced earlier in the day, but thought they should keep him out of the scrimmage.
 

ASURAMS07

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Ok. Thanks! So hopefully we get Sly and Alston back soon. And then get Josh and Tadric back a little bit after that. I think once we have all our pieces in place and we avoid the injury bug this can be a decent year with all the freshmen growing throughout the year.
 

GTJason

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After watching last nights exhibition, I’ll say we are going to miss the **** out of Josh Heath this year.
I think this every time I see someone post on here we have a significant upgrade at PG this year. Unless we have a blue chip freshman, there is no planet where a freshman PG is going to be better than a Senior PG (who in all honesty wasn't that bad) in the ACC. I will agree we have a higher ceiling at PG with Alvarado, but he's going to make some Freshman mistakes
 

AE 87

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I think this every time I see someone post on here we have a significant upgrade at PG this year. Unless we have a blue chip freshman, there is no planet where a freshman PG is going to be better than a Senior PG (who in all honesty wasn't that bad) in the ACC. I will agree we have a higher ceiling at PG with Alvarado, but he's going to make some Freshman mistakes

Yeah, I don't know. I would not have thought JoshO's Freshman year was possible before the start of last season. I also thought Pastner was a better recruiter than gameday coach. Last season and our recruiting has made me conclude that I was wrong on both counts.

I still start this season sympathetic to what you're saying. Obviously much (all?) of our success last year arose from our D, and we had several seniors left over from a coach that emphasized D. So, I agree that it's likely that you can't expect nearly the same results after losing that much experience on D.

However, if, as I think CJP has said, D can be coached up and we add better shooters, who knows?
 

RamblinRed

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Ogbonda has a sprained MCL. He should likely be back in time for UCLA since it occurred a few weeks back.
Alston also has a sprained MCL and Pastner has said he would have to be considered questionable for UCLA at this time.

Right now here are the players we know are available for UCLA
Lammers, Gueye, Wright, Cole
Alvarado, Moore, Haywood

I believe Ogbonda is likely to be able to go, Alston is more questionable.

Also, if GT gets no relief from the NCAA then based on their guidelines Tadric should be back for the TN game and JO for the UGA game (assuming he is healthy enough to play at that point).

There are 2 consequences right now. First, for at least the first 6 games, GT is going to be very short on players and experienced talent. Second, once Tadric and JO get back there will be a period of adjustment as the players get up to game speed and re-establishing chemistry as roles change.

Before the season i would have been happy to get back to the NIT. Right now I give that less than a 50% chance of happening.
Pastner has said multiple times that this year's team could turn out to be a better team than last year but have a worse record.

Overall i was pretty pleased with last night. Alvarado looks like a real sparkplug type player. Haywood has to get his shots to fall, but he is active and moves well without the ball.
Wright shows a ton of upside. Cole had his moments as well and given he missed 8 days of practice with a concussion, that is all I wanted to see.
 

Peacone36

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Yeah I am really not optimistic about this season right now as more info comes out. I am also trying to convince myself that I have to remember that an exhibition is just that.

Moses looking fantastic last night. I can’t wait to se what he looks like in a real game. If we can get 55-70% of last night from him that is a huge coup in recruiting
 

Techster

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We looked like trash to start last season. Not saying this season will turn out the same, but players and team chemistry improve over time. However, last season the majority of the team played together for multiple years, and our PGs were experienced. Now we're counting on one guy with limited minutes last season (Moore) and one guy who's a true freshmen (Alvarado) to play the point. We're also temporarily losing two of our top three scorers, and arguably our best player overall.

On the bright side, there are some guys who will be on a faster development curve because they will need to play extended minutes until JO and Tadric come back. Glass half full...glass half full...
 

AE 87

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20 assists for 31 made FGs ... does that reflect better shooting, more fast breaks, or being less active within the offense than last year?
 

MWBATL

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My suspicion is we will need to be patient this year. CJP talked at the season ticket holders event Wed night about the fact that we are more talented, but far less experienced this year. And that it may take a while for that talent to grow into the level of play that the experienced players gave us last year.

I'll accept a "down" year this year compared to last as long as I see the long term trend going the right way.
 

Jumpman

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Peacone36

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Speaking of the walk-ons, was it just me or did Avi look really small last night? (short) Lammers looked like a monster and Avi looked about 6'6 on the television.
 

Silk3

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Moses Wright gets #grownmanrebounds and is exciting to watch on the glass, to go with those silky mid range J's. Jose is tough as we expected. Evan is playing like I thought he would early, and that he is still getting back in rhythm. I've been kinda disappointed in CGB and Moore in the 1st 2 scrimmages but that can mean nothing as I do think they turn it around and ball out. Not a big fan of AD, and personally, I think the freshman should get most of the minutes.
So our lineup against UCLA is:
Alvarado
Moore(Alston If healthy?)
Haywood
Wright
Lammers
Then when our full squad comes back:
Alvarado/Moore
Tad/Alston
Okogie/Haywood
Wright/Cole/AD
Lammers/Sly
@Jumpman any input on it?
Like Wright but I didnt see the silky midrange J, also not a big AD guy but thought his jumphooks looked pretty good last night. The guy is tall and long so if he can hit those consistantly could be a nice little piece
 

Silk3

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I think this every time I see someone post on here we have a significant upgrade at PG this year. Unless we have a blue chip freshman, there is no planet where a freshman PG is going to be better than a Senior PG (who in all honesty wasn't that bad) in the ACC. I will agree we have a higher ceiling at PG with Alvarado, but he's going to make some Freshman mistakes
Josh had some moments but he also made freshman mistakes last year as a senior
 
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