11/23 - MBB vs. #18 Cincinnati

Thwg777

Thwg777

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I had never watched a basketball game growing up but quickly found it fun since we were good when I was in school. The 2003-2004 NCAA tourney run and ensuring campus parties is on par with the best football games. And heckling Chris Paul in the 102-101 GT over Wake game was pretty fun.

But I find it hard to get back into it. I’ve probably attended a dozen or so games as a grad, but we’ve lost most all of them, most by double digits. Heck, I turned down free tickets to this game since I didn’t want to be let down after the excitement from the NCST football game.

What sours my attitude the most is the perception (not sure if this is close to reality), that it’s easier to produce a good basketball team compared to a football team. One NCAA appearance in the past 10+ years as a one and done. I don’t understand why we can’t be competitive or even decent.
 
AUFC

AUFC

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Thwg777 said:
I had never watched a basketball game growing up but quickly found it fun since we were good when I was in school. The 2003-2004 NCAA tourney run and ensuring campus parties is on par with the best football games. And heckling Chris Paul in the 102-101 GT over Wake game was pretty fun.

But I find it hard to get back into it. I’ve probably attended a dozen or so games as a grad, but we’ve lost most all of them, most by double digits. Heck, I turned down free tickets to this game since I didn’t want to be let down after the excitement from the NCST football game.

What sours my attitude the most is the perception (not sure if this is close to reality), that it’s easier to produce a good basketball team compared to a football team. One NCAA appearance in the past 10+ years as a one and done. I don’t understand why we can’t be competitive or even decent.
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It is genuinely easier to produce a good basketball team - it takes getting lucky with minimum 2 studs and 18 year olds can immediately compete with grown adult men in this sport - just ask Asa Newell or, more recently, Jizzle James. Iowa State, Kansas State, and South Carolina are all very recent examples of power conference programs that went from absolute dog**** last-in-their-conference to Top 25 teams in the first season of their new head coach. Louisville went 12-52 (5-35) under Kenny Payne and several media outlets believe they will compete for a double bye in the ACC Tournament this year. That is still the exception more than the rule though and it simply doesn't look like it's going to happen here in Atlanta.

What Indiana has done in football this year is very abnormal, and to their credit that they have taken care of business, but they have been aided by one of the easiest schedules in college football to this point. They finally faced a good opponent on Saturday and got thrashed.

The main problem with GT hoops has been lack of institutional support - we've only gotten to a good state with that since Cabrera and Batt took over. Gregory and Pastner were both budget hires by GTAA while they dealt with stadium construction debt and coach buyouts. Our bagmen were absent. Now you're seeing our NIL game step up and we're landing numerous amounts of Top 100 high school talent. The results are for sure not there yet though.
 
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RW22

Georgia Tech Fan
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At this point, it’s tragic. We’re quickly approaching a crossroad where this coach needs to show something that leads one to believe he knows what he’s doing. This team is not particularly good at any aspect of the game. The coach doesn’t seem to be a particularly good communicator. We all need something to believe in about the direction of this program. Otherwise I think the apathy in the attendance continues.
 
LargeFO

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RW22 said:
At this point, it’s tragic. We’re quickly approaching a crossroad where this coach needs to show something that leads one to believe he knows what he’s doing. This team is not particularly good at any aspect of the game. The coach doesn’t seem to be a particularly good communicator. We all need something to believe in about the direction of this program. Otherwise I think the apathy in the attendance continues.
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Sounds like practically all of the past 15 years or so. Fans fault tho.
 
Connell62

Connell62

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Had to give it a couple of days before posting after that performance. Some of ya'll should consider taking a similar approach in the future.

No other way to say it...This team is struggling. Struggling to find a rhythm on offense, struggling (badly) on defense, and just struggling to find its identity. The good news is that we are still early in the season, and there is plenty of time to turns things around. Let's be real, I'll be tuned in regardless, so I choose to remain optimistic.

In terms of analysis, this game (and this season) can be summed up in a single play. The fast break where Baye got drilled in the side of the head with a perfect pass. In my opinion, our problems start with Baye. Yes, part of it is that he is just an unassuming kid, but he displays no energy, no urgency. He is supposed to be our best player and one of our leaders, and our guys feed off him.

He MUST be more assertive on both ends of the floor. That doesn't mean score more or block more shots necessarily, but just play harder. Every team we have played has abused us in the paint, scoring with ease at the rim. I don't expect him to block every shot, but he has to be a presence in the lane and he has been absolutely invisible.

We are getting nothing from an offensive perspective either. No presence on the low post. The result has been terrible half-court offense, over-dribbling into turnovers, or chunking threes.

Few Additional Thoughts:
  • In the preseason, Damon talked a lot about how difficult the transition from freshman to sophomore could be when you have expectations on you.
  • He talked about his own personal experiences struggling with it, and I think that we are absolutely seeing that play out with Nait and Baye.
  • Damon said in his post game that he isn't panicked and that he knows what he needs to do. He mentioned a coupe of times that he was looking forward to Monday (practice).
  • Hopefully that means he is going to challenge Baye, and the team in general, to step their game up or see more time on the bench.
  • Shoutout to Duncan Powell. His minutes had been dwindling, and he came in and gave us a lift. He gave us the energy we need from Baye.
  • I'd also like to Souare get a few more minutes. He has brought good energy and activity to the game.

Some of you already have, but I encourage you to not give up on these guys yet.

I'll be there Wednesday against Charleston Southern rooting for them to get back on track!
 

MtnWasp

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bke1984 said:
Because the lesser athletes looked competitive.
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My perception was that Pastner's teams up to when Alvarado left played really hard. The last few teams were not high effort squads although they began to figure things out and were actually quite competitive by the second half of the conference slate. Pastner's late tenure was poisoned by a few players who he counted on heavily that never came through for him as leaders or consistent producers. In his last season, it is when he gave up on certain plyers and left them entirely off the floor while inserting Franklin at the 5 that the team actually started to play competitive basketball.

But in the last two seasons, those seasons were already toast by the time the teams started to play well. Fans and new AD had had enough.

The point though, is that Pastner's initial squads were characterized by high energy and toughness. But those qualities faded late. I haven't been watching a lot of outside games but maybe high effort, high toughness players are becoming more rare and that the problems we are seeing isn't just at GT. Maybe it is a wider issue.
 
Northeast Stinger

Northeast Stinger

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I think we all knew team chemistry would be a challenge with a new lineup. I was guilty of thinking Ndongo and George would be enough of a catalyst to pull all the new pieces together. I was naive on that score.

CDS’s coaching style has been to let players figure it out, to let leaders rise to the top, and not waste his breath telling players the same thing over and over again. The questions I have about his style vacillate between whether he is incredibly patient, has nerves of steel, or doesn’t know how to motivate the average college player of today.
 
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