11/6 - MBB vs. West Georgia

[Connell62]

McCollum, George, Terry, Reeves, O'Brien, Ndongo, Duncan, and Onwuchekwa are a solid first eight. I think Mustaf is not far off. That's a deep lineup.

Surprisingly enough, Jaeden and LT were the first two off the bench. It will be interesting to see how Damon handles Mustaf going forward.

It looked like he had some nerves at first, but once he settled in, he was tough. His game is getting to the rim against smaller guards.

He's like a bull in the paint, and I can see him developing into someone that we go to when we need a bucket.

 

[Connell62]

One observation I hadn’t fully appreciated until last night is the experience Javian McCollum brings to the team. Damon mentioned this after the game too.

Sitting close, I noticed how he guided Nait and especially the younger guys—keeping them positive after mistakes and directing them where to be on offense/defense.

I expected him to be an instant offensive boost, but I hadn’t considered the impact he’d have as a mentor for our younger guards.

 

[Root4GT]

One observation I hadn’t fully appreciated until last night is the experience Javian McCollum brings to the team. Damon mentioned this after the game too.

Sitting close, I noticed how he guided Nait and especially the younger guys—keeping them positive after mistakes and directing them where to be on offense/defense.

I expected him to be an instant offensive boost, but I hadn’t considered the impact he’d have as a mentor for our younger guards.

I is very clear that Javian and Luke are both experienced players who understand what CDS wants. They look to be very good additions to the team. Both play with a lot of energy and seem to come up with the ball a lot via steals or rebounds.

Should be a fun team to watch this year. 3 point shooting will go a very long way determining how far the team can go. We will be a team that takes a lot of 3 point shots. With Nait and Javian's ability to penetrate and kick the ball out there will be lots of open 3 point opportunities.

 

[orientalnc]

Surprisingly enough, Jaeden and LT were the first two off the bench. It will be interesting to see how Damon handles Mustaf going forward.

It looked like he had some nerves at first, but once he settled in, he was tough. His game is getting to the rim against smaller guards.

He's like a bull in the paint, and I can see him developing into someone that we go to when we need a bucket.

Your point about his nerves is probably correct. I was a wreck before my first college game and there was no chance I would see the floor after warm-ups. With my parents and high school friends in the crowd I wanted to show them I belonged on a college basketball team. That will disappear for Mustaf after a few games.

 

[Tommy_Taylor_1972]

However, then we only scored 10 points in the last 10 minutes of the game and we played bad defense and fouled a lot. We only “won” the second half by 2 points. We finished the game making 1 of our last 11 shots.

What I saw in that stretch was much individual play by the offense against a determined UWG experienced defense. I think each player thought the coach was evaluating them and each had to prove themselves individually. As well, those players had played much in the game and conditioning may have been a factor. Fatigued shooters miss more. If they had played an team with the same talent and x-stars, the last 10 minutes would have cost the team. Finishers are just as important as starters for a good 40-minute game.

 

[orientalnc]

Finishers are just as important as starters for a good 40-minute game.

Amen.

 

[Root4GT]

What I saw in that stretch was much individual play by the offense against a determined UWG experienced defense. I think each player thought the coach was evaluating them and each had to prove themselves individually. As well, those players had played much in the game and conditioning may have been a factor. Fatigued shooters miss more. If they had played a team with the same talent and x-stars, the last 10 minutes would have cost the team. Finishers are just as important as starters for a good 40-minute game.

CDS seemed to say he currently “trusts” 8/9 players and could get up to 10 as the year plays out. That would include 2 freshmen at this point.

 

[alagold]

About what I expected.Hoped for better 3pt shooting but overall-ok.(this an ex-D2 team) Javian is the real deal.We need more assured play like that from other guys every night to be really good.

 

[MWBATL]

Only thing that bothered me was the 3 point shooting. I We weren’t shooting that poorly becuase their defense was so good….we just looked like we oculdn’t shoot from distance. We’re going to need that threat...

 

[jbix80]

Your point about his nerves is probably correct. I was a wreck before my first college game and there was no chance I would see the floor after warm-ups. With my parents and high school friends in the crowd I wanted to show them I belonged on a college basketball team. That will disappear for Mustaf after a few games.

I played at a small Christian college, and I remember my first game. Even at that level, the speed was so much different than high school. My first shot got swatted so hard. It's amazing how you adjust to the speed of the game, so I am confident these young guys will catch up quickly.

 

[jbix80]

You can definitely see CDS' NBA influence with the extra pass/hockey assist. Several guys gave up good shots for great shots. Unfortunately, some of those great shots didn't drop. It's a make and miss league. I am confident that shots will fall more consistently as the season goes along.

 

[Tourneybound20]

Mustaf has a pro game,super strong with the ball...looks big...fearless and confident.DO does look huge,mobile and despite missing a few I see the stroke.O'Brien has a great nose for the ball,scrappy and those 3's will start falling.Javian looks polished,nice variety of offensive skills.Baye didn't get the best touches but skill impacted big time.Kowacie continues to marvel,the "did he just do that?"'s piling up by the game.Terry looks like a poor mans Donovan Mitchell.out there...big athletic body for a guard.I think Powell is a liability defensively but brings experience on offense with the ability to finish.Sutton did look hyped up lol can you blame him.The air ball from three was all nerves but when he attacked off the dribble I saw glimpses of the Hesi-God on the no look turnover pass...one think that kid plays hard and challenged for rebounds.He'll earn Powell's minutes by seasons end.Nait distributes so well and in retrospect never lost control of the game.That's what great pg's do.

 

[GTNavyNuke]

Watched the condensed game. A lot of good and some stuff which needs to be cleaned up. But great for first game.

 

[57jacket]

Yellow Jackets roll past West Georgia in season-opening win

Georgia Tech showed off its depth and some of its new and shiny pieces in a 85-62 rout of visiting West Georgia on Wednesday at McCamish Pavilion in front of a crowd of 3,530.

www.ajc.com

 

[Techster]

Speaks well of DO around the 5:50 mark. Thinks he has a very high ceiling and that we got a steal.

Full disclosure: I'm in FL this week on a fishing trip so didn't get to watch the game yet.

From what Stoudamire is saying, he's got more guys this year he feels can put points on the board than we had last season. We all know Reeves, Ndongo, Terry can put up points. McCollum, so far, is who we thought he would be. O'Brien, as Stoudamire alluded to, is going to consistently get you around 9 pts/game. Powell is one of those players Stoudamire "can count on". IMO, George reminds me a lot of Josh Heath (with a higher scoring upside)...someone who looks to facilitate more than score. When George is feeling it, he can put up 10+ points a game as well.

IMO, that's a good "base" of players that can produce points for you. I've always thought that good teams have about 4-5 guys that can consistently get you 10-15 pts a game. It appears GT has seven guys that can do that, and possibly 8 once the freshmen find their footing at this level.

We'll see in the next couple of weeks how it shakes out. I'm looking forward to the UGA and Oklahoma games. Those two games will tell us a LOT about this group.

 

[AUFC]

Full disclosure: I'm in FL this week on a fishing trip so didn't get to watch the game yet.

From what Stoudamire is saying, he's got more guys this year he feels can put points on the board than we had last season. We all know Reeves, Ndongo, Terry can put up points. McCollum, so far, is who we thought he would be. O'Brien, as Stoudamire alluded to, is going to consistently get you around 9 pts/game. Powell is one of those players Stoudamire "can count on". IMO, George reminds me a lot of Josh Heath (with a higher scoring upside)...someone who looks to facilitate more than score. When George is feeling it, he can put up 10+ points a game as well.

IMO, that's a good "base" of players that can produce points for you. I've always thought that good teams have about 4-5 guys that can consistently get you 10-15 pts a game. It appears GT has seven guys that can do that, and possibly 8 once the freshmen find their footing at this level.

We'll see in the next couple of weeks how it shakes out. I'm looking forward to the UGA and Oklahoma games. Those two games will tell us a LOT about this group.

Georgia will signal to us whether we can handle star power (Asa Newell), Cincinnati will tell us if we can handle a well-rounded top 25 team, and Oklahoma will tell us if we can handle "hostile" environments.

 

[Techster]

Georgia will signal to us whether we can handle star power (Asa Newell), Cincinnati will tell us if we can handle a well-rounded top 25 team, and Oklahoma will tell us if we can handle "hostile" environments.

Yup. There will be some nice early season tests. I like that our schedule set up for us to have some games for the team to get the kinks out, then step up to real competition.

I don't expect GT to come out unscathed in those games, but I do expect us to learn from them and set us up for the ACC season.

 

[Golden Tornadoes]

Georgia will signal to us whether we can handle star power (Asa Newell), Cincinnati will tell us if we can handle a well-rounded top 25 team, and Oklahoma will tell us if we can handle "hostile" environments.

We should be able to handle ugag unless the refs turn this into a wrestling match by swallowing their whistles which seems to happen more often than not in this matchup. I think we can handle Cincy, but I don't think we will beat Oklahoma. That's the first true road test for this team and I just see us dropping it due to nerves/"hostile" environment. Hopefully it'll be a lesson learned for the rest of the year.

 

[spdrama]

Looking ahead to UGA, Cincinnati, Oklahoma & Northwestern is ok for fans. Don’t think CDS has any of those games on his radar and won’t let his players prepare for or even think about any team or games ahead of this Sunday. Beating North Florida is the task at hand. And based on early season results this week, not an easy one to accomplish. Fan turnout Sunday should be hyped over any future game analyzing

 

[Connell62]

Full disclosure: I'm in FL this week on a fishing trip so didn't get to watch the game yet.

From what Stoudamire is saying, he's got more guys this year he feels can put points on the board than we had last season. We all know Reeves, Ndongo, Terry can put up points. McCollum, so far, is who we thought he would be. O'Brien, as Stoudamire alluded to, is going to consistently get you around 9 pts/game. Powell is one of those players Stoudamire "can count on". IMO, George reminds me a lot of Josh Heath (with a higher scoring upside)...someone who looks to facilitate more than score. When George is feeling it, he can put up 10+ points a game as well.

IMO, that's a good "base" of players that can produce points for you. I've always thought that good teams have about 4-5 guys that can consistently get you 10-15 pts a game. It appears GT has seven guys that can do that, and possibly 8 once the freshmen find their footing at this level.

We'll see in the next couple of weeks how it shakes out. I'm looking forward to the UGA and Oklahoma games. Those two games will tell us a LOT about this group.

Nait averaged 9.8 last year, I think that the addition of Javian should really open things up for him to score more.

I could be dead wrong, but I won't be surprised to see him in the 14-15 points/game and 7-8 assist/game range.

To your point, we should have one of the best backcourts in the league when you factor in Lance Terry and eventually Mustaf.