12/16: GT vs. Penn State at The Garden

[MidtownJacket]

For sure it's not easy, but what happened today was inexcusable all the way around. The kids are fighting way too hard to allow a phantom call decide the game, I'm sure that we can agree on that.

As an aside, my brother and sister (and 5 nieces/nephews) both live in Atlanta - best of luck going forward to you. The ATL is a great city and Ga Tech academics are top-notch.

Thanks for the complimentary mention of our home base and academics. The game certainly had some questionable calls but seemed fairly balanced to me with the outcome.

Wish you and the Lions all the luck moving forward. I think Rhoades is a great coach and will get you all humming in the near future. Your guards were well coached and the press you deployed was smothering.

 

[78pike]

Refs were brutal on both ends. The refs missed an obvious travel that the announcers pointed out in the first half, which then immediately led to a made three on your part, so the made threes evened out.

I was so pissed after that game that I made this account, haha. I am fine now, but WOW that was an absolutely horrid call that You just do not make it that time. Especially when the ref who blew the whistle was not even looking at where this foul supposedly occurred.

If you should be pissed about anything it should be your interior players getting out rebounded by 22. It looked more like 52. Get a few rebounds and you might not have to worry about a refs call at the end of the game.

 

[Tom]

For sure it's not easy, but what happened today was inexcusable all the way around. The kids are fighting way too hard to allow a phantom call decide the game, I'm sure that we can agree on that.

As an aside, my brother and sister (and 5 nieces/nephews) both live in Atlanta - best of luck going forward to you. The ATL is a great city and Ga Tech academics are top-notch.

If you look at it again, you will see there is contact made by the defender on the floor and the shooter’s feet. Very minimal though and you could argue it was the shooter kicking out their feet. I would also like to see replay again to see if the defender slid just a little bit into the shooter’s original landing spot (don’t know the rules in NCAA about that), even though shooter was falling backwards anyway. But I haven’t been able to find replay online yet. If you have link please link it.

If I was PSU fan, I’d be mad about that just like GT fans are mad about the out of bounds call that led to the 3 to take the lead. But sometimes referees go off perception and it seemed like those last two calls were more what the referee assumed then what actually happened.

It’s a fast paced game with referees making decisions in split seconds. Both teams did enough to win and did enough to lose regardless of the referee calls.

 

[Bogey]

That was absolute horse ****. The guy wasn't even TOUCHED. How do you call a foul on a loose ball with 2.1 seconds left? You guys were ABSOLUTELY GIFTED!!

I agree there was no contact on Kelly but there shouldn't have been any OT, except for the refs gifting PSU with no-calls in the last minutes of regulation.

 

[forensicbuzz]

That was absolute horse ****. The guy wasn't even TOUCHED. How do you call a foul on a loose ball with 2.1 seconds left? You guys were ABSOLUTELY GIFTED!!

LOL! The call would have been moot if the ref hadn't blown an obvious out-of-bounds off PSU right in front of him that immediately let to 3 points. We always remember the bad calls against us and forget the bad calls that helped us.

 

[GTNavyNuke]

This team is better than we have been in a long time and have a long way to our ceiling.

 

[orientalnc]

From the Alabama A&M game:

Reeves +20
Sturdivant +17
Kelly +16
Coleman +15
Claude +11
Abram +10
George +6
Ndongo +6
Sacko +5
Gapare +4
Dowuona -1

My thoughts from this game after watching it twice:

Sturdivant, Coleman, Kelly, Reeves and Claude are probably our best lineup right now. Except for Dowuona, these are our most experienced (and oldest) players. I expect Ndongo to eventuallly replace Claude in that lineup. Sturdivant and Coleman seem to have some juice when playing together. Back before the season we debated about Reeves and Abram. Reeves is the real deal and Abram not so much (so far, but has had his moments). Ndongo is learning. George is the same. Sacko and Gapare will be spot guys for now. We're getting just about what we expected from Dowuona, which is not much on offense.

I am looking for to Terry getting back on the floor.

We are deep and don't have a ton of drop off when Gapare or Sacko are on the floor. I hope we start playing a lot more pressure defense. Not many teams will be able to handle the fatigue we could induce.

Our freshman class is solid. I like all four.

OK, Ndongo and George passed their mid-term exams against Penn State yesterday. Learning is happening. We have two really nice freshmen.

I don't believe Gapare's performance yesterday changes things re starters, but he is surely not going to be limited to spot duty.

I think my comment about the deep roster is 100% correct. While Kelly is our leader on the floor, he has plenty of company when it comes to talent. Our pre-season reservations about Reeves should be essential gone at this point. He's a player. And Claude can play at the P5 level. Not to worry.

We have a bunch of 6-7 to 6-9 guys who can play all over the floor. I want to give props to the BTN announcers for pointing that out yesterday.

I remember a post by @RamblinRed a few years ago stating that we only had one ACC level player on the roster. I wonder what his assessment would be about this team.

 

[kg01]

LOL! The call would have been moot if the ref hadn't blown an obvious out-of-bounds off PSU right in front of him that immediately let to 3 points. We always remember the bad calls against us and forget the bad calls that helped us.

Facts.

First of all, there was contact on the Kelly play so the PS coach calling it "inexcusable" is a bit much. I probably would've deemed it incidental, but I probably also wouldn't have completely whiffed on the OOB call you mention. Thus, as you said, it's all moot.

And if the Kelly call was "inexcusable", what TF was that missed OOB call that benefited PS?

Keep that same energy, coach ... and PS fans.

 

[orientalnc]

A 2nd watching brought out these points:

When we needed to defend late in OT, CDS went with no PG: Coleman, Gapare, Ndongo, Kelly, and Reeves. When we needed to score, George replaced Gapare. That "defending" lineup also finished the regulation.
I am interested in CDS' reasons for starting Dowuona. He is not getting a bunch of minutes. He started the 2nd half, played about three minues and warmed his seat for the rest of the game.
It looks like Abram is now Kelly's backup. They spent no time on the court together yesterday. Except for some brief spells in the 2nd half, one or the other played every minute.
George and Sturdivant played together some yesterday, but CDS' plan to have two PGs on the floor yesterday was not really a factor.
We ought to be getting more FTs than we are. Neither of our PGs went to the line yesterday. Not once.
Deebo didn't show much in the stats, but he played a really nice game yesterday. Same wiith Claude, who kept Wahab off the boards with his strength. He is also such a different player that Ndongo. I like the contraast. Deebo was playing almost mistake free basketball.
This may have been Ndongo's best game. There was one stretch where he owned the lane with his athleticism and quickness.

 

[gte447f]

Ndongo has saved (defended) several would be baskets this season with athletic blocks at the rim as a help defender, and he did it again at least twice yesterday. The ones that I can recall have all occurred at hugely critical times in games to basically keep our chances alive. When he makes these blocks, it seems like he comes out of nowhere, because it’s not like he is just camping out in front of the rim. He is guarding his man, and his athleticism allows him to come off his man and get to the rim for the block.

 

[gte447f]

Ndongo has saved (defended) several would be baskets this season with athletic blocks at the rim as a help defender, and he did it again at least twice yesterday. The ones that I can recall have all occurred at hugely critical times in games to basically keep our chances alive. When he makes these blocks, it seems like he comes out of nowhere, because it’s not like he is just camping out in front of the rim. He is guarding his man, and his athleticism allows him to come off his man and make a play

 

[Ramble1885]

Made a meme. Do with this what you will

 

[spdrama]

A 2nd watching brought out these points:

When we needed to defend late in OT, CDS went with no PG: Coleman, Gapare, Ndongo, Kelly, and Reeves. When we needed to score, George replaced Gapare. That "defending" lineup also finished the regulation.
I am interested in CDS' reasons for starting Dowuona. He is not getting a bunch of minutes. He started the 2nd half, played about three minues and warmed his seat for the rest of the game.
It looks like Abram is now Kelly's backup. They spent no time on the court together yesterday. Except for some brief spells in the 2nd half, one or the other played every minute.
George and Sturdivant played together some yesterday, but CDS' plan to have two PGs on the floor yesterday was not really a factor.
We ought to be getting more FTs than we are. Neither of our PGs went to the line yesterday. Not once.
Deebo didn't show much in the stats, but he played a really nice game yesterday. Same wiith Claude, who kept Wahab off the boards with his strength. He is also such a different player that Ndongo. I like the contraast. Deebo was playing almost mistake free basketball.
This may have been Ndongo's best game. There was one stretch where he owned the lane with his athleticism and quickness.

Abram played 4 minutes. Kelly sat for 8

 

[spdrama]

17 turnovers. Ndongo & Coleman combined for 0
of them. Nait George is really an unheralded HS senior. He is going to continue to make errors. CDS obviously found a hidden gem. Just needs a lot of polish that will come the more games he plays. He certainly plays with a confident attitude. This team is fun to watch even when they stumble during games

 

[orientalnc]

Abram played 4 minutes. Kelly sat for 8

That's what I referred to in the post. During the 2nd half Kelly and Abram were both on the bench for a bit. I noticed the time difference as well.

 

[spdrama]

That's what I referred to in the post. During the 2nd half Kelly and Abram were both on the bench for a bit. I noticed the time difference as well.

I had the feeling Abram was in CDS’s doghouse and has recently been let out, getting some minutes to see if he can find a place to fit. But I had great seats yesterday and watched every player not only during the action but during warmups before each half and during timeout huddles. Didn’t get a feel that Abram is a happy camper.

 

[slugboy]

I had the feeling Abram was in CDS’s doghouse and has recently been let out, getting some minutes to see if he can find a place to fit. But I had great seats yesterday and watched every player not only during the action but during warmups before each half and during timeout huddles. Didn’t get a feel that Abram is a happy camper.

Amaree’s numbers on offense, defense, and especially assists are not good. The overall team numbers when he’s in go down more than any other scholarship player.

When I think of a player being in the doghouse, it’s a player like Terrell Owens who is producing but causing strife. Amaree isn’t producing, especially in team stats. Guards need to produce and make everyone around them better.

Edit: he’s got tons of potential, and I want the lightbulb to go on, the coin to drop, and for him to succeed here. Stoudamire seems to want that too. You put a guy into the game to get game reps.

 

[orientalnc]

Abram is a good player with some bad habits. Hopefully he will develop better habits. We need him.

 

[spdrama]

Amaree’s numbers on offense, defense, and especially assists are not good. The overall team numbers when he’s in go down more than any other scholarship player.

When I think of a player being in the doghouse, it’s a player like Terrell Owens who is producing but causing strife. Amaree isn’t producing, especially in team stats. Guards need to produce and make everyone around them better.

Edit: he’s got tons of potential, and I want the lightbulb to go on, the coin to drop, and for him to succeed here. Stoudamire seems to want that too. You put a guy into the game to get game reps.

I didn’t mean to imply strife in clubhouse. At one of CDS’s pressers got the impression it was a coaching matter.

 

[SoMsJacket]

Coach is constantly talking about "buy in". One can assume if the player hasn't "bought into the system", they would be riding the pine.