12/5/2021 - UNC @ GT

[GTbball2016]

This has been explained before. The recruiting cycle didn't go bad. The make up of the roster always leaned towards taking a small class especially with the rise of the portal. Here is where we stand going into next year eligibilitywise.

PG - Sturdivant (JR), Smith (SO)
SG - Kelly (soph), Maxwell (Soph)
SF - Coleman (Soph), Moore (Soph)
PF - Meka (Soph), Hill (soph)
C - Howard (JR), Gigiberia (soph).

Now because of Covid eligibility the big SO class actually has some that will be in their 3rd year. Regardless we are already pretty well situated for next year as is, and were likely always going to try and rely more on the portal to help balance the classes some as well as fill in the holes.

The idea that it is possibly the worst roster in the ACC next year makes little sense. We're a year out from the above being the core and we've already seen flashes from Sturdy, Smith, Coleman, and Howard of being solid contributors and it's easy to see the potential in Gigi, Moore, and Kelly. Of course if you are only looking at this roster as it is now, taking away Devoe, Ush, and Khalid, then you will reach that conclusion. But that isn't the case and they will all have a year more of development under them. We've already seen Smith, Studry, Coleman, and Howard have already had multiple double digit scoring games (I think Smith had one double digit and one with 9) and will develop as the course of the year goes on. We've also seen flashes from Kelly, J. Moore, and Gigi to think they can step in and be solid contributors next year as well.

We need to move away from hoping for a shiny new toy to come in every year and save us. The program will get to where it needs to be on the back of development of players more than anything else and we've seen a good job of that already.

That front court needs two impact transfers if you want to compete, in my opinion. In an era when coaches can bring in 3-5 new transfers every offseason, Pastner should be incredibly active. Devoe is arguably an All-American this year, it’s going to be very hard to replace everything he does.

 

[lv20gt]

That front court needs two impact transfers if you want to compete, in my opinion. In an era when coaches can bring in 3-5 new transfers every offseason, Pastner should be incredibly active. Devoe is arguably an All-American this year, it’s going to be very hard to replace everything he does.

A transfer at the 4 spot is probably the biggest need by far as we don't know how or if Hill will be able to contribute, and Meka's injury history is a bit of a worry. Long term I think Meka/J.Moore could hold it down but I doubt either gets much time this year . Howard and Saba at the 5 will be fine with a year of experience (actually playing) under their belts. Devoe does a lot, and mitght be an all american. He wasn't last year though, and development is important. Next year will be highly dependent on what kind of development we get from guys like Smith, Coleman, Kelly, Howard, Saba, Sturdy, and the like. By the end of this year we could be looking at Smith and Coleman and thinking they will make for a great core next year and see guys like Sturdy and Kelly as potential solid contributors as well.

The major difference is now we have reliable upperclassmen to play instead of forcing young guys to the fire like we had to with Moses, Jose, and Mike.

 

[Connell62]

There'd better not be Tarheels fans in the seats directly in front of you.

Knew better than that, but everyone else was in their baby-blue! It got better closer to game-time.

 

[Connell62]

For those who complain about the lack of fan support, this may be poorly timed, but many former fans don't yet believe that we are "back". One flash in the pan season, when we were aided by covid, and had the ACC POY and DPOY, and still barely made the Dance, does not convince skeptics that we are "back". We are CERTAINLY much better than we have been recently, that is clear. And Pastner has us moving forward. But this team (I think everyone agrees) is another borderline tourney team (at best). And we aren't getting the likes of Kenny Anderson or Mark Price or John Salley in our recruiting.

Pastner needs to have multiple years of success before the rabid fan base returns. Give him time, he may get there, it has been a tough road for him. But give the fans time as well to regain confidence after a LONG drought.

LOL... Cmon man! If that it their mindset, then stay home.

Most logical people have tried telling you and everyone else, this may not be a tourney team.

We lost a lot, but that doesn't mean we won't have a good season, and there's still an opportunity to make the tourney.

Losing to Wisconsin and UNC didn't do much to set us back, but it did give our young team an opportunity to gel more.

 

[Connell62]

I'm sorry but this is a problem if the fan base thinks like this.

It shouldn't take 5 years of NCAAT appearances to get a rowdy home court against UNC of all teams. Two top 5 finishes and an ACC championship should get that. Now there are plenty of valid reasons people can have to miss it (for instance I live 7 hours away with limited transportation opportunity so I can rarely make a game). However, if we have fans who are looking at it like it's an investment that needs assurances that they aren't getting "fooled" into supporting a bad team then we'll never have the home court advantage we should. Great fan support could help the team get a big win to get back to the dance, or help convince great recruits to come here.

Thank you!

 

[daddee724]

 

[dtm1997]

Not sure what you're trying to say but in terms of eligibility you just described it as I listed them. I don't think it makes sense to go by academic credit hours if that's what you're getting at. Effectively, both Saba and Deebo have 3 years of eligibility after this one left where they will count against the total numbers the entire year. So effectively, they are in the same class, and I would say it makes more sense to refer to them as both sophomores next year, or Saba as a covid soph/3rd year soph, etc. Now will everyone use that extra year or even have the opportunity to? Probably not but that is true of regular eligibility as well.

I'm saying until they decide to come back for a super senior year or flat out redshirt, they're not what you're calling them.

Feel free to refer to the roster on the Rambling Wreck site.

 

[lv20gt]

I'm saying until they decide to come back for a super senior year or flat out redshirt, they're not what you're calling them.

Feel free to refer to the roster on the Rambling Wreck site.

So it's just entirely semantic drivel that adds nothing to the conversation. Cool. Replace every SO with 3 years of eligibility left then.

 

[joehamiltonfan14]

Can someone talk me off the ledge about Pastners recruiting? I get it was going to be a small class, but whiffing on all of our targets is concerning. We should have an easier time signing guys now that probation is mostly behind us and the success of last year. I don’t see how next years team is any better without some roster additions.

 

[alagold]

This game was an example of our weaknesses as others have said even at home.------.We had ZERO pts from our 5s! Didn't even try to score. Also not really good on DEf . We need Mike to score 25 EVERY night with 50% shooting----good luck on that in this league. Too many of our guys are not experienced (or good) enough to compete at this level. (they shot 54%!) We are basically a small team that got out-rebound by 10 in this game.Expect to see that of lot going forward vs good teams.
Maybe we will improve but other teams will do that also.

 

[forensicbuzz]

This game was an example of our weaknesses as others have said even at home.------.We had ZERO pts from our 5s! Didn't even try to score. Also not really good on DEf . We need Mike to score 25 EVERY night with 50% shooting----good luck on that in this league. Too many of our guys are not experienced (or good) enough to compete at this level. (they shot 54%!) We are basically a small team that got out-rebound by 10 in this game.Expect to see that of lot going forward vs good teams.
Maybe we will improve but other teams will do that also.

We don't need our 5's to score. An example of our weaknesses? Our 5's not scoring is our weakness? Do a little more research.

 

[D-man44]

Can someone talk me off the ledge about Pastners recruiting? I get it was going to be a small class, but whiffing on all of our targets is concerning. We should have an easier time signing guys now that probation is mostly behind us and the success of last year. I don’t see how next years team is any better without some roster additions.

We have told you multiple times why you don’t need to worry. If you still need it I can’t help you bro.

 

[joehamiltonfan14]

We have told you multiple times why you don’t need to worry. If you still need it I can’t help you bro.

Thanks, D-man. Half my posts on this site are just me venting lol. You’ve probably figured that out by now. Not a lot of people I can talk GT hoops with in real life

 

[dtm1997]

So it's just entirely semantic drivel that adds nothing to the conversation. Cool. Replace every SO with 3 years of eligibility left then.

No. They're literally listed by their accurate class on the GT Men's Basketball roster. That could be notable when it comes time to decide who to offer a Super-Senior spot that counts against the roster vs. thanking a kid for his 4 years served and wishing him well. It's deceiving if you operate under the view a kid is a FR or SO when they're actually a year up.

Stay cool though.

 

[Root4GT]

We need to win the next two

Zero chance of winning both. Highly unlikely we win either. Both could be near blowouts.

 

[Root4GT]

College BB is mostly about guard play and 3 point shooting. We have one very good guard, Mike, and a bunch of guys. We have one 3 point shooter and possibly a second in Debo but the Vollege game is too fast for him right now. Hopefully his game catches up to his skills.

 

[GT11]

Zero chance of winning both. Highly unlikely we win either. Both could be near blowouts.

And we could win both by blowouts. How bout showing some faith

 

[LibertyTurns]

We have told you multiple times why you don’t need to worry. If you still need it I can’t help you bro.

I like watching GT basketball but I’m nothing like you guys in terms of knowledge of the sport. How about a recap for those of us fans that are uneducated in the dynamics of college basketball recruiting?

 

[D-man44]

I like watching GT basketball but I’m nothing like you guys in terms of knowledge of the sport. How about a recap for those of us fans that are uneducated in the dynamics of college basketball recruiting?

I’m not writing 5 paragraphs to explain that college freshman usually aren’t good. It is just how it works which is probably why Georgia Techs net in recruiting this year was so small.

 

[LibertyTurns]

I’m not writing 5 paragraphs to explain that college freshman usually aren’t good. It is just how it works which is probably why Georgia Techs net in recruiting this year was so small.

Oh, you’re saying he should stop recruiting HS players and focus only on the transfer portal. An interesting take.