Turning back to this since it's selection Sunday, and GT is yet again not even a thought in the college basketball world.
Gave our team more thought, and one thing that keeps popping in my head is: GT has talent. It's not elite NBA lottery Duke/UNC/FSU top 5 ACC talent, but GT has enough talent to play in the top 6-8 teams (we finished 10th this season) in the ACC space next season. When GT is on, we can hang in there with the elite teams, but their elite talent eventually takes over and leaves us in their wake. That doesn't mean we can't beat the VT's/Clemsons/Pitts/NDs/NC State's of the ACC.
The problem is consistency, especially from the offensive end of the floor. GT defense is GOOD, and it will get even better because of maturation and our key players returning. We've got some upper end pieces from a recruiting standpoint:
Michael Devoe (2018 class): 4 Star, #11 PG, #51 overall
James Banks (2016 class): 4 Star, #9 C, #63 overall
Jordan Usher (Transfer - 2017 class): 4 star, #22 SG, #104 overall
Then we have Jose Alvarado who we would all agree has outperformed his 3 star rating (was almost a 4 star) to become one of the better ACC PGs. Probably the leader of our team who developed from his Freshmen season, but hit a bit of slump towards the end of the year. He will be years better next season.
Khalid Moore is going to be a REALLY good player for us, and gives us someone to can create a bit and some length from the wings.
Curtis Haywood had a down year which I'll blame on a sophomore slump. He's a good player who was a solid contributor his freshmen year before getting injured. Probably one of our best outside shooters...and he needs to learn to look for his shot. As
@RamblinRed pointed out earlier in the year, he's got a sneaky good game.
Kristian Sjolund proved he has a role in our rotation as someone who can come in and give us a shooting threat.
Moses Wright is an enigma, but an enigma that shows high upside when he does the the things our staff asks of him. There are sequences where he looks like he's one of the best players on the floor, then other sequences that make you want to throw your drink at the TV. The hope is maturation smooths out the latter.
Evan Cole had a series of games where he looked like a solid contributor, but I think his role for us will always be the "hard nose hustle guy" who does the little things to help us. Every team needs those guys.
If you look at the setup, this is exactly how the "get old stay old" progresses. If everything goes according to plan (*knock on wood*), next season was always the season for GT to turn the corner (even though Pastner's first season was a pleasant surprise). Our two guards will be JR/SO with a lot of minutes played in the ACC. Our Center is one of the best defensive centers in the ACC, and will have a better offensive game with a full offseason under Reveno (hopefully he stays). Jordan Usher transfers in and hopefully makes a quick acclimation to our team. Guys like Khalid Moore, Sjolund, Haywood, and Wright take the next step and become key pieces that offer a certain dimension with their different games.
The combo of Alvarado/Devoe/Banks will be one of the better trios in the ACC. GT needs two players to step up and be plus contributors at the other two spots. The key is Alvarado/Devoe/Banks staying healthy all next season, and someone like Moore and Haywood taking on a bigger role and developing their game and confidence.
They say it gets worse before it gets better, well the last two seasons have not been fun. Hopefully next season is the year all the pieces come together and fun will return on the Flats with our basketball team.
