2023-24 Predictions

[Peacone36]

This is where I typically get banned for a few days or Shane and I stop speaking for a few weeks like an uncle and sister in-law post Thanksgiving. However, I feel 39 again. I love the hire, I love the roster, the rest of the league is fair to midland. The schedule is out. What do you say my favorite typically overly optimistic Engineers? (I also have an engineering degree though not as prestigious as a GT stamped one)

Sorry, OOC schedule has been released

 

[AUFC]

I like the team. I think a lot of this board forgets/ignored how well they played in the dribble-drive offense that CJP implemented (too late in the season though). We have at least 3 guys who are more than capable of shooting 40% from 3 and Deebo is gonna average double digits this season. Great time to be a Yellow Jacket.

My bold prediction is that the Thrillerdome returns. Sold out crowds clad in gold. Place will be noisy and rocking by the Mississippi State game. There will be 10-0 runs this season and opponent timeout standing ovations.

 

[D-man44]

My prediction is Amaree Abram is our 2nd best player this year! Hope to see GT really competitive, super interested in how they approach the lineup with some rotation decisions.

 

[Gtbowhunter90]

I like the team. I think a lot of this board forgets/ignored how well they played in the dribble-drive offense that CJP implemented (too late in the season though). We have at least 3 guys who are more than capable of shooting 40% from 3 and Deebo is gonna average double digits this season. Great time to be a Yellow Jacket.

My bold prediction is that the Thrillerdome returns. Sold out crowds clad in gold. Place will be noisy and rocking by the Mississippi State game. There will be 10-0 runs this season and opponent timeout standing ovations.

Inject this into my veins

 

[Gtbowhunter90]

I think we could be a top 5 ACC team in year 1. Hows that for overly optimistic?

 

[seedjckt]

My prediction is Amaree Abram is our 2nd best player this year! Hope to see GT really competitive, super interested in how they approach the lineup with some rotation decisions.

As PG or SG?
Do you forsee a big that can compete with ACC bigs?

 

[Jack]

My prediction is Amaree Abram is our 2nd best player this year! Hope to see GT really competitive, super interested in how they approach the lineup with some rotation decisions.

Who would be the best?

 

[D-man44]

As PG or SG?
Do you forsee a big that can compete with ACC bigs?

I think he can play both! If CDS runs some of the stuff the Celtics were it won’t really matter what position he is in. Every starter for the Celtics averaged at least 3 assists, not saying we will be that successful with it just not a true “Point guard” in that offense.

I really hope we can have somewhat of a 1-2 punch where Dowuona can be the defensive guy and Claude can be able to score and draw fouls but I think we all agree it is the biggest question mark.

Who would be the best?

I’m really hoping Miles Kelly makes the next jump to an all-acc caliber player!

 

[lv20gt]

Going to be an interesting year. We have a really nice combination of talent and experience (both individually and as a group) in our backcourt with Sturdy/Kelly/Terry/Coleman and adding Abram gives us another player that should allow us to go pretty deep in the back court. I think the biggest question right now is if we will go small with Coleman or Reeves at the 4 (nominally at least) either by choice trying to emulate some of the NBA small ball lineups or being forced to because of a lack of production inside. I think playing out of position hurt Coleman last year and I don't see either him or Reeves giving us enough defense or rebounding there for it to be our base. Can get away with it situationally though.

Inside is a bunch question marks. How will Claude adapt to a higher level of play? How will Ndongo adjust to college play? Will switching ACC teams allow Dowuona to be a contributor on a competing ACC team? Can Gapare develop enough in one offseason to overcome both his poor play last year and increased competition? In general, I think how these questions are answered will largely be the biggest factor in how well we do. If Claude and Ndongo can adjust well and we get enough firepower from the back court to cover for Dowuona likely not being an offensive threat then this can be a really fun team to watch.

 

[orientalnc]

Going to be an interesting year. We have a really nice combination of talent and experience (both individually and as a group) in our backcourt with Sturdy/Kelly/Terry/Coleman and adding Abram gives us another player that should allow us to go pretty deep in the back court. I think the biggest question right now is if we will go small with Coleman or Reeves at the 4 (nominally at least) either by choice trying to emulate some of the NBA small ball lineups or being forced to because of a lack of production inside. I think playing out of position hurt Coleman last year and I don't see either him or Reeves giving us enough defense or rebounding there for it to be our base. Can get away with it situationally though.

Inside is a bunch question marks. How will Claude adapt to a higher level of play? How will Ndongo adjust to college play? Will switching ACC teams allow Dowuona to be a contributor on a competing ACC team? Can Gapare develop enough in one offseason to overcome both his poor play last year and increased competition? In general, I think how these questions are answered will largely be the biggest factor in how well we do. If Claude and Ndongo can adjust well and we get enough firepower from the back court to cover for Dowuona likely not being an offensive threat then this can be a really fun team to watch.

I believe Sturdivant will be the starting pg when the season begins. He's earned it. Abram may eventually get more minutes. Terry, Kelly, Coleman, and Reeves should be rest of our backcourt core. Other than pg, don't think about position numbers. Although we have lots of questions in the front court, I don't think that will be a static situation. Matchups may dictate who gets minutes.

 

[GTJason]

I agree with most of you that from a talent perspective this team doesn't need to be greater than the sum of its parts to be pretty good. If they are we'll be a great team and we should be that with good coaching. I assume like most teams with new faces in pivotal roles we'll have growing pains early and then start to come on hot in the ACC schedule. We have some early testers and I think positive results will mean more than negative ones (meaning I'm not worried about early season losses but wins means we're ahead of schedule.) Hopefully we'll get to the post season.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Going to be an interesting year. We have a really nice combination of talent and experience (both individually and as a group) in our backcourt with Sturdy/Kelly/Terry/Coleman and adding Abram gives us another player that should allow us to go pretty deep in the back court. I think the biggest question right now is if we will go small with Coleman or Reeves at the 4 (nominally at least) either by choice trying to emulate some of the NBA small ball lineups or being forced to because of a lack of production inside. I think playing out of position hurt Coleman last year and I don't see either him or Reeves giving us enough defense or rebounding there for it to be our base. Can get away with it situationally though.

Inside is a bunch question marks. How will Claude adapt to a higher level of play? How will Ndongo adjust to college play? Will switching ACC teams allow Dowuona to be a contributor on a competing ACC team? Can Gapare develop enough in one offseason to overcome both his poor play last year and increased competition? In general, I think how these questions are answered will largely be the biggest factor in how well we do. If Claude and Ndongo can adjust well and we get enough firepower from the back court to cover for Dowuona likely not being an offensive threat then this can be a really fun team to watch.

My hope is that we have enough athletics 1-4 that all we need at 5 is someone to make basic plays, not spectacular, but solid and not a liability.

 

[Jack]

I’m predicting that Sacko gets rookie of the month a few times

 

[lv20gt]

I believe Sturdivant will be the starting pg when the season begins. He's earned it. Abram may eventually get more minutes. Terry, Kelly, Coleman, and Reeves should be rest of our backcourt core. Other than pg, don't think about position numbers. Although we have lots of questions in the front court, I don't think that will be a static situation. Matchups may dictate who gets minutes.

I'd be surprised if Abram gets more minutes than Sturdy unless they are playing together extensively. Like Sturdy plays 25 minutes, and they play 15 together and Abram gets 15 minutes when Sturdy sits as well but even in that scenario I would imagine that Sturdy's numbers would be higher than that if we're playing big minutes with a two PG guard look. The biggest difference between the two last year was the assist to turnover ratio greatly favored Sturdivant, and with him having experience with Coleman/Kelly/Terry you'd think that would continue.

I don't really get why people always take issue with the use of numbers when talking about positions. It doesn't really address the issue to say don't worry about position numbers. A line up, for example, of Sturdivant, Kelly, Coleman, Reeves plus any of Dowuona/Claude/Ndongo is likely to have issues with getting our bigs in foul trouble as well as interior defense. It doesn't really matter if you look at it as an issue with Reeves or Coleman playing the 4, or looking at it as a general weakness of the lineup as a whole.

 

[Root4GT]

I'd be surprised if Abram gets more minutes than Sturdy unless they are playing together extensively. Like Sturdy plays 25 minutes, and they play 15 together and Abram gets 15 minutes when Sturdy sits as well but even in that scenario I would imagine that Sturdy's numbers would be higher than that if we're playing big minutes with a two PG guard look. The biggest difference between the two last year was the assist to turnover ratio greatly favored Sturdivant, and with him having experience with Coleman/Kelly/Terry you'd think that would continue.

I don't really get why people always take issue with the use of numbers when talking about positions. It doesn't really address the issue to say don't worry about position numbers. A line up, for example, of Sturdivant, Kelly, Coleman, Reeves plus any of Dowuona/Claude/Ndongo is likely to have issues with getting our bigs in foul trouble as well as interior defense. It doesn't really matter if you look at it as an issue with Reeves or Coleman playing the 4, or looking at it as a general weakness of the lineup as a whole.

Matchups matter more now than ever in College BB. The game has evolved where the traditional big man that plays within 5 feet of the basket is dying in American basketball. Just look at the NBA and try and find one Big Man that is elite. The last 5 NBA MVPs are all big men who were not Americans. The play away from the basket bigman has worked it's way thru college and HS.

 

[Ramble1885]

I think we start slow which SHOULD BE EXPECTED because of all the new faces. It will take a bit of time for this team to put it all together but like last season I think we start picking up some W's midway through conference play. I think we win about 17-18 games and possibly make the NIT.

 

[OG-T]

I think we start slow which SHOULD BE EXPECTED because of all the new faces. It will take a bit of time for this team to put it all together but like last season I think we start picking up some W's midway through conference play. I think we win about 17-18 games and possibly make the NIT.

Reasonable, but I’m sure that’s not CDS and the staff’s goal, so I’ll lean to their expectations - NCAAT.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

I think we start slow which SHOULD BE EXPECTED because of all the new faces. It will take a bit of time for this team to put it all together but like last season I think we start picking up some W's midway through conference play. I think we win about 17-18 games and possibly make the NIT.

Makes sense in a rational kind of way. But what if this coaching staff knows how to put a team together faster than we are used to seeing? What if…..

 

[Techster]

Kelly Quinlan with a really good thread of posts right now:

 

[orientalnc]

Kelly Quinlan with a really good thread of posts right now:

I believe CDS's comments about Kelly are correct, but also for Miles. He is not ranked as a top 100 player right now. That has to change for him to be a future pro. As for GT, he is the guy who has to lead by example. And making shots when others are having a hard time will be key part of that.

As for Ndongo, unless he said more that wasn't quoted, I agree completely. How soon Ndongo will impact the team at a high level is the question for him.

Maybe his comments about his rotation is exactly where I think we should be right now. Maybe he will still be at this point when the ACC tournament rolls around and that may be goodd new or bad. We'll see.

His last comment I think is indirectly aimed at Sturdivant and Claude. He has them on notice that there are young guys who might be getting minutes instead of seniors.

These are great posts by KQ and indicates CDS is willing to be honest with the media he respects.