2024-25 season predictions.

[leatherneckjacket]

I usually wait until the team play a game before I make a prediction but I am weird in that way.

 

[gtchem05]

I want to hear from the poster who predicts that the football team will go 12-0 every year in an effort (some might call misguided) not to 'concede' any game. Might we witness a prediction for the basketball teams to make it through the regular season undefeated? Can we extrapolate this philosophy to baseball and softball as well?

I'm guessing both the men's and women's teams win 21 in the regular season.

 

[BuzzStone]

Stay away from the online betting sites. That's not a reasonable expectation.

They don't call me a fanatic for no reason lol

Go Jackets!

 

[orientalnc]

They don't call me a fanatic for no reason lol

Go Jackets!

If we are 11-3 on Jan 1 (losing to Cincinnati, UNC and Duke) I think we will be in good shape to make a run at the tournament. If we lose to ND or Oklahoma or uga or Northwestern it could be a year much like last year. If have those 11 wins plus an upset over one of those three ranked teams, your bet might start looking OK. We need to stay essentially injury free and our situation down low needs to at least be neutral. And we need to win those toss-up games in November and December. A flat record in the ACC will not be enough.

 

[Techster]

I equate basketball teams much like the offensive line in football. Which team can gel he quickest usually does the best.

We have talent. #14 overall recruiting class coming in (247), #54 transfer class with some good pieces, and a nice core of returning players (Reeves, George, Ndongo).

Talent won't be the issue for us this season. In this age of transfers and NIL, it's more about how a program can get everyone on the same page the quickest while developing them individually. It's very similar to the OL in football. If you can develop each guy on the OL individually, while creating a chemistry where each guy knows how to predict and step up for the other guy on any given scenario, your team usually does well. There's a reason why they say good football teams are built in the trenches.

This will easily be GT's most talented team (on paper) in some time. Can Stoudamire get these guys to play well for each other, and develop them individually for this level and his system, before we need to start the process again? Last year we had some REALLY big wins, and some head scratching losses. Lots of two step forward, two step back moments. This year, I'd like to see three step forward, maybe just 1 step back runs.

I honestly can not predict anything for this team yet. Given how well George and Baye were developed, and how well Reeves played after his transfer from UF, this staff can most definitely develop talent. Miles Kelly was a head scratcher given how dominant he played in Pastner's last season, but he wasn't as efficient with his shots under Stoudamire. That may have just been and individual thing with Kelly...but Kelly moved on to Auburn so that's no longer our concern. IMO, this season will hinge on the development of our recruiting class and our transfers. There are some REALLY nice pieces in those two groups.

We'll see. I'm excited to see how Stoudamire deploys this group. As ever, it'll be a roller coaster season one way or another. Hoping there's more highs than lows.

 

[57jacket]

I equate basketball teams much like the offensive line in football. Which team can gel he quickest usually does the best.

We have talent. #14 overall recruiting class coming in (247), #54 transfer class with some good pieces, and a nice core of returning players (Reeves, George, Ndongo).

Talent won't be the issue for us this season. In this age of transfers and NIL, it's more about how a program can get everyone on the same page the quickest while developing them individually. It's very similar to the OL in football. If you can develop each guy on the OL individually, while creating a chemistry where each guy knows how to predict and step up for the other guy on any given scenario, your team usually does well. There's a reason why they say good football teams are built in the trenches.

This will easily be GT's most talented team (on paper) in some time. Can Stoudamire get these guys to play well for each other, and develop them individually for this level and his system, before we need to start the process again? Last year we had some REALLY big wins, and some head scratching losses. Lots of two step forward, two step back moments. This year, I'd like to see three step forward, maybe just 1 step back runs.

I honestly can not predict anything for this team yet. Given how well George and Baye were developed, and how well Reeves played after his transfer from UF, this staff can most definitely develop talent. Miles Kelly was a head scratcher given how dominant he played in Pastner's last season, but he wasn't as efficient with his shots under Stoudamire. That may have just been and individual thing with Kelly...but Kelly moved on to Auburn so that's no longer our concern. IMO, this season will hinge on the development of our recruiting class and our transfers. There are some REALLY nice pieces in those two groups.

We'll see. I'm excited to see how Stoudamire deploys this group. As ever, it'll be a roller coaster season one way or another. Hoping there's more highs than lows.

Excellent post.

 

[YlJacket]

Stay away from the online betting sites. That's not a reasonable expectation.

Speaking of betting sites - Where can one bet on the over/under on number of wins? I am only on DraftKings and cannot find that bet there (though it wouldn't surprise me if it is and I just can't find it). I don't want to go all the way to NCAA or ACC champion level bet but I do expect that the national view of number of wins for GT is lower than my view and worth a few sheckles.

 

[lv20gt]

My prediction is with the lineups that we are likely to see we will struggle defensively and rebounding, but should be able to put forth a pretty good offense. Overall the record will be how well does our strength outpace, or get outpaced by, our weaknesses. IMO the tools are there for an NCAAT team, but I'm not sold on them being used well enough to get there. So I'd go with a slight improvement overall from last year to something like 9-11 in conference and around .500 overall.

Some unknowns to me.

#1 - What will Obrien give us. On paper he could be the perfect piece for our line up. If he can rebound/defend like his junior year and shoot like his senior year, then he'd be great. That being said his JR year he shot 29% from three, and last year he regressed heavily rebounding and defensively.

#2 - Can George and/or McCollum improve their 3%. Both shot an identical 31.4% from 3 last year. In the last 15 games (so second half for him) George shot 18/52 = 34% so there were signs that he improved as the year went on, although he was 30% in the 14 games prior to the last one (where he went 5/8) so was that one game an outlier or indicative of something. McCollum in his last 15 shot 17/79 for 22% so the back half was certainly not kind to him. IMO if the two are going to play together they both need to improve on last year, and I would guess George, being a freshman, is more likely to do so.

#3 - Can Reeves improve his rebounding/defense. No reason that someone with his size and athleticism shouldn't be better on the boards and defensively. He needs to improve rebounding similar to how Kelly did last year to help out the front court, given our guards are less likely to be able to do so.

#4 - How can our freshman adjust. Mustaf, Sutton, and Doryan all look like they can be good contributors down the line. How will they adjust in year one, and can any of them, or multiple, give us a solid 15 mpg. Sometimes it can be hard for freshmen to be role players because it requires them to be able to come in cold and be productive, something many aren't used to having to do. In particular Doryan and Mustaf seem like they could really give us pieces that we are missing otherwise if they can make them jump to this level smoothly.

 

[spdrama]

I’m not ready to predict yet. I’ll wait to hear from CDS at his preseason press conference assessment. Only 3 players on this team played in actual games for GT last year. The skill level potential is significantly better, but their practices are not open to the public & the two scrimmages we know about were secret and no performance info has been leaked. Guessing how 7 or 8 new players, 3 of them freshman, will play with & alongside all new teammates under a their new head coach is a crap shoot. HOWEVER, KenPom ratings seem to think GT is looking pretty good in the starting gate for a major upward swing. Their final rating last year had GT (14-18) ranked 123 out of 362 teams. Take a look at their pre-season ratings now where GT has moved up 52 spots to #71 out of 364 teams. The 71st ranked team last year was 20-16 (Boston College). The worst records in last years KenPom top 71 teams were Xavier (16-18) & Maryland (16-17), the only ones out of 71 with a losing record. 69 out of the first 71 had winning records. There are 10 ACC teams ranked higher. I don’t think predicting a winning record is a stretch, but CDS should give us more to go on then Ken Pomeroy.

 

[Peacone36]

I usually wait until the team play a game before I make a prediction but I am weird in that way.

Does that still qualify as a prediction?

 

[spdrama]

Missed this press conference almost 4 weeks ago. Lot of info. Expecting another before opener for any prediction here, but run to the Doryan over/under 10mpg thread and bet the bank on the over.

 

[kg01]

Does that still qualify as a prediction?

Sounds more like a predilection.

 

[leatherneckjacket]

Sounds more like a predilection.

You know more about that than I would.

 

[kg01]

You know more about that than I would.

Look everyone, he does have a sense of humor.

 

[spdrama]

Coach speaks.

 

[Richland County]

Jackson has a good preview of the season on beav podcast.

 

[alagold]

If we play together pretty well ,we will be a threat in any game --but also I expect to have a few "stinkers".One thing is fairly sure--if Baye gets hurt , bets are off.