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I can agree with this. I do not think CDS would have offered Nate unless he thought the kid could play.
2024 offseason
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This makes more sense. He is easily the worst GT reporter of the 3-4 writers that closely follow GT.
I stopped paying for that **** site many years ago, but I'd be hard pressed to believe he had an inkling of an idea of what lied ahead for Nait George unless someone shared it with him.
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LargeFO
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I think he wore down 2nd half of season some. Will really help to have McCollum this year with him.
78pike
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I think opposing teams had more tape on him by the second half of the season and realized he was a player they had to worry about on defense. The first half of the season Nait came out of nowhere and probably wasn't a focus of defensive game plans. Maybe he wore down some physically but these are 18-20 year old young men that are in the best shape of their lives. They don't wear down as easily as the rest of us.
Root4GT
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In Nate’s last 5 games he averaged 13.6 ppg and 4.6 assists per game. Not exactly wearing down. Facts matter.
I mean, he had some up and down games later in the season. He did look worn down despite what the raw numbers may say.
Jack
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Freshman fatigue. After he showed up, the opposition put the slammer on him. They won’t be able to get away with that this year because we are more loaded in the back court and if they jump on him that will free others up.
Northeast Stinger
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Chemistry is important. And CDS understands that.
But ultimately the test for a top tier team is whether you can put 5 quality players on the court at one time. We are getting there but aren’t there yet.
But ultimately the test for a top tier team is whether you can put 5 quality players on the court at one time. We are getting there but aren’t there yet.
LargeFO
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You kinda missed the point but that's fine.
LargeFO
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That was my overall point. McCollum will help drastically with 'shouldering some of the load'
YlJacket
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I'll take a slightly different slant - not sure if it was fatigue or not but for sure teams adjusted to us after he started to have success with the pick and roll with Ndongo. Aggressive traps off the pick and lots of help on the primary option. No more free flowing drive and rim runs like we saw against Duke. That made us have to go to the "others" as secondary options and that is where we had issues - especially at the 4. So not trying to die on whether it was fatigue or other teams adjustments - though I personally think it was more adjustments - but your concept that we are more loaded with scorers in the backcourt helps when the ball moves from the initial action - but to me the key will be do we have a 4 who can drain a corner 3 when the other team helps aggressively on the Ndongo rim run.
yjfan
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Yes, the grind caught up with him, but I don't think that it was him wearing down as much as it was other programs figuring out he was our engine.
Once they realized that they needed to make him shoot it, it took him a few games to get his legs into his shot.
Then he became deadly off the pull-up J.
I think home versus Wake Forest last season was a growing up game for Nait. Just saw a lot of defensive looks he had never seen before at that level. I've always thought about Steve Forbes as a top ACC head coach but that game was really evidence of how a good coach/gameplanner/strategist can win you games.
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I decided to look at how well (or, not so well) Nate played in our final 5 games:
Miami - 5 points, 6 assists; Kyle had 10 points & 7 assists. We won by 4 in Miami.
FSU - 15 points, 2 assists; Kyle had 20 points & 4 assists. We won by 9 at home.
WF - 16 points, 3 assists; Kyle only played 13 minutes; 3 points & no assists. We won by 1 in W-S.
UVA - 8 points, 5 assists; Kyle had 8 points & 4 assists. We lost by 15 as Va never let us get comfortable on offense.
ND (ACCT) - 24 points, 7 assists; Kyle had 10 points & 2 assists. We lost by 4 & scored 4 points in the final 5 minutes.
My thought here is Nate played about the same at the end of the season as he did in middle when everyone was hyping his play. I included Kyle because he had a similar role in the lineup last year as McCollum will this year. Nate was playing 30+ minutes every game, so losing his legs might have been an issue. Kyle was also playing a lot minutes save the WF game. I think having four guys who can play the 1 & 2 will be a bigger help this season than just having McCollum out there. Kyle was already doing that part. In the ND game Nate played 39 minutes and Kyle played 32. Could that have been what cost us that game?
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MtnWasp
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The adjustment by ACC coaches was to pressure Nait on the ball and then deny him off the ball. Opposing ACC coaches clearly felt that GT's offensive efficiency went up with the ball in George's hands in the half court. Typically, opposing defenses late in the year pressured in the back court to funnell the ball to Miles Kelly, to let him bring the ball up the floor (which he did nice and slowly). Then it was all denying George the ball to let somebody else trigger the offense.
This season, we will have to counter that. An explosive McCollum would go a long way to solving the problem. Still, would like to see the staff scheme to help George re-acquire the ball in the half court sets.
This season, we will have to counter that. An explosive McCollum would go a long way to solving the problem. Still, would like to see the staff scheme to help George re-acquire the ball in the half court sets.
Some notes from press conferences today:
- CDS is excited about the Full Steam Ahead renovations and thinks the Zelnak Center renos will be big for recruiting
- He's excited that Lance is coming back and the versatility that Lance gives us - not sure if he will start or not but he will for sure play a lot of minutes
- Kind of a non-answer when asked newcomers - seemed higher on the transfers than he seemed on the Freshmen
- Mentioned that he was excited about the leadership and experience from O'Brien when asked directly about him
- Kind words about his experiences with Dikembe
- Baye received his NIL payout on his trip to visit family in Senegal...CDS is most excited for emotional growth from Baye and has been preaching to Baye that he is the top of every opponent's scouting report this season (similar sentiments made for Nait - Nait is more physically fit and is shooting the ball better right now and hopes he can take the next step into becoming a leader)
- CDS plans to play Freshmen (no surprises here given last season) and was asked directly about Doryan O, who he says brings a different element to the team. DO can shoot/stretch the court.
- Souare - energy, effort, rebounding, can guard 1-5...defense-first guy
- Baye has been working on 3 point shooting and ball handling
- Feedback from NBA scouts was primarily around shooting
- Baye says the freshmen are ready to play
- Thinks Luke O'Brien's outside shooting ability is going to open up more opportunities for him
- Says Doryan O can play and shoot the ball and is going to help down low
- More focus on defense in practice this season
- Thinks the team has better chemistry than last season
- Lance got injured last season in September, probably returned a bit soon, popped his calf, did another workout before Cincinnati with the same fate and decided alongside CDS to shut things down and red shirt
- Lance is physically stronger, trying to get more consistent with his shot
- Loves what he sees from all the new guys but Javian McCollum and Doryan O got shoutouts
- Doesn't seem to expect to unleash a new skill set, just wants to be better at the things he's been doing
- Thinks opponents are going to have to worry about a lot more shooters this year
- Echoed Baye's comments on defensive emphasis, lots of energy guys and sounded like they plan to pick up guys in the backcourt/press more this season
- Offensive gameplan sounded very similar to last season - very spread, lots of pick and roll - pick, roll, pass to Baye, he scores or kicks to the wing for 3 if the defense helps
- Thinks Luke is a good communicator on the floor and very experienced
- Excited but also anxious, just typical first game jitter type stuff
- CDS is excited about the Full Steam Ahead renovations and thinks the Zelnak Center renos will be big for recruiting
- He's excited that Lance is coming back and the versatility that Lance gives us - not sure if he will start or not but he will for sure play a lot of minutes
- Kind of a non-answer when asked newcomers - seemed higher on the transfers than he seemed on the Freshmen
- Mentioned that he was excited about the leadership and experience from O'Brien when asked directly about him
- Kind words about his experiences with Dikembe
- Baye received his NIL payout on his trip to visit family in Senegal...CDS is most excited for emotional growth from Baye and has been preaching to Baye that he is the top of every opponent's scouting report this season (similar sentiments made for Nait - Nait is more physically fit and is shooting the ball better right now and hopes he can take the next step into becoming a leader)
- CDS plans to play Freshmen (no surprises here given last season) and was asked directly about Doryan O, who he says brings a different element to the team. DO can shoot/stretch the court.
- Souare - energy, effort, rebounding, can guard 1-5...defense-first guy
- Baye has been working on 3 point shooting and ball handling
- Feedback from NBA scouts was primarily around shooting
- Baye says the freshmen are ready to play
- Thinks Luke O'Brien's outside shooting ability is going to open up more opportunities for him
- Says Doryan O can play and shoot the ball and is going to help down low
- More focus on defense in practice this season
- Thinks the team has better chemistry than last season
- Lance got injured last season in September, probably returned a bit soon, popped his calf, did another workout before Cincinnati with the same fate and decided alongside CDS to shut things down and red shirt
- Lance is physically stronger, trying to get more consistent with his shot
- Loves what he sees from all the new guys but Javian McCollum and Doryan O got shoutouts
- Doesn't seem to expect to unleash a new skill set, just wants to be better at the things he's been doing
- Thinks opponents are going to have to worry about a lot more shooters this year
- Echoed Baye's comments on defensive emphasis, lots of energy guys and sounded like they plan to pick up guys in the backcourt/press more this season
- Offensive gameplan sounded very similar to last season - very spread, lots of pick and roll - pick, roll, pass to Baye, he scores or kicks to the wing for 3 if the defense helps
- Thinks Luke is a good communicator on the floor and very experienced
- Excited but also anxious, just typical first game jitter type stuff
57jacket
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Thanks AUFC. I'm excited for this team / season.
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This is all good stuff, but mainly confirms, some degree, what we think we already know. CDS is good about talking around a point without actually saying much. O'Brien is a 5th year senior. He ought have some sense of leadership. The same with Lance and Reeves. I am most happy to hear that he likes Doryan. If he can play 15-20 minutes without being a handicap on defense we will be much improved. Something not said directly is how well Powell is playing. We need min to be a positive for 20+mpg.
The part I bolded is the key. We need to be able to make teams cover our shooters. Last year there was way too much traffic in the lane.