A Few Early Impressions

RamblinRed

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A few thoughts after 6 games (20% of season). I'll take 5-1 even though i'm comcerned about multiple areas. Given that 6 of the 8 regular players didn't play for GT last year the overall chemistry is better than i expected. I'm also trying not to overreact - at 3-0 I never even entertained the idea the FB team could win 10 games - they simply did not look good enough to do that. But they improved remarkably (especially on defense) and got there. I'm not expecting that to happen to this program, but i'll try not to completely rule it out either.

It seems like you can expect at least one of Demarco or Chuck to play well offensively on any given night. On nights when both play well GT will be a tough out.
Cox is what he is. A bull that will get some buckets through strength and likely be .500 or a little worse at the FT line. Mitchell has more offensive potential but I don't think we can count on 12 every night. Great rebounder. On the plus side Chuck's FT's look much better. A career 43% FT shooter he is shooting 67% so far this year. I'll take that all year.
Sampson hasn't been what I expected. He's been more of a utility guy. I like Lammers long term potential - I think he was a very good signee.
Hunt would make the perfect #2 option. That is where the loss of Carter does hurt. He was a gifted natural scorer and would have been the #1.

Stephens is a pleasant surprise. He will be inconsistent and can't really create his own shot, but I love his long range potential. Could be a very good starter as a JR and SR. 44% 3-pters so far.

Despite the poor game last night Heath is a pleasant surprise. Have to hit your FT's.
Jorgenson has been a disappointment due to injury. I just hope he truly gets back to 100% and we don't have another Jeremis Smith situation (who I thought would be an ALL-ACC guy until injuries forced him to retool his game).

Bolden has actually been solid in a more limited role. He's hitting a solid 3-pt % (35%) and not making too many glaring mistakes.

I could see Jackson developing into a #1 offensive threat by his SO year. Right now he is playing too fast (both mentally and physically) and needs to slow down and let the game come to him more. On the other side he is aggresive, and i think the staff likes that, an he does one thing better than anyone else on the team - get to the FT line where he is hitting 85%. He also takes care of the ball pretty well for a 2G.

The offense looks better than the last couple of years, even without Carter or a true #1 scorer. it's hardly world beater but it's respectable. Need to cut down on the TO - mainly the frontline.
The defense is not as good as Gregory's previous defenses. He doesn't really have a shut down defender right now (Hunt is probably closest) so the team defense really has to get alot better - especially without a big rim protector. That requires alot of communication and with alot of new players that may take a little while to develop.
The guards have to play better - but its a better group offensively than the last couple of year - not as good defensively.

Going to be an interesting year to see how this team evolves. Frankly they are slightly ahead of what i expected. A mixed bag of good and bad, but not the train wreck I feared going into the season.

What in the back of my mind truly makes for an interesting theoretical discussion is that I see an NCAA caliber team here - next season. Heath and Jorgenson return (hopefully with Travis finally 100%). Tadric has a year under his belt. Q has a year as a starter under his belt. Mitchell will be a SR. You add in an upgrade in the frontcourt with Jacobs (who in Gregory's system should be a 12-14 ppg scorer). Will Gregory win enough to get to coach next year or will the AD make a move to whoever he wants. If you look at the roster and scholarship situation GT would have some attractive qualities for an incoming coach. An experienced core that you can win right away and get some good will and a 5 scholarship recruiting cycle that allows you to quickly bring in the players you want.
 

McCamish Maniacs

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Given that 6 of the 8 regular players didn't play for GT last year the overall chemistry is better than i expected.

I'm hoping we haven't even seen the peak. If the chemistry is this good 6 games into the season, hopefully it will be even better by the time ACC play rolls around

Jorgenson has been a disappointment due to injury. I just hope he truly gets back to 100%

He showed flashes in some of the games this year so hopefully its just fatigue thats holding him back right now. I would certainly be a lot more worried if Heath wasn't playing so well

Right now he is playing too fast (both mentally and physically) and needs to slow down and let the game come to him more.

He certainly has already shown he's the best scorer on the team when on his game, but he is definitely forcing too much right now. Give him some more time and by the time the heart of the ACC schedule comes around I hope he's acclimated. His shot selection can be frustrating, but I love the fact that he's the only player who's shown confidence in scoring the ball

Heath and Jorgenson return (hopefully with Travis finally 100%). Tadric has a year under his belt. Q has a year as a starter under his belt. Mitchell will be a SR.

MGH will be a senior too
 

MWBATL

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I will defer to the much more knowledgable posters on basketball on this forum (no, that is not sarcasm, it is meant as a sincere compliment). But I am surprised at comments which suggest we are OK offensively. I have watched every minute of every game, and it looks to me like we struggle offensively, mostly because no one fears our 3 point shooting or our backcourt.
<shrugs>
 

dtm1997

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I will defer to the much more knowledgable posters on basketball on this forum (no, that is not sarcasm, it is meant as a sincere compliment). But I am surprised at comments which suggest we are OK offensively. I have watched every minute of every game, and it looks to me like we struggle offensively, mostly because no one fears our 3 point shooting or our backcourt.
<shrugs>
OK is relative to last year. Our PGs are more apt to see the floor and set up plays. Our post players are very good at gathering offensive boards for putbacks, which is a moneymaker for us right now.

If anything, our potential has not been fully realized yet, as there are some players that just aren't seeing shots fall, although their good shots or some that aren't being aggressive enough.

The other thing to remember is that, although our perimeter shooting needs improvement, we're unlikely to ever be a team predicated on offense. We're going to look to keep it in the 60s, playing strong enough defense to keep the other team from exceeding our somewhat limited offense. That said, I think the best defensive combination is still being formulated.
 

Connell62

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Cant speak for everyone else but I feel like we have generated high shot (some poor shot selection), but we aren't making enough of them.
 

Peacone36

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In regards to our offense I am more comfortable this year than last. Q is growing up, you can see the serious potential in Tadric, if Travis were healthy he is capable of being an ACC PG IMHO. We are getting looks they just arent quite falling as shown by

Tadric-29% overall
Sampson (Career 46%) shooting 37.5%
Travis- 29%
CB2-34%

I look for Tadrics in particular to improve a great deal as he is getting the cleanest looks.
 

McCamish Maniacs

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I've never been big on the RPI, polls, and all that jazz, but while I was looking for information on Marquette's opponent last night, I came across the Massey Index. Many people consider the Massey Index to be the most accurate tool in projecting team strength. Nonetheless, I thought it might be interesting to some to see the Massey Index ratings for GT and our opponents thus far:

Georgia Tech - 61

UGA - 76
Alabama A&M - 444 (Yikes)
IPFW - 167
Marquette - 117
Northwestern - 83
USC Upstate - 181
App State - 330
Vanderbilt - 88
Dayton - 37
Charlotte - 93

Only a couple of what I could consider "cupcakes" (A&M, App State) on the schedule. This gives us an opportunity to build a pretty decent resume if we take care of business. Hey, don't read too much into that, I'm just saying!!

Rolling off of this a little bit, I went ahead and looked at the rest of our schedule based on Massey and RPI rankings. Additionally, Massey gives a percentage odds of winning that game. Our current RPI is 87 and our current Massey ranking is 64

Teams (RPI, Massey, Massey Odds)
NW (82, 100, 51%)
SC Upstate (213, 178, 79%)
App St (239, 326, 95%)
Vandy (163, 92, 64%)
Dayton (114, 43, 27%)
Charlotte (14, 90, 72%)
ND (214, 56, 30%)
Cuse (32, 28, 34%)
Wake (196, 161, 48%)
ND (214, 56, 54%)
Pitt (89, 60, 22%)
UVA (28, 6, 9%)
BC (100, 108, 70%)
Miami (7, 14, 21%)
NCSU (36, 38, 47%)
Duke (12, 7, 11%)
Wake (196, 161, 72%)
VT (180, 169, 54%)
FSU (189, 110, 58%)
Clemson (233, 125, 62%)
UNC (10, 12, 13%)
Ville (9, 2, 18%)
Clemson (233, 125, 38%)
UNC (10, 12, 29%)

Based on current RPI alone (choosing team with higher RPI), we would finish 19-11 (10-8)

Based on current Massey ranking, we would finish 17-13 (7-11)

Based on the Massey percentages, we would finish 17-13 (7-11)

** Note that the difference between the percentages and the rankings is that the rankings would have us losing to ND twice and beating Clemson twice whereas the percentages take into account home/away so we would split with ND and split with Clemson
 

orientalnc

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Rolling off of this a little bit, I went ahead and looked at the rest of our schedule based on Massey and RPI rankings. Additionally, Massey gives a percentage odds of winning that game. Our current RPI is 87 and our current Massey ranking is 64

Teams (RPI, Massey, Massey Odds)
NW (82, 100, 51%)
SC Upstate (213, 178, 79%)
App St (239, 326, 95%)
Vandy (163, 92, 64%)
Dayton (114, 43, 27%)
Charlotte (14, 90, 72%)
ND (214, 56, 30%)
Cuse (32, 28, 34%)
Wake (196, 161, 48%)
ND (214, 56, 54%)
Pitt (89, 60, 22%)
UVA (28, 6, 9%)
BC (100, 108, 70%)
Miami (7, 14, 21%)
NCSU (36, 38, 47%)
Duke (12, 7, 11%)
Wake (196, 161, 72%)
VT (180, 169, 54%)
FSU (189, 110, 58%)
Clemson (233, 125, 62%)
UNC (10, 12, 13%)
Ville (9, 2, 18%)
Clemson (233, 125, 38%)
UNC (10, 12, 29%)

Based on current RPI alone (choosing team with higher RPI), we would finish 19-11 (10-8)

Based on current Massey ranking, we would finish 17-13 (7-11)

Based on the Massey percentages, we would finish 17-13 (7-11)

** Note that the difference between the percentages and the rankings is that the rankings would have us losing to ND twice and beating Clemson twice whereas the percentages take into account home/away so we would split with ND and split with Clemson

This early in the season the preseason estimates are still heavily weighted in these computer ratings/rankings. I would not put too much emphasis on them right now.
 

McCamish Maniacs

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This early in the season the preseason estimates are still heavily weighted in these computer ratings/rankings. I would not put too much emphasis on them right now.

Definitely agree, you can even tell this based off the difference in some of the rankings (ND 214 & 56, Dayton 114 & 43). I just thought it would be interesting to look at where we stand right now (even though its early) and try to keep an eye on it as the season goes on
 
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