Man, gotta like the comments about Saba, Howard, and Sturdivant.
As Georgia Tech’s preseason basketball practice continues, Yellow Jackets seniors Moses Wright, Jordan Usher and Jose Alvarado offered their assessments of four of the team’s newcomers: freshman forward Jordan Meka, freshman forward/center Saba Gigiberia and the two transfers, sophomore forward...
www.ajc.com
Wright on Gigiberia, Howard and Meka:
“All three are very athletic and they’ll go get (block) some shots, especially Saba and Rodney. Meka is an inch or two undersized, I’d guess you would say, but he’s still very athletic so he’ll get them, too. And all three of them are straight physicality. We’re going to miss James (Banks) a lot, but it’s not like it’s going to be a major miss, like a noticeable miss.”
On how Gigiberia and Howard are different:
“I would say that Saba definitely can stretch the floor a little bit more than Rodney, and he can shoot a little bit better. When you have a side-by-side comparison of them, I would give the physicality aspect to Rodney, but overall, like shooting, and being able to stretch the floor – because Saba can be a stretch five – I’d go with Saba.”
Usher on Howard and Sturdivant:
“They’re both super hard workers. They came right in, we didn’t give them any time to take it slow. We pushed them, and they’ve been doing really well. Kyle’s pushing Jose in practice, they’re battling against each other. Rodney has been working with Coach ‘Rev’ (Eric Reveno). I’ve seen a lot of development from them from the time they just got here to (the time we’re) starting to get ready. I’m proud of both of them and I love both and excited to play with them. Especially Kyle. I’ve been waiting to play with Kyle for years now.”
On the strengths of each:
“I would say Rodney has great hands. Rodney probably has the best hands out of our big men in the post. And he can finish. He has good over-the-shoulder hooks. And Kyle has great speed. He can defend. I think Kyle’s going to be really good at changing pace, changing the side of the floor in transition and getting us into our sets. Like I said, I’m really excited about our team. Can’t really give you too much (about both players). Can’t let all all the cats out of the bag.”
There was some worry when Banks graduated that we would lose a lot in the post, but Saba and Howard have a lot of tools for Reveno to work with. I noted at one time that every starting GT center under Reveno was All ACC, I don't expect that to change. The physicality of Howard is understandable since he's been in college for multiple years now, and I expect Saba to eventually get there with another year of physical development. You have to be excited about the Saba's long term prospects given Usher's report that Saba can shoot with range. They're going to be a great combo in the post, and give our oppenents different headaches.
I forgot that Usher and Sturdivant were both transfers from USCw, and they probably crossed paths during in the High School circuit given both are from GA and were elite level recruits. Sturdivant sounds like what we all thought he would be coming out of HS...a great leader on the floor and someone who can get a team running efficiently with the ability to hurt the other team when he decides to impose his game. For some reason, I see another Jarret Jack type PG in Sturdivant...which is nothing but good for us.
Overall, you have to like the prospects of what the new guys add to an already NCAA Tournament capable team. The consensus is GT is a Top 6-8 team...I really don't know why we can't be a top 3-4 team. We'll see...this should be a VERY fun season for us.
