Battle of ATL

[lv20gt]

Wouldn’t be shocked if we lose. Dating back to the Hewitt years GT always seems to lose one cupcake game a year. And honestly GSU isn’t really a cupcake. They’ve consistently made the tournament in the last decade and it seems every time we play lately it’s usually close.

Hard to get a read on this year's State team at the moment. They lost most of their top players from a year ago, have a new coach, and brought in some transfers including Odom following Hayes from Xavier. Odom was a solid but not spectacular in two seasons for them, but will probably have a bigger role and a chance to show more. Also add Brenden Tucker from College of Charleston who looks like a solid scorer.

Unpredictable game because both teams look to be searching for players to step up into bigger roles than they had before, but IMO GT has more options, and should have the advantage in returning chemistry both between players but also with the coach. I'd give us the edge, and think we'll win comfortably, but I'm not confident enough to put money on it.

 

[GTJason]

It was hard to tell if they are a good and so are we or if we're both not great. I lean towards the former. Depth off the bench and being able to ride the hot hands won us the game. Went to a charged up arena, got a few scratches, but no scars. 2-0

 

[augustabuzz]

Hard to get a read on this year's State team at the moment. They lost most of their top players from a year ago, have a new coach, and brought in some transfers including Odom following Hayes from Xavier. Odom was a solid but not spectacular in two seasons for them, but will probably have a bigger role and a chance to show more. Also add Brenden Tucker from College of Charleston who looks like a solid scorer.

Unpredictable game because both teams look to be searching for players to step up into bigger roles than they had before, but IMO GT has more options, and should have the advantage in returning chemistry both between players but also with the coach. I'd give us the edge, and think we'll win comfortably, but I'm not confident enough to put money on it.

Good win for the Jackets.

 

[jbix80]

Big game from our sophomores…Coleman, Moore, and Kelly. Stepping up tonight big time!

 

[glandon1960]

Agree w/GTJason - listening to the game it was hard to tell how good both teams are - look for posts from those that could watch it or were there. Rode Kelly down the stretch - and executed when they needed to at the end. This can only help a young team grow and mature.Concerned over lack of production from Howard in the middle (only three rebounds) and only 7 assists on the night. Did a good job limiting turnovers in the second half.

 

[dtm1997]

Nice win for the Jackets.

I wasn't pleased with our defense and we put Rodney in the high post too much... Again.

 

[Tourneybound20]

We won...we finished. Jalon made his free throws and we won.I'll take that and am grateful.Howard hurt us so much,they need to evaluate if he can comfortably play away from the basket.If not go small and give Moore his minutes.I got goose bumps when he crossed his man up at the free throw line and got to the line attacking the basket.He has pro potential. Kelly and Deebo looked ready to start building there legacy as prolific scorers.I'm optimistic...Any insight on Smith's lack of second half minutes or more CJP letting Miles take the reigns.

 

[MWBATL]

Good win for the Jackets.

Happy

 

[AUFC]

Big game from our sophomores…Coleman, Moore, and Kelly. Stepping up tonight big time!

Agree, loved seeing the sophs spread their wings tonight and win a close game. Rodney was no bueno, so to pull out a win with him having a bad night is awesome stuff. He seems to be hesitating again, which I thought he seemed to axe out during ACC play last year. Maybe he's in his own head about going to the free throw line.

Seconding those Jalon free throws late in front of the student section. What a great confidence boost for him.

 

[Ramblingon]

Glad they put it together towards the end. The three sophs were looking good, but a lot of problems beyond them. Howard didn't score and was in foul trouble. This won't be the first time this happens this season. We have no answer when he is out other than playing small ball. And we have not set on a PG. Smith is fast, but a few times out of control. Surdivant didn't play up to his abilities. We finished the game using Kelly as our PG. He didn't do a bad job, but it concerns.

 

[MWBATL]

Nice win for the Jackets.

I wasn't pleased with our defense and we put Rodney in the high post too much... Again.

I thought we gave up WAY too many offensive rebounds to Ga State. State seemed a poor shooting team and I think we should have won comfortably but … we didn’t

 

[Ramble1885]

A win is a win! GSU is no joke either.

 

[Steverc]

Just got back from the game. Good thing the Clayton State game counted because wins are going to be hard to come by. The GSU arena is pretty nice. Howard is very timid around the basket and has two cinder blocks for hands.

 

[lv20gt]

It was hard to tell if they are a good and so are we or if we're both not great. I lean towards the former. Depth off the bench and being able to ride the hot hands won us the game. Went to a charged up arena, got a few scratches, but no scars. 2-0

IMO both teams are still in the process of finding an identity, and as a result aren't great teams at the moment, but I expect both to get better as the year goes on. This game wasn't helped by the refs calling it very tight early on which, now that I have thought about it, might have influenced what we did on offense as we might have been trying to exploit the foul trouble by taking it inside but I don't think that's the right move.

I don't think right now this team is very good. Not a lot of cohesion as there were several times where it looked like we had two guys cutting to the same spot, making it easier for State to defend. If Howard is going to play with the ball at the key we have to get better movement from our guards. Too much standing around while one person went to cut off of it, and not enough action off ball.

In general, I'm confused by why we go to a two PG look just to have them work so much off ball, meaning both of them off ball. I feel like if we're going to go small to start games it should be with Sturdy or Smith, and then Coleman, Kelly, and Terry alongside Howard instead of of both Sturdy and Smith. I would also exclusively have Moore in there with Franklin when Franklin is at the 5. But truth be told, I don't like Franklin at the 5 and would hope one of Howard or Meka is in there at all times once Meka is healthy.

Also, we need to prioritize getting three point shots. Coleman with just 2 3pa and Kelly with 3 is just not going to cut it. I like that it looks like we do have options of being able to try and do other things if the shots aren't falling, but we have to have the ability to generate good three point shots with this team. The drives and cuts should be used to exploit openings generated by the threes where we seemed to force the issue tonight and that's just not what this team is built for (except for Moore and Smith).

Anyways, imo this team has a lot of potential but needs to develop a lot this year. Overall, I'm okay with that as everyone on this team except Franklin could come back this year so there is some playing for the long term at play. But that's a lot easier to deal with if we can still get wins in these games we struggle through.

 

[bke1984]

Not really sure what to think, but after going to that football game I was happy to watch the end of the basketball game! Go Jackets!

 

[awbuzz]

Pulled it out of the fire and got the W.

We've got to shoot better from the field and the FT line.

 

[techgrad]

Interesting we went with Kelly at the point for the final stretch of the game. The ball at least moved a little without our PGs. Also I have no idea why we force our worst passer (our center) to do most of the decision making with the ball 20 feet away from the basket. We tried that last year, and it didn't work. We are doing it again this year.

I'm glad we won.

 

[Techster]

Game just felt weird. Very uneven performance. We went on a little run in the middle of the 2nd half which pretty much won us that game.

Pastner is still trying to figure out our best lineup, and some of the big contributors are still young so this kind of performance is expected. The big thing is we won...the guys found a way to win and eventually we'll get better as the season moves along.

GT still owns Atlanta.

 

[78pike]

Interesting we went with Kelly at the point for the final stretch of the game. The ball at least moved a little without our PGs. Also I have no idea why we force our worst passer (our center) to do most of the decision making with the ball 20 feet away from the basket. We tried that last year, and it didn't work. We are doing it again this year.

I'm glad we won.

I actually thought the move by CJP to put Kelly at the point is what won us the game. Good coaching move. He recognized that Kelly could take it to the hole and shoot over their much smaller guards. It also opened the lane up for Moore as Kelly drew their post man away from the basket to help on the drives.

 

[GT_B]

Great to win on the road and ruin GA ST’s home opener in their new stadium. Game was definitely chippy. I think this will be a nice resume win at the end of the season.

After the first game I thought Rodney had finally turned a corner, just to watch this game…at this point in his career the butterfingers/iron hands just aren’t going to change. He had so many easy lay ups/dunks around the basket and always fumbles/drops the ball or brings it back down to get it stripped. I would much rather be giving the minutes to Jalon at this point. He just provides zero offensively when he’s not drastically out sizing the other team.