Charlotte Game Thread

[dtm1997]

That is a tough Charlotte team and I really thought we were done in crunch time. Henry had the look of a player to carry a team.

We played pretty well at times and appeared to have an offensive game plan, but once again we see how slim our margin for error is. Cut down on the mistakes and we probably win by a solid margin, cover at the least.

The 3pt shots continue to not fall, but they continue to generally be good shots. That said, we should have taken fewer as we were working other options well. Also, we seem to do a lot better when we're taking shots with 10 seconds left, but terribly when shot clock winds down. We get flustered.

I'll have to check the stat sheet, but great game from MGH, Travis continues to round in to form, solid contribution from Q & Bolden, at least 1st half.

The 3-headed Post Monster continues to do well, although a lot of TOs tonight, I thought. Also, I think they got pushed around a bit tonight, which hopefully sparks them a bit.

Regardless of the continued shooting woes, which are definitely continuing, we've got to show we've got the force of will to finish a game & win. We did that tonight.

 

[Peacone36]

One thing that continues to concern me is lack of occupancy of the high post position against the 2-3. I mean, that is zone busting 101.

And ending up with 2 post players on the same block when one has the ball drives me absolutely bat**** crazy.

 

[orientalnc]

I could not watch the game live, so I just finished seeing the replay.

Observations:.

MGH played tonight like I thought he could, but he still seems to searching for a shot outside 10-12 feet. He played the role he has to play this season at the end of this game. We need someone who wants the ball and teammates who want him to have the ball. Nice pass from Travis at the end to set up the game winner.

Travis made maybe the best pass I have seen a GT player make on a 2nd half break and finish by MGH.

If my stats are correct, Charlotte was 10-30 (33%) in the first half. No free throws and zero for something on 3's. 20 points! And we were up by only eight. Play was very sloppy on both sides most of the half. We had a little spurt at around 7 minutes to just under two minutes where we went from 13-12 to 28-16. We outscored them 15-4 during that stretch and were playing about as efficiently has I have seen us. It certainly helped that we made all three of our treys, while missing only one.

Except for that five minute spell, Charlotte outscored us by ten points. 3 point shots are not our game and we cannot depend on 3-4 from the arc. That said, those made shots gave us the confidence to miss our next eleven attempts from out there. Teams have to be careful to avoid letting accidental success lead them to failure. We almost did that tonight.

Travis is playing better. Five assists against one TO is nice.

Finally. We took nine shots in the final five minutes. MGH took seven of them. BG has clearly placed this burden on him. It will be interesting to see how it plays out in league play.

 

[dtm1997]

One thing that continues to concern me is lack of occupancy of the high post position against the 2-3. I mean, that is zone busting 101.

And ending up with 2 post players on the same block when one has the ball drives me absolutely bat**** crazy.

I feel like we at least tried to get in position tonight. At the very least it was noticeable that MGH, Q, & Mitchell tried establishing position at the elbow. Not saying they were successful or it paid dividends, but it was noticeable.

Here's the post-game presser.

 

[SecretAgentBuzz]

Like oriental, I just watched the reply. Not a bad game for the Jackets, and a big basket and finish for MGH. We absolutely HAVE to have him play that well to compete against superior teams. He had an excellent game, although his outside shot is still not falling. It amazes how poorly we shoot the ball. Almost unbelievable.

Charlotte was equally poor at shooting and that allowed us to build a decent lead in the first half. We still have very poor perimeter defense and that is going to kill us in ACC play.

Yay--free throws! Yay--nice passing from Jorgenson! Boo--poor defense and shooting.

All in all...its a win and a nice one at that (Charlotte is top 50 in the RPI). I'll take 9-3 going into league play. Our RPI is sitting around 35--surprisingly good. If we can pick up some momentum in league play and win a few road games...who knows? Maybe we can sneak our way onto the bubble. So far, so good. Way to go, Jackets!

 

[Peacone36]

We were there some but it was empty alot and when we did get the ball there it didnt result in anything substantial.

We played well enough to win.
ND is gonna be a bear.

 

[orientalnc]

We were there some but it was empty alot and when we did get the ball there it didnt result in anything substantial.

We played well enough to win.
ND is gonna be a bear.

I am not sure exactly how to think about the ND game. On paper they are so much better than us. I saw them play once this year and did not see a glaring weakness. It will be a serious upgrade for us to play with them. Right now, I would be happy if we are competitive enough to keep the margin around ten or less.

 

[RamblinRed]

I figured this game would be a 1 possession game late, even after the 1st half lead. This team simply isn't good enough to win easily over any team with legit talent.

I was very frustrated that the coaching staff didn't switch to a zone for a few possessions in the 2nd half. Charlotte was in a rhythm and was getting easy interior shots, largely off of easy iso penetration. A zone might have forced a few outside shots, or at least knocked the rhythm off a little. Not having Miller really showed tonight.

Alot of credit for the fight after going down 57-52. Jorgy made up for his one horrible pass by making a huge three and then some great passes late. Few kids in college have the bounce pass in their arsenal like he does.

As bad as this team has shot from 3 in December, I just don't see that lasting all season (didn't hit over 20% in any game in December). Statistically that is so unlikely. Regression to the mean is almost a given. MGH won't shoot .143 for the season.

Really strong game by MGH. When he plays under control he is a very good player.
I really like that Jorgy is not afraid to make a play - whether it be a shot or pass, especially late in games. That was his MO at New Hampton and it is starting to show up here a little. It won't work every time, but at least he doesn't play afraid.

If Chuck had better hands he would avg 13-14 ppg. None of the bigs have good hands - that is causing most of our TO problems as the guards are pretty good with ball control.

You almost always need to have one of MGH or Chuck in the game. They are your 2 most aggressive scorers.
I suspect as Jorgy continues to get more healthy his minutes will continue to rise. IMO he is clearly our best long term PG prospect. He's hit 4-10 threes his last 3 games as well.

The team managed to navigate itself through the OOC without knocking itself out of the conversation (didn't really put itself in it either). Managed to have some nice RPI wins. (3 Top 60, 4 Top 100 so far)

 

[Peacone36]

Does anyone know how RPI is calculated? I have never dove too much into trying to understand it but it appears to be seriously flawed. For example, UGA is 17. They have a win over Seton Hall and Colorado but no other significant win. Eastern Washington and Wofford are others in the top 50.

They say its updated daily i just dont know how its calculated

 

[orientalnc]

It's funny, but I felt the same sense of "when will BG play some zone and stop this nonsense." But, watching the replay after knowing the score you lose that urgency feeling you get from the live game experience.

As for RPI, I am a fan of Kenpom, who has us at #96. His disclaimer is that early season ratings are notoriously flawed since no many of the top teams play each other. That makes for a VERY small sample. Here is the link: http://kenpom.com/

 

[SecretAgentBuzz]

Does anyone know how RPI is calculated? I have never dove too much into trying to understand it but it appears to be seriously flawed. For example, UGA is 17. They have a win over Seton Hall and Colorado but no other significant win. Eastern Washington and Wofford are others in the top 50.

They say its updated daily i just dont know how its calculated

It is a complex mathematical formula that includes the number of "fade" haircuts, some quotient of made baskets to co-eds that attend games, opponent's missed dunks, and how well the coach dresses, all multiplied by the coolness factor of their mascot (thus our high score). No one knows the exact calculations, but an advanced degree is necessary to even understand the equation.

 

[orientalnc]

...some quotient of made baskets to co-eds that attend games,..

This number has always held us back in the RPI calculation. It's not the co-eds, but the made baskets data.

 

[AE 87]

http://rpiratings.com/WhatisRPI.php

 

[orientalnc]

I now remember the analogy that eluded me last night. When we hit a 3-pointer it's like Robinson Crusoe finding a footprint on the beach. There's gotta be more!

 

[alaguy]

WE are a avg team that is dangerous IF IF we hit our shots.But between bad 3 pt shooting and usually FTs,we will struggle to win ANY game. This game was different in that we gave up a bunch of OFF rebs but shot our FTs well. Charlotte is not the ACC and unless Q ,Tadric or Bolden start lighting it up from deep,we will be in real trouble--like 5 conf wins max..

 

[dtm1997]

WE are a avg team that is dangerous IF IF we hit our shots.But between bad 3 pt shooting and usually FTs,we will struggle to win ANY game. This game was different in that we gave up a bunch of OFF rebs but shot our FTs well. Charlotte is not the ACC and unless Q ,Tadric or Bolden start lighting it up from deep,we will be in real trouble--like 5 conf wins max..

@alaguy how much have you been tracking the ACC this year? The way a lot of these teams are playing this year after the top tier, there may be many opportunities for toughness to carry the day over poor play.

The way some of the breaks are going, we could play the same way regardless and win 10 as quickly as we win 5 in conference.