FSU

[Beehive]

Josh Okogie, man what a player!!!!!! Maybe the most complete player I have seen at Tech!!! Rebounds,plays great defense! Can score from anywhere on the court! Good foul shooter, which is very important. Plays under control and keeps teammates in the game. Very mature for a freshman. We have 2 great players already coming in next season!! Coach will add at least 2 more!! Gt will be back in a big way next year!!!!!! Love our coach, see so much of Cremins in him!!!!!

 

[gtpi]

youre right. i should have said 'helped pastner' hire his staff.

We played really well last night. We played good aggressive defense and efficient offense - full stop.

However, there is also no doubt FSU (like UNC) picked last night to play one of their worst games of the season. They didn't run their sets or play D like they usually do. Missed the shots they did have, got frustrated and allowed it to snowball on them.

We are a lot better team than I ever expected us to be this year, but we need some help to beat most teams in the ACC (smaller list than I thought when the season started though). I still think we get boat raced again this season (maybe twice) when a team hits on all cylinders and we can't keep up. The underlying talent difference between us and most of the rest of the ACC is still there.

gonna disagree but thats ok.

as i noticed and ajc ken wrote about... other than duke EVERYBODY has shot 3's poorly against us for the most part. we are one of the top D teams in the country and our center is playing like an nba candidate. AND... we are still coming together imo. LIKE A SNOWBALL OF JACKETS. gaining momentum with each win.

we are seeing improvement from every player up and down the lineup but for maybe tj. q is playing like a mad man on a mission. eye looked good last nite. all the players played to their strengths.

i have been watching the jackets since bc and this is one of the better if not the BEST story i can recall of all those teams over the years. the improvement this team has made is phenomenal. with a brand new coach no less.

im going to sit back and enjoy the ride. certainly better than '0 fer' which is what we were all expecting.

cpj ncoy
okogie acc poy/foty all american
lammers 2nd team all acc. all american honorable mention
q all acc honorable mention and most improved player in the leaque over lammers.

it could happen.

GO JACKETS.

 

[YlJacket]

I think you are a little over the top but I would agree your direction in where things are. Okogie as ACC POY might be a bit excessive.

But even with the level of play we are getting from multiple kids we didn't expect to get, we are still not on par with the top of the ACC. Not even close. We have to have some help from them.

FWIW I don't mean it to be a total Debbie Downer but rather to say if or rather when we get boat raced there is a reason. And it doesn't take away from the job CJP and the players have done. 100X what I expected this year.

 

[awbuzz]

20 assists on 26 fgs

THAT is a stat you have to love as a basketball fan.

 

[bob4gt]

I have followed Tech basketball closely sine the 1962 season. Considering the opponent hat was the best first half I have ever seen Tech play. There have been better offensive halves (but not by much) and maybe a couple of halves with as good defense, but never one as good as both. This is an aggressive team - when you out rebound your opponent and get to the line frequently, good things happen. Got to put in a word for Corey - not many people wanted him here this season, but he has been a glue guy. His hustle last night was great.
I don't much care about wins/losses, but it is great to see Tech playing good basketball.

Bob

 

[gt02]

Could there be a reason why these teams happen to forget how to shoot against GT? It's like the opposite of the Hewitt years, when every team, including bad three point shooting teams, would be on fire against us.

We played really well last night. We played good aggressive defense and efficient offense - full stop.

However, there is also no doubt FSU (like UNC) picked last night to play one of their worst games of the season. They didn't run their sets or play D like they usually do. Missed the shots they did have, got frustrated and allowed it to snowball on them.

We are a lot better team than I ever expected us to be this year, but we need some help to beat most teams in the ACC (smaller list than I thought when the season started though). I still think we get boat raced again this season (maybe twice) when a team hits on all cylinders and we can't keep up. The underlying talent difference between us and most of the rest of the ACC is still there.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I have followed Tech basketball closely sine the 1962 season. Considering the opponent hat was the best first half I have ever seen Tech play. There have been better offensive halves (but not by much) and maybe a couple of halves with as good defense, but never one as good as both. This is an aggressive team - when you out rebound your opponent and get to the line frequently, good things happen. Got to put in a word for Corey - not many people wanted him here this season, but he has been a glue guy. His hustle last night was great.
I don't much care about wins/losses, but it is great to see Tech playing good basketball.

Bob

Yes, I forgot to praise Heyward myself. I was so glad to see him take the open three. I believe he was 1/2 at them. He is capable of hitting just enough of them, when they are smart open shots, to help the team keep the defense spread out and "honest" as the saying goes.

 

[Silk3]

Dont get the love fest for stephens. It deffinetly helps us when he can make shots, but he shoots a terrible percentage for a "shooter". He cant dribble either. Hes been playing better lately but he had to go up from how he was playing.

 

[alagold]

Yes, I forgot to praise Heyward myself. I was so glad to see him take the open three. I believe he was 1/2 at them. He is capable of hitting just enough of them, when they are smart open shots, to help the team keep the defense spread out and "honest" as the saying goes.

yep, he plays def like it means something every minute--coached well but also knows his effort can make a difference

 

[mstranahan]

I'd love to see a fast-cut reel of our 26 FGs. I remember lots of nice passes for hoops, but I think i'd be hard pressed to say there were 20 assisted hoops and only 6 unassisted. That means we only had 6 made FGs all night on off rebs, Okogie drives to the hoop, fast breaks etc. I guess it's possible but I think we got some help from the hometown scorekeeper on that one

 

[jeffgt14]

Dont get the love fest for stephens. It deffinetly helps us when he can make shots, but he shoots a terrible percentage for a "shooter". He cant dribble either. Hes been playing better lately but he had to go up from how he was playing.

I've been extremely hard on Stephens his whole career but he is playing very well. Isn't shooting a great percentage but isn't shooting 1/13 or 0/12 like he used to do. He's moving the ball around great offensively, getting rebounds, and his defense has greatly improved.

 

[BeeRBee]

Yes, I forgot to praise Heyward myself. I was so glad to see him take the open three. I believe he was 1/2 at them. He is capable of hitting just enough of them, when they are smart open shots, to help the team keep the defense spread out and "honest" as the saying goes.

As a random note, last year Heyward played a total of 22 minutes across 8 games. Last night he played 22 minutes in a win against the #6 team in the country. He's played a total of 334 minutes across 20 games.

 

[BeeRBee]

Haven't seen him do this so far this year - last night was the first time I noticed it. Leads me to believe we had trouble in our last couple of games getting everyone on the same page in terms of which defense we were running, being we change them seemingly possession to possession.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

He's been doing it all year, or at least I noticed it pretty early. There's a stack of the cards on the end of the scorer's table next to Julian Swartz.

 

[GTJason]

Dont get the love fest for stephens. It deffinetly helps us when he can make shots, but he shoots a terrible percentage for a "shooter". He cant dribble either. Hes been playing better lately but he had to go up from how he was playing.

Last night he was clutch at breaking the press. He was the 2nd option on every trap and we didn't get a single back court violation largely because of him. I think the "love" for him is he always seems to play the role the team needs him to play at whatever time. It won't show up on stat sheets, but he's playing hard. Can't blame him too much for his lack of development the past few years as it seems he's been getting a lot better in a short time under this coach.

 

[mstranahan]

Moving Q to the 4 has made a big differnce . Okogie's emergence as a great wing has allwoed that. The other thing is playing zone covers up for Q's lack of lateral quickness. When he gets beat off the bounce, his guy ends up face to face with Lammers and a blocked shot. Go back and watch the game from last night. At least 10 times, and FSU wing would blow past Q or Okogie and get into the lane. They sort of stop, look at Ben and then panic. Most of the time they turn it over or throw it desperately back out to the three point line to a guy who is not ready to receive and shoot.
Having Okogie take the offensive load and Lammers behind him on D has really allowed Q to contribute in many ways without his shortcomings (we all have them. I'm not pickign on him) hurt us like they did when he had to play the 3 with Chuckles Mitchell and Nick Jacobs in the post

 

[YlJacket]

Moving Q to the 4 has made a big differnce . Okogie's emergence as a great wing has allwoed that. The other thing is playing zone covers up for Q's lack of lateral quickness. When he gets beat off the bounce, his guy ends up face to face with Lammers and a blocked shot. Go back and watch the game from last night. At least 10 times, and FSU wing would blow past Q or Okogie and get into the lane. They sort of stop, look at Ben and then panic. Most of the time they turn it over or throw it desperately back out to the three point line to a guy who is not ready to receive and shoot.
Having Okogie take the offensive load and Lammers behind him on D has really allowed Q to contribute in many ways without his shortcomings (we all have them. I'm not pickign on him) hurt us like they did when he had to play the 3 with Chuckles Mitchell and Nick Jacobs in the post

+1 That is one of the key strategic decisions CJP made that is really helping this team. It also helps to give Lammers room to operate in the paint with a potential second post defender now having to track Q at or near the 3 point line. He has also not tried to make Lammers be a traditional post player on the block but instead let him get the ball at the foul line to drive or shoot - or simply look for drop offs around the net.

BTW Q is not the only one who benefits from the zone. Heyward, Heath and at times Moore benefit as well.

 

[Peacone36]

He had some good drives defense collapsed and kick it out for open shots. Can make plays which we need bc dont have much people who can.

He did. I re watched the game and he is the one who found Corey for 3 and another nice find as well. He's improved no doubt. We just need him to maintain focus is all.

 

[CuseJacket]

Lot of good stuff in here. I only pulled out a few.

Sugiura: Reviewing Georgia Tech’s win over No. 6 Florida State

“We shot 17 percent in the first half, and I think that’s to their credit,” FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. “I know we had some point-blank layups and some open looks that we normally make, but I think that their mixing defenses up made our kids a little tentative, to their credit. You’ve got to give them a lot of praise for coming up with a great game plan, and I thought that we got beat by a team that outplayed us in every phase today.”

Stat of the game

With 35 points, guard Josh Okogie became just the third Tech freshman with two games with 30 or more points. The other two – Mark Price and Kenny Anderson.

Let that sink in for a little bit.

On a personal note

Not much to say, but I’m glad for Tech fans to enjoy such a bonus of a season (at least to this point). As a fan, it’s fun being at or near the top, but watching a team lift off – which looks like is the case here – is in some ways a more enriching experience.

 

[CuseJacket]

Bradley: Not Josh-ing around: Pastner’s Jackets work another wonder

I wish I could tell you how this is happening, but I really don’t know.

Full disclosure: Even after the Carolina win, I half-expected Pastner’s crew to finish 3-15 in the ACC. That can’t happen. But while I was watching tonight’s tilt wind down, I started to wonder: Could Tech play its way onto the NCAA bubble? So I looked it up. The Jackets’ RPI was 94 going into the game, meaning: Probably not. But still: Would anyone have thought we’d be sitting here within sight of February asking if Tech is a tournament team?