Georgia Tech @ Miami, 12pm Saturday February 20th

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Techster

Techster

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A lot we could say about this game, and it's 95% positive, but let's be honest: GT was a different class against Miami. Miami had 6 scholarship players and it looked like it. That's not taking away from our dominance, because this is the type of game we would have historically fumbled about for most of the game and made it closer than it should have been. Instead, we played like the far better team and dictated play. The team looked like they were just having fun out there...and it showed.

More evidence that when Devoe is on, GT is a knocking at the door of being an elite team. I think the team overall plays a LOT looser when Devoe is on because it's less pressure on the rest of the guys to have to find ways to contribute. Anyone else see Devoe crack a smile? After 3 years of Devoe, I'm starting to think he's just the type of player that gets really down on himself and wears his emotions on his sleeve when he's not playing well. Of course, fans read too much into it (Guilty as charged here).

I don't know how Gigi's career is going to end up, and I think he needs to work on his defensive quickness and overall strength, but did anyone catch those interior passes?! The young man knows how to work that 1-2 game and slip those passes to his cutting teammates with defenders on his hips. That is very promising given the type of players we just signed, and how guard heavy we'll be.

I thought Howard played well when he was in. Very productive 17 minutes from him. I get the feeling that Pastner and the staff are feeling more confident in him lately and as he's seeing more minutes. Part of it against Miami is that the Canes started to attack our low post and there was an obvious mismatch with Brooks vs Moses. Howard, who's 2 inches taller than Moses, helped some against Brooks. If we can start getting 10-15 minutes from Howard, that's really good for Moses and our team overall. Any time you get a guy off the bench that can spell one of our best players, and add 8 points, that's going to go a long way in helping us win.

Alvarado with a "quiet" 16 point, 6 assist (against 2 TOs), 3 steal game. Yawn...

This is probably the best game I've seen Moses have in terms of attacking the basket and being aggressive with his finishes. This is what I've been looking for all season. Going to the basket with bad intentions. It's not like he did it with against Miami's weakness either. Miami's post was their strength yesterday. Credit to his teammates finding him and putting him in positions to capitalize with authority.

We won both the rebound battle (35-26) and the TO battle (11-15). Not gonna lose many games if we continue to do that. The GT steal machine was again cranking with 10 steals.

In soccer, this is what they call a "good professional win". That is, we were the better team, we played like the better team, and we handled business like we should have.

Big game against VT coming up. If anything, the Miami game gave the staff the ability to see Howard with extended minutes which will pay off as we hit the homestretch of our schedule, and come ACCT time, and hopefully NCAAT time.
 

g0lftime

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I would like to see a 5 minute rotation each half to get Howard or Saba in the game for Moses. Get him some rest and build some depth. Moses plays hard and if he knows he will come out for a breather he can really get after it. He has really improved over the last couple of years and does not often get into foul trouble. He still takes a few shots when he should kick it out but much better than the past. Really enjoy his game now.
 

YlJacket

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Techster said:
A lot we could say about this game, and it's 95% positive, but let's be honest: GT was a different class against Miami. Miami had 6 scholarship players and it looked like it. That's not taking away from our dominance, because this is the type of game we would have historically fumbled about for most of the game and made it closer than it should have been. Instead, we played like the far better team and dictated play. The team looked like they were just having fun out there...and it showed.

More evidence that when Devoe is on, GT is a knocking at the door of being an elite team. I think the team overall plays a LOT looser when Devoe is on because it's less pressure on the rest of the guys to have to find ways to contribute. Anyone else see Devoe crack a smile? After 3 years of Devoe, I'm starting to think he's just the type of player that gets really down on himself and wears his emotions on his sleeve when he's not playing well. Of course, fans read too much into it (Guilty as charged here).

I don't know how Gigi's career is going to end up, and I think he needs to work on his defensive quickness and overall strength, but did anyone catch those interior passes?! The young man knows how to work that 1-2 game and slip those passes to his cutting teammates with defenders on his hips. That is very promising given the type of players we just signed, and how guard heavy we'll be.

I thought Howard played well when he was in. Very productive 17 minutes from him. I get the feeling that Pastner and the staff are feeling more confident in him lately and as he's seeing more minutes. Part of it against Miami is that the Canes started to attack our low post and there was an obvious mismatch with Brooks vs Moses. Howard, who's 2 inches taller than Moses, helped some against Brooks. If we can start getting 10-15 minutes from Howard, that's really good for Moses and our team overall. Any time you get a guy off the bench that can spell one of our best players, and add 8 points, that's going to go a long way in helping us win.

Alvarado with a "quiet" 16 point, 6 assist (against 2 TOs), 3 steal game. Yawn...

This is probably the best game I've seen Moses have in terms of attacking the basket and being aggressive with his finishes. This is what I've been looking for all season. Going to the basket with bad intentions. It's not like he did it with against Miami's weakness either. Miami's post was their strength yesterday. Credit to his teammates finding him and putting him in positions to capitalize with authority.

We won both the rebound battle (35-26) and the TO battle (11-15). Not gonna lose many games if we continue to do that. The GT steal machine was again cranking with 10 steals.

In soccer, this is what they call a "good professional win". That is, we were the better team, we played like the better team, and we handled business like we should have.

Big game against VT coming up. If anything, the Miami game gave the staff the ability to see Howard with extended minutes which will pay off as we hit the homestretch of our schedule, and come ACCT time, and hopefully NCAAT time.
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The model for Saba is Huff at UVA. Long and able to handle the ball and stretch the floor. Recognize that the Huff you see now is a fifth year senior and he didn't really get minutes till his Jr year. Looking at Saba it wouldn't surprise me if it didn't take the same for him to build his body and get quicker
 
Techster

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YlJacket said:
The model for Saba is Huff at UVA. Long and able to handle the ball and stretch the floor. Recognize that the Huff you see now is a fifth year senior and he didn't really get minutes till his Jr year. Looking at Saba it wouldn't surprise me if it didn't take the same for him to build his body and get quicker
Click to expand...

That would be ideal. Huff has good quickness, and ability to take defenders on...as well has stretch the floor as you mentioned. We've seen some glimpses of that from Saba. A lot of it has to do with confidence, and that comes with playing. I have zero doubts Saba will be a completely different player a year or two from now.

You' can't teach 7+ ft with some of the skillset he's already shown. He just needs more time and development...which he'll get from this staff.
 

YlJacket

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Techster said:
That would be ideal. Huff has good quickness, and ability to take defenders on...as well has stretch the floor as you mentioned. We've seen some glimpses of that from Saba. A lot of it has to do with confidence, and that comes with playing. I have zero doubts Saba will be a completely different player a year or two from now.

You' can't teach 7+ ft with some of the skillset he's already shown. He just needs more time and development...which he'll get from this staff.
Click to expand...

if you watched Saba try and guard the Miami center yesterday, it was obvious he didn't have the strength to bang with him or even really guard him. Randy Waters focused on it. building that kind of strength to play at this level is not just a one post season training, and almost certainly will take a couple of years. in that time frame I hope he works on his foot speed too because that was obvious yesterday that he doesn't have it yet. but both of those can be built. he has the ball skills and shooting already which are actually harder to come by
 

lv20gt

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YlJacket said:
if you watched Saba try and guard the Miami center yesterday, it was obvious he didn't have the strength to bang with him or even really guard him. Randy Waters focused on it. building that kind of strength to play at this level is not just a one post season training, and almost certainly will take a couple of years. in that time frame I hope he works on his foot speed too because that was obvious yesterday that he doesn't have it yet. but both of those can be built. he has the ball skills and shooting already which are actually harder to come by
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Um what? If you're talking about Brooks, the announcers were focusing on his matchup against Moses not Saba most of the night considering Saba didn't get in until 5 minutes left. Even then they were talking out their backside because Brooks was 2-8 with 2 rebounds and a non factor except for the refs taking pity on Miami and calling some soft as Charmin fouls to put him on the line.

Saba's already 7-1 250. His strength isn't the issue. He just needs some experience at this level learning to use it against college players.
 

YlJacket

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lv20gt said:
Um what? If you're talking about Brooks, the announcers were focusing on his matchup against Moses not Saba most of the night considering Saba didn't get in until 5 minutes left. Even then they were talking out their backside because Brooks was 2-8 with 2 rebounds and a non factor except for the refs taking pity on Miami and calling some soft as Charmin fouls to put him on the line.

Saba's already 7-1 250. His strength isn't the issue. He just needs some experience at this level learning to use it against college players.
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Well you and I are seeing different games Saba may weigh 250 but he does not have the strength yet to play the 5 Or the foot speed. Watch him try to guard and you will see it.

On the other side, I think he has a high ceiling with his ball skills and shot, just will take time to get there
 

lv20gt

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YlJacket said:
Well you and I are seeing different games Saba may weigh 250 but he does not have the strength yet to play the 5 Or the foot speed. Watch him try to guard and you will see it.
Click to expand...

Probably. Mind telling me what you think Brooks did in the 5 minutes Saba got into the game? Must have just been brutal to say Saba couldn't even guard him.
 
slugboy

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Building strength and speed a the same time is a challenge, but if the S&C team wants to build strength on an 18-year old, they can do a massive amount in 3 months. Saba would not be “cut”—he’d have some body fat at the end—but you can add significant strength in a short time on a young body with a dedicated plan.
He’d hate milk at the end of that 3 months, but it’s doable.
I’d be looking more to developing speed and explosiveness, but that’s what I see.
 
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