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First off. Bad loss. Nothing more to say about that.
Watching the game in person I felt like it was the worst i've seen a GT team play against an inferior opponent since College of Charleston whipped up 26-27 yrs ago. Had the same feeling almost the whole game. (and that CoC team was alot better team than this Grambling ST one).
The fact GT almost stole this one would have been highway robbery as Grambling St was the better team in every phase of the game. Shot better at all three levels, outrebounded GT, defended better.
Ben's ankle was really bad tonight. Before the first timeout i turned to the African American gentlemen sitting next to me and told them he looked like a statue.
Pastner mentioned in the postgame he hasn't practiced since injuring the ankle in the RGV game as that is the only way he can play in the games, but it is affecting his timing and conditioning.
I thought Pastner should have pulled Ben at times and tried some of the other bigs in the middle as he simply wasn't able to do much. His movement was so obviously limited. But frankly none of the bigs looked good tonight at all.
Grambling ST had figured out by halftime he couldn't move well and they were unafraid to go in and shoot against him in the paint. They were able to score consistently in there and that hasn't happened much against GT with Ben.
It really hurt GT on offense as well as you would like to have him flash to the middle and force the zone to react to him but he spent almost the whole game in the corner not really moving much, not really involved in the offense.
To get a sense how much it is hurting the offense, since the injury Ben has 3 assist and 9 TO. He looked awful tonight.
Pastner said in his postgame interview that the team's goal is to get him through the next 2 games and then keep him off his feet completely for a week and hope that helps heal up the ankle.
Curtis was way too passive in the first half. He just isn't ready to be a demanding offensive player yet, which is unfortunate because we need him to be one. But right now he is content to defer to others. When he finally got aggressive in the late second half he made 3 threes. He passed up a couple of great looks in the first half. I felt horrible for him about the own goal as he was one of the bright spots tonight. Generally played good defense, had 5 rbs, 5 asts,1 TO, 2 steals. Just unlucky. Wish he had gotten the last shot, he was wide open in the corner. He actually reminds me a little of MGH as a FR. You can sense the talent and wish he would simply be a little more aggressive and selfish, but he is really playing within the offense rather than trying to force things at all and willing to defer to older teammates.
i like how one of my GT friends describes Jose. He's a gamer. He's a kid who might miss everything for 35 min, but the last 5 he will hit everything. He should have passed to Curtis for the last shot, but he played well overall and he and Curtis were the only reason GT really got back in the game late. He is so much fun to watch.
GT did everything wrong for 34 min, then did everything right for 5, then did everything wrong for 1.
Got a 3 pt lead. Fouled on an inbounds. Got 2 FT- missed both, played good defense and ended up with an own goal. Kept the ball for the last shot when the defense collapsed three guys on the shooter.
FT shooting was ultimately the big downfall. Came into the game shooting 75% as a team. Shot 50% tonight with the 2 SR going a combined 5-13.
Make one more you go to OT, 2 more you win a game you had no business winning. Wish i had confidence in Tad taking the FT, but I just kept thinking please make at least one of them. Unfortunately he didn't make either and the first was an ugly looking shot.
in fairness to Tad, in the first half the crowd jumped on him a little when he made an interior pass to Ben that went out of bounds. Ben was the one at fault on that, not Tad. A healthy Ben easily gets that pass and makes a layup. But Ben simply couldn't move fast enough to get to the pass and it went out of bounds. He and alston were the only reason the game was close at Halftime.
I had no real belief in this team making the NCAA and that was before Josh's injury. After Josh's injury my thought was we would at least get to play the FR alot so they can be ready next year. My hope is that the team can scratch and claw enough to get back to the NIT (which frankly was my goal before the season). Now, if the team goes 12-6 in the ACC then this game won't matter. But right now I just want the team to get better.
We need to get a healthy Josh and Ben or it is going to be a long season. The 2 FR bigs both looked lost tonight and AD had one of his worst games of the season. He is trying too hard right now to make moves beyond him, rather than just executing simple things.
Hopefully we come out with alot more energy Sunday as they came out really flat tonight. it was obvious, I think even to the coaches as they pulled most of the starting 5 before the first timeout.
I know its hard to think about the future when you want to win now, but the thought of a perimeter that includes Jose, Curtis, Josh, Devoe and Phillips next year is quite exciting.
i hate that Pastner said this in his pre-game interview, but it ended up being very true - we nearly beat UCLA and nearly lost to B-C. This team can beat any team it plays but it can lose to any team. We have to be focused on each game and worry about winning just that game.
Watching the game in person I felt like it was the worst i've seen a GT team play against an inferior opponent since College of Charleston whipped up 26-27 yrs ago. Had the same feeling almost the whole game. (and that CoC team was alot better team than this Grambling ST one).
The fact GT almost stole this one would have been highway robbery as Grambling St was the better team in every phase of the game. Shot better at all three levels, outrebounded GT, defended better.
Ben's ankle was really bad tonight. Before the first timeout i turned to the African American gentlemen sitting next to me and told them he looked like a statue.
Pastner mentioned in the postgame he hasn't practiced since injuring the ankle in the RGV game as that is the only way he can play in the games, but it is affecting his timing and conditioning.
I thought Pastner should have pulled Ben at times and tried some of the other bigs in the middle as he simply wasn't able to do much. His movement was so obviously limited. But frankly none of the bigs looked good tonight at all.
Grambling ST had figured out by halftime he couldn't move well and they were unafraid to go in and shoot against him in the paint. They were able to score consistently in there and that hasn't happened much against GT with Ben.
It really hurt GT on offense as well as you would like to have him flash to the middle and force the zone to react to him but he spent almost the whole game in the corner not really moving much, not really involved in the offense.
To get a sense how much it is hurting the offense, since the injury Ben has 3 assist and 9 TO. He looked awful tonight.
Pastner said in his postgame interview that the team's goal is to get him through the next 2 games and then keep him off his feet completely for a week and hope that helps heal up the ankle.
Curtis was way too passive in the first half. He just isn't ready to be a demanding offensive player yet, which is unfortunate because we need him to be one. But right now he is content to defer to others. When he finally got aggressive in the late second half he made 3 threes. He passed up a couple of great looks in the first half. I felt horrible for him about the own goal as he was one of the bright spots tonight. Generally played good defense, had 5 rbs, 5 asts,1 TO, 2 steals. Just unlucky. Wish he had gotten the last shot, he was wide open in the corner. He actually reminds me a little of MGH as a FR. You can sense the talent and wish he would simply be a little more aggressive and selfish, but he is really playing within the offense rather than trying to force things at all and willing to defer to older teammates.
i like how one of my GT friends describes Jose. He's a gamer. He's a kid who might miss everything for 35 min, but the last 5 he will hit everything. He should have passed to Curtis for the last shot, but he played well overall and he and Curtis were the only reason GT really got back in the game late. He is so much fun to watch.
GT did everything wrong for 34 min, then did everything right for 5, then did everything wrong for 1.
Got a 3 pt lead. Fouled on an inbounds. Got 2 FT- missed both, played good defense and ended up with an own goal. Kept the ball for the last shot when the defense collapsed three guys on the shooter.
FT shooting was ultimately the big downfall. Came into the game shooting 75% as a team. Shot 50% tonight with the 2 SR going a combined 5-13.
Make one more you go to OT, 2 more you win a game you had no business winning. Wish i had confidence in Tad taking the FT, but I just kept thinking please make at least one of them. Unfortunately he didn't make either and the first was an ugly looking shot.
in fairness to Tad, in the first half the crowd jumped on him a little when he made an interior pass to Ben that went out of bounds. Ben was the one at fault on that, not Tad. A healthy Ben easily gets that pass and makes a layup. But Ben simply couldn't move fast enough to get to the pass and it went out of bounds. He and alston were the only reason the game was close at Halftime.
I had no real belief in this team making the NCAA and that was before Josh's injury. After Josh's injury my thought was we would at least get to play the FR alot so they can be ready next year. My hope is that the team can scratch and claw enough to get back to the NIT (which frankly was my goal before the season). Now, if the team goes 12-6 in the ACC then this game won't matter. But right now I just want the team to get better.
We need to get a healthy Josh and Ben or it is going to be a long season. The 2 FR bigs both looked lost tonight and AD had one of his worst games of the season. He is trying too hard right now to make moves beyond him, rather than just executing simple things.
Hopefully we come out with alot more energy Sunday as they came out really flat tonight. it was obvious, I think even to the coaches as they pulled most of the starting 5 before the first timeout.
I know its hard to think about the future when you want to win now, but the thought of a perimeter that includes Jose, Curtis, Josh, Devoe and Phillips next year is quite exciting.
i hate that Pastner said this in his pre-game interview, but it ended up being very true - we nearly beat UCLA and nearly lost to B-C. This team can beat any team it plays but it can lose to any team. We have to be focused on each game and worry about winning just that game.
