Get out the Flea Spray; GT Traveling to the pound Friday Night Lights! GT@uGa

[Buzzbomb]

I doubt you see much of Jalon Moore in close games. Of the 3 freshmen I think he is the least ready to contribute right now. I think Pastner will ride with the more experienced players and Deebo while mixing in a little Kelly as well. However I think Moore is going to be a heck of a player for us eventually.

Noticed that Jermontae and Cal came in, late. It’s nice to clear the entire bench, so a guy can say: “I played in a win over Georgia or a World Series or a Super Bowl game. You know, when you stretch the sub story out to the grand babies.”

 

[Golden Tornadoes]

This would have been our second year beating them if we had been given a chance last year…

 

[Fatmike91]

Right at 18 minutes in the first half (2 minutes into the game) Devoe had already hit a 3. We had a fast break lead by Sturdivant and he drove the basket and passed to Khalid who fumbled the ball out of bounds. Turn over. Devoe was wide open on the wing. He immediately went to Sturdivant - (maybe) “hey I was open”. Pastner proceeded to give Sturdivant an earful (maybe lip reading “you gotta make that pass”) and to pulled him from the game…all of this two minutes in.

Devoe had his mind right from the start.

Bubba would have helped and both point guards would have sat more. But, I believe we will be a better team in the conference schedule by getting the PGs minutes now.

I’m less concerned about the 5. If we can get production from the 1 as a unit we’ll be a good team.

/

 

[CuseJacket]

 

[Fatmike91]

A few minutes later on the first half Smith failed to rotate to cover the corner and Georgia hit a three against the 1/3/1. That got a reaction from CJP and an immediate timeout but he stayed in the game. A few seconds later he dribbled off his foot (or the defenders foot) turned the ball over then picked up his second foul trying to take it back. Smith came out of the game at that point.

The 1 spot is up for grabs.

/

 

[Fatmike91]

He’s such a goofball. But as long as we’re winning I love it.

/

 

[D-man44]

This would have been our second year beating them if we had been given a chance last year…

3 if Jose doesn’t go down against UGA a few years ago

 

[HenryUsher]

3 if Jose doesn’t go down against UGA a few years ago

Great win by the good guys. I will take it.

 

[Techwood Relict]

Excited to watch this group compete this year. If CER continues his tradition of building better bigs, this team will play meaningful games in March.

 

[Fatmike91]

Excited to watch this group compete this year. If CER continues his tradition of building better bigs, this team will play meaningful games in March.

I’m not worried about our bigs right now. Watch the last 4 minutes of the first half. Watch Saba. Except for one bad offensive rebound where he fell down, he played really well and the team went on a run with him on the floor. Saba never even got into the game again in the second half because Howard did so well.

For me the ceiling of the season is determined by:

- our play at the 1 spot (by platoon) and

- the continuous development off the freshman

I don’t expect it to be a fun season.

/

 

[LibertyTurns]

If my math is correct. The last time we beat UGA was 2014. Why is that important? Go ahead and lock in a W next Saturday. That’s how that works … right???

This post did not age well. Asking for God’s grace on 2 consecutive days is a HUGE ask. There aren’t enough prayers in the GT world to pull off that kind of miracle.

 

[Fatmike91]

I don’t expect it to be a fun season.

/

I EXPECT it to be a fun season! Typo.

/

 

[MtnWasp]

Some takeaways from the sweet UGA win:

Devoe has been a good scorer for the program but that is the first game that I recall where he played like a star player, meaning that he took the team on his shoulders and willed them to victory. Honestly, I'm not sure he had that in him, on the road in a rivalry game that we were in the midst of a losing streak. That was a heckuva performance that could be important moving forward.

Pastner thought that this team would hang its hat on defense. It looks to me like that is not even close to being true. We look to be a team that looks to out-shoot the competition.

Howard is starting to get into a nice flow in the half court defense and he is extending his step-outs to the three point area like Lammers used to do. Pastner is on Saba hard. He is either going to light a fire under him or drive him out. If it works, the program will benefit.

The two Freshmen wings have a little "fire & Ice" thing going on. Kelly is a fiery, assertive player while Coleman is all Ice. Did anyone else notice that Coleman passed on a transition 3 to allow his team mates to get rebounding position? Smart player. The games of those two players should really compliment each other and they will be the real core moving forward.

Ush is Ush. He's putting up the numbers but his real value is in his being the heart of the team. he takes a lot off the plate of other guys on the team.

The PGs and Khalid are still working it out. I'm not worried about the PGs. When they get in synch, the team will be a real handful.

 

[Jacketman99]

Some takeaways from the sweet UGA win:

Devoe has been a good scorer for the program but that is the first game that I recall where he played like a star player, meaning that he took the team on his shoulders and willed them to victory. Honestly, I'm not sure he had that in him, on the road in a rivalry game that we were in the midst of a losing streak. That was a heckuva performance that could be important moving forward.

Pastner thought that this team would hang its hat on defense. It looks to me like that is not even close to being true. We look to be a team that looks to out-shoot the competition.

Howard is starting to get into a nice flow in the half court defense and he is extending his step-outs to the three point area like Lammers used to do. Pastner is on Saba hard. He is either going to light a fire under him or drive him out. If it works, the program will benefit.

The two Freshmen wings have a little "fire & Ice" thing going on. Kelly is a fiery, assertive player while Coleman is all Ice. Did anyone else notice that Coleman passed on a transition 3 to allow his team mates to get rebounding position? Smart player. The games of those two players should really compliment each other and they will be the real core moving forward.

Ush is Ush. He's putting up the numbers but his real value is in his being the heart of the team. he takes a lot off the plate of other guys on the team.

The PGs and Khalid are still working it out. I'm not worried about the PGs. When they get in synch, the team will be a real handful.

I think the team will get better defensively the more games they play together. Even though we have some experience we are still mixing in a lot of inexperienced guys.
I have really been impressed with Devoe so far. You can tell he put in a lot work in the offseason. His confidence is through the roof. Every time he shoots it looks like the ball is going in. His defense has been pretty good as well. He is taking that next step up to star player.
At pg, it is interesting that although Sturdivant has started every game, Smith has played the most minutes in each. I think Smith is eventually going to take that job. His ceiling is very high. Hard to keep a guy with his upside off the court. He has a lot to improve upon, mainly defense and being a more consistent shooter, but he does make things happen when he is in the game. I'm not sure what is going in with Sturdivant. To me he seems a little timid. I wish he were a little more aggressive offensively.
I am looking forward to see how Rodney Howard develops over the course of the season. He already looks better than last season and light years better than when he was at UGA. Still has a ways to go both offensively and defensively but I like the trajectory.

 

[MtnWasp]

The PG situation is the big thing to watch moving forward. I don't pretend to know how it will play out but I agree that Deivon Smith has a tall ceiling. But if I had to guess right now I would say that we will continue to see a platoon at that position. We have seen Sturdivant play better than he is right now and he is struggling to find his role on the club. I agree that he is too passive. But I think he gets minutes moving forward because he is a big strong guard and as we move-up in competition, Sturdivant's physical attributes will create positive match-ups against the bigger guards. Sturdivant shot a decent percentage last year so I think he should be allowed to do more on offense and should be higher on the perimeter shot hierarchy.

It will be an interesting dynamic to watch.

Howard doesn't play pretty. But he moves well and is pretty strong. He has already achieved a level of steadiness handling the ball at the elbow that Banks never achieved. He's not the threat that Lammers was from there, but he doesn't turn it over either. On defense he is extending his range of his step-out and again, Banks could never do that. Howard is not the shot-blocker than Banks (strong side) or Lammers (weak side) were but he can move further from the paint than Banks could. The big question for me at the 5 is whether Saba works his way into the rotation or if he remains in the doghouse. His upside on offense is way better than Howard's but he has to learn to keep sliding his feet in the post so he is not always reaching and leaning. But it all starts with him playing hard enough in his coach's eyes.

The ceiling of the team depends on the freshmen wings. If they develop, that increases the club's offensive potential tremendously. Kelly cuts hard and is naturally an assertive player. Coleman is the cool assassin with a high basketball IQ.

Early season efficiency rankings (out of 353 teams):

Offensive Efficiency ranking: 94 (last year we were ranked 42)
Defensive Efficiency ranking: 104 (last year we were ranked 160)

 

[slugboy]

<snip>

Early season efficiency rankings (out of 353 teams):

Offensive Efficiency ranking: 94 (last year we were ranked 42)
Defensive Efficiency ranking: 104 (last year we were ranked 160)

I assume last year’s stats are full season. It’s small comfort, but I think we’re starting this season better than last. I would think our offensive efficiency didn’t start the season that high.

If we end the season in that range, it’s not good enough for postseason.

 

[LibertyTurns]

Ush is Ush. He's putting up the numbers but his real value is in his being the heart of the team. he takes a lot off the plate of other guys on the team.

Man that kid has heart! When he’s got that under control wild man streak going on, someone’s getting their *** whipped.

 

[MtnWasp]

If you sum the two rankings it is almost a complete wash from last year (yeah, those rankings were for the entire season):
198 this year and 202 last year. Our drop in offensive efficiency is nearly equal to our improvement in defensive efficiency.
I actually think that our defensive efficiency will improve substantially as the numerous newcomers to the rotation pick-up our zone.
Improvement in offensive efficiency will depend if we can get the turnovers under control. Will that happen?

 

[augustabuzz]

If you sum the two rankings it is almost a complete wash from last year (yeah, those rankings were for the entire season):
198 this year and 202 last year. Our drop in offensive efficiency is nearly equal to our improvement in defensive efficiency.
I actually think that our defensive efficiency will improve substantially as the numerous newcomers to the rotation pick-up our zone.
Improvement in offensive efficiency will depend if we can get the turnovers under control. Will that happen?

I haven't verified it, but it seems the turnovers are trending better.

 

[gt24]

The ceiling of the team depends on the freshmen wings. If they develop, that increases the club's offensive potential tremendously. Kelly cuts hard and is naturally an assertive player. Coleman is the cool assassin with a high basketball IQ.

this!

i agree that PG minutes is interesting and will remain interesting all season. it is important, but it is small in comparison to the frosh wings because of a mix of factors including: our offensive system not really relying on a "PG", mike's experience/flexibility, bubba's return, and both kyle/deivon already being experience P5 players.

i agree that Saba could really help this team if he grows steadily over the season. not as a game-changer, but as a solid role player and depth piece. it could be helpful but it is small in comparison to the frosh wings.

the biggest upside or differentiator for *this* season is how fast can deebo and miles grow. can they reduce turnovers/mistakes on offense, and can they get "solid enough" on defense? as expected, they are both weak on defense so far (m2m and zone), against players and coaches far lower than what the ACC will bring. as more tape is produced, and as the level of competition increases, and as the level of opponent coaching/scouting increases dramatically... can they learn and grow week after week after week on the defensive end to get to an *adequate* level this jan/feb/march?