GT (+8.0) vs. #10 Virginia Tech

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lv20gt

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Well that's a kick in the nuts.

Anyways...

The good - We played great defense. Not good. Not very good. But great. Only bad part was offensive rebounding but several of those were long rebounds off low % 3 point looks.
Alverado played great.
AD played well.
Despite the uglyness we went toe to toe with a top 10 team. That bodes well for the development of the team over the long term.

The bad - FT shooting.
Offense in general. Part of it was hard to even get looks, but even when we started to we weren't making them. Missed open 3s. Missed layups. Missed FTs.
Nobody but Jose seems to want to make a play.
Officiating. Made too many mistakes on our own to really blame the refs for the loss but there were a lot of questionable calls.
 
slugboy

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VT played badly because we played good defense. That didn’t just happen. They weren’t caught napping; if they were, we would have won this game.

Pastner used his last timeout because AD couldn’t play and needed to see the trainers. I don’t agree about him wasting timeouts

I agree on missing layups, but the reason this game was there for the taking was because we played well in some facets of the game, especially defense. VT made some highlight reel plays to win this game.

Offense still doesn’t look great, but some of that is on VT’s defense. There were some gimme’s missed, but on the other hand, how often do you see AD hit a 3?

We could use another point guard to give Jose a breather, but he played a gutsy game.

Offense looked different than Wake. I’m not sure if VT made us look different or if we were trying something different, but at times we looked out of sync with each other on offense.


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AUFC

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I wouldn't say our defense was great. It helped that VT missed about 20 wide open looks from 3 tonight.

It's hard to take anything good away from this game other than the crowd was good lol
 

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Back to my hotel. Damn Banks missed 4 dunks tonight. Refs missed a dozen calls minimum. VPISU couldn't hit the side of a barn tonight. But we didn't play well and we still almost won. That stupid foul against Devoe down the stretch where they didn't give us the bucket cost us 2 points. Oh those 2 points. We didn't get a shot off on our last 3 possessions. Not even a wild heave. Nothing. Sad. And we still almost beat the #7 team in the country.
 

YlJacket

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I didn't see that many "wide open" loks for VT. They got some looks from the corner but you give that up with a 1-3-1. I saw us with a hand in their face and Banks - while missing some inside shots that killed me - did a good job of rim protection. Almost Lammeresque. Any review of our D has to be above average to great.

We played some really weird combinations that IMHO contributed to our offensive woes. Couple of times we had Moses, Banks and either AD or Cole - and tried to run a 4 out offense. OMG that is a horrendous group to try to do that. I was just hoping we spread the floor and let Jose go one on whatever. Better than what we got a lot. But the length on D from those weird groupings kept us close by limiting open looks for them.

Our offensive woes came from those groupings, from Devoe being OK but not near what we hoped/what we need and not having anyone - including Jose - who can break down their defender and kick (not that we have anyone who can make a shot). Not even getting to the end of the game theatrics - we need a perimeter player who can drive and kick. It was so freaking open all game long but we can't do it.

The end of the game issues I can write off to youth. A young (in playing time) Banks not taking his time to finish a bunny. Jose not just doing whatever it takes to get the ball because he knows he is the only one who should have it. Devoe giving the ball up as fast as he can when he did get it. Alston sucked on that last play which ended up with a ridiculous attempt to feed AD in the deep corner (do what???) - but no way he should be in the position to be the one to make a play at the end of the game. That is primarily Jose's job or as a second option Devoe. They aren't ready yet.

All in all, I am pissed we lost but not in a funk about it. If you are looking to see improvement it was there. Obviously mostly on D and effort - but any coach will tell you D is the harder side of the ball to get right. It travels. It keeps you in games. If we can get Jose some help on offense we have a shot to win more games this year than projected. My focus is on Devoe. He is the anointed one for that role. He ain't there yet. As he improves so do we.
 

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Another random thing I noticed (sorry if it was already posted): Khalid Moore kept getting called for mostly BS fouls, but Josh never took him out. He got his 4th foul with like 8 minutes left IN THE FIRST HALF...and Josh still left him in. Ballsy.
 
SecretAgentBuzz

SecretAgentBuzz

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WreckinGT said:
Missed the front end of a 1 and 1, then missed a layup, then threw the ball out of bounds, then stepped over the line on an inbound. Pretty frustrating ending to a close game.
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Georgia Tech basketball at its finest!

Don't worry, after we lose three or four we will upset someone!

Seriously, though, kudos to Alvarado. Love that kid. Wish we would have put the ball in his hands sometime in the last 2 minutes.
 

MWBATL

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Tough game to lose.

I was however very proud that this team obviously never gave up the entire night. The arena was rocking late in the game and our guys played their hearts out. At the end of the day, I guess that’s all I can really ask for from GT athletes.

Alvarado is such a warrior....I just love that kid.
 
SecretAgentBuzz

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MWBATL said:
Tough game to lose.

I was however very proud that this team obviously never gave up the entire night. The arena was rocking late in the game and our guys played their hearts out. At the end of the day, I guess that’s all I can really ask for from GT athletes.

Alvarado is such a warrior....I just love that kid.
Click to expand...

jinx
 
Ramblingon

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Tech just lost by a basket to the #9 team in the country. VT is a team that plays excellent defense. My only regret is the final plays...that's what made the difference. We had three shots at the game towards the end and blew them all. But I actually have more confidence in the team going forward. By the way, VT, a 45% 3 pt shooting team shot 18%.
 
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gte447f

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Crowd was awesome! Our team's defense was awesome! Alvarado was awesome!, especially in the first half!

This was a heartbreaking loss because there were so many little mistakes that added up to giving the game away. A lot of them were turnovers because guys are timid and don't want to make a play with the ball. Alton throwing the ball away while trying to get the ball to AD of all people for a last second 3 was the ultimate example of this! Some times some of the guys are so afraid of making a dumb play that all they can do is make a dumb play. Then of course there were the misses on crucial close range shots and free throws down the stretch. We should have had this one.

VT did not have an off night though. Our defense did that, and the McCamish Maniacs did that. The place was rocking down the stretch. The AIRBALL chant is real. #4 might as well have just handed us the ball every time he touched it; 1-13 on FG's and 0-6 on 3's.
 
boger2337

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gte447f said:
Crowd was awesome! Our team's defense was awesome! Alvarado was awesome!, especially in the first half!

This was a heartbreaking loss because there were so many little mistakes that added up to giving the game away. A lot of them were turnovers because guys are timid and don't want to make a play with the ball. Alton throwing the ball away while trying to get the ball to AD of all people for a last second 3 was the ultimate example of this! Some times some of the guys are so afraid of making a dumb play that all they can do is make a dumb play. Then of course there were the misses on crucial close range shots and free throws down the stretch. We should have had this one.

VT did not have an off night though. Our defense did that, and the McCamish Maniacs did that. The place was rocking down the stretch. The AIRBALL chant is real. #4 might as well have just handed us the ball every time he touched it; 1-13 on FG's and 0-6 on 3's.
Click to expand...


Oh yeah it was!!!! I was screaming my head off and clapping thunderous claps!!! Section 105!
 
orientalnc

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Random thoughts:

Missed FTs and missed layups and turnovers spell defeat most of the time. But, to be honest, Jose played the game of his life or none of those things would have mattered.

Banks scored only 2 points and Cole/Wright failed to score. Our bigs (except for AD) could not score on a team with only one player taller than 6-6. That is an issue Pastner and staff need to solve.

There were times when the shot clock was winding down and we had AD or Wright handling the ball out at the 3-point line. Come on guys!

22 fouls and 18 turnovers!!! Yuck.

But, in spite of all this, we should have won the game. Our scrappy defense was marred only by our poor rebounding. But I am not sure how you defend VT outside, which we knew we had to do, and also get good rebounding position. We never let them get into the pace they like.

We are playing with intensity and that will keep us in some games where we are out manned. Hopefully we can fix the things that need fixing. And Banks dunks those put backs instead of laying them up.
 
gte447f

gte447f

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This game was so close. Both teams made 17 baskets. We made 6 3's to their 5 3's. So we beat them 40-39 on field goals, but they beat us 13-9 on free throws and that was the difference. We were 9-16 and they were 13-19 on free throws. Here is the kick in the nuts though... for their 17 FG's they took 57 shots. We only took 38 shots. How did they get 50% more shots than us? Mainly a plus 10 offensive rebound margin and a plus 10 turnover margin. Exact same reasons that USC Upstate hung around with us in that game. If we give away a few less stupid turnovers or don't get dominated on offensive rebounds we win this game.
 
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