GT at Clemson Post Game

[SecretAgentBuzz]

Ugh. Another close loss. Clemson turned up their defensive pressure and made shots when it counted. We looked like we were afraid to lose and rushed shots and lost our defensive aggressiveness. At this point, I am not sure what the answer is. This team has not met expectations. Here are a few notes:

-Credit to Pastner for trying something new. New starting 5 and more minutes for Deebo. His defense has gotten better, but he needs to look for his shot more. He could easily be a 12-15 per game scorer, but he defaults to the older guys. Interestingly, no JMoore or Meka in this one.
-Howard's biggest improvement has been his aggressiveness and confidence around the basket. He explodes to the rim in a way he did not before. I wish we had this Howard earlier in the season. He is still not a great defender, but there is improvement there too.
-We are at our best when our defense is flying around and confusing the other team. When we lose that intensity, it doesn't matter what defense we play.
-Sturdivant was a mixed bag. He made some nice jumpers in the lane and had 4 steals on defense, but took too many 3s and made some big mistakes at the end. He either needs to work a lot on his outside shot, or make a strong move to the basket. We miss DSmith here because he gives a nice change of pace for Sturdivant (and he was improving, too, before his injury).
-I think refs like calling fouls on Usher. I have no other possible reason why he never gets the benefit of calls.
-This was a great chance for a win against a bad (and injured) Clemson team. This is one game where I would have put Howard in the block and let him go to work on the freshman of Clemson. Unlike most of you, I don't hate Howard at the top of the key looking for backdoor cuts and handing off to the guards, but this was a game where we needed a different strategy and failed to capitalize.

Such a frustrating season. Win or lose, I'll keep cheering (but man, I am tired of the losing). Go Jackets.

 

[slugboy]

Ugh. Another close loss. Clemson turned up their defensive pressure and made shots when it counted. We looked like we were afraid to lose and rushed shots and lost our defensive aggressiveness. At this point, I am not sure what the answer is. This team has not met expectations. Here are a few notes:

-Credit to Pastner for trying something new. New starting 5 and more minutes for Deebo. His defense has gotten better, but he needs to look for his shot more. He could easily be a 12-15 per game scorer, but he defaults to the older guys. Interestingly, no JMoore or Meka in this one.
-Howard's biggest improvement has been his aggressiveness and confidence around the basket. He explodes to the rim in a way he did not before. I wish we had this Howard earlier in the season. He is still not a great defender, but there is improvement there too.
-We are at our best when our defense is flying around and confusing the other team. When we lose that intensity, it doesn't matter what defense we play.
-Sturdivant was a mixed bag. He made some nice jumpers in the lane and had 4 steals on defense, but took too many 3s and made some big mistakes at the end. He either needs to work a lot on his outside shot, or make a strong move to the basket. We miss DSmith here because he gives a nice change of pace for Sturdivant (and he was improving, too, before his injury).
-I think refs like calling fouls on Usher. I have no other possible reason why he never gets the benefit of calls.
-This was a great chance for a win against a bad (and injured) Clemson team. This is one game where I would have put Howard in the block and let him go to work on the freshman of Clemson. Unlike most of you, I don't hate Howard at the top of the key looking for backdoor cuts and handing off to the guards, but this was a game where we needed a different strategy and failed to capitalize.

Such a frustrating season. Win or lose, I'll keep cheering (but man, I am tired of the losing). Go Jackets.

I think this is a solid review of the game.

• Like everyone else who watched, the first 3/4ths of the game were a lot more enjoyable than the last quarter.
• We were less than a tenth of a second from getting an additional two points at the end of the first half—the ball was almost touching by a fingernail as it was releasing when the light turned and the clock expired.
• If we were a top 5 ACC team, we’d have gotten more calls. At the bottom of the rankings, refs call against us. Such is basketball life.
• Deflected and stolen passes and other steals changed this from a Tech blowout to a close loss. I saw balls tipped out of bounds, but kept in by Clemson with athletic plays. The first time, I thought “that’s luck”. Then it happened again repeatedly.

 

[gte447f]

Not sure why the best scorers did not have the ball on last possession.

Watch it again. Sturdy and deebo, 2 perfectly capable scorers, were so intent on getting the ball to Devoe that they wasted all 14 seconds on the clock, nearly turned it over at least twice, and had to heave a desperation 3 at the buzzer. The problem was that the ball was supposed to go to our most capable scorer and the entire Clemson defense new it. They were face guarding Devoe at half court to deny him the ball. Coaches needed to have a better play call.

 

[gte447f]

Kyle Sturdevant and Khalid Moore surprisingly have been a big disappointment this entire season and non of the talented young guys have stepped up…Howard showing improvement…too late…ugly

Sturdy improved a lot in my opinion, but he still makes poor decisions sometimes that result in turnovers, including a couple of times, at least l, last night. However, on the upside, people should recognize that he is probably the best player on the team at scoring in traffic in the lane off of dribble penetration, and that includes Devoe. Sturdy uses his body well to create space and makes shots from 8-10 feet and in. He has also improved into a reliable 3 point threat of left open, despite missing the buzzer beater last night, which was a contested desperation shot.

Khalid is what he is, which is a defense first, glue guy. Anyone who thought he was going to develop an outside shot in year 4 or 5 was delusional.

 

[Nikotreb]

How many big leads have we blown in the last ten minutes this year? It seems like we are always up mid-way through the second half and then you can just feel it start to slip away. They just do not know how to win late. I was telling my wife when we were up 55-44, that this is the time when we usually fall apart, but maybe this will finally be when we hold on. No such luck.

Man reading my mind........too many times I have seen the same results and said the same thing...I'm sorry, been a Jacket fan forever ( 56 yrs old) but it is painful to watch. I know and understand those boys are trying......but it is always to no avail ( struggle to get nothing done).

 

[Golden Tornadoes]

The first time, I thought “that’s luck”. Then it happened again repeatedly.

Such are the ghosts that haunt us in Littlejohn... Remember how big of a deal it was to the team when we went up there and won a couple years ago? It's just a place of horrors for us for some inexplicable reason....

 

[g0lftime]

We don't have a "Jose" this year that is experienced, quick, can penetrate, and can shoot the 3. This year in crunch time we try to let Devoe make a play and the other team knows it. Sometimes drive and take the easy two-they will not foul-
and then steal or foul immediately. There was about 13 seconds when we got it down by 3. Make them beat you at the foul line with the clock stopped. We tried to make a 3 to tie. Mike was primary but he was covered. That bogus foul call on Ush was a momentum killer.

 

[awbuzz]

Not having Smith isn't helping for sure.

 

[OG-T]

Mostly, feel bad for players. The effort is there 99% of time. I Like Pastner, but he says “losing” is on the Coach, not the players. So a pointed critique is reasonable. I think he’ll reflect on this year and realize he came up short in putting players in position to win - that last play was a microcosm of season. With this roster, our regular offensive system exposes some of our key players’ weaknesses. Pastner had to have know this early, but his faith in “development” likely was at fault. He and the coaches have definitely developed players, but this team was going to require multiple players to develop simultaneously. Never effectively gelled. This year, his “playbook” needed to be in place - the freedom, spacing, movement that he likes to run just won’t work if the team doesn’t have “creators” with the ball. Creators of one-on-one mismatches, creators that open shots for others. Too much “hope” it goes in this year. Pulling for fellas on Senior Night, and Valvano-like run next week!

 

[MWBATL]

Last two games I watched came down to a last second play by GT where EVERYONE knew we were going the get the ball to Devoe, let him isolate and try to produce...something. No mystery, no screening, no actual, ya know...PLAY or anything like that. Pretty easy to defend, the other team did, and we lost. That's o the coaches, full stop. I se enow why Memphis fans criticized Pastner.

 

[Jacket4Life]

What's wrong with Maxwell? He looked really good the game he played in this season but haven't seen him since.

 

[MidtownJacket]

Some of you all

What's wrong with Maxwell? He looked really good the game he played in this season but haven't seen him since.

lingering thumb issue.. FWIW I don't expect him back next season.