GT at ND Post Game Discussion

[THWG]

I’ll punt this to the more knowledgeable b-ball posters here, but wasn’t it odd how we played Slojund today? He hit a couple of shot in the corner, looked great, and then for some reason moved him to the elbow where he could not get his look. Seemed to me like ND defense was playing the same, so not sure why.

They adjusted their D slightly and extended it to the corner, but I thought it was a bad move too. Sjolund needs to be able to work the baseline to be effective.

 

[YlJacket]

I’ll punt this to the more knowledgeable b-ball posters here, but wasn’t it odd how we played Slojund today? He hit a couple of shot in the corner, looked great, and then for some reason moved him to the elbow where he could not get his look. Seemed to me like ND defense was playing the same, so not sure why.

After Sjolund hit his first 2 shots ND went man instead of zone. It threw him off and he tried to adjust in the man offense. A little ways into the second half they went back zone but he started throwing passes to every ND player out there from the elbow and top of the key. At this point he is a scorer/shooter and not a playmaker. Get him the ball where all he has to do is shoot - keep him away from the ball where he has to make any level of decision. Put him in Haywood's role if he can hold up in the zone - especially filling the middle and off side rebounding.

 

[THWG]

After Sjolund hit his first 2 shots ND went man instead of zone. It threw him off and he tried to adjust in the man offense. A little ways into the second half they went back zone but he started throwing passes to every ND player out there from the elbow and top of the key. At this point he is a scorer/shooter and not a playmaker. Get him the ball where all he has to do is shoot - keep him away from the ball where he has to make any level of decision. Put him in Haywood's role if he can hold up in the zone - especially filling the middle and off side rebounding.

He made a good move to the baseline on the dunk attempt. I just thought he had it slightly stripped or bobbled it on his way up.

 

[lv20gt]

Is it possible we could fire CJP with cause for the ongoing Ron Bell fiasco? It's damaging the image of the program and causing recruits to not want anything to do with us so I could see how it could be justifiable.

We could try it if we wanted to never stand a chance at landing even a halfway decent coach in the future.

 

[reckrider]

I really didn’t mind the loss tonight. The Clemson game upset me to no end, but I thought we looked much better tonight even though we lost. Just imagine that Kristian learns to play defense and starts at the 4, and Curt finds his shot and can start at the 3. Play them with Mike, Jose and Banks and I can get excited about next season.

 

[Vespidie]

I think the people that are thinking “it’s year 3 and we should be better” are looking from the expectation/point of view from when CJP took over the program. Anyone who is objective knew we would Struggle this year when JO went pro & they looked at our roster. The obvious disappointment is not that we struggled with the guys we have on the roster, but that we haven’t been able to recruit more consistently/have a stronger roster

This is the problem though...a good program shouldn't have been left in the predicament that we ended up in when Okogie left. Our coach's pedigree was said to be recruiting yet we have not seen any evidence of that in 3 seasons. At what point do we quit making excuses for a program in shambles? Roster management is very important with the limited numbers, so mistakes become very glaring in a hurry.

 

[THWG]

I really didn’t mind the loss tonight. The Clemson game upset me to no end, but I thought we looked much better tonight even though we lost. Just imagine that Kristian learns to play defense and starts at the 4, and Curt finds his shot and can start at the 3. Play them with Mike, Jose and Banks and I can get excited about next season.

Usher will be starting next season, if he gets immediate eligibility.

 

[CLM]

Two thoughts.

1) Take a break from watching. Better to take a rest than give yourself a headache. I'm serious when I say this.
2) Support the players no matter what. My impression is that this won't be a problem for you, but it's something every one needs to think about doing.

Good advice. How are we all going to get over the fact that Anthony Edwards is going to announce he is headed to UGA tomorrow? In one year Crean will have gotten a better recruit than any recruit we have gotten in the last 10 years. Derick Favors was the last better one for us right?

 

[ramblinwreck1378]

One of the biggest points of frustration for me this year is with this team’s inability to play fundamental basketball. For example, we rank 310th in the country in turnovers per game at 15.3. In most cases, taking care of the ball doesn’t take talent, it takes discipline and execution.

Poor shooting nights and getting out rebounded in a zone are things that are frustrating for sure, but I understand that stuff happens, especially when you’re operating at a talent deficit. What I can’t accept is carelessly wasting possessions, especially when you know you’re only going to convert ~ 35% - 40% of the attempts you get anyway.

 

[dtm1997]

Good advice. How are we all going to get over the fact that Anthony Edwards is going to announce he is headed to UGA tomorrow? In one year Crean will have gotten a better recruit than any recruit we have gotten in the last 10 years. Derick Favors was the last better one for us right?

I'm not even worked up about Anthony Edwards. We missed on him a long time ago. Move on.

 

[AUFC]

I'm not even worked up about Anthony Edwards. We missed on him a long time ago. Move on.

I don't mind not getting Anthony Edwards. What sucks is he's going to UGA which makes them the de facto premier D1 basketball program in the state. UGA will be Top 25 next year and future recruits will take notice. It's only going to make recruiting the homegrowns even harder.

 

[YlJacket]

Did you expect us to be better this year? We lost our two best players off of a team that wasn't good. Jose showed promise last year but wasn't really a guy you'd expect to carry a team in the ACC. Devoe is a good player but, again, not someone you'd expect to carry an ACC team as a freshman.

The common theme among the depressed seems to be that we aren't better in year 3. Why did anyone expect that? This was the clear down year in the process.

If we aren't better next year then the complaints make sense. This is what I expected. I'm pretty sure it is what most of the people in the sport expected.

Next year Jose is a junior, Devoe a soph, and Banks a senior. That's a pretty good core. We need a couple of the projects to "get it" in the offseason. That's where we are.

As usual your logic is impeccable. But at this time while I am pissed at losing a winnable game and seeing a presentation of basketball that - excuse my language - sucked, I am in no mood to yield to logic.

In an attempt to be somewhat logical, let me say that my biggest issue right now is that we are not progressing - there is no clear progression or clear concept/pathway the team is creating to get better. Yes Devoe was better today but Jose and Haywood are regressing. Cole and Wright were DNP coaches decision and while Sjolund made a splash from nowhere. I don't see anything consistent and most of all no consistent pathway that says we are improving or we have a core that is separating itself and giving a clear improving pathway forward. So yes - Jose will be a JR next year and Devoe a soph along with Banks as a SR. Even giving Jose a pass for ramping downhill second half of the year and assuming he is going to recover next year - we still don't have any idea who the rest of the package is. Does Cole come back from DNP? Is Usher ready for the ACC assuming he can play (not sure his transfer status yet so could be wrong about that). Does Haywood find a psychologist that he can relate to? Does Philips introduce himself to his prior self ?

Too many questions that don't have a clear pathway forward for next year. And yea I know I have had too much bourbon after the game but I am not feeling this "automatic" improvement as we get old stay old. Hope I am missing something.

 

[Tech93]

The program has not been good in a long time. Years ago, I thought Tech basketball would always have good teams. It is a shame to see how bad we are again this year. Don't see us getting leaps and bounds better next year with the current roster. Hopefully, we land some good recruits for 2020, but not getting my hopes up for anything with our basketball program.

 

[WrongShadeOfGold]

How the eff do you fire Paul F'n Hewitt and your program gets significantly worse?!?!?! How is that even possible?

 

[ESPNjacket]

Too many questions that don't have a clear pathway forward for next year. And yea I know I have had too much bourbon after the game but I am not feeling this "automatic" improvement as we get old stay old. Hope I am missing something.

I agree with everything you said. There are a lot of questions. I have no idea where the odd substitution patterns are from or why they exist.

My biggest concerns going forward:

- Staff losses and quality of replacements. I am unimpressed.
- Lack of a real identity ( I know what the head coach says over and over, I mean a real identity, leadership stuff)
- Development of the "projects". I don't want to go there publicly.

My positives going forward:
- We lose no talent. Gueye is a nice post player but at a replacement level. Alston should not be on an ACC team.
- The project guys have all shown a moment here and there with Sjolund making a few shots.
- The core is solid next year. I believe in Jose and Devoe. I think Banks is a legit post defender.

If Pastner can coach, we should be a mid-tier ACC next year. The core and a couple of projects getting better would put us there. I have no idea if he can do it. I think that's when we find out. We don't really learn much this year.

 

[Peacone36]

Did you expect us to be better this year? We lost our two best players off of a team that wasn't good. Jose showed promise last year but wasn't really a guy you'd expect to carry a team in the ACC. Devoe is a good player but, again, not someone you'd expect to carry an ACC team as a freshman.

The common theme among the depressed seems to be that we aren't better in year 3. Why did anyone expect that? This was the clear down year in the process.

If we aren't better next year then the complaints make sense. This is what I expected. I'm pretty sure it is what most of the people in the sport expected.

Next year Jose is a junior, Devoe a soph, and Banks a senior. That's a pretty good core. We need a couple of the projects to "get it" in the offseason. That's where we are.

I think the thing with this program is just how ugly it’s been offensively. Even though most expected the W/L to be bad it’s quite another to look completely incompetent.

People probably took notice when the boys landed wins at Arkansas and Syracuse as well.

Some are just illogically optimistic as well..

 

[Peacone36]

I agree with everything you said. There are a lot of questions. I have no idea where the odd substitution patterns are from or why they exist.

My biggest concerns going forward:

- Staff losses and quality of replacements. I am unimpressed.

Nailed it on the first one. +100

 

[okiemon]

Nailed it on the first one. +100

Agree as well. The first staff hires for CJP were really good - and as I recall, MBob helped with the hiring; am I right about that, or misremembering? Then, when Hardy and DLab left, Pastner was on his own for the hiring. And I don’t think we came out even.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[MiracleWhips]

I am curious, what does everyone think our ACC record will be once conference play is over?

 

[Peacone36]

3-15 or 4-14