GT in the NIT

[orientalnc]

Heath was definitely "cutting it" last night and against Houston. Seems obvious that MGH is not a true PG after 3 years at SG, so why would anyone think of moving him there with two on the team already? It was an inspired bold shake-up that worked out.

If what you saw last night was Heath "cutting it," you and I will have to disagree. A PG has a bigger responsibility than just not committing turnovers. Heath scored 5 points and four assists last night against a team that did not want to be playing in the NIT. They were going through the motions, but nothing they did had any intensity. For the year Heath has two games where he scored more than six points (both in OOC games). His 23 minutes last night were the most since MGH took over the point.

Travis scored three points against Pitt back in January. That was his high water mark in ACC play and he has not scored in double figures all year. Maybe it's because he never fully recovered his athleticism after the injury, but he is clearly not an ACC caliber player.

But, more important, our record with Heath and Travis sharing the point was 13-12 (and 3-9 in the ACC). The primary job of the coaching staff is to find the lineups that can win games. Things were going down hill fast and our PG production on both ends of the floor was abysmal. That CBG found a solution is wonderful, but why so long in the search?

 

[orientalnc]

But, I agree with both of you that MGH is really the guy to thank. He took on a role he had never played and did it extremely well. Not only that, he created serious problems for the opposing team trying to match up with our much bigger lineup. Just another reason why he is in my top five favorite GT players ever.

 

[MidtownJacket]

If what you saw last night was Heath "cutting it," you and I will have to disagree. A PG has a bigger responsibility than just not committing turnovers. Heath scored 5 points and four assists last night against a team that did not want to be playing in the NIT. They were going through the motions, but nothing they did had any intensity. For the year Heath has two games where he scored more than six points (both in OOC games). His 23 minutes last night were the most since MGH took over the point.

Travis scored three points against Pitt back in January. That was his high water mark in ACC play and he has not scored in double figures all year. Maybe it's because he never fully recovered his athleticism after the injury, but he is clearly not an ACC caliber player.

But, more important, our record with Heath and Travis sharing the point was 13-12 (and 3-9 in the ACC). The primary job of the coaching staff is to find the lineups that can win games. Things were going down hill fast and our PG production on both ends of the floor was abysmal. That CBG found a solution is wonderful, but why so long in the search?

In general I share your frustration that we didn't have this switch sooner, mainly because I agree whole-heartedly this team is playing in the NCAAs and likely a Sweet 16 team, maybe with a few bounces our way an elite 8 squad.

That said... I tend to agree with the idea that moving our SG (and the only offensive threat outside of the long ball from Smith)to PG is a risky proposition. I agree with the earlier post that the more ball handling a guy does the less he tends to have open shots, or freedom for off ball movement. This is why you have a PG + SG on the team.. it is not always (and maybe even fair to say less likely than likely) an easy transition for a guy to make. That MGH's game revolves around slashing drives and "making his own shot" helped, but I still think it is a bridge too far to say it was an obvious fix to our system.

We have a couple young PGs on the roster, and need to DEVELOP them so it hurts us to take the double risk of interrupting MGH's game and missing the learning chance for the PGs.. That said, it worked, and worked well so I am happy the change was made.

 

[CuseJacket]

The hype train about our "what if" NCAA performance is getting a bit out of control.

SO I BETTER JUMP ON BOARD FAST!!!!!

Prediction:
Lucas Johnson's School - 173
Lucas Johnson's Placeholder - 45

 

[Peacone36]

A likely sweet 16 team. Cmon. You guys are losing your minds. Let's look at teams that are currently not in the S16

Mich St
Utah
Purdue
Iowa
Baylor
Kentucky
Cincinatti
Arizona
USC
Providence

We lost to VT and ETSU. The teams we have beaten during our "hot streak" aren't necessarily impressive. Clem 2x (no postseason) BC (winless ACC record) FSU(talented but young and underachieving) Pitt (didn't think they were that good personally)

ND is obviously a good win along with Virginia.
We lost to Louisville and got torched by UVA when it mattered.

Played well against Houston in a game that made me nervous but forgot that Houston is Houston.
Destroyed USCe.

Couple nice wins, but we aren't world beaters because we have played well for a few weeks against shaky competition.

This is similar to when we play Wofford, and Alabama St in the OOC and go 10-2 and people think we are going to win 10 ACC games.

Look down, your bias is showing.

 

[Techster]

A likely sweet 16 team. Cmon. You guys are losing your minds. Let's look at teams that are currently not in the S16

Mich St
Utah
Purdue
Iowa
Baylor
Kentucky
Cincinatti
Arizona
USC
Providence

We lost to VT and ETSU. The teams we have beaten during our "hot streak" aren't necessarily impressive. Clem 2x (no postseason) BC (winless ACC record) FSU(talented but young and underachieving) Pitt (didn't think they were that good personally)

ND is obviously a good win along with Virginia.
We lost to Louisville and got torched by UVA when it mattered.

Played well against Houston in a game that made me nervous but forgot that Houston is Houston.
Destroyed USCe.

Couple nice wins, but we aren't world beaters because we have played well for a few weeks against shaky competition.

This is similar to when we play Wofford, and Alabama St in the OOC and go 10-2 and people think we are going to win 10 ACC games.

Look down, your bias is showing.

I was enjoying the Koolaid...until someone peed in it...

 

[Peacone36]

I was enjoying the Koolaid...until someone peed in it...

I'm not saying don't enjoy it. I AM! But let's just pump the brakes on what's going on here. We are a senior laden team that is peaking at the right time.

Are we one of the 68 best teams in the country? Absolutely. Are we a sweet 16 team? No.

 

[Techster]

I'm not saying don't enjoy it. I AM! But let's just pump the brakes on what's going on here. We are a senior laden team that is peaking at the right time.

Are we one of the 68 best teams in the country? Absolutely. Are we a sweet 16 team? No.

I'm actually agreeing with your point. Was just being sarcastic.

On the bright side, at least we're arguing about what our NIT wins mean as opposed to...well, see all of last off-season.

 

[orientalnc]

I'm not saying don't enjoy it. I AM! But let's just pump the brakes on what's going on here. We are a senior laden team that is peaking at the right time.

Are we one of the 68 best teams in the country? Absolutely. Are we a sweet 16 team? No.

I don’t think Cuse is one of the 16 best teams either, but there they are. We are every bit as good. It's a shame our play for the first six weeks of ACC games was not what it could have been.

 

[Peacone36]

I don’t think Cuse is one of the 16 best teams either, but there they are. We are every bit as good. It's a shame our play for the first six weeks of ACC games was not what it could have been.

We lost to them

 

[Peacone36]

And I realize what you're saying and how my reply sounds.

*** I am never wrong. I can't be wrong. My way is the best way. I'll argue my point until it you walk away***

^^My wiring

 

[orientalnc]

And I realize what you're saying and how my reply sounds.

*** I am never wrong. I can't be wrong. My way is the best way. I'll argue my point until it you walk away***

^^My wiring

But you are right. We did lose to them. By 3 points in their house.

 

[JacketFromUGA]

Thought I'd whip this up for all of us for tomorrow.

 

[GTRanj]

The 5 players in question played a total of 44.9 minutes and scored 12 points this season. Even if that was on player, it means less than 90 seconds a game of playing time. That is less than Don't think that was the cause of their demise last night.

Fair enough, I'll admit I did not do as much research as you. All I'm saying is I'd wait to see a few more games won out right before I'd jump on the hype wagon. This whole season has been filled with close games which usually means they could have gone either way. I know my posts are negative, but I am truly happy for the players and CBG. I guess, I'm just fed up and its pretty much too little too late even if they win the NIT.

 

[hwdgeplague]

It is your right as an American to pursue happiness. No mention of unhappiness. (Sorry in advance for excessive snark).

Heck. Just feels good to be winning with style. Few Tech teams have finished a year with this kind of run.

 

[RamblinRed]

Pretty solid teams left in the NIT.
Advancing to NYC last night was Valpo (Kenpom 32) and BYU (52)

playing tonight - San Diego State (40) vs GT (46) and
Florida (39) vs GW (66)

 

[Peacone36]

Valpo was very impressive last night. The Jamaican kid reminded me a lot of Gani. Running on 10 all game, arms, legs hands, all over the place. making it ugly yet making a positive impact.

 

[RamblinRed]

Here is San Diego St game notes for tonight

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools...o_pdf/2015-16/release/release_20160322aaa.pdf

This is a very good team. Very tall and athletic. They like to put alot of pressure on you. You see alot of 1-3-1 press action.
Shepard is the engine. Avg 15 pts, 10 rb, 8 assts in NIT. Wonder if we will put MGH on him. They are very tall upfront (6'10, 6'10, 6'8). This is a game where I could see us playing Q at the 4.

 

[Connell62]

ETA: Looks like you posted some thoughts as I was typing:

Red, what are your thoughts about the game tonight? I don't know much about their personnel other than the fact that they are talented and have a lot of length. From what I have been able to gather, they play pressure D and are one of the top teams in the country defending the 3. Oddly, the deep ball has been one of our strengths the past two games.

Outside of the travel and hostile enviroment, I think that these teams are pretty evenly matched. I feel very confident in saying that our guys are not going to wilt in the face of pressure, we have seen it against the likes of UVA, Louisville, UNC, etc. It may cause us some problems, but I expect us to be able to execute offensively. That said, we are going to need big contributions from guys other MGH and Adam tonight. We really need to come out and set the tone early by going to Jacobs and Mitchell.

Don't know why.. everything really points against us here, but I have a feeling about this one. I just think that our guys really believe in themselves and they're playing for each other.

No doubt, it will be a tall task, and we might come up short, but I will be very surprised if don't have a chance to win it.

 

[Connell62]

Here is San Diego St game notes for tonight

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools...o_pdf/2015-16/release/release_20160322aaa.pdf

This is a very good team. Very tall and athletic. They like to put alot of pressure on you. You see alot of 1-3-1 press action.
Shepard is the engine. Avg 15 pts, 10 rb, 8 assts in NIT. Wonder if we will put MGH on him. They are very tall upfront (6'10, 6'10, 6'8). This is a game where I could see us playing Q at the 4.

Regarding Shepard, I think that we see Marcus matchup if our other guys aren't able to contain him. Probably our best option on him, but the thing that worries me about that is foul trouble.

Marcus or Adam get into foul trouble, we are toast. They both play a huge role in facilitating our offense.