GT vs. Ga Sou

[gte447f]

I was at the game today also. I wasn’t really surprised that we got off to a slow start considering the flu is going thru our team and Ga. Southern is an experienced team and was ranked top 40 or so in 3pt % and effective fg %. I was proud of the way the the team fought back in the second half, especially Devoe, but also Usher, Howard, etc. We played great defense in the second half, holding them to about 26ish % and 11% I believe.

I thought Howard and some others, but mostly Howard, gave away a lot of rebounds in the 1st half, but I think we did better in the second half (I havent looked at numbers to verify). To his credit though, Howard came up big scoring our first 7 points in the 2nd half.

I think it was sturdivant playing defense on their shooter at the end. It was good defense and forced a tough contested shot.

The crowd was pretty weak early on, but filled in a little bit later and finally made a little noise a couple of times down the stretch. It would really be nice to pack the place and get rowdy for Wisconsin on Wednesday. Spread the word.

 

[Root4GT]

WE are so dependent on Devoe we can't afford to have him injured or sick or in foul trouble. Without him we are not a good team. In year six I would have hoped for more balance and less dependence on one player. The freshmen need to grow up very quickly or we will lose 3 of our next 4.

 

[Jophish17]

…and the "fine line" between getting fired vs a contract extension.

I loved that story because you can totally imagine a coach thinking that

 

[slugboy]

ACC Tourney banner unveiling on Wednesday vs. Wisconsin.

I'll watch the rest later. The players do a great job at pressers.

Pastner is a super-cheery boy scout at these things, but he's grown into this part of his role. Compared to where he started, he's so much more comfortable now than he was at the beginning that it's striking.

 

[awbuzz]

Great gut check, literally and figuratively, today.

 

[TooTall]

We lose that game without Devoe, We lose a lot of games without Devoe to be honest.

Comparing the two teams, both are tournament worthy on defense. I get to watch more Ga Sou than GT basketball because of them only being 45 minutes down the road, and they should compete for the SunBelt regular season and Tourny Championships. They are a lot older than I thought due to transfers.

GT played ok. Got to get stronger in the post, but we still held our own. Love how we can switch defenses so easily and quickly, gives us such a huge advantage.

Early to bed for an early rise to drive back to ATL and watch us pull a miracle!

 

[g0lftime]

Devoe has become a terrific player and has improved every year. He is having an all-ACC performance so far. Ush is a man out there on both ends of the court. Great come back today by the team. Howard had a nice game as well. He is improving.

 

[LibertyTurns]

We lose that game without Devoe, We lose a lot of games without Devoe to be honest.

Comparing the two teams, both are tournament worthy on defense. I get to watch more Ga Sou than GT basketball because of them only being 45 minutes down the road, and they should compete for the SunBelt regular season and Tourny Championships. They are a lot older than I thought due to transfers.

GT played ok. Got to get stronger in the post, but we still held our own. Love how we can switch defenses so easily and quickly, gives us such a huge advantage.

Early to bed for an early rise to drive back to ATL and watch us pull a miracle!

GT has had a lot of years where if we lost 1 or 2 players we’d have tanked. Imagine last year with Alvarado & Wright, then there’s Lammers & Okogie, Smith & Georges-Hunt, Favors and Shump, Elder and Jack, Schenser & Jack, etc.

This year it’s Devoe and Ush. Just the normal season with GT riding a couple top players hoping we get enough contributions from others to win.

 

[lv20gt]

There are a lot of teams that would lose a lot of games if they lost their best player on any given year. It's not just losing the talent, but you build your teams around key guys. For instance it's a lot different trying to replace Moses this year being able to plan and practice for it compared to losing him last year in the NCAAT.

 

[GTbball2016]

Devoe isn’t just having an All-ACC start to the season, he looks like an All-American.

 

[CuseJacket]

 

[alagold]

Love Pastner. The game has changed dramatically from when Cremins was here. But I think Pastner can keep us competitive year in and year out with a great season thrown in every few years. Kind of what everyone would want in football I think.

Sorry, I love your enthusiasm but you are dreaming.Unless we get some top transfers next yr ,without Ush and Devoe, we will struggle BIGtime. That first half was an idea of what happens w/o Devoe.As bad a half as Pastner has had and not nearly vs a ranked team If you think this yr is a high point lets see what happens when we play a top team.

 

[GTNavyNuke]

Sorry, I love your enthusiasm but you are dreaming.Unless we get some top transfers next yr ,without Ush and Devoe, we will struggle BIGtime. That first half was an idea of what happens w/o Devoe.As bad a half as Pastner has had and not nearly vs a ranked team If you think this yr is a high point lets see what happens when we play a top team.

Pastner makes the sum of the whole better than the sum of the parts.

We are going to lose a bunch of games to better teams. Just as long as we win the ones we should and steal a few, that's all I want.

You may be right about next year but have to enjoy the day. Tomorrow unfortunately is another day.

 

[lv20gt]

Sorry, I love your enthusiasm but you are dreaming.Unless we get some top transfers next yr ,without Ush and Devoe, we will struggle BIGtime. That first half was an idea of what happens w/o Devoe.

No it isn't. I swear some of you want to be miserable. It's year 6. We've seen time and time again what this staff can do with development, and you're going to act like somehow we're getting a glimpse of what next year will be like as if a bunch of our players won't be significantly different even by the end of the year much less after an offseason to reflect? There is a very big difference in playing after you have prepared and practiced for having a guy vs playing with an entire offseason knowing you won't have a guy. The first half wasn't a glimpse for next year. It was an idea of what this team will be missing something like 5 players with how many others trying to play through the flu and nothing more.

 

[Fatmike91]

. Too much red and black

/

 

[Jophish17]

Sorry, I love your enthusiasm but you are dreaming.Unless we get some top transfers next yr ,without Ush and Devoe, we will struggle BIGtime. That first half was an idea of what happens w/o Devoe.As bad a half as Pastner has had and not nearly vs a ranked team If you think this yr is a high point lets see what happens when we play a top team.

How many times do you have to see this staff develop players before you get some faith in the future?

 

[jacket38]

In case you missed Devoe’s flu game lol

 

[New Old Guy]

No it isn't. I swear some of you want to be miserable. It's year 6. We've seen time and time again what this staff can do with development, and you're going to act like somehow we're getting a glimpse of what next year will be like as if a bunch of our players won't be significantly different even by the end of the year much less after an offseason to reflect? There is a very big difference in playing after you have prepared and practiced for having a guy vs playing with an entire offseason knowing you won't have a guy. The first half wasn't a glimpse for next year. It was an idea of what this team will be missing something like 5 players with how many others trying to play through the flu and nothing more.

Agree. We actually had 8 out due to flu and injuries. Devoe was so sick he couldn’t start the game and sat the first 10 minutes. With Mike, Smith and Bubba out at the beginning of the game, we were down to a single point guard (Kyle), with a walk on (Coleman) as the only back up.

And we still pulled out a gutsy win.

If your POV is that yesterday indicates the future of GT MBB, you must have a pretty pessimistic outlook in general.

 

[iopjacket]

Sorry, I love your enthusiasm but you are dreaming.Unless we get some top transfers next yr ,without Ush and Devoe, we will struggle BIGtime. That first half was an idea of what happens w/o Devoe.As bad a half as Pastner has had and not nearly vs a ranked team If you think this yr is a high point lets see what happens when we play a top team.

Georgia Tech Basketball today is in a better place than it has been in more than a decade. There is a lot of young talent on this team which Pastner and his staff can teach. The team just gutted through two games that could have been easily lost.

IMHO the future looks bright. We may not win every game, but the team appears to want to play hard and improve.

 

[bke1984]

You can’t go by this game even if GT wins

Agreed. Back to back games by Usher and Devoe with the flu each willing us to victory.

We looked completely gassed at the end. Multiple times had almost the entire team walking the ball up the court at the end just trying to limp across the finish line. I’m just glad we got the W because no one would have cared come March.

These next two games will tell us a lot about this team. I think we will found out what we really have in Howard and get a chance to see whether our D is up to the challenge.