GT vs. Ga Sou

Root4GT

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Will you provide a short list of teams that were not dependent on their best player and one of the top scorers in their league?

Why would you suggest that our ceiling will be determined in early December when in each of our last two seasons we were playing our best ball at the end of February?
If we lose 3 of the next 4 we will need to win the ACCT to get into the NCAAs. No chance we beat Duke in the ACCTthis year unless they suffer a bunch of injuries. The ACC is so down we won’t have the strength of schedule to get in unless we at minimum split the next 4 games.

It’s one thing to struggle against good teams without your best player. It’s very different to do so against teams that aren’t very good.

Do you have a different take?
 

slugboy

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If we lose 3 of the next 4 we will need to win the ACCT to get into the NCAAs. No chance we beat Duke in the ACCTthis year unless they suffer a bunch of injuries. The ACC is so down we won’t have the strength of schedule to get in unless we at minimum split the next 4 games.

It’s one thing to struggle against good teams without your best player. It’s very different to do so against teams that aren’t very good.

Do you have a different take?
I’m sure by teams “that aren’t very good” you mean Georgia Southern. Keep in mind, that our starters were visibly ill during the games. So not only were we down, but the players putting in 36 minutes really shouldn’t have even been playing in normal circumstances. In both games, Usher looked washed out in the second half of both games—he was sick, but still playing. We barely had 10 players to even dress out.

As for the upcoming games, I don’t understand how going 1-3 says “this isn’t a tournament team”

Wisconsin #32 KenPom. AP #23
USC #12 KenPom. AP #20
North Carolina #50 KenPom. AP “getting votes”
LSU #17 KenPom. “getting votes, probably #28”

First, we haven’t played them yet.
Second, the weakest team on the list is North Carolina
 
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D-man44

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I’m sure by teams “that aren’t very good” you mean Georgia Southern. Keep in mind, that our starters were visibly ill during the games. So not only were we down, but the players putting in 36 minutes really shouldn’t have even been playing in normal circumstances. In both games, Usher looked washed out in the second half of both games—he was sick, but still playing. We barely had 10 players to even dress out.

As for the upcoming games, I don’t understand how going 1-3 says “this isn’t a tournament team”

Wisconsin #32 KenPom. AP #23
USC #12 KenPom. AP #20
North Carolina #50 KenPom. AP “getting votes”
LSU #17 KenPom. “getting votes, probably #28”

First, we haven’t played them yet.
Second, the weakest team on the list is North Carolina
I think UNC is a different challenge because tech doesn't matchup well with how they play. They are going to space the floor (4 guys avg over 4 3 pt attempts per game) and hammer it in to Bacot. Idk if Howard can really bang with someone like Bacot and avoid foul trouble without help leaving the shooters open. I'm not saying Tech can't win but Bacot along with UNC's tendency to jack up 3s is going to be tough to counter.
 

slugboy

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I think UNC is a different challenge because tech doesn't matchup well with how they play. They are going to space the floor (4 guys avg over 4 3 pt attempts per game) and hammer it in to Bacot. Idk if Howard can really bang with someone like Bacot and avoid foul trouble without help leaving the shooters open. I'm not saying Tech can't win but Bacot along with UNC's tendency to jack up 3s is going to be tough to counter.
That's good info, and hopefully the coaches can come up with a plan.

I meant more that the next four games have an upside for resume-building, but I don't think that it's the end of the season if we don't at least split. If we DO split, I'm feeling pretty good about the season, because we're traditionally a slow starting team.
 

orientalnc

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The Wisconsin game is going to be tough. Their big center can shoot threes and doesn't ever seem to be on the low post. Maybe against the zone they will be different, but in their Houston game (M2M) he played on the elbow and stepped out frequently. When he is off the floor they bring in a 7-foot senior who averaged 11 a game 2 years ago.

The thing that may help us is they don't try to hammer the ball inside much at all. But they are great passers and several are good 3-point shooters. They may try to shoot us out of the zone.

On D they will try to make every pass a challenge, so we need to move the ball quickly. And they are very good helping on defense.

Bottom line. This will be tough game.
 

Root4GT

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I’m sure by teams “that aren’t very good” you mean Georgia Southern. Keep in mind, that our starters were visibly ill during the games. So not only were we down, but the players putting in 36 minutes really shouldn’t have even been playing in normal circumstances. In both games, Usher looked washed out in the second half of both games—he was sick, but still playing. We barely had 10 players to even dress out.

As for the upcoming games, I don’t understand how going 1-3 says “this isn’t a tournament team”

Wisconsin #32 KenPom. AP #23
USC #12 KenPom. AP #20
North Carolina #50 KenPom. AP “getting votes”
LSU #17 KenPom. “getting votes, probably #28”

First, we haven’t played them yet.
Second, the weakest team on the list is North Carolina
We haven't played a good team yet. The next 4 games will tell us what our ceiling is this year. The ACC is basically a weak conference this year outside of Duke. A wining record in the ACC regular season with a crap OOC record gets us to the NIT! If we go 1-3 in the next 4 we are in for a meh year at best. Win 3 of 4 we have real potential.
 

slugboy

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We haven't played a good team yet. The next 4 games will tell us what our ceiling is this year. The ACC is basically a weak conference this year outside of Duke. A wining record in the ACC regular season with a crap OOC record gets us to the NIT! If we go 1-3 in the next 4 we are in for a meh year at best. Win 3 of 4 we have real potential.
If we win 3/4 against #20, #23, #28, and #30, we’re at least a top 25 team, right? That’s more than having potential.
In fact, wouldn’t you expect the #24 team to go 2/4 against that slate?
 

Root4GT

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If we win 3/4 against #20, #23, #28, and #30, we’re at least a top 25 team, right? That’s more than having potential.
In fact, wouldn’t you expect the #24 team to go 2/4 against that slate?
If you have serious NCAAT aspirations we need to be 3-1 in the next 4. 2-2 is ok but likely a bubble team at best. 4-0 and we are golden.
 

Root4GT

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Let’s let the season play itself out before we start worrying about the tournament
You can play your way out of the tournament in Nov - Dec. You can't play your way in then but you sure can set yourself up for success in Nov-Dec. We basically have made it very difficult for ourselves in Nov-Dec under CJP. The next 4 games can change that narrative.
 

D-man44

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You can play your way out of the tournament in Nov - Dec. You can't play your way in then but you sure can set yourself up for success in Nov-Dec. We basically have made it very difficult for ourselves in Nov-Dec under CJP. The next 4 games can change that narrative.
this is absurd all 4 teams that tech plays over the next 4 could end up top 4 seeds in the tournament. If tech splits tech looks like a tournament team at 1-3 they keep themselves in the mix.
 

Root4GT

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this is absurd all 4 teams that tech plays over the next 4 could end up top 4 seeds in the tournament. If tech splits tech looks like a tournament team at 1-3 they keep themselves in the mix.
ACC is 2 -6 against the BIG after 2 nights. We will know a lot more about the conference after tonight. Right now the ACC looks like a BAD basketball Conference. Hard to believe it has fallen that far! The ACC won the first 10 ACC-BIG challenges. I believe it has been BIG 7 - ACC 3 the past 10 years. This year is another BIG win.
 

D-man44

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ACC is 2 -6 against the BIG after 2 nights. We will know a lot more about the conference after tonight. Right now the ACC looks like a BAD basketball Conference. Hard to believe it has fallen that far! The ACC won the first 10 ACC-BIG challenges. I believe it has been BIG 7 - ACC 3 the past 10 years. This year is another BIG win.
I just think it is crazy to think UNC Duke FSU Virginia Louisville Syracuse will stay down long.
 

Root4GT

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I just think it is crazy to think UNC Duke FSU Virginia Louisville Syracuse will stay down long.
You could be correct. So far only Duke has shown they can play with the best teams. Cuse is always a bubble team who plays well in the NCAAT. UVA looks lost so far, losses to Navy, Houston and Iowa. Their only win over a major team is over UGA. FSU got crushed by FLA and Purdue. Their only good win is over Missouri. UNC has lost to Tenn and Perdue. They have no quality wins. Not how the Conference needs to start to get multiple teams decent seeds in the NCAAT. Remember we won the ACC last year and were a #9 seed. OOC games really matter come NCAAT time. I expect that is our goal every year to make the NCAAT.
 
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