GT vs Virginia Polytechnic 2/23

MWBATL

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This is just a lost season. Hope the coaching staff and players figure something out for next year....
 

jbix80

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Another close loss. A few more "winning plays," and we take this one. For the most part, the team played well, but we just can't seem to make the big shot or make the big stop. Did we use up all of our "luck" last year? Or does this team lack a winning edge? I really don't know the answer, but it is frustrating because, despite our poor record, we aren't far away.

-Howard has really turned the corner, and he is making a huge difference right now when he is on the court. He was only +1 but when we needed a basket he was the one to get it (who would have thought?). It's a shame he was in foul trouble all game, especially since only two or maybe three of those were real fouls. He does foul too much, but I thought he played good defense but got called for some bogus fouls. Reveno Magic is real.
-There was a real dropoff when Howard went out. Meka is a pretty good defender, but lacks a lot on offense. When he is in, we should never run the Princeton elbow through him--he is not strong with the ball.
-Too many TOs again. VT defended the passing lanes well and we tried to force things.
-JMoore was once again good, and he had more minutes that KhMoore in this one. The two blocks and the 3 were big. The rest...a mixed bag.
-We played some funky defense in this one. I think we were afraid of getting killed by Aluma on the inside, but our zone went really wacky a few times. I like how it confuses the defense.
-VT had one stretch where Maddox came out of nowhere to score 8 in a couple of minutes, and that made the difference. I like how we stormed back at the end, but again, when we needed a big shot to tie the game, we couldn't get it to go.
-Officiating was bad again, but at least it was consistently inconsistent. Fouls and FT were about even.
-We missed Deivon. His speed and athleticism would have been helpful. Sturdy was sturdy, and made some big shots.

I am enjoying watching all of these games. I don't like losing and I know the team doesn't either. Let's go beat ND! Go Jackets!
I put something about Howard’s +/- earlier. I didn’t what it was for the game, but I’m surprised it was only +1. He was differences last night. When he went out, you could tell.
 

jayparr

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Howard has really taken a huge step up!! The only thing I see that could change is to not lean his body into the shooter. For one he is not not tall enough without the jumping good to block shots, and these are guarding the goal! When he guards a jump shot he is jumping with both arms and hands up high!! That really does block the shooters vision! If you can block vision the shot misses then that is like a blocked shot because the ball is loose!!
 

Techster

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18,235
Yeah, if we had this Howard all season, that's probably 3 or 4 more wins. Having any kind of interior threat is so helpful

Howard was pretty decent to start the season. Not quite as good as he has been lately, but you saw enough to see that Howard could be productive for us. It's starting to click for him. I wrote earlier in the season that my buddy was part of UGA's basketball program when he was a student there. He's still plugged into their bball team. Crean basically lost all faith that Howard would be productive for them. Shows you how well of a staff we have at GT that Reveno has turned Howard into a key member who has the potential to be a double double guy for us. He just needs to work on not fouling as much as that's been killer for him...and us.

On another note, since I have been occupied with work obligations the past couple of months, I haven't been able to catch the games live. I did get to see the second half of this game and one guy that piqued my interest has been Jalon Moore. He's very raw at the moment, but what has me excited for him is his athleticism, movement, and explosiveness. In a way, he kind of reminds me of Moses Wright. The athleticism and explosiveness jumps off the screen. He's listed at 6'6, but plays taller. It seems that he gets by his man pretty easily, and he's not afraid to take the defender on. He's got a little bit of Jordan Usher in him as well.

You can tell the staff is transitioning a bit lately. I think they know the outcome for the team this season so they're starting to blood the talent for next season. There were stretches where Usher and Devoe were on the bench at the same time and we got a glimpse of our team for next season.
 

augustabuzz

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Howard was pretty decent to start the season. Not quite as good as he has been lately, but you saw enough to see that Howard could be productive for us. It's starting to click for him. I wrote earlier in the season that my buddy was part of UGA's basketball program when he was a student there. He's still plugged into their bball team. Crean basically lost all faith that Howard would be productive for them. Shows you how well of a staff we have at GT that Reveno has turned Howard into a key member who has the potential to be a double double guy for us. He just needs to work on not fouling as much as that's been killer for him...and us.

On another note, since I have been occupied with work obligations the past couple of months, I haven't been able to catch the games live. I did get to see the second half of this game and one guy that piqued my interest has been Jalon Moore. He's very raw at the moment, but what has me excited for him is his athleticism, movement, and explosiveness. In a way, he kind of reminds me of Moses Wright. The athleticism and explosiveness jumps off the screen. He's listed at 6'6, but plays taller. It seems that he gets by his man pretty easily, and he's not afraid to take the defender on. He's got a little bit of Jordan Usher in him as well.

You can tell the staff is transitioning a bit lately. I think they know the outcome for the team this season so they're starting to blood the talent for next season. There were stretches where Usher and Devoe were on the bench at the same time and we got a glimpse of our team for next season.
I agree with you on Jalon Moore. As for Howard, I believe they could put a life size statue of him on the floor and the statue would foul out.
 

mstranahan

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1,561
Devoe T was more the result of a series of things than just screaming "B***S**t" at Ayers after the call. He had popped off to Roger a few times and about two minutes before the call, Ayers pulled him aside and pretty clearly and emphatically told him to calm down and stop with the complaining. As soon as he did it again, it was an easy / automatic T.
 
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