GT-VT game thread.

[ESPNjacket]

I think that it is safe to say that JaVon has developed immensely. He's been one of our best for the last 4-5 games. Double-Doubles, dunking on people game after game, blocking shots.

Don't allow Rodney's regression to take away from the develop of Franklin. Also, don't overlook Moore, he is on the verge. If you need more examples of develop, Deivon has really turned a corner as well.

From my vantage point, Deebo and Miles also seem to be getting more mature (i.e., consistent hustle, playing a complete floor game). They're effecting the game without the ball.

Our guys have gotten better, no doubt it. Not taking anything away from Rev, but it was more than just him. Like Josh said, it came about month too late this year.

Unfortunately finding a lineup that can execute came about 3 months too late. Other than discovering a line up that can work, our offensive spacing is much better in the last few games.

 

[Home Park Jacket]

I think that it is safe to say that JaVon has developed immensely. He's been one of our best for the last 4-5 games. Double-Doubles, dunking on people game after game, blocking shots.

Don't allow Rodney's regression to take away from the develop of Franklin. Also, don't overlook Moore, he is on the verge. If you need more examples of develop, Deivon has really turned a corner as well.

From my vantage point, Deebo and Miles also seem to be getting more mature (i.e., consistent hustle, playing a complete floor game). They're effecting the game without the ball.

Our guys have gotten better, no doubt it. Not taking anything away from Rev, but it was more than just him. Like Josh said, it came about month too late this year.

This. Deebo and Miles body language has changed. Confidence and hustle. Lance as well. Unfortunately coaches went to this lineup too late.

 

[gameface]

I think one aspect of the early losses and later successes is trying to rely on 3 or 4 sophs to carry a team. Compare this to PItt who; although they are mostly transfers, have 23 and 24 year olds leading their team. Notice we are getting better play all around (5 scorers with 10+ points) since Franklin and Terry are doing more of the heavy lifting.

 

[Root4GT]

I think that it is safe to say that JaVon has developed immensely. He's been one of our best for the last 4-5 games. Double-Doubles, dunking on people game after game, blocking shots.

Don't allow Rodney's regression to take away from the develop of Franklin. Also, don't overlook Moore, he is on the verge. If you need more examples of develop, Deivon has really turned a corner as well.

From my vantage point, Deebo and Miles also seem to be getting more mature (i.e., consistent hustle, playing a complete floor game). They're effecting the game without the ball.

Our guys have gotten better, no doubt it. Not taking anything away from Rev, but it was more than just him. Like Josh said, it came about month too late this year.

Any thoughts on why it took so long this year for the guys to start executing at a much better level? Franklin is a joy to watch. He is always smiling and plays with great energy. He and Smith both can jump out of a Gym. Hope Smith returns soon as he is also fun to watch. Love watching him sky ofer both teams for rebounds.

 

[57jacket]

Any thoughts on why it took so long this year for the guys to start executing at a much better level? Franklin is a joy to watch. He is always smiling and plays with great energy. He and Smith both can jump out of a Gym. Hope Smith returns soon as he is also fun to watch. Love watching him sky ofer both teams for rebounds.

It's really puzzling. I always thought the 3 sophs had talent. Franklin should have played all year. Just must be coaching.

 

[lv20gt]

Zero minutes for Howard. hard to argue with that, but you would think he can give Franklin a rest for a minute. Franklin has been balling lately and had a great game, but is Howard in the doghouse or what? we used to develop big men when Reveno was an assistant and now...

I'd argue that even under Rev we struggled to utilize true low post type bigs. Lammers fit well because of his skill set, but Banks never really seemed to seem comfortable on offense, but his defense was so good that he remained on the floor, and you can see that when the team started to get better, after putting in the new offense, his numbers declined a good bit the last 12 or so games. Moses developed well but was also more of a stretch 4 type who could shoot and put the ball on the floor. And Howard didn't seem to gel even when we had rev.

To me the issue seems more that the coaching staff doesn't do a great job developing bigs who don't possess some ability to step away from the basket and work effectively, either through passing, shooting, or putting it on the floor. I think that is somewhat reflected in the bigs we've brought in as I would argue that type of set up suited Gigiberia and Martynov better than Banks or Howard, although maybe not at this level for Gigiberia. I think the staff also hasn't done a good job of get bigs enough experience before really relying on them heavily. We got away with it with Lammers and Banks almost out of necessity, but Howard didn't get a lot of experience until last year where he was expected to give us starter minutes.

 

[lv20gt]

It's really puzzling. I always thought the 3 sophs had talent. Franklin should have played all year. Just must be coaching.

You're acting like Franklin hasn't logged significant minutes all year.

 

[YlJacket]

It's really puzzling. I always thought the 3 sophs had talent. Franklin should have played all year. Just must be coaching.

I think it is coaching but not in the player development angle being discussed. I go back to ESPN's comment that the spacing is much better the last several games. Specifically, we have gone away from the tight to the lane pin down handoff screen by the big to a guard going to the top of the foul line area. When Franklin gets the ball - which is a lot less than he used to - he is looking to go foul line extended or even higher to find the handoff screen. So instead of having a guard try to drive after the tight pin down screen we are moving the ball side to side and running wider pin downs for Kelly or even a couple of flair screens. Much cleaner lane and the ball is staying in the guards hands rather than Franklin or Howard.

It is an approach that fits the skill sets of Coleman/Kelly/Terry/Smith and avoids the lack of a high post Princeton 5. The coaching angle is that the lack of a high post Princeton 5 should have been obvious in preseason and making an adjustment to the strength of the team should have been done then. That IMHO is a much bigger coaching issue than whether we can develop a big for the atypical high post Princeton 5 spot. Maximize what you got.

 

[gameface]

It's really puzzling. I always thought the 3 sophs had talent. Franklin should have played all year. Just must be coaching.

I think there is a difference between having talent and having the team relying on them to score.

 

[Techwood Relict]

Maximize what you got

Or adapt and overcome. Better solutions sooner would salve a lot of our coaching complaints here in Swarmland....

 

[57jacket]

I think it is coaching but not in the player development angle being discussed. I go back to ESPN's comment that the spacing is much better the last several games. Specifically, we have gone away from the tight to the lane pin down handoff screen by the big to a guard going to the top of the foul line area. When Franklin gets the ball - which is a lot less than he used to - he is looking to go foul line extended or even higher to find the handoff screen. So instead of having a guard try to drive after the tight pin down screen we are moving the ball side to side and running wider pin downs for Kelly or even a couple of flair screens. Much cleaner lane and the ball is staying in the guards hands rather than Franklin or Howard.

It is an approach that fits the skill sets of Coleman/Kelly/Terry/Smith and avoids the lack of a high post Princeton 5. The coaching angle is that the lack of a high post Princeton 5 should have been obvious in preseason and making an adjustment to the strength of the team should have been done then. That IMHO is a much bigger coaching issue than whether we can develop a big for the atypical high post Princeton 5 spot. Maximize what you got.

Absolutely. Well said. The Princeton O did not maximize the talent we have. He stubbornly kept using it. Let's see what he does now.

 

[Connell62]

Any thoughts on why it took so long this year for the guys to start executing at a much better level? Franklin is a joy to watch. He is always smiling and plays with great energy. He and Smith both can jump out of a Gym. Hope Smith returns soon as he is also fun to watch. Love watching him sky ofer both teams for rebounds.

I think that it is because we were relying on sophomores that (for the most part) hadn't been relied on before. It has taken them some time to understand what is required to play at a high level.

They're beginning to bring it on defense, the boards, etc. Improving in those areas and their overall effort level has allowed the game to come to them.

Obviously JaVon has been a monster. Double-double machine, dunking on everybody, blocking shots.. Kyle S. has also averaged 10ppg over the last four games.

 

[ESPNjacket]

I think that it is because we were relying on sophomores that (for the most part) hadn't been relied on before. It has taken them some time to understand what is required to play at a high level.

They're beginning to bring it on defense, the boards, etc. Improving in those areas and their overall effort level has allowed the game to come to them.

Obviously JaVon has been a monster. Double-double machine, dunking on everybody, blocking shots.. Kyle S. has also averaged 10ppg over the last four games.

Well, that and we were running a clogged up offense that didn't utilize their skills.

 

[MidtownJacket]

We needed someone to start taking over possessions. So that they could start taking over series of 3-5 minutes so they could start letting other guys play less tight.

It really is as simple as that. This team could shoot all preseason long, then they got kicked while they were down and clamped up post uGa game moving into the conference season and it’s MurdersRow opening. You can’t win games in this league without getting into 70-80 points. It’s that simple. I know a lot of people like to clown CJP about his race to 70 comments but he is right.

We are finally starting to see dudes flex on their opponent individually and that means Deebo can go off go 20+ or JFrank can snag a few double doubles and start bending rims.

It’s so mental. The good news is that we have got some horses and some potential. Who knows - maybe we can get hot and win a few in the ACCT early rounds. From there, nothing is impossible - improbable maybe - but hey there’s a reason I was recently named as a potential lead recruiter for the #AllGTSwarmCoachingSquad™.

 

[SecretAgentBuzz]

Nice win! At this point, I'll take any victories. A few notes:

-Franklin was our best player early in the season. Then he got injured and even when he came back, it took a while before he was comfortable again. Now that he is back to 100%, I think he is our best player again. He plays bigger than his size, rebounds well, defends the post, even passes well out of the elbow. He is all energy and effort, and our team needs that.
-Biggest difference between this game and many many others? We made shots. 50% from three? Yeah, that will do every time. I don't know what happened earlier in the ACC schedule when we couldn't hit anything, but now that we are making our shots again, we are a much better team.
-Congrats to Deebo on 21 points! That's the kind of aggressiveness we need from him!
-I don't trust Kyle with the ball late in games.
-I like the shorter rotation.

 

[okiemon]

We shot 50% from 3 and there are a bunch of posts whining about free throws. Classic!

I think those are legit posts. 50%-ish at the FT line will lose more games for you than it will win. Pastner himself said we did not shoot free throws well.

 

[Root4GT]

I think that it is because we were relying on sophomores that (for the most part) hadn't been relied on before. It has taken them some time to understand what is required to play at a high level.

They're beginning to bring it on defense, the boards, etc. Improving in those areas and their overall effort level has allowed the game to come to them.

Obviously JaVon has been a monster. Double-double machine, dunking on everybody, blocking shots.. Kyle S. has also averaged 10ppg over the last four games.

Makes sense. Seems we still need a good PG for next year. If Smith was actually a good shooter he would be solid. I would love to see him work on a floater in the lane this offseason. That's a tough shot to master. If he could it would give him far more scoring opportunities and pull defenders away from the rim helping teammates get easy baskets. Also it's important for PGs th be at least 70% on FTs as they should have the ball in end game situations.

 

[GaTech4ever]

While some posters are rightfully mentioning that the turnaround happened a month late, it’s worth noting a solid end to the season could convince players not to transfer. Which could lead to having a pretty solid team next season, dependent on getting the seemingly annual big man transfer.

Can anyone confirm who we’re guaranteed to lose based on eligibility? The covid thing has screwed me up and makes me think Sturdivant and Howard could opt-in next season too.

 

[alagold]

Zero minutes for Howard. hard to argue with that, but you would think he can give Franklin a rest for a minute. Franklin has been balling lately and had a great game, but is Howard in the doghouse or what? we used to develop big men when Reveno was an assistant and now...

I'm sorry but but Javon looked like a keeper from the start--much quicker and skilled than Howard. Why JP couldn't see this I don't know since he was very capable at S.Ala. Howard has always been the classic backup CTr.Come in for short spurts with energy to bang and clog middle. oh,well better late than never.

 

[AUFC]

While some posters are rightfully mentioning that the turnaround happened a month late, it’s worth noting a solid end to the season could convince players not to transfer. Which could lead to having a pretty solid team next season, dependent on getting the seemingly annual big man transfer.

Can anyone confirm who we’re guaranteed to lose based on eligibility? The covid thing has screwed me up and makes me think Sturdivant and Howard could opt-in next season too.

I would like a recap on this as well. I thought Franklin and Terry were grad transfers but this is only their 4th season. I thought Sturdivant was gone and Howard was eligible next year. None of these guys are in their 5th year currently - are all eligible to return?