Hawaii Diamond Head Classic

JacketOff

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2,953
*Sigh* Another miserable game to watch. There was one sequence in the first half that consisted of an Usher slash and slam, a defensive stop, and a Devoe 3 that looked like really good basketball. Then it was pretty much unwatchable after that. The offense remains abysmal. I’m so sick of watching them run the triple option at the top of the key for 20 seconds every possession, only for Wright to end up with the ball there with 5 seconds on the shot clock. How can you be 11 games into year 4 and still have what I assume are designed plays for your 4/5 guy to constantly handle the ball on the perimeter? Because if they aren’t designed, there’s no reason he should ever be up there. The guy is a good post player, let him f***ing stay down there. Devoe and Usher look like they try to hard to create their own shots at times, especially when Devoe drives. When the defense forces turnovers or gets a fast break of any kind, the transition offense never converts opportunities into points. Banks has looked defeated ever since the NC St. game. Whatever is going on with TStan just adds to the obstacles already in place for moving on from Pastner, but I sure hope it comes sooner than later.
 

YlJacket

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This game doesn't bother me nearly as much as SYR or Ball State. This definitely does NOT go in the **** show category. They really are simply a better team. We played gritty and hard so those comments about the team possibly quitting at Ball State don't seem to be continuing.

We simply don't have anyone who can create their own shot against long athletic defenders. And the offense we run is generally a space/move the ball and hope someone can drive the paint type of offense. We couldn't do it. We don't have anyone including DeVoe who can take these kind of guys off the dribble and score. We don't do a good job of creating clean 3 point shots for guys like DeVoe who can make them. Moore is useless on the offensive end and unfortunately Bubba hasn't stepped up.

Beyond that I have no answer for why we got outrebounded 42 - 25 and gave up 16 offensive rebounds. Thank god their bigs simply turned and threw the ball back out. If they could have scored on putbacks we lose by 25.

I wasn't sure why Houston went away from some of the things that they were successful with in the first half - zone and man - but that doesn't take away from the fact we played better D in the second half. IF we can find a way to play that level of D consistently AND find a way to put guys in scoring position - especially from 3 - then we have a shot to get better. But we are going to have to have the best record in the ACC we have had in a decade for it to matter at all.
 
Peacone36

Peacone36

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YlJacket said:
This game doesn't bother me nearly as much as SYR or Ball State. This definitely does NOT go in the **** show category. They really are simply a better team. We played gritty and hard so those comments about the team possibly quitting at Ball State don't seem to be continuing.

We simply don't have anyone who can create their own shot against long athletic defenders. And the offense we run is generally a space/move the ball and hope someone can drive the paint type of offense. We couldn't do it. We don't have anyone including DeVoe who can take these kind of guys off the dribble and score. We don't do a good job of creating clean 3 point shots for guys like DeVoe who can make them. Moore is useless on the offensive end and unfortunately Bubba hasn't stepped up.

Beyond that I have no answer for why we got outrebounded 42 - 25 and gave up 16 offensive rebounds. Thank god their bigs simply turned and threw the ball back out. If they could have scored on putbacks we lose by 25.

I wasn't sure why Houston went away from some of the things that they were successful with in the first half - zone and man - but that doesn't take away from the fact we played better D in the second half. IF we can find a way to play that level of D consistently AND find a way to put guys in scoring position - especially from 3 - then we have a shot to get better. But we are going to have to have the best record in the ACC we have had in a decade for it to matter at all.
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wouldn’t it be fantastic if we had a coach that could create an opportunity for our best player other than a dribble hand off at the top of the key and standing around and watching him create.

a double baseline screen would be too much to ask or creative I guess.....
 

lv20gt

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Moses continued his great year with a 19-10 performance. He had to force some shots late in the shot clock but overal I thought he played well.

Usher gave us a mix of the good and bad we saw the past two games. He plays with the level of confidence and intensity that I think our team needs but he needs to work on his decision making.

Mike turned it on at the end, and I get that Houston had let up somewhat to try and avoid fouls, but we need more of that from him. There was a time after a time out where he took a somewhat contested 3, missed, got it back off a long rebound from the same spot and sunk it. That's what I would like to see more out of him. He's a great 3 point shooter. He needs to force the issue a little more.

Jose played okay and made a pretty big impact on D in the second half but you can tell he has missed time and not full speed. Even so his impact on most of the team is noticeable. Also, we only had 9 TOs tonight which was a big improvement.

I don't want to hammer on Banks too much but something is just wrong with him. I was hoping Jose coming back would open things up more for him and break him from his funk but it looks like that isn't the case. That's a big issue that I don't think we have much of an answer for. Defensively we've obviously prepared to funnel guys to him and let him clean up but that backfired tonight, especially in the first half.

Moore and Bubba both need to find their place and be able to contribute more. We need to do a better job getting Bubba some looks and he has to be a little more selfish in his shot selection. We desperately need him to be a threat from 3, and that might mean he has to force the issue more than otherwise. Moore just isn't playing well. It's not that I think he's trying to do stuff he can't do but more that he's just in his own head. Honestly, the move to the bench seems to have affected him, and with Usher playing so hyped up it might be worthwhile to start Moore and bring Usher in as a spark plug. Or play them both and have Banks come off the bench until he earns the starting job.

Overall I thought we played okay. Certainly not great, but also not the type of hope draining loss that the Ball State or Syracuse games were. This game felt more like it was decided by them having the best player on the court in Grimes, and us not having an answer. It sucks to lose, but I can live with us losing because the other team is more talented (UK) or just has the best player (Houston). It's the Cuse and Ball State games that are just the ones we can't have.

I expect tomorrow's game to be ugly considering it's the third game in three days and we're playing such a short rotation. I would like to see us try to force the ball to Banks in a good position to try and bust him out of his funk. Would also like to see us try and run some sets designed specifically for Mike or Bubba to get a look and tell them to shoot even if it isn't a great look. We need Banks to get his head back on straight and those two to get on track from behind the arc.
 

RyanS12

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lv20gt said:
Moses continued his great year with a 19-10 performance. He had to force some shots late in the shot clock but overal I thought he played well.

Usher gave us a mix of the good and bad we saw the past two games. He plays with the level of confidence and intensity that I think our team needs but he needs to work on his decision making.

Mike turned it on at the end, and I get that Houston had let up somewhat to try and avoid fouls, but we need more of that from him. There was a time after a time out where he took a somewhat contested 3, missed, got it back off a long rebound from the same spot and sunk it. That's what I would like to see more out of him. He's a great 3 point shooter. He needs to force the issue a little more.

Jose played okay and made a pretty big impact on D in the second half but you can tell he has missed time and not full speed. Even so his impact on most of the team is noticeable. Also, we only had 9 TOs tonight which was a big improvement.

I don't want to hammer on Banks too much but something is just wrong with him. I was hoping Jose coming back would open things up more for him and break him from his funk but it looks like that isn't the case. That's a big issue that I don't think we have much of an answer for. Defensively we've obviously prepared to funnel guys to him and let him clean up but that backfired tonight, especially in the first half.

Moore and Bubba both need to find their place and be able to contribute more. We need to do a better job getting Bubba some looks and he has to be a little more selfish in his shot selection. We desperately need him to be a threat from 3, and that might mean he has to force the issue more than otherwise. Moore just isn't playing well. It's not that I think he's trying to do stuff he can't do but more that he's just in his own head. Honestly, the move to the bench seems to have affected him, and with Usher playing so hyped up it might be worthwhile to start Moore and bring Usher in as a spark plug. Or play them both and have Banks come off the bench until he earns the starting job.

Overall I thought we played okay. Certainly not great, but also not the type of hope draining loss that the Ball State or Syracuse games were. This game felt more like it was decided by them having the best player on the court in Grimes, and us not having an answer. It sucks to lose, but I can live with us losing because the other team is more talented (UK) or just has the best player (Houston). It's the Cuse and Ball State games that are just the ones we can't have.

I expect tomorrow's game to be ugly considering it's the third game in three days and we're playing such a short rotation. I would like to see us try to force the ball to Banks in a good position to try and bust him out of his funk. Would also like to see us try and run some sets designed specifically for Mike or Bubba to get a look and tell them to shoot even if it isn't a great look. We need Banks to get his head back on straight and those two to get on track from behind the arc.
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The game is Christmas Day. They get tomorrow off.
 
jbix80

jbix80

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Peacone36 said:
wouldn’t it be fantastic if we had a coach that could create an opportunity for our best player other than a dribble hand off at the top of the key and standing around and watching him create.

a double baseline screen would be too much to ask or creative I guess.....
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We have to set some things up for Devoe on offense. He is our most skilled scorer. But most the game they have him stand in the corner and do nothing.
 
jbix80

jbix80

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The offensive boards were primarily when we were in our 1-3-1. Our perimeter players were not crashing. Part of that was trying to stay close to Grimes. The other part was that we watched on several occasions.
 
kg01

kg01

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bwelbo said:
giphy.gif
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I think we should really piss c62 off by having a merry Christmas and kissing his arse.

That'll show 'im. :smuggrin:
 

MiracleWhips

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583
How can anyone be mad at this L? Houston was a NET 44 team. The team competed the whole game. Houston was definitely the better team tonight. We couldn’t do anything against that high ball screen the whole night. That’s probably the main thing I was disappointed with the whole night.
 

GTsports1819

Georgia Tech Fan
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MiracleWhips said:
How can anyone be mad at this L? Houston was a NET 44 team. The team competed the whole game. Houston was definitely the better team tonight. We couldn’t do anything against that high ball screen the whole night. That’s probably the main thing I was disappointed with the whole night.
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Yeah it’s hard to be mad about it because Houston is a good team. But there were definitely some frustrating sequences where it looked like we could get back in the game or take the momentum, and we gave those away by missing layups, fouling, giving up offensive rebounds etc.

Overall it was still a pretty good effort. Limited turnovers compared to prior games. FT shooting was a little better. I think everyone would feel a lot better about this one if we’d beaten ball state along with at least one of ARK/UGA/Cuse...
 

alagold

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GTsports1819 said:
Yeah it’s hard to be mad about it because Houston is a good team. But there were definitely some frustrating sequences where it looked like we could get back in the game or take the momentum, and we gave those away by missing layups, fouling, giving up offensive rebounds etc.

Overall it was still a pretty good effort. Limited turnovers compared to prior games. FT shooting was a little better. I think everyone would feel a lot better about this one if we’d beaten ball state along with at least one of ARK/UGA/Cuse...
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Lotta IF. That will probably be the story of this season.
 
gte447f

gte447f

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GTsports1819 said:
Yeah it’s hard to be mad about it because Houston is a good team. But there were definitely some frustrating sequences where it looked like we could get back in the game or take the momentum, and we gave those away by missing layups, fouling, giving up offensive rebounds etc.

Overall it was still a pretty good effort. Limited turnovers compared to prior games. FT shooting was a little better. I think everyone would feel a lot better about this one if we’d beaten ball state along with at least one of ARK/UGA/Cuse...
Click to expand...

Yeah, it’s frustrating because it was a hard fought game that was winnable. For a lot of the second half it felt like we were right on the edge of getting back even, and yet it also felt hopelessly out of reach at the same time because we are just so ineffective on offense. It’s extra frustrating when every close winnable game we are in seems to turn out the same way, then you sprinkle in a few complete duds like cuse and ball state. When does it end?
 
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