Article Jackets head to Miami to take on St. John's

Jackets head to Miami to take on St. John's

KNOXVILLE, TN – NOVEMBER 13: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets guard Michael Devoe (0) takes a shot over Tennessee Volunteers guard Jordan Bowden (23) during a college basketball game between the Tennessee Volunteers and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on November 13, 2018, at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, TN. (Photo by Bryan Lynn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Coach Josh Pastner’s Jackets remain on the road this week. After dropping a game to Northwestern in the ACC/B1G challenge, they head down to Florida to play an undefeated St. John’s squad on Saturday. The contest is being called the Air Force Reserve Hoop Hall Miami Invitational and tips at noon EST on ESPNU.

St. John’s is one of 17 remaining undefeated teams in the NCAA and is currently ranked 46th by KenPom. This game will mark the first time St. John’s has played outside of the NY/NJ area this year. The Red Storm currently rank 245th in strength of schedule and their highest rated opponent, according to KenPom, is Rutgers. Despite the poor schedule and their ability to score in bulk (83 points per game), their average margin of victory is only 11.5 points.

The Red Storm are led by dynamic junior point guard Shamorie Ponds who averages 2o points, 5.2 assists, 3.3 assists per game. Going back to 1992-93, he is the only St. Johns player to have a season of 550 points, 100 assists, 65 steals and less than 10o turnovers. He has done it twice. He is joined this year by high scoring Auburn transfer Mustapha Heron, who was granted immediate eligibility by the NCAA. Heron is currently averaging 18.2 points and 6.2 rebounds. He is also shooting 43.5% (23 attempts) on the young season. As a team St. John’s shoots an impressive 38% from three. LJ Figueroa, a budding star for Coach Chris Mullin, shoots 54% from deep on the season.

As mentioned, St. John’s is coached by former Red Storm superstar Chris Mullin. As a player, Mullin appeared in 125 games, averaged 19.5 points and won the Big East Player of the Year award for three straight seasons. His coaching acumen thus far has been a bit underwhelming, having yet to lead his alma mater to an above .500 season in his first three tries. His record coming into the 2017-18 season was 38-60.

This is an interesting match-up for Georgia Tech. The Johnnies are a live by the three, die by the three team and the Jackets currently rank 14th in the nation in three point percentage against at 25.7%. The good guys only give up 59 points per game, good for 16th in the nation. The contrast in styles is one of the most intriguing parts of this contest. St. Johns is 56th in adjusted tempo (KenPom), while Georgia Tech is currently 190th.

The KenPom metric currently gives St. Johns a 73-70 edge. If Georgia Tech can maintain their defensive intensity and put together a complete game on the road they have a chance. The Red Storm have yet to really play anyone of consequence, while the Jackets have played two opponents inside the top 50 (Kenpom) and both on the road. The Jackets hold the edge as far as being battle tested.

Georgia Tech needs to defend and they need to shoot it. Stop me when this sounds familiar. It is always a grab bag when this program goes on the road. I guess we will just have to see what we see.

 

[THWG16]

Are we really going to lose this game???? I am not a fan of CJP.....

This is terrible

 

[THWG16]

Was ugly early, but looking real good now.

Spoke too soon

 

[Deleted member 2897]

Well, we effectively lost on Ponds' half court shot made at the buzzer. Seems about right for us.

 

[Deleted member 2897]

Up by what - 16 in the 2nd half and lost. Ponds had 37 points. You just can't lose that way. And to lose by 3 when they made a half court shot at the buzzer. LOL.

 

[lv20gt]

Frustrating game. Played so well for 3/4 of the game and then just melt down.

 

[AUFC]

Should have been an easy win up 16 with only one good player on SJU, but it was lost when we started playing 30 second half court offense to limit the number of possessions for each team that early in the half. That strategy works when you're up 16 with 3 minutes to play, not 16.

 

[GTFLETCH]

Really Bad Loss... I was told last year by all the folks on this board that I was being to harsh with CJP, however this is a piss poor loss....

 

[BigDaddyBuzz]

Pastner's luster from year 1 has worn off. This team has no identity except for defense. Offense is a joke. But the main issue is TALENT. Our roster lacks it. We have 3 acc caliber players. The worst part is we have nothing coming in. Our one commit doesn't even start for his juco team.

 

[GTFLETCH]

Pastner's luster from year 1 has worn off. This team has no identity except for defense. Offense is a joke. But the main issue is TALENT. Our roster lacks it. We have 3 acc caliber players. The worst part is we have nothing coming in. Our one commit doesn't even start for his juco team.

Everyone said CJP is a great Recruiter... I am not seeing it...

 

[slugboy]

Well, we effectively lost on Ponds' half court shot made at the buzzer. Seems about right for us.

Seemed good at the start of the second, until Jose’s technical foul. Then, we got away from our play in the paint.
If you believe in halftime adjustments, this game might fit.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[BigDaddyBuzz]

Really Bad Loss... I was told last year by all the folks on this board that I was being to harsh with CJP, however this is a piss poor loss....

you can be as harsh as you want and its well deserved. Pastner looks like he doesn't have a clue. All he talked about preseason was playing fast. We haven't done that yet and his slowdown and run clock today blew the damn game.

 

[joehamiltonfan14]

Blew that game. So tired of losing

 

[lv20gt]

Pastner's luster from year 1 has worn off. This team has no identity except for defense. Offense is a joke. But the main issue is TALENT. Our roster lacks it. We have 3 acc caliber players. The worst part is we have nothing coming in. Our one commit doesn't even start for his juco team.

The main issue isn't talent. It's experience. Both just in general and experience playing together.

 

[AUFC]

you can be as harsh as you want and its well deserved. Pastner looks like he doesn't have a clue. All he talked about preseason was playing fast. We haven't done that yet and his slowdown and run clock today blew the damn game.

Ugh I forgot about the playing fast playing fast playing fast comment he iterates. Why weren't we playing fast the last 16 minutes of the second half? Need a good explanation or undertaking of blame by Pastner on that.

 

[Connell62]

Pastner's luster from year 1 has worn off. This team has no identity except for defense. Offense is a joke. But the main issue is TALENT. Our roster lacks it. We have 3 acc caliber players. The worst part is we have nothing coming in. Our one commit doesn't even start for his juco team.

Really, the talent looked just fine in the first half. Young guys are inconsistent, simply as that. Let’s not act like St. John’s isn’t a talented team. Anyone with a brain knew they were gonna make a run.

Are you going to say the same thing over and over again? You’re beginning to sound like a broken record.

 

[GTbball2016]

Given the current talent level, the absolute disaster of a recruiting class, and the talent level of the other ACC teams, it just doesn't look like there's a light at the end of the tunnel here for Pastner. I'm so tired of the recruiting excuses.

 

[stingem103]

Our b-ball program is embarrassing and has been for a while. There is no buzz or reasons to be excited. We going to rebuild forever? It’s been 10 years since our last bid. I’m done sugar coating this situation. No excuses make 10 years of irrelevancy ok with the advantages/history we have in this sport.

 

[GTbball2016]

Our b-ball program is embarrassing and has been for a while. There is no buzz or reasons to be excited. We going to rebuild forever? It’s been 10 years since our last bid. I’m done sugar coating this situation. No excuses make 10 years of irrelevancy ok with the advantages/history we have in this sport.

All it is, is excuses now. Every recruit we don't get is because of shady stuff. I saw this same thing happened to Bruce Weber and the Illinois program and he ran their recruiting into the dumpster.

 

[YlJacket]

Disapointing to put it mildly. One we could have and should have had.

First, give Ponds some credit. He took on the challenge and got to the paint at will. Now I still want to know how he got the James Hardin treatment from the refs but regardless he played really well.

IMHO this was still more about us - we have no offensive identity and St. Johns pressured us out of any semblance of an offense. It was pretty obvious we had a huge advantage in the paint but they put so much pressure on the ball we could not get the ball inside. We should not be able to be pressured that badly but we also need to have more structure in what we do to help alleviate ball pressure. We depend on simple spacing way too much.

With the double Ts and pressure we played hero ball WAY too much. Jose was the biggest offender but others did it as well. This goes back to needing more structure. We are not at the play old status yet to play this way. With our hero ball we were out of position and they got into transition. Would not have happened if we were in system getting good shots - especially if Banks were shooting.

All in all a really disapointing game.

 

[lv20gt]

Our b-ball program is embarrassing and has been for a while. There is no buzz or reasons to be excited. We going to rebuild forever? It’s been 10 years since our last bid. I’m done sugar coating this situation. No excuses make 10 years of irrelevancy ok with the advantages/history we have in this sport.

You can say no more excuses but what do you suggest to do to stop rebuilding right now? We threw away 5 years with gregory and probably stuck with Hewitt several years too long. It wasn't going to be a quick rebuild following what gregory left no matter how you look at it.