Article Jackets Look for First Win in Cameron Since '04

Jackets Look for First Win in Cameron Since '04

ATLANTA, GEORGIA – JANUARY 22: James Banks III #1 of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets drives to the basket against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Hank McCamish Pavilion on January 22, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images)

The surprising 3-3 Jackets take to the road and try to land a statement win.

Grit. This team has it. With obvious shortcomings in the talent department you cannot say that this team does not have grit, heart or as Isuro “Kamakazi” Tanaka would say: “marbles”. The Jackets fought through injury and poor shooting to keep the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at bay last weekend. Now comes the real test. Duke, away.

Georgia Tech has not won at Cameron Indoor Stadium since March of 2004. They also have not beaten a ranked opponent in a true road game during the Josh Pastner era.

Things this year however have been more inspiring, if still ultimately unsuccessful. While Georgia Tech is 2-3 in true road games this season, they won at Arkansas (eh) and handled the Syracuse Orange at the Carrier Dome, their only ACC loss in five games. The Jackets also played now #1 Tennessee pretty well in Rocky Top and were blowing the doors off St. Johns on a neutral court before eventually collapsing in such a horrific fashion that only Stephen King could truly put it into words.

Can Georgia Tech win? Sure. Could I receive my tax return before the end of February this year? Sure. Both are unlikely, but that is why you don’t crown the champ in November.

Duke is led by three burger boys who are currently projected to go in the 2019 NBA Draft Lottery. The most obvious is phenom Zion Williamson who came into the 2018-19 season with so much luster it seemed almost impossible for him to live up the billing. Incredibly, he has done just that. Named after the mountain that houses the holy land, Williamson has been remarkable in what will be his only season at the collegiate level, averaging 21.7 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. He has an effective field goal percentage of 69% and is the only player in the country that averages more than 20 points, 9 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 2 steals per game.

Canadian RJ Barrett, the #1 ranked player in the 2018 class, is starting to hit his stride as well. While he was not bad early in the season, he has recently discovered that nobody can stop him off the dribble when he goes left. He seemed to come to this realization during the second half of the game against Virginia when he only attempted a single triple and continuously went to the hoop. You can’t argue with the results as Duke defeated the Hoos and, in my eyes, solidified themselves as the best team in the country.

The third fiddle of the trio is Cam Reddish. A 6’8″ high scoring wing, Reddish came into the season projected to be Duke’s best three point threat. He has had his moments from deep (game winner against FSU in Tallahassee), he has had some struggles (1-9 vs Hartford, 1-6 against UVA) and is incredibly streaky. Don’t sleep on him; when he decides to play he is as good as Barrett. His motor has always been the biggest question mark.

Those three are the only Blue Devils that average double figures, but they combine to score an eye-catching 58.7 points per game. Duke will almost assuredly be without fellow freshman defensive stopper Tre Jones for this tilt. The younger brother of former Dukie Tyus Jones, Tre is currently out with an AC Joint injury. His absence from this Saturday’s game can only be described as fantastic news for Jose Alvarado.

Some other players of note in Durham this year are Aussie Jack White and former five star recruit Marques Bolden. White is a big shot guy who can hit the short corner triple and finish at the rim. He is a hustle player who also possesses a good bit of talent. Bolden, a much maligned player during his career, has yet to live up to his prep potential. He was singled out by Virginia in the showdown last week and the Cavs had a lot of success getting the ball to whoever he was guarding.

Staying close is the name of the game here. Grab a carton of your favorite ice cream, a spoon and try to remain calm. You probably shouldn’t expect to win, but let’s try and not have a repeat of Louisville. FSU is below us in the standings and almost beat this team (Zion sat the second half) . Pitt is below us and kept it halfway respectable. Take enjoyment watching James Banks eat up Marques Bolden, hope for a moment such as Evan Cole cramming one down over Zion and pray for Jose Alvarado to get buckets and step over someone in Cameron a la Joel Berry in Chapel Hill last year.

Why not this team…

 

[MWBATL]

I was actually quite proud of GT today. I remember just two years ago when I felt about AD the way most of us feel about Moses Wright today (DON'T DRIBBLE, and god no, DON'T SHOOT)....but AD has really turned into a nice big for us. If you can hold your own in Cameron, you can play anywhere. That we were ahead by 2 at the half and even more early in the 2nd half was.....completely unexpected. Quite impressed by the defensive effort and gameplan. I have not looked at scores, but this is the best showing I can recall against Duke (home or away) in some years. If this staff can develop someone like AD, maybe there is indeed hope for Moses and Evan next year and especially in their senior seasons.

Overall, while the turnovers just drive me nuts sometimes....this was an effort that made me feel good. I will definitely be there Tuesday night to cheer us one against UNC. I think we have a shot at that game IF we have all our guys healthy.

 

[g0lftime]

I listened to Coach K in the car after the game. He gave a lot of credit to our D. Said we play our zone a little different than others with our 1 3 1 or 2 1 2. Said he didn't make any strategic changes in the second half but his team played with more energy in the second half. I thought we got tIred on D and missed a lot of close shots with no O rebounds in 2nd half. We played well at times and Gueye has improved this year. Pretty decent ball handler as well. Wish he could draw more fouls. Devoe can become a really good player when he learns to create his own shot. There is some potential on this team.

 

[Peacone36]

Pastner said in the post game that we need Banks and Gueye to be better. 9-21 and 10 rebounds aren’t going to get it done.

He also said for us it’s not about defense, it’s about effort

 

[SteamWhistle]

Had to listen to the game at work, Was very impressed. I wish AD was only a Junior though, next years team should make it to the tournament, baring Injury, IMO It’s a make it or break it year for Pastner.

 

[g0lftime]

Pastner said in the post game that we need Banks and Gueye to be better. 9-21 and 10 rebounds aren’t going to get it done.

He also said for us it’s not about defense, it’s about effort

We missed a lot of shots under the basket and didn't draw fouls. Need to do both.

 

[Peacone36]

We didn’t draw fouls because we were in Cameron. There was one point in the first half where right in the middle of an offensive possession James Banks just turned to the ref (looked like Jones but I dunno for sure) and just said “Cmon Man”

Vrankovic was allllll over him

 

[Rzunz]

Interesting that Duke is very young, even younger than we are(I think 5* Bolden is the only upperclassman who plays much). But they have so much NBA lottery talent! We have been beaten this year by upperclass-loaded teams(Tennessee, etc.). Duke makes lots of youthful mistakes like we do, but can overcome most times with pure athleticism. I am encouraged by our improving Jackets. Also think Jordan Usher will be a talented workhorse to complement next year.

 

[CuseJacket]

 

[Wrecked]

We commit way too many stupid turnovers. Effort today was great. Pastner needs to understand that getting a T isn't always a bad thing. Frankly I think he is intimidated by this conference and should end his "cursing" rule and light up an official. Duke is better than us, but again I like the effort. One other observation, Devoe doesn't have the ball handling skills to play PG in this league on a consistent basis. We need a back up.

 

[bke1984]

My observations:

1. We could have won this game. That in itself is promising. I think we got a little over confident when we went up 8 and started trying to push too much in situations that weren’t quite right. Duke went on a run and we couldn’t recover

2. Gueye does some good stuff, but also a lot of really stupid stuff. Got to make better decisions in games like that

3. Someone earlier criticized Devoe. I haven’t been high on him to this point, but I think he made some great drives for scores today. He needs to do that a bit more. If he can do it in Cameron then he can do it against most other teams irrelevant of where the game is played. Time for him to step up

4. We lost, but I was proud of our effort today. I think we are finally making strides in the right direction...and it’s been a long time since I’ve felt that way. We show flashes at times that look like ‘03-04. I’m excited about next year.

 

[alagold]

Realistically we can't expect much more than we got today.Great DEF and effort everywhere.We just don't have--the physical strength --and-the Offensive consistency to play with dook but they certainly didn't look good in their win.
Just be glad Gueye is stepping up as a SR. With Banks,we are a threat up front.If we had ONE consistent 3 pt guy-look out.

 

[Peacone36]

Realistically we can't expect much more than we got today.Great DEF and effort everywhere.We just don't have--the physical strength --and-the Offensive consistency to play with dook but they certainly didn't look good in their win.
Just be glad Gueye is stepping up as a SR. With Banks,we are a threat up front.If we had ONE consistent 3 pt guy-look out.

Well, ya know, you actually have to play the frickin guy in the 2nd half. I do not for the life of me understand CJPs rotation patterns. He had Moses at the scorers table multiple times and brought him back today. There is no way that kid should be in today’s game when every possession counts

 

[slugboy]

I was happy with parts of the game. Devoe is growing in his ball handling and ability to take point. Three point defense is getting good. Jose is improving, but he doesn’t have to be everything.
We turned the ball over a lot, but some of it was aggressive play that didn’t quite connect.
I saw some smart play where Duke played tough defense, and we were patient and found a way to get the ball to a teammate. I saw Cole make a really good pass to (I think) Moore when Cole was blanketed defensively. I saw Banks battling with four players around him under the basket. I saw Haywood sweep across the baseline beautifully, but get the ball swatted as he tried to lay the ball up past the basket; story of the game, maybe.
Some people have mentioned the scoring difference at the foul line, but to me a huge difference was how Duke could score from 10-12 feet out. They were deadly there in the second half. AD has a hook he likes from two feet out that he’s about 50% with, but Duke seemed to be automatic with the 10’ jumper. I wish our bigs could do that.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[THWG]

We didn’t draw fouls because we were in Cameron. There was one point in the first half where right in the middle of an offensive possession James Banks just turned to the ref (looked like Jones but I dunno for sure) and just said “Cmon Man”

Vrankovic was allllll over him

I just couldn't help but laugh when they called a reach in on Jose with about 3 minutes (IIRC) and it was on Jones. Dude had been all over Jose all game and really the one time we go to man, Jose tries to return the favor and gets called for a reach in. That epitomized the game for me.

 

[GTRock]

Even though Duke shot the ball horribly, the first half of this game was encouraging. I'm not a fan of how we dump it in to our bigs and just stand around, as if they are superstars. We need more motion. Our best offensive possessions are when the ball moves, and we do actually have guards with quickness and handling ability. They aren't great 3 pt shooters so why have them stand around like you're hoping the D gets sucked in to the post for an open shot, and when it doesn't you force our bigs to take tough shots. Devoe showed ability today. We need him to be more confident & aggressive. Alvarado is aggressive but needs to be more under control and cut down the turnovers. Maybe that's why CJP is afraid to take the reigns off them, but we have athletic bigs and capable guards. Let them go.

 

[lauraee]