Kentucky Win Post Game

[CLM]

The post was probably in reference to the numerous posters who last year only ever posted after we lost and disappeared when we won and were conspicuously absent later in the year. There is the same thing that happens in the football forum.

But that is one of those posts where if you take offense to what was said you probably should re-evaluate your posting habits.

Gotcha. I love Tech. I can be critical as well but it’s because I want them to be good. I hope this helps turn their season around.

 

[GTbball2016]

Sturdivant played a fantastic game. The big run started in the 2nd half when he took over. We probably beat Ga St if he get more minutes. Devoe has got to get it going or he’s going to be playing limited minutes.

 

[JacketOff]

Beating Kentucky in basketball is like beating Georgia in football. Who cares that they’re in a “down year”? It’s still a big win over a big-name opponent. But, that doesn’t wipe off the 2 very bad losses that this team has already suffered. Those 2 losses shrink the margin of error tremendously if this team wants to make the tourney. And if CJP doesn’t take this team to the Dance, I don’t think he’ll ever take one.

Including preseason exhibitions, Pastner is 3-7 against teams from the state of Georgia. 2 of his wins were exhibitions against Shorter and Georgia College, Division 2 schools. That means he’s 1-7 against D1 teams from Georgia including exhibitions, and 1-6 in the regular season. The lone win was against Kennesaw in 2018. For a program that was once head and shoulders above the rest of the state, that is atrocious. Especially for a guy with a pretty weak recruiting history since he’s been at Tech. Granted he’s improved there, but how can you sell GT basketball to Georgia recruits when you’ve arguably been one of the worst teams in the state the last 5 years. And everyone knows it doesn’t just stop with GSU and Mercer this year. He’s also lost to Ball State, Gardner Webb, Grambling State, Wright State, and Ohio at home. I get it. Upsets happen. Basketball is much more like baseball than football in that any team can win any given game. But Pastner’s teams consistently get beat by inferior teams on their own court. It’s like clockwork every year. If CGC loses to Northern Illinois and Kennesaw next year will he get the benefit of the doubt if he beats Notre Dame, Georgia, or Clemson?

I think that we can celebrate the win, and hope it propels the team froward on a trajectory we thought they might’ve had at the beginning of the year. A trajectory that lands Tech in the top 1/2 of the conference with a NCAAT bid. But we can also be critical of the body of work Pastner has laid out over his time at Tech. This win would look so much better if it was taking Tech to 3-0, or even 2-1, than to 1-2. A 3-0 Tech team with a win over Kentucky probably receives some votes (but doesn’t get in) for the top 25. A 1-2 Tech team with a win over Kentucky is talking about turning the season around.

Pastner isn’t going anywhere this year unless he doesn’t win another game. That means everybody should be behind him. But this Kentucky win does nothing to prove that CJP is actually the right man for the job, long term.

 

[randerto]

Even though Devoe had zero, yes zero, points, he had 5 assists and three steals. Good effort.

Indeed - he couldn't shoot a lick but kept his head in the game with good effort. He's an amazingly streaky shooter as we've seen in previous seasons. He either has it on any given day or not...

 

[orientalnc]

Pastner + Bubba + Moses postgame presser at the bottom of this link:

Jackets Wallop No. 20 Kentucky

Recap: Georgia Tech vs. Kentucky

ramblinwreck.com

Bubba Parham: Listens to question; answers question; stops talking.

How refreshing!

 

[CuseJacket]

 

[orientalnc]

I saw that graphic on the screen last night. Nice notch on CJP's stock.

It was a nice win and reminds me that we are a team that has to play aggressively on defense. I believe the season will show that GSU and Mercer are decent teams, but we should win both of those games. I loved the way we made every pass a real chore for UK. 21 turnovers has to be a major nightmare for Cal. In his presser he talked about learning to play as a team and not as five individuals. I wonder is Pastner doesn't play that clip for the GT players. That was the big difference between this game and the Mercer game.

 

[Deleted member 2897]

It’s been said before, and I’m going to say it again.

Moses Wright played one single year of basketball in high school - his senior year. When Pastner offered him, many people were incredulous. I remember reading articles where people were almost laughing about him getting a P5 offer.

And here we are, watching him drive the lane, steal the ball, post up, and REPEATEDLY dunk the ball over 5-star nationally heralded players.

Moses parting the seas of doubt!

 

[alagold]

Well, it was certainly an positive exp for a change.
JP is a good tactical coach but a poor strategic coach.His plan to "protect" his team almost killed the season.How can that team from last night lose to both Mercer and gsu?
Parham apparently hates Ky.The maybe 2 best games of his career have come vs them. That game is what was expected last yr from him.
Moses, Moses, Moses- maybe the the most improved player from Fr to Sr ever at Tech.I've only watched 60 yrs.
Devoe? I thought he might get a triple double this yr. hmm
We still need a another big guy.
Nebraska will be a test for sure.

 

[Spalding Jacket]

Coach Pastner:

 

[jacketup]

Congratulations to the team for winning a game against a team with a brand. It helps the perception.

But can they leverage the win to get better?

I guess it's the engineer in me that looks for problems. Tech beat a high school team--an all star high school team--but a high school team that played like it was in an all star game where defense doesn't matter. A high school all star team that hasn't practiced together much due to COVID.

I still see a Tech team that can't shoot the 3. Alvarado and Devoe were a combined 1 for 8. Stop Moses, and you've stopped Tech.

The same backcourt that can't shoot the 3 can't defend it either. UK had been terrible shooting the 3 year so far, but hit 42% against Tech.

The Nebraska game will be interesting. They are 3-1 against a weak schedule. If Tech loses by 10 or more, then the team that lost the first 2 gams is this year's team. If Tech wins or even keeps it close (since it's a road game), then there is hope for the season.

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

A friend of mine in S GA emailed CJP immediate after the game to congratulate him and the team for the win. CJP almost immediately emailed her back, and this was his response, which my friend shared with me ---

R*******

Thank you for the email.

I made the decision to avoid getting a 14 day shut down with a positive case of COVID if we had contact practices by not doing any contact practices for the summer and fall and the majority of November. That is why we played so poorly our first two games. We played like we practiced with no contact. I decided for our young men we needed to have contact practices and this past week we did and I knew we would play better. We still have a lot of work to do but we will continue to get better as we enter ACC play.

Thank you again for reaching out.

Go Jackets

Josh Pastner
Head Men's Basketball Coach
Georgia Tech
150 Bobby Dodd Way, NW
Atlanta, GA 30332

 

[Fatmike91]

But can they leverage the win to get better?

Not to worry. There is no scenario that we didn't significantly improve with that week of practice and last night's game. We looked like a much more complete team yesterday.

I still see a Tech team that can't shoot the 3. Alvarado and Devoe were a combined 1 for 8.

Are you cherry-picking stats? You do realize the rest of the team shot 7 for 13 from 3 last night. That's 54% from behind the arc.

What we should be concerned about is "where were our bigs" and "what's the story on Devoe"?

/

 

[brandon_cox]

I'm throwing up in my mouth as I type this, but we need to root for UK hard for the rest of the year. This needs to look like an impressive win for the Committee come March.

 

[MiracleWhips]

I'm throwing up in my mouth as I type this, but we need to root for UK hard for the rest of the year. This needs to look like an impressive win for the Committee come March.

Regardless of how they fare it will be. They were an AP top 25 team at the time of our victory

 

[GT_EE78]

The Nebraska game will be interesting. They are 3-1 against a weak schedule. If Tech loses by 10 or more, then the team that lost the first 2 gams is this year's team. If Tech wins or even keeps it close (since it's a road game), then there is hope for the season.

I think it's more of a must win at Nebraska at this point.
We only have 4 OOC's remaining. Win all for 5-2 OOC + 11-9 ACC or 16-11 entering ACCT.
IMRC nobody gets an at-large birth w 16 wins.We'd still be a longshot w Nebr win,
but seems possible to be on the bubble at Acc tourney time

 

[lv20gt]

IMRC nobody gets an at-large birth w 16 wins.We'd still be a longshot w Nebr win,

You can't really use a normal year's standard for this year as seasons are shortened and likely many schools will play less than even the shortened schedule.

My guess is we see several 16 win teams in the NCAAT this year.

 

[orientalnc]

Just so we do not forget who was wearing the blue shirts last night:

Boston 5* #5 Nationally
Clarke 5* #8
Brooks 5* #24
Jackson 4* #30
Askew 4* #32
Ware 4* #38
Fletcher 4* #68
Allen 4* #111

All eight of those guys, except Brooks, are Freshmen. All would be getting a ton of minutes with us. Maybe starting.

Also getting action were two Seniors:
Sarr and Mintz were both 3* guys out of HS

 

[RhoChi]

While I agree that the Kentucky win was great for the team. I still think Pastner isnt going to take us anywhere great. He hasnt really accomplished much in his tenure here and he's had a mediocre performance with talented players.

I love Tech winning and agree there are a lot of naysayers on the forums that just spew hate and filth for no reason other than to just be mean.

But we also have to realize that CJP hasn't made Tech look that great. He actually has a losing record while head coach of tech. We are an ACC school, we should be better than .500 at the bare minimum.

Overall great win, but I still think CJP needs to go. Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

 

[Deleted member 2897]

While I agree that the Kentucky win was great for the team. I still think Pastner isnt going to take us anywhere great. He hasnt really accomplished much in his tenure here and he's had a mediocre performance with talented players.

I love Tech winning and agree there are a lot of naysayers on the forums that just spew hate and filth for no reason other than to just be mean.

But we also have to realize that CJP hasn't made Tech look that great. He actually has a losing record while head coach of tech. We are an ACC school, we should be better than .500 at the bare minimum.

Overall great win, but I still think CJP needs to go. Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

You should be more positive - a broken clock can be right three times a day during daylight savings when we set out clocks back.