#Lamar@GT Monday night 7:30EST

[gt24]

How do you figure? Shocking lack of production from him on the offensive end

my take is his lack of offensive production is largely due to most of his minutes coming with khalid, howard on the floor with him - and to some extent usher. plus he is a pass-first PG. his scoring and assists will increase if he is paired with shooters that space the floor and stretch the defense. same is true of with usher - his slashing will benefit from adding shooters.

 

[gt24]

I think by season end the best lineup will be a 0 PG lineup of Devoe, Kelly, Deebo, Usher, Howard

thought the exact same thing myself last game and tonight. i like kyle and deivon. but that lineup you just described is what i saw for a few minutes against stetson and lamar and it looked good offensively. major issue is defending speedy, skilled ACC scoring PGs. not enough lateral foot speed for m2m in that lineup, so it would have to be zone.

 

[Fatmike91]

thought the exact same thing myself last game and tonight. i like kyle and deivon. but that lineup you just described is what i saw for a few minutes against stetson and lamar and it looked good offensively. major issue is defending speedy, skilled ACC scoring PGs. not enough lateral foot speed for m2m in that lineup, so it would have to be zone.

The problem is Sturdi and Sneak don't seem to be able to guard speedy point guards either. So there's that.

oh look - #2 from Miami OH just scored again...

/

 

[gt24]

Deivon with 5 assists and only 1 turnover. That's what you want out of a PG. You want to see him score more points, but he did some really nice things against Lamar that you can build on as the season progresses.

Sturdivant needs to take advantage of his minutes. Seems like Pastner has him on a short leash with Smith on the team. Need Sturdivant to play up to his talents...he much better than we've seen so far.

wonder how many of those assists came when he entered the game with deebo and kelly. those 3 saw a lot of time together tonight.

 

[gt24]

The problem is Sturdi and Sneak don't seem to be able to guard speedy point guards either. So there's that.

oh look - #2 from Miami OH just scored again...

/

i think deivon's issue is defensive discipline, not speed.
kyle demonstrated that he could defend ACC PGs last year. not at the level of jose, but not many can do that. still kyle was certainly solid on-ball.

if the frosh are going to play, its almost a moot point. because frosh playing means more zone, imo.

 

[Techster]

wonder how many of those assists came when he entered the game with deebo and kelly. those 3 saw a lot of time together tonight.

That's why I'm not upset about a close win against Lamar. You need these games to work your freshmen so by the time conference games roll around they will be more familiar with our system and their roles. All 3 are looking more and more comfortable each game.

Big test Friday for our freshmen. Will tell us a lot about them.

 

[SecretAgentBuzz]

Nice to see Khalid Moore, Kyle Sturdivant and D. Smith all hit threes. We are absolutely going to need them to hit shots this year.

Nice game by Deebo and Kelly had some good minutes too. Team got sloppy in the 2nd half, but finished pretty well. Usher made some big plays down the stretch.

 

[jbix80]

I kind of liked the smaller lineup with Usher running the high post at the end. That was when we ran our crazy 1-3-1 defense. I think we need to run that more. We don’t guard off the dribble very well. Plus, we get a lot of dumb fouls far from the basket. I love when Deebo and Kelly are in. I wish Jalon would get some minutes with the starters. A win is a win, and I’m always happy (and relieved) when we get one.

 

[glandon1960]

Thoughts from being there

- Meka played behind Howard (Saba did not play - no injury, Meka got the chance tonight) - did not play much. Howard played well early, then really struggled late. Last 5+ minutes was small ball
- Neither point guard had a great game ... both did some good and some bad ... highlight dunk by Deivon late (two hand behind the head slam) ... both hit a three
------ Neither has separated themselves in the first three games
- Khalid - played really well last 7-8 minutes ... finally made a three! Laid out to save a bad pass late that resulted in a basket.
- We should have played zone more in second half vs their pick/roll - guards and Howard did not play it well
- Deebo was MVP tonight - broke it open in first half with four threes, and another in second half when it was closer than it should have been (5 for 7 from three I think)
------ He is playing within the offense and not trying to do too much (letting Devoe/Usher make the plays) - Kelly sometimes tries to do too much
------ His presence on wing (vs Moore) means space for Devoe/others to drive
- Kelly played well in first half .... did not play well in second half .... needs to improve on defense (guys get by him way too easy)
- Usher struggled in first 30 minutes, played well down stretch - offense flows better with him at the 5 (made couple nice assists to cutters).
- Devoe did not get a lot of shots - they were never leaving him ... did not play bad, but Lamar looked determined to make someone else beat them
- Maxwell was dressed, did not play
- Energy on defense was great most of first half ... no energy on defense at all for long stretch in second half - let Lamar back into the game
------ Lamar is not as good as Miami-Ohio, about the same as Stetson

It was a win - if the other team was upper level ACC team, we lose by double digits

 

[SteamWhistle]

Did not get to watch the game do to peak season at work but that’s an exciting box score.

 

[dtm1997]

 

[GaTech4ever]

Hate to say it, but I wasn’t impressed by the way we looked most of this game. Usher is still making way too many turnovers. If and when teams key in on Devoe like they did tonight, we can’t afford to have him still committing 4 turnovers a game. I’m sure he knows this.

Our 3 point shooting (especially Deebo) bailed out our stagnant offense many times. I do think we can be a good shooting team if the freshman don’t hit a wall.

I thought Howard looked absolutely gassed in the late second half. He played 28 minutes which seems that’s where they want him at. Kind of surprised Saba didn’t play at all, not sure what’s up with that.

I’m not too concerned about this team yet, but l Lamar’s starters definitely outplayed our starters for nearly the entire second half.

Would love to continue to see Deebo get 30 minutes a game.

Shot 7/13 from the line. 65% on the year so far — we were about 73% last year (and that’s with Moses leading us in attempts and shooting 66%). Small sample size so far but we need to be > 70% as a team.

 

[jbix80]

Thanks for posting these.

 

[orientalnc]

There has been a lot posted over time that Khalid should not start over (insert name here), but he is a really good player. Until he launches a shot.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Deivon with 5 assists and only 1 turnover. That's what you want out of a PG. You want to see him score more points, but he did some really nice things against Lamar that you can build on as the season progresses.

Sturdivant needs to take advantage of his minutes. Seems like Pastner has him on a short leash with Smith on the team. Need Sturdivant to play up to his talents...he much better than we've seen so far.

I have never been a big fan of Sturdivant. His game seems limited to me. Would love to be proven wrong.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Thanks for posting these.

Love Pastner’s enthusiasm for new challenges. As I’ve said before, he loves what he does, and that is formula for success.

 

[LargeFO]

To me, Smith's upside on Sturdy is massive. BUT, you have to harness the TOs and wildness.

 

[Techster]

I think by season end the best lineup will be a 0 PG lineup of Devoe, Kelly, Deebo, Usher, Howard

Look at Devoe's last two games distributing the ball:

Lamar: 6 assists/1 TO
Stetson: 7 assists/2 TO

He's been pretty good with the ball in his hands and getting them to teammates. There were quite a few passes from Devoe so far where if our guys caught the ball cleanly, they would have had an easy scoring opportunity.

Devoe and can absolutely be the "PG" in a "0 PG" lineup...which is funny, because Mike's number is 0.

 

[Techster]

To me, Smith's upside on Sturdy is massive. BUT, you have to harness the TOs and wildness.

Smith had 5/1 assist to turnover game against Lamar. Granted it's Lamar, but you still have to make good decisions. If Smith continues that and can add 8-12 points a game, Pastner probably takes the leash off of him and Smith will begin the game as a starter.

I wrote in another thread that it appears Pastner is giving Smith more minutes as he knows the upside Smith will have down the road. So far this season, Smith makes about 2-3 "WOW" plays...but then follows them up with "WTF" plays. As you said, we can see the massive upside for Smith...but he also needs to harness all that speed and athleticism that's become an double edge sword for him.

 

[D-man44]

Look at Devoe's last two games distributing the ball:

Lamar: 6 assists/1 TO
Stetson: 7 assists/2 TO

He's been pretty good with the ball in his hands and getting them to teammates. There were quite a few passes from Devoe so far where if our guys caught the ball cleanly, they would have had an easy scoring opportunity.

Devoe and can absolutely be the "PG" in a "0 PG" lineup...which is funny, because Mike's number is 0.

Ush has had at least 3 assists in every game too. I think tech can figure out that lineup more as the young guys progress