Article Men's Basketball: Lamar Cardinals Preview

Men's Basketball: Lamar Cardinals Preview

Sophomore PG Jose Alvarado returns healthy to start the year.

Coach Pastner and the Jackets kick of year three with a home opener against Lamar this week. Here is what you can expect.

The Georgia Tech men’s basketball team opens the season on Friday, November 9th at home against Lamar. The Jackets come into the 2018-19 with a lot of question marks that will be answered soon enough. Let’s just take it one game at a time. First, let’s take a look at Lamar.

The Lamar Cardinals are a Southland Conference program. For those of you who are not familiar with that conference, it’s the one that Stephen F. Austin blows through each season. They are led by sixth year head coach Tic Price who has coached New Orleans, Memphis and McNeese State as well. He has a career record of 232-189. Last season he led Lamar to a 19-14 record overall, 11-7 in conference play.

Similar to Georgia Tech, Lamar has a lot of question marks this season. They lost 5 of their top 7 scorers from and 58% of their offensive production. Nick Garth and Josh Nzeakor both return however. Garth, a 5’11 guard, who averaged 13.6 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game last season. He shot 37.8% from deep and has made 238 triples in his career. Nzeakor is an undersized front court player, standing 6’6 and 207 pounds, but averaged 12.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in 17-18.

The Cardinals welcome a quartet of JUCO transfers this season, the best of which seems to be Edwin Jeudy. Jeudy is a  6’7 forward who averaged a double double at Gillette last season logging 13.3 points and 10.5 rebounds per game. Christian Barrett, another undersized JUCO forward, averaged 10.6 and 9.1 at Jacksonville. He is 6’6 and effective on the offensive glass, but I am not sure that will translate at the NCAA level. Vince Holmes is another incoming JUCO who has good size at the guard spot, but isn’t much of a shooter. Brandon Battle is a physical specimen at 6’7 playing the three, but doesn’t provide much floor stretching ability.

All in all, this is a favorable match-up for the Yellow Jackets. This should provide the guys an opportunity to get off to a good start on the season as they should physically and athletically dominate this Lamar team. This is the type of game where you could see Moses Wright be dominant as he often was against lesser opponents last season.

What I am really interested to see here is how freshman Michael Devoe plays after sitting out most of the preseason with a toe injury. Other interests include how Jose Alvarado and Curtis Haywood III are recovering from injuries.

I would also like to see senior AD Gueye impose his will on offense. I wouldn’t mind seeing him be a black hole in this game. That move over the left shoulder was automatic at one point last season and he should go back to that well early and often this year. He needs to establish himself as an offensive threat early this season.

As we learned in 2017-18, no victory is guaranteed, but the Jackets should be able to outclass the Cardinals in this contest. Anything other than a convincing victory may raise questions about Coach Josh Pastner’s effectiveness, especially after the departure of Coach Tavaras Hardy in the offseason.

 

[RamblinRed]

Moses will be fine. Cole is further along right now, especially on the offensive end. Moses is dangerous in transition and on defense. He will be part of the 3 primary big rotation imo.

 

[Peacone36]

SMH at all the people selling Moses down the river. He didn't have a great game, but he's going to be fine. It's not every day that you find a guys with his mix of height, wingspan, and athleticism.

He's obviously best in transition, and he had a couple of great hustle plays and a nasty, nasty dunk in transition. Like many of the other young-ins, he has some areas to tighten up on, but he's coming along.

Our emphasis on playing faster and positionless should really help him out a lot this year.

I’m not selling him. I love his upside, measurables and maybe most importantly his clear love for the game. Just right now, Cole is ahead of him in terms of “game-readiness”

 

[MtnWasp]

FWIW, I am bullish on Moses Wright. I haven't seen Devoe or Banks play yet, so I can't speak to them, but I think Wright has the highest ceiling of anyone else on the roster. He is the type of fluid athlete that can compete at the highest levels. But he also started WAY behind a typical ACC level recruit.

Now, whether or not he has the fire in his belly to develop his game is another matter. I guess we'll find out. The college game is definitely not too fast for him (which has been the problem with Ogbonda). If anything, Wright gets out of sync because he plays too fast. But if I were coach I would invest minutes this season to get Wright on the court to see if I can get his light-bulb to come on. Because if it does he is the type of athlete that the top-end ACC programs would have a difficult time with.

 

[MiracleWhips]

Moses will be fine. Cole is further along right now, especially on the offensive end. Moses is dangerous in transition and on defense. He will be part of the 3 primary big rotation imo.

I guess from what I saw its hard to agree with that. Cole was real aggressive around the rim and I love that but I still have question marks as to if he can do that against quality forwards. Also for Cole to be the better shooter he shot 0/3 from 3. For me its just too early to make that claim

 

[MiracleWhips]

Also I am curious as to what everyone thinks Brandon Alston's role will be when Devoe is back? IMO I don't think he will get much time at all.

 

[MtnWasp]

Alston's minutes will hinge on whether other wing players will be reliable on the defensive end. If this team can make some noise, it will happen because of being extremely tight defensively. Alston could be one of those guys like Heyward and Q who didn't break down defensively. If other perimeter guys or Khalid Moore can equal Alston on the defensive end, then Alston's minutes might really shrink.

 

[MtnWasp]

I guess from what I saw its hard to agree with that. Cole was real aggressive around the rim and I love that but I still have question marks as to if he can do that against quality forwards. Also for Cole to be the better shooter he shot 0/3 from 3. For me its just too early to make that claim

I'm curious to see what kind of player Cole will turn out to be. The staff seems to want him to be a high motor banger, kinda like a Tyler Hansbrough type. But I can as easily see him as a stretch 4, finesse kind of forward more in the Danny Ferry mold. It looks to me like he has a longer way to go to develop his skills around the basket to be effective inside, and he'll have to develop his body significantly. Then again, they developed Gueye into a crafty interior scorer, which is a minor miracle in itself.

I think the standard that they are trying to develop Cole to be similar to is Tyler Hansbrough. Not tremendously athletic but skilled, hard working and relentless. We'll see if they stick to that plan and how far Cole can develop along those lines.

 

[ESPNjacket]

Alston's minutes will hinge on whether other wing players will be reliable on the defensive end. If this team can make some noise, it will happen because of being extremely tight defensively. Alston could be one of those guys like Heyward and Q who didn't break down defensively. If other perimeter guys or Khalid Moore can equal Alston on the defensive end, then Alston's minutes might really shrink.

We'll see if Alston is much quicker this year. I read recently he played hurt last year. If the injury was why he couldn't defend ACC guards last year he may get some time. If not, the bar of defending as well as Alston isn't very high.

 

[RamblinRed]

As far as Moses and Cole, I don't think it is a huge thing to say Cole is ahead of Moses right now.

Cole went 0-3 from 3 in one game, but has shown to be a better shooter over the course of a full year and frankly his shot just looks better than Moses'.
Cole also simply has more offensive game in general and looks more comfortable at that end of the court especially in halfcourt situations.

Cole also is more willing to go inside and mix it up and especially rebound (Cole had 10 in 16 min on Saturday, Moses had 1 in 18 min). Cole is also the better ball handler.
Wright is more dangerous in transition situations.

But the fact that Cole is starting likely means the staff sees him as the better or more important player at this point.
Moses should see plenty of time this year (and I hope he would as his upside is huge). On the offensive end Moses doesn't look all that comfortable going inside, he tends to want to hang out on the perimeter. Wasp, if Cole developed into a poor man's Hansborough I would be very happy.

I think Alston is going to have a hard time getting min once Devoe is back. Eventually Devoe is going to start. I think Shembari and Curtis are most likely to play after that and then Alston behind them. If Moore limits his mistakes quickly he could pass him as well. Alston almost feels like do you play him over Curtis. Not sure i would. For the long term of the program it seems to make more sense to give the minutes to Curtis and let him develop.

In general this year feels like a big transition year. Let these FR and SO take their lumps and gain experience. You lose Alston - who should be pretty easily replaceable and AD - who is a little tougher but feel like we will at least be even with Banks coming in.
Banks should be better than AD from day 1, but AD has developed a nice offensive game. I'm interested to see what Banks looks like offensively after working with Reveno for a year or more.

I thought both Sjolund and Moore flashed some nice long term potential.

With no Lammers the offense will obviously be in flux this year probably see alot more of what it should look like in the future.
Hopefully this is the last year to just sort of get through things as best we can and then we take a significant upswing next season.

 

[orientalnc]

As far as Moses and Cole, I don't think it is a huge thing to say Cole is ahead of Moses right now.

Cole went 0-3 from 3 in one game, but has shown to be a better shooter over the course of a full year and frankly his shot just looks better than Moses'.
Cole also simply has more offensive game in general and looks more comfortable at that end of the court especially in halfcourt situations.

Cole also is more willing to go inside and mix it up and especially rebound (Cole had 10 in 16 min on Saturday, Moses had 1 in 18 min). Cole is also the better ball handler.
Wright is more dangerous in transition situations.

But the fact that Cole is starting likely means the staff sees him as the better or more important player at this point.
Moses should see plenty of time this year (and I hope he would as his upside is huge). On the offensive end Moses doesn't look all that comfortable going inside, he tends to want to hang out on the perimeter. Wasp, if Cole developed into a poor man's Hansborough I would be very happy.

I think Alston is going to have a hard time getting min once Devoe is back. Eventually Devoe is going to start. I think Shembari and Curtis are most likely to play after that and then Alston behind them. If Moore limits his mistakes quickly he could pass him as well. Alston almost feels like do you play him over Curtis. Not sure i would. For the long term of the program it seems to make more sense to give the minutes to Curtis and let him develop.

In general this year feels like a big transition year. Let these FR and SO take their lumps and gain experience. You lose Alston - who should be pretty easily replaceable and AD - who is a little tougher but feel like we will at least be even with Banks coming in.
Banks should be better than AD from day 1, but AD has developed a nice offensive game. I'm interested to see what Banks looks like offensively after working with Reveno for a year or more.

I thought both Sjolund and Moore flashed some nice long term potential.

With no Lammers the offense will obviously be in flux this year probably see alot more of what it should look like in the future.
Hopefully this is the last year to just sort of get through things as best we can and then we take a significant upswing next season.

This is really good.

Phillips showed much better on D than on the other end, so that will likely earn him a lot of minutes. Curtis needs to take charge of his game and not be so tentative. He has a gorgeous stroke.

As for Cole and Wright, they may have more separation due to what the staff has seen in practice, so I do not want to be too opinionated after one exhibition game. But I agree with Red, Cole seems ahead right now. The competition was so weak that it's hard to know just how much progress either of them has made.

It will be very interesting to see Devoe play at this level. We are so ready for him to be in the lineup that I worry he has no chance of satisfying a huge chunk of Tech fans. Would a 10 point 4 assist game be a good sign or bad?

 

[orientalnc]

I was talking to a friend at lunch today about the huge margins in November and December games. Predicted to finish near the bottom of the ACC, we won by 51. Would you bet that we won't lose a game by 51 this year?

 

[MtnWasp]

We'll see if Alston is much quicker this year. I read recently he played hurt last year. If the injury was why he couldn't defend ACC guards last year he may get some time. If not, the bar of defending as well as Alston isn't very high.

Yeah, Alston is not an elite athlete. The issue is whether the younger guys can assimilate their dfensive assignments at game speed. Heath-Heyward-Q-Lammers were not impressive athletes either, but they knew what they were doing and were very efficient defensively.

Pastner doesn't take the long view of things on game day. He wants to win the game at hand and to me that means, for this team, playing tight defense and getting stops. So, I'd expect minutes to go to the unit that won't break down defensively because I still don't see this squad as being one that is going to outscore teams in a track-meet. Ideally, I think it would be best if the more athletic and younger players pushed Alston.

 

[lv20gt]

As far as Moses and Cole, I don't think it is a huge thing to say Cole is ahead of Moses right now.

Cole went 0-3 from 3 in one game, but has shown to be a better shooter over the course of a full year and frankly his shot just looks better than Moses'.
Cole also simply has more offensive game in general and looks more comfortable at that end of the court especially in halfcourt situations.

Cole also is more willing to go inside and mix it up and especially rebound (Cole had 10 in 16 min on Saturday, Moses had 1 in 18 min). Cole is also the better ball handler.
Wright is more dangerous in transition situations.
.

I find it odd that you appeal to last year when talking about Cole's shooting but just to one game when talking about rebounding. Wright rebounded at a higher pace over the course of last year. 8.2 per 40 last year compared to 7.5 for Cole.

Cole is better on offense but a big part of why he looked more comfortable is that he was almost always playing with Jose and often time with Phillips as well, while Wright had at least two sizable runs with Alston being the only guard on the court.

This reminds me so much of this time last year where so many people seemed to be over emphasizing Cole's offensive advantage. But Wright played more, by a good bit (25% more) and it was probably in large part due to the 4 spot being our last option offensively with either in the game. This year, since we lost Okogie, Jackson, and Lammers, that may change, but once Devoe comes back I think there is still an argument that our most likely line up, Jose, Devoe, Haywood, and AD, will all be offensive options before either Cole or Wright.

Either way, both will play, but I wouldn't be going all in on Cole being that far ahead based on a scrimmage where one was playing mostly with a PG, and probably our other two best ball handlers available, while the other was primarily playing with one guard and him not even being a PG.

 

[MiracleWhips]

I was talking to a friend at lunch today about the huge margins in November and December games. Predicted to finish near the bottom of the ACC, we won by 51. Would you bet that we won't lose a game by 51 this year?

The only game where I feel we would lose by 51 is against Duke. Excluding that game I would gladly take that bet lol

 

[jbix80]

Big picture...which class do you think will be better when it’s all said and done? Alvarado, Haywood, Cole, & Wright? Or Devoe, Sjolund, & Moore?

 

[MiracleWhips]

Big picture...which class do you think will be better when it’s all said and done? Alvarado, Haywood, Cole, & Wright? Or Devoe, Sjolund, & Moore?

not sure I would definitely need to see Devoe before making a decision. But just shooting in the dark I would say the current Freshman class just because I think Sjolund is going to be insane once Dan Gilbert gets a hold of him this off season. Pastner really is moving in the right direction... I'll give him another year before jumping off the wagon.

 

[jbix80]

not sure I would definitely need to see Devoe before making a decision. But just shooting in the dark I would say the current Freshman class just because I think Sjolund is going to be insane once Dan Gilbert gets a hold of him this off season. Pastner really is moving in the right direction... I'll give him another year before jumping off the wagon.

He’s got me on the wagon for a while.

 

[lv20gt]

Big picture...which class do you think will be better when it’s all said and done? Alvarado, Haywood, Cole, & Wright? Or Devoe, Sjolund, & Moore?

I think they are very similar classes. THe first had two semi projects while the second had one. I'd give the slight edge to the second because I think Devoe and Moore have slightly higher upsides than Alvarado and Haywood. On the other hand the fact that Haywood, Cole, and Wright, have a year up could mean they are 3/4 year starters while Sjolund and Moore wait behind them to some degree. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out.

 

[YlJacket]

He’s got me on the wagon for a while.

I think we all are contractually obligated to be on the wagon through next year at the least

 

[MtnWasp]

In general this year feels like a big transition year. Let these FR and SO take their lumps and gain experience. .

Especially if it becomes clear that this team isn't going to be making any noise.

If his first two seasons are any indication, then fans shouldn't get too caught-up in rigidly assigning roles to players because Pastner has shown a strong disposition to change his rotation in search of favorable match-ups and favoring the hot-hand. Pastner explicitly wants production and if an unproven guy is not producing he has a hair-trigger to try someone else. Once a guy has shown consistent production, then Pastner just leaves them on the floor. Alvarado is the only guy that comes into this season with that identity. It will be interesting to see who else on the roster grabs a position by the horns and makes it their own.

It was only with the injury to Alvarado last season, when the team was dead in the water, did Pastner evidently play Cole and Wright with the future in mind.
As for Cole and Wright, I think it is reasonable to say that Cole is the starter because he is making less mistakes and with a more consistent effort than Wright. But Wright's rebounding numbers were better than Cole's last year and I actually favored Wright's handle last year. But things can change.

Wright's game looks much more free-wheeling than Cole's, which makes Wright look undisciplined by comparison but also gives him a higher ceiling if he can eliminate the turnovers and mistakes. I look forward to seeing them both get a chance to show what they can do. Ideally, they will both continue to push each other, but we need at least one of them to establish themselves as a legit ACC caliber player.

Maybe going into next season we will have a larger core of established productive players than we have this year. I guess that could be what you mean by "transition year."