Miami 1/4/23 - GAME THREAD

[New Old Guy]

Was at the game and almost died from stress. If we didn’t have so many (dumb) turnovers, and if we held on to defensive rebounds that were in our hands, would have won by 15. Shows this team potential (I hope).

 

[MidtownJacket]

Not enough noise in here tonight fellow Yellow Jackets! We just defended our home turf against a big bad ugly top 15 team. Where we were able to..

1) Show MAX Effort and focus on swarming, relentlessly switching D in the paint and disabusing Miami of the notion they can score inside the paint tonight

2) Win with Turnover Woes being fixed. We have got to be stealing possessions all night tonight and not giving up silly turnovers on passes through the hands, having our Forwards bring the ball up 3/4s of the floor, running the DANG HIGH POST PASS FROM RODNE.. (takes a moment and collects himself) y.

3) Execute running some inside action to get guys going. Giving our Guards some easier look inside jumpshots and out F/C some good lanes for putbacks and dunks.

 

[gte447f]

Well that was refreshing. Great win! Fun game! Fun atmosphere in the Thrillerdome, especially down the stretch. It’s fun when we win!

 

[gte447f]

Gents and ladies, we still ran lots of the Princeton Point series, we just ran it much better than we have been, especially early in the game. Rodney made 2 great passes to cutters out of the high post within the first few minutes of the game. He also made a pass or a handoff to Kelly who then made a beautiful, over the shoulder, no look pass back to Rodney who scored on a jump shot from inside the elbow area if I remember correctly. There were a few other nice back door cuts and passes throughout the rest of the game too. How about that one to Smith where he went up for that huge reverse layup under the basket, but missed it. That would have been sweet had he made it.

 

[GTJason]

Don't you just wish though, don't you just wish in your heart of hearts some Terry would come up here trying some grab@$$ and the touchy feely?

Here's to you Lance, I've been waiting to quote this since you committed :


I have no idea how Howard can go up, get 2 hands on a rebound, come down, and not have the ball. They didn't cover that in physics 1 or 2 but so happy for the win

 

[JacketOff]

Gents and ladies, we still ran lots of the Princeton Point series, we just ran it much better than we have been, especially early in the game. Rodney made 2 great passes to cutters out of the high post within the first few minutes of the game. He also made a pass or a handoff to Kelly who then made a beautiful, over the shoulder, no look pass back to Rodney who scored on a jump shot from inside the elbow area if I remember correctly. There were a few other nice back door cuts and passes throughout the rest of the game too. How about that one to Smith where he went up for that huge reverse layup under the basket, but missed it. That would have been sweet had he made it.

It was still definitely a Princeton based offense (which I still don’t get why that’s our primary offense when we don’t have a 5 who can really score or facilitate the offense, but that’s beside the point), but it was waaayyyy more dynamic than it has been all year. Lots of cuts, some off-ball screens, finding ways to get to the basket. If we had been running the offense like that all year I think there would be far fewer complaints about it, and probably a few more wins. We had 15 assists tonight, compared to just 11 against UVA and 10 against both Clemson and UNC. 17-19 FTs and U shooting 15% from 3 helped us out a ton as well.

Still definitely a long way to go to be competitive in the conference. I said earlier in the year it would probably be a typical Pastner season. Start slow as hell, pick up the pace in January/February, let downs in March, but enough momentum to have some semblance of excitement for the next year. Let’s hope he’s finally able to break cycle this time.

 

[GaTech4ever]

Gotta give a ton of credit to Pasture for sticking with Terry even when he was playing tentatively for the entire season. This wasn’t the type of game where Terry’s shots just happened to fall (i.e it wasn’t just a “good shooting night”). He showed offense at all three levels and took Wong off the dribble multiple times in huge moments. Also, he was by far our best defender while all playing 40 minutes. I wouldn’t be surprised if this game unlocks Terry’s confidence at this level and helps us turn this around.

It truly was one of the better all-around performances by a GT player I’ve seen since a few of Moses and Jose’s games (and there weren’t many that much better). And when you consider the context of how bad we needed it, who we were playing, and how he exploded out of nowhere, it really is rare for us to witness that kind of performance from one of our players. He was locked in EVERY possession, and it was fascinating to see the team defer to him in real time.

 

[CuseJacket]

 

[SecretAgentBuzz]

GreaT win! We finally broke through and played like we have had the potential to play. Late in the 2nd half, I said to myself, even if we lose, this game can prove that we can hang with good teams. But then we ended the game on a 12-0 run. Wha????

Here is what I liked:
-17 of 19 on FTs. Absolutely game-altering, and kept us in it when they made runs.
-Lance Terry, welcome back. HUGE game from Terry on offense and defense. He wanted this one and it showed. 24 points! 4/5 from three!
-Miles Kelly is good. He is smooth on the drive and money from the three. He is not a polished player yet, but he is growing in confidence.
-I know people complain about the offense, but when they are making good cuts and good passes, this is what it can look like. I don't know if it was the matchup or just more effort from our guys, but it looked good.
-The effort on defense was good, and I think we match up against them pretty well. We forced a lot of outside shots, and that isn't their forte.
-Deivon Smith looked like himself again. Not only was his late putback key, but he consistently fought for loose balls and made smart decisions with the ball. 4 points, 5 assists, 7 rebounds, and 0 turnovers.
-Deebo had an up and down game, but the three he hit in the last 4 minutes or so was really big. Props to him for still shooting and making that shot after he had missed a number of open looks. We NEED an aggressive Deebo in order to play well.
-@Peacone, I have to admit--you called it. We got Omier out early and it made all the difference. I am not sure if it was good strategy or good luck, but it worked.

Here is what I didn't like:
-We had a few too many dumb turnovers.
-Sturdivant had a rough 8 minutes.
-I would have liked to see Franklin more. I feel like he has more offensive potential and would have put more pressure on Omier. Howard gets the ball inside and looks to dribble out and pass, Franklin looks to score.

All in all, an excellent (and much needed) win. Let's see if we can now build on this. Go Jackets!

 

[OG-T]

Nice to see multiple players get the win - “the team is the star” thing.
This team definitely has pieces, however, none of them have done it on a consistent basis at this level.

Unfair at this time to expect that, but the talent is there. If they can collectively elevate and maintain, they can compete with anyone.

Terry, Smith and Moore have such the burst and quick twitch to drive regularly. Sometimes they get bumped and pick up dribble or try off balance. I’ve been yelling for them to “sell” the foul more, and tonight they did let ref see and know there was contact - all three are so athletic they’ll get the benefit of those calls if they react to the bump so the ref won’t miss it.

Awesome for Terry, and the early dunk .

 

[FEWrecker]

It is a sweet win and gets Pastner‘s behind off the hot seat temporarily.
The big concern is the attendance for last few games was around 50%. Hope the big win sells and brings in bigger crowd as the team needs your support for an electrified thriller dome.
Go Jackets!

 

[LawTalkin Jacket]

refs didn't go out their way to screw us, or bail out Miami in the last 90 seconds. It was noticeable that the refs didn't seem to be a story when usually, I am complaining about refs for one reason or another. I thought that Miami might get a foul called on us on a couple of the late shot clock violation scrambles, but refs let them play.

While watching uva game, it seemed like Uva got away with a lot of hand checks, which is what tends to happen when you play great defense and make so many handc checks and turnovers that they can't call them all

 

[KeystoneJacket]

Surprised they won any game with Miles and Deebo combining to shoot 9/30 from the field and turning it over 8 more times than their opponent, let alone against a top 15 team.

 

[bke1984]

Deebo had an up and down game, but the three he hit in the last 4 minutes or so was really big. Props to him for still shooting and making that shot after he had missed a number of open looks. We NEED an aggressive Deebo in order to play well

That shot was huge and flipped the momentum. I didn’t see the first half, so I can’t assess the whole game, but I thought he played a pretty poor second half other than that shot. His body language was poor and he looked to be playing lazy at times.

Overall he hasn’t had a good year so far. 9.7 points, 3 rebounds, and 0.9 assists per game. We need him to play much better than this if we are going to improve.

 

[orientalnc]

A couple of things. Our offense was a lot more efficient last night and hitting shots was the reason. They also executed the offense at much faster pace. It also helped that Miami was missing shots. We have what should be easier games at FSU and ND before we host Pitt. It would be nice to level our record before that brutal stretch begins.

Also, is it unthinkable to play Smith at the 5? He is our best rebounder. I say that in jest, but a lot of rebounding is the gut level desire for the ball. And the quickness to be first touching it. It is just crazy how many times he gets to the ball first.

 

[Golden Tornadoes]

I didn't get to watch the game live, but I'm glad it seems like we pulled it together enough to get a big time win. Now it's time to start stacking wins together and come out aggressive on Saturday. I'll be there cheering loudly for the boys.

 

[Connell62]

It is a sweet win and gets Pastner‘s behind off the hot seat temporarily.
The big concern is the attendance for last few games was around 50%. Hope the big win sells and brings in bigger crowd as the team needs your support for an electrified thriller dome.
Go Jackets!

Crowds for UVA and Miami were both great.. The only thing missing was the students. I guess they're still on break.

Add them to the equation, and it would have been a huge advantage. It got loud down the stretch and it did give them a lift!

 

[Connell62]

Gotta eat my crow after this one. I know we all get frustrated with Deivon Smith's game but that ORB and putback to give us a 2 point lead shows up beyond the scoresheet. The mental/emotional impact for both teams of a 6'-on-a-good-day guard making that play impacts ensuing possessions.

Kind of typical Thrillerdome crowd - pretty disinterested until the final media timeout, but the energy really helped own that final 10-0 run. How many times this season have we forced a shot clock violation? That was clutch. Really good defensive energy all night and they could not get any clean looks on isos. Not really Miami's best shooting night, especially from Wong, but those are the ebbs and flows of a college basketball season and we took advantage of it to get the W. Cautiously optimistic heading into 2 winnable road games that could pull us back to .500. The Pitt game will be a madhouse if we can win 3 straight here.

Deivon didn't contribute much offensively other than the put-back and the nasty dunk on the backdoor cut, but he really filled the box score otherwise. He grabbed 7 rebounds and 5 assist on 0 turnovers, all while playing really strong on D. He's at his best when he plays within himself and doesn't try and do too much.

If we are going to make any noise this season, we need him to be a big part of it. He is far and away our best athlete! Also, I really loved the starting five. It seemed like we didn't sub until almost the 12:00 mark of the first half. They were really effective and played with a lot of energy.

 

[majorQ9]

Crowds for UVA and Miami were both great.. The only thing missing was the students. I guess they're still on break.

Add them to the equation, and it would have been a huge advantage. It got loud down the stretch and it did give them a lift!

I don't know if I'd say the crowds were great. UVA brought a ton a fans. Miami didn't bring as many but they were vocally louder than our fans for large stretches of the game. The band was the only group of fans that was trying to counter the Miami chants

 

[g0lftime]

The second half was like a different team than earlier this year. They hung tough when they could have folded. They hit their FT's and rebounded in critical possessions. They ran some high post some but more offense off the dribble. Smith and Terry must have felt they could beat their defender. That looked like a good team out there last night. I also felt that Rodney did some good things on defense. He moved with some quickness to cut off lanes during defensive rotations. Nice win. Crowd sounded loud down the stretch.