My way too early, possibly problematic look at potential GT Hoops roster management

Root4GT

Helluva Engineer
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2,455
Jalon Moore is having a helluva season.
Transfers are the norm now. You can't watch any game without the announcer saying "transfer from ..." We get some and lose some. Moore made a good decision it seems. This is college basketball circa 2024!
 

g0lftime

Helluva Engineer
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5,424
That end of the loss to ND was tough to watch but it had elements of sloppy play seen all year. I actually thought we might pull it out but the turnover bug bite us again. Would have been a nice win but this team was very unlikely to win out the way the brackets are now structured plus the effort expended in the second half was exhausting. I expect ND to lose tomorrow.
 

orientalnc

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Retired Staff
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Oriental, NC
I have mixed feelings about the transfer portal and if it serves players' interests as well as most people think. A VERY small number of college basketball players ever make a penny playing professionally, so I am all for them making money off the college game. Everyone else is. That said, the schools no longer have a real commitment to the players and guys who play ball at three of four schools and leave college w/o a degree are not likely to find anyone wanting to help them finish their education.

An example: Deebo Coleman seems like a nice young man who happens to be a decent college player. He is unlikely to ever play professionally. If he stays at GT he will leave with a degree in business administration and a connection to GT that will serve him well in life. How can he get that, or even a piece of that, somewhere else? He has one year of eligibility left. He is not going to command a huge NIL deal. Yet, I agree he is probably going to leave. Maybe at the insistence of CDS. And, that's a shame.
 

spdrama

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
346
I have mixed feelings about the transfer portal and if it serves players' interests as well as most people think. A VERY small number of college basketball players ever make a penny playing professionally, so I am all for them making money off the college game. Everyone else is. That said, the schools no longer have a real commitment to the players and guys who play ball at three of four schools and leave college w/o a degree are not likely to find anyone wanting to help them finish their education.

An example: Deebo Coleman seems like a nice young man who happens to be a decent college player. He is unlikely to ever play professionally. If he stays at GT he will leave with a degree in business administration and a connection to GT that will serve him well in life. How can he get that, or even a piece of that, somewhere else? He has one year of eligibility left. He is not going to command a huge NIL deal. Yet, I agree he is probably going to leave. Maybe at the insistence of CDS. And, that's a shame.
Read in another forum that Deebo “might” graduate. Sounded like more than a just a supposition or rumor, but don’t bet on it. That would leave him with Tech degree, Tech lifetime connection and plenty of options for playing another year somewhere. His dad is a HS coach in Fla. Family has Memphis roots, Hardaway connections. Hope everything works out for him. Great kid from a nice supportive family.
 

MtnWasp

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
807
I am going to be harsh this off season. GT has had three bad years in a row and substantial changes have to occur to free itself from the bottom of the conference. This season was not a good start.

Terry Averaged 10ppg and 2.8 rpg on a team that went 15-18 (6-14) and finished 13th in the ACC.

While he did finish the season strong and started to dig-in a little better on defense and take some charges, I don't think he is the kind of player that is going to key a turnaround.

I think he could be a valuable role player with an upside of being an average ACC guard. But I don't think we should be turning down impact talent to save him a spot on the roster.
 

ESPNjacket

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,502
I am going to be harsh this off season. GT has had three bad years in a row and substantial changes have to occur to free itself from the bottom of the conference. This season was not a good start.

Terry Averaged 10ppg and 2.8 rpg on a team that went 15-18 (6-14) and finished 13th in the ACC.

While he did finish the season strong and started to dig-in a little better on defense and take some charges, I don't think he is the kind of player that is going to key a turnaround.

I think he could be a valuable role player with an upside of being an average ACC guard. But I don't think we should be turning down impact talent to save him a spot on the roster.
Our best players were freshmen this year. George and Ndongo are the core of the team. The veterans were occasionally decent but did not provide much leadership. Seventh or eighth guys don't matter that much until you are good enough that you need depth in close games with good teams.
 

spdrama

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
346
I am going to be harsh this off season. GT has had three bad years in a row and substantial changes have to occur to free itself from the bottom of the conference. This season was not a good start.

Terry Averaged 10ppg and 2.8 rpg on a team that went 15-18 (6-14) and finished 13th in the ACC.

While he did finish the season strong and started to dig-in a little better on defense and take some charges, I don't think he is the kind of player that is going to key a turnaround.

I think he could be a valuable role player with an upside of being an average ACC guard. But I don't think we should be turning down impact talent to save him a spot on the roster.
Can’t disagree with your assessment. And don’t forget that 15-18 record in year 7 of CJP included wins over Clayton State & Florida Tech. That’s 13 Division 1 wins and 6 regular season conference wins, both of which were surpassed in year 1 of CDS without any contribution from Terry. Not that surpassing that low bar by 1 is a big plus, but it is at least an improvement. And Terry had nothing to do with it. With George, Mustaph, Reeves & possibly Daquan Davis & MK, where does Terry expect to get minutes? He could have found minutes for almost half a season here, but chose to redshirt. Why? To fight for minutes next year from the bench or move on some place where he can start. I said before I think he is gone. Still think so.
CDS is also talking to a former teammate about bring his son to Atlanta, kind of like when CBC talked to Rick Barry about sending his kids. I’d guess first order of business in the portal is a true C that can protect the rim, post up or down and protect Ndongo from foul trouble, while allowing BN more offensive freedom.
Darrion Sutton is said to be 6’9” now by OTE announcers. And he has guard-like ball handling skills. In a position-less offense he can play anywhere at either end of the court. CDS is not adverse to starting freshmen and GT is getting 2, maybe 3 very good ones from them. Not looking good for Terry to get playing time in Atlanta next year.
 

slugboy

Moderator
Staff member
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10,812
Image not found. What was this?!!

Confused High Quality GIF
 

reckrider

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
305
Location
Suwanee Georgia
I am going to be harsh this off season. GT has had three bad years in a row and substantial changes have to occur to free itself from the bottom of the conference. This season was not a good start.

Terry Averaged 10ppg and 2.8 rpg on a team that went 15-18 (6-14) and finished 13th in the ACC.

While he did finish the season strong and started to dig-in a little better on defense and take some charges, I don't think he is the kind of player that is going to key a turnaround.

I think he could be a valuable role player with an upside of being an average ACC guard. But I don't think we should be turning down impact talent to save him a spot on the roster.
I think a change in coaching staff counts as a “substantial change”, don’t you?
 

orientalnc

Helluva Engineer
Retired Staff
Messages
9,456
Location
Oriental, NC
I am going to be harsh this off season. GT has had three bad years in a row and substantial changes have to occur to free itself from the bottom of the conference. This season was not a good start.

Terry Averaged 10ppg and 2.8 rpg on a team that went 15-18 (6-14) and finished 13th in the ACC.

While he did finish the season strong and started to dig-in a little better on defense and take some charges, I don't think he is the kind of player that is going to key a turnaround.

I think he could be a valuable role player with an upside of being an average ACC guard. But I don't think we should be turning down impact talent to save him a spot on the roster.
Being harsh is your prerogative, but understand there are others of us who will push back vigorously.

When CDS took over he had three players from the previous team that would see the court in his first season. When he accepted the job he was immediately scrambling to fill out his staff and bring in enough players to field a team. I am just one of many who are disappointed in our losing record, but it's because we seemed so close to breaking through. CDS has a really nice recruiting class coming in and it will likely get better. The future of this program looks VERY bright right now.

Remember, he didn't actually get to see his entire team practice together until late August because of the time it took for some to finish classes at other schools or get enrolled at GT.
 

57jacket

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
946
Good read.https://www.ajc.com/sports/ken-sugiura-blog/first-season-over-expectations-rise-for-georgia-techs-damon-stoudamire/RXVF6AFZHJFLFFULVKWQERNB7A/
 

MtnWasp

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
807
Being harsh is your prerogative, but understand there are others of us who will push back vigorously.

When CDS took over he had three players from the previous team that would see the court in his first season. When he accepted the job he was immediately scrambling to fill out his staff and bring in enough players to field a team. I am just one of many who are disappointed in our losing record, but it's because we seemed so close to breaking through. CDS has a really nice recruiting class coming in and it will likely get better. The future of this program looks VERY bright right now.

Remember, he didn't actually get to see his entire team practice together until late August because of the time it took for some to finish classes at other schools or get enrolled at GT.
Push back all you want. The numbers are what they are. The fact remains that Pastner's last two seasons saw poor player productivity that translated into poor efficiency on both sides of the court which resulted in losing seasons and regime change.

Stoudamire came in and did a major roster sweep, retaining only Kelly, Terry, Sturdivant and Coleman from the Pastner's last squad. Stoudamire replaced those players with 4 Freshmen recruits (George, Ndongo, Sacko and Souare) and the 5 transfers: Abrams, Gapare, Claude, Duowona and Reeves.

But the results were largely the same. Poor efficiency on both ends, spotty player productivity and a losing record.

George and Ndongo are foundational pieces. Those two are the bright spots this season. Otherwise it was kind of a wasted year as we are faced with, again, big time roster turnover. There was major resistance to buy-in or there were numerous players who were simply not sympatico with Stoudamire's message.

Two players who are kind of swing guys are Gapare and Kelly. Gapare turned enough of a corner to command minutes. He is a player who wants to get out in transition but is limited in the half-court. He doesn't have much in the way of post moves/footwork, gets a lot of shots blocked for a player of his athleticism. He could round out his game or he could just be another role player. His 5.1ppg, 3.7 rpg in 18+ minutes in ACC play isn't enough.

Kelly is going to try to get healthy before NBA work-outs begin. Back injuries can take quite some time to heal, and if there is nerve involvement, then NBA teams are going to be shy. Kelly didn't show a lot of offense on game tape this year so the work-outs are going to be key for him. Short of dazzling work-outs, one would think that Kelly would be outside the NBA fringe. But with the NBA it is hard to predict. Then there is the issue of whether he is a Stoudamire guy or another transfer possibility.

Kowacie Reeves is an interesting player. He was a consistent producer in the pre-season but his production tailed-off markedly when we hit the conference slate. He's an athlete but he doesn't impact commensurate with his physical skills, which was the knock on him at UF.

Was Sacko hurt at the end of the year?

We need production! Both ends. Glimpses and flashes aren't enough to win ACC games.
 
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