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

[Connell62]

Hoping this unknown will be bring excitement as a CDS best kept secret. Pretty sure he really likes this kid for a number of reasons. He practices hard and follows instructions. Is a great team guy and biggest cheerleader on the bench. As reported by KQ, he is Nait George’s best friend on the team. All big factors, but if he can’t play at an ACC level and contribute to winning games, he’d probably be gone by now. Maybe a nice big surprise coming.

I could see him being deadly on baseline lobs and dunks when the defense collapses on Baye, or when Nait gets into the lane.

The rim-running alone could ramp our offense. He was sprinting up and down the court like a deer.

 

[hbarrett]

Nice write-up...

Analyst Gives Realistic Expectations For Every Incoming Transfer for Georgia Tech Basketball

Georgia Tech Basketball has had a busy offseason under Damon Stoudamire as they look to win more games in 2024-2025. Stoudamire brought in one of the ACC's best

www.si.com

 

[YlJacket]

McCollum and George are both great at pick and roll offense. That will make it difficult to move Ndongo to the 4 unless one of the other 5’s are equally good and explosive on the roll.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

McCollum and George are both great at pick and roll offense. That will make it difficult to move Ndongo to the 4 unless one of the other 5’s are equally good and explosive on the roll. Can we be good without a legitimate 5 position player?

Can we be good without a legitimate 5 position player? Sure. But if we can discover or develop a true 5 we could be great.

Fingers crossed.

 

[Root4GT]

McCollum and George are both great at pick and roll offense. That will make it difficult to move Ndongo to the 4 unless one of the other 5’s are equally good and explosive on the roll.

This - so many on this board are enamored with a big center. The pick and roll was the key element in our offensive success. Ndongo is exceptional at running it. Most Bigs are not even competent at doing so. There are not all that many Big Centers in the ACC who cause problems either. Having a competent center would be a nice bonus. Having a few guys who can beat their man off the dribble would be much more beneficial in my view!

 

[kg01]

This - so many on this board are enamored with a big center. The pick and roll was the key element in our offensive success. Ndongo is exceptional at running it. Most Bigs are not even competent at doing so. There are not all that many Big Centers in the ACC who cause problems either. Having a competent center would be a nice bonus. Having a few guys who can beat their man off the dribble would be much more beneficial in my view!

Take it a step further. Putting competent defenders on the court that can knock down open shots (like the CO transfer and Reeves) is just another layer to the PnR game.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Take it a step further. Putting competent defenders on the court that can knock down open shots (like the CO transfer and Reeves) is just another layer to the PnR game.

You and the previous poster are not wrong.

But, speaking for those of us who covet an effective big man at center, what we are wishing for is an offense that has no weaknesses. If our shots are not falling, or the other team is matching our guard play point for point, it would be nice to have a center who could muscle us some points underneath when nothing else is working and we are down by 7 with three minutes left in the game.

Anyway, having a center other teams have to worry about makes the guards even more dangerous, to state the obvious.

 

[Root4GT]

You and the previous poster are not wrong.

But, speaking for those of us who covet an effective big man at center, what we are wishing for is an offense that has no weaknesses. If our shots are not falling, or the other team is matching our guard play point for point, it would be nice to have a center who could muscle us some points underneath when nothing else is working and we are down by 7 with three minutes left in the game.

Anyway, having a center other teams have to worry about makes the guards even more dangerous, to state the obvious.

Curious as to how you see a true center playing in a CDS offense? Do you see him mostly down on the blocks/low post setting screens? Do you envision a High - Low game with Ndongo at the High Post? Or is the center simply a guy who gives Ndongo rest time. CDS has stated he prefers playing guys around 30 minutes. He did not come close to that for the key guys last year. With a deeper and potentially more talent team with depth do you think he will.

It will be interesting to see. I really don't know but am guessing Ndongo's role is very similar to last season.

 

[57jacket]

Curious as to how you see a true center playing in a CDS offense? Do you see him mostly down on the blocks/low post setting screens? Do you envision a High - Low game with Ndongo at the High Post? Or is the center simply a guy who gives Ndongo rest time. CDS has stated he prefers playing guys around 30 minutes. He did not come close to that for the key guys last year. With a deeper and potentially more talent team with depth do you think he will.

It will be interesting to see. I really don't know but am guessing Ndongo's role is very similar to last season.

Whatever. We need help on the boards. Too many stickbacks by our opponents. 5, 4, 3.. I don't care.

 

[Root4GT]

Whatever. We need help on the boards. Too many stickbacks by our opponents. 5, 4, 3.. I don't care.

There are trade offs for everything. Have a big center who helps prevent stick backs vs a center who bogs down the offense. It matters how the players are used. You replied so you actually do care. Any further thoughts are actually of interest. Please share.

 

[MtnWasp]

Onwuchekwa is a pivotal player this year. If he is ready to produce, then that sends playing time ripples throughout the rest of the roster.

More specifically, can Onwuchekwa defend the post in the ACC? If he can do that, then that takes a lot of heat off of Ndongo who is not well suited to being a belly-up defender in the ACC, when such a mach-up dictates it, even though he showed last season that he was more than willing to put the effort to do so.

But since it seems most likely that Ndongo's future at the next level is not at the five, I'd suspect that Ndongo and Stoudamire have some understanding that he would like to play some time facing-up. However, if Ndongo moves to forward, opponents may try to go small on us to see if Baye can guard smaller guys on the outside.

But if Onwuchekwa isn't ready for the ACC, then the point is moot and Ndongo will almost certainly be our best option at the 5 against most every match-up.

 

[spdrama]

There are trade offs for everything. Have a big center who helps prevent stick backs vs a center who bogs down the offense. It matters how the players are used. You replied so you actually do care. Any further thoughts are actually of interest. Please share.

A true center protects Ndongo from getting into foul trouble & allows him more options on offensive spacing. That’s how I saw Ebe’s contribution last year, unfortunately his defensive skills never really materialized and he did not have any ACC level offensive game. CDS will have better options with big men this year. How many minutes they get will probably depend more on the matchups anticipated v the team they play, rather than any one big man set to start every game.

Matchups are most critical in the 5-out, as defense drives an offense most geared to a transition attack. All the pieces (talent level) were not in place last year. The pieces are there now, just a matter of gelling and the youngsters gaining experience. How this all translates to wins & losses is anybody’s guess. Expectation for me is lots of tough games & nail biting final minutes. Don’t see those “fall way behind early” kind of games we saw last year. An overall winning record & top half of conference plus at least 1 conference tournament win would be a nice improvement for CDS Act II.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Curious as to how you see a true center playing in a CDS offense? Do you see him mostly down on the blocks/low post setting screens? Do you envision a High - Low game with Ndongo at the High Post? Or is the center simply a guy who gives Ndongo rest time. CDS has stated he prefers playing guys around 30 minutes. He did not come close to that for the key guys last year. With a deeper and potentially more talent team with depth do you think he will.

It will be interesting to see. I really don't know but am guessing Ndongo's role is very similar to last season.

I see the center playing low almost exclusively, moving to the opposite side of the box away from the ball or high or low on the corner of the box, if motion is coming inside. Think about a weave where the center crosses corner to corner. Otherwise, if play is around the perimeter, he plays back to the goal in a traditional center game. I can picture how this would work but can’t adequately describe it.

I just see this as having one more card in the deck to play. No, I do not expect CDS to alter his offense and, yes, I see rotating players and mixing up the combinations. Matchups will be key. Duh. I think there is a reason we brought in Motombo and a reason we are planning on developing a scholarship player.

I’m excited that CDS is getting more and more of the pieces he wants.

 

[Root4GT]

I see the center playing low almost exclusively, moving to the opposite side of the box away from the ball or high or low on the corner of the box, if motion is coming inside. Think about a weave where the center crosses corner to corner. Otherwise, if play is around the perimeter, he plays back to the goal in a traditional center game. I can picture how this would work but can’t adequately describe it.

I just see this as having one more card in the deck to play. No, I do not expect CDS to alter his offense and, yes, I see rotating players and mixing up the combinations. Matchups will be key. Duh. I think there is a reason we brought in Motombo and a reason we are planning on developing a scholarship player.

I’m excited that CDS is getting more and more of the pieces he wants.

I agree with this. Matchups are the key. We saw that attempted last year we just lacked the players. Ndongo is an offensive problem for many teams. He simply can’t play 37+ minutes every game this season.

 

[kg01]

You and the previous poster are not wrong.

But, speaking for those of us who covet an effective big man at center, what we are wishing for is an offense that has no weaknesses. If our shots are not falling, or the other team is matching our guard play point for point, it would be nice to have a center who could muscle us some points underneath when nothing else is working and we are down by 7 with three minutes left in the game.

Anyway, having a center other teams have to worry about makes the guards even more dangerous, to state the obvious.

I'd caution against the affinity for the whole 'real center' thing. There may be a night or two where it hurts you but most nights you'll be pit against a SF or PF playing C(sic). And on the nights where you face the lumbering 'true' center, you're more likely to play them off the court (defensively) before they can actually hurt you (offensively).

On nights where the shots aren't falling, get me layup attempts and free throws. I'll pass on the traditional postups... unless you have a Shaq or an Edey.

I don't want a layup line on D either, but I think the coaches that espouse the 'position-less' philosophy are aware of that potential Achilles heel and scheme accordingly.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

I'd caution against the affinity for the whole 'real center' thing. There may be a night or two where it hurts you but most nights you'll be pit against a SF or PF playing C(sic). And on the nights where you face the lumbering 'true' center, you're more likely to play them off the court (defensively) before they can actually hurt you (offensively).

On nights where the shots aren't falling, get me layup attempts and free throws. I'll pass on the traditional postups... unless you have a Shaq or an Edey.

I don't want a layup line on D either, but I think the coaches that espouse the 'position-less' philosophy are aware of that potential Achilles heel and scheme accordingly.

Well, what do we mean by true? Alabama had a 6’11” “forward” who absolutely cleaned up like a “true” center would. And it certainly didn’t slow down UConn to have a “true” 7’2” center.

I think CDS has it figured out. He knows Ndongo doesn’t need to play the 5 every night if we can help it.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

I agree with this. Matchups are the key. We saw that attempted last year we just lacked the players. Ndongo is an offensive problem for many teams. He simply can’t play 37+ minutes every game this season.

Thanks. I feel less crazy now.

We had moments all last year where guards couldn’t get separation to get off clean shots, added to opposing defenses who had bigs clogging up the middle preventing layups, thus causing us to go on extended scoring droughts. Having someone who can bump and grind down low once in a while might help that.

 

[kg01]

Well, what do we mean by true? Alabama had a 6’11” “forward” who absolutely cleaned up like a “true” center would. And it certainly didn’t slow down UConn to have a “true” 7’2” center.

I think CDS has it figured out. He knows Ndongo doesn’t need to play the 5 every night if we can help it.

Well I posted in reference to your concerns about having a big man at C to muscle some baskets down low or stte.

I'm saying I don't see that as a concern.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Well I posted in reference to your concerns about having a big man at C to muscle some baskets down low or stte.

I'm saying I don't see that as a concern.

Ok, we can disagree. Most people respect your opinions on everything but ice cream

 

[kg01]

Ok, we can disagree. Most people respect your opinions on everything but ice cream

I'm an ice cream savant. That aside, I'll be sure to check in during the season every time I'm proven to be right.