NCAAT Bubble and Looking to Next Year

[lauraee]

 

[RyanS12]

Next year will be 10 years.....
About the only thing to look forward to next season is there’s gonna be a 30 year celebration of Lethal Weapon 3! I hope

 

[THWG16]

I don’t have any faith anymore , I think we’ll be hiring another coach in 2021 & “rebuilding “ for the 100th year in a row

 

[MiracleWhips]

I agree with peacone about Moses’ defense. He overplays the high side of the wing zone and is slow to recover.

In that zone if moses comes up banks has to play the corners. I was at the game and heard Pastner telling to the staff about it.

 

[AUFC]

In that zone if moses comes up banks has to play the corners. I was at the game and heard Pastner telling to the staff about it.

Ron I thought they didn't let you in the arena anymore.

 

[YlJacket]

Moses overplaying the wing is obvious. He ain't ever going to get it on the wing. If we are going to play this defense I want to know if he can play the 5 on the baseline. Or look at a regular 1-3-1 and play Moses at the foul line

 

[gte447f]

In that zone if moses comes up banks has to play the corners. I was at the game and heard Pastner telling to the staff about it.

I get that, and I think it puts Banks in a bad position. The biggest guy on the team having to sprint the baseline and cover more ground than anybody on the floor? It's not sustainable. He will be gassed late in the game, and he has been.

I'm just a guy, but I would maybe try banks in the middle of the 1-3-1 at the free throw line where he could still collapse and rim protect, but put a smaller faster, but still long, guy in the back, like AD, Moore or Cole maybe to close out on the corner 3's.

 

[Sebastian GT]

For the umpteenth season in the row, "The bubble is weak." I swear, this is said every year.

Maybe experts and fans need an expectations adjustment. Regardless, since the field of 68 started, the bubble has been, shall we say, "reasonably attainable" if you don't screw up too much and knock off a couple ranked teams.

This year we screwed up too much (Gardner-Webb, Georgia, ND, and mind-blowing offensive ineptness in some expected losses). We also haven't beaten a team receiving votes, let alone a ranked team.

Looking to next year, we'll have an older team. We lose Alston and Gueye for sure. It's possible we lose a guy or two with remaining eligibility that aren't currently getting minutes. We add Jordan Usher and maybe (fingers crossed) another impactful transfer or recruit.

So, three questions:
1) What do you see as the profile of a team that is bubble-worthy?
2) How likely is it that we'll get there next year?
3) What changes are necessary for us to get there next year?

Unless the second coming of Dennis Scott shows up next year in the form of a transfer or recruit then what we see next year will look very similar to what we've seen this year. College basketball is a guard driven game played on the perimeter. Our team can't shoot and most of them can't even create their own shot off the dribble. Jose is a good ballhandler and facilitator but he has no one that can play off of him and spot up for 3 that the other team perceives as a consistent threat to beat them. The best teams in Tech history had great guards. We will continue our stay in basketball hell until we collect a group of studs at the guard position that can shoot the lights out when left open and take it to the hole with authority when needed.

 

[dtm1997]

I don’t have any faith anymore , I think we’ll be hiring another coach in 2021 & “rebuilding “ for the 100th year in a row

When did you exhibit any faith on this message board?

Most of your posts have been complaints or setting up the opportunity to complain.

 

[684Bee]

In that zone if moses comes up banks has to play the corners. I was at the game and heard Pastner telling to the staff about it.

Sounds like something that should’ve already been ironed out in practice.

 

[g0lftime]

I don't see where the big leap in winning more games will come from next year. Devoe should improve. Haywood could improve his shooting just by spending time working on his shot this summer. Those guys just need to hit a better percentage. We dont seem to have our guys scoring off the dribble and creating ther own shot. jose does at times. Banks can improve his inside offense with work. This team will need to get some help at center and real quick. Grad transfer is probably best option to buy time in recruiting for 2021. Wright has shown flashes of improvement recently.

 

[MiracleWhips]

I get that, and I think it puts Banks in a bad position. The biggest guy on the team having to sprint the baseline and cover more ground than anybody on the floor? It's not sustainable. He will be gassed late in the game, and he has been.

I'm just a guy, but I would maybe try banks in the middle of the 1-3-1 at the free throw line where he could still collapse and rim protect, but put a smaller faster, but still long, guy in the back, like AD, Moore or Cole maybe to close out on the corner 3's.

I totally agree with you on this, asking banks to play 35 mins a night closing out corners and expecting him to produce on the offensive end is just asking too much. I think the problem boils down to is that when we have our starting 5 out there and we have moses run the baseline of that 1-3-1, what zone would banks cover?

 

[MiracleWhips]

I don’t see what some of you guys see with Moses’s defense. His rotations are slow and he puts others in bad positions. He might block a shot every now and again but he also might contribute to your pivot being in foul trouble.

I’d much rather see Moore or Sjolund

If you go back and watch the highlights on youtube Sjolund's zone was getting cooked all night. Pastner alluded to it in the post game interview, although I hate to hear pastner talk like that.

 

[g0lftime]

If you go back and watch the highlights on youtube Sjolund's zone was getting cooked all night. Pastner alluded to it in the post game interview, although I hate to hear pastner talk like that.

He was allowing his guy to drive by him. Needs to keep his man in front of him or turn him into the lane where he can get help. He got beaten badly a few times last night.

 

[gte447f]

If memory serves, we were playing man to man when he Sjo-time got blown by for a dunk late in the game. Your point about needing to stay in front of his man, obviously still stands, and is even more critical when playing man to man.

 

[g0lftime]

If memory serves, we were playing man to man when he Sjo-time got blown by for a dunk late in the game. Your point about needing to stay in front of his man, obviously still stands, and is even more critical when playing man to man.

He gave him the baseline drive with clear lane to the basket. He could have overplayed to the baseline and MAYBE gotten some help in the lane. He got beaten so bad on that play he couldn't even use the baseline to help him. Not trying to be hard on him. Anyone that has played gets beaten every now and then but if you get beat try to give your teammates a chance to help. Coaching should be able to help. Even Duke players get beat but you usually see help off the ball as they rotate to close off the lane.

 

[CuseJacket]

Sugiura: Josh Pastner believes Tech can make NCAA tournament in 2020

“Obviously, when I got the job, I was told five years (to make the NCAA tournament), but I don’t want to wait five years,” Pastner told the AJC. “I want to get there now. Obviously, this year is going to be tough, but the reality of it, our aim is for next season. Now, yes, was I told five? Yes, but I want to get there next year, and I believe we can do it. I truly believe we can do it.”

Pastner’s comments followed those he made on his Monday evening radio show, which followed an evidently productive practice.

“The team we practiced (Monday), I said that team can get to the NCAA tournament next year,” Pastner told Tech radio voice Andy Demetra.

More quotes in the article.

 

[okiemon]

Sugiura: Josh Pastner believes Tech can make NCAA tournament in 2020


More quotes in the article.

I read that. I hope he really believes it, and it is not just wishful thinking or something he says just to calm TStan down.

 

[MiracleWhips]

Random question, who do you guys see transferring from the roster after the season is up?

 

[lv20gt]

I don't see where the big leap in winning more games will come from next year.

I don't think improvement is going to be one big leap. I think we are likely to see several smaller steps forward and how far we improve as a team will be dependent on how many pieces make those small leaps.

Looking at things optimistically we should have a pretty good defense. This year our defense gives most team's problems but doesn't really have an answer when teams can find something that works. We don't really have effective back up options. With more experience we should be able to present different looks effectively to make it harder to gameplan against it.

Offensively, the key is we need more consistency. IMO we need to be able to count on the combo of Jose, Devoe, and Banks, to put up a total of 40 a game. That would be 13 a game each, and they have proven to be able to do that on a somewhat consistent basis during stretches. Jose has scored 13 or more 7 times in ACC play. Banks has done it 7 times, and Devoe has done it 4 times. It's just too inconsistent. IMO from them a good progression would be getting 9 ==8 on their off nights, instead of 0 or 2, and have a couple more times of going off for 20+. IMO all 3 have shown the talent to be able to do that. Now the hope is that the experience will have it so they do it more consistently.

If we could get a reliable 40 points from them it would be huge because then between Moore, Haywood, Usher, Cole, and Wright we should be able to put together 30 points most nights with solid progress. Being able to get to around most games will give us a good chance at winning a good bit more games and it really comes more down to consistency than anything imo.