Rhode Island game thread

[dtm1997]

The result of beating Rider is facing a very tough Rhode Island team, which matches up well or better than us statistically and features a guard in E.C. Matthews that's generally viewed as a top 100 college player this year.

I'm not gonna sugarcoat anything. We may be 4-1, but there's plenty to improve upon. In my opinion, the first area of improvement is getting amped up and playing with passion, energy, and force of will. BG & his coaches need to upgrade the mental aspects if we hope to improve our execution.

If I'm honest with myself & everyone here, I'm not so keen on our chances tomorrow. That said, I'll certainly be watching & supporting the Jackets. This is a chance to get a really good win and they need to get out there and show they can do it.

And with that... GO JACKETS!

 

[Peacone36]

Im not going to get into a long rant about what we need to do. We know. We need to play our game ( im actually unsure what that is at this point)

Rebound
Play inspired on the defensive end
Look like you deserve to call yourself an ACC team.

 

[dtm1997]

@Peacone36 agree that there's no reason to rant. The weaknesses are showing themselves quickly this season.

Based on that, we have to learn, improve, & execute. As fans, it's pointless to not be even keel in the face of adversity this season. MBob will either see enough progress to allow the current regime to continue or choose to make a change. Either way, we've got no control outside of supporting the players.

 

[dtm1997]

@Eric & @CuseJacket - open chat this evening for the URI game?

 

[dtm1997]

 

[dtm1997]

Lurking in chat during the game. TV coverage on ESPNU, unless Xavier/Long Beach State goes to OT, which would be terrible.

https://gtswarm.com/chat/

 

[New Old Guy]

These officials are terrible. They will not call a charge on URI!

 

[MWBATL]

A win! How nice. I can upgrade us now from being a good MAAC team to being a good Atlantic Ten team.

I honestly did not think I saw much improvement offensively, but we played better defense in the first half particularly.

 

[GT_ATL]

After Marquette played well against MSU and Tennessee, I gave this team another chance and I guess they didn't let me down. Hard to be pleased, per se, but if we can take this level of play and lock it in as our floor for the rest of the year, I think we'll be ok. Some well-placed improvements could have us competitive against the mid-tier of the ACC. Northwestern in a couple of days is a serious must-win for Gregory's program.

 

[orientalnc]

From the beginning of this thread I predicted we would be 2-1 in Orlando. So, that is what happened. Why does this feel so negative?

 

[Connor]

From the beginning of this thread I predicted we would be 2-1 in Orlando. So, that is what happened. Why does this feel so negative?

Because of the order of those wins/losses. Winning the first 2 games to lose the 3rd would have been a different story.

 

[GT_B]

The team is never going to look pretty offensively, just not Gregory's strength. Unless we recruit a 5 star offensive threat that can take over games, we will get all our points on mop up buckets/offensive boards and some transition. We just have to play outstanding defense and rebound well and we can compete in the ACC.

 

[dtm1997]

We certainly had some negative play tonight, but getting this win is by no means negative. We were a Vegas underdog, we had patches of sloppy play, but we answered the call when needed. The defense had shaky moments, but had some good stretches. The offense had shaky moments, but we also had good execution at times.

Most importantly, when we played with high effort, good things happened. I only watched about 1 minute of Michigan State vs. Marquette, Sparty moved decisively and crisply. If we can get more effort, we'll compete consistently, even in losses.

On to the next one.

 

[orientalnc]

On to the next one.

I guess that is where we are.

 

[dtm1997]

I guess that is where we are.

I think that's where we are. We got a win over a good team, which I'm thrilled about. We've previously identified numerous flaws in this team. They've got to work to improve if they want to get more wins.

They've got another chance for a good win on Wednesday. Northwestern may be rebuilding, but they've attracted talent and their sniveling little coach will no doubt get a scouting report from his tougher former comrade. Time to take a breath and move on, in my opinon.

 

[kg01]

Dafuq? We had a game today. Man I'm slippin'. Still hungover from hate week tho so I have an excuse.

 

[dtm1997]

Dafuq? We had a game today. Man I'm slippin'. Still hungover from hate week tho so I have an excuse.

I think we all are.

 

[RamblinRed]

This game reminded me alot of the IPFW game and also a little of UGA. Tech did a great job of taking control of the game in the later stages of the first half. it then spent the entire second half playing cat and mouse, fending off runs. I don't expect this group to really beat many teams thoroughly. I hope they compete hard and make plays down the stretch to win games. Until Matthews hit the 3 with 3 seconds left it was never a one possession game in the second half.

Despite the bad taste of the Marquette game, they have still navigated to 5-1 so far. They have some serious flaws to try to improve upon and in some cases just try to hide, but they are giving themselves a chance.
Hopefully they give themselves a chance against NW.

 

[up state jacket]

Why is it free throws have been difficult to convert for the last eight years? Free throws can be coached up and for some reason it isn't happening. Josh Heath (PG and coach's son) was 2-4 down the stretch tonight. Not picking on him, just using him as an example that for some reason a player puts on the Tech uniform and their ability to hit FT's goes away. Shooting from the outside is still not good and when this team enters ACC play it will be difficult to win games like they did tonight. Guard play has to get A LOT better. The team is better than it was last year, so improvement is happening. I just hope it is happening fast enough for the top brass because if CBG is canned at the end of the year this program will be down for another five years. Coach's in the past have proven talent will come to Tech if recruited properly, so the program can be turned around. Pulling for you coach B.

 

[alaguy]

Amazing things happen when you shoot the ball decently.Like win. Even with twice the TOs to assts and an off reboundinging night ,we won.
Actually played well in the 2nd 10 mins.Maybe best of yr.Good def and good Off.
We just don't have scoring guards--well, Jackson is a shooting guard but maybe not scoring right now.
This was a decent win.A step in right direction but almost blew it. PGs hitting 50% Fts in last min will kill you.