Serious ? from a BB "newb"

4shotB

4shotB

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of sorts. I have to confess I have drifted away from GT BB over the years, for a variety of reasons probably most would understand. So, anyway, today for the first time in eons, I ended up in a mall,although one of those "outdoor" types. So, while my better half was doing her thing, I walked into a Barnes & Noble (they still exist!) and perused the magazines as I did in the days of yore. One of the more recognizable rags (Athlon? Street & Smith? Sporting News?) had GT picked dead last in the conference??!

My questions to you who follow the sport - is this a realistic and rationale pick? Why or why not? Are you satisfied with the progress being made under Coach Pastner? Is he on schedule to bring GT BB back to respectability, which I would define as middle of the pack in the ACC/NCAA bubble team?

As always, thank you for your patience and any insight you can provide.
 
majorQ9

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I would place Georgia Tech above Wake Forest this season and maybe Pittsburgh. It's a good conference and Pastner is still building the program. Okogie left for the NBA last year and was a huge factor (along with Lammers and Tadric) why the team had been successful the last two years.
 
Peacone36

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I picked us 14th.

Pitt has looked stunningly better early but played a garbage schedule. Good win over SLU today though.

Wake is trash

I am content with giving Pastner the 5 years, though sometimes I get into grand dads cough medicine and bypass the phone breathalyzer.

We are in a better spot than we were 3 years ago, I firmly believe that. That said, we need to recruit better. To be blunt, 247sports C- was generous.

The good thing is that if Pastner ultimately fails, we are in a good position to make a quality proven hire financially. Whether or not we ultimately do that I question. I’m not sure the powers that be (ppl above ADTS) are as interested in us doing what is necessary to be successful as they are in cashing checks provided by other ACC program’s success.
 

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We lost something like 2/3rds of our scoring. Its natural to put us at the bottom when we're in a major rebuild. I suspect our recruiting and coaching will enable us to outperform that and perhaps get to 7-11 on the season and finish 9th or 10th. Nothing to write home about, but when we hired Pastner a couple years ago, we told him he might not win a single ACC game.
 
AE 87

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SecretAgentBuzz said:
Call me a “glass half full” guy, but I don’t see an ACC bottom dweller with this team. I think we will be much like two years ago where we surprise some people and win some big games with defense and effort. I don’t have to squint too much to see us making the NIT. The NCAA tournament is a bit more of a stretch, but not impossible.
Click to expand...

I agree if we can play a complete game, which we haven't yet.

Most ACC teams aren't going to miss free throws like some of our opponents so far.
 
4shotB

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Peacone36 said:
That said, we need to recruit better. To be blunt, 247sports C- was generous.

.
Click to expand...

Thanks to all for the replies. A couple of followup questions based on all the responses.

1) Recruiting - we seem to have a lot to sell to BB recruits - ATL, Adidas, conference, just put a guy in the NBA, etc. What is holding us back on this front?

2) If the kid who went pro had come back, where do you thing the "experts" would have picked us in the conference? Was he enough to get us to the middle of the pack/NCAA bubble team status
 

smathis30

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4shotB said:
Thanks to all for the replies. A couple of followup questions based on all the responses.

1) Recruiting - we seem to have a lot to sell to BB recruits - ATL, Adidas, conference, just put a guy in the NBA, etc. What is holding us back on this front?

2) If the kid who went pro had come back, where do you thing the "experts" would have picked us in the conference? Was he enough to get us to the middle of the pack/NCAA bubble team status
Click to expand...

1. Were in the ACC. Every schools that we traditionally hold an advantage in receruiting in Football we absolutely do not have a advantage in recruiting in basketball for the most part. Atlantas biggest edge in recruiting is proximity to home and not the city itself IMO.
2. Okogie was our best offensive piece last year, but looking at his NBa stats you'll see that is absolutely not the reason he was drafted. He is #1 in defensive efficiency and PAG (points added a game) for rookies but near the bottom for offensive PAG. His strength was in his size and ability to go to the rim and get fouled. He was a good 3 pt shooter too, but his value came from his defense. Previous coaches grad transfer recruiting style left us with an empty basket so we're struggling in depth which we have needed to recruit for, and losing one of the strongest pieces in okogie hurt s because the people who replace him now are obviously steps behind him
 
Andewa

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I can't rank us within the ACC because I don't follow other teams, but I'm really pleased with what Pastner is building. It's a painfully slow process with a lot left to go, but I've been really impressed with the year-to-year development of the players. Alvarado is my favorite player. Watch him play, and you'll understand why.
 
jacketup

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This is a different type of Tech team than we have seen in many years. The comparison is a poor man's Lethal Weapon 3.

This team will live or die by outside shooting. You saw it tonight. 0-8 from 3 in the first half. Lost the first half. 4-9 in the second half. Won the second half.

We have shooters for the first time in years. How consistent they will be is the issue, and that will be the difference in how we finish in the ACC.

I understand that the sports journalists, who are generally lame, don't get that this is a Tech team with a different offensive potential than we have seen in the past few years. They just look at the points we lost with last year's dribble drive/attack the basket/inside game offense and write us off. Some of our supposedly informed posters don't seem to get it either.

The mags also didn't factor in Banks.

I see best case as about 9th in the ACC and worst case as 13th. Our aggressive defense is a strength---but it could cause us problems in ACC play, which tends to have whistle happy officiating.

Watch the 3 point shooting stats and you can track this team.
 
GTRX7

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I would say Pastner has been a bit of a mixed bag so far. His reputation coming in was that of a very good recruiter, but possibly a poor game coach. After two years, we have strangely gotten the opposite. He hired a great, experienced staff and his game coaching has really seemed to maximize the ability of our teams. We seem to play with a plan and always show effort and hustle. That makes them easy teams to root for. That said, our talent is still way down compared to Tech teams of old and the rest of the current ACC. Beyond Alvarado, I am not sure anyone on our roster would start for another ACC team. We have a whole bunch of guys that are ACC level role players, but not a lot of starter type talent.

As for recruiting, Pastner has us in the mix for a lot more 4* and 5* players than Gregory did, but we have missed on virtually all of them (including so far for next year). If we can get the recruiting right, I think Pastner can have a good run. And, unlike football, I don't think there is any reason we cannot have success in recruiting for football. While the ACC is a stronger basketball conference, our main rivals and the schools located around Atlanta all view basketball as an afterthought. And Tech has a really tremendous history of putting guys in the NBA. We can and should do better there.
 
MidtownJacket

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Recruiting takes time, it is built on reputation and relationships. Currently we are building those relationships BUT the shenanigans about RB and JP are certainly not helping reputation.

We recruit smart, driven, capable and focused kids as they fit into our academic culture better. Unfortunately, this segment of recruits is probably the hardest to convince to get tied up in a potential scandal. The mess with the trip for our kids is equally damning as the alleged misconduct with JP in my opinion. The one actually happened, the other almost certainly did not.
 
Gtbowhunter90

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SecretAgentBuzz said:
Call me a “glass half full” guy, but I don’t see an ACC bottom dweller with this team. I think we will be much like two years ago where we surprise some people and win some big games with defense and effort. I don’t have to squint too much to see us making the NIT. The NCAA tournament is a bit more of a stretch, but not impossible.
Click to expand...

Still think this team is even a contender for the NIT?????
Me thinks NOT.
 
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