This year

Jack

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
274
Again I am excited about the upcoming year. The coach can be a little squirly sometimes but he usually has a good bunch of kids and they play hard. The wins are exciting, especially when we beat someone we weren’t supposed to beat.
I think they picked up some good new players and I’m expecting the second year players to be mostly over the shock of tough ACC competition.
The two players I have the highest hopes for are Smith and Howard. Smith has “Iverson”
speed and quickness and I hope he breaks out.
Howard is such a good kid and hard worker that it won’t surprise me for him to average double figures in points and high singles in rebounds.
 

MtnWasp

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,055
We could be good, we could be bad. Should be a really fun journey.

For me, a big question is that we have a balanced roster without a really huge differential between the top option and the tenth.

Pastner says he likes a short rotation. How will that work when the tenth guy isn't that much less productive than the 3rd?

Do we get 6-7 guys who are clearly better than the rest or do we play a deep bench?
 

mstranahan

Helluva Engineer
Messages
1,561
On the non-Tech front, I picked up season tix at Ga State this year to replace my tix at another school (my buddy was fired as HC, so no reason to go to games there). I've got tix at Tech plus 4 other schools and enjoy watching different teams play and the different venues / fan bases. Will be interesting to see how Hayes does as a HC. Also interested to see their new facility which is a multi-purpose place, not dedicated to hoops.

On the Tech front, I think we will be competitive, but a lot depends on which kids step up their play a level and how the team chemistry develops. No way for me to predict either, so I'll be interested to watch the early cupcake games (no serious competition in McCamish until UVA on 12/31) to look for development and chemistry.
 

SCjacket1

Banned
Messages
36
mstranahan said:
On the non-Tech front, I picked up season tix at Ga State this year to replace my tix at another school (my buddy was fired as HC, so no reason to go to games there). I've got tix at Tech plus 4 other schools and enjoy watching different teams play and the different venues / fan bases. Will be interesting to see how Hayes does as a HC. Also interested to see their new facility which is a multi-purpose place, not dedicated to hoops.

On the Tech front, I think we will be competitive, but a lot depends on which kids step up their play a level and how the team chemistry develops. No way for me to predict either, so I'll be interested to watch the early cupcake games (no serious competition in McCamish until UVA on 12/31) to look for development and chemistry.
Click to expand...
First time in a couple of years the team doesn’t have an established alpha. Going to be fun to see who steps up. Plenty of viable candidates.
 
gdamian

gdamian

Georgia Tech Fan
Messages
79
To me this feels a lot like CJPs first season. Not really sure what to expect. Given the uncertainty, the external projections will likely put GT near the bottom of the ACC. Not a terrible place for GT to be, except this isn't CJPs first season. I expect the start to be rough as the team sorts out who will emerge. Maybe a 5-5 start but hopefully by the middle part of the ACC schedule things begin to fall into place. It would probably be too late to play games after the ACC tourney, however. My expectations are higher for next year.
 
AUFC

AUFC

Helluva Engineer
Messages
2,989
Location
Atlanta
mstranahan said:
On the non-Tech front, I picked up season tix at Ga State this year to replace my tix at another school (my buddy was fired as HC, so no reason to go to games there). I've got tix at Tech plus 4 other schools and enjoy watching different teams play and the different venues / fan bases. Will be interesting to see how Hayes does as a HC. Also interested to see their new facility which is a multi-purpose place, not dedicated to hoops.

On the Tech front, I think we will be competitive, but a lot depends on which kids step up their play a level and how the team chemistry develops. No way for me to predict either, so I'll be interested to watch the early cupcake games (no serious competition in McCamish until UVA on 12/31) to look for development and chemistry.
Click to expand...
I live about a mile down Hank Aaron from the new Convocation Center so I will be there a fair amount on doing-nothing evenings for men's and women's games. Tech/State and State/Southern will both be a lot of fun. Looks like a beautiful facility. See ya there!

I'm aiming to start doing some more college hoops tourism this season so hoping to also get to KSU, Mercer, Jacksonville State, Auburn, UAB, Furman, Wofford, UT-Chattanooga, etc this season.
 

YlJacket

Helluva Engineer
Messages
3,272
Jackets have been almost universally picked at or near the bottom of the ACC. So for those of you who say GT does better when there are no expectations then this should be your year.

GT does have some (mostly young) talent but none of that talent has declared itself a legit ACC starter - and certainly not a scorer/difference maker. So my key question is which one of these 8 or 9 guys is going to make the leap and be that bell cow scorer/difference maker? Unless one and likely 2 of these guys make that leap, then the preseason prognostications are likely directionally accurate. Couple of guys make the leap then all things become possible - looking at you Coleman, Miles and Smith.

I do expect that Pastner can put together a top half of the ACC defensive team with the talent we have and some decent scheming. That requires (among other things) Howard to improve to average ACC starter defensively and Coleman to come in lighter and quicker than he was last year. But mixing that funky zone with some man to man that hopefully has a more athletic perimeter should lead to "success".

I just worry where the points are going to come from. Coleman, Miles and Maxwell showed flashes last year but flashes won't get it done. Franklin looks like a legit albeit mostly old school 4 and I admit I got no idea what to expect from Terry.

While we could start up to 4 seniors, this doesn't feel like a get old stay old team. It feels a lot more like a starting over team as the star power is at the sophmore/freshman level with some potential for a JR (Smith) to jump in. There are a ton of questions that have to be answered and multiple unknowns will have to be positive for the outcome to be "positive". I have muted expectations and will simply try to enjoy the ride - but this isn't a get old stay old team.
 

g0lftime

Helluva Engineer
Messages
6,035
UNC will be very good this year with essentially last year's team back. They can taste a national championship. Duke has another great assembly of highly ranked players. Can a rookie coach mold them into a contender? Playing for second.
I see us as a middle team at best. Too many unknowns with what offense we run and who can score. Pastner likes that modified Princeton O but usually switches to dribble drive penetrate during the season. He is actually a pretty good defensive coach. I think Coleman has a breakout year. Interested in J Moore. He could be a scoring machine at times last year. Time for Maxwell to get some minutes. He was a big time high school player but needs to stay healthy.
 
Jacket4Life

Jacket4Life

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
526
Location
Georgia
I honestly can't predict how we will do this year. If last years freshman take a big step forward we could be a surprise team. We also need major improvement from Howard. Hopeful that it all comes together. Guess we will see.
 
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