I had no idea what we had coming into the season as I've kinda put GT basketball in the "show me something to pay attention" zone the past few seasons. On top of that, we've got a lot of new faces. Luckily, I was able to get down to McCamish for the game, and I'm really glad I did. Some of my thoughts:
Our bigs are BIG...they are wide and are a load to move. Cox isn't getting a lot of pub, but he did a lot of really good things for a big guy: Altering shots, making it tough for UGA's bigs to back into the post, and just keeping things alive for us. Mitchell had a "quiet" 20 points...I didn't even realize how nice of night he had until I got on the computer and looked at the stats. Teams are going to find it hard to get cheap points in the paint on us. Lammers showed a nice game in his limited minutes...definitely more promising for the long term than Daniel Miller was his freshmen year. Maybe next to Mitchell and Cox he seems underdeveloped physically, but in person he's actually decent size for a true freshmen.
Not sure what happened to Quinten Stephens, but he looks like a completely different player. I know it's just one game, but all through the game I kept telling my buddy how Quinten's game tonight reminded me of someone but I just couldn't figure it out. Then it hit me: the way Q played tonight was eerily similar to Tayshaun Prince. Tall, long, lanky...but can shoot the ball from anywhere, could potentially be a matchup problem if he develops a game closer to the basket to create mismatches. Nice handle for someone his height. Not sure you can see it on the TV, but Q is REALLY tall...he was standing next to Lammers and was maybe an inch shorter.
Jorgenson started off strong from the point, but he got really sloppy with the ball. I hope it's just rust from the injury, but I wasn't that impressed. He was more impressive last season before his injury. Heath was the opposite...started off a little shaky, but got stronger with his ball handling and decision making later in the game. Both have to clean up some of their decision making, but they'll both get better with more minutes. Really like that they were looking to get the ball to their teammates.
Peacone mentioned it, but in person this really stands out: MGH was easily the best athlete on the floor tonight, but he wasn't as aggressive as he probably should be. This is a guy picked to tryout for USA Basketball team, but it seems he's not as aggressive with the ball in his hands as he should be. He's got an NBA body, and can take guys off the dribble at will but doesn't always look for his shot. It always feels like he's dictating play on the defender but never wants to take the next step to finish the play.
Tadric didn't play that much, but you could tell he has potential. Unlike MGH, Tadric looked to create and did create some nice shots, they just didn't fall. They will eventually fall.
All in all, I'm actually more excited about this team than any other team CBG has had. I don't see why we can't finish in the top 8 of the ACC with this roster. We've got a deep roster in the post, a potential breakout scorer in Q, a veteran in MGH that should take his game to the next level and become a very good player, and two guards who play to our strengths in getting the ball first to our best players. Our big guys don't just take up space and eat fouls, they're legit post guys on both ends of the floor.
Hopefully this isn't just a one game wonder. I'm actually looking forward to the next game with this team.
