Where do the wins come from?

[GTJason]

With the ND win I have some renewed faith this team can win a few ACC games this year and I believe if we go .500 in ACC play we have a shot at the tourney and will certainly make the NIT. Admittedly we have no idea how good or bad ND is, but I suspect we are very similar teams: good some nights, bad others.

For those who don't think we are improved over last year's 16-14 (6-12) team we already have 2 OOC good wins: Illinois, and Charlotte. Last year we beat St. Mary's and that was about it until beating #6 Miami at the end of the season.

So a little schedule analysis is in order, here are the remaining games:

01/14/14 vs. Pittsburgh *

01/18/14 vs. Miami *

01/21/14 at Boston College *

01/26/14 at NC State *

01/29/14 vs. North Carolina *

02/01/14 at Wake Forest *

02/04/14 at Clemson *

02/08/14 vs. Virginia *

02/12/14 vs. Boston College *

02/18/14 vs. Duke *

02/22/14 vs. Clemson *

02/26/14 at Notre Dame *

03/02/14 at Florida State *

03/04/14 at Syracuse *

03/08/14 vs. Virginia Tech *

if the goal is .500 we need to win 8 more games out of the teams above and I'll lump them into 3 categories, should win, toss-up, and good luck

Should win - not saying we won't lose to these teams, because if being a GT fan has taught me anything prehatched chicken counting is futile:
BC x 2, VPI

Toss-up - the ACC is very middle heavy this year, but these are teams I think we can win against given the right circumstances:
Miami, NC State, UNC, Wake, Clemson x 2, UVA, ND

Good Luck - FWIW we have beaten one of these type of teams every year with CBG.
Pitt, Duke, FSU, Syracuse

So let's say we win the 3 games on top, split the toss up games, and somehow pull out a W out of the bottom 4. That's 8 games, 9-9 in conference which hasn't been done '06-07. I think we'll have to play perfect to pull this off and will need the crowds to make out gym hard to play in, but it's possible. Thoughts?

 

[xenoabe]

Scoring more points than the opponent.

 

[GTJason]

Scoring more points than the opponent.

Well that or when a mommy win and a daddy win really love one another...

 

[kg01]

Well that or when a mommy win and a daddy win really love one another...

Ha! Reminds me of last week when my 6yo daughter asked my wife how did the baby get out of her stomach.

Back on topic, I'm still a bit wary about where our wins are going to come from. Seeing Miami beat UNC, Clem beat Duke (didn't they just beat Duke) and knowing BC beat VPI have me scared. If we play as solid as we have the past 2 games we have a shot. I think teams like the Wakes, BCs and others can certainly be had. I don't think there's a team we have not shot at, although @Cuse is close.

 

[Eric]

I think we beat Pitt tomorrow

 

[alaguy]

This win puts a WHOLE new spin on season maybe. Having Kam and Bolden play at a much higher level replacing the bumbling Poole bros resulted in a real win.
Just this one stat tells a lot--many more assts than TOs- with MGH getting a career high

 

[Ggee87]

BC is no slouch. They have a good team. Wake and NC state are weak. Clemson.. ehh.. VT.. the same. Duke, UNC, Cuse are tough. Miami Maryland and FSU Virginia are even

 

[MWBATL]

I am thinking more like 8-10. An awful lot of teams in the ACC are up and down, so you never know. Positive for us is our senior leadership. Negative is that Q and Chris Bolden have played 1 good game each, and may have to adjust to keep it up, which they may or may not be able to accomplish. If Bolden in particular has more bad days than good, then 8 wins becomes a stretch.

 

[kg01]

BC is no slouch. They have a good team. Wake and NC state are weak. Clemson.. ehh.. VT.. the same. Duke, UNC, Cuse are tough. Miami Maryland and FSU Virginia are even

I originally replied to dispute your assessment of BC, but having looked deeper into their record it looks like they've actually played a fairly tough schedule on the way to 5-12. They could indeed give us more trouble than we need.

NC State could beat us if we don't pay attention. So could Clem, UM, MD, FSU or UVA. We still have a tough road ahead of us so picking up a win tonight would be great. Pitt is a good, well-coached team but if we're solid we can get the W.

 

[RamblinCharger]

Based off of what I've seen this year I think you guys might be drinking the koolaid too early. If we hadn't lost a good rebounder in RC then I think we could have gone 8-10 or 9-9 but I just don't think we're that great. Maybe we can turn it around and finish 9-9, if we do that we'll probably have to win 2 ACC tourney games to get in the big dance but I would be happy with an NIT appearance this year.

 

[GTJason]

The thing about BC is there is a huge talent gap between them and most of the ACC at least by looking at recruiting (I don't know about transfers into the program.) This doesn't mean we can't lose to them but I'm confident our starting 5 is better than theirs and there aren't many other teams we play in the ACC where I can definitively say that. Things like poor shot selection, lazy passing, and missed free throws would allow them to run with us

 

[Ggee87]

I'm not saying BC are world beaters or anything. But they did beat us twice last year with a very young team. That team just got older and more experienced this season. They haven't started out well, but I think they, like us, get it going later in the season. Pitt is beatable tonight if we play hard on defense and can get 1 or 2 guys going early. I think we finish ahead of maybe 3 or 4 other teams since we lost Rob and Jorgenson. Lack of depth is our biggest issue. We were built around our big men, not our guards. Losing a key cog isn't gonna be easy to overcome. If we make the NIT this year it will be a miracle. Having said that... We will have a better record this year than last and that's an improvement.

 

[Kmag]

I like the enthusiasm. By the way I was laughed at for saying a couple weeks ago we may have a chance to go .500 in conference. It's amazing what one big win can do.

 

[Ggee87]

We play well at home and not so well on the road. We should win most of our remaining home games. If that gets us to .500 then so be it. Don't see us winning many road games though... regardless of opponent

 

[Stinger90]

We play well at home and not so well on the road. We should win most of our remaining home games. If that gets us to .500 then so be it. Don't see us winning many road games though... regardless of opponent

Wake is another team that plays good at home, which we play there. BC, has been disappointing, but a team you don't take lightly.

The ACC is hard to figure out with the exception of Cuse and Pitt.

 

[ATL1]

Curious
Hewitt's contract ends in 2 years right??

 

[Stinger90]

I think you are correct. That gives CBG two years to get things going and free up money to find another coach if he doesn't.

Who would you guys want here? Noodles??

 

[kg01]

I think you are correct. That gives CBG two years to get things going and free up money to find another coach if he doesn't.

Who would you guys want here? Noodles??

Don't think we hld a guy in higher esteeem as a coach just because he played here. Were he not a former player we'd laugh at him as a candidate.

We're still not at the point where CBG should be fired. I don't think. But somethings gotta change this year.