Quick stuff (GT game)...

[gary-7]

...and this will be quick.

Since I missed the first few minutes of the game thanks to a crappy ESPN app, I didn't keep all my usual numbers. This one will be mostly "stuff".

- I often compare Basketball to boxing in that match-ups are so important. Playing GaTech is much like fighting an "awkward" boxer --- Ali vs Norton comes to mind --- and in these games you have to just execute and not get caught up into an ugly game. The only way they can beat you is if you play (stumble) into their hands and get caught with some haymakers. We did our best --- especially for most of the first half --- to do just that.

- TOs, and maddeningly just giveaway TOs, kept them in the game in the first half. I mean, TOs from just not catching a simple pass or making a bad pass. Those will kill ya. We cleaned that up some in the second half but LIVE BALL TOs are the worst, and late when it looked like we had restored order and were ready to cruise home, first Luke then Theo make back-to-back gawdawful TOs, both of which of course led to transition 3s and a lead cut into single digits. Fundamentals guys. Fundamentals.

- Nice contributions from Manley and Platek off the bench today. It was also apparent after talking about in his presser earlier, that Roy was determined to get Jalek more minutes, and earlier minutes. He's still making mental mistakes but he does need to get a chance to learn by doing.

- Y'all saw the number that won us this one: +21 rebounding margin, incl +13 on the offensive end. Hey, there's a reason Roy loves rebounding so much. Also GaTech fouls --- a lot --- and we got to the line enough and converted enough.This was not a game we wanted to leave points at the line. We were indeed rebounding hard and hey, when the shots aren't falling that's a dang good remedy. Double-doubles for Luke and Theo, and JB took out his frustrations on the glass. Little Dog came out with 8 rebounds and few of them were easy.

- Speaking of which, last week I posted that if Teddy Valentine was gonna keep reffing the first thing he needed to do was a mea culpa with Joel, and it appeared he did just that pre-game (as well as with Roy). Good for him. Teddy was pretty inconspicuous today, but the crew did a good job overall, especially when GT was trying to make it chippy. Speaking of chippy, Alvarado literally pulled Joel down on that late foul, but that wasn't enough for him and he almost bit off something he didn't want NO part of with JB.

- Trade-offs. Finally, @alabamaheel and I had a discussion yesterday about kick-outs on drives and that got me thinking about why we don't get more. One reason is this: Our small lineup is relatively new, and despite all our shooters Roy has his guys on offensive rebounding alert (as we saw today). I know we've been used to seeing teams like dook over recent years with their Dribble-Drive offense with guys surrounding the arc awaiting kick-outs. Our guys, except for the guy with floor-balance responsibility, are drilled to head for the glass. Since the Bomb Squad is our new default, I'm wondering if Roy will seeek to adjust that just a bit.

Anyway, that's all for this one. Another ACC win...

 

[Archer2]

Joel must shoot better if we're going to make any kind of run. He's simply forcing too many shots.

I do agree that GT fouls a lot and it was reflected in the FT disparity.

Being careless with the ball is one of our biggest concerns. We had 9 or 10 at the break, thank goodness we did a better job with ball security in the second half. But if we don't cut down on our TOV's, we are going to allow inferior teams to hang around and have a shot at winning and it will mean an early exit in the NCAAT.

Great job on the boards by Theo, Luke, and Joel. It's what won the game for us on a day when we didn't shoot well.

Sterling was very good off the bench. He has firmly supplanted Garrison as our best freshman big.

Another ugly win but we held serve at home and we really needed to do that so I'll take it.

 

[shun1]

SMILE

!!!!!!!!!!!! GO TAR HEELS !!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[DrJaaay]

extremely frustrating game to watch. It was like noone was interested in playing. I'm glad we won, but that was just ugly. Unforced turnovers; consecutive borderline shot clock violations, etc. We were very fortunate. On to the next game. Go Heels!

 

[toophly1124]

Shout out to Kane Ma.

 

[Archer2]

Got to be a thrill for the Greensboro boy to score a bucket. BTW, he called that bank.

 

[gary-7]

Shout out to Kane Ma.

Damn straight and I meant to mention him. Thanks. What a thrill for a guy who was only playing JV a few weeks ago, huh?

 

[itstartedwithmj]

Joel must shoot better if we're going to make any kind of run. He's simply forcing too many shots.

I do agree that GT fouls a lot and it was reflected in the FT disparity.

Being careless with the ball is one of our biggest concerns. We had 9 or 10 at the break, thank goodness we did a better job with ball security in the second half. But if we don't cut down on our TOV's, we are going to allow inferior teams to hang around and have a shot at winning and it will mean an early exit in the NCAAT.

Great job on the boards by Theo, Luke, and Joel. It's what won the game for us on a day when we didn't shoot well.

Sterling was very good off the bench. He has firmly supplanted Garrison as our best freshman big.

Another ugly win but we held serve at home and we really needed to do that so I'll take it.

Cam also deserves a shout out for stepping up, when we needed him to. 16 pts & 0 TOs

 

[FranktheHeel]

I thought we did a great job rebounding today, once again won the battle on the boards and as GT's zone pressed further out on the perimeter that really allowed us to get onto the offensive glass leading us to have 19 offensive rebounds and have a season high 26 second chance points. Something I have really been worried about is being able to convert those second chance points and to make the most of that extra possession, however I thought we did a nice job of doing both today. We had 12 more possessions than GT.

Sterling, I LOVE this kid. He came off the bench ready and aggressive as he scored 9 points, 3 rebounds (2 offensive) as he was super active on the glass. Awesome production from him and that is huge for us as he continues to gain more confidence not only for himself, but also from his teammates. I think it's also important to note that he was the 1st big off of the bench for the 2nd straight game and it is well deserved as he is earning his time out there.

Theo now has had double figures for three straight games and it is actually the 1st time in his career too. VERY nice staff stuffing day with 11 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals and what really stands out to me is those 10 rebounds. Roy very much stressed being able to rebound while going small after last game and Theo stepped up big time in that category. That is exactly what I love about Theo he is able to see the areas that the team needs help in and he makes it his job to help contribute in them. Only thing I can say is I would like those 3 turnovers to turn into 1, the last couple of games he had done a great job of not having any turnovers, everyone gets a pass and I'll give it to him today as he did a whole lot for us. There really is a big difference in the way Theo has played these last 4 games and our team is really reeping those benefits. Double/ Double down, Triple Double up next.

In the first half, I really was getting frustrated with our valuing of the ball and when I looked at half time we had 10 turnovers in first 20 min, which really is unacceptable as most were careless, we are definitely better than that. The second half was a lot better as we only had 1 in next 15 min and finished with 4 for the half. Valuing the basketball is a huge key for us as ACC play continues and we start to play teams that will take advantage of careless mistakes.

Getting to the line was really big for us today and being able to convert it makes it that much better. I know GT does foul a lot, but I thought this really showed how important it is to get into the lane and to keep attacking the rim because we have some good free throw shooters and without a strong post presence to score in the paint, our guys being able to get points at the line becomes something that they need to be able to do as shots don't always fall in from out on the perimeter.

Luke double/double Maye, he is just a workhouse and a fighter. May I also add that I love that baseline fadeaway, #money. I was also impressed to see that he had 5 offensive rebounds today too.

Cam played well again scoring 16 points and I think deserves a good amount of credit for his play today. It is starting to look like he is fitting in better with the guys and is running the floor better, him being healthy is very key for us. He did a nice job of making timely buckets to stop Tech runs. Also, he showed off some nice handles and made a heads up pass to find Berry for the bucket in transition instead of taking it on his own, love the unselfishness. He only had one assist today, but his passing ability is definitely another big asset of his.

Congrats to Justin as his jersey is right where it belongs!!

As Roy said "Well it's a W, we did some good things, we did some bad things, the good news is it's a W."

 

[Indy_Heel]

I finally got a chance to watch the game. Frustrating watching the turnovers when they are our own doing. JB just seemed to be forcing too much in the first half or it was the shoes. Second half he changed the shoes but they still weren't going down. At least he was getting to the foul line. I know every team we play against that team plays harder than normal. Until we can get a front court that can dominate again, we just seem to play down to our competition. They kept battling and got a W. Go Heels!

 

[FranktheHeel]

ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSWeU2sTv2M

Thought this was a great interview as Sterling was well spoken, had a big smile on his face, showed good confidence and a lot of respect for his coaches and teammates. What a great personality! He continues to impress me and he is one of my favorite players to watch. Everytime I see him coming off the bench, I start clapping and everyone in my house looks at me like what is he clapping about, so I simply look at them and say it's BIG STERRRRR time!!! You could see that he is enjoying his time here and it is showing in his play. I thought today was a great showing as it seemed that his teammates were connecting with a lot better, which is a great step in the right direction for this team as we will continue to need this type of contribution from him off the bench.

 

[itstartedwithmj]

ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSWeU2sTv2M

Thought this was a great interview as Sterling was well spoken, had a big smile on his face, showed good confidence and a lot of respect for his coaches and teammates. What a great personality! He continues to impress me and he is one of my favorite players to watch. Everytime I see him coming off the bench, I start clapping and everyone in my house looks at me like what is he clapping about, so I simply look at them and say it's BIG STERRRRR time!!! You could see that he is enjoying his time here and it is showing in his play. I thought today was a great showing as it seemed that his teammates were connecting with a lot better, which is a great step in the right direction for this team as we will continue to need this type of contribution from him off the bench.

If he continues to get stronger, in better shape & work on his defense, we will be a force to be reckoned with in March. I see nothing but upside with Sterling. He has so much potential. Let's hope he continues to improve at the rate he has thus far. He could make a beg difference for us later in the season. I feel like Sterling was a steal for us. Roy really knows what he's doing.

 

[Ozheelfan]

Good commentary guys.
I noticed during the first half Roy was using the time-outs to get Jalek his court time - a minute or so into the break and another minute out of the break.... essentially giving JB a block 4min rest.
Unfortunately Jalek didn’t do well in his first shot... he was much better in the minute to half time.

 

[FranktheHeel]

I wanted to give some praise and a shout out to Theo. In the last 4 games, he has been attacking like we need him to and affecting games in any way that he can on both ends of the floor, truly being a swiss army knife. It is also great to see him putting up double digits in the scoring column as well as he's averaging 11 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists in the last four games. What has stood out to me the most and the reason for this post is the way he has been as a vocal leader for our guys. One in game moment that stood out was him speaking up early in the Clemson game about our movement offensively as it was something that he noticed and wanted to see a us make a change to. His efforts were seen throughout the rest of the game as continued to do his part and he was contanstly moving guys around off the ball getting them to really space out the floor which led us to get going in the 1st half.
For me though, the biggest impact that I see has been on Sterling. He had that great moment after the Notre Dame game where he went up to Sterling telling him that the play he made allowed us to win that game and brought it back to how Marcus did something similar to him as a Freshman which stuck with him. He spoke about Sterling again in his last presser after GT about how he constantly talks to him about being aggressive and being active on the boards because he sees something special in him and wants him to be able to realize that in himself.
Theo having the ability to connect with our guys in this way is huge for their growth and development here as I fully expect that he does the same with all the other underclassmen. Sterling being able to know that one of his Senior leaders has trust and confidence in his ability definitely has to allow him to play with some more ease and be able to play within himself. Theo is flat out telling him that he is valuable to this team and that they need him in order to win games. I just wanted to highlight this because I felt that it is another reason why Theo is a huge asset to this team as he affects our guys in an awesome way even off the court with that great personality of his because I feel that our guys feed off of the energy and enthusiasm that he brings. I’m a big believer in having a strong chemistry and efforts like this definitely have a strong impact on that. Just Theo being the Theo that we love.

 

[mikeirbyusa]

Joel must shoot better if we're going to make any kind of run. He's simply forcing too many shots.

Lot of those can't be helped because of the shot clock. Others force him to shoot quit often. What he really needs to work on is learning how to kick out on his drives. That's about my only beef.

 

[TarHeelMark]

Lot of those can't be helped because of the shot clock. Others force him to shoot quit often. What he really needs to work on is learning how to kick out on his drives. That's about my only beef.

Yeah, seems like the guys are just deferring to Joel too much, especially in the 2nd half. There were quite a few relatively clean-looking opportunities for Kenny and Luke vs GT where they didn’t shoot. Then Joel is stuck with the ball and the shot clock winding down.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

Yup. The problem with playing with a true Dog is the tendency to let him always take the heat. Peeps like LM and KW are natural followers on the court and this is the first time they have been asked to become something more. They will have lapses, but they are quickly becoming Dogs themselves!

 

[gary-7]

Yeah, seems like the guys are just deferring to Joel too much, especially in the 2nd half. There were quite a few relatively clean-looking opportunities for Kenny and Luke vs GT where they didn’t shoot. Then Joel is stuck with the ball and the shot clock winding down.

Luke passed one up in the second half that made my head hurt. Sharing the ball is one thing but passing to someone who's more covered is a bit much when you, a good shooter, are wide open.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

If it is the one I think, I screamed shoot at the TV! Then on replay I noticed his feet weren't set on the catch and it looked like he didn't want to rush it since he didn't catch it clean. Still he needs to be confident enough to set, maybe even side step, and let fly!

 

[Archer2]

Better movement without the ball would remedy the vast majority of those last second heaves.

 

[GoNtheDistance]

As many have said, the thing that has plagued our half court Offense has been our tendency to stand around and watch aka wait for Joel to do something.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

Imagine WHEN Felton gets it and we can move JB off the ball without losing D or spacing! Our O could be devastating once we get consistent execution!

(Felton, JB, CJ, LM, Manley could be an interesting lineup!)

 

[mikeirbyusa]

Love to see some of that line up but hard to do until we get 7th back.

 

[gary-7]

As many have said, the thing that has plagued our half court Offense has been our tendency to stand around and watch aka wait for Joel to do something.

Yep. And some of that (hopefully) should improve as the guys get used to each other in our new lineup configurations. It's a different world when you can't throw it in, or drive and dump it to a Meeks or Hicks, whom you knew would get something decent up to the rim or on the glass. With our current Bigs, you almost have to get em the ball early in the shot-clock because they are so hesitant, and if they don't get something up the next thing ya know you're caught with single digits on the clock.

As for what we have now, what I've specifically noticed and complained about is when JB gets the ball back after a rotation, guys aren't making sharp cuts. Kenny is deadly coming off "curls", and Cam should be a nightmare for a guy his size to chase and should be able to work open in a variety of places on the court, but to get those looks we have to commit to purposeful off-ball movement. We need to make it so JB can drive when he wants to as opposed to when he has to. His success rate not surprisingly is much higher on the former.

As for Joel, I know he's trying to get to the rack and force contact, but he can create a 10-12 ft pull-up (which he's deadly on) pretty much whenever he wants it. The used to be a more frequent part of his arsenal, and I'd like to see him rediscover it. And of course I want to see more kick-outs on drives, but even that only works if you're not too deep in the shot-clock.

 

[FranktheHeel]

Yep. And some of that (hopefully) should improve as the guys get used to each other in our new lineup configurations. It's a different world when you can't throw it in, or drive and dump it to a Meeks or Hicks, whom you knew would get something decent up to the rim or on the glass. With our current Bigs, you almost have to get em the ball early in the shot-clock because they are so hesitant, and if they don't get something up the next thing ya know you're caught with single digits on the clock.

As for what we have now, what I've specifically noticed and complained about is when JB gets the ball back after a rotation, guys aren't making sharp cuts. Kenny is deadly coming off "curls", and Cam should be a nightmare for a guy his size to chase and should be able to work open in a variety of places on the court, but to get those looks we have to commit to purposeful off-ball movement. We need to make it so JB can drive when he wants to as opposed to when he has to. His success rate not surprisingly is much higher on the former.

As for Joel, I know he's trying to get to the rack and force contact, but he can create a 10-12 ft pull-up (which he's deadly on) pretty much whenever he wants it. The used to be a more frequent part of his arsenal, and I'd like to see him rediscover it. And of course I want to see more kick-outs on drives, but even that only works if you're not too deep in the shot-clock.

I very much like the point you made about guys not moving effectively and basically without a purpose. I always think of off ball movement and cutting as not necessarily a way to get you as the cutter/mover an look, but also as a way to allow the ball handler to have some extra space to operate allowing him to be able create something off of it, if it's for someone else or for himself. And I really like how you brought up Joel in this case because I totally agree, you could see it throughout the game that he expects guys to be somewhere else or have done something else and when he doesn't he kind of has to take a step back and have create something for himself which is very hard to do and can be taxing throughout the course of a game. I also believe that us getting in the lane more will give Joel some more room to operate allowing him to be able to his those pull up jumpers. You bringing that up had me thinking about Joel hitting the pull up jumper over Allen late in the dook game last year at the Smith Center which was a big basket as it made it a 4 point game. I remember there was good spacing and Joel did a little jab step giving himself just enough room to free himself from Allen and he knocked it in over him.
One thing that I really feel that Kenny in particular can be extremely effective at it is cutting directly off of an off ball screen out on the wing and fill the lane. There have been two plays with him doing just that and it has led to a fairly easy layup off of a Cam pass from out on the arc. Kenny's ability to do this would open up so much more for us as a team because it will allow for one, Kenny to be given opportunities to score in another way- in close range and secondly, maybe even free up Cam in the corner as the defense collapses on him allowing him to kick it and watch Cam let it fly. In regards to Cam, my thing with him is we need to give him tape of Justin and have him study it and study it, he's a very intelligent kid and I feel like him constantly looking at what JJ did will really benefit him greatly. He is a very good shooter, who we need to get going and him being able to create openings for himself off of his own movement will benefit his mid-range game and most likely allow him to get more opportunities in the lane and if done effectively he more than likely will be able to get to the line more which as a good free throw shooter he can get his at a high rate.

 

[FranktheHeel]

Yup. The problem with playing with a true Dog is the tendency to let him always take the heat. Peeps like LM and KW are natural followers on the court and this is the first time they have been asked to become something more. They will have lapses, but they are quickly becoming Dogs themselves!

You hit on a great point, which I think is why our teams are so successful. We always have a clear leader or two like this year with Joel and Theo with a good experienced supporting cast of Luke, Kenny and Cam who are extremely valuable to this team. By being led by Joel and Theo, they can learn from them and build on that in order to benefit themselves as they keep improving and growing into the players they can be. This dynamic carries into each year, as this leadership role will carry down to them next year and they will be ready for it as they have experienced it on the other side as the beneficiaries of being with Joel and Theo, thus making them be well prepared to take that role on themselves.
And that is what college basketball IMO is all about, kids developing and growing by having different roles, having bumps and bruises throughout the process making them stronger as the persevere through it and come out on the top and better than they were when they first stepped foot on campus.

 

[gary-7]

I very much like the point you made about guys not moving effectively and basically without a purpose. I always think of off ball movement and cutting as not necessarily a way to get you as the cutter/mover an look, but also as a way to allow the ball handler to have some extra space to operate allowing him to be able create something off of it, if it's for someone else or for himself. And I really like how you brought up Joel in this case because I totally agree, you could see it throughout the game that he expects guys to be somewhere else or have done something else and when he doesn't he kind of has to take a step back and have create something for himself which is very hard to do and can be taxing throughout the course of a game. I also believe that us getting in the lane more will give Joel some more room to operate allowing him to be able to his those pull up jumpers. You bringing that up had me thinking about Joel hitting the pull up jumper over Allen late in the dook game last year at the Smith Center which was a big basket as it made it a 4 point game. I remember there was good spacing and Joel did a little jab step giving himself just enough room to free himself from Allen and he knocked it in over him.
One thing that I really feel that Kenny in particular can be extremely effective at it is cutting directly off of an off ball screen out on the wing and fill the lane. There have been two plays with him doing just that and it has led to a fairly easy layup off of a Cam pass from out on the arc. Kenny's ability to do this would open up so much more for us as a team because it will allow for one, Kenny to be given opportunities to score in another way- in close range and secondly, maybe even free up Cam in the corner as the defense collapses on him allowing him to kick it and watch Cam let it fly. In regards to Cam, my thing with him is we need to give him tape of Justin and have him study it and study it, he's a very intelligent kid and I feel like him constantly looking at what JJ did will really benefit him greatly. He is a very good shooter, who we need to get going and him being able to create openings for himself off of his own movement will benefit his mid-range game and most likely allow him to get more opportunities in the lane and if done effectively he more than likely will be able to get to the line more which as a good free throw shooter he can get his at a high rate.

Yeah, we have so much fire-power waiting to be unleashed. Movement off the ball is key to that.

 

[BillyL]

I very much like the point you made about guys not moving effectively and basically without a purpose. I always think of off ball movement and cutting as not necessarily a way to get you as the cutter/mover an look, but also as a way to allow the ball handler to have some extra space to operate allowing him to be able create something off of it, if it's for someone else or for himself. And I really like how you brought up Joel in this case because I totally agree, you could see it throughout the game that he expects guys to be somewhere else or have done something else and when he doesn't he kind of has to take a step back and have create something for himself which is very hard to do and can be taxing throughout the course of a game. I also believe that us getting in the lane more will give Joel some more room to operate allowing him to be able to his those pull up jumpers. You bringing that up had me thinking about Joel hitting the pull up jumper over Allen late in the dook game last year at the Smith Center which was a big basket as it made it a 4 point game. I remember there was good spacing and Joel did a little jab step giving himself just enough room to free himself from Allen and he knocked it in over him.
One thing that I really feel that Kenny in particular can be extremely effective at it is cutting directly off of an off ball screen out on the wing and fill the lane. There have been two plays with him doing just that and it has led to a fairly easy layup off of a Cam pass from out on the arc. Kenny's ability to do this would open up so much more for us as a team because it will allow for one, Kenny to be given opportunities to score in another way- in close range and secondly, maybe even free up Cam in the corner as the defense collapses on him allowing him to kick it and watch Cam let it fly. In regards to Cam, my thing with him is we need to give him tape of Justin and have him study it and study it, he's a very intelligent kid and I feel like him constantly looking at what JJ did will really benefit him greatly. He is a very good shooter, who we need to get going and him being able to create openings for himself off of his own movement will benefit his mid-range game and most likely allow him to get more opportunities in the lane and if done effectively he more than likely will be able to get to the line more which as a good free throw shooter he can get his at a high rate.

Paragraphs are your friends . .

 

[FranktheHeel]

Paragraphs are your friends . .

I will get better with more experience and playing/posting time. Im only designated as a Sophomore poster, I didn't make that Freshman to Sophomore jump as I was expected to. But, I assure you I'm still working at it, I will get better as the season progresses, just wait come March.
LOL

 

[BillyL]

I will get better with more experience and playing/posting time. Im only designated as a Sophomore poster, I didn't make that Freshman to Sophomore jump as I was expected to. But, I assure you I'm still working at it, I will get better as the season progresses, just wait come March.
LOL

Love your posts, Frank, please keep posting . . also, just an FYI, brevity on a message board attracts more attention.

GO HEELS . . !

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

kick-outs on drives ... that got me thinking about why we don't get more. One reason is this: Our small lineup is relatively new, and despite all our shooters Roy has his guys on offensive rebounding alert (as we saw today). I know we've been used to seeing teams like dook over recent years with their Dribble-Drive offense with guys surrounding the arc awaiting kick-outs. Our guys, except for the guy with floor-balance responsibility, are drilled to head for the glass. Since the Bomb Squad is our new default, I'm wondering if Roy will seeek to adjust that just a bit.

I had a similar thought: To have an effective kick-out game, it helps if the guy with the ball knows his teammates are going to be on their spots to take the pass. That's especially hard when either the driver or the spot shooter is new. Moreover, it's incompatible with asking people to move well without the ball - which is something we also like to see.

Until this discussion I had been watching Cam move pretty well without the ball. Not Justin Jackson but much better than I remembered seeing him move at Pitt.

But maybe that's not as much of a good thing as I thought - if it means the driver doesn't know where to find him in a drive and kick situation. Maybe Cam needs to be more like Danny Green and run to his spot. And when he moves, go to his other spot.