B-Ball Thoughts: GT vs. Vandy
I’m going to try a new format for my thoughts on the men’s basketball game versus Vanderbilt last night. While I am pretty much an optimist, I think I have come across in the past as somebody that overlooks the flaws of the team. So going forward, I’m going to attempt to always follow a pro with a con when discussing a point. I’m also going to try and group the thoughts under headings. So I’ll talk about The Team’s pros and cons, Player’s pros and cons, etc.
The Team
Pro: 28 baskets on 22 assists. That is stellar ball movement and unselfish play.
Con: 22 turnovers. Some of these were bad, some were unlucky, but it’s still far too big of a number to carry into ACC play.
Pro: Moving without the basketball. We actually were moving on offense without the basketball trying to get a shot for ourselves or helping to create an open shot for somebody else.
Con: Vandy climbed back into a lead in the second half, because we had a 4-5 minute period of standing around again. The slight positive here is that will be telling on the game film. Our movement is also just running around until we get open. I’d still like to see a few more set plays in the half-court without coming out of a timeout.
Pro: Team defense was much better this game than the last few games I’ve seen in person. We’d make a basketball, Vandy would rush down the court and I thought we would give up another quick transition basket, but suddenly somebody would get in front of the ball and make them set a play. Vandy made a lot of contested shots to their credit. We play like this for more games and I doubt everyone will shoot over 40% against us.
Con: On the whole we did a better job, but I still think we need to help each other more by calling out the screens. We also would have two people rush out on the perimeter when only one was needed leaving somebody open for an easy bucket.
Pro: As a team we shot 60.9% for the game.
Con: Uh, it wasn’t 70%. (I didn’t promise these would all be good)
Pro: We out rebounded them 35-18.
Con: I still think our rebounding technique and teamwork needs some work.
Individuals (For brevity I’m only going with a single pro\con set for each player)
Anthony Morrow
Pro: I think by the end of his career he is going to combine the best traits of Marvin Lewis and BJ Elder, but with a dash of the fire of Jarrett Jack. BJ always seemed afraid to take over a game and Marvin was just too nice to be a bit of a jerk to the other team.
Con: I’d still like to see him put the ball on the deck more and score around the basket. That’s not necessarily his role right now, but if he could add it to his repertoire he will be a superstar by the end of his career.
D’Andre Bell
Pro: Outstanding game for the freshman GF out of California. He did his best Redick impersonation by just constantly running everywhere in the half-court offense and making his poor man chase him. Has found his shot in recent games and looks to be bringing back the lost art of the mid-range jump shot. A tenacious defender and ball-hawk, I can’t wait for 3 more years of this.
Con: Still gives up some dumb fouls they are playing hard fouls which I like, but they are still unnecessary. He’s also a chief culprit in the two men rush out to the perimeter and leave a guy open under the basket problem that I mentioned above.
Re’sean Dickey
Pro: Finally playing hard and seems to actually be doing a better job off the bench than starting. He actually logged more minutes than Tarver off the bench, but Tarver still started both halves. He’s fighting for the ball more and kicking it out of the post a little better.
Con: Hopefully it’s just a last night occurrence, but had a severe case of stone hands for a while there. 6 TO’s is not a good number if you want to log a lot of post minutes. He still dribbles too much for a post player IMO. I’d like to see he and Morrow work the two-man game a bit more.
Zam Frederick
Pro: Finally hit some 3’s to make folks respect him and had a respectable 5 dimes on the night. Defense is an adventure still, but improving.
Con: Still picks up his dribble too soon, doesn’t realize that’s he’s too short to score in the paint, and answered those 5 dimes with 5 TO’s. He’s improving and all of this experience will be good for next year when Critty needs a blow, but he’s just not a PG.
Side note: I still believe we as fans must put him on our shoulders this season and make him believe as much as possible. This season could turn him into a respectable back-up PG for next year, that means we could have Crittenton, Buck, and West who can all score and all bring the ball up court if needed on the floor at the same time. Who wants to try and set a press against that?
Theodis Tarver
Pro: His defense and presence are really starting to make a difference on the floor. I think he could be a scorer as well if we run a little offense through him, but he’s going to have to build some confidence for it to work.
Con: I don’t have much for him. He’s playing his role well on the team, but I wish he would look to score a bit more.
Paco Diaw
Pro: Boy he finds the open man when he needs to and those long arms are really disruptive on defense.
Con: 8 dimes in his number of minutes his huge, but 4 TO’s is an area he still needs to work on. In his interview with Wes before the game he mentioned that he put in 47 points in a HS game so I’d like to see him try and score a bit more than he his right now. I think a lot of this is just confidence and should improve as the season progresses and he gets more minutes.
Jeremis Smith
Pro: Another workman effort like we’ve come to expect: 9 points, 9 boards, solid defense, and a big dunk to put the game away at the end.
Con: I don’t think he was feeling well last night. While he was obviously playing hard, it looked like the fire was missing a little bit. Stefanie commented on it several times.
Miscellaneous:
The Fans
Pro: Decent turnout considering it was a 5 PM game on a workday, school wasn’t back in session yet, and it was right after most folks had taken a lot of vacation. Those that were there were also very loud when we needed to be and got the team up on defense at the end of the game.
Con: Time to go Dennis Miller here:
STOP FUCKING LEAVING EARLY IN TIGHT GAMES!!!
I swear to god I don’t understand how the team puts up with this. I’m about ready to cut half of you assholes. A double-digit lead with 1-2 minutes left in the game? Sure, I get that. A 5 point lead with 2 minutes left and 2 key players with 4 fouls on the other hand and you dipshits are filing out the exits like a bunch of goddamn Braves fans in a 1-run play-off game.
And before you start I can already here your complaints. “But Dan, I have to get back to my shitty McMansion that I bought just north of Greenville, SC and don’t want to sit in traffic.”
First of all, I don’t really give a damn. You’re probably the same asshole that bought that McMansion and then spends all day at work pissing and moaning about your commute. Let me help you with something, everyone you work with hates you. Actually that’s not true, the other douchebags that bought houses where everything will have to be replaced in 5 years and drive 30 miles one-way to work everyday love listening to it. It’s those of us that actually live in the city that want to poison your 15th cup of coffee.
Secondly, you wouldn’t have to sit in traffic leaving the game if you goddamn lemmings would learn that Fowler isn’t the only way off of campus. Jesus, a majority of you attended that school at least 4 years yet none of you apparently know that there are at least 5 major exits from the campus. If you didn’t attend Tech, here is a free campus map off of the Ramblin Wreck site. I have never sat longer than 15 minutes to get off of campus after either a football or basketball game. (Of course half the damn fans leave so maybe that has something to do with it.) I park in the O’keefe lot for football and never leave early so the line down Fowler is always bad at that point. Of course since nobody apparently knows that 5th street exists, I’m off campus in a heartbeat.
The Team
Pro: 28 baskets on 22 assists. That is stellar ball movement and unselfish play.
Con: 22 turnovers. Some of these were bad, some were unlucky, but it’s still far too big of a number to carry into ACC play.
Pro: Moving without the basketball. We actually were moving on offense without the basketball trying to get a shot for ourselves or helping to create an open shot for somebody else.
Con: Vandy climbed back into a lead in the second half, because we had a 4-5 minute period of standing around again. The slight positive here is that will be telling on the game film. Our movement is also just running around until we get open. I’d still like to see a few more set plays in the half-court without coming out of a timeout.
Pro: Team defense was much better this game than the last few games I’ve seen in person. We’d make a basketball, Vandy would rush down the court and I thought we would give up another quick transition basket, but suddenly somebody would get in front of the ball and make them set a play. Vandy made a lot of contested shots to their credit. We play like this for more games and I doubt everyone will shoot over 40% against us.
Con: On the whole we did a better job, but I still think we need to help each other more by calling out the screens. We also would have two people rush out on the perimeter when only one was needed leaving somebody open for an easy bucket.
Pro: As a team we shot 60.9% for the game.
Con: Uh, it wasn’t 70%. (I didn’t promise these would all be good)
Pro: We out rebounded them 35-18.
Con: I still think our rebounding technique and teamwork needs some work.
Individuals (For brevity I’m only going with a single pro\con set for each player)
Anthony Morrow
Pro: I think by the end of his career he is going to combine the best traits of Marvin Lewis and BJ Elder, but with a dash of the fire of Jarrett Jack. BJ always seemed afraid to take over a game and Marvin was just too nice to be a bit of a jerk to the other team.
Con: I’d still like to see him put the ball on the deck more and score around the basket. That’s not necessarily his role right now, but if he could add it to his repertoire he will be a superstar by the end of his career.
D’Andre Bell
Pro: Outstanding game for the freshman GF out of California. He did his best Redick impersonation by just constantly running everywhere in the half-court offense and making his poor man chase him. Has found his shot in recent games and looks to be bringing back the lost art of the mid-range jump shot. A tenacious defender and ball-hawk, I can’t wait for 3 more years of this.
Con: Still gives up some dumb fouls they are playing hard fouls which I like, but they are still unnecessary. He’s also a chief culprit in the two men rush out to the perimeter and leave a guy open under the basket problem that I mentioned above.
Re’sean Dickey
Pro: Finally playing hard and seems to actually be doing a better job off the bench than starting. He actually logged more minutes than Tarver off the bench, but Tarver still started both halves. He’s fighting for the ball more and kicking it out of the post a little better.
Con: Hopefully it’s just a last night occurrence, but had a severe case of stone hands for a while there. 6 TO’s is not a good number if you want to log a lot of post minutes. He still dribbles too much for a post player IMO. I’d like to see he and Morrow work the two-man game a bit more.
Zam Frederick
Pro: Finally hit some 3’s to make folks respect him and had a respectable 5 dimes on the night. Defense is an adventure still, but improving.
Con: Still picks up his dribble too soon, doesn’t realize that’s he’s too short to score in the paint, and answered those 5 dimes with 5 TO’s. He’s improving and all of this experience will be good for next year when Critty needs a blow, but he’s just not a PG.
Side note: I still believe we as fans must put him on our shoulders this season and make him believe as much as possible. This season could turn him into a respectable back-up PG for next year, that means we could have Crittenton, Buck, and West who can all score and all bring the ball up court if needed on the floor at the same time. Who wants to try and set a press against that?
Theodis Tarver
Pro: His defense and presence are really starting to make a difference on the floor. I think he could be a scorer as well if we run a little offense through him, but he’s going to have to build some confidence for it to work.
Con: I don’t have much for him. He’s playing his role well on the team, but I wish he would look to score a bit more.
Paco Diaw
Pro: Boy he finds the open man when he needs to and those long arms are really disruptive on defense.
Con: 8 dimes in his number of minutes his huge, but 4 TO’s is an area he still needs to work on. In his interview with Wes before the game he mentioned that he put in 47 points in a HS game so I’d like to see him try and score a bit more than he his right now. I think a lot of this is just confidence and should improve as the season progresses and he gets more minutes.
Jeremis Smith
Pro: Another workman effort like we’ve come to expect: 9 points, 9 boards, solid defense, and a big dunk to put the game away at the end.
Con: I don’t think he was feeling well last night. While he was obviously playing hard, it looked like the fire was missing a little bit. Stefanie commented on it several times.
Miscellaneous:
The Fans
Pro: Decent turnout considering it was a 5 PM game on a workday, school wasn’t back in session yet, and it was right after most folks had taken a lot of vacation. Those that were there were also very loud when we needed to be and got the team up on defense at the end of the game.
Con: Time to go Dennis Miller here:
STOP FUCKING LEAVING EARLY IN TIGHT GAMES!!!
I swear to god I don’t understand how the team puts up with this. I’m about ready to cut half of you assholes. A double-digit lead with 1-2 minutes left in the game? Sure, I get that. A 5 point lead with 2 minutes left and 2 key players with 4 fouls on the other hand and you dipshits are filing out the exits like a bunch of goddamn Braves fans in a 1-run play-off game.
And before you start I can already here your complaints. “But Dan, I have to get back to my shitty McMansion that I bought just north of Greenville, SC and don’t want to sit in traffic.”
First of all, I don’t really give a damn. You’re probably the same asshole that bought that McMansion and then spends all day at work pissing and moaning about your commute. Let me help you with something, everyone you work with hates you. Actually that’s not true, the other douchebags that bought houses where everything will have to be replaced in 5 years and drive 30 miles one-way to work everyday love listening to it. It’s those of us that actually live in the city that want to poison your 15th cup of coffee.
Secondly, you wouldn’t have to sit in traffic leaving the game if you goddamn lemmings would learn that Fowler isn’t the only way off of campus. Jesus, a majority of you attended that school at least 4 years yet none of you apparently know that there are at least 5 major exits from the campus. If you didn’t attend Tech, here is a free campus map off of the Ramblin Wreck site. I have never sat longer than 15 minutes to get off of campus after either a football or basketball game. (Of course half the damn fans leave so maybe that has something to do with it.) I park in the O’keefe lot for football and never leave early so the line down Fowler is always bad at that point. Of course since nobody apparently knows that 5th street exists, I’m off campus in a heartbeat.
posted by Dan at 4:32 PM
2 Comments:
Love the rant. I just don't understand some of these fans. It's not just a Tech thing, either.
That's entirely possible as my road game experience isn't huge. It's not just basketball for us either. People started piling out of the NC State game this year after we took the lead in the 4th. There was like 9 minutes left in the game at that point.
I mean if your team is blowing them out or god-forbid getting blown out then I get that a little bit, but in a nail-biter I would just feel like I let them down if I left early.
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