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RamblinRed

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  1. You have a good one in Soderberg (of course I am a WI native so I might be biased), team just needs to keep working hard and keep bringing in better talent. Things I saw. St. Louis should be proud of the fact that they are the first team to shoot over 40% from the field and 33% from the 3-pt line against GT. You are also only the second squad to outrebound GT. Finally, St. Louis did an excellent job of forcing GT to play more their style for 20 minutes. Obviously the second half was a different story. GT outscored St. Louis 33-13 in the first 10:05 of the second half and that was the game. GT made it a priority not to let Bryant touch the ball much and once that happened St. Louis simply doesn't have the offensive weapons to win. As I mentioned a couple of days ago, I thought GT would come out a little sluggish and sloppy - we tend to play that way coming out of finals and as usual we can't shoot FT's in Philips. We missed 14 against TN last year in this game and missed 10 (7 in the first half Saturday) which helped St. Louis stay closer than I would have liked. As usual GT's opponent had more TO than assists and the guards had a rough time (Drejaj, Fisher, and Bryant were a combined 10-29). 3 pts is the closest any time has been to GT at halftime - beating Cornell's 4-pt deficit. GT section was actually full but you wouldn't know that from TV. Hawks and Thrashers season ticket holders have the option to get tickets for all events in that arena so alot of those seats in the middle are season ticket seats where local fans didn't show. Other problem was Clemson and UGA got the remaining middle seats since it was a doubleheader and most of them didn't show. As I said, best of luck the rest of the season and I hope you make some noise in Conf USA. RamblinRed
  2. So its a man to man that sloughs off toward the lane to gum up passing and penetration. Of course the danger there is it will leave open shooters on the perimeter - but in every defense you have to pick your poison and against most teams I would prefer they take shots from 20 feet than 5 ft. That should be a good strategy, though GT has alot more 3pt shooters than AZ does. If a couple of them can get hot then St. Louis will have some decisions to make - but I like the strategy and would use it against GT until it gets hot from three. RamblinRed
  3. That would be a mistake tomorrow imo. You have to pick your poison, but if I was playing GT I would play alot of zone. Force them to make some outside. M-2-M leaves too many lanes to the basket and GT is very good at getting to the basket. The only team that I thought has done a good job defensively against GT is Hofstra. They played alot of zone (3-2, 2-3, 1-3-1) and mixed in a little man-to-man. If forced GT to play a little slower and presented fewer opportunities where GT's perimeter players could go to the basket. Did St. Louis play any zone against AZ or was it all man-to-man? RamblinRed
  4. GT is off to its 3rd best start in school history, behind its 11-0 start in 1962 and a 10-0 start in its Final Four season 1989-90. GT has won 3 home games, 2 road games, and 2 neutral court games. It has done so by relying on tenacious extended defense feeding a transition offense. GT has been using an 8 man rotation with 8 players seeing 16 mpg or more and a ninth player getting 3-4 spot minutes. This is the first game where former AZ transfer Will Bynum will be eligible. This will give GT one more perimeter player to use in its extended defense and will likely mean a 9 player rotation with 9 guys averaging over 10 mpg. GT's closest margin of victory so far this season has been a 16 pt win over UConn at Madison Square Garden. GT offense GT uses its defense to get easy baskets. When those are not available it likes to use a motion offense with alot of weaving out front to spring its perimter players to drive into the paint. Its wing players will also make cuts to the baskets for backdoors and alley-oops. GT has a number of players capable of dribble penetration and probably 5 who can knock down the three if left open. On the seaon GT is averaging 81.9 ppg on 61.6 shot attempts per game. It is shooting 50.3% from the field, 37.9% from three (with 3FGA accounting for 28% of its shots), and 67.6% from the line. It is outrebounding opponents by an average of 41.7 to 34.1 and the team has a 1.21:1 A:TO ratio. GT Defense While Muhammad's dunks have gotten the ESPN highlights, GT has been winning early this season with defense. GT will employ some full court pressure, and may use a little more with the addition of Bynum, but by and large its mainstay has been an agressive extended man-to-man defense with occasional trapping. It likes to pick up its defense about 30-35 ft from the basket with alot of on the ball pressure. The intent is to force long or bad angle passes that can be deflected/picked off and start things going the other way. GT has a tall, athletic perimter attack where all the players except Bynum are between 6'4 and 6'6 - this is why they like to trap, when they are successful it is very difficult to see over the traps. On the season GT is holding opponents to 56 ppg on 58.0 shot attempts. Opponents are shooting an ACC low 34.2% from the field, 21.7% from three and have shot 58.7% FT. Opponents have an assist to TO ratio of 0.53:1 (70:133) and are averaging 19 TO per game. GT opponents have had more TO than assists in all 7 games and in 3 of the 7 opponents have had more TO than made baskets. GT has 61 steals and 32 blocked shots in 7 games. Players - Starters #3 Jarrett Jack 6'3, 198 So. - A little bigger than his listed height/weight. Jarrett has been starting since day one as GT's PG. After a typical up and down freshman year he has really improved and has been playing as well as any PG in the country as a soph. Very athletic, loves to dribble penetrate and use his size against opponents. He has added a nice three point jump shot to his game. on the year he is averaging 14 ppg, 6.3 rpg (team lead), 8.4 apg (team lead) in 32.7 mpg. He is shooting 58.6% FG, 40.9% 3FG (9-22), and 80.8% FT with an assist to TO ratio of 3.3:1 with 19 steals (2.7 spg). On the year he has more steals than TO. #24 Marvin Lewis 6'4, 205 Sr. - Marvin is the most experienced player in the program having started almost every game since his fr year. Has a reputation as a great shooter, but has slowly become more well rounded. Very smart on the court and seldom out of position. On the year he is averaging 13.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 3.0 apg in 30.9 mpg. He is shooting 46.4% FG, 38.6% 3FG (17-44), and 78.9% FT with an assist to TO ratio of 1.5:1. He has 9 steals and 3 blocks in 7 games. #1 BJ Elder 6'4, 218 Jr. - BJ is GT's most dangerous scorer. He is capable of hitting the three, driving to the hoop or posting up. He is also a sneaky good defensive player that will often get the opponents #1 perimter scorer as a defensive assignment. Excellent athlete. He had also been the backup Pg to Jack but with Bynum eligible starting this game he will be kept exclusively on the wing to concentrate on scoring. After a slow start his shooting has been warming up. On the season he is averaging 16 ppg, 3.9 rpg in 27.1 mpg. He is shooting 42.3% FG, 33.3% 3FG (11-33), and 72.2% FT. He has 3 steals and a block. #55 Anthony McHenry 6'7, 220 Jr. - Anthony was recruited to GT as a PG but has outgrown the position. With the departure of Bosh and Nelson he has been moved to the PF spot. He does not score alot, but is an excellent ballhandler, solid rebounder and very good defender. Good hustle kid who does alot of the little things. On the season he is averaging 4.1 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 2.3 apg with a 2.7:1 A:TO ratio in 19.4 mpg. He is shooting 44% FG, 25% 3FG (2-8) and 50% FT. He has 7 blocks (team high) and 6 steals in 7 games. #12 Luke Schenscher 7'1, 255 Jr. - After a disappointing soph. season Luke is starting to play real well in the post. He played very well in two exhibition games and then played quite poorly in his first two regular season games. Since Coach Hewitt went on the radio to defend him when a couple of local sports radio guys where badmouthing him he has played much better averaging 10 ppg and 6.6 rpg over his last 5 games. He is a typical foreign big man, with good hands, but more of a finesse player than a power player. On the season he has upped his averages to 8.3 ppg, 5.4 rpg in 22.9 mpg. He is shooting 49% FG and 83.3% FT. He has 6 blocks and a steal in 7 games. Players - Reserves #2 Isma'il Muhammad 6'6, 225 Jr. - Has sort of burst onto the scene nationally with his crowd pleasing dunks but that is just one aspect of a much improved game. Great athlete that loves to play defense, at different times he will guard both guards or post players. Has learned to be more patient on offense and that has led to better scoring opportunities. Watch out if he gets space - he is going to the rim. On the season he is averaging 12.9 ppg, 4.0 rpg in 18.4 mpg. He is shooting 66.7% FG, 63.6% FT. He has 11 assists vs 13 TO and has 6 blocks and 2 steals in 7 games. #42 Clarence Moore 6'5, 215 R-Sr. - Mo took off last season to deal with the death of his mother. Two years ago he started 29 of 31 games, mostly at PF on an undersized squad and averaged 9.5 ppg and 5.5 rpg. This year he is bringing to the team a good outside shooter, a strong defender and an emotional leader as the backup PF. His offense is starting to come around as the rust shakes off. He is another excellent athlete who is sometimes used on the perimeter defensively. Strong and athletic he plays bigger than his listed size. On the season he is averaging 5.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg in 21.3 mpg. He is shooting 36.8% FG, 38.5% 3FG (5-13) and 50% FT. He has 12 assists vs 13 TO and has 1 block and 12 steals in 7 games. #34 Robert Brooks 6'8, 210 Sr - Robert is seeing more playing time this year due to an injury to 6'10 Theodis Tarver who was expected to split minutes at C with Luke Schenscher. Instead Brooks has played as the backup C. Not much of an offensive threat, though he does have a nice 15 ft jumper, he is an athletic player who plays with alot of energy on the court. On the season he is averaging 4.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg in 16.6 mpg. He is shooting 60% FG, 60% FT. He has 6 blocks and 3 steals in 7 games. #11 Will Bynum 6'0, 185 Jr - This junior transfer from AZ is eligible for the first time this Saturday. He is shorter than his listed height, though he has really long arms and is a great athlete who is capable of dunking the ball. Was recruited by GT out of Chicago but choose AZ. Will backup Jack at PG and Lewis at SG. In 39 games at AZ he averaged 6.6 ppg in 16 mpg. Very aggressive player at both ends, great dribble penetration. Also capable of hitting the three. #5 Mario West 6'4, 208 R-Fr - Former all-state player in GA who walked-on to the team last season and earned a scholarship in practice. Coach loves his athleticism and defensive intensity. Has played spot minutes this year as a defender and rebounder and will likely see his meaningful minutes dry up as Bynum plays. on the season he is 1-2 FG, 2-5 FT with 12 rebounds and 4 steals in 35 minutes. This will certainly be a game of contrasting styles. GT wants to play fast at both ends and will attempt to use defensive pressure - both half and full-court to speed up the tempo. While not tall, GT is a good rebounding team as its perimeter players are strong rebounders. GT has alot of size and athleticism on the perimter and uses that to try to wear down opponents and deny entry passes to the post. I expect St. Louis will use a similar gameplan as they did in the AZ Game. Patient half-court offense, good zone defense and sending guys back to prevent runouts. GT has more depth and more outside shooters than AZ does so it will be interesting to see how well that strategy works. GT will definately attempt to wear ST. Louis down as the game progresses. In order to win GT will have to have its most patient, well executed half court offensive game of the season. This is a dangerous game for GT as it is the first game after finals, so their practice time has been limited this week. Also, this game is not on GT's home floor, so there may need to be some adjustment to a different depth perception at Phillips Arena. If St. Louis can force GT to play their style then it will be a close game that St. Louis will have a chance to win at the end. If GT is able to use its depth and pressure to up the tempo St. Louis will have a hard time keeping it close. I am betting more on the former than the latter. RamblinRed
  5. I see most on this board don't give St. Louis much of a chance against GT this Saturday, I think that is a mistake. There are a number of factors involved with this game that could make it much closer than some here think. IMO this is one of the most unnerving games for GT in their OOC schedule and here is why. 1. This is our first game after finals and historically GT plays sloppy and sluggish in that game. GT practices very little during finals week. Since their game last Saturday. there is one practice on Tuesday afternoon and then not another one until Friday afternoon. Last year the first game after finals was against TN in this same building. GT played sloppy all afternoon, missing 14 FT and eventually losing on a 50ft buzzer beater by TN. 2. Not a home game. This game is not a true home game for GT. Rather this game is played at Phillips Arena (the Atlanta Hawks home floor) as part of the Peach Bowl basketball Classic for Kids doubleheader. So GT will have only 1 practice on the floor at all before playing St. Louis, negating alot of the home floor advantage. Also, this is the first game of a doubleheader. The second game is UGA-Clemson. Whatever UGA fans show up for the first game will be rooting for St. Louis, so there should be a sizable contingent rooting against GT. Simply not the same atmosphere than playing at Alexander Memorial Coliseum. 3. Continuity. This is the first game that GT will have the services of 5'11 CG Will Bynum who transferred from AZ last winter. So how that will affect the rotation and chemistry is yet to be seen. in the end I think this game comes down to tempo. If GT can establish the uptempo game it likes St. Louis will have a hard time staying close. If St. Louis can force GT to play more of its half court game then they will have the chance to pull off the upset. The one thing that i am hopeful of as a GT fan is that GT's early season success has really been fueled by its defense. In 7 games it has had 1 bad defensive half (1st half at Cornell). On the season no team has shot over 40% from the field or 33% from 3-pt range and every team has had more TO than assists. If GT can do that Saturday to St. Louis it should win, but it needs to come ready to play. Tomorrow I will post a GT overview with strengths and weaknesses, what GT likes to do both offensively and defensively and player profiles. RamblinRed
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