BasketJackets: Game 2 vs Tennessee Monday 7pm (ESPN-U)

[GTJT622]

Tom Hart and Cory Alexander will have the call. The Good Guys open as 6.5 pt favorites. Rick Barnes makes his first trip back to the Enormous Hooter since back to his days as HC at Clemson. That man just loves the color orange. Or as some might say... urrrrnge.

The Vols have a ton of new faces this year. They slipped past a decent UNC-Asheville team this past Friday night at Thompson-Boling Arena (one of my favorite places because I witnessed my son's graduation in there, but I digress ).

UT game notes and preview: http://www.utsports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/111515aaa.html

GT game notes and preview: http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools...o_pdf/2015-16/release/release_20151115aaa.pdf

I expect this will be a very close game down to the wire and we will see how the addition of guys like Adam Smith will pay off in crunch time situations. Tech wore down Cornell in the second half. The Big Red just didn't have the athletes to go a full 40 minutes with Tech's nice collection of solid depth. And yes, I said that. This could be the deepest team along with most talented Tech has had in a while.

But, and you knew there would be a big but (not that kind, stech81!), it is very early in the season and we saw what can happen with a team when they blow out 2 cupcakes like the foosball Jackets did this year and then started seeing good to very good competition. Speaking of, on a tangent, Tech may be one of the few teams this year that played not one (Clemson) but two (Notre Dame) of the four playoff teams (half!).

Tennessee has good athletes and will look to run and play in your jock defense. Should be a fun game to watch and a strong early test to see what our team is made of. I'm hopeful and somewhat optimistic that the students will come out for this game and give our team a nice boost in the stands. Our ball handlers (npi) will have their hands full...wow, that sounded dirty. (note to self...it's only Monday...get your mind out of the gutter)

Note, this is the first of a four-year series with the Vols. Great to see these two programs meeting up...and again to kickoff the 2017 FB season of course at the new Falcons/MLS stadium.

Go Jackets!

 

[GTJT622]

This KnoxNews quick preview... http://www.knoxnews.com/govolsxtra/basketball/preview-vols-vs-georgia-tech_60675717

...advises the Vols' starting lineup goes 6'2"...6'4"...6'4"...6'4"...6'7".

4 guard lineup from a height perspective. Tech will have a huge size advantage and assuming can force the Vols into a lower shooting percentage, we should dominate on our defensive boards as well as get some garbage baskets off misses offensively. Hopefully, we won't miss very much.

 

[GTJT622]

Line has quickly been bet up to Tech laying 7. The O/U is set at 146.5. I can see this game being very fast paced and going over that total easily.

 

[GTJT622]

Another preview from the Land of Blue Tick Hounds... http://www.rockytopinsider.com/2015/11/16/preview-tennessee-at-georgia-tech/

 

[BornAJacket]

I don't remember KenPom predicting 71 points for GT last year. New territory, hope it lasts.

If GT can keep Tenn from getting hot on the outside and control the rebounds like most expect, GT might be able to produce some fast break points. Especially if the Tenn guards to crash a lot to try to get rebounds. GT needs some good outlet passes.

 

[GTJT622]

Spread now up a tad to Tech by 7. O/U now at 148.5 and rising. Bettors expecting some points put up by both teams tonight.

 

[Texwood]

1 of 14 on the three ball and only down 3. I'm liking our chances.

 

[Texwood]

Nice to get the win, but we have a couple of guards with ugly looking jump shots that rarely fall. I was really hoping to see some improvement in both form and function from those two, but alas...no.

 

[GTJT622]

Adam Smith in foul trouble was a non-factor tonight. Didn't understand some of the substitution patterns. Jacobs was terrific. Terrible last play design and execution by Vols. Sloppy 2nd half by both teams. I like the depth Tech has.

 

[GTJT622]

Just looking ahead to Game 3 vs Green Bay Thursday night...

...Green Bay in their opener went out to Palo Alto and took Stanford to overtime. Impressive! They wound up losing by 4. As a part of this wacky 24-hour marathon college hoops kickoff thingy, they play at East Tennessee State tomorrow morning (Tue, Nov. 17) with tipoff locally at 6am on ESPN-2. So, check them out with your morning java if you can.

 

[Buzzforlife]

Recalling a Green Bay Women's team pasting our ladies by about 20 last year. They can't be coed can they?

We can't shoot 2-19 on threes again and get away with that against good teams!

 

[GTJT622]

Our defense in the first half was pathetic. I am curious to know how many of UT's 38 1st half points were off layups or shots within 5 feet of the basket. I know we don't have any reliable shot blockers, but allowing a relatively shorter team to continually get to the glass as easily as they did was poor. To the team's credit, they adjusted at the half and did much better I thought defending the interior and making UT work for it harder.

 

[Texwood]

I think Green Bay could be a stiffer test than UT.

Our new offense provides wide open looks at the three ball - but from what I've seen thus far that doesn't bode well for us.

I'm beyond dismayed that one of our guards still has a shoulder turn that would make Tiger Woods envious while executing his jumper

I have no words to describe the shoulder-dip, spine twisting thing the other guy is doing before releasing a ball that has no chance.

That's the sort of thing you should take upon yourself to fix during the off-season if you are a serious athlete.

 

[GTJT622]

Heath and Jorgenson combined 40 minutes of play... 0 pts scored, 0 for 4 from the field, 0 for 3 from outside the arc, 0 for 2 (Jorgenson) at the FT line. They each had 1 steal a piece.

Only shining stat is Heath had 5 assists to only 1 TO. Jorgenson had 2 assists and 2 TO's.

 

[GTJT622]

Jacobs and Mitchell...58 minutes combined...14 of 23 from the field...very good 7 of 9 from the FT line...21 boards (Chuck with a double-double and Nick missing it by only 1 board)...Mitchell with 3 blocks and 4 steals.

Only negative was Mitchell's 5 TO's. Great production out of our 2 senior bigs tonight.

 

[Buzzforlife]

Need to clean up that rebounding on the defensive end. If we are going to run, we must get the boards, first!

 

[stech81]

We give up over 9 TD's , need to work on that.

 

[Buzzforlife]

Green Bay doesn't look like an NCAA Tournament team right now. ETSU just hit the century mark, 103-90.

...and how about #6 Va. losing at George Washington? Trap game, couldn't have been for recruiting-was it a 2 for 1 in a series by contract?
UVA didn't give up 73 pts, to any team last season. I guess a 5 second reduction on the shot clock does make a decent amount of a difference. At least mentally.

 

[BornAJacket]

Glad for the win. The team is scrappy so far and I enjoy watching the style much better.

I was disappointed with the rebounding at times last night. We could not block out. I wonder if some of that has to do with the changes in contact rules outside the lane? You basically cannot maintain contact with players now, I guess it is harder to keep track of players if you can't keep a hand on them.

GT missed some easy shots last night and too many free throws. They should have had 85 points or more.

 

[GTJT622]

Agree on the game being much more easy on the eyes with these rules changes combined with a more up-tempo approach by Tech. Hopefully CBG got the message from the Bobber about offense needing to be more than something you do between defensive sets. Then again, and while I don't expect us to change everything overnight and have everything down by game 2, at times last night we delved back into the same old tired pass it around and around and around halfcourt set with guys tentative to take a shot.

I'm not suggesting we jack up shots for the hell of it, but when you see guys in their range passing up wide open good looks, it is a sign of treading back to the past. Jorgenson, for example, whose form looks significantly better this year, missed a few outside shots. I have no problem with them. They were open looks and in his range. I hope he continues to look to take those shots. Some will start falling...AND, he needs to be a threat out there. Heath took a 3-pointer as well and I was glad to see that too. He doesn't shoot many 3's, but like TJ, he needs to at least be a threat.

As far as the way the game is officiated, I just pray that these refs stay true to the changes and continue to modify their own ways. I thought Hart & Alexander on the TV call last night did a great job pointing out that there are MANY different rules changes which the refs will have to adjust to and that some of these guys have been reffing for 20+ years so they need the time to get with the program themselves. We are seeing a much better product of ball out there so far and I applaud the coaches association who drove a lot of these changes we are seeing.

I just hope the refs once conference play arrives - which tends to be less open and more halfcourt grinding generally speaking - will continue with the good work they are doing right now to progress the sport to where it needs to be. Even fans at blue blood programs like Kentucky have made note of how boring the game had become with 49-47 type wins in games where the defenders could clamp hold of the offensive guys...and that's from a program featuring 10 Burger Boys, 5 NBA starters and national title contention.

It's great having college hoops back as always...if nothing else, gives something during weeknights to follow. It wasn't that long ago (well, then again, I guess it was...*SIGH*) I could tell you every starter in the ACC for every team. While I still even in the bad years over the last decade watch a ton of ACC Hoops, it would be great to have a season where those games have some kind of bearing on our team, our chances of positioning in the ACC and/or NCAAT, etc. Hopefully this team will continue to improve and win some of these close games we lost a year ago...last night is 1 in the W column already that we perhaps would've lost a year ago.

Btw, anybody notice the French lost last night at GW? The slower, boring, defensive-minded style of play favored Bennett's approach. While I think he is more than capable of adjusting his approach with the rules and more free open play offensively, I wonder aloud might these adjustments affect the French more than any team in the ACC as they loved winning games with each team scoring in the 40's or low 50's. Just a thought...

 

[BornAJacket]

I didn't think the passing last night was them delving into the old patterns, but I thought they were looking for lanes to penetrate but Tenn was doing a good job of backing their defense down, especially with certain guards in play and GT shooting 10%-15% from the field. Finished 2 for19, ouch!

 

[GTJT622]

Here are some stats to gnaw on...

...in our first 2 games we attempted 78 shots against Cornell and 71 last night against the Vols. Those are higher than any shot attempts from the field in any game thru 40 minutes all of last season. The highest was against Vandy with 67. We had 73 shot attempts against ND, but that included 19 in double overtime sessions and 73 also against NC State that included 8 additional shots in one overtime session.

We averaged over the 31 games last year 57.2 field goal attempts per game. We already have seen 78 and 71. A sample size of only 2 I realize, but worth keeping an eye on. A result of 5 less seconds to shoot? Maybe, but probably not. Concerted effort to raise the tempo offensively? Likely. Some better offensive skilled players to do it with? Perhaps. CBG getting the message from Bobber? Likely. Rules changes offering better opps for all teams not just Tech and this is a by-product? Perhaps.

Whatever the reason or combo of reasons, I like what I see over the first 80 minutes of play. I think this style of play will ultimately help recruiting as well. And even if it doesn't immediately translate into W's, what we've been doing obviously hasn't been working so let's hope this change is real and eventually translates to a better product and ultimately wins more frequently.

 

[Buzzforlife]

Not sure you guys read my posts above these last four about the Va. game and the new clock, and from last night concerning the poor three shooting and defensive rebounding. I do agree with GTJT about the points needing to shoot. Not sure if Adam and Tadric together is going to work.

One other new rule is that a ball handler can dribble 29 seconds and then heave it up or drive in. No more closely guarded five second rule.

 

[GTJT622]

Speaking of RULES, here's some for you to remember...memorize them so you can say them in your sleep!

Rule Number One!...

OBEY ALL RULES!

Rule Number Two...

DO NOT WRITE ON THE WALLS. For it takes a long time to clean them.

Now, if the refs can just remember these rules and obey them, then we can enhance the experience of our collegiate basketball viewing time this winter.

Carry on!

 

[Buzzforlife]

UNCheat has a road trip to N. Iowa, scheduled for a Marcus Paige homecoming and guess what?
He is injured and will miss playing in the game.

Kind of reminds us of Theodis Tarver not playing on our trip to Louisiana.

 

[BornAJacket]

Here are some stats to gnaw on...

...in our first 2 games we attempted 78 shots against Cornell and 71 last night against the Vols. Those are higher than any shot attempts from the field in any game thru 40 minutes all of last season. The highest was against Vandy with 67. We had 73 shot attempts against ND, but that included 19 in double overtime sessions and 73 also against NC State that included 8 additional shots in one overtime session.

We averaged over the 31 games last year 57.2 field goal attempts per game. We already have seen 78 and 71. A sample size of only 2 I realize, but worth keeping an eye on. A result of 5 less seconds to shoot? Maybe, but probably not. Concerted effort to raise the tempo offensively? Likely. Some better offensive skilled players to do it with? Perhaps. CBG getting the message from Bobber? Likely. Rules changes offering better opps for all teams not just Tech and this is a by-product? Perhaps.

.

5 second reduction in shot clock is about 14%. So increasing the 67 shots from last years Vandy game is 76 shots. So it looks like so far we have played the first 2 games at the same pace as the Vandy game last season. We know the Vandy game was "up tempo" for the team. So I would say that yes the team so far is playing faster by design. Let's see if it stays that way.

 

[GTJT622]

Agree on let's see if it stays that way. The Vandy game was the extreme. It will be interesting to see if we are more like that game or more like the 57 or so shots we averaged + a 14% bump which would be more like 65-ish.

I think there is a confounding other factor out there in that other teams will also likely be playing a more uptempo or due to the rules more freedom for movement by offensive players so we may get more opps due to the opponent's style and behaviors as well.

 

[Buzzforlife]

This is going to sound like the old verbiage of the prevent defense in football during the last 3-5 minutes of a game when you have the lead and start trying to eat clock in basketball. It only prevents you from winning. During this plethora of a marathon that just ended, we witnessed games that had this occurrence. One team leads the majority of the game, then stumbles trying to run half court, while absorbing clock. I point to the last game allowing Izzo to overtake Bill Self.

GT may fall in this category too! We didn't do much at the end of the Vol game at home. CBG is more defensive/conservative in his nature.