Georgia Tech returns home after nearly a month off to face 0-2 in ACC play Boston College who have a high-powered offense led by big man Quinten Post and guards Claudell Harris and Jaeden Zackery.
Damon Stoudamire spoke to the media on Friday and said that BC definitely scores a lot of points and they are probably disappointed with how their season started 0-2 and they are a little desperate coming in, with that sense of urgency that FSU had coming into the GT game the other night after they lost to Lipscomb. He is hoping there is a good crowd and GT can match their energy especially after the team has been away for 26-27 days from McCamish.
I asked him if he needed to call more plays early to get the offense jumpstarted and he thinks they are worse when they try to run set plays because his guys overthink and the ball stops moving. He thinks they play better when they just get out and run and create their offense through good defense and get teams in transition. He said they've been a little stagnant in the halfcourt
He said the FT shooting issues are mental and they have to imagine the ball going through the hoop and visualize that over and over. They practice it a lot and hit them but it is not happening in games right now. He said they need to take their time at the FT line.
Stoudamire said that Miles Kelly needs to stop passing up open shots and trying to drive into traffic all the time. If the shot is there he needs to shoot it and have confidence it will go in. He said he has had those moments of struggling and he believes he will get going in the right direction again and he just has to stick with his routine.
I noticed that Nait George was pulling back some in transition against FSU when they had some numbers and I asked Damon if he was concerned about that and he said that was more of an inexperience thing, he didn't play in the first four games and after the fifth game he has been starting and they are 6-2 or whatever with him starting so he is figuring things out on the fly, but he is isn't afraid. He said at FSU they were just bad all across the board in the first half and in the second half they loosened up and the game loosened up and they started getting stops finally and people tend to move faster when you do that.
Chad asked him if he has talked to the team about the NCAAT or making the postseason and he said he didn't want to overwhelm his team, he tries to take it day to day and let the cards fall where they may, but he thinks they have the potential to have a postseason berth if they can keep developing and playing basketball well at the right time.
Stoudamire said he watched Post when he was coaching with the Celtics and was impressed with him and how he has continued to improve there and he shoots it a lot better than most of the bigs they've played so far this year. He will be a big challenge.
I asked him about the revolving fifth starter spot and what the philosophy is there, four guys Nait George, Miles Kelly, Kowacie Reeves and Baye Ndongo are locked in but he has started Gapare, Ebenezer and Sacko at that other spot and he said that is a NBA thing and you have a matchup starter based on who you are playing. He brought up Marc Iavaroni who he played for in Memphis in the NBA and he said that Marc was the "starter" on the 1983 Philadelphia 76ers team because he balanced out the lineup, but the real guy at that spot was Bobby Jones who is in the HoF who came off the bench for them. He said they will rotate all season and Ebe is up for BC tomorrow there and if they are guard driven it will be a different guy like Sacko or if it is a stretch guy then Gapare will start.
Damon Stoudamire spoke to the media on Friday and said that BC definitely scores a lot of points and they are probably disappointed with how their season started 0-2 and they are a little desperate coming in, with that sense of urgency that FSU had coming into the GT game the other night after they lost to Lipscomb. He is hoping there is a good crowd and GT can match their energy especially after the team has been away for 26-27 days from McCamish.
I asked him if he needed to call more plays early to get the offense jumpstarted and he thinks they are worse when they try to run set plays because his guys overthink and the ball stops moving. He thinks they play better when they just get out and run and create their offense through good defense and get teams in transition. He said they've been a little stagnant in the halfcourt
He said the FT shooting issues are mental and they have to imagine the ball going through the hoop and visualize that over and over. They practice it a lot and hit them but it is not happening in games right now. He said they need to take their time at the FT line.
Stoudamire said that Miles Kelly needs to stop passing up open shots and trying to drive into traffic all the time. If the shot is there he needs to shoot it and have confidence it will go in. He said he has had those moments of struggling and he believes he will get going in the right direction again and he just has to stick with his routine.
I noticed that Nait George was pulling back some in transition against FSU when they had some numbers and I asked Damon if he was concerned about that and he said that was more of an inexperience thing, he didn't play in the first four games and after the fifth game he has been starting and they are 6-2 or whatever with him starting so he is figuring things out on the fly, but he is isn't afraid. He said at FSU they were just bad all across the board in the first half and in the second half they loosened up and the game loosened up and they started getting stops finally and people tend to move faster when you do that.
Chad asked him if he has talked to the team about the NCAAT or making the postseason and he said he didn't want to overwhelm his team, he tries to take it day to day and let the cards fall where they may, but he thinks they have the potential to have a postseason berth if they can keep developing and playing basketball well at the right time.
Stoudamire said he watched Post when he was coaching with the Celtics and was impressed with him and how he has continued to improve there and he shoots it a lot better than most of the bigs they've played so far this year. He will be a big challenge.
I asked him about the revolving fifth starter spot and what the philosophy is there, four guys Nait George, Miles Kelly, Kowacie Reeves and Baye Ndongo are locked in but he has started Gapare, Ebenezer and Sacko at that other spot and he said that is a NBA thing and you have a matchup starter based on who you are playing. He brought up Marc Iavaroni who he played for in Memphis in the NBA and he said that Marc was the "starter" on the 1983 Philadelphia 76ers team because he balanced out the lineup, but the real guy at that spot was Bobby Jones who is in the HoF who came off the bench for them. He said they will rotate all season and Ebe is up for BC tomorrow there and if they are guard driven it will be a different guy like Sacko or if it is a stretch guy then Gapare will start.
