Game Day Essentials: Game #5 vs Georgia Tech

[hhcmatt]

Nebraska Cornhuskers (3-1) vs Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (1-2)

 

Date: Wednesday Dec 9, 2020
Time: 6:15 pm
Arena: PBA

Broadcast:  ESPN2

Georgia Institute of Technology

 

Head Coach: Josh Pastner
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Conference: ACC
Nickname: Yellow Jackets

Mascot: Buzz and Ramblin' Wreck

KenPom rank: 75

Previous history: Georgia Tech leads the all-time series 2-0 including throttling the Huskers 73-56 last season.

Offensive Style: Five out Princeton offense, dribble drive motion, scoring in the paint

Defensive Style: A funky 1-3-1 zone that morphs into a 2-3 / 3-2 zone

Rotation Size: 7-8

Line:  Nebraska by 1

 

Due to cancellations this game has moved from ESPNU to ESPN2

 

 

Players to watch:   Moses Wright

Senior F Moses Wright has been the best player for the Yellowjackets this season, currently leading the team in scoring, rebounding, and blocks.  With GT switching to a smaller lineup vs Kentucky, Wright spent most of the game as their starting center which is mitigated by how much Tech plays zone.  Wright has struggled from 3 most of his college career but is a nifty 3-5 this season.

 

Players to watch:   Jose Alvarado

Tech's Senior PG Alvarado leads the team in assists and steals, often times parked at the top of their 1-3-1. Has struggled with his shot to start the season.

 

Players to watch:   Michael Devoe

The talented wing might be their most dangerous scorer, last year shooting 42.7% from 3 while making it to the FT line 100+ times. Devoe was held scoreless vs Kentucky which shows how balanced the scoring is on this team.

 

Roster points

PG	SG	SF	PF	C	Pct
1	3 Bubba Parham 5-10  162  Sr	10 Jose Alvarado 6-0  179  Sr	0 Michael Devoe 6-5  197  Jr	4 Jordan Usher 6-7  213  Sr	5 Moses Wright 6-9  233  Sr	26.9
2	3 Bubba Parham 5-10  162  Sr	10 Jose Alvarado 6-0  179  Sr	0 Michael Devoe 6-5  197  Jr	12 Khalid Moore 6-7  200  Jr	5 Moses Wright 6-9  233  Sr	21.7

 

 

Georgia Tech shortened their bench vs Kentucky, only playing 7.

• Bubba Parham is the other 3pt shooter to keep tabs on along with Alvarado and Devoe. Those 3 take the majority of 3s on a team that doesn't shoot a ton of them
• Jordan Usher has been a solid second banana on the defensive end and his shot has been reliable thus far, slotting in as Tech's "big man" for short periods
• Khalid Moore doesn't shoot much as struggles when he does
• USC transfer guard  Kyle Sturdivant is still trying to get up to speed defensively but was a spark vs Kentucky, chipping in a career high 15.
• 6'10" 240# Georgia transfer Rodney Howard started the first two games and then didn't play vs Kentucky. Is a rim protector. 6'8" Jordan Meka  and 7'1"  Saba Gigiberia are freshmen post players who haven't been ready to contribute

 

Hoiberg Presser

Thorir Presser

Banton Presser

 

Hoiberg got into their 1-3-1 as well as detailing some of the personnel.  Also we haven't yet found a replacement game for Florida A&M but it's a possibility for next week. 

 

The Skinny:

 

Georgia Tech got off to a slow start which could be blamed on Josh Pastner's decision to implement an "unheard of plan" of non-contact practices. Additionally Pastner was looking to put in more dribble drive to take advantage of this roster. After loses to Georgia St and Mercer, the Ramblin' Wreck scrapped those plans, switched to a smaller lineup, and gave Kentucky the business. 

 

Tech is one of those 'bring almost everyone back' squads. However, that one player not coming back was the 6'10" shot blocking, defensive anchor James Banks. After problems trying to replicate the success with that size, Tech has leaned on defensive quickness and familiarity. Expect that trend to continue against the small ball Huskers.

 

The turnovers that fueled Tech's offense vs Kentucky will be a lot harder to come by vs Nebraska as ball control has been the one positive offensive constant of the Nebraska Hoiberg era.  Both teams still aren't confident in their half court offenses and will look to get out in transition at the expense of giving up 2nd chance points.  Georgia Tech is going to try and work their way into the paint. Nebraska took the few zone looks they saw thus far and ate them up. Tech runs zone for a living so we'll find out how much this team is willing to pass its way to open looks vs driving into defenders/jacking up 3s. One random thing to note is that Trey McGowens played GT twice last year in ACC play.

 

Defensively ,Nebraska's tendency to pack the paint is essentially what you want to run against GT and should hopefully help in keeping Moses Wright in check.  If Tech gets comfortable shooting from outside, it will be a long night for the scarlet and cream.  Nebraska's interior defense is suspect so you could see the Yellow Jackets looking down the bench in this game for some of that size.

 

There really is no outcome, be it blowout win for either team or 4 OT game that would be surprising.

 

Prediction: Nebraska 78 - Georgia Tech 72

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[Norm Peterson]

Interestingly, their bench is averaging 11.7 ppg. Their 5th starter is averaging 12.7 ppg.

 

So, you basically have 5 starters scoring and virtually no one else. But their 5 starters are very good and their center is fantastic. He's shooting  60% from 3-point range on minimal attempts, but the real damage he does is inside, where he is superb. Very athletic and quick. He's going to be a real challenge for whoever is assigned to him defensively.

 

As a team, they're about as bad as we are shooting the 3. That should allow Doc some latitude to throw some doubles at Wright, their superb big man, and not have to worry so much about recovering to open shooters (although, with our history, this will be the breakout game where they shoot 55% from downtown.)

 

Anyway, they're not especially long. I think Moses Wright has the athleticism to guard Lat Mayen on the perimeter. But who do they use to guard Teddy Allen? Whoever that person is, they won't be able to also guard Trey McGowens. So, they'll have to pick their poison a little bit there. One of our guys will have a huge mismatch advantage on one of their small guards. And if Wright is guarding Lat on the perimeter, they won't have a shot blocker inside to challenge our guys taking it to the hoop.

[Norm Peterson]

Dalano says we're starting 5 guards against GT? Is he counting Lat as a guard?

[hskr4life]

15 minutes ago, Norm Peterson said:

Dalano says we're starting 5 guards against GT? Is he counting Lat as a guard?

Stevenson?

[hhcmatt]

I think Moses is every bit as mobile as Lat so when they do run man I don't think they'll have a problem.
However they spend a majority of time in a shifting zone. We're going to deal more with driving into charges/double teams as opposed to getting shots blocked in this one.

 

Moses Wright I think works fast enough where it's going to be more about denying him as opposed to double-teaming him. He's a career 19.1 3pt shooter so he's no big threat from out there.

[hhcmatt]

4 minutes ago, hskr4life said:

Stevenson?

 

I wonder if they want Stevenson's bulk over Thorir today

[hskr4life]

27 minutes ago, hhcmatt said:

 

I wonder if they want Stevenson's bulk over Thorir today

My thoughts too.  Gives us another “bigger” body for inside work too.

[throwback]

I think this game tells us a lot about how coachable this group is. You open the season with 4 games in 7 days (with a mandatory day off in there), there's little time for really breaking down film, re-emphasizing your offensive philosophies, and working on things that went wrong.

 

Now you've had a week to really get into the nuances of the offense, learn from your mistakes, etc. If the guys take to coaching well, they should be sharp tonight offensively. 

 

You learn so much more from game film than you can learn in preseason practices that I think it's possible NU could take a huge leap forward tonight.

 

The caveat is they're playing a team that can come closer to matching them athletically than anyone they've played to date, so do the players revert to bad habits when the pressure turns higher? Hopefully, this is where having a team with far more D-1 and high major experience than last year's group should pay dividends as well.

 

I really want to win Friday, but I believe tonight's game tells us a lot about where this team is headed.

 

[jimmykc]

Zebras will ,as usual, play a large role in determining this game. Drawing a few early fouls on Wright and sending him to the bench for significant minutes would be nice. On the other hand, if they decide to let him muscle us inside, we will be in trouble.  

[hhcmatt]

1 hour ago, jimmykc said:

Zebras will ,as usual, play a large role in determining this game. Drawing a few early fouls on Wright and sending him to the bench for significant minutes would be nice. On the other hand, if they decide to let him muscle us inside, we will be in trouble.  

 

Josh Pastner statistically is a coach who will keep a guy with 2 fouls in the first half on the court more than most.