Georgia Tech came into this year with three returning starters from last year's team, but of the other seven players who got minutes last year, six of them transferred while one graduated. Needing to rebuild the roster, coach Mighty Mouse brought in four freshmen, including two top-100 players in Darrion Sutton and Jaeden Mustaf from the Overtime Elite program, along with three-star Doryan Onwuchekwa and no-star Dyllan Thompson. He also nabbed four transfers, including former four-star Ryan Mutombo from Georgetown.
Stoudamire has his team playing faster this year so far, in contrast to last season, currently ranked 60th in pace. They are pretty mediocre offensively, with the exception of having good ball security. They don't shoot particularly well at any level, and their offensive rebounding and FT rate are average. Defensively, they do not really attempt to force turnovers, though they definitely apply pressure given their short average possession length on defense. When the defense is playing well, they force bad shots and shut down 2-pointers while locking down the defensive boards. When it's not on, they give up a whole lot of points. Granted, their schedule has been very bipolar so far - they have 4 games against top 100 P5 teams, and have lost all 4, while they have played 4 games against non-P5 competition ranked #290 or worse and won all 4. Then there was the home game against #180 North Florida, which they also lost. It's clear from the data though that their defense is way ahead of their offense against top teams.
Their last game at UNC, they only lost by 3. Their offense was bad, like it has been against the other good teams they've faced, but their defense played excellently, though it seems like UNC may have been responsible for a lot of that. UNC had 18 turnovers, but GT only had 5 steals, and UNC shot just 20.8% from 3. Maybe UNC was just tired after getting lambasted by Alabama at home a few nights prior, or maybe they just aren't that good, who knows?
Anyway, onto the players. GT has been struggling with injuries this year - one starter has been out for 4 games with a concussion but might be back, another starter has been out for 3 games with a knee injury, and one of their top freshmen has been out since the first game with a hamstring injury, so the lineup might look a bit different on Sunday.
Starters
PG - #1 6'3" Naithan George. Started all of last season as a freshman, and his game looks pretty similar so far this year. In the top games, he has shot only 24% from 3 and 42% from 2, while having more turnovers than assists (13 to 12), though he did pull down 8 rebounds to go with 1 block and 2 steals against UNC, but needed 14 shots to score 12 points. Likes to create off the dribble to get his own shot, but takes a lot of midrange jumpers.
SG - #0 6'3" Lance Terry. Redshirted last year following an injury, he's in his 6th year of college ball and 3rd at GT. With the injury to their starters, he plays nearly the entire game. A solid catch-and-shoot threat from long distance, he's shooting 39% on the year and 34% against the top teams. He's struggled with midrange shots and is just 6 for 10 on dunks this year though. Over the last three games, he averages nearly 16 shots per game, with almost 2/3 being 3s, and scored 22 points against UNC. I would imagine he'll be our top priority to shut down on defense. Seems to be a reasonably solid defender as well.
F - #9 6'8" Luke O'Brien. A 5th-year player who spent the last 4 at Colorado, starting about 40% of their games the last two seasons. More of an afterthought on offense, though in past years he has displayed 3-point shooting range. His minutes have been somewhat limited due to his propensity to foul, but I think GT wants to play their freshman more anyway given that this guy will be graduating. He does not try to create his own shot at all, at any level. Does seem to be a decent rebounder, with the occasional blocked shot.
PF/C - #11 6'9" Baye Ndongo. Like George, started as a freshman last year and continues to do so this season. His improvement from last year also seems a bit iffy thus far - he has cut down on turnovers while also getting fewer offensive boards, blocks and steals, has committed more fouls, but also drawn more and gotten to the line a lot, where he shoots just 63%. He's an excellent defensive rebounder due to his bulk, but if he's their go-to guy on offense, we're probably doing well in the game.
C - #45 6'11" Doryan Onwuchekwa. A true freshman, he has struggled so far this year, like many big men do. Despite playing just 22 minutes per game in his 7 games as a starter, he's fouled out of 2 and had 4 fouls in 3 others. He is also a terrible shooter who thinks he can hit from 3, but is only 18% so far, while also being just 20% at the FT line and 29% from midrange. On the positive side, he is likely their best rebounder and shot blocker, has averaged 1 steal per game against top competition, and doesn't turn the ball over.
Reserves
Wing - #3 6'5" Jaeden Mustaf. One of their top-100 freshmen, his minutes have increased quite a bit the past four games with the injuries to other players. With the increased playing time, he has scored a lot of points, averaging 14/game with an eFG% of 47.5% while also shooting 82% at the FT line. He's struggled with turnovers though, and has gotten into foul trouble the past couple games.
F - #31 6'8" Duncan Powell. At his 3rd school in 3 years. Transferred up from Sacramento St. after suffering a season-ending injury last February. He's an excellent rebounder and good defender, but a terrible shooter, shooting just 12% from 3 and 62% at the line. He takes care of the ball and draws a lot of fouls, but as mentioned, is not a good foul shooter. Did have a double-double against Oklahoma with 11 points and 12 rebounds, along with one block and one steal.
C - #30 6'9" Ibrahim Souare. Likely to only receive token minutes unless it's a blowout, Souare redshirted last year, so there's really nothing to say about him other than that he hails from the country of Guinea in Africa.
Injured players
PG - #2 6'2" Javian McCollum. Spent last season at Oklahoma after two at Siena, he started nearly every game for Porter Moser's squad last year as PG while also taking the most shots of anyone on the team. He had the 2nd-best FT% in the country at 94%, though shot just 31% from 3. So far this year, prior to his injury, he upped his distance shooting to 41%, but has struggled with turnovers, with just a 1.2:1 A/TO ratio. Suffered a concussion against Cincinnati and hasn't played since.
SF - #14 6'7" Kowacie Reeves. Was the third returning starter from last season for GT. He was a solid shooter at the line and from 3 last year, going 84% and 38% respectively. Has really struggled this season prior to the injury, providing just a combined 5 points and 1 rebound against Georgia and Cincinnati in 20 minutes per game.
F - #10 6'8" Darrion Sutton. The other top-100 freshman, he played in their first game this season and has seemingly been sidelined with an injury since. Picked up 2 fouls and 1 turnover in 7 minutes against West Georgia.
We really need to win this one, and we should, provided that we keep Lance Terry in check. The last two games, GT has gotten off to fast starts, as they were up by 11 after 7 and a half minutes against Oklahoma and by 8 after 9 minutes against UNC. They have been susceptible to giving up big runs though, which has hurt them. Against Oklahoma, they gave up a 20-3 run over 11 minutes spanning halftime, taking them from up 9 to down 8, and then after cutting it to 5 with 5 minutes to play, gave up a 12-2 run that closed out the game. With UNC, they gave up a 13-0 run immediately after going up 8 to erase the momentum. Hopefully our fans show up and spur the team on to a needed victory!
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