Posts
Well, our first BIG test in the ACC comes Wednesday night in Chapel Hill. I don't have the time to actually do a game preview (that would require a much higher level use of my brain - of which I'm not up for right now. However, I will provide some random thoughts and somme interesting points about the game:
1.Offense / Defense? This is a battle of the best ACC offense against the best ACC defense. UNC is shooting 52.9% so far, leading the ACC, while GT is holding opponents to 34.6%, also leading the ACC........ 3-point shooting - UNC leads the ACC with 44.4%, while the Jackets lead in 3pt FG defense, holding opponents to 27%. So what will give? Will good offense beat good defense? Will good defense get the W? Maybe we should look at the flip side. GT is 4th in the ACC in FG% at 48.1% and UNC is 6th in the ACC in FG% defense, holding teams to 40.4%. Honestly I don't know what it means.
Here's what to watch - how many OPEN 3pt shots UNC gets. If they get a lot of them, it's lights out for the Jackets. Can GT stay in their jock? That will be critical - but of course you cannot slack off of Williams and May on the inside.
2. Total offense. Well, I gave you percentages. North Carolina is actually averaging 93.9 pts/game, which just so happens to lead the nation. That's a lot of points. The Jackets are averaging 79.2, good for 5th in the ACC. On defense, the Jackets give up 58.1 pts/game while the Tarheels give up 68.7 pts/game.
3. The oddsmakers have the Jackets as about a 10-11 point underdog. This could make good bulletin board material. But I'll give the team more bulletin board material - the odds makers are right. I give the Jackets about a 30% chance of winning this game. A road game in a hostile environment. We have yet to win away from ATL. We are banged up bigtime (Smith out, Elder out, Dickey hurt, Bynum hurt, Isma'il hurt, shall I go on?). In addition, we are playing a healthy team that is playing together as well as anyone in the country. They are talented and experienced.
4. Rebounding. The Jackets are 8-0 when the win the battle on the boards. When we don't - 3-2. So the message is clear - crash the glass!! The Jackets are 2nd in the ACC in total rebounding at 42.5/game. The Tarheels grab 40.1/game. However, UNC is 1st in the ACC in rebounding defense (how many boards/game teams get against them), at 31.9/game. The Jackets are giving up 36.2/game.
5. Assists. UNC and GT are #1 and #2 in the ACC is total assists/game, and both teams are very good at dishing the ball. The team assist/turnover ratio is a wash (UNC 1.24, GT 1.22). How important are assists to the Jackets? Well, the team's season lows were against Gonzaga and Kansas. Need I say more?
6. Steals. Here is a big statistical difference. The Jackets only grab an average of 8.31/game, while the Tarholes grab 11.5/game, leading the league.
7. Individually, Jarrett Jack is all over the league leaders. 13th in scoring.....19th in total rebounding......3rd in FG%........5th in assists........ 3rd in FT%......15th in steals........3rd in 3pt FG%........13th in assist/to ratio (needs work here).......#6 in defensive rebounding (yes)....... How about this amazing stat. While Jack is #6 in defensive rebounding, he has only grabbed 1 offensive board all year. Look at the development of Jarrett Jack in terms of his shooting:
Year.........FG%.......3pt%........FT%........PPG
Fresh........45.5......28.3%.......70.3%.......9.5
Soph.........45.6......31.6%.......80.2%.......12.5
Junior.......58.0......47.9%.......87.0%.......14.8
That's impressive.
8. Jack passed Kenny Anderson on the GT all-time total assist leaderboard against UVA. Congrats.
9. GT and UNC are clearly the most experienced teams in the ACC. GT leads the ACC with 52 starts by seniors, and adds another 13 starts by juniors with Jack. UNC has 40 starts from juniors and 29 from seniors. Combined both teams have only 1 start from a freshman or sophomore. These two teams are without a doubt the most experienced in the ACC.
10. When the game tips off tonight, there will NOT be a freshman or sophomore on the court. Tell me the last time you saw that in a college game between two majors??
Now here are some new stories on the game:
BATTLE OF THE TOP 10 TEAMS
TIME & PLACE: GAME DETAILS
ESPN: JACK VS FELTON COMPARISON
ONE PERSON'S GAME ANALYSIS: THE HIVE
GT & UNC: VETERAN STARTERS
TARHEELS LOOK TO KEEP ROLLING
TOBACCO ROAD TOUGH FOR BATTERED JACKETS
GEORGIA TECH TEAM REPORT
QUOTE TO NOTE: "This team is built on defense, effort, running the floor hard. If people can keep up with us, most nights they're going to beat us. If they can't keep up with us, most nights we're going to beat them." -- Coach Paul Hewitt.
NORTH CAROLINA TEAM REPORT
UNC TEAM STATS
JACKETS LOOK TO MAKE STATEMENT
R.TERRY PROVIDES SPARK FOR UNC
TARHEELS FLYING HIGH
JACKETS TRY TO DERAIL HOT HEELS
WILLIAMS TELLS HEELS TO FORGET LAST WIN
HEELS BURNING EARLY
HEELS FACE TOUGH TEST W/JACKET D
REALLY, THIS ONE'S WORTH THE TICKET PRICE
TARHEELS KEEP FOCUS ON JACKETS
GT/UNC RIVALRY REPORT
This is a fun article to read:
Dennis Scott, whose slight paunch made him an unlikely assassin, would later be joined in the ranks of perimeter prodigies by a series of relatively anonymous Techsters who suddenly became marksmen when they saw light blue. The extremely mortal Fred Vinson turned immortal on Feb. 12, 1994, hitting 8-of-12 three-pointers in a Smith Center upset of the talented Tar Heels. Both Barry brothers who suited up in Atlanta, Jon and Drew, enjoyed wins over the Heels. Drew was especially pesky, hitting 9-of-17 three-pointers and 10 of his 18 field goal attempts while scoring 30 points in a 92-83 overtime Tech win in 1996.
5 GT/UNC GAMES TO REMEMBER...OR FORGET
ONLY A FEW SEEM CAPABLE OF WINNING TITLE
ACC FORCED TO COPE WITH RASH OF INJURIES
ACC STARTS TO HEAT UP THIS WEEK
LATIN CONTINUES TO FIND WAYS TO WIN
Anthony Morrow's high school.
MORROW TAKES SWISH TO GT
Speaking of Anthony....
Faulkner (his high school coach) played Morrow 24.3 minutes per game in his senior season, sitting a player with superb talent and high aspirations for what amounted to a quarter of each game.
"I would take him out to rest him or give another kid an opportunity to play, and Anthony Morrow never said a word," Faulkner said. "That said so much about what kind of person he was."
And how about that - another guy who would have probably gone to UNC if offered. Don't worry - GT is becoming on those short lists now.
GT COACH BATTLES ACC BIAS
More like the tobacco road bias.
The national media's fascination with the North Carolina schools makes it that much more difficult to woo a player interested in playing in the ACC, Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt believes.
"The thing that really bugs me a little bit, when you turn on the national telecast and that's all you hear," Hewitt said. "...Recruiting is the name of the game. If you hit a kid over the head enough times with this school or that school, after a while they start thinking that's all there is."
EXPERIENCE WILL RULE THE COURT
MICHIGAN OVERCOMING OBSTACLES
Other than our thrashing of them in December, they are making a name for themselves.