Things could be bumpy early on this season as things look to be back to "normal" for the ACC. Duke and UNC are back on top for good it seems.
Don't know if you have kept up recently so I will fill you in...
Senior PG and defensive star D'andre Bell is out for the year due to injury. G Lewis Clinch is out until 2009 due to academic ineligibility. Sophomore Moe Miller is a very talented PG but that is literally it at the position. Already in an early preseason game, Hewitt has turned to a pair of Freshman walk-ons to use as back-ups for the position. Yikes.
It has got to be all about the frontcourt. Senior Alade Aminu is good, but Sophomore Gani Lawal is super talented. Zach Peacock is back as a junior, which means there is experience, but he may be used in the three spot often because of the lack of depth in the backcourt. Seven foot Sophomore Brad Sheehan also looks promising, too.
You probably won't be wondering where the scoring will be coming from. Can Moe Miller develop into the classic Tech scoring PG? Lawal scored 30 in the first exhibition game, can he be a consistent threat inside? Maybe Freshman preseason All-America G Iman Shumpert can prove a solid scoring presence fresh out of high school. Also, Sophomore G Lance Storrs didn't get much playing time early on in the ACC schedule last year, but came on late as an outside shooting option and a solid perimeter defender.
The schedule will not prove much help early. Before playing UGA at home on January 6, Tech will have to play Vanderbilt at home and at Pepperdine, USC and Alabama.
Bottom line: No more Anthony Morrow, Jeremis Smith or Ra'Sean Dickey. Hurts to lose Jeremis, but it may prove that Morrow and Dickey may have just been holding the Jackets back.
2 comments:
So...Four games into the ACC schedule and what has GT shown us? Uhh, they can't handle the ball, they can't shoot free throws and, for the most part, they can't play 35 seconds worth of defense every possession.
Shumpert can score, but he has more assists to other team than he does to the Jackets.
Lawal is a star talent, but can disappear for extended periods when the guards can't get him the ball.
Miller has shot inconsistently and struggles running a half-court offense.
The only good news of the first half of the season is that Derrick Favors (i.e. #1 recruit in the nation), for some reason wants a chance to be in the cellar of the ACC. His commitment means a star recruit at all five positions coming in next year...Now all the Tech faithful want to know, can we recruit a star coach, too?
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