Behind Enemy Lines: 5 Questions For Georgia Tech Maven's Matthew McGavic

Blue Devils head to Atlanta on Wednesday night

Duke plays its second straight ACC road game, when the Blue Devils head to Georgia Tech Wednesday night at 9:00pm down at McCamish Pavilion.

Ahead of tonight's conference matchup, we sat down with SI’s Georgia Tech Maven’s Matthew McGavic to find out more about the Yellow Jackets.

1. What got into Georgia Tech in Chapel Hill?

“Between ineptitude on UNC’s behalf and Georgia Tech executing like they’ve been wanting to, everything went right for them. For the most part this season, they have struggled to shoot the basketball. Then they go up to UNC and go almost 60% from the field. The Jackets were able to find a ton of open looks and high percentage shots, particularly at the rim. On the other side, North Carolina just could not cash in. They missed their first 15 field goal attempts of the game (due to good GT defense and just dumb luck), and turned the ball over 20 times, something that the Jackets pride themselves on. The Tar Heels had more life in the second half, but they could not get over the hump. This was mainly due to the fact that Tech shot 63% from the field in the final 20 minutes.”

2. Tech seems like a different team with a healthy Jose Alvarado. What does he bring to the Jackets?

“Head coach Josh Pastner has stated multiple times that Alvarado is hands down the best players on the court, and it’s not hard to see why. In their game against Ball State, Tech had absolutely zero offensive rhythm. Their game-plan devolved to nothing but isolation play and unsuccessful one-on-one drives. Had Ball State not called off the dogs in the final 2 minutes, they would have lost by 30. Fast forward to Chapel Hill, and he dishes out a career high 8 assists and Tech as a team assists on 19 baskets. It’s not just his individual talent as a point guard that he brings, he’s the very definition of a floor general. Even when not directly involved in a play, he’s helping guys get into position.”

3. Is Moses Wright’s play lately as simple as Alvarado getting him the ball, or has he taken a step to ACC elite level?

“It’s a combination of both. Having Alvarado is back without a doubt helps, but Wright has made some strides of his own. In the past, Wright has struggled with not closing out games, but rather starting them. Pastner has wanted to Wright to have a high level of energy out of the gates and not out of halftime, and recently he has finally started doing so. As a result, he has been able to have more complete games which in turn has helped Tech down low in the post and also elevated the game of center James Banks III.”

4. The last time most of us saw Josh Pastner, he was working two cell phones in the stands as news about NCAA violations broke in last year’s ACC Tournament. How is he still coaching, and is the NCAA drama a distraction?

“He’s still coaching because he was not directly involved in the violations. What happened, from my understanding, was that it was mainly a case of placing trust in the wrong people (former assistant Darryl LaBarrie & ex-friend Ron Bell). And surprisingly, the sanctions have not served as a distraction whatsoever, at least that is the vibe I get from the players and coaches.”

5. Tech has not played a game with a single-digit margin since 12/1. What goes well for the Yellow Jackets when they’re on their way to a lopsided win, and what’s missing when they’re on the other side?

“I could list all sorts of statistical reasons as to why this is, but the simple eye test draws one conclusion: energy. Whenever Georgia Tech starts slowly or plays with low energy to start games, it has more often than not snowballed as the game progresses and prevented them from mounting a comeback. However on the flipside, whenever Tech comes out of the gates firing on all cylinders, this tends to last until the final horn, as was the case against North Carolina in Chapel Hill.”