Georgia Tech Basketball: Three Takeaways From Win Over Northern Illinois
For the first time in the Josh Pastner era, Georgia Tech is 3-0 and off to a good start. One of the things Pastner has talked about wanting to change is how the team starts and so far, so good.
The game got a little closer than Georgia Tech would have liked in the second half, but they were never in any real danger of losing this one and they have their defense to thank for that. An 18-point win is an 18-point win and Georgia Tech will be getting ready for its trip to Ft. Myers to play in the Ft. Myers tip-off.
So what are the biggest takeaways from last night's victory?
3. Ja'von Franklin had his breakout game
Georgia Tech forward Ja'von Franklin had his best game of the season against Northern Illinois
Rodney Howard only played nine minutes and struggled in his time on the floor with foul trouble and that meant that Ja'von Franklin was going to have a chance to have a breakout game and I think he did that.
Franklin played 30 minutes last night and had a game-high 14 points and 11 rebounds on his way to a double-double. Franklin was also stout on defense, finishing the game with five blocks and for the game, he was a +24 when on the court. Franklin playing like this will boost this team's depth and the transfer forward is going to play a key role for Georgia Tech this season.
2. The offense is still a work in progress
Georgia Tech is still working on developing an offensive rhythm this season
While the defensive performance is something worth talking about, this offense is still working on finding a rhythm early on this season.
The first half was not a bad performance, but the slow start on offense in the second half nearly cost the Yellow Jackets. Georgia Tech shot 46% from the field in the first half and 33% from three-point range. In the second half though, Georgia Tech shot 28% and 16% from three-point range.
When asked about the difference between the offense and the defense, here is what Pastner had to say:
"Defensively, our defense is ahead of our offense and you know the thing is with the points per possession offensively is we're not like turning it over a lot, considering the amount of possessions, 11 is not bad and you obviously want to have less than that, but in that range. Because they came in averaging teams less than 15 turnovers per game, but we have to be better offensively. Now, we had some great looks today that we missed so we just have to continue to keep cleaning some things up and we will continue to get better and that is an area where we can continue to get better to make sure we are better in what we need to do on that."
The offense needs to pick up the slack in case of any defensive slippage in play. The good news is, figuring out these problems when you are 3-0 is better than figuring it out with a loss on the schedule.
1. The defense remains a strong point
Georgia Tech's defense remains the strongest unit on the team
The first-half defense for Georgia Tech could not have been much better. The Yellow Jackets held Northern Illinois to 20% shooting from the field and 15% from three-point range. While NIU did improve those numbers a bit in the second half, the Yellow Jackets held them to 26% for the game from the field and 20% from three.
Heading into the game, Georgia Tech was among the best in the country at three-point defense, and that standing is only going to improve after last night.
Pastner spoke about the defense after the game and how he wants it to be the calling card of this team:
"Our goal is to hold teams to .95 points per possession. The first two games we played, we held them to .85, which is outstanding, obviously, I don't know what the points per possession stat is yet, but if that is what it is, under .85, that is great. Our goal defensively is to hold them to .85... excuse me, or .95. Offensively, we want to be 1 or 1.05 above on the offensive end points per possession. Now, we only had eleven turnovers again, we have done a good job of taking care of the ball, but the rebounding aspect to your question, going back to that, we have to better about that, we just did not do a good enough job at and we have to be better at."
"We signed the bubble, the bubble is a big deal to us and if you get four offensive rebounds or six defensive rebounds or ten total, you get the privilege to sign the bubble. Because in practice, we put the bubble up where you can't make the shot and so it is automatic rebounds so it forced you to hit guys and have contact and so we do that a lot with our practice of hitting the bags and that is why I was disappointed in giving up that many offensive rebounds to the opponent. Credit to NIU because we spent a lot of time with the bubble, we practice a lot with the bubble and we had Ja'von got assigned the bubble because he had five offensive rebounds, and six defensive, which equals to 11 and Deivon had the privilege of signing the bubble because he had seven defensive rebounds tonight."
This team is going to have a chance to keep winning if their defense keeps playing like this. Better offensive teams are going to be on the schedule soon and that will be the ultimate test of how good this defense really is.
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