Georgia Tech

Wednesday, November 22nd, 2023
7:00 PM
Fifth Third Arena
ESPN+

The Bearcats (4-0, KenPom #49) will have much to be thankful for when they welcome Georgia Tech (2-1, KenPom #136) to town on Thanksgiving Eve.

Both teams are expected to have big men make their 23/24 debuts in this game as 7'0 4th-year Utah Valley transfer Aziz Bandaogo will suit up for Cincinnati after being declared eligible on Monday and 6'9 Freshman Baye Ndongo will see his first action for Georgia Tech after missing the first three games of the season with a hand injury.

The Yellow Jackets are led by first-year head coach, and former NBA standout, Damon Stoudamire, who was hired by the program last March after serving as an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics.

Georgia Tech started the season with a convincing win against Georgia Southern (84-62) but has since struggled against Howard (88-85 win) and UMass-Lowell (74-71 loss) where they shot a combined 10-48 from 3 (20.8%).

Their shooting woes have been even more accentuated at the free throw line where they shoot 59.7% in spite of averaging nearly 26 attempts/game.

To their credit, they are a very strong offensive rebounding team that is averaging just over 18 boards game.

The Yellow Jackets' top players are 6'4 3rd-year guard Miles Kelly (21 ppg), 6'6 3rd-year guard Dallan Coleman (16 ppg, 56.3% from 3), and 6'8 4th-year forward Tyzhaun Claude (12.7 ppg, 8.3 rpg).

Georgia Tech was picked to finish 13th out of 15 in the ACC this season.

Hopefully another good warmup leading into conference play. Shouldn't be too strong of competition, but a good chance to get guys working together and learning the offense.

I'm a bit confused about Skillings not starting. Is that over fears of fouling too early? It is no issue to come off the bench, I just wondered if there was a reason.

Aziz has three games to get ready for Xavier. No one his size on their team but plenty of height overall.

I think Skillings coming off the bench is mostly a seniority thing. Newman, Simas, and Fredricks are all upperclassmen. He's second on the team in minutes though, so I'm not worried about it.

It will be interesting to see how minutes are distributed now with Aziz in the mix. Part of the reason Skillings has played so much is he's long enough for the 4, but he probably won't be needed there anymore unless Reed gets cut from the rotation.

sedziobs said:

I think Skillings coming off the bench is mostly a seniority thing. Newman, Simas, and Fredricks are all upperclassmen. He's second on the team in minutes though, so I'm not worried about it.

It will be interesting to see how minutes are distributed now with Aziz in the mix. Part of the reason Skillings has played so much is he's long enough for the 4, but he probably won't be needed there anymore unless Reed gets cut from the rotation.

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I expect Reed to be cut from the rotation and Skillings to get 10 to 15 minutes per game at the 4.

Newman, Simas and Fredrick have all played well too, it seems like someone is going to have minutes cut, but no one deserves to. Skillings is the most dynamic and has the highest ceiling of the group, but he's also the most mistake prone - which is probably why he isn't starting.

I'll be interested in how the rotations and different combinations work. Will Vik need to be paired with Newman for example (or not paired with Simas), to compensate if Vik struggles defending the 4?

The minutes at the 2/3 may be based on team needs rather than individual skill. How much will we play through the big men (which favors Fredrick and Simas as they can make good passes and spread the floor with shooting), or will we continue to attack off the drive (which favors Skillings/Newman)? I imagine Wes is going to be trying to figure those things out in the next couple games.

skyblade said:

I expect Reed to be cut from the rotation and Skillings to get 10 to 15 minutes per game at the 4.

Newman, Simas and Fredrick have all played well too, it seems like someone is going to have minutes cut, but no one deserves to. Skillings is the most dynamic and has the highest ceiling of the group, but he's also the most mistake prone - which is probably why he isn't starting.

I'll be interested in how the rotations and different combinations work. Will Vik need to be paired with Newman for example (or not paired with Simas), to compensate if Vik struggles defending the 4?

The minutes at the 2/3 may be based on team needs rather than individual skill. How much will we play through the big men (which favors Fredrick and Simas as they can make good passes and spread the floor with shooting), or will we continue to attack off the drive (which favors Skillings/Newman)? I imagine Wes is going to be trying to figure those things out in the next couple games.

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I'm particularly interested to see how Ody fits into the equation now.

We haven't developed much of a groove with him and Vik on the court together so far but that's probably a pairing that has more long-term potential than Ody/Aziz since Vik can more comfortably play the 4 on offense.

-9.5

Very little flow or rhythm to the game so far, but we've done well to maintain a lead.

We're somehow shooting 8/11 from inside the arc despite not getting many clear looks.

Bandaogo has been as good as advertised. He's making a huge impact on defense.

Hoping Skillings can find his groove.

24-3 run to start the half. Playing at an elite level right now.

Vik's three point shooting and Aziz's rim protection are the things we need to elevate this team to the NCAA tournament. I am most surprised by Day Day. He has vastly exceeded my expectations as a Juco.

sedziobs said:

Vik's three point shooting and Aziz's rim protection are the things we need to elevate this team to the NCAA tournament. I am most surprised by Day Day. He has vastly exceeded my expectations as a Juco.

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He's shooting 63.3% from inside the arc so far which is the highest percentage of any player not named Aziz which is fairly remarkable considering only Skillings has taken more 2-point shots.

I'm sure he'll take some lumps as the season goes on but he's shown great flashes as a 3-level scorer as well as a big time overall playmaker.

Wes did great to give him his first D1 offer.

Well they got incredibly hot for a while there. I thought maybe everyone turned a corner on shooting, but then things started to cool off. The game was well in hand by then, so maybe they lost focus.

Fun to watch them succeed so well from distance.

I'm excited to think about how much impact the 3 could have for these guys moving forward. That's never been the Bearcats' strength outside of one/maybe two guys. Having three or four shooters on the floor at once could open up more scoring opportunities.

One thing I'm surprised Wes isn't pushing more is ball movement. They pass of course, but it's rarely quick passing from side to side of the court. When they do it almost always leads to a bucket. But there's a bit too much standing still or driving into the lane without moving to get an open shot.

This team is much more exciting than I expected. Hoping their defense improves by conference time, as even these early teams are scoring decent amount by the game's end, even if we're far ahead.