Tobacco Road Report

by Chris

When the managing editor of TRR gave me my weekend assignment, Virginia Tech vs. Georgia Tech, I had a feeling that we would see a good game from Dowdell and career games for one of the Hokie post players. As we pointed out earlier in the week, Georgia Tech has a problem with post defense. So, today’s winner from the Hokie frontline was A.D. Vassallo who posted a robust 19 point, 10 rebound effort. Dowdell was solid as usual with 23 points and 8 assists.

What can we say about Georgia Tech? We’ve found three letters that work: NIT. The frontline of Smith, Dickey, and Young combined for 11 points and the team shot 36 percent from the floor. When you grab 17 offensive rebounds and take 71 field goal attempts to your opponents 42, you should win the game.

On to bigger things…

TRR is in the process of looking at potential NCAA matchups for the ACC in March. Today, TRR took a road trip to Athens, Georgia to watch LSU battle Georgia. In a closely fought contest, Georgia edged LSU 57-54 on a last second three pointer by Levi Stukes. TRR offers scouting reports on each club.

LSU:

Offense:
LSU likes to run motion with the guards off picks from their 4 and 5 man. In a slight variation of the old UCLA wheel, downpicks are set for Glen “Big Baby” Davis and he likes to catch the ball at the elbow. Terry Martin and the other wing spot up for a catch and shoot as Davis is capable of beating other post players off the dribble.

Who is dangerous?
Everyone knows that Davis is the key player for the Tigers as he can score in a variety of ways. He is not very tall but his shoulders allow him to create space and score around the rim. Remember, creating space can be horizontal as well as vertical. In the open floor and perimeter, he has enough handle to cause matchup problems. The other post players Tasmin Mitchell and Darnelle Lazare do not pose much of a problem.

On the perimeter, the point is run by Garrett Temple. He is not a great shooter, but a solid ball handler who can control tempo. The shooter on the team is Terry Martin who is a good catch and shoot off guard. The rest of the Tigers looked uncomfortable setting up their shot.

Defense:
LSU runs man to man with a strong concept of help side defense. Against Georgia, the Tigers doubled the entry pass to Georgia’s TK Brown and tried to rotate to cut off open shots. In the post, Davis tends to play behind the opponent allowing easy catches. This forced help defense and left the weak side boards wide open for Georgia today. (14 offensive boards for UGA)

On the perimeter, LSU did not switch on guard picks today leaving many open looks for Georgia shooters. Against a perimeter oriented team like UGA, this is very dangerous. The LSU guards were not very good at stopping dribble penetration and overall, a good rebounding club may give them problems.

Prognosis:
We do not think LSU is capable of repeating the run from last year. Davis is a phenom, but he takes too many plays off and the rest of the team is not good enough to pick up the slack.

Georgia
At TRR, we like the Bulldogs because the foundation of this club is on the defensive end of the floor. The Bulldogs have improved greatly under Coach Felton and we feel are a dangerous team in March if given the right matchup.

Offense:
If Georgia has a serious weakness, it is the half-court offensive set. The team runs a limited motion with the guards exchanging and the posts playing high-low. The team has trouble executing through the post as only one player (TK Brown) can score consistently with his back to the basket.

Georgia has good shooting guards so any sagging to help by the defense will likely result in a three point attempt. Georgia shoots about 20 3-pointers per game. The execution of the offense is not very efficient and Georgia ends up forcing many shots.

Where the offense can excel is in transition. The trio of guards, Levi Stukes, Mike Mercer, and Sundiata Gaines, are good finishers. Teams that are sloppy with the ball will struggle against Georgia. A good half-court defensive unit will give the Bulldogs trouble.

Defense:
On defense Georgia plays solid half-court man-to-man defense. They do not like to switch, but guards will switch on picks and the bigs will interchange occasionally. Georgia likes to overplay the wings on defense, so teams must either back cut or drive the basketball if they have weak post play.

For a strong post player (like Davis today), Georgia will double the post and rely on quick rotations to stop the opponent. Mercer and Stukes gamble on the passing lanes, so sloppy teams will play into their hands. The Dawgs will throw in a 1-3-1 zone in the second half to change the tempo if the other team is scoring.

Georgia is still an average size team in the paint, so a team with a good back to the basket player will give them difficulty. In the past few seasons, Florida’s bigs (Noah and Horford) have had their way inside.

Prognosis:
Georgia is a sleeper pick for TRR to do damage in March depending on the matchup. If Georgia comes in as a 10 seed or 11 seed, a round of 16 appearance would not be surprising. Their lack of size at the 3 spot may do them in eventually.