AJC > Sports > Tech > Blog > Archives > 2009 > February > 11
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Memo to Storrs: Shoot it
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Jackets (10-12, 1-8) visit the Hokies (15-7, 5-3) in a 7 p.m. game on ESPNU.
The teams split last year’s games, each winning at home. Virginia Tech leads the alltime series 8-3.
Georgia Tech’s first challenge will be slowing down point guard Malcolm Delaney, who is averaging almost 25 points in home ACC games. He’s one of three Hokies, along with swingman A.D. Vassallo and forward Jeff Allen, who have scored 30 points in a game this season. No other ACC team has done it.
Maybe the Jackets’ best chance is to dominate the boards. Georgia Tech has a plus 4.6 margin in ACC games (second to UNC), while Virginia Tech is minus 1.9. (ninth in the league). The Hokies have been outrebounded in each of their last four losses.
Offensively, things can’t get much worse for the Jackets, especially from the perimeter.
Lewis Clinch is shooting 26.7 percent on 3-pointers (28 for 105), while the team’s best outside threat, Lance Storrs, isn’t shooting enough. Storrs has hit 26 of 63, or 41.3 percent, from beyond the arc. In ACC games he’s only tried 25, hitting 10.
Storrs needs to start shooting even if there’s a hand in his face. The only other options are Iman Shumpert, who is 23 of 76 (30.3 percent), and Moe Miller, who is 7 of 43 (16.3 percent).
Storrs hit two of three 3-pointers in the first half against Maryland on Sunday night. In the second half, he missed one three and a shorter jumper. So he took five total shots in 28 minutes. Storrs is a good defender, but shooting is his biggest asset and he’s not letting it fly enough.
