In its season opener, Georgia Tech asserted its superiority over Lamar in an 88-69 win over Lamar Friday night at McCamish Pavilion. As far as what could be ascertained about the Yellow Jackets in a win over a team from one of the weaker conferences in Division I (the Southland), there were a few things.
Backup post man Sylvester Ogbonda has come a long way since last season. The Yellow Jackets are likely going to be shooting a lot more 3-pointers than they did last season. They can’t get away with their intensity ebbing.
“There can’t be a letdown on that,” said coach Josh Pastner at the outset of his third season with the Jackets.
With starting center Abdoulaye Gueye in foul trouble, Pastner turned to Ogbonda, who played only 21 minutes last season behind Ben Lammers and Gueye. In 23 minutes, Ogbonda played with poise and often played out of the high post with similar deftness as Lammers had the past two seasons, handing out four assists, including a pretty backdoor cut that he set up with guard Jose Alvarado. He finished with seven points and nine rebounds with the four assists, although he fouled out, as did Gueye. His rebound and assist totals were both career highs.
“He won this game for us,” Alvarado said of Ogbonda. “He brought the energy. I give that 100 percent to him.”
Ogbonda will be critical for the Jackets this season as he is the only backup in the post behind Gueye. For all of his progress, though, having both he and Gueye foul out of a game in which they played a combined 35 minutes and were the two biggest players on the floor was concerning.
“He’s got emotion, and I love his emotion,” Pastner said of Gueye. “He’s just got to channel it, making sure he doesn’t get himself or become where he gets frustrated.”
Tech went bananas from 3-point range, shooting 12-for-30 beyond the arc (40 percent, boosted by a 3-for-3 contribution in the final 2:21 when the game was in hand). The totals for both makes and attempts were highs for the Pastner era. Pastner has made clear that 3-point shooting (the Jackets were second-to-last in the ACC in accuracy last season at 31.8 percent) needs to improve. It’s evident that the volume will likely rise, as well.
“We’re going to live a lot of the time by the 3-point shot, so I’m hoping we don’t die by it, but we’re going to live by the 3-point shot because I really believe in our shooting ability,” Pastner said.
Guard Curtis Haywood, returning to the floor after a shin injury shortened his freshman season to 15 games, was 3-for-7 from beyond the arc and scored a total of 13 points. Haywood added four assists with no turnovers and used his wingspan to get his hands on multiple balls on defense, performance that helped the Jackets lead 44-22 at halftime.
Pastner is also looking to guards Jose Alvarado (2-for-7 from 3-point range), Shembari Phillips (1-for-3) and Brandon Alston (4-for-5, a career high for makes, and a team-high 17 points) to be perimeter threats. With the assistance of the 36 points on 3-pointers, the Jackets’ scoring total was its highest in Pastner’s tenure against a Division I opponent.
The Jackets also recorded 26 assists on 32 baskets (81 percent), well above their season rate last year of assists on 54 percent of their field goals. Alvarado led with five assists.
The night ended with something of a lull, as the Cardinals cut a lead that crested at 28 points (59-31 at the 15:05 mark in the second half) down to 16 (65-49 with 8:07 to play) and 13 with 3:17 to play. Tech had trouble inbounding the ball after made baskets, were not organized in transition defense, were often beaten on the defensive glass and were less secure with the ball.
Pastner chalked it up to younger players on the floor relaxing with a large lead. Similarly, Alston called it a maturity issue.
“We’ve just got to know that teams can come back,” Alston said. “It’s a long game and everybody can shoot in the NCAA’s. We’ve just got to put teams away.”
In the second half, the Jackets turned the ball over 10 times, twice as many as in the first. After 10 steals in the first half, Tech had none in the second. Free-throw shooting (12-for-21, 57 percent) was a bit of a dud, too. Lamar outscored the Jackets 47-44 in the second half. Only three teams scored more on the Jackets in a half last season.
“I think we’ve just got to hold ourselves to a bigger standard to reach the goal we’re trying to reach,” Alston said.
It’s obviously early, and the team is young. Freshman guard Michael Devoe, the first-year player most likely to make an impact this season, is working off rust after a six-week layoff due to a toe injury. Eight of the 11 players who got in the game were either freshmen, sophomores or in their first year playing with the team (Phillips, a transfer from Tennessee).
The Jackets play next against Tennessee on Tuesday in Knoxville, Tenn. The Volunteers were picked to finish second in the SEC. After a soft entry into the 2018-19 season, a learning experience of a different sort awaits.
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