Taking a second review of Georgia Tech's 88-77 loss to Florida State Wednesday night in Tallahassee, Fla. You can read the "5 observations" story posted here.
1. For the third consecutive game, Georgia Tech turned the ball over 15 times or more in losses to Virginia, North Carolina and Florida State.
With 49 turnovers in the past three games, it might be worth considering that this might be the team’s norm for the remainder of the season, particularly against better defensive competition. The pressure and length of Florida State gave the Jackets problems, and Tech has more tough defenses left to play. Of the 11 remaining games in the regular season, five are among the top 14 in defensive efficiency (KenPom).
Coach Josh Pastner said he’d like for the team to be closer to eight or nine turnovers per game. Tech has done that before; the Jackets had seven against Notre Dame in the first game and 10 against Yale. But it may take a big step to become better with the ball against better defenses.
Point guard Jose Alvarado is gaining valuable experience, but he’s having difficulty consistently making good decisions with the ball, as might be expected of a freshman. Alvarado will likely continue to get better, and the Jackets will likely have an easier time against lower-tier defenses, but expecting him to get significantly better before the season ends might be unreasonable.
“He’s our point guard, so that’s what we’re going with, so there’s going to be some mistakes with him on his shot selection and it drives you up the wall, but that’s just part of his maturation,” Pastner said. “That’s part of our rebuild.”
2. One thing to like about Tech’s play Wednesday. After a demoralizing first half in which the Jackets went into halftime down 50-36, the Jackets closed to seven points multiple times and could have made things really interesting with one more stop and basket.
“Sometimes, especially when you’re going into halftime down 13, 14 points, you can get kind of down on yourselves, but I think we did a good job of coming out to attack,” center Ben Lammers said. “We should have done that the first half. But I think it shows to our team that we’re not ones to give up. We’re always attacking until the last minute.”
3. Pastner has now lost three games in a row twice this season after never having had one such streak in his first eight seasons as a head coach. In fact, going back to the start of his playing career at Arizona, then continuing through his time on the Wildcats staff and then his one season as an assistant at Memphis, he only had one three-game losing streak before his head-coaching career began.
4. Former Tech coach Paul Hewitt was at the game, scouting for the Los Angeles Clippers. He said it was the first time he has seen Tech play in person since he was fired after the 2010-11 season. Hewitt likes what he saw in the Jackets, saying it’s a young team that just needs time.
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