Georgia Tech’s season-long attempt to blow out its health insurance hit a new peak (or low) Tuesday.
During the team’s pregame shoot-around at Clemson, guard Chris Bolden tweaked his ankle.
“Just taking a jump shot,” coach Brian Gregory said.
Gregory expects to have Bolden ready for Saturday’s game against Virginia (noon, WATL) as well as forward Robert Carter, returning from a knee injury. Guard Trae Golden, who missed the loss to Clemson with a groin injury, will be a game-time decision. In the interim, the Yellow Jackets prepared for the Cavaliers with seven healthy scholarship players, their numbers sliced by a slew of injuries. Forward Marcus Georges-Hunt isn’t taking chances on the number dropping to six.
“Extra stretching, extra everything,” he said. “Cold tub, stretching, just making sure I take care of my body.”
Aside from being thin for games — Tech lost to Clemson 45-41 with seven scholarship players at Gregory’s disposal — the Jackets are having to adjust their practices. The team has scrimmaged less. Gregory has to rely more on walk-throughs and video instruction as opposed to running live against a scout team.
“Instead of getting three or four or five reps on something, you get one or two,” Gregory said. “You have to keep who you have healthy fresh, and then the guys you’re trying to bring back, you want to make sure they don’t do too much.”
The No. 20 Cavaliers are altogether the wrong opponent to face with preparation that is less than complete. Virginia arguably will be the best team Tech has faced this season and certainly has the best defense. The Cavaliers’ defense rates No. 3 in the country for defensive efficiency (adjusted points per possession), according to kenpom.com.
Virginia (18-5 overall, 9-1 ACC) has won six in a row and is off to its best start in ACC play since it won 12 of its first 13 in 1981-82, during the Ralph Sampson era. (Incidentally, Sampson’s son, Robert, is sitting out for Tech this season after transferring from East Carolina.) The Cavaliers have led by 21 or more points in eight of their nine ACC wins.
“They’re good,” Gregory said of the Cavaliers. “You have to play extremely well to be able to compete with them.”
Center Daniel Miller continues to have a season worthy of All-ACC consideration, but the Jackets will need to have more effective play on offense, particularly if Golden is unable to play. Again, not practicing as much as you would like is not the ideal way to achieve this.
Against Clemson, Miller made nine of 13 field-goal attempts while the rest of the team was 7-for-33. Georges-Hunt, perhaps gassed from chasing Clemson forward K.J. McDaniels into 3-for-14 shooting, was a particularly forgettable 1-for-13.
If Carter does play, which would be his first action since tearing the meniscus in his left knee Dec. 29, he likely will do so on a limited basis. The Jackets will take whatever they can get. Carter has even been practicing.
“It’d be a great fit for him to come back Saturday,” Georges-Hunt said. “He might be kind of rusty, but we’ll live with it.”
