Georgia Tech’s progress has been incremental and sometimes invisible. The Yellow Jackets were picked to finish 10th in the ACC and, thus far, have not disappointed in that regard.
As the Jackets turn the page Saturday on to the second half of the league schedule with a 1 p.m. game against Boston College at Philips Arena, they’ll continue to try to fit into coach Brian Gregory’s mold.
“If you’re measuring [progress] only at the final score, it’d be tough to say, but if the tool that you’re using is much different than that, then I do think we’re making progress,” Gregory said Friday.
Tech’s remaining schedule could make its development more evident. The front of the Jackets’ ACC schedule was loaded with all four of the league’s ranked teams — No. 5 Duke, No. 6 North Carolina, No. 18 Virginia and No. 24 Florida State. Tech has gone 1-7 in the league against teams with a combined record of 124-47 and a league record of 38-19.
The final eight games will be played against teams that are 88-87 overall and 20-41 in the ACC.
“You mention [the difficulty of the first half], so they understand that the challenge was pretty good and a big one,” Gregory said. “But at the same time, you can’t take a deep breath and say, ‘Oh, the second half is here.’”
Having lost six in a row and with an overall record of 8-14, Tech lacks that luxury. It speaks to the subterranean nature of the progress that Gregory has seen in his first season that he said Tech’s half-court defense is greatly improved despite the fact that Tech ranks last in the ACC in league games in field-goal-percentage defense at 46.2 percent.
The Jackets’ propensity for turnovers (14.8 per game in ACC games despite a slow tempo) and soft transition defense inflate that figure.
“Their preparation for games and their focus on game plans has greatly improved,” Gregory said. “Their ability to sustain that effort that needs to be played with at this level is greatly improved.”
Gregory pointed out freshman forward Julian Royal, who took a charge in the first half of Tech’s loss to FSU on Wednesday. A month ago, Gregory said, Royal wouldn’t have thought to or been able to get himself in position to take the charge.
“We tried to take four different charges in that game,” Gregory said. “A month ago, it would have been zero.”
Perhaps the most welcome improvement in the final eight regular-season games would be any consistent half-court offense. The Jackets often flail on offense, failing to find open men or work possessions. The possible absence Saturday of leading scorer Glen Rice Jr. (toe) likely won’t help.
“That plays into chemistry, but it also just plays into doing the things that we’ve worked on,” guard Jason Morris said. “Just being in the right spot at the right time and calling for the ball and just making the game easier for your teammates.”
Morris conceded it can be hard to grind through such a fruitless season. A few weeks ago, trapped in a slump, he was in the midst of putting up jump shots on his own time, when he wondered why he was spending the extra effort.
“If we didn’t have a negative response to [losing], then obviously, we don’t belong here anyway,” he said. “So obviously, there’s been some negative response, but the positive part about it is patience. That’s what we need on the court, and right now it’s definitely testing us off the court to keep doing the right things.”
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