Mailbag!
So I've started getting more and more e-mails recently, especially basketball related questions, and I figured I probably should reply to them.
I've actually talked with RamblinRed about this as well, and quite frankly I'm not sure what's going on. Our schedule for next year is already jammed with Maui, the return trip to Vandy, the yearly UGa game, the ACC/Big 10 challenge and supposedly a game in the Georgia Dome. There was a blurb in the Lawrence Journal World that GT had requested the game to be rescheduled for the '07-'08 season, but no other news than that. From what I can gather from the KU athletic staff it seems that KU is going through scheduling as if the game this year won't happen. With my ties to both schools, I'm obviously a bit dissapointed in that - but that's the way it goes sometimes. Also, remember that we have a date with St. Joe's in Madison Square Garden at some point and it's quite possible that will end up in '07-'08 as well.
Yeah, I did tease that I would write something about Thad and Brandan Wright's matchup ... but other stuff came up, I seriously need an editor to keep myself straight. Anyways, Thad had 31 and 8 and Wright had "only" 20 and 6, but yes - Wright's team won. Anyone who watched the ESPNU national game can appreciate how streaky Thad's teammates can be. They basically play an undersize lineup with 4 guards and Thad at center ... and they chuck a lot of 3's. Unfortunately, in their recent matchup nobody else on Mitchell's team scored more than 10 points, and it basically was Thad in a one man show. Wright's an excellent player by the way, he's going to be scary good in Carolina blue.
How good is Thad now? Good enough to be a top 10 pick in the NBA Draft this year if he could declare. He's got a super sweet stroke out to 20' or so, can put the ball on the deck and is a good distributor of the basketball for someone his size. He has a very high basketball IQ, and should be somewhat of a "calming" influence on the team even as a freshman. I would imagine he'll average around 14ppg, 6rpg, 3apg and shoot around 50% for the season. He's as good as Carmello Anthony was in high school, though he's less of a physical presence under the basket than 'Melo was, but a bit better out on the perimeter. Defensively, he's a terrific athlete and blocks a ton of shots in high school - but he'll be forced to play on the wing and move his feet and stay with quicker and smaller players. He should adjust fine, but that will probably be the hardest part of conversion to the college game for him.
Um, yeah - lets just say that wasn't the smartest thing I've ever written on this site. Dickey has been the teams best player over the last 6 weeks, and his massive improvement is the brightest point of the season as far as I'm concerned. Dickey will be the second best offensive center in the ACC next year (behind Tyler "Salamander" Hansbrough), he has the complete package now that he has added the 15' jump shot to his arsenal. Defensively, Dickey still has a long way to go. I thought he did a better job holding his position against Eric Williams on Saturday, but he has had chronic problems all season in giving up position, forcing him to try and play defense with his hands and picking up fouls.
As for Zam, he has cut down dramatically on the two biggest peeves of mine earlier in the season. He doesn't take horrible shots early in the shot clock nearly as often as he did, and he's cut way down on the poor passes into the front row of seats. He's still not a true PG, and has looked much more comfortable now that he's playing off the ball more - but next year that shouldn't be as important. His ability to bring a scoring punch off the bench is going to be valuable, though I highly doubt he's a starter in either of the next two seasons with Morrow and Clinch competing for time at the same spot.
I actually have a friend who sends me tapes from time to time of the AAU circuit, but I don't have the equipment to digitize analog tapes at this point. If anyone has a cheap solution in mind that I could use, I'll probably start putting up a few videos. Honestly though, this blog is mostly my personal opinion and commentary on the current GT teams, scout.com and rivals.com already do a much better job on recruiting coverage than I could ever do (especially since I live 1500 miles away).
As for a podcast, yes - it's something I want to do. Gotta figure out a schedule, and probably someone else to contribute with me, I think it'll be really boring listening to just myself.
I'm contributing to Paul Westerdawg's blog in his series about previewing the enemy, so you'll have to wait until then.
Sorry for taking so long to respond to some of these, but as always if you actually care what I think about something you can reach me through the "contact Nathan" link at the bottom of the page.
Nathan,
You have mentioned before that you live in Lawrence, KS. Have you heard anything about the Kansas game for this year that was rescheduled? I was looking forward to their trip to Atlanta.
I've actually talked with RamblinRed about this as well, and quite frankly I'm not sure what's going on. Our schedule for next year is already jammed with Maui, the return trip to Vandy, the yearly UGa game, the ACC/Big 10 challenge and supposedly a game in the Georgia Dome. There was a blurb in the Lawrence Journal World that GT had requested the game to be rescheduled for the '07-'08 season, but no other news than that. From what I can gather from the KU athletic staff it seems that KU is going through scheduling as if the game this year won't happen. With my ties to both schools, I'm obviously a bit dissapointed in that - but that's the way it goes sometimes. Also, remember that we have a date with St. Joe's in Madison Square Garden at some point and it's quite possible that will end up in '07-'08 as well.
If I recall correctly,
you recently had a teaser
about your upcoming review and analysis
concerning the then upcoming matchup
between Thad Y and B Wright...
The bad guys won, didn't they?
But I don't recall your input...???...did I miss it?...Just
inquiring...
Along the same lines,
what is your analysis of how good BadThad is now,
will be next year,
and might become after that?
Chris Bosh is certainly blazing the trail
when it comes to constant spectacular improvement,
although he did start from further back...
Enjoy your take at the GTornado -
keep up the good work.
(Back when I was a young and impressionable wannabe,
I had an elderly aunt who had enjoyed a front row seat
for the glory days and always referred to GT
as the Golden Tornado...
so even tho perhaps it might not be in popular usage
as much as it once was, it always rings a bell in my ear.)
Yeah, I did tease that I would write something about Thad and Brandan Wright's matchup ... but other stuff came up, I seriously need an editor to keep myself straight. Anyways, Thad had 31 and 8 and Wright had "only" 20 and 6, but yes - Wright's team won. Anyone who watched the ESPNU national game can appreciate how streaky Thad's teammates can be. They basically play an undersize lineup with 4 guards and Thad at center ... and they chuck a lot of 3's. Unfortunately, in their recent matchup nobody else on Mitchell's team scored more than 10 points, and it basically was Thad in a one man show. Wright's an excellent player by the way, he's going to be scary good in Carolina blue.
How good is Thad now? Good enough to be a top 10 pick in the NBA Draft this year if he could declare. He's got a super sweet stroke out to 20' or so, can put the ball on the deck and is a good distributor of the basketball for someone his size. He has a very high basketball IQ, and should be somewhat of a "calming" influence on the team even as a freshman. I would imagine he'll average around 14ppg, 6rpg, 3apg and shoot around 50% for the season. He's as good as Carmello Anthony was in high school, though he's less of a physical presence under the basket than 'Melo was, but a bit better out on the perimeter. Defensively, he's a terrific athlete and blocks a ton of shots in high school - but he'll be forced to play on the wing and move his feet and stay with quicker and smaller players. He should adjust fine, but that will probably be the hardest part of conversion to the college game for him.
You ripped on Ra'Sean Dickey and Zam Fredrick earlier this year, do you still feel that way?
Um, yeah - lets just say that wasn't the smartest thing I've ever written on this site. Dickey has been the teams best player over the last 6 weeks, and his massive improvement is the brightest point of the season as far as I'm concerned. Dickey will be the second best offensive center in the ACC next year (behind Tyler "Salamander" Hansbrough), he has the complete package now that he has added the 15' jump shot to his arsenal. Defensively, Dickey still has a long way to go. I thought he did a better job holding his position against Eric Williams on Saturday, but he has had chronic problems all season in giving up position, forcing him to try and play defense with his hands and picking up fouls.
As for Zam, he has cut down dramatically on the two biggest peeves of mine earlier in the season. He doesn't take horrible shots early in the shot clock nearly as often as he did, and he's cut way down on the poor passes into the front row of seats. He's still not a true PG, and has looked much more comfortable now that he's playing off the ball more - but next year that shouldn't be as important. His ability to bring a scoring punch off the bench is going to be valuable, though I highly doubt he's a starter in either of the next two seasons with Morrow and Clinch competing for time at the same spot.
Nathan you put up videos from the TV matchups, is it possible you could get video of some of the prospects? Also, any plans on having a podcast?
I actually have a friend who sends me tapes from time to time of the AAU circuit, but I don't have the equipment to digitize analog tapes at this point. If anyone has a cheap solution in mind that I could use, I'll probably start putting up a few videos. Honestly though, this blog is mostly my personal opinion and commentary on the current GT teams, scout.com and rivals.com already do a much better job on recruiting coverage than I could ever do (especially since I live 1500 miles away).
As for a podcast, yes - it's something I want to do. Gotta figure out a schedule, and probably someone else to contribute with me, I think it'll be really boring listening to just myself.
Nathan,
Basketball is great and all, but I honestly am more interested in Spring football than this year's team. Do you have any thoughts on what we're going to see, and what do you think about the rumors of a new offensive system?
I'm contributing to Paul Westerdawg's blog in his series about previewing the enemy, so you'll have to wait until then.
Sorry for taking so long to respond to some of these, but as always if you actually care what I think about something you can reach me through the "contact Nathan" link at the bottom of the page.
posted by Nathan at 9:56 AM
Georgia Tech Sports
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