North Carolina State University Athletics
Gary Hahn's Scouting Report: Georgia Tech
1/22/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
DATE: Wednesday, January 23, 2008 @
TIME: Tip-off: 7:00 p.m. EST
RADIO: Wolfpack Sports Network
AIRTIME: 6:30 p.m. EST
TELEVISION: espn2
OPPONENTGeorgia Tech was on a three-game losing streak and wondering what was going to happen next. After an excruciating one point loss to
The senior transfer from
Causey’s previous Division One high was 12 points as a
The Hokies Malcolm Delaney hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 55-55 with 8:27 to play, but the Yellow Jackets outscored Virginia Tech 26-15 the rest of the way. That surge was primarily led by Causey who scored 18 points in the second half.
Two other Georgia Tech seniors also contributed. Anthony Morrow and Jeremis Smith scored 17 and 13 points respectively with Smith grabbing 10 rebounds.
Both teams were sloppy with the ball and committed 24 turnovers each. However, three-point shooting was the biggest factor in the game. Georgia Tech was 10-of-21 from the bonusphere. The Hokies hit only 4-of-15 three-point shots.
Deron
The Yellow Jackets are deep, physical and athletic inside and keep opposing teams honest defensively with solid three-point shooting. In ACC games, Georgia Tech is shooting .410 from the arc (32-78).
Morrow is one of the best long-range shooters in the league. He’s 12-of-24 from the bonusphere in ACC games and 46 percent for the season. Add veteran Lewis Clinch (.371), Causey (.478) and Maurice “Mo” Miller (.357) to the mix and Tech has the weapons to do some strategic bombing from the perimeter.
The biggest issue for Georgia Tech is the same one NC State is facing the point guard position. Tech is utilizing its fourth different starting point guard in the last four years (Jarrett Jack, Zam Frederick and Javaris Crittenton).
Causey, along with D’Andre Bell and Miller have all spent time at point guard this season. Lately, Coach Paul Hewitt has been starting Miller at that position and he is growing up. The freshman has 26 assists, 10 turnovers and 15 steals in his last 8 outings, including a positive assist-to-turnover ratio in ACC games. The numbers for
There’s still room for improvement defensively. Georgia Tech is at the bottom of the ACC allowing nearly 74 points (74.2 in ACC games) along with .453 shooting from the field and .352 from the 3-point arc. Hewitt says defense and rebounding will determine the Jackets success this season.
Inside, Smith leads the Jackets in rebounding and steals. The team captain also shoots 50 percent from the field. In ACC games, he’s averaging 14.5 points and 9.5 rebounds.
Freshman Gani Lawal has started every ACC game and has tremendous potential. He’s averaged 10 points and 5 rebounds in his last two league games and shoots a team-high 60 percent from the field. Sophomore Zack Peacock and veteran Alade Aminu offer solid depth up front. Peacock had 14 points and 11 rebounds in the loss to UNC.
The Yellow Jackets can put the ball in the basket. They’ve failed to score 70 points only three times this season (
As a rebounding team, Georgia Tech has a minus-2 rebounding margin in ACC games and is only plus-2 overall. However, Smith remains a force on the glass. He has recorded 10 rebounds in 3 of his last 4 games.
Tech likes to play up-tempo. The Jackets want to push the ball on offense and try to create additional possessions with their defense. They average 9 steals and force nearly 18 turnovers a game against ACC teams.
The foul line has not been kind to Georgia Tech. In their last 6 games, the Yellow Jackets have made only 64 percent of their free throws. However, Tech is hitting nearly 74 percent of its foul shots in the last five minutes of games this season.
NOTES: Five of Georgia Tech’s nine losses have been by 6 points or less...State is averaging 24.5 free throw attempts a game to its opponents 12.5... The Jackets Anthony Morrow has made 18 of his last 33 three-point attempts (.545). The Wolfpack has lost two straight to Georgia Tech, including last season’s 74-65 defeat in
PROBABLE
No. Name Pos. Ht. Class PPG RPG APG
32 Jeremis Smith F 6’8 Sr. 10.3 7.4 2.2
23 Anthony Morrow F 6'5 Sr. 15.0 4.9 1.1
31 Gani Lawal C 6'8 Fr. 7.0 3.9 --
13 D’Andre
03 Maurice Miller G 6’1 Fr. 6.0 1.6 3.0
TOP RESERVES:
00 Lewis Clinch G 6'3 Jr. 11.7 2.2 1.7
02 Matt Causey G 6’0 Sr. 6.5 1.3 3.7
35 Zach Peacock F 6’8 So. 8.2 4.2 --
41 Alade Aminu F/C 6'10 Jr. 7.4 4.5 --
* Blocked shots per game
A WIN--Would be the Wolfpack’s second in-a-row and ninth in the last 11 games overall, improving State to 13-5 overall and 2-2 in the ACC. State would snap a two game losing streak to Georgia Tech in the series and beat the Yellow Jackets in Raleigh for the eleventh straight time. (State has not lost to Georgia Tech at home since 1996). Georgia Tech would drop to 8-10 overall and 1-4 in the ACC. The Wolfpack’s home winning streak would stretch to 9 straight victories. Georgia Tech would drop to 2-5 on the road and lose to State for the ninth time in the last 11 games of the series. Due to ACC expansion this is the only regular season meeting between NC State and Georgia Tech in 2008.
A LOSS--Would send the Wolfpack to a 1-3 ACC start and drop State to 12-6 overall. Georgia Tech would snap State’s 8-game home winning streak and beat the Pack for the third straight time in the series. The Yellow Jackets would improve to .500 overall at 9-9 and record their third two-game winning streak of the season and their first in ACC play. The Jackets would break a 10-game losing streak to the Pack in
Due to ACC expansion this is the only regular season meeting between NC State and Georgia Tech in 2008.
FELLS ON FIRE Courtney Fells has been a standout for the Pack since the start of the ACC season. In three league games, the junior guard has averaged 16.3 points (49) and 3.7 rebounds (11) while shooting 19-36 from the field (.528) and 10-21 from the 3-point arc (.476). His clutch 3-pointer with 18-seconds to play in overtime was a big part of State’s come-from-behind victory over
MR CLUTCH Three times this season, Gavin Grant’s heroics in the final seconds have won games for the Wolfpack. A steal and layup by the senior with 2.1 seconds left in overtime gave State a 79-77 victory over
TAKE THE POINT Due to a season-ending knee injury to Farnold Degand on December 23rd, the Wolfpack has been forced to rotate two inexperienced point guards. Freshman Javier Gonzalez and sophomore transfer Marques Johnson are learning the hard wayon the job. Gonzalez took a step forward against
STOP THE BOMBING In State’s first two ACC games, UNC and Clemson combined to shoot .444 from the 3-point arc (16-36). However, the Pack’s perimeter defense was much better against
BETTER START The Pack scored 36 points, shot 52 percent from the field and was 5-9 from the 3-point arc in the first half of its win over
THAT’S IMPRESSIVE In the last 10 games, State has 8 wins. During that stretch, the Pack has held its opponents to 63.8 points (638) and .340 shooting from the field (249-732). The Pack has won the rebounding battle in 7 of those games and outscored the competition 171-75 at the foul line.
FREE AT LAST Free throw shooting has been a big weapon for the Wolfpack. State has made more free throws this season than its opponents have attempted (293-to-214). Overall, State is 69 percent from the stripe, but only 24-40 (.600) in its last 3 games.
BETTER LONG DISTANCE CONNECTION After shooting only 9-of-27 (.333) from the 3-point arc in its first three ACC games, State found the range against
INSIDE THE ARC Take away State’s three-point shooting this season and the numbers are very good. The Wolfpack has connected on 51 percent of its 2-point shots (296-580).
ACC LEADER Freshman center J.J. Hickson leads the ACC in field goal percentage (.639), but is 12 of-30 in his last 3 games (.400). The rookie leads the Pack in scoring (15.5), rebounding (7.8) & blocks (1.5).
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