The view from Section 16 was not very good last night at Alexander Memorial Coliseum. The Jackets lost to the Spartans of UNC Greensboro 84-73. It was the Jackets first loss to open the season since 1993 and first home loss to open the season since 1980.
UNC Greensboro
The Spartans were led by 6'6" Kyle Hines and his 25 points and 9 rebound, 18 of those points came in the 1st half. Last year Hines was the Southern Conference player of the year, an honorable mention AP All-American, Mid-Major All-American according to College Insider.com and CollegeHoopsNet.com, CNN-SI All-Mid major second team, a USBWA All-District selection, and a NABC All-District second-team selection. His preseason honors this year include: presesaon 1st Team Mid-Major All American by CollegeHoops.net, media pick for Southern Conference player of the year, and coach's pick for all conference team. The Spartans as a team were picked to win the North Division of the Southern Conference. All this to say, they were not a bad team. However, a school from the ACC should be able to handle a Southern Conference team at home.
Game Recap
At the half Tech was up 43-39 after a back and forth first half. In the second half UNCG thoroughly out played and basically dominated the Jackets. The Spartans took the lead at the 16:46 mark and never relinquished it. With just under 10 minutes to go they had stretched the lead to double figures and with 6:19 took their biggest lead of 14. Matt Causey entered the game at that point, after being on the bench since about the 13 minute mark after his third foul. With Causey's energy on the defensive end and the better sets they seem to run with him in the game, the team made a dent in the lead. However, they could never get it below 7 and only a last second three by Anthony Morrow was the only thing that made the final margin less than 10.
Thoughts and Observations
There really aren't a lot of positives in a game like this. You can only hope that it serves as a wake up call for both the players and the coaching staff.
- Morrow played well in the 1st half and showed a much more developed mid range game.
- The team gets into better half court sets and rhythm with Causey at that point.
- Mo Miller will be a good ACC point guard. He played a pretty good 1st half, but at this point he doesn't have the point guard skills of Causey.
- Causey was at worst Tech's 2nd best perimeter defender behind D'Andre Bell. He forced UNCG into a 5 second call and brought great energy.
- Causey only played 10 minutes and I assume this was due to his knee. If it was not due to his knee I believe he earned more playing time and likely the starting position.
- From the stands I was not sure why Bell was in the game for an extended time at the point. He will bring good defensive energy, but the offense started way too high and really struggled with him in the game.
- The team continues to struggle on inbounds plays. I remember at least 2 turnovers last night as a result.
- Tech's big men were dominated on the interior by Hines. Obviously he is a good player, but this type of performance does not bode well for a match up with Tyler Hansbrough. Zach Peacock was out and his return should help the team in this area.
- Hines could play in the ACC and be successful.
- Gani Lawal is scary at the free throw line. He made 2 of 3, but one was bank and the miss wasn't close.
- Lewis Clinch probably had what will be his worst shooting game of the year. He finished with only 5 points on 2 of 13 shooting.
- The team gave up way to many easy baskets in transition, especially when they tried to apply full court pressure. The deep man continually allowed a UNCG player to slip behind him.
- The team allowed a lot of open jumpers in the 2nd half. This could have been at least part to an effort to help on Hines, but is another area the team definitely needs to work on.
- Tech won the battle on the boards by a slim margin, but it was not due to boxing out.
- Why would anyone ever schedule a game at 6:00 pm on Friday in Atlanta?
- It was embarrassing watching the UNCG fans behind the bench turn and watch Tech fans make a mass exit with 1:30 to go.
- There is no need for Tech fans to act like the season is over at this point. This was a game the Jackets should have won, but it doesn't mean the season is over. The team has a lot to work on, but fortunately they are only 1 game in and have time to correct mistakes.
Next up for the Jackets is a visit to Tennessee State on Sunday 11/11/07. There are no more home games until a December 18th game against preseason #4 Kansas.
