What is Danny Hall’s Legacy when it’s all said and done?
The mailbag is brought to you by Section 103, home of the most unique and comfortable Georgia Tech apparel. Get 10 percent off your next order with coupon code FTRS to order items such as the Miles Kelly Jersey T-Shirt for MBB season.
tyler_pifer92: MBB has won 4 of their last 5. What has been the biggest difference that has led to the late season renaissance?
Rob: To me, the team just seems to be playing a lot harder and seems more focused and where I see this translating the most is on the defensive side. Comparing the last 5 games (4-1 record) to the previous 14 games (2-12), we can see that the scoring has not really changed much. Our points per games is marginally up from 70.1 ppg to 71.4 ppg, our FG% is nearly identical, and our turnovers per game are actually up slightly. However, when you look at the defensive side of the court, opponent scoring is down from 79.1 ppg to 72.4 ppg. Another sign of making the hustle plays? Rebounds per game are up from 31.2 per game to 39.8 per game and opponent rebounds per game are down from 34.4 per game to 27.2 per game. In other words, Tech has gone from getting outrebounded by opponents by about 3 rebounds per game to outrebounding opponents by about 13 points per game. That’s an absolutely massive change.
tyler_pifer92: What is Danny Hall’s Legacy when it’s all said and done?
Ben: I think it will depend on how closely you followed Georgia Tech baseball during his tenure. The general public will probably remember him fondly, as someone who kept GT relatively competitive throughout his entire tenure. I’m too lazy to look this up right now, but I’m also pretty sure he’s the winningest coach in GT Baseball history. On that alone, the general public will view him favorably. However, if you follow the team more closely, I think there will always be a lingering sense of what could have been better about his tenure.
Partywaggin: Are we the only ones that care about combined HR’s since we’re in 1st place?
Jack: It’s a cool stat! Not often in the mix of 400+ softball + baseball teams do you get the same school in the top 10 of both. We’re going to push it because it’s a rare thing where we can point to multiple teams at the Institute thriving within a single fact producing at high levels. Beyond that, the teams see this stuff. It’s (hopefully) informative and uplifting.
chilidogringsFO: Has MBB hit a true turning point? What do you expect in the ACC tournament?
Jack: I’m about 60% sure they have. I imagine we wouldn’t be thinking about this question if Ndongo’s shot doesn’t go in at Wake, but that game was good enough regardless of that one shot to merit this question.
I want to reiterate the working theory I have that this team is playing like the 2021-2022 Boston Celtics, Ime Udoka’s first year coaching the team where Damon was on the staff. It took a really long time for them to adjust to the coaching style but also to the detox Udoka pressed hard on them to play fully unselfish basketball. He was as hard on them as just about any coach in the NBA will dare to be, and it built an immensely strong base for that team we’ve seen play out over the last three seasons. There’s similarities between Damon and Ime here, and they just might be finding a way to turn the corner now.
Rob: I touched on this slightly in the previous question, but this team seems to be playing with more energy and focus recently and I do think we have hit a turning point. It’s hard to say we are going to go on some crazy run in the ACC tournament, but we have definitely seen that this team can compete with anyone in the conference any given night.
Jellopacket98: GT baseball team should really be 7-4 after getting swept by that other team. How concerned are you that our season is going to end after the ACC tournament yet again?
Ben: It feels like a rinse and repeat of most seasons. Hitting is strong, pitching is meh, and that’s not enough. I won’t be surprised to see us not make it past the ACC tournament this year.
rdmjr: can someone explain to me how Wake Forest shot 20 free thows to Tech’s 2? Is it simply referees favoring the home team or was Wake not playing defense?
Ben: I wasn’t able to watch the game, so I don’t know for sure. I’m more inclined to think it had to do with the players playing instead of the refs.