Khalid Moore went 97 games between career highs in scoring when he led the Jackets with 19 Saturday against Miami. (photo by Anthony McClellan)
Georgia Tech prides itself on playing a disorienting mix of defenses. Unpredictability has become part of the Jackets’ identity.
So figure this. In its last two meetings with Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech has guarded for a total of 123 defensive possessions.
The Yellow Jackets played zone on 122 of them.
It may have been a break from the norm, but the strategy paid off. In 2020, the Hokies finished with their fifth-worst offensive rating of the season and made a season-low four three-pointers. Last year they suffered their third-worst offensive rating of the season and made five threes, tied for their second fewest of the year.
Can Georgia Tech exact a similar toll with its zones Wednesday? Virginia Tech runs a stretchy, precision offense that’s light on pace (No. 344 NCAA KenPom adjusted tempo), but loaded with misdirections and counters that can lead to backdoors and quick post-ups. Guard Hunter Cattoor (49.6% 3pt.), who made 9 of 11 threes against FSU, uses pindowns and screen-the-screener action to get free. Graduate student Storm Murphy and freshman Sean Pedulla (6-7 3pt. vs. FSU) thrive off plus-one passes. Nahiem Alleyne, a lefty from Buford, Ga., is Virginia Tech’s best pull-up shooter.
But don’t pigeonhole the Hokies as a backcourt-dominant, machine-gunning three-point team. Preseason All-ACC forward Keve Aluma (15.2 ppg), the Hokies’ leading scorer for a second straight year, utilizes cross-screens to get leverage on defenders. Six-foot-7 Justyn Mutts (10.4 ppg, 7.3 rpg) is a Moses Wright-type switchblade who’s also a slick passer from the post.
It seems counterintuitive to play zone against an elite three-point shooting team, and yes, Virginia Tech ranked 82nd and 95th in three-point percentage over the last two years. But check out Virginia Tech’s splits versus man-to-man and zone according to Synergy:
VT halfcourt offensive efficiency (per Synergy):
- man-to-man: 94th percentile
- zone: 70th percentile
The Hokies are still effective, though not as hold-your-breath terrifying, against zones. Georgia Tech has also held its last eight Division I opponents to 32.0 percent from three. The Jackets will need to avoid over-helping and close high and hard on the Hokies’ shooters.
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The postgame handshake line, if it even takes place anymore, usually consists of simple, assembly line grip-and-goes.
Yet as Khalid Moore passed by Jim Larranaga Saturday, the Miami head coach stopped to put a hand on Moore’s shoulder. Larranaga leaned in and offered some quick words. A smile crept across Moore’s face.
“My Archbishop Molloy guy,” Moore recalled Larranaga telling him.
Moore and Larranaga both graduated from Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens, N.Y., and Larranaga was one of the first coaches to offer Moore a scholarship as a sophomore. Evidently the school pride still flowed from Larranaga, even after he watched the senior score a career-high 19 points. Josh Pastner praised Moore’s “downhill, decisive” floor game against the Hurricanes.
The man known as “Dolla” to his teammates may have also set an unofficial program record for the longest stretch between career high scoring games. Moore’s previous best of 14 points came in the seventh game of his freshman season against Florida A&M. That means he went 97 games between career highs.
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Moore will look to keep his activity level high against a Virginia Tech team that ranks last in the ACC in defensive efficiency in conference games. Entering Tuesday, six of Georgia Tech’s nine ACC games had been against the top five-ranked teams in the league in defensive efficiency in conference play.
Look for the Hokies to swarm the ball and converge on dribble penetration similar to Florida State (though without FSU’s panoply of size and shot blockers). The Yellow Jackets did a good job playing the weak side against the Seminoles, leading to an ACC-high 1.13 efficiency rating.
Virginia Tech is at its best when it defends the first side of a halfcourt possession. Can the Jackets make the smart swing passes to the second and third side and unlock similar efficiency to their night against the Seminoles?
