2019 Georgia Tech Foreign Tour: Game 1

Georgia Tech Embarks On Spanish Tour With Offensive Improvement In Mind

Georgia Tech Embarks On Spanish Tour With Offensive Improvement In Mind

Georgia Tech will take an eight-day, four-game spin through Spain, during which time head coach Josh Pastner will look for offensive improvement.

Jul 21, 2019 by Kyle Kensing
Georgia Tech Embarks On Spanish Tour With Offensive Improvement In Mind

The primary point of emphasis when Georgia Tech basketball tours Spain Aug. 8-16 is abundantly clear. 

“We have got to score the ball better,” Yellow Jackets head coach Josh Pastner said bluntly. 

Watch Georgia Tech's Foreign Tour LIVE on FloHoops

Tech’s eight-day, four-game spin through Barcelona, then Madrid, pits the Yellow Jackets against professional teams from the Spanish Basketball Federation (Federación Española de Baloncesto, FEB), airing live on FloHoops.com and the FloSports app. 

The program’s first foreign tour in four years provides Pastner’s team an opportunity to begin its goal of marked improvement on the offensive end. 

“That’s been a thing with us,” Pastner said. “We’ve been a really good defensive team, but we just have to be better with pace of play, and playing faster.” 

Assessing Georgia Tech as good defensive team might be underselling it—the Yellow Jackets were excellent on that side of the ball a season ago, finishing No. 43 in the nation in adjusted defensive efficiency, per KenPom.com metrics. Blocked shots contributed to an outstanding No. 15 national rank in opponent’s effective field-goal shooting. 

But what prevented Georgia Tech from reaching the NCAA Tournament—and what Pastner hopes to begin correcting in Spain—is that it finished the 2018-19 campaign No. 228 in adjusted offensive efficiency. In terms of tempo, the Yellow Jackets were No. 225. 

Turnovers and inconsistent 3-point shooting contributed to Georgia Tech’s offensive woes a season ago. The team ranked near the bottom in both categories, coughing up possession on 21 percent of possessions, and shooting 30.7 from deep as a unit. 

Some of the struggle can be attributed to growing pains. Pastner played a young lineup in 2018-19, but that translates to a more veteran roster in 2019-20. Leading scorers Jose Alvarado (12.5 points per game) and James Banks III (10.5 points per game) return to provide a potentially solid perimeter-interior combination. 

The Yellow Jackets need other contributors to emerge around them, and to that end, rising sophomore guard Michael Devoe is someone Pastner gave particular praise for his offseason progress. 

In general, the foundation of returning players offers a logical starting point to continue in Spain what the coach described as a necessary, “five-star development.” 

“Because we’re older and more mature in terms of game-experience maturity...you don’t have to re-teach everything,” Pastner said. “You can try different things; tweaks to see what you do like and don’t like when you get into the fal. This is the time to do it.” 

Offensive experimentation is the order of business, both in rejuvenating Georgia Tech’s point output, and adjusting to changes coming to the NCAA this next season. 

The sport’s governing body approved a proposal to extend the 3-point line to 22-feet, 1 ¾ inches from the rim, which is the distance used at the international level. Georgia Tech’s tour provides the Yellow Jackets four live-action outings to adjust to the further stripe. 

Pastner also cited the professional European game’s shorter shot clock and FIBA rules allowing for touching the ball in the cylinder. Both contribute to a faster-paced brand of basketball, which is exactly the No. 1 takeaway the coach hopes to gain from this trip. 

“I want to make sure when we get done with playing the games in Spain, we feel, ‘OK: We’re going to be a better offensive team going into next,” he said. 

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