You’re going to have some turnovers, but a lot of our turnovers are controllable.” At times, we might try to hit a home run instead of trying to hit a single. Pastner saw the turnovers as being self-inflicted and unforced mistakes. “Because I’ve been in positions where I had to go through the checklist, and it’s hard,” he said. Wright has sympathy for his guard teammates, upon whom Pastner has placed responsibility for lowering their turnover numbers. To Wright, guards are turning the ball over in part because of indecisiveness created by having to think through a “checklist” of options, a condition that can only be remedied through experience. The Jackets averaged 17.2 turnovers per game before the FSU game but are still at 16 per game since then. However, while that has produced better shots and more points, the turnover rate has improved only slightly. “We’ve made a lot of adjustments after the Ball State game,” Pastner said, referring to the low-point loss of the season, on Dec. Alvarado is creating off the dribble on drives to the basket. Tech has shifted to using a lot of high ball screens with center James Banks and forward Moses Wright and relied much less on running the offense through Banks at the elbow. In the 11 seasons before this one, Tech ranked last, second to last or third to last nine times. Going into Tuesday’s games, Tech was eighth in offensive efficiency in league games (KenPom). The Jackets, in fact, lead the ACC in assists per game in league games and rank second in field-goal percentage.įor a team that has labored to score since the end of the Paul Hewitt era, the Jackets’ play of late is marked improvement. In league games, Tech leads the ACC in that category at 62.2 percent (including two early-season league games against N.C. It was 48.8 percent before the New Year’s Eve road loss to Florida State and 58.9 percent since then. Pastner’s prized indicator of offensive health – assists per field goal – is markedly up. In the Jackets’ six ACC games starting New Year’s Eve, compared with the first 12 games of the season, the Jackets are scoring more (70.2 points to 66), shooting more accurately (47.7 percent to 43.4 percent) and moving the ball better (16 assists per game compared with 12). Since the return of guard Jose Alvarado and a shift in offensive scheme, Tech’s offensive numbers are up. Regardless, the offense is playing better in Pastner’s fourth season, the turnover numbers aside, which is no small aside. For NCAA tournament consideration, Tech (8-10, 3-5 ACC) probably has to win at least nine of its remaining 12 ACC games - and likely has to do better. 28 matchup with Division II Morehouse), it’s not the ideal time to be trying to turn the corner, and the losses to Notre Dame and Virginia may have rendered such a turn inconsequential for this season. With 18 games played and 13 remaining in the regular season (including a Jan.