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Georgia Tech Basketball: Villanova lays down a perfect blueprint for Georgia Tech

By Dylan Callaghan-Croley

SAN ANTONIO, TX - APRIL 02: The Villanova Wildcats celebrate after defeating the Michigan Wolverines during the 2018 NCAA Men's Final Four National Championship game at the Alamodome on April 2, 2018 in San Antonio, Texas. Villanova defeated Michigan 79-62. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
SAN ANTONIO, TX - APRIL 02: The Villanova Wildcats celebrate after defeating the Michigan Wolverines during the 2018 NCAA Men's Final Four National Championship game at the Alamodome on April 2, 2018 in San Antonio, Texas. Villanova defeated Michigan 79-62. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /
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Georgia Tech Basketball
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – FEBRUARY 21: Josh Okogie /

Offense:

The biggest barrier for Georgia Tech in replicating Villanova’s success will be their abilities on offense. When comparing the two offenses, it’s like night and day, ying and yang, hot and cold, they are on two completely different sides of the spectrum. Villanova was the best offense in the nation and one of the best we’ve seen in years while the Yellow Jackets across the board were one of the worst offenses in the nation.

In today’s college basketball for a team to be a legitimate tournament contender, you will have to be a team that can hit three-pointers. No team in 2017-18 did that as well as Villanova, a team that averaged 11.6 three-pointers per contest, making 464 over 40 games. Those 464 three-pointers accounted for 40.2% of all their points scored this past season.

Now, it’s safe to say that Villanova is a volume-shooting team when it comes taking shots from beyond the arch. In the 2017-18 season, Villanova took 1,158 three-pointers, an average of just over 28 per game. That being said, they made 40% of all their three-pointers which ranked 13th in the nation.

In comparison, the Yellow Jackets made just 156 three-pointers of 490 this past season which accounted for 22.2% of their offense. Their three-point shooting percentage was 31.8% which ranked 325th in the nation.

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Villanova had seven players shoot 35% or better from beyond the arch and four shooting 40% or better. Tech on the other hand had just four players shoot better than 35% but none shot over 38% and with Josh Okogie potentially not returning next fall, it could be even more difficult for the Jackets offensively next season.

When it comes to making shots from short range and mid range, Villanova was still significantly better than the Yellow Jackets. Nova once again was the best shooting teams inside the perimeter, making a stellar 59% of their shots, the Jackets made 46.6%, which ranked 309th in the nation.

So the Yellow Jackets struggle scoring both inside and outside the perimeter, but perhaps their okay at the free throw line? The good news is at the free throw line it’s a bit closer, with Villanova shooting 77.2% from the line and the Jackets shooting 71.3%. Villanova also got more opportunities at the line, shooting 102 more shots from the charity stripe than the Jackets.

Overall, when your team shoots .466/.318/.713 it’s going to be hard to win games especially against top tier programs. The Jackets need to improve across the board over the next few years but at the same time, in order to shoot better as a team, you have to recruit players who can shoot at a high-level which the Yellow Jackets need to emphasize in their roster construction which we talked about in the beginning.