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Georgia Tech Basketball: A glance into Jose Alvarado’s struggles

By Dylan Callaghan-Croley

CHAPEL HILL, NC - JANUARY 20: Jose Alvarado #10 of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets reacts after a call against the North Carolina Tar Heels during their game at Dean Smith Center on January 20, 2018 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
CHAPEL HILL, NC - JANUARY 20: Jose Alvarado #10 of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets reacts after a call against the North Carolina Tar Heels during their game at Dean Smith Center on January 20, 2018 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
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Georgia Tech point guard Jose Alvarado has struggled mightily over the last few weeks and has been a major part of the Jackets struggles in conference play.

Georgia Tech sophomore point guard Jose Alvarado is going through the toughest stretch of his college career to say the least. The New York native who up until the last few weeks has been a sure thing for the Yellow Jackets is struggling mightily

Over the course of the Jackets last six games, Alvarado has failed to amass more than 7 points, the longest stretch of his career scoring 10 points or fewer. The struggles for Alvarado are coming from all facets of his game but especially from his shooting.

When Alvarado struggles and scores than less than 10 points, it’s been a pretty strong predictor of how the Yellow Jackets perform overall. This season, in games where Alvarado scores less than 10 points, the Jackets are 3-7. Now, Alvarado isn’t the only reason the Jackets have the wheels falling off as late but it is a pretty notable reason.

Over this six-game stretch, the usually reliable Alvarado is shooting just 16.9% over the six-game stretch (10-for-59), averaging just four points per game. Prior to this stretch, Alvarado was shooting 43.1% on the season. The tough stretch has pushed his shooting down nearly 60-points all the way down to .370 on the season.

He’s shooting just 21.2% from short-to-medium range while shooting 11.5% from beyond the arch. Simply nothing is going in for Alvarado over the last few weeks. No matter if it’s a good shot or bad, the ball is simply not going in. Yes, bad luck is surely a part of the struggles but it can’t be used as an excuse for all the struggles.

The ultimate question is, “why is Alvarado struggling so much?”. Honestly, the answer may not be easy to find. It could be a number of things at this point in the season as well.

  • Is Alvarado dealing with a nagging injury?
  • Is he pressing too much?
  • Is there too much pressure on him as the primary scorer?
  • Is his shooting mechanics off?

Those are just a trio of questions and not the only questions that could lead to answers. For him, it simply could be a mental block, perhaps even the yips. Perhaps, it really is and is all, a horrendous period of bad luck.

That being said, the Yellow Jackets for the sake of stopping their skid need Alvarado to find his game and get back to the player they know he can be. Alvarado is an All-ACC caliber player and with him, the Yellow Jackets are a dangerous team. But when he’s missing a big portion of his game, the Jackets are among the worst power five teams in the country. That’s the team we’ve been seeing over the past few weeks.

Next. Georgia Tech Baseball: Jackets look to start season off on the right foot. dark

The good news from this stretch from Alvarado is that once he gets back to playing at a high level, he could potentially go off on a really hot stretch. That remains to be seen but that’s what Josh Pastner, the coaching staff, and fans alike are hoping for in the last weeks of the regular season.

Alvarado and the Yellow Jackets will all look to bounce back on Saturday afternoon when they take on No.17 Florida State at home at 2:00 pm.