In His Absence, Jose Alvarado Proved His Worth

The junior guard sat out of the 64-41 over Elon due to injury.

In Georgia Tech's home debut for the 2019-20 season, they welcomed the Colonial Athletic Association's Elon Phoenix to McCamish Pavilion. When the clock hit 00:00, they would come away with a 64-41 win to move to 2-0 on the season.

One of the key players was junior guard Jose Alvarado. But it wasn't for what he did on the court. The junior had no points, no rebounds, and no assists. In fact, he didn't even play at all. He was confined to a walking boot, after having suffered a rolled ankle in practice just two days before.

Nevertheless, the impact of his absence was definitely felt. Early on in the game, the Yellow Jackets struggled to execute the fast break in transition. Of their 8 possessions before the first media timeout, 4 of them ended in turnovers. When talking about how Jose's absence affected the game plan, center James Banks III said "It was big time. He's a floor general."

Fortunately, Georgia Tech was able to refocus as the game unfolded. VMI transfer Bubba Parham, who started in place of Alvarado, had a solid performance in his first start as a Yellow Jacket. He was particularly effective on the defensive end, reeling in 6 defensive rebounds and helping hold Marcus Sheffield II to just 6-19 from the floor. Head coach Josh Pastner was impressed by Parham's ability to take on the point guard role, saying "that’s just all part of the growth process that we have.”

But he also acknowledged the importance of Alvarado. “We’re a better team with Jose," he said. "We had to get used to not having him out there."

It's no shock that Tech had to make adjustments to their game plan with Alvarado not a part of it. Last season, his 105 assists and 3.4 assists per game ranked 16th in the ACC, with Michael Devoe being the only teammate within relative striking distance of his triple digit assist mart.

The good news in all of this, is that the injury to Alvarado is relatively minor and according to head coach Josh Pastner, should be good to go in Wednesday's practice. With Jose being the offensive barometer that he is, the less time he spends away from the court, the better.

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