Georgie Pacheco-Ortiz has been Liberty’s steadying force at point guard ever since he arrived on campus prior to the start of the 2016-17 basketball season. It only took until the 3rd game that year to seize control of the starting point guard spot. Later that season, he committed just 1 turnover in a span of 178 minutes during a 6 game stretch.
His strong performance as a freshman was a big surprise. Georgie was under-recruited, with Liberty his only Division I offer out of Deep Run High School in Richmond, Virginia. Ever since assuming the starting role his freshman year, he’s never surrendered it as he’s now started 89 of his 92 career games in a Liberty uniform.
As a true freshman, he averaged 8.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game while shooting 40% from 3. As a sophomore, his offensive production and volume increased, as he averaged 9.9 points and 3.4 assists per game. This year, his numbers are down, as he’s averaging 6.6 points and 2.5 assists per game, but he’s the perfect point guard in Coach McKay’s system.
Pacheco-Ortiz predicates himself on controlling the ball. His assist-to-turnover ratio this season is 3:1, which would rank in the top 30 in the country if he averaged at least 3 assists per game.
And his efficiency is off the charts. Georgie is shooting 53.1% from 3, which leads the ASUN and would be 2nd in the country if he had more attempts. To put that in perspective, Ryan Kemrite, who rewrote all Liberty 3 point records during his career, set the single season mark for 3 point field goal percentage just a season ago at 45.2%.
Pacheco currently ranks 16th in the nation with an offensive rating of 131.9, according to KenPom. For those unfamiliar with offensive rating, it’s a measure of an individual player’s efficiency at producing points for the offense. Points can be produced through field goals, free throws, assists, and offensive rebounds.
“I had an NBA executive tell me a few years ago when I was at Virginia, that the numbers that our players had at Virginia were very misleading because we don’t play with the same tempo that North Carolina or Duke do,” McKay explained. “I think it’s true about us. You have to look at the efficiency guys are operating at in order to really evaluate their contribution and impact on our team. Georgie is no better example of that. I think if he was at another program with a higher tempo, he would average bigger numbers.”
Pacheco-Ortiz and the Flames are back in action Monday night as Liberty looks to protect its perfect 9-0 home mark and 5-0 ASUN record against 4-1 North Alabama.
The Lions have been the surprise of the league through the first quarter of conference play, having won 4 straight, including a half court buzzer beater in their win over Stetson on Saturday.
Pacheco and the Flames will be challenged by freshman guard Jamari Blackmon. The 6’0″, 195 pound Hoover, Alabama native leads the team in scoring, averaging 15.7 points per game.
Liberty will be looking to move to 6-0 to open league play for the first time in school history and 10-0 at home for the first time since 2007-08.
“Georgie is very quietly having a tremendous year and gets zero credit for it,” McKay said of his point guard. “I think he’s done a really good job of maybe not caring about what the attention would bring if he had better numbers and caring about the outcome. For a coach, that’s a blessing to have when you have not just 1, but 14 guys that have that same disposition.”
