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Home > Mark Bradley > Archives > 2009 > January > 27
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Whose hoops program is worse, Tech’s or UGA’s?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Both are 9-10. Each is winless in conference play. The only game either has won in calendar 2009 came, fittingly enough, when one played the other. And now we ask: In a state suffused with stinky college basketball, which big-name program smells worse — Georgia or Georgia Tech?
Cold numbers: Georgia is ranked 218th among 343 Division I schools in the RPI, just behind Cal-Riverside. Tech is ranked 172nd, just behind Mercer. Each has lost to four teams outside the top 100.
Which is worse? Georgia, because it lost to Tech 67-62 on Jan. 6.
Use of resources: Georgia starts Corey Butler, a former walk-on, and has no player ranked among the SEC’s top 10 scorers or rebounders. Tech starts two McDonald’s All-Americans, including Gani Lawal, who leads the ACC in rebounding and is projected as a 2009 lottery pick by NBAdraft.net. Georgia ranks last among SEC teams in scoring and field-goal percentage. Tech ranks last among ACC teams in foul shooting and total turnovers.
Which is worse? Tech, because there’s a difference between being incapable and being sloppy.
Coaching: Dennis Felton is 84-90 in 5 1/2 seasons at Georgia, 26-58 in SEC regular-season games. He has two losing seasons and has led the Bulldogs to the NCAA tournament once, that coming when his bottom-seeded team won the 2008 SEC tournament. Paul Hewitt is 151-122 in 8 1/2 seasons at Tech, 58-76 in ACC regular-season games. He has had three losing seasons and has led the Jackets to the NCAA four times, most notably when Tech reached the national championship game in 2004.
Who’s worse? Felton, because he hasn’t had a 20-win season at Georgia and needed a flat-out miracle to save his job last March.
Homecourt: Georgia has lost five home games and played Kentucky before hundreds of empty seats. Tech has lost five home games and had tickets available when it played Duke. Georgia is 10th in the 12-team SEC in home attendance; Tech is ninth in the 12-team ACC.
Which is worse? Georgia, because Stegeman Coliseum never seems a first-class basketball environment.
Continuity: Under Felton, Georgia players have come and gone at a dizzying pace. Starters Mike Mercer, Takais Brown, Channing Toney and Billy Humphrey have left with eligibility remaining, and Louis Williams, the only McDonald’s All-American Felton has signed, never enrolled. Under Hewitt, four Tech players — Chris Bosh, Jarrett Jack, Javaris Crittenton and Thaddeus Young — have left early for the NBA, three after their freshman seasons, and starters Ed Nelson, Zam Fredrick and Ra’Sean Dickey have departed with eligibility remaining.
Which is worse? Georgia, but it’s a hairline call.
Trends: Georgia has lost 16 of its past 20 regular-season conference games and hasn’t signed any senior ranked in the nation’s top 150 by rivals.com. Tech is 55-56 since Jack left in 2005 but has assembled a top five recruiting class.
Which is worse? Georgia, because it has made nothing of its SEC championship.
Bottom line: Tech’s recruits offer hope, though Hewitt hasn’t exactly maximized one-and-done players, which Derrick Favors figures to be. Georgia remains unable to land first-tier talent and seems destined to be seeking yet another coach — it has had five over the past 14 years — come March. You wouldn’t want to be either program, but given this dire choice you’d rather be Tech.
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