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Ga. Tech wins, but, man, was it ugly
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
There is a general understanding going into any basketball game between Georgia and Georgia Tech that it’s not going to remind us of Duke-North Carolina or Syracuse-Georgetown.
As regional rivalries go, you just hope it turns out better than Kent State-Toledo.
Unfortunately, nothing unfolded Tuesday night to raise expectations for March. The teams combined for 34 percent shooting and 34 turnovers (and that total might’ve been held down by a scorekeeper covering his eyes like everybody else for fear of going blind).
But say this for the Jackets. If Tuesday’s come-from-behind 67-62 win was any indication, they at least have the ability to overcome themselves. That might be the most discernible difference between the programs right now.
“That was kind of ugly,” said forward Gani Lawal, whose dunk following a Zack Peacock miss with 20.6 seconds left put Tech ahead 64-60, its largest lead of the game. “We came out kind of shaky, but we wanted to stick it out.”
It helps to get demoralized, even when jump shots are making those sounds usually reserved for old Chevys hitting lamp posts.
But what’s worse: The team that starts the game making only four of 20, (Tech), or the team that can’t pull away from the one shooting only 4-for-20?
The latter, as it turned out. The Jackets led 2-0 and not again until 54-53 with 5:44 left after a steal and jumper by Zach Peacock.
“The way we shot today was like we shot in practice the day before,” Peacock said. “But coach was preaching, ‘I don’t care if you miss the shot, run back down the court like you made it.’ “
Tech jumps into conference play in earnest Saturday at Maryland. As a general rule, teams that shoot 26-for-72 from the floor (1-for-11 from three-point range) don’t win a lot of games in the ACC.
But there is this: The Jackets swept Georgia in football and basketball for the first time since 1998. Tech ended the Dogs’ seven-game series win streak that season, just like this year.
It’s such a monumental achievement, maybe the Jackets should engrave the score on a ring. Again.
“It might not be a bad idea,” Peacock said, laughing. “Seize the moment.”
The Jackets might not have convinced many that they’ll pose a threat to many in the ACC. But losing this would’ve been a crusher. The last time the Bulldogs played at Alexander Memorial Coliseum, they were celebrating an implausible SEC championship in March, after the tournament was displaced from the tornado-wrecked Georgia Dome.
Coach Paul Hewitt realizes he has a skilled but unpolished team. The idea is to keep getting better, get a consistent effort and become a mentally tougher bunch than the Jackets of recent years.
Tech gets points for that. The Dogs led by as much as 13 in the second half at 45-32 before the Jackets started to will themselves to a comeback. They crashed the boards. They dove for loose balls. They got tougher inside. Eventually, some shots even began to fall.
A three-pointer by Lance Storrs caught Georgia at 51-all. Peacock put the Jackets ahead to stay at 62-60 with a drive with 1:20 left. With less than a minute remaining, Lewis Clinch missed a jumper but dove on the floor for a rebound. Lawal’s dunk followed moments later.
Hewitt didn’t like everything he saw, but at least there were a few seeds for something better.
“We have to create an identity for ourselves,” he said. “We’ve got to have an identity that we’re a team that’s going to hustle and scramble and get loose balls.”
You take what you can get. Finesse will have to wait.
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Falcons should keep Milloy around
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
And now for the Tuesday Countdown:
10 - The roster makeover in Flowery Branch this off-season won’t quite leave the smell of napalm that last year’s did. And yes, some moves in order: Keith Brooking works hard and cares deeply but doesn’t have it any more. Michael Boley’s play declined, won’t be worth the money he wants it free agency and, oh yes, has that little charge of battery on his wife hanging over his head. But Lawyer Milloy? Hold everything …
9 - Milloy was a physical wreck by the end of the season. His legs obviously don’t work like they used it. The Falcons need more speed on the defensive side of the ball. But this is one case where leadership and resolve compensate for age (35) and deteriorating skills. There should be a place for him somewhere on this roster. Young players follow him like a coach on the field, and the defense wouldn’t have been nearly as opportunistic this season without him.
8 - And by the way: The belief all along was that Milloy wanted to finish his career in Seattle (he grew up in the Northwest and attended Washington). But if you’re him, would you rather go to the Seahawks right now, given the direction of that franchise, or stay here, given the direction of this one?
7 - Give Thrashers coach John Anderson points for honesty, clarity and humor. This might be the greatest post-game quote I’ve ever seen: “Our give-a-crap level was like at zero.”
6 - If only for his recruiting skills, Rodney Garner is the single most important coach employed by Georgia not named Mark Richt. Losing him to Tennessee would have been a huge blow. But chances are that one day, he’ll get a head coaching offer.
5 - I might be totally wrong about this but I don’t think a projection about where Matthew Stafford might go in the draft - first, third, seventh, whatever - has any impact on his decision. For some kids, the decision is pure financial (and there’s nothing wrong with that). But Stafford doesn’t have a crying financial need now and I don’t sense it’s the end-all, be-all for him. Really what it comes down to is this: Does he want to continue playing college ball for one more year?
4 - Is Gene DeFilippo a short-sighted blowhard, or just the first athletic director with an iron set of … well, you know. I think the latter.
3 - DeFilippo is the athletic director at Boston College who appears on the verge of firing his football coach, Jeff Jagodzinski, for interviewing for the New York Jets job. There’s conflicting reports about whether there’s a clause in Jagodzinski’s contract prohibiting him from interviewing for an NFL opening in his first seasons (he has coached two). But at the very least, it seems there was an understanding between the two parties that the coach would stay for at least three years. So now DeFilippo is upset that Jagodzinski is breaking that promise and may have lied about his interest in the Jets’ job. Frankly, I don’t blame him, and job-hopping by college coaches has long since gotten out of hand.
2 - The Hawks have won 10 of their last 12 and the only losses in that span came by three points to Boston and two points at New Jersey. OK. I’m starting to think this isn’t just a phase.
1 - Close your eyes, Bulldogs: Florida 41, Oklahoma 27.
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This wasn’t how the Falcons’ story was supposed to end
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Glendale, Ariz. — This was the team you expected in September. The team before the unlikely metamorphosis, the one before the rookie quarterback and the unassuming coach and the beleaguered owner who really would’ve settled for a little peace and quiet and maybe two Tylenol somehow became the NFL’s feel good story.
They couldn’t block. They couldn’t run. They couldn’t defend. The rookie of the year quarterback looked, well, just the rookie part. Penalties. Turnovers. Maybe even a little stage fright.
Everything you expected for 16 games? It showed up in the 17th. In their first playoff appearance in four years, the Falcons lost to Arizona, 30-24.
Feeling a little unsatisfied? You should. This isn’t the time for polite exit applause.
“There’s not a lot of positives right now,” said Keith Brooking, who played on a Super Bowl team as a rookie and knows better than anyone about limited windows of opportunity. “I feel like I’ve been stabbed in the heart. Losers look at things like, ‘Well, we turned it around. We went 11-5.’ That’s not the way I look at things.”
You think, “But the future looks great.” But do you ever really know? In 2004, the Falcons reached the NFC title game against Philadelphia with a rookie coach (Jim Mora) and a highlight reel of a quarterback (Michael Vick). Then the sinkhole opened. That was the franchise’s last postseason appearance before Saturday.
Coach Mike Smith has referenced “the process” after every game. Who figured after so many improbable moments that the process’s ugly stepsister finally would show up.
Matt Ryan’s first regular season pass was a touchdown. His first playoff pass was an interception. The season and the playoff followed accordingly.
This was Ryan’s 21st game (including exhibitions), which is nine more than a typical college season. It showed. He missed receivers. He forced passes into coverage. He sometimes didn’t react well to Arizona’s pass rush, which was constant because the Falcons couldn’t run. He completed 26-of-40 passes, was intercepted twice and sacked three times.
Ryan again denied hitting a wall or hiding an injury. (“I felt fine. I felt the same as I have all year,” he said.)
If he was being truthful, then opposing defenses simply found a gear that Ryan wasn’t ready for.
He wasn’t the same quarterback in the last four weeks. His reactions showed it and the numbers confirm it. He had 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions in the first 13 games, but four touchdowns and six interceptions in the last four.
He also was sacked seven times in the last four games after being dropped once in the previous five. Part of that is protection. But it’s also pocket awareness.
“I think he’d like to have some throws back,” Smith said. “But this is a new experience for him and it’s a new experience for our football team.”
The Falcons were punched in the mouth. It’s not that they backed down. They just seldom had much of a counter.
After a dreadful start, they put together a few nice drives near the end of the half, capitalized on a turnover and somehow held a 17-14 lead at the break.
Then came the self-immolation. On the second offensive play of the second half, Ryan’s handoff never made it to Michael Turner. The ball hit Turner’s elbow as Arizona’s Darnell Dockett was in his face and popped loose. Antrel Rolle picked up the fumble and returned it 27 yards for a touchdown. Arizona took the lead, and that was it. The Falcons next five possessions: punt-punt-interception-punt-safety.
This was not the solid, controlled team we saw most of the season. But, really, nobody in the Falcons’ locker room wanted to talk about that team, anyway.
“Fans were ready to give us a pat on the back no matter what happened, because of last year,” Lawyer Milloy said. “We fought through the preseason when people were overlooking us. We fought through us just being just a sympathy story until people said, ‘These guys are for real.’ But that’s why this hurts so bad. You never know what’s going to happen with a team. You can’t anticipate how a team will gel.”
For 16 games, we forget what they were supposed to be. One game reminded us.
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Let’s talk Falcons playoff football
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hi all. Been to Phoenix a bunch of times but it’s my first time to this new stadium in Glendale. It’s nice enough on the inside but it possibly might be the ugliest new structure on the face of the earth from the outside.
The exterior walls are all silver/metallic panels, with a white retractable roof. I suppose the (lack of) color scheme has something to do with the heat factor in the desert. But it looks like some alien space craft sitting in the middle of a sand dune. As Ledbetter yelled out from the backseat of the car as the stadium came into view, “The Mother Ship!”
It’s perfect football weather outside right now — in the high 60s. But the roof is closed. Why?
“Team decision,” a Cardinals spokesman said.
Well, that clarifies it.
Meanwhile, down on the field, coach Mike Smith decided to accessorize with something special this game: He’s wearing his Super Bowl ring, the one he won with Baltimore eight years ago. I’m thinking Ray Lewis from eight years ago would’ve been a bigger help, but it was a nice thought.
So here’s a few thoughts on the game. I’ll check back periodically and comment when I’m not doing more important things, like taking notes or eating or tracking my special Fantasy League weekend playoff draft.
If I was in Las Vegas and walked into a sports book this morning and it said, “Falcons -2,” know what I’d do? Turn and walk in the other direction and play some blackjack.
Two things concern me. One is the Arizona quarterback. The other is the Falcons’ quarterback.
I know Kurt Warner is, like, 79 years old and has a tendency to turn the ball over. But he has the ability to get rid of the ball quick and that could neutralize the Falcons’ pass-rush — which might be questionable, anyway, with John Abraham not at full strength.
I’m not concerned about Matt Ryan’s nerves or him folding on the playoff stage. But I wonder about him physically. I don’t know if he’s tired or the Falcons are hiding an injury. Or both. But he hasn’t been the same quarterback the last three games that he was for most of the first 13.
Did some quick math: In the last three games, Ryan has completed only 38-of-68 passes (55.8 percent) for two touchdowns and four interceptions with four sacks. In the first 13 games, he was 227 for 366 (62 percent), with 14 TDs and seven interceptions.
He was sacked 12 times in first eight games but only once in the next five.
In the Rams game last week, he missed high a lot. Sometimes that’s an indication of forcing the ball when you’re trying to work through, like, an injury.
Hey, I’m not a doctor or a trainer or a mind-reader. I’m just saying: He hasn’t been the same player.
So now watch him throw for 300 yards and four touchdowns today.
What’s in the Falcons’ favor? Mainly their running game obviously, which allows them to control tempo and the clock.
Maybe also the will of guys like Lawyer Milloy and Abraham, veterans who never expected this season to develop the way it did and have wanted desperately to get back to the playoffs.
Maybe also team morale. It doesn’t help when a guy mouths off about his playing time the week of a playoff game, like the Cardinals’ Edgerrin James did this week.
Finally, here are the odds on the 12 playoff teams to win the Super Bowl from an online sports book.
New York Giants 3/1
Pittsburgh Steelers 5/1
Carolina Panthers 6/1
Tennessee Titans 7/1
Indianapolis Colts 8/1
Philadelphia Eagles 11/1
San Diego Chargers 11/1
Baltimore Ravens 14/1
Atlanta Falcons 20/1
Miami Dolphins 25/1
Minnesota Vikings 28/1
Arizona Cardinals 40/1
The longest odds on the exact matchup: Arizona vs Miami or Baltimore at 100-1.
The shortest odds: The Giants vs. Tennessee or Pittsburgh at 5-1.
Interestingly, the Falcons are listed as the odds-on favorite to score the most points of all the playoff teams this weekend at 3-1.
That’s all for now. Please, no musical requests. I’ll leave that to O’Brien.
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Tech ‘lost by knockout’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
One month ago, Georgia Tech won a football game in Athens that was considered such a significant moment in its history that players snapped off pieces of the hedges, seniors voted for the final score to be inscribed on rings and the head coach was given a new contract with a 53 percent pay hike.
I’m not sure exactly what happened between Nov. 29 and Dec. 31. But that must’ve been some pothole they hit on Northside.
Playing a bowl game two miles from campus, the Jackets seemed intent on smothering any life they had breathed into the program and the fan base. They followed a 9-3 regular season and a sweet month of post-Georgia nirvana with a 38-3, mother of all meltdowns to LSU in the Chick-fil-A Bowl at the Georgia Dome.
This game was supposed to be a reward. It turned out to be some bad acid flashback to bowl flops of years past. But at least back then, the Jackets suffered their humiliation in Boise and nobody really cared. Or noticed.
“We got out played. We got out coached. It was a pretty good beating,” coach Paul Johnson said.
He summarized things nicely. If only his team was that efficient Wednesday.
Several weeks of hearing how great they were must have eroded the Jackets’ focus. Johnson never came out and said that, but he commented: “Clearly, we weren’t ready to play. So that comes back to me. But clearly they were bigger and faster than us, too, if I was watching the right game.”
He might be right. But after so many self-inflicted wounds, most people stopped watching.
It didn’t start well. Tech’s Scott Blair knocked the opening kickoff out of bounds, giving LSU the ball on the 40. The Tigers drove to a touchdown in three minutes.
Suddenly, it was like somebody kicked opened the lab door and a mutant virus escaped.
In a span of about 14 minutes, the Jackets were outscored 28-0 — and if only it were that simple and painless.
They were penalized for roughing then passer to kick start a 76-yard touchdown drive in less than four minutes; napped through an ensuing LSU onside kick; fumbled a punt return; allowed another touchdown drive (then again, the Tigers were on an implausible third straight possession); watched as the LSU quarterback, Jordan Jefferson, completed his first nine passes (Still with us? Get ready. Now it gets really stupid.); sprayed lighter fluid on this inferno with an ill-advised fake punt on fourth-and-8 from their own 22 (I’m assuming that didn’t trigger an incentive clause in Johnson’s reworked contract); allowed a 25-yard touchdown pass for a fourth score; gave the Tigers a short field with a short punt and a long return and then folded for a 17-yard TD run.
I tried to figure out a way to abbreviate that sequence. But it would’ve been like trying to get the full flavor of what the Wicked Witch’s flying apes did to the Scarecrow’s arms and legs and stuffing by saying just, “Well, he lost by knockout.”
Johnson again: “We self-destructed.”
This is the same LSU team that lost its final four SEC games — including one to Arkansas, which should count twice. The Tigers’ only victories in the final six games came over Tulane and Troy.
The Chick-fil-A bowl figured to be a huge letdown for the Tigers from last year’s BCS title game. If one team figured to lack motivation and focus, it was LSU, not Tech.
Oops.
What happened doesn’t erase the first 12 games. It doesn’t erase the wins over Boston College, Clemson or Florida State, or blowing the doors off of Miami and Georgia with a combined 86 points.
But it did take you back — back to a time you didn’t want to remember.
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Latest comments
I agree keep Milloy around. Get rid of Keith Brooking and Michael Boley. Build in the draft for linebacker,defense end, noise tackle, Safety,tightend, and a back up quarterback don’t trust the guy we have on the team to back up Matt ryan. GO... read the full comment by Perry Cooper Jr. | Comment on Falcons should keep Milloy around Read Falcons should keep Milloy around
hey people lay off Keith!!!! he is the main reason i travel to atlanta to the games!!!! he needs to stay!!!!... read the full comment by iga | Comment on Falcons should keep Milloy around Read Falcons should keep Milloy around
We have a lot of talent in Georgia, but our real blue-chip hoopsters head seem to head out of state. Both UGA and Tech need to establish programs that make our in-state top notch hoopsters want to stay. UGA needs to hunker down and concentrate on beating... read the full comment by BullDawg79 | Comment on Ga. Tech wins, but, man, was it ugly Read Ga. Tech wins, but, man, was it ugly
Well said Jared, we’re getting killed bc of PG play. But, I’m not willing to give CPH the benefit of the doubt bc of Critt, he should have better depth at the 1-2 position.. when we did have good depth there, we went to the NC game. I really... read the full comment by IndyGT | Comment on Ga. Tech wins, but, man, was it ugly Read Ga. Tech wins, but, man, was it ugly