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Home > Jeff Schultz > Archives > 2009 > January > 06
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
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.
Permalink | Comments (58) | Post your comment | Categories: Tech/ACC, UGA/SEC
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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