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Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Yellow Jackets will test coach’s optimism
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
In its most recent game, the Georgia Tech basketball team lost by 22 points at home to Illinois-Chicago. This early-season nadir gained clarity three nights later when Illinois-Chicago lost by 20 to Georgia Southern.
Take comfort.
Georgia Southern is not on Tech’s schedule.
“I’m still optimistic,” Yellow Jackets coach Paul Hewitt said Tuesday. “But at some point, it has to be about actions, not words.”
Hewitt recently received a contract extension and nobody erupted. At Tech, that speaks volumes. The Jackets have been to the NCAA tournament three times in Hewitt’s five seasons, including the past two. If you were to compile a list of the young, bright and popular coaches in the college game, Hewitt sits near the top of the list.
And if he still is lucid by mid-season, all the better.
Tonight, the Jackets play Michigan State. Until the other night, this was expected to be the first real test of the season. Now it seems everything will be a test.
Hewitt called his team’s second-half defense against Elon “the worst defensive half in my five years here.”
That was in a win.
Over Elon.
Hewitt generally oozes optimism. He’ll be critical but rarely finishes a thought without some foreshadowing of better days ahead. If the man captained the Titanic, he would announce to the passengers, “We’re going down. But the moon is shining bright, it’s a lovely night for a swim, and this is going to be a great character builder for us.”
It goes without saying that Hewitt’s optimism will be tested. Tech lost five seniors and its floor leader, point guard Jarrett Jack, to the NBA. The only ACC team that took a bigger hit was North Carolina, which lost its top seven scorers. (But reloading with another class of McDonald’s All-Americans tends to erode people’s empathy.)
This is a program that reached the national championship game two years ago. But when the preseason rankings came out, the Jackets weren’t even included in the “also receiving votes” category. That placed them behind Harvard and Wisconsin-Milwaukee, among other afterthoughts.
Hewitt’s reaction: “I was amused by it.
“I guess it doesn’t surprise me. I guess we’re still at the stage of a program where we’re trying to prove ourselves, and me as a coach trying to prove myself. But I don’t use that as a motivation. We have enough to concentrate on.”
It’s one thing to be green (the Jackets start four sophomores and a junior). It’s another to be “lackadaisical,” a description Hewitt spewed the other day.
He blames himself for the Illinois-Chicago game, saying the players were poorly prepared. But he didn’t like their effort level, particularly on defense.
“When you have a younger team, there’s a fear that effort is dictated by whether you make shots or not, or who you’re playing,” he said.
“We’re still looking for that determination, that toughness that we’re going to need to win games in order to get to the tournament.”
Yes, he believes this can be a tournament team. “I genuinely believe if we don’t have a good season, then I didn’t do a good job teaching them,” he said.
But things could get painful when the ACC season starts, and there was more obvious reason for optimism a year ago. The Jackets looked stocked for another Final Four run but were hit by injuries and never really found their stride.
The gloom even got to Coach Sunshine. In late January, after an emotional overtime win over Wake Forest, Hewitt was approached by somebody about writing a journal for AOL. The idea was to follow a team from late in the season through the NCAA tournament.
Hewitt declined.
“I didn’t want to do a journal because I didn’t know if we could make the tournament,” he said.
Tonight, it’s Michigan State. “They run about 25 to 30 different sets,” Hewitt said. “And they run each one like it’s the only one they do.”
How many does Tech run?
“Not that many.”
They’re young, and it’s early. Hewitt said he’s going to like coaching this team because, “They’re good players.” They just need to learn. And when you lose by 22 to UIC, they need to learn a lot.
Permalink | Comments (28) | Categories: Jeff Schultz, Tech / ACC
Tuesday Countdown: Stick this in your pipe
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
10: Has anybody seen my pipe?
9: Look, I’m not condoning drug use or anything like that. But, really, why is everybody getting so worked up about Michael Irvin getting caught with a little herb and a puffing instrument in his car? He’s not running the government or a company or an offense. He works for ESPN. I mean, is he suddenly going to be too whacked out to debate Mike Ditka?
8: Innocent or guilty? We may never know. But it’s pretty obvious the way it LOOKS. Which is why I would be stunned if Irvin still has a job with ESPN/ABC/Disney when this is all over.
7: OK, last note. Irvin says he’s clean and innocent. But he also wouldn’t commit to taking a drug test when asked by on-air buddy Dan Patrick, our nation’s conscience. So, is this the equivalent of “The Dog Ate My 12-Step Plan”?
6: Dick Pound of the World Anti-Doping Agency says one-third of NHL players may be on performance-enhancing drugs. I think there’s a better chance that Michael Irvin was smoking a mixture of thyme and oregano.
5: The Toronto Blue Jays just gave reliever B.J. Ryan a $47-million contract. I’m so glad baseball has rid itself of economic stupidity.
4: Most lucid individuals would blame general manager Matt Millen for the Detroit Lions’ problems before Steve Mariucci. That said, Mariucci has done little to show he has the makeup to be a head coach. He hardly ran a tight ship in San Francisco, either, and only the 49ers’ remaining talent in those years kept the team afloat. Like Mike Martz and Norv Turner, he may be more cut out to be an offensive coordinator.
3: The Falcons are 7-4. Simple math: They probably have to win at least three of five against Carolina (road), New Orleans, Chicago (road), Tampa Bay (road) and Carolina to make the playoffs. If it doesn’t come down to the last week, I’ll be stunned.
2: The Falcons’ DeAngelo Hall said, “How we play this week should define our season.” Let me just add that he better start worrying about what will define his career. Because for the most part, it hasn’t been coverage.
1: Anybody for an over/under on when the Hawks equal the Falcons’ win total? Last year, they almost didn’t make it (Falcons 11 wins, Hawks 13).
Permalink | Comments (9) | Categories: Jeff Schultz, Quick Hit
