AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2007 > January > 10
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Jackets have new outlook, new outcome
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
Had they lost, they could have crouched behind a protective shield of clichés and survived. This is, after all, early January. College basketball has no must wins in early January.
An 0-3 start in the ACC — not a death march, they would say.
We lost at home again to Duke? I’m sorry, was that Duke? Didn’t even notice. Goodness, look at the time …
But the good thing about winning is, you don’t have to search for comforting rationalizations. Georgia Tech won Wednesday night. The Yellow Jackets defeated Duke, 74-63, and they did it at Alexander Memorial Coliseum.
Neither the feat nor the venue result constituted the norm. They had lost 20 of their past 21 to the Blue Devils. They had lost 10 straight to Duke at home. Their home. The last previous win — in double overtime in February of 1996. Thaddeus Young, one of Tech’s freshman guards, was 8 years old.
“Oh Lord,” Young said later. “Really? That’s crazy. All I know was they lost last year.”
As Tech coach Paul Hewitt said, “The good thing about college kids is they don’t have a lot of historical perspective.”
Nonetheless, the significance of this win was obvious. A loss would have left the Jackets at 0-3 and still wondering if this season would have too many crunch-time crumbles. They were coming off a one-point loss to Clemson, which had followed a defeat to Miami. Even Young could recognize, “This game allows us to get back on our feet.”
Tech is young. These days in college basketball, everybody is young. Even Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski labored on that point (though if he was trying to arouse sympathy, he probably was playing to the wrong crowd).
“We have eight scholarship guys and four are freshmen,” he said.
“Young teams have to learn how to win. Just because they’re at Duke doesn’t mean they inherit winning. You inherit money. You don’t inherit winning.”
The Jackets had contributions all around, but were carried largely by senior Ra’Sean Dickey (21 points) and junior Anthony Morrow (19). They built an 11-point lead at 52-41, but then began to replay the disasters of last season. They went seven minutes without a field goal, as Duke trimmed the lead to 55-53.
Hewitt: “We got a little tentative.”
They also got sloppy. The Jackets committed 28 turnovers, including 17 in the second half. But after Morrow had a shot blocked, freshman Javaris Crittenton stole the ball from Duke’s Lance Thomas and drove the baseline for a dunk with 3:31 left.
Everybody exhaled.
Well, everybody but Hewitt. If he wondered momentarily how this game would turn out, he has few doubts about this team.
“I phoned [athletics director] Dan Radakovich after the [Clemson] game Saturday, and I told him, ‘Don’t worry. We’ll be fine,’?” Hewitt said. “I can see how aggressive we are. I can see how we’re getting better. We’re battling for loose balls. Last year we weren’t doing that. Even if we had lost this game, I still would’ve felt good about us.”
Hewitt made a similar phone call after a loss to then athletics director Dave Braine in his first season in 2000-01. The new coach had lost his first two ACC games. But the Jackets finished 8-8 in conference and reached the NCAA tournament.
Had Tech lost, it would’ve been 0-3 in the ACC for the first time since Hewitt’s second season. That year Tech dropped seven in a row (including a 25-point loss to Duke) before winning seven of the last nine.
Now they don’t have to wonder. Assuming they don’t maintain their early pace for suspensions — they’ve already lost Lewis Clinch for the season and had another (Zach Peacock) out for the Duke game — the Jackets will be fine. They’ll compete in the ACC, and they’ll certainly compete with Duke.
When asked about the now-dead losing streak vs. the Blue Devils, Hewitt said: “We don’t talk about those things. Every year is different. Every team is different.”
Except that, had they lost, those words would not have packed much of a punch.
Permalink | Comments (16) | Categories: Jeff Schultz, Tech / ACC
McGwire can forget Cooperstown
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
I didn’t vote for Mark McGwire for Cooperstown. I never will.
The same will apply for the overwhelming majority of the other Hall of Fame voters through the years, and here’s why: You can’t ignore the rule on the ballot that says you must consider “integrity” and “character” when judging potential Hall of Fame candidates and give McGwire a bronzed plaque anyway.
Period.
Did McGwire use performance-enhancing drugs to slam all those home runs? Well, you remember what he kept repeating during that congressional hearing on Capitol Hill. “I am not here to talk about the past,” which translates into “I did juice up, but I’m not talking about it.”
If Pete Rose isn’t even on the Hall of Fame ballot for violating baseball’s gambling rules, then why should …
You know the rest.
Permalink | Comments (67) | Categories: Quick Hit, Terence Moore
.JPG)
-1.JPG)
Services »
