AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2008 > January > 09
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Two programs tread water, one founders
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
Athens — As just-down-the-highway rivalries go, Georgia vs. Georgia Tech in basketball is very similar to Duke-North Carolina, only without the 30 Final Four appearances, the eight championships, the two legendary coaches, the McDonald’s All-Americans or any sense of drama.
The state of the state was on display Wednesday night. Not pretty.
The flagship has been dented by academic issues. The institute has been wrecked by early defections and a general inability to recapture whatever pixie dust it carried to the Final Four. Academic issues won by seven points.
A chant was audible during the final seconds in Stegeman Coliseum: “Just Like Football.”
Well, not sure. These Bulldogs aren’t likely to make an argument to be in a national title game at the end of the basketball season.
But if there’s any question about which coach is doing more with less, that was answered Wednesday. The Dogs and Jackets both played hard, but Georgia looked like the better-coached team. They functioned as a unit, even if they sometimes functioned poorly. The Jackets still look only like pieces.
“One of the biggest factors in this game was fatigue and endurance,” Georgia coach Dennis Felton said. “There were times when we looked tired, but they looked tired, too. We wanted to keep pressing the issue and see who looked tougher.”
Felton got his answer. Georgia led by as many as 12 points in the first half, saw Tech rally and even the score at 51-all, then responded with a punch in the mouth: seven straight points.
“That was one of the most complete efforts we’ve had,” he said.
Embrace the joy on one side. It may be a rarity this season.
Even by normal modest standards, this is a down year for basketball in Georgia. If you want to attach numbers to the state of the state, refer to Wednesday’s projected RPI rankings (on the Web site kenpom.com).
The top basketball school in Georgia wasn’t even on the court Wednesday.
That distinction belongs to Georgia Southern, who ranks No. 1 in the state but No. 76 nationally with an RPI of .561. Southern is the king of a very small hill. The Eagles are looking down on Tech (ranked No. 84), Georgia (185), Savannah State (256), Mercer (266), Georgia State (294) and Kennesaw State (which at 339 out of 341 is one spot behind the New Jersey Institute of Technology, which is 0-17).
Duke-North Carolina? No. Can it be? Unlikely. But it’s not going to stop a coach from dreaming.
“I think it can,” said Felton, who lost three players for several games before the season due to academic reasons, two of whom — seniors Mike Mercer and Takais Brown — have since been thrown off the team. “There’s no doubt Duke-North Carolina is a great rivalry. But it was built a long time ago, years before basketball was ever really emphasized at either one of our schools. I believe we can become a premier program, and Tech — we know what Paul Hewitt can do from when they went to the Final Four.”
That seems so long ago. Whereas the Dogs at least have a nice jumping off point in the SEC part of their schedule, the Jackets already resemble a punching bag for most of the ACC. How do you fall behind by 12 points to a team that lost to East Tennessee State by 18?
Neither of these programs is headed up or down right now, as much as they’re trying to stop the bleeding. Consider that the score was still only 2-2 five and a half minutes into the game.
It was significant when Maurice Miller made two free throws to give the Jackets’ a 6-3 lead, because then the teams had finally combined for as many points as turnovers (nine). At halftime, Tech was shooting only 9-for-27 from the floor, and had more turnovers (10) than shots made.
It was enough to make Georgia feel superior for a night.
“We definitely still feel we can do something this season,” said guard Sundiata Gaines. “I know we lost those guys before the season, and that was disappointing, but we have to fight through that and pull together.”
It’s nothing but SEC games from here on out for Georgia. No more opponents from within state boundaries.
Permalink | Comments (48) | Categories: Jeff Schultz, Tech / ACC, UGA / SEC
Be honest when pushing for playoffs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
Even if Georgia was in the national championship game on Monday, UGA president Michael Adams said he still would have come out of nowhere this week to propose an eight-game playoff for the big boys of college football.
Yeah, well. And it is just a coincidence that the only other university president to campaign loudly and boldly for such a playoff system is Florida’s James Bernard Machen, another SEC guy.
That’s SEC, as in Division I-A’s most powerful football conference.
That’s SEC, as in a place dominated by fans obsessed with having their team win a national championship NO MATTER WHAT!
That’s SEC, as in all of the above, and as in why Adams, Machen and other prominent folks in the conference want a playoff system as a backup plan - you know, just in case the Bowl Championship Series doesn’t put their team in the title game.
Those bellyaching for a playoff system should say the obvious. Which is: We could care less about “the student-athlete,” especially if it hinders “the athlete-athlete” from helping us go all the way.
Said Adams to the AJC, “I’m first and foremost an educator, so there’s a part of me that hates to run into the second semester. But that’s a small ill, considering the dissatisfaction that we have now. I think more and more, presidents like me are coming to that conclusion.”
Uh-huh. The only thing Adams forgot to say was, “Go Dawgs.”
Permalink | Comments (287) | Categories: Quick Hit, Terence Moore
