AJC > Sports > Tech > Blog > Archives > 2006 > February > 24 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USEmotional leader M.I.A.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Don’t have a lot to say today so I’ll kind of mirror the story in tomorrow’s paper.
It seems to me like Tech’s missing more than a true point guard. The Jackets lack an emotional leader.
It doesn’t always have to be a point guard, although that helps, but I don’t see any evidence that Tech has a player who polices his teammates the way Clarence Moore did two years ago.
Youth is no excuse for spotty play at point guard (a tangentially-related issue), as the league’s top two passers, Duke’s Paulus and UNC’s Frasor, are freshmen. But they obviously don’t have to be their teams’ emotional leaders. Plus, unlike Zam Fredrick and even Mario West, they’re true point guards.
Anthony Morrow is not the assertive type to fill this role and neither is the lone senior, Theodis Tarver.
It doesn’t mean they’re deficient, just not the guy everybody is going to rally around when times get tough.
For my two cents, Jeremis Smith is the most likely candidate, but having been a reserve last year, and an on-and-off starter this year (you read it first here: next year’s he’s going to be outstanding), he’s kind of in a difficult spot to enact the role of enforcer right now.
Zam’s caught trying to play a position that’s not comfortable, and West, while respected by teammates for his ethic and so forth, does not appear to be the guy.
Dickey’s a very talented player, but doesn’t seem comfortable in that role.
It’s kind of hard to define what the “role” really is, but I’m not sure the Jackets have a guy in it.
Permalink | Comments (8) | Categories: Basketball
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By Ga_Tech_92
February 24, 2006 04:25 PM | Link to this
Preach it brother…hard to argue with those points. I wonder if anyone knows how JC is doing at PG this year? I read somewhere he was a 2guard before this year. /sigh Here’s praying he somehow goes from 2 to 1 and takes that big step to a “true PG”.
By Ga_Tech_92
February 24, 2006 05:01 PM | Link to this
BTW, JC = Javaris Crittenton
By Hugh G. Rection
February 24, 2006 05:06 PM | Link to this
GTU is going to be awesome next year - it’s going to be exciting to see the new guys mix in with the existing nucleus being that much more mature - they could be looking at the Final 4 next season. Jeremis will be incredible, I totally agree. At this point, it looks like they will definitely all be back to the University, since none appears ready for the pros yet.
By Long Beach Jacket
February 25, 2006 03:03 AM | Link to this
Watched the Duke game. Tech has talent, but just not quite enough maturity to finish strong. The point imbedded in Matt Winkeljohn’s article. Look for vast improvement next year with infusion of new young talent and an additional (and much needed) year of maturity among existing core.
By Mr. Hat
February 25, 2006 04:33 AM | Link to this
GT’s problem is youth, and with youth usually comes a lack of leadership. Correct me if I’m wrong but off the top of my head I believe Tarver is the only senior getting regular minutes in the rotation, everyone else is freshmen and sophomores (Morrow, Dickey, J Smith, Clinch, Zam, Mario West). I agree that an “energy guy” like Jeremis seems the most likely to be that emotional leader next year and the year after that, after he gains some experience. That’s gonna be all the more important next year when the incoming freshmen are gonna play so many key minutes.
If Jeremis can work on his free throw shooting, the way he works near the basket he should be able to knock down 6-8 free throws a game minimum, it would be great if he could work on his free throw shooting — a 3 point play the old fashioned way can be a pretty big confidence booster.
By Jim O
February 25, 2006 08:44 AM | Link to this
I said it before the season last year that GT was going to miss Clarence Moore more than anybody realized. He was the spark they needed and provided the energy and leadership, even after he sat out a season.
But Matt, you say since Jeremis was a reserve and has been an on-and-off starter he can’t be the guy - but then you point to Clarence who wasn’t a starter. Jeremis, please, take charge!
By T-bone
February 25, 2006 10:02 AM | Link to this
Hey Hugh,
GT is an Institute, not a University!
As much as I (and everybody else) loves Coach Hewitt, Tech’s struggles this year fall on his shoulders, for 2 reasons. (1) Having talent is one thing, but getting that talent to play well, to play well as a team, and to play well consistently is another thing. The mistakes these guys are making now are the ones they were making a month ago: turnovers, lack of focus, not playing tough for 40 minutes. (2) Coach Hewitt did not recruit well for the last 2 years. Having a team full of sophmores and freshmen should not be a surprise; it should not sneak up on you. To not have juniors to take the place of seniors who graduate or sophmores to take the place of juniors who leave early speaks of poor recruiting.
Now it is time to remedy this, and I believe that with next year’s class, we are well on our way to do this. But it can’t stop there. We need a good class the next year and the one after that.
Every good program has down years and this one is ours. Hewitt can take care of problem #1; he has the coaching ability to do so. He’ll learn from this year’s mistakes. And he’ll take care of problem #2 with good recruiting classes.
Here’s to hoping Paul Hewitt retires from coaching as a Jacket. Go Jackets!!
By old Tech Fan (in NC)
February 25, 2006 06:00 PM | Link to this
We saw progress today.