AJC > Sports > Tech > Blog > Archives > 2006 > February
February 2006
Is Tech just tired?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Running low on material here with the Yellow Jackets at a very low ebb while taking what amounts to three days off.
I’ll try to ask tomorrow about the pace slowing down late in games, although I don’t think that’s uncommon of most teams. The idea is to run clock, generally, and take wiser shots. I agree with some observers, though, that when the Jackets slow it down, they tend to decrease their efficiency. It’s like they focus less, or something. Their passes are not as crisp, they don’t run off screens as well.
It’s like they decide to play the game at 3/4 speed, and more often than not, it ends up hurting.
I wonder, too, of some of the problems are based on fatigue.
Coach Hewitt said the other day that Jeremis Smith is a much more effective player when he’s within a pound of 230, and that as of last Thursday he was around 236. Zam Fredrick’s another player who probably would benefit from more conditioning.
Redick offered a lesson in the value of conditioning, even though he didn’t have a great game against Georgia Tech, or Temple.
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Random thoughts on Saturday
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Whether Tech was playing Wake Forest or not, the Yellow Jackets did several good things Saturday. Here are some random thoughts:
** It was good to see Anthony Morrow put the ball on the floor more than he has been recently, particularly in the second half. At one point in the second half, he drove the left baseline, and made a sharp pass from under the basket to Dickey in the lane for two easy points. Morrow also shot four three throws in the second half (when he scored 13 of his 16 points), which is half as many free throws as he took in the previous eight games combined.
“I think he’s been thinking a little too much,” coach Paul Hewitt said. “That’s probably my fault because we’ve been going over some things on tape, little breakdowns that he hadn’t been making until the last three of four games. You start thinking too much and all of a sudden your feet slow down, and your body is not as aggressive.”
Said Morrow: “The thigh injury was kind of in my head, but I think I had to be mentally tough those two days after the Duke game and get my head back where it was. I think in the first half, my head was still a little cloudy. In the second half, coach talked to me and tells me he wants me to be a great player, and make that transition from being a good talent to a great player.”
** Lewis Clinch can be more than just a solid scorer. He has a chance to be quite a consistent threat in the future, on both sides of the ball. He not only scored a career-high 20 points, but had three steals, four assists and five rebounds.
“The thing I talk to him about all the time is, he’s a great athlete,” Hewitt said. “I always remind him, ‘You’re a great athlete and you can make great plays off the ball. I don’t think he can understand just how much ground he can cover off the ball, especially when he’s on the weak side.”
** Another freshman, D’Andre Bell, played his best game in a while, scoring eight points on two of four shooting and four of five free throws in just 12 minutes. He also had two steals. He’s got a strange-looking release, but if it goes in …
** Mario West scored just three points, including the game’s first basket when he drove right to the hole. More importantly, he had six assists, no turnovers, four rebounds and a blocked shot (right after his basket at the other end). Guy’s a major hustler.
** Other than Eric Williams, particularly in the first half, Tech defended quite well. Wake shot 21 of 60. Players other than Williams shot 12 of 43. Some were out-and-out misses when open, but in the past two games against Tech, the ACC’s leading scorers, J.J. Redick and Justin Gray have gone 5-of-21 and 5-of-18.
** Wake stinks. And not for lack of talent. Problem is, their talent is almost all seniors in Williams, Gray and Strickland. They REALLY lack a point guard, and have almost no cohesion. Several times, mostly during deadballs, coach Skip Prosser would call a play from the sideline, and Gray would shake his head. That’s not a good sign. That’s got to be one of the worst cases of underachievement in college basketball this season. They don’t have the youth card to play, either.
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Emotional 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.
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Bottom line? More FTs a must
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
That second half last night — especially the last 10 minutes or so — was agony for Tech fans.
Sure, Tech’s lack of a true point guard showed up as Zam Fredrick had six turnovers in the second half (although he had nine assists for the game), and the Yellow Jackets had problems getting into their offense.
But you know what? There was plenty more to it than that. It didn’t help when J.J. Redick’s knee caught Anthony Morrow in the thigh early in the second half, but Morrow hasn’t helped enough lately even when he hasn’t had a charley horse.
He scored four points last night on one of three shooting, getting two points at the free throw line while shooting two free throws after Coach K. got a technical in the second half.
But when your leading scorer doesn’t get to the free throw line much, and Morrow doesn’t, it can hurt. Lately, it has.
Morrow still leads Tech with an average of 16 points a game, but he’s been to the free throw line just 63 times all year. That’s 2.5 free throw attempts per game! Redick’s been to the FT line 211 times (8.1 per game). I’m not suggesting Morrow can or should be getting to the line that much.
But two a game? He hit his only free throw last Saturday at Maryland, his only FT the game before that at UNC, and didn’t take a free throw the game before that against N.C. State. He hit all four attempts the game before that against Miami, but didn’t get to the line in either of the two games before that.
So in his past eight games, he’s been to the free throw line eight times (two for techs). He’s hit all eight. So what if he gets to the line five or six times per game? They lost by one at FSU, in overtime at Maryland.
“He knows that,” coach Paul Hewitt told me this afternoon. “Anthony needs to get to the line more, and he knows that. We’ve talked about it. He needs to put the ball on the floor more.”
Fredrick, Dickey and sometimes Jeremis Smith (he was very good last night, wasn’t he? At least until back spasms bothered him) can create shots for themselves with some regularity, although each has certain limitations in how they do it.
Tech couldn’t create in the final 8-10 minutes, and started fouling like mad. No gripes, please, about the officiating in this one. Duke didn’t start getting to the line with any regularity until Tech started hacking, prematurely, Hewitt said after the game. And they were hacks. Duke took just two FTs in the first half, missing both.
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Duke will bring out fire
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Alexander Memorial hasn’t exactly been a hotbed of enthusiasm this season. But that could change tonight.
Driving by the Thrillerdome en route to the news conference for Dan Radakovich, I saw fans milling outside in the pouring rain. There even appeared to be a guy trying to drum up enthusiasm with a bullhorn.
Of course, it’s easy for Tech fans to work up a lather when Duke hits town. I’m looking forward to the insults the students have in store for that most hated of Devils, J.J. Redick.
OK, in between the news conference and the game I’ve got to go to my daughter’s ballet recital. See you tonight at the game.
Matt
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Tech hires new AD
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Tech has chosen Dan Radakovich of LSU as the seventh athletics director in school history. Do you think this is a good hire or would you have preferred former coach Bill Curry, the other finalist for the job?
Shutting down Williams the key?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The more I think about it, which is probably a dangerous thing to do, the more I wonder if the key to Tech competing with Duke Wednesday night is really slowing down J.J. Redick.
The guy’s proven over and over he’s going to get his. I’m not suggesting the Jackets let him, but for the effort required to sufficiently slow him, plus the fact that no matter how good the defense is he’s going to get to the free throw line, maybe Shelden Williams deserves equally special attention or more.
He’s very, very good himself, obviously, but not as consistent as Redick. Some suggest that Williams’ mood on a given day determines to a great extent how well he plays.
Beyond all that, in Duke’s only loss, 87-84 at Georgetown, Redick scored 41 points, and Williams scored four on two of eight shooting. See a possible key?
Georgetown also back-doored Duke repeatedly, something Tech’s not generally prone to do, unfortunately. I like that play except when my team (Ohio State) is on the wrong end of it.
Looking forward to the atmosphere tomorrow night.
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Rough road awaits Jackets
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Tech’s point guards combined Saturday at Maryland for 28 points, 10 assists, five steals and five turnovers and the Jackets still lost.
That’s an ominous sign to say the least.
When Coach Paul Hewitt gets that kind of production out of Mario West and Zam Fredrick (although occasionally they were on the floor at the same time and one played off the ball), Tech has 10 fewer turnovers than an opponent, and holds the other team’s top player (Nik Caner-Medley) to half the 20.1-point average he’s put up over the previous nine games you wonder: what’s it take to win a road game?
The Jackets are 0-9 on the road, 1-1 at neutral sites as the Centenary game was played near Centenary, but not on campus, apparently. (I would consider the Georgia loss as a neutral site, personally, because it was at the Gwinnett Arena, but I don’t think it’s being counted as a neutral site game by the school.)
Anyway, it’s no secret why Tech lost. The Jackets had terrible issues inbounding the ball in crunch time, shot poorly (41.1 percent, 28.6 percent from three-point territory), and mismanaged timeouts again, similar to the UNC game. The most disappointing thing is that 11 of Maryland’s previous 13 opponents hit 40 percent or better from three-point land, and Tech - which generally shoots the three fairly well — hit six of 21. Morrow was two for 10. Ouch! Since hitting their first nine treys at UNC, the Jackets have made just six of 29 (20.7 percent).
Neither Fredrick or West (or anybody else) could solve Maryland’s pressure early in overtime when trying to inbound. A couple times, the inbounds pass went all of three or four feet across the baseline, to a player with his back more than 90 feet from Tech’s basket. I’m not Dr. Naismith, but when that happens, it seems to me that all it takes is two defenders to stand shoulder-to-shoulder behind the pass receiver, and he’s stuck. He can’t turn and split them because a foul will be called. He can’t dribble out of trouble right or left because the ball or dribbler will probably go out of bounds. Likewise, passing lanes left and right are very limited when that tight against the baseline. Beyond all that, off-the-ball players aren’t moving very well to get open in those situations.
Maryland hit just one of five field goals in overtime, but that one hurt. Ekene Ibekwe drove the lane off a sideline inbounds pass, dunked, and got fouled (D’Andre Bell becoming the third Jacket to foul out). Then, Ibekwe made his free throw, part of an 8-0 overtime run.
Maryland hit seven of nine free throws in overtime (when Tech hit two of two).
Overall, the free throw disparity was more normal by far than the UNC game, as Maryland shot 34, Tech 24. In regulation, Maryland shot 25, Tech, 22. It wasn’t like the UNC game, or heaven forbid, Northwestern’s loss at Ohio State Saturday where the Buckeyes took 30 free throws and the Wildcats just two.
But it was enough to matter, for sure. That’s going to happen on the road more often than not. Tech still could’ve won this game, though, with a couple more field goals (Tech hit 30 of 73), or at least by inbounding better in overtime.
It gets no better. Duke arrives Wednesday.
Gotta figure out how to hold onto a timeout or two until the final minutes of games and/or overtime. And if Jeremis Smith has a shot at the basket again like he did at the end of regulation, even though D.J. Strawberry did a heck of job getting back to get in the way, he either needs to go for the rim and hope for a basket/foul, or stop-and-pop. Kicking it outside to another shooter (Fredrick) won’t very often fly with time running down like that. Mike Jones blocked that shot to force overtime.
Interestingly, Jones moved into the lineup a few weeks ago when one of Maryland’s best defensive players (can’t recall his name) became academically ineligible. “I saw [Fredrick] wide open, and I knew D.J. was [inside],” Jones said. “I tried to get back as fast as I could. It feels good because I’m known for offense (he scored a team-high 21 points), but tonight my defense played a big role.”
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Problems at point linger
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just finished looking at some numbers, and I’ve come up with these conclusions:
Tech’s two biggest problems are turnovers by players other than point guards, and the failure of point guards to get the Jackets efficiently into their offense or extract them from trouble when other teams’ pressure.
Point guards Zam Fredrick (89 assists, 80 turnovers) and Mario West (39 assists, 32 turnovers), and freshman reserve D’Andre Bell (30 assists, 29 turnovers) are the only players among the top nine with more assists than turnovers.
The other six have 155 assists and 247 turnovers.
That’s scary, although I’m not saying Fredrick and West are wizards at taking care of the ball.
As for getting into the offense, Tech has players who can score, but they have to get the ball in their spots. Morrow can obviously shoot, and so can Clinch. Dickey’s very good in the paint, and Jeremis Smith is the requisite garbage man.
As Paul Hewitt said after losing 80-79 to Florida State:
“I keep kicking myself, saying, ‘What am I not doing to get these guys to understand how talented they are?’ What you saw tonight in stretches was what this team is capable of. We got guys who can shoot it, guys who can post it. Look at rebounds; we out-rebounded them 37-28. This is the best rebounding team I’ve coached since coming to Georgia Tech.
“This team is diverse offensively. Lewis Clinch is a good freshman who can score. Morrow may be the best shooter we ever had. Ra’Sean’s the best back-to-the-basket scorer with the exception of Chris Bosh. But again, that’s why I keep coming back to myself … I’m not being phony … we have not done a good job with this team. We have not gotten them to understand to be fundamentally sound every possession of the game.”
And as Hewitt said to me yesterday about point guards:
“There are times when point guards are off the ball, and [the defense] sets up a trap, they’ve got to go back and get it instead of running away from it. That’s something an experienced point guard understands.
“He’s not like, ‘OK, we’ve broken the pressure, I’m not going to leave it to my power forward, or leave it to our two guard to get us into the offense. I’m going to go get the ball back, and set it up … ’ as opposed to standing and watching. You’ve got to be traffic cop.”
Maryland’s lost five of six since beating Tech in Atlanta Jan. 25. Who knows?
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Someone cry foul
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Got to be short again, so I’ll get to the point:
Tech had to overcome more than Tyler Hansbrough (who’s an out-and-out beast) Wednesday night.
It’s a little weird to point out the 17-7 discrepancy in fouls in the first half since Tech led 50-30 at one point, and 55-42 at halftime. But that affected the way the Jackets were able to defend, and Hansbrough didn’t have to work nearly as hard on defense (often guarding Theodis Tarver) as Ra’Sean Dickey was limited to five first-half minutes by foul trouble.
If not for the gap in free throws (allowing UNC to shoot 16 of 21 in the first half to Tech’s eight of 11), the Jackets might’ve led by 25 or more. They were moving the ball and shooting it well, and UNC’s defense was lazy at best.
Dickey played just 17 minutes, scoring 13 points. If he plays 30, even 28, that’s quite a few more minutes where Hansbrough has to work on the defensive end. Plus, Dickey would’ve scored more and offered more inside-out balance.
None of this accounts for the Jackets’ timid offensive approach over the final 14 or so minutes (especially the final eight); nor their 19-10 rebounding deficit in the second half; nor the fact they had two assists and 10 turnovers in the final 20 minutes.
All the shooters went cold in the second half when the Tar Heels got in their faces. Tech didn’t adjust well and UNC did.
From my still limited experience I can say I expected, of course, UNC to have an edge at the foul line, but this was ridiculous. Hewitt to his credit said very little about this last night or this afternoon. He didn’t have to.
I don’t want to take away from Hansbrough, who, in addition to being ACC freshman of the year, will be a first team All-ACC player. He’s unreal. With and without the ball, he moves very, very well for a big guy. He also has a work rate that’s unmatched by anything I’ve seen in a long time, has some touch (although he didn’t use his jumper much last night). He’s very strong, too.
Yeah, he’s that good. Hewitt said Tech didn’t recruit him out of Poplar Bluff, Mo.
“If he was going to come to the ACC, he wasn’t coming to Georgia Tech,” the coach said. “He was either going to go to Kansas or Missouri, his local schools, or he was going to go play at North Carolina. Roy Williams knew his family from when he was at Kansas. He was recruiting the kid when he was at Kansas. He wasn’t one of those kids who fit in our program.”
Later,
Matt
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Road sweet road?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Howdy,
Brief again cuz I’m travelin’ …
It seems strange, but there’s some evidence (not a lot) that the Yellow Jackets have played better on the road at times (not all times, just some) this season than at home.
Admittedly, they’re 0-7 in road games (1-1 in neutral site games), but that includes two-point losses at Michigan State and Boston College, and one-point losses at Virginia Tech and Florida State.
Meanwhile, they’re 9-4 at home, yet none of their home losses have been close (73-51 to Illinois-Chicago; 73-63 to Clemson; 86-74 to Maryland; and 70-53 to Miami).
Strange.
Asked if there may sometimes be too much of a comfort zone at home, coach Paul Hewitt said:
“I think that losing veteran point guards who knew how to manage a game down the stretch has led to some inconsistent play, and teams tend to take certain things for granted when they’re at home. Ironically enough, we’ve actually played our best basketball on the road. Our record doesn’t indicate it, but I think we’ve played very consistent basketball and have lost some close games.”
Gee, does this make it a good thing they’re playing at North Carolina tonight?
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Heels have an Achilles
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hi everybody.
Sorry to be brief today, but I’m toiling on the story for tomorrow’s paper, and I’ve got to get humping.
Tech hasn’t won at UNC since Feb. 10, 1996, and although the Tar Heels are a much cooler version of themselves with considerable youth this season upon losing every starter from last season’s national championship team, they’re going to be tough — but not impossible to beat Wednesday night. They’ve got the best freshman in the conference in Tyler Hansbrough, and they’re moving the ball around better all the time for coach Roy Williams
Tech has more than a fighting chance, in my opinion, if the Jackets keep moving the ball well, compete from whistle to whistle, and continue taking care of the ball the way they did Sunday against N.C. State.
Coach Paul Hewitt commented Monday on how much Ra’Sean Dickey has improved in setting screens, and the Jackets will need several in the Dean Smith Center because other than Zam Fredrick (and occasionally other players) they don’t have perimeter players who routinely create solid shop opportunities for themselves.
“He’s starting to understand the little things that you have to do,” Hewitt said on the ACC teleconference call. “He’s a gifted scorer and can rebound well. [Sunday], he did the little things that really helped us. We talked about keeping Cedric Simmons and Andrew Brackman off the boards, and one of the key stats was that those two guys didn’t get any offensive rebounds.
“The thing he did better … than at any point this year was screening. He did a nice job of finding the guys that were guarding Anthony Morrow and Lewis Clinch, and using those screens to create good post opportunities for them. He’s enormously talented, but as he improves and does more of the little things, he has a good chance of becoming one of the star players in this league.”
Dickey needs to answer Hansbrough in some fashion, for Tech to have a real shot.
More from Hewitt:
“This is a talented basketball team, and we shouldn’t be 3-8 in the ACC, but we are. We have to try to do something about it down the stretch, and fortunately, I’ve been in this situation before when we won seven of our last nine league games three years ago. Hopefully, our coaching staff can draw on that experience and try and keep these guys moving forward. We have a great opportunity on Wednesday night to play in a great venue against a great team, so we’ll see what happens.”
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A game worth cloning
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s about time.
If you didn’t see Georgia Tech play N.C. State Sunday, you may not know what I’m getting at. Finally, players didn’t just take to what coaches have been preaching, they “did it for 40 minutes, not a half,” as Ra’Sean Dickey said after the Jackets won 71-68.
Zam Fredrick was most obvious in the way he selected his shots. Almost every one of his 12 (he made nine) was relatively prudent, something coaches have been working (and working) on with him lately. He said seeing it on film finally drove the points (play on words) home.
The only one I can remember that was borderline was when the shot clock was running out on Tech’s next-to-last possession, and Fredrick made that one — a 14-foot jumper from the right side of the lane for Tech’s final points. That was proof the old Zam is still in there, but if he continues to go to that score-score-score mentality ONLY in times of desperation, like when the shot clock is running out or a half or the game is about to end, Tech’s better off.
And although there were still some sloppy passes, the Jackets were far more careful with the ball, making 15 turnovers, five in the second half.
They made plays off the ball, too, either to get open or get over to N.C. State shooters. That’s not easy against the Wolfpack, for they move very well without the ball and almost all of them can shoot. The defense was far from flawless, but better in that regard.
A couple other keys to the game that went somewhat un-noticed: N.C. State center Cedric Simmons, a talented player who’s averaging more than 12 points and six rebounds, fouled out with five points and three rebounds with nearly half a period to go. That helped.
Also, at one point the Jackets tried a long, lazy inbounds pass in the backcourt and N.C. State’s Cam Bennerman chased it down before Lewis Clinch could. He was headed for a layup.
Clinch, though, hustled back, contested the shot, forced a miss, and Tech rebounded. That was a big play.
Back to Zam. He’s scored back-to-back career highs of 19 and 22 points while playing 23 minutes each game off the bench. He’d been averaging about 30. Coach Paul Hewitt said he thinks the reduced minutes might make him fresher, and he sure had fresh legs a couple times when blowing by defenders.
Coming off the bench seems to help him mentally, too. He said he gets a chance to watch the way things are unfolding for one thing. That helps him get a feel for the game. Also, when starting, he said if he misses a shot or two he starts to feel like he’s at fault. Perhaps that messes with his psyche. There may be more pressure — although Hewitt loathes that word — when he starts.
Anyway, it’ll take a lot more of the same Wednesday at North Carolina, where Tech will need Anthony Morrow to re-join the offense and probably will need a little more offense inside from Jeremis Smith.
Later.
Matt
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Jackets look decidedly indecisive
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Well, having seen an entire game in person, I can confirm — and this makes me really smart — that Tech indeed has issues at point guard although Zam Fredrick can score if that’s what he wants. But the Jackets have more than a few passing issues beyond that.
Mario West and Fredrick combined for six turnovers and five assists in last night’s come-from-ahead loss at Florida State. The PG situation is no secret.
The Jackets did enough to overcome their lack of a prototypical point in all other areas, however, except for turnovers (oh, and lax defense late combined with a palpable trepidation about shooting the ball in the final two minutes). They had 26 turnovers, just one less than the season’s worst of 27 against Clemson.
That’s almost unreal, and very, very tough to overcome, especially on the road, where, by the way, FSU’s only two home losses in 11 games were in overtime to Miami and by one to North Carolina. The ‘Noles took Duke to the wire in Durham last week so they’re not bums.
Still, the turnovers were unfathomable at times, and although the interior passing was a little improved (Jeremis Smith had six assists), there is a unanimous problem with soft passes.
Bottom line: Tech HAS TO be decisive with EVERY pass.
West had a soft pass tipped away in the open court in the waning moments only to have the FSU player then tap it out of bounds. When Smith’s lob on the inbound was intercepted in the final minute, I knew it was probably not going to end pretty. As Coach Hewitt said after the game, “We teach that lob passes are loose balls.”
There’s a tendency at first, when Hewitt points the finger at himself and his staff for failing to get players to learn and deploy the basics to believe that he’s just trying to relieve pressure on players. But when you see some of the Jackets’ passes, it becomes more believable.
When you watch FSU’s Andrew Wilson catch the ball in three-point range (having made 53.3 percent of his three-point shots this season) and see nobody fight around a screen to get a hand in his face in the final 95 seconds of a drum-tight game, maybe Hewitt’s right; he’s not getting through. There’s NO WAY players are taught to let that guy shoot that shot uncontested in that situation.
When you watch Zam Fredrick dribble quickly down the right side in the final minute, and put up an 18-footer with about 40-some seconds left in the game, a ton of time on the shot clock and nary a teammate yet on the glass — without squaring up and a defender almost right in his face — you know that’s not taught.
Anthony Morrow had eight TOs, including dribbling out of bounds with four seconds left. Tech still had a shot after fouling; FSU’s best FT shooter, Mims (92-plus percent), missed both freebies. Alas, Smith rebounded, got the ball to 55 feet, and heaved it off the backboard as time expired.
Player accountability, in my estimation, may be as big an issue as the absence of a true point guard. The teacher’s teaching, but the students may not be listening. And ball security is a problem across the board.
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Hewitt still seeks pace maker
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Seems a little strange to blog about a team I have not yet seen play in person before it gets ready to play tonight at FSU, but here goes …
It’s no secret the Yellow Jackets sorely lack a true point guard, and that they have issues starting plays from the backcourt. From what I gather, though, that’s far from the only issue when it comes to ball movement.
In moving West, Clinch and Tarver into the lineup and taking out Fredrick, Bell and Smith, Paul Hewitt’s looking for more ball movement outside and inside. Apparently, when the ball’s gone inside lately to Dickey or Smith, it has rarely come out.
That’s fine if they score, but apparently opponents have sagged even more recently to make that more difficult. Worse yet, rather than take a quick shot or kick it out quickly to the open man, Dickey and Smith (and others) have forced shots, lost the ball, or had it stolen far too frequently.
I still think Smith is going to get 28-plus minutes.
In general, Hewitt’s looking not only for more ball movement, but for more pace - quicker decisions - shoot, pass or dribble right now; don’t hold the ball.
Oh, and another thing: get some pressure in the backcourt while on defense, and break the press now and then.
Catch you tomorrow — Matt
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Blame goes both ways
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hi, everybody.
Name’s Matt Winkeljohn, and I’m new to this. Well, not really, but sort of.
I just finished about 10 months covering the NFL after seven years covering the Falcons, and now I’m going to cover Georgia Tech basketball. Lucky me, right?
Hey, actually, Tech was the first beat I ever wanted at the paper, and I’ve been at the AJC since 1987 so I’m looking forward to it. A great change of pace, especially since it’s about nine minutes from my door to Tech’s.
Anyway, Rana Cash, my predecessor, has gone over to the dark side, to be an assistant sports editor. Oddly (in my humble opinion), that’s what she has wanted to do for some time. It’d be difficult for me to dress that nicely every day, sit in a lot of meetings, and listen to fussing writers and so forth. But Rana’s far better equipped for that than me. She’s a peach of a person, and will be a great editor both for her patience and people skills. As for the Jackets, hey, they’re not exactly on fire, of course, unless one might suggest they’re burning.
Still, I look forward not only to covering the team, but also to Thursday’s trip to Tallahassee. I haven’t been there in about 10 or 11 years, when I covered college football in the mid-1990s.
As I wrote for Thursday’s paper, Jeremis Smith called a players-only meeting Sunday, the day after the team blew a halftime tie at home with Miami and got smoked by 17.
Bottom line, they apparently agreed that most of what’s happened in this seven-game losing streak is on them. There’s far more skill on the team than that, even from my distant vantage point previous to now.
Of course, Paul Hewitt both recruited and is coaching these players, and some blame goes his direction. But I’m of a mind that as 19-, 20-, 21-year-old men, these guys are more than a little responsible for taking direction than they have the past seven games. They’re not pros, at least not yet, but as I said there’s not a deficit of skill on this squad.
Are they on a par with Duke, N.C. State and North Carolina? No. But they should be in the middle of the pack in the ACC, and they’re nowhere close.
The finger of blame points both ways — at coaches for not pulling the Jackets out of the muck, and at players who continue to settle for trudging through it.
I look forward to blogging with you all, even the Georgia fans who roll in and take mean shots. Hey, I grew up in Columbus, Ohio, still love Ohio State, and know well and good what a little old-fashioned collegiate animus is all about.
Later — Matt
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Welcoming Winkeljohn
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Readers of the AJC’s Georgia Tech coverage will notice a change this week. Matt Winkeljohn switches from the NFL to Tech, with an emphasis on Yellow Jackets men’s basketball. Rana Cash, who has been covering Tech since the summer of 2004, got promoted to a management job, running our suburban sports coverage.
I’ll miss having Rana with me on the Tech beat. She’s a wonderful reporter and a pleasure to work with. She also knows how to make everyone around her smile. I’m sure you’ll miss her, too, and join me in wishing her well as she embarks on the next leg of her promising career.
I think we’ll enjoy seeing Matt’s perspective on things. I know he’s looking forward to getting to know Tech.
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Whither Bynum, Schenscher?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Watching Will Bynum and Luke Schenscher play Friday night in an NBA Development League game in Fort Worth brought back memories of some great games when they played for Georgia Tech. Speaking with Luke before and after the game, I realized how much he misses what he had at Tech. He really appreciated the college basketball environment, and he welcomed the structure.
He’s a long way from home, though he has seen an Australian basketball player at some of his games, a Texas Wesleyan senior named Ben Hunt. I brought him a lamington and some sausage rolls from Atlanta and asked him whether Fort Worth had the Down Under connections Atlanta has; it doesn’t. “I haven’t come across any Australian bakeries, unfortunately. I’ve been looking, though,” he said. You might think a guy with NBA ambitions would take advantage of his proximity to Dallas to go see the Mavericks play. Luke has watched some Mavericks games, but only on TV. “If you get a free night, it’s good to rest and relax a bit,” he said. Luke’s parents used to be able to follow his Tech games via satellite dish; now, they watch the stat updates on the Web because there’s no TV. He did get to see his sister this season when he played in Fayetteville, N.C., and she drove down from her home in New York.
Will fits in well with the pro game and the pro environment. He’s a star and gets treated like one, even perhaps by the refs. Here’s an exchange that showed it, during Roanoke’s shootaround Friday morning. “You’ve got to get in the lane,” Roanoke’s coach told former N.C. State player Anthony Grundy. “I would go into the lane if they gave me the calls like Will,” Grundy said. Unlike Luke, who is one class shy of a Tech degree, Will has more work to do, and because he started his college work at Arizona he might not finish it at Tech; some of the classes he took as a freshman and as a sophomore didn’t transfer to the Flats. Wherever the degree comes from, Will said, he wants to finish it.
“Luke’s got to get stronger,” Fort Worth Flyers coach Sam Vincent said. “I think Luke makes it to the NBA when he becomes a guy who can defend the post, maybe average three or four rebounds and get the boards. To do that, he’s just got to get a lot stronger. If I’m an NBA coach right now and I see a kid who’s 7-foot-2, long and can give me some good solid defense on the inside … I think he will get to an NBA team. If it’s not during the course of this season, I think it happens to him over the summer or next year.”
And Will?
“People want to see him run a team. People want to see him be a little more of a point guard and be a little less of a scorer. I think it’s just a matter of time for him, also,” Vincent said.
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At this point, what’s left?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Miami has one of the ACC’s best backcourts. That does not bode well for Georgia Tech, which is reeling with six-straight losses.
The schedule is daunting at best, with road games still remaining at Florida State, Maryland, North Carolina and Clemson. Duke, Wake Forest and North Carolina State all come to Tech. There are some who believe Tech may not win again this season, which seems unfathomable.
At this point, what do you think the Jackets have to play for?
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That boxed-in feeling
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Anthony Morrow can’t get a break. The sophomore shooting guard is suddenly finding it difficult to even get shots.
Virginia Tech used a box-and-one defense on Morrow to keep the ball out of his hands. Boston College designated someone to chasing Morrow around, as well. He has scored a total of 10 points in the last two games.
While the Jackets have consistently been more successful offensively when the offense flows through Ra’Sean Dickey, their wins and losses seem to rest heavily on Morrow’s ability to get going. That is disturbing because it is largely unnecessary. Lewis Clinch and Zam Fredrick, as well as D’Andre Bell, are efficient enough scorers.
Do you think Tech relies too much on Morrow’s points to win?
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Bynum’s return doesn’t help
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Not even a flash from the past could resurrect Georgia Tech’s basketball team Tuesday night against Virginia Tech.
Former player Will Bynum showed up at the game to cheer on the Jackets. Bynum is in Roanoke, playing for the Roanoke Dazzle of the NBA Developmental League. Bynum isn’t just playing, though. He’s leading. He’s the league’s leading scorer and is second in assists.
Bynum, who played with the Boston Celtics’ summer league team, is also leading the NBDL in turnovers. Improving on that is his primary focus nowadays where he said Tuesday he is having a great time and enjoying full-time basketball. He couldn’t get much enjoyment, however, from watching Georgia Tech drop its sixth-straight game.
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Clark moves to defense
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Tech’s biggest signing day news didn’t involve a signee. Pat Clark, the Yellow Jackets’ top player at inside receiver in the three-receiver set, moves to cornerback this spring.
Tech coach Chan Gailey said Clark, who will be a junior this fall, is a smart player who should catch on quickly at his new position. He’s not penciled in as a starter, though. Kenny Scott returns at one corner, and Jamal Lewis and Jahi Word-Daniels are the leaders at the other.
Clark had 15 catches last season, ranking behind only Calvin Johnson, Damarius Bilbo and P.J. Daniels.
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Jasper signs, completes Tech class
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
De’Ron Jasper of Dunwoody became the 15th and probably final player to sign to play football with Georgia Tech this year. He’s a 6-foot-3, 195-pound safety.
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How did the Jackets do?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
How do you think the Jackets did on signing day? Who is the catch of the class?
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Add 6 Jackets; total reaches 14
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Add Austin Barrick, Correy Earls, Sedrick Griffin, Byron Ingram, Dominique Reese and Osahon Tongo.
Ben Anderson DT 6-2, 265 Aiken, S.C. South Aiken HS Austin Barrick TE 6-3, 240 Moody, Ala. Moody HS Shane Bowen S 6-1, 215 Pickerington, Ohio Pickerington Central HS Trevor Bray RB 6-0, 230 Chesapeake, Va. Greenbrier Christian Correy Earls WR 6-0, 185 Macon, Ga. Central HS Jamaal Evans RB 5-8, 191 Irving, Texas Irving HS Sedric Griffin RB 5-11, 220 Winnsboro, S.C. Fairfield Central HS Robert Hall DE 6-3, 225 Hawkinsville, Ga. Hawkinsville HS Byron Ingram QB 6-5, 190 Stone Mountain, Ga. Redan HS Quincy Kelly RB 6-0, 225 Stone Mountain, Ga. Decatur HS Laurence Marius CB 5-11, 175 Key West, Fla. Key West HS Dominique Reese WR/DB 5-11, 175 Auburn, Ala. Auburn HS Demaryius Thomas WR 6-4, 215 Dublin, Ga. West Laurens HS Osahon Tongo LB 6-2, 225 Naperville, Ill. Naperville North HS
Add Bray and Kelly to Tech’s list
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Trevor Bray RB 6-0, 230 Chesapeake, Va. Greenbrier Christian HS Quincy Kelly RB 6-0, 225 Stone Mountain, Ga. Decatur HS
First six sign
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The faxes have started to flow in.
Ben Anderson, Shane Bowen, Jamaal Evans, Robert Hall, Laurence Marius and Demaryius Thomas have signed to play football at Georgia Tech.
More info: Ben Anderson DT 6-2, 265 Aiken, S.C., South Aiken HS Shane Bowen S 6-1, 215 Pickerington, Ohio, Pickerington Central HS Jamaal Evans RB 5-8, 191 Irving, Texas, Irving HS Robert Hall DE 6-3, 225 Hawkinsville, Ga., Hawkinsville HS Laurence Marius CB 5-11, 175 Key West, Fla., Key West HS Demaryius Thomas WR 6-4, 215 Dublin, Ga., West Laurens HS
Bowen and Evans enrolled this semester at Tech.
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