AJC > Sports > Tech > Blog > Archives > 2007 > January
January 2007
Assessing a meltdown
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
You know it’s going bad when you go from saying Tech can win if Ra’Sean Dickey and Jeremis Smith show up and give the Jackets get an inside game only to have them show up and give the Jackets an inside game and they lose anyway to the ACC’s 11th place team.
Of course, Smith and Dickey didn’t get busy until the second half, when Tech attacked the basket more, got buckets, and earned 22 free throws - a sharp contrast to one attempted in the first half.
But Wake attacked the basket the whole game, and Dickey (nor anyone else) failed to slow Kyle Visser other than by fouling him. He hit 10 of 12 of those.
Ball game.
Tech scored 45 points in the second half, the Jackets’ best offensive half by far in this four-game losing streak. But they gave up 44. Couldn’t stop anybody when it mattered. A trend of late.
Without getting too deep, the Jackets don’t appear to be as athletic overall as perhaps some predicted they’d be — witness how infrequently they press when that was supposed to be so much more prevalent this season, and how they consistently succumb to dribble penetration. The absence of Lewis Clinch doesn’t help here.
And the point guard is struggling, forcing his shot and his passes (five straight failed alley-oop attempts over two games by my unofficial count).
Paul Hewitt can’t find any answers, either.
I didn’t foresee such difficulties.
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In pursuit of the latest recruit
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Have to be brief. I just got to my hotel after flying to Raleigh-Durham and driving 90 minutes to Winston-Salem for tonight’s game. Don’t ask why. Complicated, and it has to do with expenses.
Nice pickup in DE Jason Peters. I’ve spoken with him several times. Very composed kid, very mature. Heck of a player, and clearly has his head on very straight. That guy and Derrick Morgan in the same class? That’s pretty awesome.
The cornerback, Michael Peterson, that Tech is now recruiting out of Tampa is a pretty good player himself, although not one of these kids who has blown everybody away, at least not yet. I’m still learning more about him.
I’ll try to talk to him tonight and get something on the blog.
Basketball team better win tonight or it could turn mean.
Gotta go. Sorry I was late.
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Time running out for Tech
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The screen story I alluded to Friday that was to run Sunday was pushed back to Tuesday for reasons too convoluted to bother with here. Stay tuned for that.
Tech played better against Virginia Tech, by far in some areas, but shot horribly, both because if the Jackets’ wide-ranging impatience in trying to get the ball inside either for a scoring attempt or a kick-out pass. Plus, they ran into a good team whose backcourt played really well.
Virginia Tech’s in first place in the ACC for good reason. Zabian Dowdell is really, really good at controlling the pace of the game, the Hokies are ridiculously patient in working their offense, and hey, they beat North Carolina and won at Duke.
You look at their early season losses (neutral sites to Western Michigan, Southern Illinois and Georgia Washington), plus at Marshall (two of these losses by a one, another by three and one by five), and you see how improved they are now and that might be a source of hope. Then again, they fell on their face early.
Georgia Tech’s running out of time to keep falling.
Tech’s not going to win often when Javaris Crittenton shoots 19 times, nor when the inside games is absent offensively. Don’t be shocked if Zach Peacock replaces Dickey at Wake Forest.
I’m no basketball wizard, but when teams double and trap Javaris (North Carolina and Maryland did this a lot, VT did not, instead doubling down more often perhaps because their staff figured Tech would prepare for the former and to save wear and tear on their guards as well), Tech’s offense can hardly get started.
What would happen if he moved to the shooting guard position and West ran the offense? West isn’t going to draw all those double teams, methinksnot. Would that open more passing lanes?
I know nothing. Just ruminating, to use everybody’s favorite word.
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‘Screening’ their calls
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With no basketball practice Thursday, and the fact the Yellow Jackets don’t practice until later Friday afternoon or play until Sunday, it’s time to ruminate. I’m going to write something for the Sunday paper about the art of setting - and using - screens.
Tech’s had tremendous problems with this recently, where some solid picks could’ve helped in many situations in the half-court offense, and most obviously on inbounds plays. There have been huge differences between Tech on the road in the last two games (they were pretty good offensively at Clemson) and at home.
In speaking with coach Paul Hewitt about this, he made the observation - which will be in the paper Sunday - that his team is much, much, much better setting screens at home, although he’s a bit baffled as to why the difference is so great. The Jackets looked like a totally different team, night and day, against North Carolina and Maryland than against Duke at home.
It may have something to do with the fact Tech plays with so much more intensity, passion, energy, whatever you want to call it, at home. They’re more committed to everything they do, and setting screens takes commitment.
My opinion is that a really good screen, or several of them, can change the emotional flow of a game, although there’s more to winning than simply setting a few good picks. They have to be well used, obviously, but good screens not only increase scoring (or inbounding) chances, but reduce turnovers. How many of Tech’s turnovers in the past two games came because the ball-handler was running out of time and forced a pass into a stationary, and often covered, target only to have it picked or batted away? A lot. Some of those plays came because somebody set, or used a screen too early, getting open before the passer was ready to pass. Still, too often that player will stand and call for the ball, and it leads to something bad.
Whether a good shot or a bad shot comes after a screen, at least it’s a shot, a chance for a score, an offensive rebound, or to draw a foul. Turn it over, and you have no chance for something good to happen.
So, is setting a pick about mind set? Skill set? Surely, some of both, but it doesn’t matter if the guy the pick is for doesn’t use it, either, and if the timing is off, as Hewitt explained, the pick might not matter even if it’s brilliant.
There are several areas in which Tech needs to improve to beat a pretty good Virginia Tech team Sunday, but playing harder (much harder in many instances) and setting solid screens would be two huge steps in the right direction.
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Team’s problems, remedies are obvious
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Not a lot to say about the basketball team that’s not obvious.
In the past two games, the Jackets have almost completely lacked alacrity, or sense, or — at least — clarity of purpose.
The concept of setting screens — either on offense, or merely to get a teammate open on an inbounds play — seems lost.
They have fits handling all kinds of pressure defense.
Coach Paul Hewitt and his staff have prepared poorly for both games.
There’s time to remedy.
But it’s not like only a couple of adjustments need to be made.
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A lost recruit; Faye to start?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
You’re right Techsters, Cedric Everson’s falling out with the football program is not as simple as him failing to return phone calls, but it’s not much more complex than that symptom of bigger problem. Lose a commit, shoot the messenger, huh? “Fire up the hounds, Buzz; we gotta go whack a hack!”
He hasn’t been solid in his commitment. Period. He’s been difficult for coaches to reach, waffled in much of what he says when he is reached, changed schedules, been unclear in his explanations of some things, and so forth. See a picture taking shape?
There have been other symptoms that set him apart from the test of Tech’s class, which is comprised of kids who already are remarkably close to one another even though they haven’t started school yet (except for Morgan and Threet). Every recruit has at least one or two fellow commits that he seems to stay in touch with, text message, etc. Some kids stay in touch with several future teammates.
Ced was a black sheep. Didn’t talk to anybody, was difficult to read, predict, count on, etc. No need going into more detail about a player who wasn’t even yet in the program. Everson was not fitting.
Enough. He’s a kid. He’s very talented. Perhaps he’ll be a fine college player. But not at Tech.
Gailey is supposed to make an in-home visit tonight with Baton Rouge defensive end Jason Peters, and on Sunday with Oxnard, Calif., athlete Malachi Lewis.
Hoops …
At Maryland tonight, Paul Hewitt said he’s likely to move Mouhammad Faye back into the starting lineup at wing after starting Mario West there at North Carolina. Both are defense-oriented, but Faye was taken out of the starting lineup against the Tar Heels chiefly because he had been playing tentatively. And, he had 10 turnovers in the three previous ACC games.
Mario doesn’t turn the ball over, but his offense, or lack thereof (didn’t score from the field at UNC, and passed up several wide open shots after missing his first couple) some exceptions in other games notwithstanding. He’ll continue to play plenty.
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Jackets need sharper play
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If Tech is finally going to win on the road Wednesday at Maryland, the Yellow Jackets need to play with more alacrity, be more alert.
They were like statues at North Carolina, and point guard Javaris Crittenton didn’t help by trying to prove himself against two fellow phenomenal freshmen whom he’s played against in the past.
“What happened was they were trapping me with Brandan Wright and Tywon Lawson, but at the same time, when they do that, it’s two-on-one and that means somebody’s open,” he said. “When they’re over-playing our wings because most of our offense is wing entries, we’ve got to cut back-door, and back screen, something to get open.”
It would help if somebody moved to get open, or get closer to Crittenton when he was in trouble to bail him out. Instead, the Jackets stood around, especially in the first half.
“Exactly. I talked to my teammates, even during the game I was trying to get my wings to get open, and to move a little bit,” Crittenton said. “It was everybody. It wasn’t just the wings. It was the post, myself; after I passed the ball I should have unlocked the floor. We needed to do a lot more moving to get open.”
Coach Paul Hewitt said, “We can help by screening and getting guys open.”
Well, yeah.
Again, it didn’t help that, “It was probably the first time [Crittenton] played like a freshman since the Vanderbilt game,” Hewitt said, but everybody else needs to DO SOMETHING! “Standing on the block, calling for the ball, waiting for an impossible pass to be made into the post from an impossible angle, that’s just not good basketball,” the coach said. “I can’t explain it. I was very confident, perhaps overconfident, going into that game. I didn’t have us ready.”
That first half, when Tech scored just 23 points, was terrible, and Maryland’s going to try some of the same things, knowing Tech has problems against the trap, has difficulty in-bounding the ball, has, well, just problems. The most maddening thing is, they’re not omnipresent; they pop up and don’t go away for a while, and then in another game those problems are all but gone. It must be said, though, that Roy Williams and North Carolina forced Tech into difficulty.
Yet the Jackets did so little to extract themselves. “We just didn’t try to run our offense,” Hewitt said. “For whatever reason, I don’t know. We had one possession where we dribbled the ball 28 times. By my best liberal count, we set one and a half screens. One player, 28 dribbles. You always tell your players that you’re better moving the ball with a pass than the dribble. I always tell my players, there’s three times to dribble the ball (in the half-court). One, you’re improving your passing angle; two, to attack the basket; or three, to get out of trouble. Other than that, the ball should be passed or shot.”
The only player who was aggressive, other than Crittenton when he kept dribbling into trouble, was Thaddeus Young in the final 10 minutes or so. He finished with a team-high 22 points on 10 of 16 points. Imagine what he could do if he hadn’t had a fever for a few days before that, if he hadn’t had a root canal the day of the game?
Imagine if he played like that for 25 minutes a night, and had some teammates play the same way!
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Roadkill deadly for NCAA hopes
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We’re a nation born through protest of taxation that now taxes its citizens like mad so either anything is possible or crud just happens. By process of my anything-is-possible-or-even-probable theorem, then, I’ll suggest that Georgia Tech can make it to the NCAA Tournament. But the Yellow Jackets are going to have to do something upsetting, not that a win or two on the road will rankle like taxes.
Rather, these upsets would be good things.
Sorry to beat a horse that’s barely living, but the first whacks are coming today, and more will follow for the at least the next two days. With 15 straight road losses, Tech has to win on the road, or … they’ll be home during the NCAAs, hosting an NIT game.
Setting aside the possibility that Tech could make noise in the ACC Tournament, even if the Jackets win five of their six remaining home games (Virginia Tech, Clemson, N.C. State, Wake Forest, North Carolina and Boston College) and beat a sub-standard UConn Feb. 11 in the Georgia Dome … without a road win that would leave Tech 19-11 if the Jackets lose their five remaining road games (Maryland Wednesday, Wake Forest, Florida State, Duke and Virginia).
Again, not looking at what might happen in the ACC Tournament … 19-11 with ZERO road wins probably doesn’t get this team into the NCAAs, especially not with the growing fondness of the selection committee for mid-majors. The trend for picking a few Creightons, etc., figures lop one or two teams from most BCS conferences come tourney time. It happened last year, when the ACC sent four to the show.
If Tech wins just one on the road, say at Wake Forest Jan. 30, that still might not be enough depending on what happens in those six home games plus against UConn and in the ACC Tourney.
Win at Wake and get one someplace where the Jackets won’t be favored, like Wednesday at Maryland, and now we’re talking.
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Strange happenings everywhere
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I was unable to attend Chan Gailey’s press conference this afternoon, but the AJC’s Mike Knobler was there, and apparently it was quite a peculiar affair. School officials applauded him when he entered, and when he left. Chan was emotional. Dan Radakovich said something about working language into the coach’s contract to prevent this kind of thing from happening again, although that strikes me as a tough thing - but not impossible — to do.
Bet recruiting is safe. I’ll check with some recruits later tonight.
It’ll be very interesting to see what happens with the offensive coordinator position now that Patrick Nix is going to Miami.
In basketball, the Jackets face a tough task Saturday in Chapel Hill, as ACC teams are 118-17 in all games combined at home this season.
Strange things happen on the road, where there are crazies everywhere.
Former Tech assistant Perry Clark told me a while ago, “When I was at Tech, we went into [Duke’s Cameron [Indoor Arena[, and one time a guy jumped in our layup line. He had a Georgia Tech warmup on, and he went through layups with us. The road in a major conference is an awful difficult place to win. When you get a road win, you feel like you climbed Mt. Everest.”
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Clinch can practice; Young sick
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thaddeus Young is sick, Lewis Clinch is back, and Michael Vick could be gone, but before I get to all that … SoCalDawg, you’re on a roll. Why stop now? Please continue regaling us with your wisdom, and unparalleled foresight. Just please make sure you check our recruiting blog while you’re slinking around the AJC’s website. Days behind? Man, you’re like Jim Gaffigan, comedian extraordinaire. I love humor, dude.
Hey, this Gailey thing is absurd, and bizarre, although it’s a good thing we can all count on the London Daily Mail to kick everyone’s butt. So we all have that going for us, at least. The Daily Mail rocks. It’s always a good thing when you beat the entire world on a story, especially when you beat everybody by hours and hours and hours and hours and … when does this finally go from scoop to suspicious guess? Hey, the Mail could still be right, and then they’ll say they knew it all along. That’s nailing it.
No, seriously, no, nevermind. I don’t want to talk any more about Gailey.
Back to basketball …
A couple of items: Thaddeus Young is sick, and I don’t mean in a figurative way. He’s ill, the owner of a fever, and draped in sweats and all that. He looked like a forest rider when he came in for practice tonight. He didn’t practice at all yesterday, and was going to try some limited work tonight. Paul Hewitt said he took intravenous fluids today, and is better than yesterday. He anticipates Young being ready to go in practice tomorrow, and quite well by Saturday.
I’d wonder, though, about his stamina in Chapel Hill.
Also, positive news about Lewis Clinch, who is of course not eligible to play this semester for Tech after violating the school’s honor code last semester. He can practice!
The first step after resolving his eligibility was to determine if he was going to be allowed to remain in school. That worked out well, but Hewitt was initially under the impression he would not be allowed to practice with the team.
Hewitt later learned that Clinch can practice with the team, but the coach decided he will participate sparingly so as to dedicate more time to academics, particularly in the early part of the semester. Clinch, though, practiced Monday, a holiday, and Paul said he might practice tonight. Mostly, he’s working out, but getting some individual work in and occasionally will work in team drills.
Changing topics yet again …
Whither Michael Vick? What in the world was he not thinking? I can’t take a water bottle through security, you can’t take a water bottle through security, and Mike, you can’t either.
Nevermind for a moment the possibility that something was hidden in that trick bottle. The bottle itself was contraband. There are big signs. There were news stories months ago everywhere, on TV and in newspapers, explaining this to U.S. travelers … and I mean EVERYWHERE!
OK, so if the Falcons keep Michael Vick, which would be a lot, lot, lot easier on the salary cap than jettisoning him via trade or release, who thinks teammates can look to him for leadership? Raise your hands.
Now, there are different kinds of leadership, vocal, by example, by speaking up in critical moments, and more. What kind of leadership can Michael Vick be? If you were his teammate, and you’d watched team officials coddle him for the past three years, or from about the time management decided to let Mike call most of the shots with regards to how he would be made available to the media rather than dictating that decision themselves, what do you think of him now?
Do you want to be like him, or anything but like him. Do you want to bust tail for him? Do you trust that he will bust tail for you? Do you want to take shots for him? Do you trust that he’ll take shots for you, as in get up in front of microphones and take one for the team, as most front-line quarterbacks so often do? Can you follow someone you tell your kids not to imitate? Someone who flipped off fans?
It’s a tough call, but for only one reason, I think. The salary cap ramifications.
If you haven’t already read it, check Jeff Schultz’s column on the matter.
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Life with, or without, Gailey
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I feel like I’m stuck in a plane, circling overhead, waiting for weather to break. When is this Chan Gailey business going to happen, whatever’s going to happen?
Good grief. What are the Dolphins doing, interviewing 13 candidates or something like that? Shouldn’t you go into a coaching search with a pretty well-defined idea of what you’re looking for?
At least we know Giff Smith is staying at Tech as the recruiting coordinator. He was contacted by some intermediaries from Georgia Southern, but did not get an interview. I have no idea why, and must admit that surprises me. He’s not only an alum, but a former All-America at GSU, and proving to be an outstanding recruiter. Chris Hatcher is not a GSU guy, but what do I know?
For my two cents, if Gailey stays, there’s no damage to recruiting at all, present or future. If he gets and takes the Miami job, two different things, I wouldn’t be surprised if Tech lost one or two recruits, Morgan Bennett being a possibility, but no more. I wouldn’t be surprised, either, if nobody reneged. That would depend on who Tech hired as coach.
If it’s somebody with whom recruits are familiar, perhaps there would be no effect. If it’s somebody from outside the organization, the landscape changes. Depending on who it is, and how much of the staff he changes, you never know. Impossible to predict. You know other schools are recruiting these Tech commits hard. Derrick Morgan told me that Penn State kept calling him almost right up until he left to enroll at Tech Jan. 8.
Onto another sport … North Carolina kicked Clemson’s butt last night, although the Tigers couldn’t have shot the ball worse, I don’t think. That’s not their forte, anyway, but combined a terrible shooting performance and a UNC team possessed, and it was ugly.
Tech has to start reasonably well in Chapel Hill Saturday night, and Ra’Sean Dickey has to slow down Hansbrough, who’s not going to be in a good mood. Last year, Dickey got in foul trouble fast, and Hansbrough went for 40. Still, Tech was blowing doors, hitting 9 of 10 3-pointers in the first half, and then 0 for 7 in the second half. I’ve never seen two halves so completely different.
Tech can win. The Jackets have got to bust tail for 40 mins, and run only when it’s obvious they’ve got a big advantage. The ‘Heels are deep, and athletic, and if Tech goes 40 minutes of run and gun, this is one team against whom the Jackets’ athleticism is not enough to win out.
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What a difference a week makes
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Different world the basketball team finds itself in today as opposed to one week ago. Back-to-back wins, especially the one over Duke, coupled with Clemson’s loss, North Carolina’s loss, a slower start than many predicted for Maryland, Jared Dudley’s injury for Boston College (not that it will probably have a long-term affect) and the ACC looks fairly wide open after No. 1 - still North Carolina, by far. Virginia Tech looks a lot better, too.
Anthony Morrow is absolutely shooting lights out, and he’s improving on defense, too, especially in terms of effort. More on that later this week.
Where’d Dickey go against FSU? This is the Ra’Sean story: A bear when motivated, and then what when he’s not? Actually, I don’t think it was an absence of inspiration against FSU as much as teammates not feeding him as well, or often, and Ra’Sean not taking care of the ball when he had it. Still, he’s 20 for 23 from the field in four ACC games. GET HIM THE BALL!
With no basketball game until Saturday at UNC, there will be more time this week to ponder football, and Chan Gailey, and recruiting - and the way they might be connected.
There’s a funky vibe surrounding Chan right now, and a growing sentiment among fans. Whatever is going to happen needs to happen soon, or there likely will be an impact on recruiting.
What are Chan’s chances?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
What does the news that Mike Shula has interviewed for the Miami Dolphins job suggest to you about Chan Gailey’s chances?
Was it just a courtesy to Don Shula’s son or a sign that Gailey and Jim Mora aren’t the only candidates in Miami?
Which NCAA rule would you change?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It seems that every time fans talk about the NCAA, they’re complaining about it. Maybe that’s because the NCAA is like a referee, never noticed until it makes a controversial call.
But you’d think an organization so many people gripe about would have a lot more lively discussions about a lot more hot-button topics than there were at last weekend’s NCAA Convention.
What would Georgia Tech fans like to see discussed? Which rule would you change?
Tech’s Dan Radakovich attended the convention. It’s probably wise for the athletics director of a school on probation to put in an appearance. But one of the notable thingswas how many Division I people weren’t there.
The NCAA, which used to be a pure democracy of its members, at least legislatively, now has representative government at the Division I and II levels. Things happen behind the scenes, in committees. Only one issue arose for a one-member, one-vote electronic roll call in Division I: The vote on whether to override a rule allowing players who graduate with eligibility remaining to transfer and play right away.
And even on that issue, 76 of 357 possible voters didn’t vote. (One of those members that didn’t vote, by the way, was Tech. Radakovich said, because of an administrative error, Tech never designated him as its voter.)
Getting the Dookies on the rebound
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Glancing at a few things relative to Duke, whose game against Tech tonight is very large for both teams, especially the Yellow Jackets.
This is the first time in 11 years the Blue Devils are coming off a loss in their ACC opener. That was also the last time, 1996 that is, that Duke started the ACC 0-2. It was K’s first season back after back surgery, and the Blue Devils finished 18-13. He’s not really happy, whether his team is 13-2 or not.
“We’ve got to be a hungrier basketball team,” he said after being upset at home by Virginia Tech Saturday. “We’ve got to be a tougher basketball team. I don’t like to learn by losing. We try to do a lot in practice so we don’t lose. Losing is not the way to become better. Practicing hard and having a realization of who you are and what you do is the reason you win.
“We all need to be hungrier again. This decade we’ve won about 85 percent of our games. A lot more than anybody. We are not that team or those teams. We are not that Duke.”
This will be the first true road game of the season for K’s team, as Duke has played several games at neutral sites, but none on an opponent’s floor. Ball security is usually more of a problem on the road, and ball security has been a problem for Duke no matter where the Blue Devils have played.
They have 204 assists, and 242 turnovers - 23 more turnovers than opponents. That’s not normal, obviously.
Forward Josh McRoberts figures to be the biggest problem for Tech tonight in part because he’s Duke’s best passer, with a team-high 63 assists. He’s not exactly a scoring machine (12.8), but rebounds quite well (8.1) and with those passing skills he has the ability to enable Duke’s offense in a different way than PG Greg Paulus, who’s really struggling, by the way.
If McRoberts pulls one of Tech’s big men out in defense, there could be problems in the paint, although he won’t be inside to rebound when he does that. More importantly, when Tech plays defense poorly, it’s usually because they ball watch. That is, when defenders’ men don’t have the ball, they tend to look away toward the ball and their men can get free to either slice to the basket, or set up for an open shot. Watching McRoberts will be especially tempting.
Elsewhere, Javaris Crittenton is playing very well at point guard, and figures to give Tech a big edge there over Paulus, who went scoreless against Virginia Tech with three assists, and six turnovers.
As long as the Jackets mind their P’s and Q’s, and don’t get stuck ball-watching, they match up well in this one.
Lastly, good news regarding Lewis Clinch. He’s being allowed to stay in school, and as long as he fares well in the classroom this spring and summer, he’ll re-join the team in the fall.
Johnson gets his due
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Zach Peacock is definitely suspended for Wednesday’s Duke game, I’ve learned, and that is no surprise.
Speaking of surprises, what’s up with “Talk about 20/20 Hindsight”? (see yesterday’s blog)
What are you writing about? I didn’t call anybody a liar, nor suggest that. It’s simple, the Johnsons do value education, and if Calvin was going to be drafted, say, in the second half of the first round (just a guess at his cut-off point, actually), he might have returned to Tech.
As it became obvious that he’s likely a top five pick, the money that goes with those spots skyrockets from the bottom of the first round, and the choice became a no-brainer. Nobody’s lying in any of this.
Unlike football, basketball not predictable
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
So you all knew Calvin Johnson was going to go pro, and there were no surprises Monday, right? Or did some believe he might come back, that him saying several times in the past that he wanted to get his degree, his mom saying education was so important, all meant he was coming back?
No, everybody knew.
I can’t imagine anyone arguing this decision. He’ll get $25 million guaranteed as soon as he signs, and that doesn’t count salaries or certain incentive-based bonuses. A no-brainer.
Basketball, on the other hand, is anything but predictable. Tech needs very badly to beat Duke Wednesday, and will have to do it without two of the five players who started the first third of the season.
Lewis Clinch is, of course, out for the remainder of the season, and waiting to hear if he’s been kicked out of school.
Zach Peacock is almost certain to be suspended for the Duke game after throwing an elbow at Trevor Booker. No question he deserved to be ejected, and few could argue that he deserves the additional penalty of one more game. The wording is pretty clear in the rule book. Paraphrasing, any attempt to hit, whether the attempt connections or not, and you’re out for the rest of that game and one more. That was intentional, no two ways about it.
Booker and Peacock were scrapping a good bit before Zach cracked, and Booker tussled with some other Jackets, too. Some of it was stuff you see in every ACC game, some was not.
But I went too far in a blog Saturday night saying Booker was a dirty player. That was not fair. I’m sorry for that rash pronouncement.
I still don’t get the delay between the elbow being thrown and a whistle being blown. We may never get an explanation on that two-second or so gap.
All the Techsters’ woes make this a good year for Duke to be down, but it’s not like the Blue Devils are terrible. Tech really needs to win that game. Just look at the upcoming schedule, and you’ll see why if you’re not already aware of it.
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Next game is huge for Jackets
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Back from Clemson, watching Sportscenter, where I see my first-ever favorite team, the Cowboys, choked.
Tech didn’t choke the game away this afternoon. The Jackets, though, gagged the final play, which some might say is enough to call it all a choke. Not me.
Any time, and I mean ANY TIME, a team loses a close game, it’s piece of cake to go back and analyze several possessions and look at what didn’t go right.
Just enough things, and I mean just barely enough, happened for Tech to lose. Javaris Crittenton, who has more to do than any player or coach in changing the culture around this Tech team from last year, hit his first eight free throws, and played a whale of a game. But he missed his ninth free throw, the front end of a one-and-one, with 59 seconds left. That hurt.
He and Jeremis Smith, an average free throw shooter, each made a pair down the stretch, and Tech hit 13 of 16 from the line. These are examples of differences between last season’s team and this one.
But Clemson hit 19 of 26, and in a game where the Jackets sorely missed the outside shot of Lewis Clinch (Tech hit just 3 of 9 3-pointers, none in the first half), the Jackets still had a very good chance against the only undefeated team in the nation.
Tech won on the boards, by one, but Clemson had 26 offensive rebounds and had an edge in the second half overall (Dickey had seven in the first half, none in the second, when the Jackets’ big men were handicapped by fouls and Zach Peacock was ejected for elbowing fellow freshman Trevor Booker - who tape review will reveal to be a dirty player). The offensive rebound edge was big, but misleading. Clemson missed 41 of 66 shots, after all, so there were a bunch of offensive rebounds to get (Tech had 25 defensive rebounds). Still, that hurt Tech. A 14-1 run up to halftime, though, led to a 34-29 lead.
But when foul trouble and the ejection of Peacock (why not give Alade Aminu a few minutes down the stretch; he wouldn’t have to be tenuous?), Paul Hewitt started calling zones. The Jackets rarely play zone, are not comfortable playing it, and that’s a big reason Clemson hit 50 percent from the field in the second half after hitting just 28.9 percent in the first.
Still, the Techsters were right there, rallying from a four-point deficit in the waning moments. This NEVER happened last year, especially not on the road. Tech’s down double digits in the first half last year in this game, and everybody’s playing garbage time the last four minutes by the end.
That said, two first-year players slacked on the game’s final play.
Whether or not you agree with the decision to defend the in-bounder with 6.5 seconds left (remember, Clemson called a timeout to set up a final play; Hewitt had none left for his after the Jackets called two in the first half from the bench when ball handlers were trapped, and one in the second half rather than fail to inbound in five seconds), the greater breakdowns came behind that.
James Mays received that pass at half court too easily. If Mouhammad Faye can’t get a hand on that ball (likely tipping it away to end the game), then he probably should’ve retreated to limit Mays’ drive opportunities.
He was fairly close to Mays, though. Worse, although Mays turned left, to his weak hand, Faye retreated then, rather than hedging up on Mays, or defending, and at a poor angle.
Mays blew right to the basket.
Faye caught up enough to hack Mays, but didn’t. Jeremis Smith was close enough to foul, too. And Crittenton was in a spot - arms down in standard take-a-charge position — to take a charge on the low left block. So, you say, he’s not going to get a charge call there (on the road)? Maybe, maybe not (it looked to me like Crittenton was in position to get crushed, and if he was to get leveled like I think he would’ve, it seems to me it would have been hard not to call a charge).
Crittenton had, by my figuring, five options: stay put and try to get a charge call; put his hands up and defend; slide step and try to block the shot from the side (very low percentage chance for success; hammer Mays (best chance? as Mays is a 53.3 percent free throw shooter); or get out of the way (the worst option).
It looked like he merged Nos. 1 and 5. He didn’t exactly bail out, but he leaned or slid just enough to his right to give Mays more of a lane. “I didn’t want to take the chance of not [getting] a charge [call against Mays], and he hit the layup, and then get a foul shot,” he first told me.
Then, “I was there, he just moved.”
The second comment may have been revisionist, although Mays did kind of wiggle the other direction. I think this was a youngster being young upon being questioned. Crittenton was really, really, really upset afterward. He’d just finished talking to Hewitt, who was pep-talking him left and right, already talking about Wednesday’s game with Duke.
This season’s far from over, but Tech’s up against it. After Duke, the Jackets face a much-improved Florida State team and then go to North Carolina and Maryland.
For my two cents, while Crittenton’s obviously going to have his hands on every possession down the stretch, Thaddeus Young was not involved enough late, and I say that even though he hit a huge 3-pointer from a tough angle in the corner with the shot clock running down. The ball needs to go through him in crunch time. Not only is he a ridiculously gifted (although sometimes tentative) scorer, he can pass big-time.
One possession. That’s life in the ACC. Last season, it was usually over when there were dozens of possessions left. Saturday, the Jackets were on the road playing one of two undefeated teams in the nation, in a ridiculously loud arena, and were right there. Yes, they made mistakes. But they have enough talent, and heart, to make noise this season. It’s more mental than usual for the next couple weeks.
This time of year, you see a lot of good teams, and some really, really good teams, go play their first true road games of the season (Tech’s not one of those teams), or their first road game against a good team, and get smoked (Alabama, Notre Dame come to mind) because it’s such a culture shock to be in an arena where you’re like a lamb in a coliseum of fans looking for blood at the hands of the home team. The Clemson environment was that way today, and the Jackets didn’t flinch. They just didn’t make the last critical play of the game.
Nonetheless, while every Duke game is big, the next one is huge.
Permalink | Comments (68) | Categories: Basketball
Can Chan be replaced?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I will be curious to see how Georgia Tech fans react to the news about Chan Gailey interviewing for the Miami Dolphins job. Are you:
A) Flattered that your coach is so highly regarded an NFL team might want him? B) Hoping the Dolphins do hire him so you can get the head coach you want? C) Reconsidering your evaluation of how Gailey has performed at Tech? D) Reminded that, unlike the Dolphins coach he might replace, Gailey doesn’t lie to his fans?
Basket full of ‘ifs’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This much we know: Georgia Tech’s at least as good as last season in men’s basketball. They have the same number of wins, 11, as last year. Of course, they have 16 games left to prove they’re better now, and they will.
But man, this is a brutal way to dive into the teeth of the ACC thrashing machine. At Clemson (15-0), home against Duke (13-1), home against vastly improved Florida State (12-3), at North Carolina (13-1) and at Maryland (13-2).
That’s not a schedule. That’s a death march.
Then again …
If Javaris Crittenton keeps taking care of the ball (27 assists, one turnover in the past three games) …
If the defense keeps the screws tight, and especially if Tech’s press keeps improving …
If Ra’Sean Dickey remains alert and perky, rather than slipping into that somnambulant dream world that coach Paul Hewitt loathes …
If Thaddeus Young keeps getting it, as he has for about three solid weeks now …
If Hewitt keeps players on the same page he’s on …
If Mouhammad Faye keeps improving upon his legend (what a line last night: 10 points, nine rebounds, five assists, no turnover, a steal) …
If Anthony Morrow hangs onto his stroke, which he has recovered while getting his weight down from a high of 223 pounds to the 210 he set as a goal for this season (five pounds bigger than last season) …
Then, it may hurt less to lose Lewis Clinch, which is not a lock anyway the way I understand things (and that’s not in any more detail than I’ve written).
Buckle up. Countdown to launch, 48 hours.
P.S. I don’t believe there’s anything to worry about with regards to Mario West. He didn’t play after twisting his back last night, but it didn’t appear to be serious. If I learn otherwise later today, I’ll post something on the website.
Why bother with Winston-Salem St.?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hard to go into Tech’s game tonight against Winston-Salem State with any kind of expectations, other than for it to be a rout. They’re independent, in their first year in Division I, and they’re 1-16 with one win over a non-Division I opponent.
I have a hunch St. Francis would smoke WSSU.
I guess it’ll be interesting to watch how playing time is parceled out in the first 12 minutes or so, but I doubt it’ll matter much after that. Maybe not that long. Perhaps it will help Alade Aminu gain more experience, as his playing time will pick up in meaningful games if Zach Peacock’s fractured cheekbone keeps him out. I have a hunch, though, that Zach will be back in action by the Duke game next Wednesday, maybe even by this Saturday, when a trip to Clemson will be a real eye-opener.
Tonight kinda reminds me of when I was a kid. Me and other hoodlums used to have contests to see who could jump off the highest thing. Garages, houses, tree limbs, whatever. I guess it was a contest of bravery, or, in retrospect, stupidity. And I wonder why my knees are a wreck now, why I’ve had three scopes for cartilage deterioration.
This game looks like a silly jump which can lead to little or no lasting good.
Gator Bowl ruminations
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This is very long, but I have plenty to get out of my system.
With three straight three-point losses, Georgia Tech’s season ended with questions that won’t be answered until next season, or never, and at least one big surprise.
Having been Tech’s lifeline for most of the season, and frequently a primary reason the Yellow Jackets won or at least had a chance to, Jacket defenders Monday found themselves in rare territory. They were trying not to be the reason Tech would lose. This was quite a reversal, the defense lost a game the quarterback nearly won.
As Georgia Tech’s offense broke from two-month slumber, the defense fell into one. West Virginia’s spread offense, and all the speed in it, gave defensive coordinator Jon Tenuta and Co. fits, particularly as the Mountaineers scored 21 straight third-quarter points to turn a 35-17 deficit into a 38-35 win.
No lead was safe against the No. 13 Mountaineers, who unleashed their vaunted rushing attack for 311 yards on the ground, and gashed the Jackets for another 131 yards and two touchdowns through the air on just 15 attempts, and nine completions.
Most people figured West Virginia was going to score. That offense is ridiculous. But who’d have predicted Tech’s defense couldn’t hold a 35-17 lead? “Mistakes and speed beat us, but I think without the mistakes the speed wouldn’t have been enough,” said middle linebacker Philip Wheeler.
The only other game this season in which the defense fell apart was Clemson, and that happened late, from the end of the third quarter on. The game plan was flawed in that one, stacking too many guys on the line so that once James Davis and C.J. Spiller broke the line, they were off to the races (or Spiller was left at the sideline to catch a pass and out-run everybody after a missed tackle).
Monday, I don’t think the game plan was flawed. I think WVU’s speed was a big problem, and Tech over-pursued often. Pat White made a big difference, and the Jackets did not prepare for fullback Owen Schmitt (13 carries, 109 yards, two touchdowns) to be such a big part of the offense, even with Steve Slaton hurt.
There’s no question in my mind when the game turned. After the teams traded touchdowns to start the second half, the score was 35-24, and West Virginia forced Tech into a three-and-punt. Whether the WVU fans sensed what was happening, or actually helped create the momentum change, Alltel Stadium was rocking as Tashard Choice was held to 1 yard on first down, Tech took a delay of game on second down, and then Tashard rushed for 3 yards.
A lot of WVU fans wore T-shirts saying, “Morgantown,” on the front, and “Where greatness is learned, and couches are burned,” on the back. It’s a tradition. They celebrate big, and as Taylor Bennett and Co. came to the line on third down, the Mountaineers were in gale-force party mode. Bet fires were starting in Morgantown. Bennett’s pass to Choice was good for just 2 yards, Durant Brooks got off one of his worst punts of the year (32 yards out of bounds), and the tide had turned. WVU players and coaches were hopping like they’d already won.
WVU went 2 yards, 20, 2, and completed a pass for 14. Then, a 5-yard rush, an incomplete pass to a receiver who was wide open in the end zone - as in completely uncovered - and a 14-yard touchdown to pull within 35-31.
Worse, the kickoff drilled Tony Clark in the leg, bounced off Sedric Griffin, and WVU recovered. It was meant to be a line-drive kick, but the result was not intended quite like Tech’s earlier on-sides kick. “Theirs was by design,” said WVU coach Rich Rodriguez. “Ours was luck.”
Tack on a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against Tech, a 5-yard run, and then White jitter-bugging 15 yards for the lead, and that was it.
The Jackets threatened a couple more times, but Chris Dunlap was bumped at about the 5-yard-line on Bennett’s only interception. Eight times out of 10, a flag gets thrown there. Don’t know if Dunlap would’ve caught the ball, but he’d have made a play on it.
Dunlap also blocked in the back, and Gailey later said he thought it was a fair call, to wipe out a huge third-down conversion in the red zone. It was a great check down to Choice by Bennett, the likes of which Tech fans have rarely seen.
Which brings me to the topic of quarterbacks. Bennett was way, way better than anybody could have predicted, and I don’t care that WVU had one of the nation’s worst pass defenses statistically. He bought himself time in the pocket by moving on numerous occasions, without running like Reggie Ball might have.
His recognition and pocket sense was very good, and the touchdown pass he threw to James Johnson was a laser - and a beautiful one at that. “It was a perfect, just over the cornerback and not high enough for the safety to get there,” James said. That, folks, was a big, big, big league throw.
Gailey said getting the tight ends involved was partly a function of Bennett’s height relative to Ball’s. “He can see the field a lot more, and we were able to use more of the field,” the coach said. “I thought Patrick [Nix] did a great job of adapting what we needed to do to the personnel that was available to us in this ball game. That fit things that Taylor did better.”
The lingering question is: Did Taylor fit Tech better, or rather would he have helped Tech adapt to certain situations down the stretch of the season when the rest of the team beyond the quarterback position played well enough to win?
Gailey was asked if had any second thoughts about not playing Bennett more during the season, obviously when Reggie struggled, most notably in the Clemson, North Carolina, Georgia and Wake Forest games.
Admittedly, the coach was put in a tough spot (and he’ll stay there in many minds), before he answered, “I think what happens is you evaluate each situation as you go through it each week. I would not have changed anything this year in that respect.”
Then again, how tough is that spot? Reggie’s gone for good.
I have great respect for Chan on a lot of levels, but that’s hard to swallow. At the college and pro levels, and sometimes others too, when the starting quarterback is struggling badly (more than just a little, that is), it’s not uncommon to go with a backup - provided you have a certain level of confidence in him, and don’t have some sort of unqualified commitment to the starter.
The Bears ran away with the NFC North this year, but late in the season Lovie Smith benched Rex Grossman in favor of Brian Griese. Jake Plummer led the Broncos to the AFC title game last year, had his best season ever, threw like 24 touchdowns and seven interceptions. But when he struggled this season, rookie Jay Cutler got the nod.
I know there are other circumstances in the Denver situation, like Plummer’s pending cap charge, and the possibility he’ll be jettisoned in part for that reason. Plus, Cutler was a first-round pick and the likely future for that team.
But you can always find mitigating circumstances to provide grounds to rationalize every decision made, or not made. Those are big-picture issues that don’t relate to taking the season game-by-game with the idea of doing whatever is possible to win that day.
And now, what about the greater body of evidence? On what grounds might coaches have not had sufficient confidence in Bennett to give him a run when Ball imploded over the last third of the season?
It is impossible to convince me that Bennett did not merit at least an opportunity (or three, or four) to jump-start the Jackets in several critical junctures late in the season. I’m talking about games after Gailey and Nix in October admitted (and I appreciated the candor) that Ball’s injuries beginning in the Maryland game diminished his effectiveness, thereby reducing playbook options (which apparently already were limited by Ball’s height) because his greatest skill, the ability to run, was squelched.
The unspoken but strongly insinuated sales pitch at the time was that Ball, even injured, gave Tech its best chance to win.
After the evidence we saw yesterday, who’s buying?
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