AJC > Sports > Tech > Blog > Archives > 2007 > February > 14 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USCrittenton ‘unreal’ in win at FSU
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sorry I didn’t blog yesterday. Travel nightmares (four delays, eventual flight change) — although at least nothing hit my plane.
If you didn’t get to see Tech’s game at Florida State, you missed something special. Javaris Crittenton was unreal with 10 of 17 shooting, 6 of 7 from the free throw line, a few of his shots going just before the shot clock. Quite a bit of that’s in the paper, though, and I have to catch another plane (I hope) so I’ll hit some other stuff.
• Whether it’s coaching adjustments or something else (or both), Tech’s second-half defense has been fantastic in the past four game (all wins). FSU hit 6 of 23 shots last night. UConn hit 10 of 35. N.C. State hit 6 of 18 (going 14 minutes without a field goal), and Clemson hit 12 of 33. That’s a combined 34 of 109 (31.2 percent). That’ll help.
• Last night’s plan with FSU point guard Toney Douglas injured, was to keep the ball out of senior forward Al Thornton’s hands. And why not? His average of 22.3 points per ACC game leads the league. It worked. He hit 1 of 2 shots in the first half, picked up his third and fourth fouls in the first 2:53 of the second (there were 44 fouls called in this game), and got hot very late to hit 4 of 7 in the second half.
“I think he and [BC’s Jared] Dudley are the two best players in the league, and I told our guys we just can’t allow him to get a touch because a double team just doesn’t matter to him right now; he’s blowing right through double teams and scoring,” coach Paul Hewitt said. “Our whole thing was to do anything we can to stop him from touching the ball.
“[Isiah] Swann got us with [23], but you’ve got to give something to get something. We gambled, I just feel a lot better not seeing the ball in Al Thornton’s hands. He’s a great player, one of the best players I’ve seen in my seven years here.”
• In the spirit of everybody pitching in, there may not have been any obvious efforts Tuesday night like D’Andre Bell and Alade Aminu of late, but while Anthony Morrow was making just 1 of 10 shots, he also was pulling seven rebounds.
• Also, while center Ra’Sean Dickey made a couple bad plays (that foul in the backcourt very late when the last thing Tech wanted to do was foul a team that leads the league with an 80.8 FT percentage), he scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds in 25 minutes despite being sick. “He had some stomach problems,” Hewitt said. “He was in and out of the game. There were a couple times he asked out. We tried to get him in there offensively.”
• Hewitt subbed as madly as ever. It was hard to keep track.
• The foul trouble hurt FSU more than Tech, what with Thornton’s problems. Plus, FSU’s other starting big, Uche Echefu, had four, and scored just 2 points with four rebounds in a mere 15 minutes.
• After Thornton’s rebound and stickback pulled FSU within 52-50 with 1:39 left, Tech made a lot of very solid plays (other than that foul). Crittenton made 5 of 6 free throws after that, Morrow 4 of 4. But what about Jeremis Smith hitting a shot clock-beating 3 pointer with 31 seconds left for a 57-50 lead?
• Although Mario West pumped his fist hard on the court when Crittenton rebounded FSU’s last miss, there was little or no obvious celebration. It was like they’d planned on winning this, whether that reaction was coached or not. “The environment is different,” in road games, West said. “I really think it’s just a mental block, nothing physical. We’ve always had a wonderful game plan, but we just don’t go out there and execute all the time.”
• Crittenton, in a four-game ACC losing streak that preceded this four-game winning streak, averaged 8.0 points on 23.9 percent shooting (11 of 46) with 2.5 rebounds, four assists, 4.3 turnovers, and 1.8 steals per game. In the win streak, he’s averaged 22.3 points on 55.5 percent shooting (30 of 54) with 5.5 rebounds
“The big thing for me now is to remind him to talk to his teammates because he’s the guy they are going to look to. I think they’re realizing he’s good enough to lead us,” Hewitt said. “He’s a freshman point guard. People talk about the great rookies in this league, and there are some, but I’m not sure anybody is in a tougher spot because of all he has to do for our team statistically but also as a point guard.”
Thaddeus Young (1 of 10 shooting) said, “He’s doing a much better job telling us what to do. Tonight was his night. He was making shots, and we told him to keep making them and he did.”
Tech’s off today so no news unless I can find something when I get back to Atlanta.
Permalink | Comments (14) | Post your comment | Categories: Basketball
Comments
By Matt Winkeljohn
February 14, 2007 12:44 PM | Link to this
Here’s the entire line on Crittenton in the past four games: he’s averaged 22.3 points on 55.5 percent shooting (30 of 54) with 5.5 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 3.8 turnovers and 3.3 steals per game.
By JC
February 14, 2007 02:41 PM | Link to this
If only Javaris can get over some of the Freshman mistakes by the ACC tourney he could be one of those big storylines. Could this team be like some of the great Tech teams? I remember that the Lethal Weapon 3 group had a three game midseason ACC losing streak. It truly is amazing how Tech consistently churns out these point guards…
By GT
February 14, 2007 03:23 PM | Link to this
Al Thornton reminds me of Jordan when he played with Carolina as a Soph. Nobody can equal MJ but this kid does that fake right and then left and the whole defense, all five guys fall down trying to guard him. Crittenton got under the basket for some rebounds last night. I can’t remember a point guard at Tech with his kind of jumps.
By antonio
February 14, 2007 04:28 PM | Link to this
great great great job jackets. when things were going bad this blog section was full. now that it has turned for the better no one has anything to say. the true fans are here regardless. next stop dUUUUUUUUke and i have total confidence that the fifth win in the bucket.
By Najeh Davenpoop
February 14, 2007 05:32 PM | Link to this
Great win for Tech… it would be even better if they can carry this momentum over and win at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Sunday.
By Darren
February 14, 2007 05:33 PM | Link to this
Since I live in Colorado I do not get to see many Tech games at all. I have to listen to the internet broadcast on 790. I knew there were going to be some growing pains this year, but it seems like they are starting to gel at the right time. Lets hope they keep it going and sweep Duke this year. I am really impressed with the intensity of the defense lately, and how they are just shutting teams down.
By No Bandwagon here
February 14, 2007 05:46 PM | Link to this
Tech is starting to gel together nicely. The ACC tourney will be as interesting as ever this year.
By GT4Life
February 14, 2007 07:53 PM | Link to this
Nice win by our Jackets finally getting that monkey off our back. Now if we can at least finish 3-2 i think we should be tourney bound. Go Jackets!
By GT4Life
February 14, 2007 07:54 PM | Link to this
Great win jackets putting an end to that road monkey
By No "reggie"
February 14, 2007 08:31 PM | Link to this
I was beginning to worry that Crittenton would be Hewitt’s version of Reggie, flashes of brilliance, but to mistake prone to be effective. The last 4 make me rethink that. Let’s hope that the switch stays on!
By ga_tech_92
February 14, 2007 08:50 PM | Link to this
Keep up the pressure Jackets! Great win!! Go show Duke who has more heart this year!!
By RDU GT
February 14, 2007 09:45 PM | Link to this
Can’t we make it through an entire blog without the mention of “Reggie”?
Confidence makes you a different ball player. Let’s hope it catches fire w/ Young and Morrow.
A win at Duke is stretching it b/c it’s “Duke” in Cameron where everything goes their way unless you are VaTech. Those Hokies have luck on their side this year. They are good, but also very lucky.
I’ll be in Durham for this matchup. Go Tech!!
By gtbaltfan
February 15, 2007 08:56 AM | Link to this
This is starting to be fun. When we beat Duke in January, I emailed Coach Hewitt, congratulated him and commented that I think Tech is a better team than Duke. After getting over that mid season stumble, I still think so. The other very positive is that this team is finishing games with strong D and high intensity, precisely the opposite of last years team that lost so many games with last five minute collapses. This team’s different and I am beginning to think they can beat anybody they play. A 3-2 finish gets them to 8-8 in the league and 20 wins. That ought to be enough. (Just think if we hadn’t lost to Miami and WFU!!!)
By GT Baby!!!
February 15, 2007 01:15 PM | Link to this
Yes very impressive the last couple of games..The last five are gonna be tough with at Duke(19-7),Wake Forest(12-13),at Virginia(18-8), #4 North Carolina (22-4),and #21 Boston College(18-7).
Combined records of 89-39..Good luck Tech