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Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Extra BBall notes
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Football blog to come Wednesday morning. Wanna unload some hoops nuggets, leftovers from the Paradise Jam:
Matt Causey was a dead-eye shooter Monday night, when his three 3-pointers in the final 4:48 helped Georgia Tech overcome a nine-point deficit to beat Notre Dame. His long ball with 2 seconds left was dead on. A few days earlier, one might have predicted that if the Yellow Jackets were to depend on the senior’s shooting, they’d be dead ducks.
Causey made just 3 of 14 shots in the Jackets’ first three games of the season, and 1 of 5 3-pointers. He started Tech’s first game in the Paradise Jam because Maurice Miller has a bad back. But after he made 2 of 6 shots in a win over Charlotte, and D’Andre Bell played well, Bell started the final two games.
That didn’t stop Causey from making 4 of 7 shots against Notre Dame, and 7 of 12 in the past two, when he made 5 of 9 3-pointers. “He’s probably just shaking some of that rust off,” Hewitt said of a player who sat out last season after transferring from North Georgia. “He hasn’t looked good shooting the basketball, but as he gets in better shape, gets in game shape … we thought coming into the year he could be a good shooter.”
When Causey sat out last season because of transferring, at least once Hewitt stopped practice and asked players if anybody was going to guard the 6-foot point guard when he went on a 3-point shooting tear.
Miller, who injured his back in practice Thursday, is likely to be back for Tech’s next game, Tuesday at Indiana. Sophomore center/forward Zack Peacock, who hasn’t practiced or played for three weeks with a sore right foot that team officials were concerned might become a fracture, may return to practice soon.
Jeremis Smith passed to Causey for two of his 3-pointers, and for the second game in a row whipped a pass from the top of the key to the point guard as he slashed the baseline. Both resulted in baskets.
There’s chemistry there, borne of the fact that in summer pickup games they almost always were on the same team. “Me and Matt have always had this kind of connection since he got here last summer,” Smith said. “Sometimes, we make eye-to-eye contact, and he’ll throw me a lob every now and then.”
Two seconds never took longer than the last couple clicks Monday, when the Irish got off a much better final shot than they had a right to. Notre Dame called a time out after Causey’s shot.
Hewitt then had the long-armed 6-foot-9 Mouhammed Faye defend Notre Dame’s Rob Kurz under the basket on the inbound pass. Irish coach Mike Brey called another timeout. Then, Faye again defended Kurz.
Notre Dame center Luke Harangody moved to screen Faye as Kurz ran laterally to get open along the baseline. During the timeout, Tech coaches had told the Jackets to expect this, and Alade Aminu was assigned to follow Kurz if Faye was blocked out, which he was, and get his arms up.
Aminu, though, feinted in that direction, and then turned inexplicably up court to run before the ball was passed. Kurz threw cross-court from right to left, and hit point guard Tory Jackson across midcourt. Tech’s Anthony Morrow was in decent position, but as Jackson had to turn his back to the basket to catch the pass, Morrow gave a little space so as not to foul.
Notre Dame called timeout with 1.4 seconds left (the clock didn’t start until it hit Jackson’s hands). “We knew they were going to set that screen, and Alade ran away and gave Kurz a chance to throw that ball uncontested,” Hewitt said. “Kurz’s eyes got real big. It’s like a quarterback in the pocket with time to throw; it’s a lot easier to make that pass when you don’t have hands in your face.”
After the third timeout, Notre Dame in-bounded from in front of its bench to guard Kyle McAlarney, who was about 24 feet from the goal. He double-pumped, shot, and the ball rolled around and then out. Hewitt said, “We thought they would try to lob the ball inside.”
Harangody had scored 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, but he and wasn’t the only one battling in the paint. Smith worked his tail off, scoring 12 points, grabbing 13 rebounds, adding five assists and four steals and a blocked shot.
In the final 5:11, as the Jackets overcame a nine-point deficit, he took a charge and hit both free throws, assisted Causey on two of his three 3-pointers and Lewis Clinch on one of his two, and added a steal.
It was nothing new. Smith has played all-out all season. He’s averaging 12.2 points, 4 assists (just behind Causey’s team-leading 4.2), a team-high 7.6 rebounds and leads the Jackets with 10 steals and four blocks. “Sunday’s game, we watched [on tape], and he was unbelievable,” Hewitt said. “He had 10 rebounds, seven deflections, was taking charges. That’s exactly what we challenged everybody to do. We said match his energy level regardless of whether it’s a good play or a bad play.”
Smith’s been helpful in tutoring young post men Brad Sheehan and Gani Lawal, but the example he’s been setting might work against them. Both players have been tentative, and Lawal had just 1 point, 1 rebound, and 1 assist in 17 minutes Monday. “Against that big, strong team to get 13 rebounds [like Smith], that says an awful lot,” Hewitt said. “Now, I’m waiting for Alade, Gani and Brad for that matter to start joining him on the boards.
“Those guys need to look over their shoulders because when Zack Peacock comes back healthy, and if Ra’Sean Dickey [academically ineligible) makes it back, it could change the complexion of this team.”
Tech didn’t win this tournament, but without the starting point guard, Peacock and Dickey, the Jackets won two of three. “Playing three games like this is like being in a laboratory; you learn a lot,” Hewitt said. “I’m really looking forward to us becoming a cohesive defensive unit because we’ll score. If we become a cohesive defensive, rebounding team, I think we can change the minds of a lot of people about our team.”
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Traveling’s always good for these Techsters
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I have a few minutes in San Juan before catching another flight to Atlanta.
Some thoughts from the Carribean, where several dozen Georgia Tech fans appeared to have a good time over the past several days at the Paradise Jam, including world traveler, global innovator and dancer extraordinaire David Dacus, ME ‘99.
I met David, who went to Eagles Landing High School, last year when the Yellow Jackets played in Maui. He’s a Tech fan, to be sure, but even moreso a traveler. He meets a few times a year with a former classmate, Simit Shah, who now works at CNN, at out of town Tech events (like NCAA tournament games, bowls, etc.). On this occasion they were joined by other former classmates — Brian and Anne Fitzpatrick and Matthew Marcinek, who came in from Atlanta and Cleveland, respectively.
This tournament had the unique format of giving every team a day off, either Saturday or Sunday depending on whether the team won or lost on Friday. That was a great thing for players, some of whom went snorkeling Saturday, and fans, who did a lot of different things.
The aforementioned clan went on a small cruise of sorts, on a fairly small and personal boat with food, drinks, and a stop for snorkeling. They said they had a great time.
But the highlight of their trip, at least for me, came at halftime of Friday’s win over Charlotte. David and Brian were selected from the crowd to participate in some sort of on-court event. It was hard to tell what was going on, but I was interested enough to skip a trip to the media room, where delicious snacks abounded. Wow, they had Chex Mix, and granola bars, Fruit Roll-ups (until Shah got hold of them), and — can you believe the joy? — Bugles.
Man, Bugles are … some sort of snack. I had a few (later) for the first time in, oh, maybe my life, and, well, I don’t wanna get sued. So enough on Bugles.
Eventually, this became some sort of dancing contest, although I’m not sure Brian participated in that. Maybe he did and I missed it while doubled over laughing.
David … dude’s got moves! I may be mistaken, but Dacus — who moved to San Francisco shortly after graduation, got a job, eventually became a businessman, and now spends most of his semi-retired (seriously) time either in Tokyo or trotting around the globe — appeared to have the ability to loosen his joints, or somehow bypass their normal function. Most mortals would’ve snapped bones attempting that routine.
We’re talking about an eclectic guy, who does not hide his disdain for $1 bills, loathes the fact that ATMs use $20 bills as their default, and generally does not afford consideration for wasted energy or time.
He was like Gumby in sandals while on four cans of Red Bull! This was not wasted motion, for it was all energy spent in pursuit of fun. Judging from the sight of his friends, including Shah gasping for air, it was a huge success.
Anne Fitzpatrick e-mailed me a photo of the epic shimmy-shake, and I’ve forwarded it to the office in the hope they can post it with this blog. We’ll see about that.
As for the Virgin Islands … the pace is very slow (which is not all bad), traffic is horrible (at least on St. Thomas), the cabbies have a monopolistic hold (and many are crooked, ignoring posted ride rates, and foul), the roads are narrow and in poor shape, they drive on the wrong side of the road, and it’s … just … not … Maui. St. Thomas is not much of a beach island, actually, which wasn’t a problem for me on this trip. I got in the water twice, once for about five minutes, the other time for 10. The water is very warm.
And the basketball team? Lukewarm.
I think the Jackets grew some here. With solid point guard play in games one and three, they won. Without it in game two, when they also were bad at a lot of little things, they lost.
Causey’s shooting stroke is obviously coming around, Bell is getting more comfortable, but Moe Miller’s return will be welcome. So, too, will that of Peacock, and, presumably, Dickey.
Brad Sheehan needs to be more assertive in everything he does, Lawal needs to re-discover the intensity that made him a McDonald’s All-America player, and Lewis Clinch needs to take a few more shots per game.
I still think the talent’s there to have a pretty good season. It’ll come down to defense and point-guard play.
Win a lot or not, the Tech travelers will always have a good time when they hook up. They’re already lobbying for a future trip to Puerto Rico.
Me, I’m really looking forward to getting home and seeing my family.
I trust that Mike Knobler will have a football blog for you later today. If not, please save your tomatoes for the Georgia Bulldogs, and don’t waste them on me. I hate tomatoes.
Matt
