Tech

By ArkyTech

December 19, 2007 12:40 AM | Link to this

We’ve seen this before over the past 3 years - moral victories sandwiched between bad losses.

By yellowblood

December 19, 2007 7:20 AM | Link to this

Our guys are simply to tight. We seem tenative and make horrible decisions. Our players need more Tickle Piles to relax them.

By Jamal

December 19, 2007 7:40 AM | Link to this

Well, We almost beat them. That is always our response, right?

By I hate lazy passes!

December 19, 2007 9:20 AM | Link to this

!

By Dog Pile

December 19, 2007 9:38 AM | Link to this

yellowblood,

You are not funny anymore. Actually you never were.

Here is a nugget for you though, you can go back to the UGA blog and make all the post’s you want about their dog piles. Yes, UGA has taken over the tradition and the big one, to be led by the best QB Richt has ever coached, Mr. Stafford himself, will be held April 26 & 27, 2008, same location as last year. More will follow I am sure. Dogs won’t want to miss it. There will also be a keg lifting competition again so be practicing up.

Here are some pictures of last year’s event:

http://deepsouthsports.blogspot.com/2007/05/talledega-days.html

By the way, the exclusion of Blake Barnes from last year’s event is probably why he is leaving UGA to go to Delta State. I am hearing that Stafford is making sure that everyone is invited from the team this year…..

Dog Piles Forever!!!

By STRETCH

December 19, 2007 9:42 AM | Link to this

Its the same thing EVERY year with this team.

1. They cant keep anybody past their Freshman year. I blame that on the NBA, NCAA and who ever makes all these overning decisions.

2. Paul Hewitt has NO idea of whats going on half of the time.

3. Last night was the worst coverage of an NCAA game ive ever seen by ESPN. I mean what was that crew doing last night? NO replays??? I saw more than a few questionable calls last night, but since ESPN was trying to hurry the game, i guess those 3-5 second replays were holding em up for the KU/Houston game..go figure!

4. They had 9 blocked shots to GT’s 0..ARE YOU KIDDING??? And most of thats due to the fact that there is absoloutely NO DISCIPLINE or SELF CONTROL on offense and Paul Hewitt just lets them run down, throw up shots without looking at the basket!

Heck, they missed two UNCONTESTED layups in the second half and then they didnt even get a chance to tie the game at the end due to clumsiness, the kinda clumsy play by the guards ALL GAME!

By fred

December 19, 2007 10:07 AM | Link to this

One more time:we have not had a point guard or quarterback (BB or FB) for 7-8 years.

That’s all I got——————-

By ND

December 19, 2007 10:10 AM | Link to this

Why were Smith and Peacock in at the end? Someone explain please.

By noel malone

December 19, 2007 10:19 AM | Link to this

Tech has some good players, but no outstanding players, and no team chemistry.

By GT80

December 19, 2007 10:45 AM | Link to this

Stretch, I was at the game. They had 9 blocks to our 0 because their bigs are bigger than ours, much bigger. We’re playing a freshman (Lawal) and sophmore (Peacock) and an undersized senior (Smith) at power forward. We have no true center.

But our real problem is we have no elite point guard. Causey is our best real PG, but he can’t seem to stay away from silly fouls and keep himself in the game. Actually, he’s just not good enough on D and picks up fouls because of this. Miller is a freshman and average at best. D Bell is a defensive wing man being forced into playing point. We got trapped repeatedly and could not get into our offensive easily most of the game.

Our two best players are clearly Clinch and Morrow. Coach has got to figure out how to get the ball into thier hands earlier on possessions and let them do their thing.

Now Matt, if we had played the entire game with the intensity shown in the last 5 minutes of the game it might not have come down to a bumbled play with 8 seconds trying to get a 3 to tie.

As for the last play, all I can say is WTF. I think Hewitt over coached himself, thinking they would press so instead of just inbounding to our PG we tried some misdirection. WTF.

By BuzzMe

December 19, 2007 11:02 AM | Link to this

I just heard PJ just bought a new townhome in Boise! Coach is quoted as saying “due to our frequent visits to the Blue Turf, I really wanted a place to stay. This is just another sign of how committed we are to building a top-teer program. I spoke with Drad about adding some additional degree programs also. We will soon be offering Crack Pipe Engineering and Inner City Panhandling Studies to our curriculum for our world class student athletes.” Man I can’t wait till next years football season! Does anyone know when the Family Pack promotion will begin this year? Four tickets and four hotdogs are calling my name!!!

By GT

December 19, 2007 11:11 AM | Link to this

You had to miss Bobby Cremins last night. First of all we had so many great point guards we took them for granted. Secondly he seemed to pull those last minute games out with some consistent magic that Hewitt doesn’t have. I like Hewitt and can remember when the YMCA had better basketball than Tech, but a game like last night was made for a coach like Cremins.

By GT55

December 19, 2007 12:46 PM | Link to this

Please make this Hewitts last year. I can’t take it anymore.

By ben

December 19, 2007 12:49 PM | Link to this

I think one of our real problems is that despite the hype, Dickey, Morrow, and Smith are no better than good Jr. College players. And although I have seen the beauty of running 10-12 players out there in the old Arkansas or Kentucky “40 minutes of hell” defensive strategy, it makes no sense to have 5 guys out there for 20 minutes that are overshadowed by the other 5 in talent. Cremins knew he couldn’t recruit 10 players as good as UNC or Duke, but he could recruit 3 or 4, and he left them on the court for 40 minutes. That’s why he lost some big games, but it at least gave us a chance. Hewitt, you are playing in the ACC, not the WAC, and you need your best 5 on the court at all times. Just one man’s opinion.

By Been Tell Y'all

December 19, 2007 2:36 PM | Link to this

I have told y’all for months now that Hewitt needs to go. After all the players Cremins recruited left town the teams that Hewitt has put on the floor have been less than mediocre and totally unexciting. He recruits one and done players and just hopes that the talent can overcome his cluelessness as a coach. Should have kept Gailey and let him coach roundball couldn’t have been any worse.

By William

December 19, 2007 3:37 PM | Link to this

If we held Paul to the same standard as Chan he would be coaching elsewhere.

By hedgepuller

December 19, 2007 4:17 PM | Link to this

Fire Paul Hewitt. He is an average black guy. Hire a young turk who will sleep in his car to recruit the glass eating big men and hustlers needed to win in the ACC. This guy is like watching paint dry. His guys do not play smart and they do not bust it on every play.

By bill

December 19, 2007 5:27 PM | Link to this

can’t believe the racial crap is still here. Who gives a Sh@t if the coach is purple skin as long as he can coach??? As far as playing 5 guys, that’s pretty dumb , too. The college game is much different than 1985 or 1995. Do you remember Bobby’s last few years?? I love the man, but his last few teams struggled to compete. Unless Hewitt can convince the blue chip kids to stay 2-3 years, he will have to motivate kids with talent levels of good kids like Elder, McHenry , Ish etc to play beyond their talent level. None of those Final 4 kids, save Jack, were NBA talents. Bosh was gone and Luke developed. The kids here, for whatever the reason, are not sure on where they are supposed to be on the court. This is either kids who don’t get the system or coaching. Hewitt doesn’t have the fire like he had a few years back,maybe because he knows what deck he has. You can’t play 5-6 kids today for 40 minutes because the game is different. THey will foul out 3-4 every game. But Hewitt has to find a way to salvage this season. They are not awful, but a win over Kansas would have been a miracle last night. BTW…ease up on Smith. he works as hard as anyone with what talent he has. Others have to step up…Morrow has to learn to get open and create his own shots. God, he’s a Sr and still doesn’t work hard enough. I’ll give you this, Hewitt’s decisions this year are curious much too often.

By Tank

December 19, 2007 7:47 PM | Link to this

Bottom line… We dont have a point guard. Deandre gives you nothing in terms of creating shots for teammates. Caussy os good but to small. He needs to look for his shot earlier in the game to take up for Morrrow missing in action.

Hewitts substitution pattern is the cause for the kids being tight. Plus we have no post game without dickey. You dont have an inside out game with the outher guys and it becomes a black hole when you drop it into Lawal and Peacock.

No floor leadership and they just started talking on defense. You have to go to your bench and pressure a team like Kansas to death. Cant allow them to get into a flow. Period

By Dadgum

December 19, 2007 9:18 PM | Link to this

Make college players stay for 3 years then get back to me. GT is a sub.500 team mainly due to losing two players to the NBA that quite frankly were not ready for that level. Hewitt is in a hole filling those scholarships with players that haven’t made Tech their first choice. It’s tough. Tech is in for a tough road ahead no question.

By Bill

December 19, 2007 10:14 PM | Link to this

Quote from Paul Hewitt after last night’s game; “The idea was for him to hit Matt streaking down the middle, Morrow was streaking down the far left hoping that if [Causey] got into the open court he could draw Morrow’s man for an open shot. Both the pass and the cut were tentative, and that’s a lack of practice.”

What??? A lack of practice?? How long have they been together now?? Lack of practice?? You have got to be kidding me. Do you not anicipate that that some ACC games may come down to the final 10 seconds.

By Wrecker1

December 19, 2007 11:14 PM | Link to this

This team has a myriad of problems. Some of these problems are coaching or lack there of and some are just a lack of talent or not using the talent correctly. First I don’t buy the reasoning that the players are tight. Why should they be tight? They know they’re getting playing time no matter what they do. If they were being jerked out after every mistake then they would have reason to play tight. Hewitt needs to make people earn playing time and I haven’t seen that in the entire time he’s been at TECH. He came in with a philosophy of playing a lot of people which is great if they earn it but TECH doesn’t play a fast paced high octane game so playing about 8 should suffice. Secondly how many times have I seen TECH get beat off the dribble this year. I watch and can’t figure out what TECH’s defensive philosophy/strategy is. When an opponent can go from the 3 point line for an uncontested lay up there is a problem. That’s either lack of effort (team/individual) or poor coaching. If it’s effort, get those people out. If it’s coaching change the strategy/philosophy. I really have no idea what TECH does on offense. Last night they ran some really good screen stuff on out bounds plays but I never see any of that employed in the half court offense. The half court offense seems to focus too much on one on one match ups and we don’t seem to have a team with defined roles offensively. Smith plays hard but if I see him put up another 3 pointer or try to drive from 18 feet out I’m going to throw something through the TV screen. I don’t see any high/low play with our post players. We don’t have a great point but the games I’ve seen we struggle on offense and I believe Causey gives us the best chance to be more productive offensively. Lastly, as much as we struggle offensively, I wish we would push the ball more in offensive transition. Instead we seem content on walking it up and playing half court offense.

By Wrecker1

December 19, 2007 11:25 PM | Link to this

Three thoughts on the last play with 9 seconds to go last night. First, in his post game comments Hewitt said it would have been nice to have a TO in that situation. Kansas took a TO so that reasoning is bogus. Secondly I question the strategy that Morrow’s defender would leave him to help out on Causey. If I’m Kansas, Morrow and Clinch aren’t going to beat me and I’ll take my chances with the rest. The third point is I think too much is made of Hewitt’s comment about a lack of practice on the last play. I don’t even think he should have said that. Many times in basketball you have to go with a play that is a response to what a team has done to you over the course of the game or what you expect that team to do. That’s exactly why coaches have clip boards on the bench to diagram plays in just those type situations.

By T-Bone

December 20, 2007 11:42 AM | Link to this

First of all, fred, do the names Tony Akins, Jarrett Jack, or Javaris Crittenton mean anything to you? Secondly, Tech is struggling for two reasons: 1. No point guard, and 2. No interior scoring. Clinch is good enough to get his own shot, but Morrow has always been a standstill jump shooter. Without Crittenton, Young, or Dickey to get attention, he can’t get his shot off. Basically, we’re left with one consistent offensive player. That’s not going to get it done in the ACC. Somehow, someway, regulars not named Clinch have to chip in 7-12 because he’ll consistently get 18-20. This year could be really interesting, though. The last eight minutes of the Kansas game showed that we can really cause problems for people. We just need consistency from the point and the non-Clinch players to step up.

By Bill

December 21, 2007 1:21 PM | Link to this

Wouldn’t use Dickey as a reason. Hope you recall how productive he was last year. He loses his starting spot to an incoming frosh, Peacock, gets it back, plays light out vs Fla St and Duke and disappears the rest of the seasom. Remember that Aminu was on the court for crunch time vs Wake in the ACC and the NCaa’s. Not Dickey. Aminu has been in Hewiit;s odghouse, again, and he is the only real “size” option Hewitt has. Sheehan didn’t get a sniff vs Kansas. He is playing better, but Hewitt wouldn’t even trust him..yet..to get a few minutes vs Kansas’ Kahn. His size would have helped if ready. Aminu has regressed. This is coaching in this case. Clinch has not only carried the scoring the last few games, he is doing something he never used to do…play good “D”. Smith is what he is and that is not a bad thing. But we have to have Peacock, Morrow and Aminu score with more frequency. Otherwise, a 5-11 ACC beckons.

By Dawgsqeeze

December 22, 2007 11:40 AM | Link to this

BUZZME: I love the chance to respond to Dawgsmack like yours. Your nonexistent basketball program is almost as infamous as your underachieving football team. Never has so much accomplished so little as the UGA recruiting machine. How is this possible ? UGA wants a national champ so bad they just go ahead and convince themselves that they are nat champs. Please let me know where I can buy your Koolaid.

By Charlotte Jacket

December 23, 2007 8:22 PM | Link to this

Coach Hewitt, I’m still on board with you.

I’m very disappointed with the losses to UNCG and Winthrop and the blowout at Vandy, but the Indiana and Kansas games were tough, close contests. I was proud of the fight in our team in the last five minutes of the KU game. That experience will be a big help in the ACC season, and that’s where you make your NCAA resume: a winning record in the ACC.

If we held CPH to the standards we held CCG to, CPH would have another contract extension: -Played for a National Championship (2004 Final Four) -Beats Georgia (although only at home - can we get a win in Athens this year?) -Beats UNC and Dook (both last year in ATL among others)

All of this happens without any academic controversy, police blotter activity, or routine player dismissals. We have exciting wins, a full house without hot-dog offers, and a clean program.

Thanks for your efforts out there, Coach. Maybe we’ll save a timeout for the last-minute shot during ACC season? :-)

Go Jackets!

By WPinAz

December 24, 2007 11:55 AM | Link to this

Poor coaching….poor coaching…..poor coaching.. I’ve said it all here before. The BB program is trending downward. We DO NOT have ACC caliber talent. PERIOD. Even when we did, Hewitt couldn’t figure out what to do with it? (see BOSH, CRITT) Our best option is Clinch. Other than that…..? Dickey/Smith/Morrow haven’t done a thing since they got here. They would rule the MEAC, or the SWAC, or the Colonial Conference, or maybe the Ivey League? But they are simply over matched in BIG TIME college basketball. FREDERICK was probably the best of that class, but Hewitt ran him off because he didn’t know what to do with him. (he’s playing rather well for USC I’ve noticed so far this season?) Hewitt recruited these guys, and if he can’t coach them or motivate them, then what? Maybe he has? Maybe, this is as good as it gets? After all….they are SENIORS? This trend is continuing. (see MILLER, SHEEHAN, AMINU, CAUSEY) If Causey is the best PG WE HAVE, we will get embarrassed nightly in ACC play. The way KU exposed our lack of guard play with the press, will be the blue print for all. It will be painful to watch. Maybe SHUMPERT will help next season. But without any real PLAYERS inside to help him, he may well transfer out also.

I’m convinced Hewitt simply can not coach or recruit at this level. I beleive it’s called the Peter Principal. He’s reached his level of incompetance in the ACC. We need a new coach, and a couple more years of patience for him to get his players and system on board. In the mean time, it will just be painful to watch. Nothing will change.