AJC > Sports > Tech > Blog > Archives > 2008 > February > 15
Friday, February 15, 2008
Baseball season almost here
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s a bit later than usual because of a new NCAA rule, but a week from today Danny Hall’s Yellow Jackets open their season. I went to baseball practice today and spoke with Hall and a few of the players. There’s a lot of optimism out there. Here are some of the reasons.
Friday and Saturday starters David Duncan and Eddie Burns are back, and Burns’ 2005 and 2006 shoulder surgery and rehab are now in the distant past.
Charlie Blackmon has been hitting lights-out. You are excused if you don’t know who he is; he was a pitcher last season and appeared in one game. He’s an outfielder now and might bat third.
Freshman Derek Dietrich has impressed his teammates at shortstop after sitting out the fall because of an injury.
There’s a freshman with the first name of Deck and another with the first name of Chase. You can’t beat that. It’s Deck McGuire, a pitcher from Richmond, and Chase Burnette, an outfielder from Buford.
Luke Murton is not only hitting but hitting to the opposite field.
I’ve lived in Georgia for six years now and found two things I can rely on from Georgia Tech sports: The football team always goes to a bowl game, and the baseball team always plays well. It might be tough for the football team to keep its streak going, but the baseball team looks good again (although it still might not finish in the top half of a strong-again ACC).
Permalink | Comments (14) | Post your comment | Categories: baseball
Jackets look gassed at Clemson
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gonna be brief here because it’s late, and I gotta drive back tonight. I’ll probably get home around 3:30, and that blows.
Nobody bit on my question after a horrible 82-67 loss at Clemson about the possibility of the Jackets suffering some sort of carryover from the final six-plus minutes last Saturday at UConn, but I’m sticking to my theory.
And in roundabout ways, Zack Peacock and Matt Causey confirmed it.
Coach Paul Hewitt said when asked, “I don’t think so. Three straight on the road is tough, against three quality opponents. Maybe a little worn down. I just give [Clemson] credit for coming off the game they came off of (double-overtime loss at North Carolina) having the energy they had.”
Yet Tech had one more day to come off its loss at UConn, and couldn’t summon the toughness to circumvent Clemson’s defensive game plan, which was to keep the ball out of the point guards’ hands.
When I asked Causey and Peacock the question, they said: “We need to come out with more energy. It starts in practice. Coach has been yelling at us all week that we weren’t giving the energy and effort, and it showed tonight. He was right.” — Causey
And Peacock: “It was just a lack of us wanting to play. I wouldn’t say it’s a carryover. “I got to agree with what Matt said [about the Jackets’ energy level in recent practices carrying over]. I guess we didn’t believe it, and it showed.”
But doesn’t this read like there was a carryover into practice this week, and, by extrapolation, into this game?
Two players notes:
Gani Lawal may lose more ground to Peacock. Lawal left Thursday’s game at Clemson with three fouls and no points with 8:55 left. He finished with six points and four rebounds (and four fouls) in just 13 minutes. Over the past three games, he has scored a total of 15 points (including two on one of six shooting in a loss at UConn) with nine rebounds.
Peacock may take a few too many 3-point shots, but he’s become one of the Jackets’ most dependable players. After scoring a team-high 12 points on four of five shooting at Clemson, he’s averaged 13.4 points over the previous five games with double figures in each. He’s also grabbed 26 rebounds, an average of 5.2, and made 25 of 51 shots. That includes four of 12 3-pointers. He’s averaging exactly 25 minutes per game over that stretch.
Gotta go.
I’m bushed, got a nasty drive, and a big day tomorrow.
Matt
.JPG)
-1.JPG)
Services »
