Tech

By Carolina Jacket

January 19, 2009 7:19 AM | Link to this

One or both of those guys had better improve in a hurry. But regardless of how they do, we will be seeing a whole lot of freshman time on the courts next year. Just hope they can jell as a team real quickly.

By UGA is so last year

January 19, 2009 7:47 AM | Link to this

Tech’s most glaring need is a NEW COACH you imbecile!!!!

By Willie Coyote

January 19, 2009 7:54 AM | Link to this

Next year is the best hope. With Lawal, Favors, Oliver, & Peacock making up the majority of the frontcourt roatation (with Sheehan, Deng, and others providing spot time), this team is poised for a good run next year.

By reebok

January 19, 2009 8:02 AM | Link to this

Good players are irrelevant when saddled with bad coaching. If the players stay, they’ll be an underachieving bunch of individuals. More likely, they’ll realize they are in a poor program and jump to the NBA early. Paul Hewitt has been coasting on that final four run for nearly a decade, we need coaching.

By Smydauf

January 19, 2009 8:59 AM | Link to this

Mo Miller will round into shape as he gets more time/ emperience this year. He showed great promise down the stretch last year and most people forget he split time with Causey. Ie, he wasn’t the primary ballhandler 100% of the time even last year.

Iman will be a better player as a result of this experience this year playing PG. Both Brian Oliver and BJ Elder had to play out of position at PG early in their careers and they (and we) were better ball handlers as a result.

This team is one win away from turning the corner. Despite rediculous turnover numbers and atrocious FT shooting we have been in a position to win all 4 ACC games. I would bet dollars to donuts that as soon as they finally figure out how to win one of these close games they’ll skyrocket. Confidence will soar. FT shooting will go up and TO’s will go down.

And we’re gonna be a helluva team next year. A turnaround similar to Wake Forrest this year.

By **n**

January 19, 2009 9:52 AM | Link to this

Until DRad fires the worst coach in the history of NCAA sports, Paul Hewitt. It doesn’t matter if Magic Johnson plays point guard, we will still lose. Time to call the Grey hound bus and get him out of here!!!

By GT

January 19, 2009 9:53 AM | Link to this

There is a relationship that a good coach forms with his point guard that is not there with Hewitt. Every ACC team begins and ends with point guards. We saw the disconnect last year in Hewitt when he didn’t quiet know how to use Matt Causey in his lineup. He would pull Causey to play Miller and in doing so the lead would slide and Tech would fall behind. He would then put Causey back in the game and we would pray the shooter hadn’t gotten cold. I have seen about every coach show favoritism to the players he recruited over the walk ons and other coach’s players before him, but to watch Hewitt last year was the first time I had picked up how bias he was about his own players. Cremins had a little of the same dilemma when he came to Tech with Brooks Steppe and actually made Steppe a better player in his one year coaching him. Steppe ended up being one of the first Tech players ever to go to the pros, a guard that lead the way to many, many great guards from Georgia Tech. There was and is a chemistry with Cremins and his guards that is lacking in Hewitt and his coolness. We saw that same coolness and aloofness with Gailey in the football program. I just never noticed it with Hewitt until last year. Coach K has the aloofness at Duke, yet he has a passion that is almost insanity during a game and his point guards banging on the floor reflexs this passion of us against the world. My advice to coaches is if you truly don’t love the kids you are coaching you are in the wrong business. When you see great coaches it makes you turn your head when the ones just there for the paycheck come along. We at Tech have seen several great coaches as we of the ACC have and they all love to coach their point guards, in Hewitt’s case I not sure he likes to coach at all.

By ga_tech_92

January 19, 2009 10:02 AM | Link to this

If we keep bringing in TRUE point guards, then we might have a shot over the years. Our problem is we don’t keep the position stacked deep with TRUE point guards. They don’t have to be 5 star guys, they just have to be true PG mentality guys.

By Rob

January 19, 2009 10:12 AM | Link to this

Hewitt is the problem.

By aw

January 19, 2009 10:20 AM | Link to this

Coach, You have an entire row of mastermines to help you in practice sessons and you canno0t teach the fundamentals of basketball. Hold on to the ball shoot free throws Is there any coaching camps in the off season you can attend? Call Mark Price, he will teach them how on free throws, matter of fact, why dont you leave and let Mark have the team, and by the way,the entire bench can go with you.

By ga_tech_92

January 19, 2009 10:21 AM | Link to this

Hewitt loves and recruits mainly 2,3,4,5’s it seems to me. I suggest that you can’t get the ball past 1, if 1 isn’t good enough to be the other team’s 1. Thus…the 2,3,4,5 can’t get fed.

By Red GA Dawg

January 19, 2009 10:23 AM | Link to this

Only saving grace for Hewitt is the worse team in Athens, I wonder if he and Felton have a pity party on Sundays? When will Big R make a change? If the state had a college basketball tournament neither Tech or GA would make a run. Favors recruitment may slow the ultimate decision, unfortunately if he is as projected it will be one and done and the team will still be in the lower end of ACC.

By GreenJacket

January 19, 2009 10:44 AM | Link to this

Is it just me or does it seem like there is no structure in the half court offense most of the time. The point guard needs to know where everyone is on a given play and the other players need to know how to move away from the ball when defense is tight. It seems like a bunch of confusion most of the time. When Tech has good ball movement ( does not happen enough) they get good looks.

By GT

January 19, 2009 10:46 AM | Link to this

Not a small group of Tech people wish Favors would take his favors somewhere else. This will just prelong this deadend program and leave it in more confusion next year. Players come to Tech because it is a ACC program in the middle of a big city. If Favors has to be a super star in waiting with the NBA what better place for it. He can hang with the NBA guys in town and otherwise not be a student just serving his sentence conveniently until he is allow to make the bling not unlike his coach.

By Navigator

January 19, 2009 11:19 AM | Link to this

This situation is not new, look at John Thompson at Georgetown. He had enormous success, but as the years went by his success dwindled. It took a while for Georgetown to cut him loose. They wen through some mediocre coaches until John’s own son came there with winning credentials, and now they’re back to being one of top teams each year. If David Braine had not sabotage Rad by signing Hewitt to a ridiculous long term contract, he wouldn’t be here today. David Braine should never and I mean never be welcomed back to Tech for even a visit.

By RAMBLE ON!!!

January 19, 2009 11:35 AM | Link to this

There is not one facet of the game of Basketball that we don’t stink in, just like last year, the year before, the year before that, etc…

It will stay this way till Hewitt leaves.

His top priority is being President of the Black Coaches Association, GT Basketball is 2nd.

Which of these are we paying him a million dollars a year for?

By UGA is so last year

January 19, 2009 12:08 PM | Link to this

He’ll be like Willingham was at Washington. Right before they fire him he’ll come out and say there aren’t enough black coaches in college sports! Well I say, hire a coach if he can coach - not because he is black.

I don’tr know about you but GT always does this to me. I am in an enormous high - we beat Georgia in football - then I come down real hard - bowl game disaster followed by awful basketball season. When will our school learn to keep its fan base on a prolonged high???

By Vomit

January 19, 2009 12:46 PM | Link to this

I love GT basketball with a passion since the early 80’s!!!! Sad what has happened with this program. You can make all the excuses in the world on why it is not the coaches fault……bottom line is wins and losses folks……especially in conference. Look at the declined interest in the program….see “empty seats” for Duke game!

I don’t care if they hire someone who is plaid!!! Just be able to freaking coach and develop a program the way Cremins did when he was here!

By AlabamaRamblinwreck

January 19, 2009 1:08 PM | Link to this

I continue to agree with most everyone blogging. The real problem is coaching. If the glaring problems on this team were not evident with just about every team Hewitt has coached the past 4 years, then it might be different. But they are, and he must go.

I used to get excited about GT basketball. Now I am just embarrassed for the team.

No more blogs about this year’s team and how it can be fixed until there is an acceptance by AJC that this coach is on his final leg. Where are the editorials regarding the poor coaching at GT? Is everyone afraid that it will not be politically correct enough? You must call it like it is, and the AJC seems to have trouble doing that right now.

Go Jackets!!

By BravesFan79

January 19, 2009 1:30 PM | Link to this

Steps to take for GT to be a dominate team next year: 1). Bring back at least one of the old assistants that left after 2004-5 season.

2). Udofia steping up and being a contribitior as a freshman, with low turnovers, allowing Shumpert to move to the SG position.

3). Bell coming back and giving this team that defensive intensity, and senior leadership.

We already know were going to have one of the best frontcourts IN THE NATION next year, so its all on the guard play!
We already have the ACC’s top rebounder in Lawal, add the top big man in the country in Favors to that, and our frontcourt will be hard to stop.

Favors is also a pretty decent foul shooter, so hopefully his confidence at the line will carryover to Lawal. With all the talent we have next year, i see no reason why we cant make a run for the final 4!! Go GT!

By CanHewitt

January 19, 2009 4:44 PM | Link to this

Wake up, everybody! Tech won’t have one of the best front court in the nation because Gani will be gone after this season. Early in the season he was projected to be top 10 pick. Now his stock plummeted to mid to late first round. You think he’d ruin his draft status even further by staying one more year with Hewitt? Unless Favors and the rest of great recruiting class come in and contribute big time right away next year’s Tech wouldn’t be as great as everyone thinks.

I used to like coach Hewitt. After that Final Four run and the fact he keeps bringing in star players, I believed we have the coach this school needed. But after disappointing season and season, I think a lot of people realized Hewitt isn’t such a good coach after all. This team has possibly 3 potential NBA talents. They should never lose to a team like UIC, UVA, UAL, NCST etc. They should’ve smoked them actually. What about 2 years ago when he had 4 players who are playing in the NBA now. They lost in firt round to Utah. If a team has talented players and underperform constantly, then it’s the coaching. There’s no other way around.

By Scott

January 19, 2009 6:04 PM | Link to this

Everything has been said in all the posts that can be said. Still, there is no action by the AD on this topic! Gosh, this team truly sucks! Its the worst form of basketball I have ever witnessed! I don’t see how Hewitt actually can sit there and with this pathetic excuse for a basketball program. The only thing that he knows about this game is how to call a timeout! Just quit Paul! Go back to Sienna or something.

By been here seen that

January 19, 2009 7:32 PM | Link to this

time for the big change….I have never seen weaker GT teams than the one’s he has floored the past few seasons….I dont even care to watch anymore

By BravesFan79

January 19, 2009 8:31 PM | Link to this

Can Hewitt: Actually GT lost to a underrated UNLV team, to a great coach with his son shooting LIGHTS OUT from 3! And we lost alot of games that year because Thad Young took STUPID shots and was a ball hog.
And hopefully Lawal will realize hes 2 raw for the NBA, and needs another year or 2 in college.

Trust me… if a pt guard steps up big for this team next year …weather it be Miller, or the Fresh from Decatur…. this will be a GOOD team!
As in top 15 in the country good.

By BravesFan79

January 19, 2009 8:35 PM | Link to this

been here seen that: i disagree, the GT teams that had Alvin Jones and Aikens were alot less talented than what we have now!
We have the talent…. now we just need some Better Assistant coaches to help with game planning and developing that talent!

By Bill

January 19, 2009 8:51 PM | Link to this

All you need to know is this. Paul Hewitt was OUT-COACHED by Sidney Lowe last Sat. Ask NC State fans what they think of Lowe and you will feel the impact of the statement. This is absolutely the low point for GT BBall since I have been following them in the 80’s. I usually try to watch every game but have given up watching this team play.

By gt4ever

January 21, 2009 7:57 AM | Link to this

Hey “n” are you related to “m”… Chill man, Coach Hewatt is the man for the job! He will turn things around…. GT basketball will be fine!