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Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Radakovich on Hewitt/View from Boston
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Good morning to all. I apologize in advance for doing such a long blog.
On this forum lately, there’s been a lot of grumbling, a lot of fans calling for CPH to be fired.
On Monday, I asked AD Dan Radakovich about CPH and the state of the basketball program:
“Coach Hewitt is our basketball coach and I don’t know how more definitively to say that. We look forward to him working through this with our players to turn around the season. We have yet to win an ACC game and nobody feels worse about that than the players and the coaches, and I have full faith it’s going to turn around.
I want to reiterate that Paul Hewitt is our basketball coach and I look forward to him being our basketball coach for years to come.”
Radakovich said he appreciates the input from fans, but added that decisions on a program’s future “don’t come from Internet chat rooms or email traffic.”
Here’s more of what Dan had to say:
“Paul Hewitt is a very good basketball coach. The games we’ve played in, we’ve played hard. We’ve had some unlucky breaks over the last few weeks. Things haven’t gone our way. I don’t see any lack of effort from the players or coach Hewitt. Basketball is a funny game, things can turn on a dime…Certainly we want to start that process on Tuesday night.”
I asked Dan if his opinion would change if Tech finished, say, 2-14 in the ACC.
“No, not at all. I want to be real emphatic that Paul Hewitt is our basketball coach, I have a lot of confidence in Paul. This year there have been some bad breaks starting with the injury to D’Andre Bell…Some of those things are out of the control of the head basketball coach, Moe (Miller) breaking his nose…My goodness, we haven’t been blown out in any of those games. Even given all of those circumstances, the team has been very, very competitive. There’s nobody walking around who’s more disappointed than Paul.
“I have a lot of confidence in him and the players, and that we’ll continue to improve throughout this season.”
Finally, Dan noted that Wake Forest, the nation’s new No. 1 team, finished 11th in the ACC two seasons ago.
“Basketball fortunes can turn quickly.”
I know that’s not what some of you want to hear, but there it is.
On to tonight’s 7 p.m. game at AMC. Both teams enter with zero momentum.
The Jackets (9-8, 0-4) have lost three straight, while Boston College (13-6, 1-3) has dropped four in a row since upsetting North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
B.C. is led by senior guard Tyrese Rice, who ranks 5th in the ACC in scoring (17.6 points).
The Eagles are pretty good offensively — they rank 2nd in the ACC in assists and 5th in scoring — but they’re not strong defensively. They’re giving up 69.4 points per game, 10th in the ACC.
Jerry Spar, the B.C. beat writer for the Boston Herald, answered three questions about the matchup:
What’s happened to B.C. since the 85-78 win at UNC on Jan. 4?
It has become apparent that the upset of North Carolina was an aberration. The Eagles have reverted to the team that was picked to finish 11th in the ACC and had trouble putting away far less superior talent in December. Against UNC, everything clicked. They hit some incredible shots, they were fired up and played by far their best game of the season. Since then, they have struggled to find the same rhythm.
Swingman Rakim Sanders was a sparkplug vs. UNC — with his scoring, defense and overall energy — and teams have focused on keeping him under wraps since then. After scoring 22 vs. the Heels, Sanders has scored 7 (Harvard), 18 (Miami), 4 (Wake) and 14 (Virginia Tech). And in his last two games, Sanders is 2-for-11 on 3-pointers. That limits BC’s options, and there aren’t that many left.
What makes Tyrese Rice so tough to stop?
Tyrese Rice is that type of player who, when nothing else is working, can find a way to create some offense. He can drive, he can dish and he can drill the 3-pointer, so you can’t slack off anywhere on him. He’s lightning-quick and changes speeds very well. The main criticism of him is that he doesn’t always go hard or he takes some plays off, mainly on defense. But considering how much of a burden he has to spark the offense, his all-around numbers are that much more impressive.
Can B.C. handle Tech’s inside strength?
After playing well against inferior competition prior to the ACC season, Joe Trapani (6-8 forward) has been inconsistent. He has been overmatched on defense — not big enough to defend the post and not quick enough to get out on the wing. Offensively, he scored a career-high 23 points Saturday at Virginia Tech and he had impressive spurts, but he hasn’t been as reliable vs. ACC opponents.
Corey Raji, a 6-6 forward who is coming back from a groin pull, is solid, and the key is 6-10 center Josh Southern, their only true post man with length. If he can be a defensive presence — he has shown occasional flashes — it gives the Eagles a much better chance.
So which team ends its skid tonight?
