AJC > Sports > Tech > Blog > Archives > 2009 > January
January 2009
The view from Winston-Salem
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Got a couple things for you.
First, I asked Charlotte Observer writer Ron Green Jr. to give his take on Wake Forest, the No. 6 team in the country that plays Tech Saturday at Alexander Memorial Coliseum. The Demon Deacons are led by sophomore Jeff Teague, who is second in the ACC in scoring with 20.9 points per game.
Q: After having beaten No. 1 Duke Wednesday in an emotionally draining game, will Wake possibly be a little flat for Tech?
A: Despite the emotional investment in their victory over top-ranked Duke Wednesday night, don’t expect the Deacons to be flat against the Yellow Jackets. It was apparent in their homecourt loss to Virginia Tech 10 days ago that the Deacons weren’t as sharp or focused as they had been. In the week off before playing Duke, they were able to sharpen some things and get re-focused. They’re not likely to slip much in Atlanta.
Q: What’s the best way to defend Jeff Teague?
A: Obviously, stopping Jeff Teague isn’t easy because of his talent, his quickness and his confidence. To contain him, it’s critical to cut down his driving lanes. Teague likes to attack the basket with the ball so closing off the lane forces him to different areas on the floor. However, he’s so quick, as is backcourt mate Ish Smith, staying in front of Teague is difficult to do.
Q: Wake Forest leads the ACC in both field goal percentage defense and three-point field goal percentage defense. What are the Deacons doing to cause such problems?
A: Just a couple of years ago, the Deacons were a defensive mess but since adopting the ‘pack-line defense’ favored by Washington State coach Dick Bennett, they’ve been much more effective. They don’t press much but aggressively guard the ball with perimeter players regularly double-teaming. Their size along the front line, particularly if seven-foot center Chas McFarland can stay out of foul trouble, makes team look for baskets on the perimeter, which is precisely what the Deacons are trying to do.”
Also, I asked Paul Hewitt about Georgia coach Dennis Felton’s dimissal. His thoughts:
“Obviously, you feel bad for him because he’s a coach, but I’m sure Dennis will be the first to tell you, just like we all know, that’s the business we’ve chosen. It‘s interesting that here we are in college sports, and more and more, the trend now is that it’s almost like we’ve become pro sports. They release coaches during the season. That almost never happened (before). Dennis is a very good coach. He’s had some tough breaks there. He’ll be back coaching soon. He’ll have a job soon.”
What do you think about Saturday?
Permalink | Comments (29) | Post your comment |
An update from Jonathan Dwyer
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I spoke with Jonathan Dwyer Wednesday afternoon, after he had gone to the state Capitol to receive a resolution from the House and Senate commending him for winning the ACC player of the year award.
He offered some tidbits about what’s going on with the team in offseason conditioning.
1) The team is motivated to prove it isn’t a one-year fluke.
“We feed off that. We’ve got a lot of guys coming back, so we’ve got that to our advantage.”
2) Dwyer is in a workout group with, among others, safety Morgan Burnett, quarterback Josh Nesbitt, linebacker Brad Jefferson, B-back Anthony Allen and safety Dominique Reese.
“We try to motivate each other to work out. Sometimes you get tired after awhile working out. That’s what it’s all about - you try to get better, you try to push each other to the best of our abilities.”
3) While the first offseason strength and conditioning program under Paul Johnson was a shock to a lot of players, it’s gotten tougher this year.
“I think they’ve picked it up a notch. It’s more up pace. … We know we all have the same goal of getting better, of trying to be a national-caliber team and winning the ACC next year. Knowing that we have to work hard and do all that to get to that level, then that’s what we’re willing to do.”
4) Dwyer wants to improve his initial quickness.
“I know I have decent breakaway speed and whatnot, (but) I know that my first couple steps can be better. That’s what I’m working on now, to try to get quicker and be able to add more agility to my game.”
5) Dwyer met with Johnson and position coach Brian Bohannon to review some film from the season. Consistency of effort and blocking are two ways the coaches and Dwyer want him to get better, something we wrote about before the Chick-fil-A Bowl.
The goals are “to improve and try to be able to go every play. Hopefully this year, I’ll have Anthony Allen to help me out and other guys, so hopefully the backs will be a whole lot fresher, so everybody won’t be as beat up as much. … (The other goal is) working on blocking techniques and to be more consistent.”
Permalink | Comments (94) | Post your comment |
On Gani Lawal
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I spoke Tuesday with Gani Lawal for today’s story and afterwards asked him a little about how he has been playing.
While Tech is clearly having problems, it’s worth nothing that he is having a pretty strong individual season. Lawal is 11th in scoring in the ACC at 15.6 points per game, first in rebounding 10.4 ppg and first in field-goal percentage (.556). He has had double-doubles in five of Tech’s six ACC games, and 12 total. If he keeps his averages, he would become, as best I could tell, only the ninth player in Tech history to average a double-double for the season but just the third since 1972 (Alvin Jones, 2001, Malcom Mackey, 1991 and 1993, Rich Yunkus, 1969-1971, Jim Caldwell, 1963-1965, Dave Denton, 1958, Lenny Cohen, 1957, Dick Lenholt, 1955, Pete Silas, 1953).
One thing he mentioned was his diet. Last year, he said, he had “high school ways.”
Said Lawal, “I’m just trying to be more mindful of what I eat. I try to stay away from fried foods, try to get in more meals, I try to get a lot of fluids in me - a lot of water, Gatorade, stay away from sodas.
“Just doing basic housecleaning things. I’m not sitting up here acting like I’m a health freak, Dr. Atkins, but I just decided to do basic housecleaning things.”
I asked what he’d given up. He said he cut back sharply on one of his favorite foods, chicken wings. He said he’d eat them every day if he were allowed, but he has limited himself. He said he drinks a half-gallon to a gallon of water every day.
As a result, he said, “I feel a lot better. A lot of times, your wind gets back faster. I can definitely tell a difference. I can’t put it into words, but I can just tell you I feel better out there.”
Lawal’s minutes tell that story. Even though he started 25 games last year, he averaged 17.3 minutes per game and his high was 27. This year, his average is 30.9 mpg, ninth in the league.
How would you rate how Lawal has done this season?
Permalink | Comments (32) | Post your comment |
Remembering Kay Yow
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I thought we’d take a break from the men’s team.
Women’s basketball coach MaChelle Joseph talked Monday about the influence that Kay Yow, the longtime N.C. State coach who died Saturday after a decades-long battle with breast cancer. Yow, 66, was first diagnosed in 1987. Among other things, Yow had a 737-344 record in 38 seasons, earned 20 NCAA tournament bids and coached the 1988 U.S. Olympic women’s team to a gold medal.
Those things aren’t what Joseph will remember about Yow.
“One of the things that I remember about her and think about her is that she always brought out the best in those around her. I can’t tell you that she had an enemy, and that’s rare in this profession,” Joseph said. “As competitive as we all are, the recruiting battles that we get into, Kay Yow never had an enemy. She’s probably the most well-respected and admired coach in our profession.’
Joseph remembered that when she first took the job as head coach at Tech six years ago, she went into the league coaches meeting before the season hardly knowing anyone.
“She just came up, sat down beside me and made small talk with me,” Joseph said. “I didn’t know really anyone there that well. For her to reach out to me, somebody who was the legend that she was and the coach that she was, that meant so much to me to have that interaction.”
Joseph said she considered Yow a role model in how she treated her team.
“You always knew, watching her, that the players were important to her as people and not just as players,” Joseph said. “She represented so many good things about what a coach should be and can be, to make a difference in people’s lives.”
Joseph will attend Yow’s funeral Friday. She also said the ACC will give teams patches to wear on their uniforms in memory of Yow.
The team is holding a “Chow 4 Yow” fundraiser for the Kay Yow/Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Cancer Fund. Ten winners will receive a day at the Tech athletics department, including a tour of the department, a behind-the-scenes look at daily operations and lunch with Joseph at the GTAA cafeteria.
On a completely different note, Joseph talked about the state of her team coming off a pretty momentous week.
Three days after coming from 15 points down to beat then-No. 2 North Carolina at home - it broke a 12-game losing streak to the Tar Heels and was one of the biggest wins in team history - the Jackets went to then-No. 4 Duke Sunday and lost 60-34. It was the second-lowest single-game total in school history.
Tech got a tough break when Alex Montgomery, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder, got into early foul trouble.
Said Joseph, “We kept trying to sub her in offensively and defensively, and we just couldn’t get any flow.”
Joseph did take some solace in holding Duke to 60, a little more than 12 points under its season average.
“I thought defensively for us to hold Duke to 60 points on their home floor and out-rebound them, we got the job done on one end,” she said. “We just weren’t able to do it offensively.”
Tech is now 14-5 overall and 2-3 in the ACC, good for seventh place, and are fourth on the “Others receiving votes” list in the AP poll. The Jackets have already played four of the six teams ahead of them, going 1-3. Starting with a Thursday game against Miami at Alexander Memorial Coliseum, Tech has a run of four ACC games against Miami, Clemson, Wake Forest and N.C. State, who have a combined league record of 3-16.
Should Tech win those games, it would secure a .500 record in the ACC for the season and virtually assure an NCAA tournament bid. Tech’s season goal is a third consecutive NCAA berth and a spot in the Sweet 16.
Tech will play Savannah State after the four league games before a rematch with Carolina Feb. 15.
“We feel like the next five games for us are winnable games,” Joseph said. “If we play the way we’re capable of playing, we should start to get on a roll here.”
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment |
Reviewing Clemson
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’m guessing not many of you are particularly surprised at how the game turned out last night. The Jackets were in it in the first half, and even came back from down seven in the first to take a 32-29 lead before Clemson closed out the half on an 8-2 run.
The game effectively ended when Clemson started off on a 19-4 tear in the first nine-plus minutes. Tech helped by rushing shots offensively and getting broken down defensively. Lewis Clinch said “it’s like we were panicking.”
Iman Shumpert said the team didn’t fight the way it wanted to in the second half. Tech rallied late, getting some easy baskets off the press, but not enough to matter.
Ultimately, Clemson was a better basketball team and should have won. Tigers coach Oliver Purnell said as much after the game. It’s not by accident that Clemson is 17-2.
Also…
1) Tech was out-rebounded for the seventh time in the season. Tech is 2-5 in those games. Of Tech’s big men, Purnell said the strategy was “just go at ‘em. We just wanted to occupy their big guys and keep them off the glass. That was pretty much it.”
2) Tech shot 10-for-14 from the free-throw line. The Jackets are actually shooting 75.5 percent from the free-throw line in their last three games. (Also, they were a lot better at inbounding the ball - a flaw that has aggravated a lot of you. They actually got some shots out of it.)
3) Tech made two more baskets than Clemson - 23 to 21 - but the Tigers shot 8-for-23 from three-point range and Tech was 3-for-14. Moe Miller, Clinch and Shumpert shot 4-for-22 from the field and 3-for-10 from three-point range. (Shumpert was 2-for-3.)
4) Hewitt started Miller in place of forward Alade Aminu in hopes of giving Tech more ballhandlers against the press. By my count, Tech turned the ball over three times against the press in the first half, and four times in the second. (Although, pressed by deadline, I stopped taking possession-by-possession notes with about four minutes left.)
5) Hewitt didn’t call Miller out by name, but clearly wasn’t happy with some shot choices of his early in the second half. Miller drove the lane twice and was blocked by Jerai Grant. Grant is 6-foot-8. Miller is 6-foot-2. Hewitt: “A couple of those blocked shots, we just went up weak. You knew it was going to happen. You saw the matchup, you saw the block coming a mile away.”
I think that typified the play that bothered Hewitt the most - that when Clemson came at Tech early in the second half, the Jackets couldn’t - or didn’t know how to - respond. Said Hewitt, “There are times when we just act so young.”
5) Tech’s point total (59) is its third-lowest of the season, after Duke (70-56) and USC (76-57).
6) Tech is under .500 for the first time this season. (9-10) Barring a revival of the 2001-02 variety (when Tech started ACC play 0-7 and then won seven of its last nine), the Jackets are looking at their second consecutive sub-.500 season and their fourth in Hewitt’s nine seasons.
I’m wondering if you were upset, or are past caring, or just figured they would lose because they were playing a much better team.
Permalink | Comments (81) | Post your comment |
View from Clemson
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Tech tries for its first ACC win Sunday at Clemson (7:45 p.m., FSN).
The Tigers, ranked No. 10, have dropped two straight after a 16-0 start. Wake Forest beat them by 10 at Littlejohn Coliseum, then the Tigers got blown out 94-70 at UNC.
This is Tech’s oldest series with an ACC team. It dates to 1912-13, when John Heisman was Tech’s basketball coach. Clemson leads 57-54.
The teams have split the past four meetings, each winning at home.
Larry Williams, of TigerIllustrated.com, answered some questions about the matchup:
Give us the main reasons for Clemson’s terrific start.
Clemson was unblemished through 16 games largely because of its ability to come up with plays late in tight games on both ends of the floor. The Tigers produced defensive stops and clutch buckets late in several of their victories.
I think the defense has been a bit ahead of schedule, because Oliver Purnell has been able to employ pressure a lot more than folks expected after the loss of Cliff Hammonds, James Mays and Sam Perry.
Back-to-back losses to Wake Forest and North Carolina have dealt a pretty severe blow to this team’s confidence, and some serious questions need to be resolved for the Tigers to begin another winning streak. The Tigers have struggled in halfcourt offense the last few games, and a big reason has been the inability to get the ball to Trevor Booker in the low post. Booker needs to get more touches.
And the Tigers have been killed in transition the past two games. So while the defense was better than expected through the 16-0 start, the past two games demonstrated there’s a ways to go.
How effective do you think Clemson’s full-court press will be against Tech?
Wake Forest and North Carolina were able to successfully navigate the Tigers’ full-court press.
The Deacons didn’t have much problem with the press largely because they have long guys like James Johnson and Al-Farouq Aminu who are adept at bringing the ball up court.
The Tar Heels have Ty Lawson, whose quickness is such an asset against full-court pressure.
Given Georgia Tech’s problems handling the ball, I’d imagine Clemson would turn up its pressure in hopes of establishing control early. The Tigers harassed N.C. State two weeks ago, gradually wearing down the Wolfpack and pulling away in the second half.
How do the Tigers match up with Gani Lawal, Alade Aminu and Zachery Peacock inside?
Rebounding has been an issue for Clemson thus far. One of the problems that’s emerging has been the lack of someone to complement Booker inside (Mays was a pretty good rebounder).
Jerai Grant and Raymond Sykes are capable, but they don’t have the best hands. Purnell has also urged his guards to help out on the boards and do more “gang rebounding.”
Your thoughts?
Permalink | Comments (71) | Post your comment |
To play or not to play
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Like a bunch of top players, defensive end Michael Johnson is not at the Senior Bowl this week. At least one expert believes Johnson is making a mistake.
Chris Maier, senior editor at NFLDraft101.com, includes Johnson among five players he says should have shown up, unless they are hurt. (Johnson is healthy). Here is his Senior Bowl preview.
Even so, Johnson is projected to go 20th in a lot of mock drafts. The bad news is the Detroit Lions own that pick. They need everything, with quarterback and pass rusher at the top of the list.
NFLDraft101.com’s profile on Johnson says he “has the ideal frame to be a disruptive pass rusher at the next level. Long arms help with separation from offensive tackles. Very athletic, yet still disciplined as a pass rusher.”
It goes on to say that “the big question mark for Johnson is his ability to play the run.”
Can’t argue with any of that.
Johnson’s linemate, Vance Walker, is participating in the Senior Bowl and has shown a good bull rush in practices.
According to the Website, Walker is a “late bloomer who has flown under the radar due to the presence of DE Michael Johnson. Has good burst off the ball and is senior class’ best all-around DT, showing strong run stopping and pass rushing skills.”
His weakness? “Undersized at 6-2, 295.”
I’ve seen Walker projected anywhere from the 2nd to the 4th round.
The NFL Network will show the South team’s practice at 5 p.m. today, with a recap show airing at 8 p.m. The game airs at 7 p.m. Saturday.
So, do you think Michael Johnson made the right move?
Permalink | Comments (29) | Post your comment |
How long will it take?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This was supposed to be the manageable part of the schedule.
Somehow, Tech has gone 0-5 in the ACC, losing heartbreakers against UVA, Maryland, N.C. State and now B.C.
Duke was the only conference game in which Tech didn’t have a late lead.
Now the schedule gets tougher. First comes the trip to Clemson on Sunday. The Tigers are 16-1 and ranked No. 10.
Then Tech hosts Wake Forest, currently undefeated and ranked No. 1.
Then comes a trip to Florida State, which is 15-3 but definitely beatable.
Maryland (13-5) comes to AMC on Feb. 8. Another very winnable game.
Here is some of what CPH had to say after another bitter defeat:
“I feel bad for our players. It’s tough, obviously. This is not an enjoyable thing, but I really feel bad for them because they do come back with the right spirit and attitude every day…We know we can play with anybody in this league. It’s a matter of having something of value to show for it.”
Tuesday’s loss was a little different than the ones at Maryland and N.C. State, when Tech blew 10-point leads in the second half. This time it was the Jackets who stormed back from 14 down.
But they couldn’t overcome 20 turnovers and 6-of-24 shooting from 3-point range. In overtime, Lewis Clinch missed a three when Tech led by one. Moe Miller missed two threes with Tech down one. All were very good looks.
When do you think Tech will get its first ACC win?
Permalink | Comments (95) | Post your comment | Categories: Basketball
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?
Permalink | Comments (66) | Post your comment |
Starting point
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Tech is averaging exactly 20 turnovers per game in ACC play. Not coincidentally, the Jackets are 0-4.
Tech is the most generous team in the ACC, followed by N.C. State (18.7).
It’s been a collective effort, or collective failure. In the latest collapse, Saturday’s OT loss at N.C. State, Iman Shumpert had 6 turnovers, Zachery Peacock 5 and Moe Miller, Alade Aminu and Gani Lawal 3 apiece. Tech finished with 22 turnovers against 14 assists.
While there’s plenty of blame to go around, Tech’s most glaring need right now is consistent point guard play.
Sophomore Moe Miller was supposed to be the guy. He finished last season on a tear. But two concussions and a broken nose have hampered him this season. Since coming back three games ago with a face guard, Miller is averaging 16 minutes. He’s had eight assists and 10 turnovers in those three ACC losses.
Freshman Iman Shumpert, more of a combo guard than a true point, is playing excessive minutes (he played 42 on Saturday) and committing an excessive number of turnovers. In 17 games, he’s had 72 turnovers — 4.2 per game. He does have 99 assists and showed his scoring ability on Saturday when he poured in 22.
Looking ahead to next year, Tech gets Miller Grove’s Mfon Udofia. He’s the No. 6 point guard in the nation, according to Scout.com.
Recruiting expert Bob Gibbons said Udofia is a hard-nosed leader who can step in right away at the point.
“He has great speed and quickness, he pushes it in transition. He gets to the basket and can score, and he can pass off his penetration,” Gibbons said. “He’s not going to settle for just being the back-up.”
What do you think is the solution at point guard? Miller? Shumpert? Or wait ‘till next year?
Permalink | Comments (27) | Post your comment |
Does it happen Saturday?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Greetings-
UPDATED, 12:50 p.m.
Two things for you. Just spoke with ESPN analyst Jay Bilas, who called the Duke game Wednesday. Some of his thoughts on Tech:
“They move the ball from side to side well and they push it up the floor well. They’re good defensively. They do a lot of things well and a lot of things well enough to win. But they’re 0-3 in the league because of turnovers and free throws. That’s why. They’re going to continue to get better and they’ve got quality big people, but the margin for error in the ACC is a slim one. You have to control what you can control. You can control the free throw line, because they get there a lot.”
Ken Tysiac, an ACC writer for the Charlotte Observer, answered a few questions about N.C. State. (He also covered Tech-Duke Wednesday) You can read his Friday story about the Wolfpack here.
1) Having just seen Tech play Duke, how do you think the Jackets match up with N.C. State?
I think the Jackets match up fairly well with N.C. State. The Georgia Tech big men, Alade Aminu and Gani Lawal, are athletic enough to deal with Brandon Costner and Ben McCauley, the post players who are the strength of N.C. State’s team. The Wolfpack is really struggling at guard, with leading backcourt scorer Trevor Ferguson unlikely to play much because of injury. So I think Georgia Tech is in good shape there. Georgia Tech’s most difficult matchup could be at small forward, where Zach Peacock is more physical than Courtney Fells but won’t easily guard him on the perimeter.
2) Against Florida State, N.C. State played better when starters Ben McCauley and Brandon Costner went to the bench, and freshmen Julius Mays, C.J. Williams and Johnny Thomas came in, then collapsed again when Costner and McCauley went back in. Could the lineup be significantly different on Saturday?
Ben McCauley and Brandon Costner have been the strength of N.C. State’s team for most of the season, so Sidney Lowe is unlikely to bench them. I think Lowe will stick with a rotation that uses players like Johnny Thomas and Tracy Smith off the bench, but McCauley and Costner have proven over the long haul that they belong on the court when the game is on the line.
3) Are the Wolfpack a little like Tech, in that they’re trying to find an identity? If and when they find one, what do you think it might be?
I think the Wolfpack has its identity, but it’s a flawed identity. This team is solid in the post with McCauley and Costner, and even Smith and Dennis Horner coming off the bench. But the guards as a whole are turnover prone and will continue to make it difficult to win against ACC opponents.
FROM FRIDAY MORNING
Sorry to get this up late. Plans don’t always go like you want them to. Just so you know, I’m working on a story for Saturday’s paper advancing the game against N.C. State about the team’s inability to get the ball to Gani Lawal in the post. It should be up online late afternoon/early evening.
Anyway, a few things. One, a recap of Derrick Favors’ ESPN 2-televised game Thursday night in Birmingham. Since South Atlanta played a Birmingham team (Leflore), which won, the story deals more with that team than South Atlanta. Favors had 39 points and 19 rebounds.
Second, a look at the state of things in Raleigh. You may know, but in the Wolfpack’s last game, against Florida State, they fell behind by three at halftime. According to the story, Sidney Lowe put in two freshmen, including point guard Julius Mays, to start the half. With five minutes left, Lowe put starters Brandon Costner and Ben McCauley back in the game, and N.C. State only scored two more points the rest of the way and lost.
Lastly, a few words from Lewis Clinch about N.C. State: “They’re like an NBA team. They run a lot of sets. They do a good job of running their sets, but I think we can put a lot of pressure on them.”
Paul Hewitt: “As always they run their half-court offense very well. McCauley’s an excellent passer out of the post, Costner’s a good three-point shooter himself, a dangerous, dangerous player. Last year, they had the injuries to the point guard, so they’re young at point guard. That’s been the big thing, squaring away their point guard play.”
This appears to be a good opportunity for Tech to get its first ACC win. They’re fairly similar statistically in a lot of ways, one key difference being, of course, free throws.
But then, N.C. State, which is 0-2 in league play, is probably looking at Tech thinking the exact same thing.
What do you think?
Permalink | Comments (74) | Post your comment |
Recapping Duke
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The hope was that having Lewis Clinch, Maurice Miller and Zachery Peacock in the lineup together for the first time this season would help solve Georgia Tech’s problems. The problem is a little bigger than that.
Peacock, who missed last Saturday’s game against Maryland because of severe indigestion, actually played pretty well. He shot 5-for-7 from the field, 3-for-4 from the line, six rebounds, two blocks against two turnovers in 29 minutes.
Miller, out a few weeks with a broken nose and playing his second game with a mask, made all three of his three-point field goal attempts after he’d missed his first 21 of the season. Clinch, out for the first semester because of grades, shot and passed better.
The team defended Duke pretty well - the Devils shot 39.0 percent from the field, which was their season-low, although it seemed in the first half that they were just not shooting well.
But I think you’ve seen different versions of Wednesday night’s game before. They made twice as many turnovers as Duke. They were horrendous at the free throw line. They couldn’t, or didn’t, get the ball into Gani Lawal as much as they probably should have.
(For what it’s worth, this is most of what Mike Krzyzewski said about Lawal after the game. I alluded to it in the game story. “He’s good. He’s gotten really strong. You can tell that kid’s really worked. I don’t think anybody I’ve seen - and I know I haven’t seen everybody - I don’t think anybody runs the floor quicker than Lawal. He goes from the defensive end to the offensive end real fast. He’s a big-time player.”)
Paul Hewitt made an interesting observation after the game - Duke only made two more baskets and one more three-pointer than Tech did.
The problem was that, in part because the Devils had so many more chances (and shoot free throws a lot better), they made nine more free throws. (Duke was 16-for-27 and Tech was 7-for-19) (Just so we’re clear, he didn’t make this point to try to spin the game. He was being critical of his team’s free-throw shooting.)
Tech will have a brief practice today (Thursday) and an early-morning practice Friday before going to N.C. State. Not exactly the sort of preparation you’d want to try to break a three-game league losing streak.
The rest of the schedule doesn’t offer much. Two games against Wake, two games against Boston College, two games against Clemson, on the road against North Carolina, for starters.
Given what you’ve seen, what do you think Tech’s ACC record will be?
Permalink | Comments (29) | Post your comment |
Odds and ends with Wommack, Monken
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Greetings-
I think we’re going to take a break from basketball. I don’t know if you saw the story we ran in Tuesday’s paper about the football team’s objectives over the offseason, but I spoke with Dave Wommack (defensive coordinator) and Jeff Monken (A-backs, special teams coordinator) for the story. Unfortunately, I could only catch up with Monken after I filed the story. I thought I’d share a few things both said that didn’t make it into the story.
First, Monken: Naturally, he was not at all satisfied with how special teams played.
“I think that the kicking game has got to improve in general. We didn’t cover kicks good enough, we didn’t return kicks far enough, we didn’t kick the ball good enough. Overall, the kicking game’s got to get a lot better. We need to have plays out of the kicking game to help us win games and hopefully win some of those games we lost.”
He explained something about the coaching of special teams that I knew - that all coaches are involved - but didn’t know the specifics of (sorry to end a sentence on a preposition). He said that Charles Kelly (cornerbacks) coaches the punt team, Brian Jean-Mary (linebackers) coaches punt return, Buzz Preston (wide receivers) coaches kickoff return, Mike Sewak (offensive line) coaches the extra point and field goal teams and Wommack coaches the extra point and field goal block units.
It makes sense, as Monken also coaches A-backs. He said that he’s just the one with the title.
“Everybody’s involved and everybody’s got a vested interest in special teams,” he said.
I wanted to ask him about the kicking game specifically, but we had to cut it short. He did say, though, that Paul Johnson’s procedure has been to open all positions, not just special teams, but on all three units.
“It’s all up to who performs the best and who we think gives us the best chance to win,” he said. “That job (kicker) will be up for competition, as it was every week.”
I asked Wommack about a few things, like how players have to get stronger and needing to develop the defensive line, some of which went into the story. He said, too, that the secondary and linebackers are going to have to get better to become a strength in the way the defensive line was this year.
While he didn’t want to make excuses, he noted, as Johnson did during the season, that depth was a major factor, in that Tech didn’t have much of it, in part because of scholarship restrictions. It was particularly the case at linebacker with so many guys, such as Brad Jefferson and Shane Bowen, getting hurt.
I asked about the Chick-fil-A Bowl again. He said immediately after the game that he thought the team lacked a mental edge, perhaps because of the high it had been on after beating Georgia. I wondered if maybe he’d reconsidered, given some time to think more about the game. But he hadn’t.
“That’s my responsibility on defense and our responsibility as coaches to do that, but you have to be ready to play every game,” he said. “Mental discipline is just as important as physical discipline. … I think they learned a lot from this game. It’s too late. We can’t go back and re-play that game, but it’ll only be good for us if we can learn from it.”
Lastly, he said that with the relative down time, coaches will look back at film and analyze the scheme to make sure it fits the personnel, make sure players are in the right places, look for weaknesses, etc. Tech also has a recruiting weekend coming up.
“You know how that is,” he said. “You’ve got to stay on top.”
He also said that he planned to go visit with coaches at other schools. He declined to say where he thinks he’d like to go.
Not sure if I have a specific question, but you’re free to comment on any of it, obviously - What do you want to see happen with special teams? What players are you anxious to see develop? What do you hope the defense can do better? What schools would you suggest that Tech’s coaches visit?
Permalink | Comments (44) | Post your comment |
Duke on deck
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hello, all-
I’ll toss a few things at you about the Maryland game and the Duke game coming up Wednesday. First, I asked Gani Lawal about Maryland. He said that the team did some things well defensively, but it was the turnovers that killed them. He also said that the team failed to throw “a knockout punch” in the second half. Tech, if you’ll remember, had a 10-point lead in the second half but squandered it.
“We were on the brink of breaking it open into a 10, 11-point lead, really spreading it open, really making it a route, we’ll throw the ball away or we’ll come down and rush the shot,” he said. “Those are the types of things that, if we want to be the type of team that advances in the future, especially come March, we have to do it, especially playing in the ACC. Because everything is so critical. It makes me mad all over again just thinking about it.”
Paul Hewitt said that Zachery Peacock missed the game because of severe indigestion. He said Peacock woke up early Saturday with sharp stomach pains. He was in the training room for the first half, but was taken to a hospital at halftime and stayed overnight in Maryland. He flew back Sunday with team trainer Richard Stewart.
He’s expected to play against Duke.
I asked Mike Krzyzewski Monday on the teleconference about Tech’s problems shooting from three-point range (28.9 percent). (I’m writing a story for Wednesday about the Jackets’ shooting.) Perhaps not surprisingly, he veered completely away from the question about what he saw in Tech’s shooting woes.
“What I see with them is how many offensive rebounds they’ve gotten. I think a missed shot for them is actually a part of their offense. They have those three big kids that go to the boards and do such a terrific job on the boards. I think they’re one of the best rebounding teams in the country.”
Which you could also take to mean, They don’t shoot particularly well, but you’re not going to get me to say it.
Hewitt’s take on Duke: “They just play the style of play that they play every year. They’re very aggressive. They try to deny your wing. They force a lot of turnovers. They’re switching ball screens a lot more than I remember in the past.”
Given Tech’s problems with turning the ball over thus far, this isn’t a very strong matchup for the Jackets, you’d have to say. Duke gave up just 14 points in the first half of their last game against Florida State (although the Devils only scored 19). In terms of getting the ball in the post, shooting from three-point range and not turning it over, you’d have to think Tech is going to have to play its best game by a wide margin to have a chance.
What sort of chance do you give Tech in this game, and what has to happen?
(This is totally unrelated, but the athletics department should be firming up its season-ticket pricing for football for 2009 soon. We’ll try to get that as soon as we can. Apparently, prices won’t move much, if they do.)
Permalink | Comments (54) | Post your comment |
Frustrating start to ACC play
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Some thoughts on Saturday’s 68-61 loss at Maryland, which dropped Tech to 0-2 in the ACC.
How frustrating was it? As we were waiting to talk to CPH and some players, we heard a lot of yelling from the closed locker room across the hall. The team was getting chewed out. Could have been for any number of reasons.
Talking to the coach, he was disgusted, and not just about the season-high 28 turnovers. He said his team had not taken the ball hard to the basket, resulting in fewer free throws (23 to 14) and a couple of Maryland blocks.
“They had 23 free throws. We had 14 simply because when we were up eight, we stopped going to the basket strong. We started going to the basket thinking ‘If we make this, it’s over,’ instead of going in strong. We had a couple shots blocked. There’s really no excuse for that.”
Of course, the game might not have been close had Zachery Peacock been able to play. He got sick and was replaced by Lance Storrs, who had 3 points and 4 rebounds in 30 minutes. Peacock had been playing great and could have feasted inside against the smaller Terps.
With Peacock out and Moe Miller playing his first game in nearly a month (he played 12 minutes), all of Tech’s starters played at least 30 minutes. Alade Aminu played 39, and Gani Lawal and Lewis Clinch each played 37. In contrast, only one Terp played 37 minutes.
Still, there was no excuse for this loss. Tech outshot Maryland (42.9 percent to 31.5 percent) and outrebounded Maryland (49 to 39). But the Jackets lost the turnover battle in a big way, 28 to 13. The number of traveling calls was mind-boggling.
Probably the most confounding issue is Tech’s inability to get the ball to Lawal. He was 7 of 13 against the Terps. His last shot was a dunk with 2:14 left. In some cases, Lawal got open early in the set and didn’t get the entry pass. In other cases, he just didn’t get open on the block.
Up 61-59, Aminu missed a hook shot that was a little too far from the basket. At 61-all, Tech turned it over before Lawal could touch it. Down 63-61, Clinch missed in the lane. So Tech’s best player didn’t get a shot on three crucial possessions.
It won’t get any easier for Tech, with No. 2 Duke visiting Wednesday. (By the way, tickets are still available).
Do you agree that getting Lawal the ball is the quickest way for Tech to turn things around?
Permalink | Comments (72) | Post your comment |
View from College Park
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
At noon Saturday, Tech will try to break a six-game losing streak in its series with Maryland.
Tech will be facing an angry and embarrassed group of Terps: they’re coming off a 66-65 home loss to Morgan State.
It’s the Terps’ ACC opener. The Jackets are 0-1. And with No. 2 Duke coming to town next Wednesday, Tech needs this road win.
Tech was picked eighth in the preseason poll, Maryland seventh.
Maryland is a quick, perimeter-oriented team that had been a pleasant surprise until Wednesday’s loss. Patrick Stevens, the Maryland beat writer for the Washington Times, answered some questions about the matchup:
What are the biggest reasons for Maryland’s strong start?
Up until Wednesday night’s loss to Morgan State —- Maryland’s first to an in-state opponent since 1989 —- I’d say most people would agree the Terps were a little bit further ahead than anticipated.
Maryland’s 11-3 record is a product of good ball movement, crisp passing, smart shot selection and sound defense. All but the defense went AWOL the other night.
Gary Williams knew he had three reasonably sure things coming into the season —- guards Eric Hayes and Greivis Vasquez, and forward Landon Milbourne (who is playing the four this season after starting at small forward last year). The emergence of guard Adrian Bowie and forward Dave Neal has filled in the gaps.
Bowie is a strong, left-handed slasher who has run the point for much of the season and might be the most fun player to watch on the roster. Neal doesn’t look the part of an effective starter, and Williams ribs him about his “YMCA moves” like a step-back jumper and an underhanded scoop shot. But it’s worked well so far.
Who will match up with Tech leading scorer Gani Lawal? Will the Terps double-team him a lot?
The question of the day in College Park. It’s no secret the Terps are undersized, and an injury to Jerome Burney (stress fracture-right foot) hasn’t helped matters. Maryland was devoured the two times it played teams with significant size (Gonzaga and Georgetown), and Morgan State had an effective bruiser as well.
The guess here is Maryland will use everyone inside a little to contain Lawal —- Dino Gregory, Landon Milbourne, Dave Neal, Braxton Dupree —- and I would neither count out nor bank on a double team. It’s not exactly something the Terps are skilled at just yet.
The interior defense will very much be on the spot on Saturday. If it holds up, at least Maryland will have something good to go with entering the rest of league play. If not, fans’ suspicions the Terps will get steamrolled inside against ACC opponents will only grow larger.
How has Maryland handled defensive pressure?
That hasn’t been a problem so far. Maryland hadn’t committed more than 16 turnovers before Wednesday night, and even then it was more because of the Terps’ bad decisions than any sort of press Morgan State deployed.
By comparison, Maryland had nine 18+ turnover games when ACC play resumed in January 2008.
That might not be much to go on, and I would suspect based on the recent past that the Terps could struggle with ballhandling against Georgia Tech (season-high 24 turnovers last season vs. GT, an average of 23.3 in three games in 2006). But the press itself isn’t an issue so far this season.
So, what’s your prediction for Tech-Maryland, and why?
Permalink | Comments (51) | Post your comment |
Parity in ACC?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In football, the ACC took parity to a new level.
Everyone but Duke and Virginia finished 5-3 or 4-4 in conference play, and all of those 10 teams played in bowl games.
Wins won’t be so evenly distributed in basketball. But perhaps there will be more parity than some first thought.
As ESPN’s Andy Katz noted following Boston College’s 85-78 upset of North Carolina, the Eagles were picked to finish 11th in the preseason poll. And last year, Miami made the NCAA tournament after being picked last.
“Everyone on a given night can win in our league,” Miami coach Frank Haith told Katz. “There are no bad teams in this league. BC was picked 11th. They’re a confident team and going into this game you could see they were a confident team. It just shows how competitive our league is. Carolina will bounce back, but our league is going to be competitive.”
Today, five ACC teams are ranked: Duke (No. 2), UNC (No. 3), Wake Forest (No. 4), Clemson (No. 12) and B.C. (No. 17).
Clemson and Wake Forest are undefeated, Duke and Carolina are not. Tech is one of three ACC teams with five losses, along with Virginia and Va. Tech.
Do you think parity will reign in the ACC this year?
Permalink | Comments (26) | Post your comment |
What to make of the win over Georgia
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Greetings, all-
Interesting game last night between Tech and Georgia. The Jackets fell behind by 10 at the half and then by 13 with 16:40 left. Helped in large part by a full-court press that created 12 second-half turnovers and a strong rebounding effort (Tech had a 27-14 edge in the second half, including 15 on the offensive glass), the Jackets came back for perhaps the biggest win of the season.
Dennis Felton said Georgia lost for three main reasons - Second-chance points (it was even in the first half, 12-4 in the second in Tech’s favor), steals (12-5 edge in the game, 6-4 in the second half) and Tech’s eight blocks (five in the second half). Felton said that generally the consequence of beating a full-court press like Tech’s was that it gives you easy shots to the basket. However, Gani Lawal and Alade Aminu repeatedly stuffed Georgia players when they took it to the rim after beating the press.
Felton said it was an “almost-hard-to-believe number of plays at the rim to erase some dunks and layups for us.”
Before I forget, Felton’s take on Tech: “Extremely athletic and big, and they’ve got a good piece in (Iman) Shumpert. He’s a terrific young point guard, but Schumpert looked like a freshman tonight. He had a tough night. (3-for-14 from the field, four assists, seven turnovers). (Just so we’re clear, while it might read like Felton was trying to put down Shumpert, he wasn’t.)
“But they’ve got a great shooter in (Lewis) Clinch. They’ve got a pro in Lawal and they’ve got a great physical presence and leader in Peacock. They’ve got really nice parts. They just don’t have a lot of depth.”
Anyway, back to Tech’s defense. It appeared, maybe in the vein of the Alabama game, that Tech got going once it started pressing and playing more aggressively on defense. Said Clinch, “That’s how we play - we’re a run and gun team.”
Paul Hewitt noted his team’s increased aggression on defense and fight on loose balls. It certainly seems like Tech benefits when it extends itself defensively. The problem, though, is that to press, it’d be hard to do that a lot with Tech’s depth. The Jackets will get a boost when Mo Miller comes back. Hewitt said that he’s scheduled to start practicing Thursday and that when he is ready to actually play will be up to him.
Said Hewitt, “I love to press and I think we’re good at it. It’s just going to be a matter of me spotting guys like Bassirou (Deng) and Brad (Sheehan) and trying to stretch the bench.”
On Miller coming back, “When he comes back, we will definitely keep pressing. The biggest thing that Moe is going to do for us when he comes back healthy is allow us to put Zachery Peacock back at forward where he is really comfortable.”
So I’m wondering what your takeaway was from the game and thoughts are going into the second ACC game Saturday (against Maryland):
Is it the sluggish first half, the comeback, the possibility of using the press more and how that might give Tech a boost, the satisfaction of beating Georgia? Or something else?
Permalink | Comments (58) | Post your comment |
Winning formula or a mirage?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If you were watching the men’s basketball team play at Alabama on Saturday, I wouldn’t blame you for switching it off early.
Tech fell down by 30 with about nine minutes left, 73-43. Then a couple things happened.
The Tide let up, or at least lost some focus. And Tech woke up. The Jackets probably haven’t played harder all season than they did over the next eight minutes.
Not only were they trapping fullcourt and sprinting back on defense, the Jackets refused to allow an easy basket. They committed hard fouls at the rim, plus two intentional ones that angered the crowd.
Gani Lawal and Alade Aminu were scoring at will inside, Iman Shumpert hit a pair of threes, and the crowd was getting, if not antsy, then frustrated. Tech cut the deficit to 10 with about a minute to go.
Obviously it was too little, too late. But the question is whether the Jackets can bottle that energy and aggressiveness and bring it tonight against Georgia. And can they play that way against ACC teams?
“I’m hoping that what they saw in themselves, with the effort level we played at, the aggressiveness we played with, I told ‘em, That’s what it was like in the old days around here,” CPH said. “When we walked out of the building, everybody was like, those guys played hard. That’s the way it was every single time. We were not a team people liked to play against because it was a physical, tough pressing game.
“We went hard and put ‘em at the foul line, and that’s how you’re supposed to play basketball. If you want to be a winning team, any winning team contests plays at the rim really hard and they run back really hard every time.
“If we take anything out of this game, that’s how we’re supposed to play.”
It was a stark contrast to the end of the Virginia game, when the Cavaliers ran the ball “down our throat,” Hewitt added.
If nothing else, the way they finished allowed the Jackets to leave Tuscaloosa holding their heads up.
Do you think Tech found a successful formula, or was it just a mirage?
Permalink | Comments (54) | Post your comment |
2009 breakout players
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In case you missed it, we took a look yesterday at five players who should make an impact in 2009. These are guys who did not play at all, or played sparingly, in 2008.
Here is the article about Robert Hall, Anthony Allen, Richard Watson, T.J. Barnes and Omoregie Uzzi.
Do you agree with these selections? Who did we leave out? And who will make the biggest impact?
Permalink | Comments (59) | Post your comment |
What’s next?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Good morning, all-
Hopefully you’ve gotten some of the anguish of the Chick-fil-A Bowl out of your system, though I’m guessing the Capital One Bowl result didn’t help you much. Looks like the Bulldogs took out the frustration of the Tech loss out on the Sparties. It’s quite possible, too, that UGA was just a better team than Michigan State. I’m guessing, for those of you who work with UGA fans, this morning wasn’t a lot of fun.
Anyway, some thoughts. Don’t know how much you have thought or heard that LSU “solved” the triple option. Paul Johnson was asked something to this effect after the game and he was a bit sarcastic about it, that LSU figuring out the triple option is what made Tech fumble the punt, put the opening kickoff out of bounds, etc.
It was true that Tech couldn’t run the ball effectively, but Johnson and co-offensive line coach Mike Sewak’s take was that LSU dominated the line of scrimmage. It was a little like the Boston College game, where Ron Brace and B.J. Raji kept driving the guards and center back into Josh Nesbitt. The same thing was happening with LSU, and that takes away the dive in the triple option and screws up the rest of the play. My guess would be that Tech will have its problems against defensive lines that are stout more than those that are fast, not to say that LSU’s line wasn’t also fast.
At any rate, I think I’d trust the results of the season and Johnson’s tenure at Georgia Southern and Navy over one game.
And about the rings - I didn’t do a great job (or maybe even a good job) of conveying the meaning of the rings. It’s something Johnson has always done for his teams. It was meant to commemorate the season, not just the win over Georgia. Obviously, the win was a highlight of the year, which is why that went on the ring. But it’s not like that’s the only thing that’s going on it.
Also, I’ve seen some posts on some other boards about how Johnson treating bowls as a reward backfired. It’s possible, but I don’t know if that was the problem. What Johnson meant, and has said, is that he doesn’t use bowl practices like an additional spring practice, where sessions are longer and more grinding. The practices Tech had were like typical in-season practices, where the focus is on preparing for the opponent. Most, if not all, of Tech’s practices before Christmas were in full pads. I can’t vouch for the intensity of them, as reporters aren’t allowed to watch practice, but I never got the sense that they were goofing off or anything.
In some ways, the Chick-fil-A Bowl may have the sort of effect going into the offseason that the Gardner-Webb game did in the season. Johnson and Sewak both wondered aloud if beating Georgia and then having a month of fans (and media) patting them on their back didn’t give them a false sense of security about the game. I think this will likely bring them back to earth a little bit. I can see this game being brought up every time offseason workouts start to slacken.
Which brings me to my question. What are your priorities for this team - becoming bigger/stronger/faster? Continuing to develop the Run & Shoot? Find answers on the offensive line? Defensive line? More depth at A-back and B-back?
Services »
