AJC > Sports > Tech > Blog > Archives > 2009 > February > 18
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Why no TV for Tech-Wake?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tech’s 7:30 p.m. game in Winston-Salem isn’t on TV. (Though it is available online for $5.95 on ACC Select).
I leave it to you to decide whether that’s a good thing.
Of the ACC’s 96 conference games, 92 will be televised. Two of the four left out involve Tech: tonight at Wake Forest and the March 4 home game against Miami.
Mike Finn of the ACC office told me it’s not a reflection of how teams are doing. The basketball schedule is set by mid-August, and the ACC’s various TV partners pick the games they want to air.
“It’s totally the decision of our TV partners,” Finn said. “They pick the games that they want and the games that fit their schedules.”
It’s all done before the season starts. Unlike football, there’s no week-to-week flexibility with gametimes or networks. Finn pointed out that this helps ticket-holders, because they know when the games are going to be.
Finn said it’s pretty much standard nationwide — there’s flexibility for football, but not for basketball.
As you all know, Wake Forest is the only ACC team Tech has beaten. I asked Demon Deacons coach Dino Gaudio if revenge will be a factor tonight for his 8th-ranked team.
“I don’t know about that, but I do know this: in the two years we’ve been here, since I became head coach, we’ve never beaten Georgia Tech,” he said. “We’ve been fortunate with some of the other ACC teams, but against those guys we’re 0-3. So just like that game [76-74 Tech win on Jan. 31] and all the others, we’ve just got to find a way where our defense is able to lock them down a little bit and try to guard them. They were a little more physical than we were in that first game.
“Our kids know their kids,” he added. “Gani [Lawal] drove Al-Farouq [Aminu] to school [at Norcross High]. Our guys went to Atlanta and hung out with those guys. I’ve seen Alade [Aminu] up here playing. They know each other very well, They know what they can do individually. If we can guard them, we have a chance to win. If we don’t, then we dont.”
Here’s what coach Paul Hewitt had to say about Tech’s recent success against Wake:
“In the games last year Anthony Morrow shot the ball very well. This year, we kept our turnovers down and down the stretch Iman Shumpert made big plays offensively and Nick Foreman made big plays defensively.”
Hewitt said Wake guard Jeff Teague could be the league’s MVP, Al-Farouq Aminu has made a huge impact and that the Demon Deacons have tremendous inside presence defensively.
“The first game was intense and I think this one will be more intense,” he said. “They’ve got a little revenge factor going and obviously, we’re trying to break out of a tough stretch.”
Permalink | Comments (43) | Post your comment | Categories: Basketball
