Since the beginning of the season, Georgia Tech coach Brian Gregory has insisted that he won’t judge his first team by wins and losses. The establishment of a foundation and his culture are more crucial. That said, he isn’t turning down any wins.
“There’s nothing like a Saturday afternoon win,” Gregory said, speaking of Tech’s 63-61 win over Maryland. “Because you get to spend the rest of the day thinking about that win. You can even watch other games on TV feeling good about it.”
The Yellow Jackets have a reasonable chance to experience the joys of a Wednesday evening win. They play at Boston College in a 7 p.m. game.
After breaking a four-game losing streak against the Terrapins and ending a slide that had extended to 14 losses in 16 games, Tech could go into the ACC tournament on a three-game winning streak. Its regular-season finale is against Wake Forest on Saturday afternoon at Philips Arena.
Entering Wake Forest’s Tuesday night game against Duke, the Eagles and Demon Deacons had a combined record of 7-21 in the ACC and 21-35 overall. Tech is 3-11 in the league and 10-18 overall.
Even without leading scorer and rebounder Glen Rice Jr., whose indefinite suspension will carry into Wednesday’s game, the Jackets have shown evidence of coalescing. Tech’s win over Maryland arguably was its best all-around performance of the season and fit into a larger pattern of improved offensive play.
Tech’s rate of assisted field goals — baskets created by an assist — has soared in recent games. Through the first 21 games, the Jackets’ rate, which is one indication of how effectively the team creates easy scoring opportunities, was 45.1 percent. In the past seven games, the rate has been 58.2 percent. The ACC’s league-wide average through Monday was 52.4 percent.
It hasn’t turned the Jackets into an offensive juggernaut, but their willingness and ability to look for each other have undeniably improved.
“I think, as we progress, our perimeter guys are gaining more confidence in throwing it in and our big guys inside are making good decisions on when to attack the basket and when to kick it out,” Gregory said. “Because of that, those guys are playing well off each other.”
Perhaps no player is more responsible for the jump than point guard Mfon Udofia. His assist/turnover ratio in the first 22 games was .79. In the past six games, it has been 2.0. Against Maryland, he accumulated a career-high nine assists against three turnovers.
Closing the regular season on a three-game winning streak would be no small accomplishment for a team that was picked to finish 10th after losing guard Iman Shumpert to the NBA draft and is now without its best player in Rice. It would give Tech a 4-4 record in the second half of the ACC schedule after going 1-7 through a first half that was decidedly more difficult.
On Monday, Gregory acknowledged the importance of finishing the season with momentum, not only for the sake of the ACC tournament but also to head into the offseason with positive feeling. He noted that the hardest part of Tech’s rebuilding process for his young players has been the lack of instant gratification for their effort.
“But if you do that long enough, then things are going to change,” he said.
With two games to go, even if only slightly, perhaps the rudder has begun to turn.
