In Georgia Tech’s final regular-season game Saturday, Virginia Tech guard Devin Wilson made a 3-pointer over the outstretched hand of Yellow Jackets forward Robert Carter.
As he headed back upcourt, Carter emphatically clapped his hands once in frustration. Carter hadn’t closed out on Wilson quickly enough, in his estimation.
“It was just me being competitive,” Carter said of his emotional display. “I didn’t want him to hit the shot.”
The interesting thing about it was that the 3-pointer cut the Jackets’ lead to 52-36 with 9:12 to play. It did not appear to be a critical basket, but it was to Carter.
“Those are the little things that separate winning (and losing),” he said.
Freed from the bench after a 10-game absence because of a torn meniscus in his left knee, Carter responded with the best play of his Tech career. The sophomore has averaged 16.8 points and 7.3 rebounds in the past four games while shooting 52.1 percent from the field. His season averages are 11.0, 8.1 and 49.4 percent.
His play will have significant input on how far Tech can advance into the ACC tournament, beginning Wednesday night against Boston College (7 p.m., ESPN2 nationally, WATL in Atlanta) in Greensboro, N.C.
“You can just see he’s in a better flow, rhythm on offense,” coach Brian Gregory said. “We need him to play well. We’re a different team when he’s playing well.”
Carter was playing well when he suffered the knee injury Dec. 29 against Charlotte, which he said forced him to miss games for the first time in his basketball career, dating to when he first began playing in a youth league at 3 years old. He led the ACC in rebounding at 9.3 rebounds per game and had recorded four double-doubles.
Sitting out “was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do,” Carter said.
As he rehabbed twice a day with trainer Richard Stewart, Carter made use of the time on the bench. He cheered for his teammates with a walk-on’s enthusiasm and paid attention to the court. Carter said Gregory and assistant coach Billy Schmidt told him that he would see the game differently and that “you’ll see we’re not as crazy as you thought we were.”
Carter watched plays develop, saw where openings were and how Gregory wanted plays and defensive coverages to be run. Carter said the goal was for him to return by the ACC tournament, a recovery of about nine weeks after his Jan. 7 surgery. Carter returned in about 4 1/2 weeks. After a slow start, he has rejoined the starting lineup and re-formed his partnership with center Daniel Miller, two big men who can shoot, rebound, handle the ball and pass.
They thrived in the final two games of the regular season against Syracuse and Virginia Tech and their 2-3 zone defenses, which Tech has had considerable trouble with this season. Carter and Miller set each other up and found gaps in the zones, scoring a combined 57 points with 11 assists and shooting 65 percent from the field. Tech won back-to-back ACC games for the first time in Gregory’s three seasons.
“I think now, just playing with the same or more energy, but now I see opportunities to score the ball more and things like that,” he said.
The absence has not merely helped his understanding. Play-to-play focus was not a strength of Carter’s in his first season and a half. However, Gregory said, “I think he is more engaged. He always was, but I think it’s even at a different level now.”
What was one of the harder things in his life has turned out all right.
“Give God the praise for everything,” he said. “I think he has a plan for me, and this was it.”
