Damon Stoudamire said Wednesday he knew there would be tough days during his first season at Georgia Tech. And he said he’s OK with that. The way he sees it, Tech’s current state after a 24-point loss to Clemson at home, buried at the bottom of the ACC standings and as one of the worst shooting teams in the country is temporary.
“It is what it is. I’m with the process. I’m not all right with it, but I’m all right with it. Because I didn’t sign up for this to be the coach was only gonna be here for the good times. I knew that there could be some rough patches when I signed up for this and I was all right with that. And I will be all right as we move forward,” Stoudamire said. “Because to me, the way I see it, and I’ve never said this before, this will be the first time anybody ever hears me say this: When I get my guys up in here it’s gonna be different. I’m just telling you.
“And I’m all right with saying that because my type of guy, whether he’s making a bucket, whether he’s not making a bucket, he’s gonna have pride in playing for the front of the jersey and the back each and every day.”
Technically speaking, the majority of the Tech roster is made up of players Stoudamire signed. Only guards Lance Terry (who has not played this season), Kyle Sturdivant, Deebo Coleman and Miles Kelly returned from the 2022-23 squad to play for Stoudamire. The former Pacific coach and Boston Celtics assistant was hired in mid-March and pieced together a squad that includes four freshmen and six transfers.
That squad (11-16, 4-12 ACC) has not won back-to-back games since Dec. 21-22. It had the chance to do that Wednesday against Clemson having beaten Syracuse the Saturday before, but faltered early after an early Tigers’ scoring run and wilted late as Clemson slapped the Yellow Jackets around at will.
Stoudamire indicated he thought his players quit over the final eight minutes of the contest, being down 62-43 going into that stretch. To him, he added, that’s an indication his roster still hasn’t bought in to playing with a sense of pride when the score isn’t in Tech’s favor.
With a minimum of five games left this season (four in the regular season and one conference tournament game) the Jackets still have a chance to get back to .500 or even above. But not with the type of performance put forth Wednesday.
“A couple weeks ago I told the guys, the reason I do what I do when I get up every day to try to help you guys be successful is because when we go in the record books at Georgia Tech, the records books is still gonna print what they gonna print. You don’t wanna be known as the losing team. Simple as that,” he said. “It don’t matter if you a freshman or you a senior, you gotta play the game the right way, you gotta finish it out the right way because you don’t get none of this back.”
The Jackets go into the final one-fifth of the ACC schedule with the first of three road games, a matchup at Miami at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Miami, picked in the ACC preseason poll to finish second, has seen its season derailed during a current five-game losing streak which came to a head Wednesday in an 84-55 loss at home to No. 8 Duke. Guard Nigel Pack (13.7 ppg, 3.6 apg) has missed the past two games and reportedly may be out with an injury for the remainder of the season.
The Hurricanes (6-10 ACC) were 15-7 on Feb. 3 and still holding on to NCAA Tournament hopes with a NET ranking of 62. They’ve dropped nearly 30 spots in the NET since then while falling to 12th in the ACC standings.
After Saturday, Tech has games remaining with Florida State at home and against Wake Forest and Virginia on the road.
“I told our guys, as we move forward, we’re playing teams that, for the most part, are trying to play for something,” Stoudamire said. “So we gotta make a choice.”
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