Archive for January, 2012

Greetings

Hope all are well. A few thoughts about Georgia Tech’s 61-50 loss to Maryland.

1. The Jackets shot 33.9 percent from the field, a season low. However, the bigs actually shot pretty well. Kammeon Holsey, Daniel Miller, Nate Hicks and Julian Royal shot a combined 11-for-21, while Tech’s guards shot 8-for-35. Against N.C. State, Mfon Udofia, Glen Rice Jr., Jason Morris and Pierre Jordan were 19-for-33, including 9-for-15 from 3-point range. It wouldn’t surprise me if Tech’s guards don’t shoot as badly as they did Sunday or as well as they did last Wednesday for the rest of the season.

Miller’s post game is developing; he usually looks pretty fluid executing his moves. If any one of them becomes consistently effective, he and Rice could form a pretty strong scoring tandem.

2. I think Tech will have many more games like this the rest of the way, although maybe not as underwhelming offensively. If they continue to play defense like they have – they’re second in the ACC …

Continue reading Georgia Tech-Maryland wrap »

Greetings-

Writing from the third row media table at the Comcast Center (an arena whose naming rights I suppose my cable bill helps pay for) awaiting Maryland-Georgia Tech.

Not a wealth of thoughts, but just wanted to start up the live blog.

First, Maryland guard Terrell Stoglin may be limited because of a sore back. He will play, the Washington Post reported, but may not start. However much more he’s on the bench or not at 100 percent physically is an advantage for Tech. Stoglin is the ACC’s leading scorer and busted Colorado for 32 points earlier in the season.

Second, this is becoming a bit thematic, but rebounding will be crucial again for Tech. Jackets coach Brian Gregory and Maryland coach Mark Turgeon sound cut from the same rebounding-and-defense cloth. The Terrapins have out-rebounded the opposition in eight of the past nine and won all eight. Tech is 7-4 when it out-rebounds the opposition, 0-4 when it doesn’t. (1-0 when it’s even)

A matchup to note is center Daniel …

Continue reading Georgia Tech-Maryland live blog »

Georgia Tech coach Brian Gregory said Friday he didn’t get caught up in the moment of his first ACC game last Sunday against Duke or his first ACC victory, Wednesday against N.C. State.

“I know how lucky I am, but at the same time, I’ve got a lot of things that are much more consuming for me than to take a step back and say, ‘Wow, I just coached against Mike Krzyzewski,’” Gregory said.

However, he did relish a congratulatory text from former Tech coach Bobby Cremins, who sent it shortly after the Jackets beat the Wolfpack. The two were friendly prior to Gregory’s hiring in March and Cremins, now at the College of Charleston, has continued to reach out to Gregory since then. Gregory has noted that it’s not always the case that a former coach wants his successors to win.

“He’s just the best,” Gregory said. “He’s what coaching is supposed to be about.”

Continue reading Cremins congratulates Gregory on first ACC win »

Greetings-

A little groggy after a late evening – I rolled out of the RBC Center around 1:30 a.m., I think – but wanted to offer a couple thoughts and give you a chance to share yours.

Obviously, an impressive win for Georgia Tech. Coach Brian Gregory got contributions from a variety of spots, starting with Glen Rice Jr., and won convincingly.

Stat of the night: N.C. State got the first 10 rebounds of the game, at which point the Wolfpack still only led 14-12. After that, Tech had a 34-19 rebounding edge.

Stat of the night No. 2: Prior to Tech’s 80-54 road win over Wake Forest last March – the Deacons were dragging to an 8-24 finish and lost 14 of their 15 ACC games by 14 points or more – the 11-point margin was the Jackets’ biggest margin of victory in an ACC road game since the 2003-04 season, when Tech went to the Final Four.

Quote of the game: “Right at the beginning of the game, they were really physical, but then it felt like we took over and they weren’t …

Continue reading Tech-N.C. State wrap »

Greetings-

I’m sitting in the lobby of the RBC Center, waiting for will call to open so I can get my credential to go inside. My first trip to this arena. I’ve heard good things from an environment/noise standpoint and am looking forward to it.

“I remember two years ago, we played N.C. State, that’s when Moe Miller had his mask when he broke his nose,” guard Nick Foreman said. “They were like, Hey, Moe, Jason called, he wants his mask back.”

Anyway, a few thoughts about the game. First, win or lose, it should be a good test of where Georgia Tech is after the strong showing (relatively speaking) in the loss to Duke. From an amateur psychologist standpoint, you could see how it could be satisfying and sap some of the team’s edge. I don’t think that’ll happen, though. Still, you wouldn’t have thought the Jackets would lose to Fordham, either.

I asked Jason Morris about what the team had learned that it could take on the road, and he talked about playing energy and effort from the …

Continue reading Tech-N.C. State live blog »

Greetings-

Hope you’ll find this interesting. I spoke Monday with Georgia Tech senior associate athletic director Paul Griffin and equipment manager Tom Conner, both of whom were at Tech when new Penn State coach Bill O’Brien coached the Yellow Jackets as a grad assistant, assistant coach and then offensive coordinator. Both offered insights I hope you’ll appreciate.

1. Griffin had a brief overlap with O’Brien. Griffin’s first worked at Tech for several months in 2001, left briefly and returned in July 2002. O’Brien joined Tech’s staff in 1995 as a grad assistant, eventually rising to offensive coordinator in 2001 and 2002. He bridged the George O’Leary and Chan Gailey eras.

Griffin described him as an intense, hard-working, confident hard-charger. Sounds a little bit familiar to some other Tech coaches around that time.

Said Griffin, “Bill is a clone of George (O’Leary) and Ralph (Friedgen).”

Conner, who has been at Tech since 1992, saw him similarly. O’Brien was noteworthy …

Continue reading When Bill O’Brien was a Tech assistant »

Greetings-

A few notes about Demaryius Thomas‘ breakout game for the Denver Broncos in their 29-23 playoff win over Pittsburgh Sunday.

- He set an NFL record for highest yards-per-reception average in a playoff game (minimum three catches) at 51.0 yards. He had 204 yards on four catches.  The previous record was 46.3, held by Harold Jackson (Los Angeles Rams vs. Minnesota Vikings, 1974).

- Thomas, in fact, never had a better yards-per-catch game at Tech in any of his five 100-yard games. That would be his 25.4 yards-per-catch game (127 yards on five catches) against Georgia in 2009.

- His 80-yard touchdown catch on the first play of overtime produced the fastest end to an overtime game in NFL history, playoff or regular season, 11 seconds, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. It was also the longest touchdown pass play in an overtime playoff game.

- He accounted for 64.6 percent of quarterback Tim Tebow’s 316 passing yards.

- Thomas’ performance came against the defense …

Continue reading Ex-Jacket Thomas sets NFL playoff record »

Greetings-

Hope all are well. An eyebrow-raising result against Duke for Georgia Tech has led to an intriguing pair of games for the Yellow Jackets. They’ll go on the road to play N.C. State Wednesday and then Maryland Sunday.

A couple thoughts on the 81-74 loss to Duke on Saturday. It’s still a loss, the fourth in a row, but it was about as well as Tech has played this season. Duke missed some shots it normally makes, I think, which helped the Jackets stay in the game after falling behind by 18. Still, Tech showed resolve, made some plays at both ends and had a chance to tie the game with 2:58 to play. Considering that Tech had lost its three prior games, including one to Fordham (Sagarin rating: 242), it was not exactly what I’d expected coming in.

A terrific game from guard Glen Rice Jr., 28 points on 10-of-17 shooting, including 4-of-7 from 3-point range.

“Once he got going, he really was really good,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said following the game.

Point guard Mfon …

Continue reading N.C. State, Maryland next for Tech »

Georgia Tech’s newest addition sat about 10 feet from the Philips Arena floor Saturday. Former Kentucky guard Stacey Poole will transfer to Tech and said he plans to enroll in classes when the spring semester begins Monday. He attended the Tech-Duke game with family.

A 6-foot-4 guard from Jacksonville, Fla., Poole played 45 minutes at Kentucky as a freshman last season and decided to transfer in November before the Wildcats had played in any games. He was ranked the No. 33 overall prospect in the 2010 signing class by rivals.com.

Tech benefited from relationships developed by coach Brian Gregory and assistant coach Josh Postorino when they recruited him to Dayton and Clemson, respectively, before coming to Tech.

“Just coming in and having an opportunity to play and (for) somebody that’s really familiar with you and noticed you coming out of high school, I just felt like this is the place to be,” said Poole, who also considered Iowa, Wake Forest, Seton Hall and Florida …

Continue reading Kentucky transfer Poole picks Tech »

Former Georgia Tech defensive end Jason Peters was picked to play in the Casino Del Sol All-Star Game Jan. 16 in Tucson, Ariz.

Peters made 30 career starts and finished with 109 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks.

Continue reading Peters picked for all-star game »