Archive for January, 2012

Greetings-

Hope all are well. With Georgia Tech’s men’s basketball team opening ACC play Saturday against Duke at Philips Arena, I thought it was well past time to dig in. Thursday, Randy Waters of 11 Alive and the inimitable Matt Winkeljohn from Sting Daily and I spoke with coach Brian Gregory before practice. He had some insights and thoughts worth sharing. Mostly, I was struck again by how long the road is in front of him and his team, and also how hard he is hammering consistency of effort – “unbelievable effort,” as he puts it – and team-first attitude.

“Those two things are the core of everything that we do,” Gregory said. “It’s really important in that we never devalue those levels and standards that we talk about.”

1. Tech’s turnover totals in the past four games (the past three of which were losses to Mercer, Fordham and Alabama): 22,16, 11 and 22.

Gregory said that a lack of focus and impatience have caused many of the turnovers and, in turn, the three-game …

Continue reading Gregory wants more consistent effort from Tech »

Georgia Tech wide receiver Stephen Hill will forego his senior season to enter the NFL draft.

Hill said he reached the conclusion Tuesday, three days following the end of Tech’s season, after going over pros and cons with his parents and Tech coach Paul Johnson and wide receivers coach Buzz Preston. He has not signed with an agent, and has until Jan. 18 to withdraw his name, but said that there isn’t any chance he’ll re-consider.

“I just have faith that I can rise,” Hill said. “I can rise to the top.”

Hill’s NFL draft evaluation – available to any player with eligibility remaining – said that he did not have the potential be drafted in the first three rounds. Hill acknowledged the possibility that he could go undrafted, but that “just going ahead and getting started with my career, that was my No. 1 focus.”

(Players receive one of five evaluations from the advisory board. There is one lower than Hill’s, that the player does not have the potential to be drafted.)

This …

Continue reading Stephen Hill leaving Georgia Tech for NFL »

CineSport interview with Tara Petrolino.

Continue reading Video: Utah 30, Georgia Tech 27 OT »

Tevin Washington

On his effectiveness in passing game:

When we went play action, I had a lot of time to throw the ball. The offensive line did a good job of blocking and you’ve got to take your hats off to the A-backs and the receivers. They made plays when they got a chance to make a play on the ball.

On the fourth quarter:

We just didn’t finish. We didn’t do the little things in between to make the plays that we needed to make to finish the game off like we needed to.

On the end of the game:

Just hurting. We went out there and I think everybody played their hardest, left it out there on the field. I wish we could have had better results.

On if he’ll replay plays from the game:

You always do when you lose a game because there’s always a play here and there that could have been the difference in the game especially  from the offense’s standpoint. If we could have hit some plays in the first half, it could have been a different ballgame.

If this loss was harder to take than …

Continue reading Georgia Tech quoteboard »

Opening statement

It was a heck of a football game and you have to take your hat off to Utah. They came back in the fourth quarter. We had a lot of opportunities in the game and couldn’t capitalize. I thought we had a lot of opportunities in the first half. We hurt ourselves with a couple penalties and a turnover. The second half, we came out and got all the momentum in the third quarter and then to be truthful, in the fourth quarter, we couldn’t block them. Up front, they just kind of waded through us and we had the chance to get something going, couldn’t do it. Just didn’t make enough plays. Missed three field goals and I guess they converted on one fourth and 13, so you feel like somebody kicked you in the gut. I don’t know what to say.

On the injuries:

We were down a lot of guys. Somebody else has got to step in and play. We still had our chances. We had our chances. We should have put the game away in the third quarter.

On if there was any complacency after taking the …

Continue reading Paul Johnson quotes »