Georgia Tech putting it all together at the right time
How did Georgia Tech do in physical battles? The picture says it all. (Curtis Compton/AJC).
The calendar hasn’t even turned to February, and Georgia Tech just played the kind of basketball game it wants to play in March. Tough team defense. A strong presence inside. Freshmen all over the floor making plays — blocking shots, hitting jumpers, not throwing away the ball — or hope.
And when was the last time things went so well that coach Paul Hewitt used only two timeouts?
Tech didn’t just win an ACC game Thursday. It made a fairly significant statement about avoiding the kind of backslide that has plagued this program the past few years. The Jackets bounced back from a loss at Florida State by leveling Wake Forest 79-58. In doing so, they held the Demon Deacons to 32.8 percent shooting. They blocked eight shots. Even the opposing coach acknowledged that Tech won the physical battles. (Statistical evidence: Tech dominated the boards in the second half, 27-10.)
“They took us out of a lot of what we wanted to do,” said Wake Forest coach Dino Gaudio. “They deserve the credit. They made us miss shots.”
Is this what you’ve been waiting for?
Derrick Favors’ night: Five blocked shots, nine rebounds and 11 points. Gani Lawal: 14 points, nine rebounds and a block. Once again, they sent 22 NBA scouts home happy. (Question: At this point, how much more do they need to know?)
“I’m not sure we can play much better than that,” said coach Paul Hewitt.
And how long have you been waiting for that?
Wake made only 21 of 64 from the floor. They were 3 of 18 from three-point range. (Conversely, the Jackets shot 54 percent.)
Tech held the Demon Deacons 19 points below their 77-point average. Yes, their defense has been solid all season. But look at the results in the four ACC wins: Duke (minus-19), North Carolina (minus-12), Clemson (minus-13) and Wake Forest (minus-19) were held a cumulative 63 points under their averages.
Good timing.
The knock on Tech in recent times has been that of an underachieving, talented team. Thursday’s game represented an opportunity to shed that reputation. After impressive conference wins over Duke, North Carolina and Clemson — all ranked teams — the Jackets lost to Florida State for the second time this season on Sunday. They had the lead and the ball down the stretch in Tallahassee. But Tech’s totals in the final 26 seconds of the game: 0-for-3 shooting, two fouls, one turnover.
“I really can’t get on these guys,” said Hewitt, whose team moved to 15-5 overall and 4-3 in the ACC. “They’ve been playing their butts off all year. Somebody asked me after the Georgia game if I got on them. I couldn’t. They played hard. The same the other day at Florida State. They left everything on the floor.”
Things started poorly against Wake. The Jackets played weak inside defense and were getting hammered on the boards. They fell behind, 17-10. When the intensity on defense picked up, so did the offense. Favors was slow to get into flow on offense, but he was a monster inside, blocking four shots in the first half (equaling his previous game-high for the season).
Tech went on 10-3 run to catch Wake at 20-all. Continuing with strong team defense and balanced scoring, it built an eight-point lead at 32-24 before settling for a halftime advantage of 35-29.
They built the lead in the second half. Wake Forest, which shot only 32.4 percent in the first half, went cold. Iman Shumpert and Brian Oliver hit three pointers. The Jackets defended and ran some more. Before long, the lead was up to 17 points at 54-37. That was it.
Hewitt laughed when asked about his rare usage of timeouts Thursday.
“Hey, what can I tell you,” he said. “We played well. Now we move on to the next one.”
Something to look forward to.
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101 comments Add your comment
Tim Sleezebow
January 29th, 2010
12:44 am
They didn’t put it all together against UGA. Just sayin..
Conyers Yellow Jacket
January 29th, 2010
5:16 am
I am a GT fan from way back. However, I cannot get my hopes for a great season too high at this point. I believe the Jackets will need at least 21 regular season wins and 2 wins in the ACC T.
to get a decent seed in the NCAA. If they play consistently like they did last night it will happen.
If they play like they did in the last 30 seconds against FSU they may be in the NIT.
Ozzy
January 29th, 2010
7:01 am
Diablo 69 -
You’re right – and I’m a Hewitt basher. I’ve got season tickets and I’ve been a Tech bball fan since 1985. Last night was one of the most complete games I’ve seen Tech play under Hewitt. So I’ll give him credit for last night, that looked like an ACC quality team.
The problem is – this season is going to be the high water mark for Tech for a long time. Peacock, Bell, Lawal and Favors are gone next year. Those four are really all Tech’s got. Next year’s big men are Sheehan and Shew? Pfffffft.
We’ll be runnin’ and gunnin’ with Shumpert, Udofia, Rice and Oliver. That’s not gonna be pretty.
Overall, the program is in trouble after this year – and that’s all on Hewitt. Tech needs sustainable excellence in basketball, and Hewitt’s not going to get that done.
Snoop Clarky Clark
January 29th, 2010
7:49 am
I’m sorry……. didn’t Tech JUST lose to…. Florida State?!?!?
And Schultzy, you GT Homer, you want to sit here and talk about how AWESOME they are now, and how nobody can touch them. They won an ACC home game to a so-and-so Wake team who either looks impressive or like absolute crap.
just a reminder……….. (((((73-66)))))
just ANOTHER reminder……. (((((30-24)))))
We Run This State
BravesFan79
January 29th, 2010
7:51 am
Conyers: Look man, the selection committee already knows that GT has the highest ceiling of any team in the ACC. And even if they loose in the first round of the ACC tourney, they will get a decent seed of no worse than 7. Now if GT plays like they are capable, they could very well end up a 2 or 3 seed. Hmmm,…. i think i predicted all this success this time last year… glad yall finally jumped on the bandwagon… haters… ; ) Go Jackets!
Yellow Fuzz84
January 29th, 2010
8:00 am
Great column Jeff. Us GT fans appreciate your love for all things Yellow Jacket. We are CLEARLY the dominant team in the ACC in basketball and football as well.
We Run This Conference!
SCGT
January 29th, 2010
8:01 am
Snoop Clarky, enjoy those scores. That’s about all you will have while GT plays in NCAA tournament while UGA is either home or in NIT. Just like football season….UGA stepped up and won the GT BBall game. That being said, Orange Bowl beats Shreveport and being in the Big Dance beats watching it on TV. Fox appears to be a good guy & coach. Hope he will stay for awhile and maybe the UGA/GT BBall game could be an event again played @ Phillips Arena.
Snoop Clarky Clark
January 29th, 2010
8:16 am
SCGT….
again…. just a reminder…. 73-66
and just another reminder…. 30-24
You know it hurts SO SO SO much more than you will ever admit.
Angus
January 29th, 2010
8:19 am
I’m certainly no X’s and O’s expert – I’m even trying to coach my daughter’s 8-year old team this year and we’re 0-2 – but, I noticed stark differences btwn the FSU and WF games. And it’s mostly to do with going back to fundamental b-ball.
1. No frenetic, full-court press last night. Ish was probably the reason Tech backed off, but when it’s five-on-five in the half court, Tech’s awfully difficult to score on.
2. Even the simplest of motion in the half-court offense produced open looks. Tech’s worst possessions were when there was no motion and a more Tech-typical desperation jump shot was the result.
Dare I say Hewitt’s making good adjustments?
Angus
January 29th, 2010
8:21 am
Oh yeah, I meant to ask, how empty was AMC last night? Looked bad on the TV.
IndyGT
January 29th, 2010
8:30 am
I’m one of those who bashed CPH, and I will say – congrats for coaching a good win. We needed a blowout win, and it was good to get it against a quality ACC team. I just want a little bit of consistency now! Outside of Lawal (throw away FSU games), there really hasn’t been anyone playing with a good mean streak.
BobinBuford
January 29th, 2010
8:32 am
Snoop:
1) No, it doesn’t hurt. But you know what does hurt? The fact that the UGA football and basketball programs are now at the point that wins against GT make their season. Isn’t that what you UGA fans used to say about GT? That’s what hurts.
2) Orange Bowl > Shreveport
3) NCAA Tournament > NIT Tournament (IF you team gets lucky.)
Mark Fox may be a good coach, but as long as CPH is on the Flats, he will NEVER be able to recruit the best players in this state. Even your own recruit saw that – figured out playing at GT in front of full houses, even with a red shirt year beats playing at UGA in front of no one. Your team drew a grand total of 3,800 fans to the Gwinnett Arena to play a Big Ten team. Problem was, at least half of that crowd was there to cheer for Illinois. Nice support.
Tech
January 29th, 2010
8:41 am
Angus, the Thrillerdome was full last night. Mid-week tipoffs at 7 are always a late arriving crowd. As for UGA, we’re their Super Bowl, Final Four, and World Series whenever they play us in the three major sports. They’re pathetic losers.
Matt
January 29th, 2010
8:42 am
The next game is a cakewalk. Then at duke. We’ll see if they build off this win soon. Nc state at home should be an easy win. Then they play at miami and at wake. If they only win 2 out of the next 5, then it will be back to the same old questions. I can take a duke loss if they play hard and keep it close. But they need a road win to make up for the fsu loss at home.
Todd
January 29th, 2010
8:46 am
Angus you’re a moron. The capacity of AMC is 9,191.
There were 9083 in atendance last night. Yeah, sure was empty. Idiot.
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201001280232
Robert
January 29th, 2010
8:49 am
You have to have a winning record to get into the NIT. With 11 games left, 5 on the road and ky at home, poor uga isn’t going to make the nit. This is what happens when 3 players forget to take their shoes to their road game. lol
BobinBuford
January 29th, 2010
8:59 am
Robert:
The NIT sometimes takes teams because of their fan support vs. record – you know, attendance. If the team can draw a crowd at home to make money for the NIT, then they get in.
Oh, wait. This is UGA we’re talking about.
Never mind.
Chike
January 29th, 2010
9:10 am
Please explain the timeout with 1:31 to go int the first half.
Wake hadn’t scored in 7+ minutes. We scored after two empty trips
to take the lead back to 8.
After our T.O. Wake scored twice.
Tech Buzz
January 29th, 2010
9:12 am
Georgia may not even make the NIT. But, UGa spinmasters will claim it was a “successful” season because they actually beat a good team!! More years of mediocrity from georgia basketball–mark it down!
Chike
January 29th, 2010
9:13 am
Our big push in the 2nd half came with Aminu on the bench.
Their push back to 10 down came when he made it back on the floor with 6:00 left.
Is getting the other team in foul trouble good coaching or luck reffing?
WPinAZ
January 29th, 2010
9:20 am
Great game for the Jackets last night. Only wish it wasn’t blacked out here in AZ. I have seen the last few games though (Fla. St, Clemson, NC, Duke ) and I would agree that either Mfon is greatly over ratred coming out of Miller Grove, or CPH is doing as he usually does…..coaching the life and CONFIDENCE right out of his game. (see Mo Miller, Zam Frederick). Both of these GUARDS came highly recruited with big time scoring reputations, and were the POY in their states when they came to TECH. Under BLEWITTS guidance, their games suffered and deteriorated to the point where one left the program (to flourish at USC), while the other gets barely any minutes and looks confused and timid for the most part when he does? The worst part about the success we’re enjoying this season is that it may mean we’ll have to endure another year of BLEWITT.
Joe
January 29th, 2010
9:29 am
Snoop Clarky Clark- the insecurity is amazing- inferior academic school, barely superior? athletic program, can’t get a date, boss constantly yells at you, shall we continue?
Joe Fan
January 29th, 2010
9:35 am
A very complete win for GT. Give Hewitt credit for being a very good recruiter but until he starts coaching, GT want be the quality team it can be on a annual basis. Even an average coach could win lots of games with this talent. Lets enjoy this year and see how he does with the players composing next year’s team before being satisfied with him as coach of GT Basketball.
GssiT
January 29th, 2010
9:37 am
What was the thinking behind the 2 TO’s? Didn’t WF lay it up after the 2nd TO? Playing hard-yes, playing smart??? Getting better ???? Did we make every FT? They are unguarded FREE throws! Go, Jackets!
juvenal
January 29th, 2010
9:43 am
can the ATL PLEASE do something about traffic on 10th pre-game-no 18 wheelers? a great effort,maybe the corner turned is finally the one out of the maze…
Peezie
January 29th, 2010
9:50 am
Just like in baseball, their massively overrated team will fold like a cheap lawn chair in the post season. Wait and see
GatorBite
January 29th, 2010
10:05 am
Yep, the biggest problem with Coach Hewitt is still the fact that his teams under achieve. Beating Wake does not alleviate that fact but simply continues the trend of winning and losing and never being able to predict which. Tech could play Jacksonville State tomorrow and lose (see UGA, UVA, FSU -twice) or they could beat anyone in the nation!
UGA is similar with their football team. Huge amounts of talent (2nd most NFL players of any school) but they simply can’t get it together. Lost to KY?? Lost to GT’s option O? Drilled by Bama when they were rebuilding? Perennial top 5 – 10 recruiting classes but only one top 5 showing but weren’t helped by beating #18th ranked Hawaii that year.
Which is why both GT and UGA are regional teams that simply do not get tv ratings outside of their regions.
Angus
January 29th, 2010
10:13 am
Thanks, Tech @ 8:41. The first 15 rows in the first half looked half-empty and TV never showed much more than that – I didn’t get to watch the second half.
Having a bad day already, Todd?
gtbaltfan
January 29th, 2010
10:24 am
I read these things but don’t often post> It is so absurd that this always degenerates into a Tech UGA funfest> If this article is about a significant Tech win over a very good WFU team (#16 in the Sagarin ratings as of yesterday) why do we have to hear from a bunch of butt sniffin Mutt lovers with their 30-24 HAHAHA’s. Move on you goofy bastiches and post on your own blogs. We don’t care what you think
Not Disappointed!
January 29th, 2010
10:27 am
This is a good writing Jeff. Really good. GT’s defense is the key. They looked strong in the second half.
Ramblin Wreck!
tvsportscaster
January 29th, 2010
10:44 am
Why don’t we wait until Tech can actually win two conference games in a row, before we start saying how great they are and how they’ve turned the corner. Unless and until they do that, it will just be another underachieving talented team.
juvenal
January 29th, 2010
10:44 am
the thing is, the folks in the front rows could hire someone to go if they wanted to…one of the very different things from the early Cremins/thrillerdome days, the rich folks got all the good seats(& parking) but seldom show up…
Joe
January 29th, 2010
10:48 am
Agree gtbaltfan- would be nice but don’t count on it. A big missing piece is still 1/3 of Cremins being corporate sells with no fans in the seats. One of the biggest “no brainers” (kind of like the mortgage refi commercial) is playing off the hawks- Hewitt should always have no less than 3 or 4 4 star metro atlanta players with a very strong atlanta support. Kind of what UGA has done with the state in football.
gt
January 29th, 2010
11:02 am
I have never seen a Tech team buy into what Hewitt is doing like this team. I rode back with them from Chapel Hill and there is a maturity about them I have never seen since Hewitt has been here. Cremins always had Price, and all those great point guards and Sally or Scott with strong personalities showing leadership, this team seemed to be a bunch of strangers until now. They were not celebrating the Carolina win like you would have thought or looking like a TO in the end zone. They were tired, at peace with themselves and when talking to them disappointed they had played down to the level they had with Georgia, which by the way then went on to beat number 8 Tenn. at Athens the next week. They totally respected these other teams and the several I talked to realized in the ACC and Georgia if you don’t bring it you going to lose and if you do bring it you still may lose. I think teams in the past, and this is just observation thought they could mail it in on less talented teams, this team sees no less talented teams and respects each team in the ACC. They have bought into what Hewitt is doing and man does it show. One wish only and that is improving, they need to shot those foul shots.
azcat225
January 29th, 2010
11:24 am
Todd, is that acne flaring up again? Don’t know how else to explain your childish attempt at insulting Angus. You might want to check out Tech’s intelligent, mature reply to a straightforward question.
ND
January 29th, 2010
11:49 am
Unless they win 2-3 road games and hold serve at home this season will be just like the rest of Blewitt’s. Maybe we hold off corner turning etc. until they finish 10-6 or better. That said, I really wish he would stick w/ the 8 man rotation and stop calling TOs when GT scores a basket that ignites the crowd.
Scrap
January 29th, 2010
12:09 pm
But why do they loose to FSU? They gotta be consistent.
louisville slugger
January 29th, 2010
12:11 pm
“I’m not sure we can play much better than that” – CPJ.
Uh, yeah, you can – we still had 17 turnovers and way too many sloppy passes on the wing. Just the fundamentals of passing to the side of the player AWAY from the defender seems to be missing. That said, the trend is encouraging, and I really liked the game D’Andre brought to the court last night.
GT IS NOW A 6TH RATE HIGH SCHOOL TEAM
January 29th, 2010
12:25 pm
JELLO JOCKITCH.LOST TO UGA. HAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHA
Paul in RDU
January 29th, 2010
12:37 pm
tvsportscaster
January 29th, 2010
10:44 am
Wait until GT wins 2 conference games in a row? You mean like @UNC and then home to Clemson???
I can understand you making a comment about GT being up and down but at least use facts.
Mr. Thomas Anrthony "The Taxman Cometh" Jones, SR (waf-SS, Lt. Colonel, Breman Germany/ret.)
January 29th, 2010
12:39 pm
Tech wins the ACC and beats Duke four times (twice in the regular season, once in the ACC Tournamant and once in the NCAA tournament) and beat WAKE Forest in the ACC Tournament and UNC comes in last in the ACC! How sweet! Tobacco road is finished! Exterminate Tobacco Road! Wipe Tobacco Road off the map!
cvstampjr
January 29th, 2010
12:52 pm
UGA can not always make it to a top tier bowl, but I guess a blind squirrel finds a nut sometime, as is the case of GT going to a BCS bowl game for the first time since………. ever! This upcoming football season will be like old times with ya’ll annual trip to either Boise, S.F., or Hawaii for a bowl game! @ Joe, being a barley superior athletic school! Thats absurd. UGA is head and shoulders better athletically. I guess you missed the Forbes article that had UGA as the 9th most valued team and there was no mention of GT. An being UGA’s super bowl was certainly laughable. UGA leads the series 60-39-5. Not much of a rivalry! In the end, men lie, women lie, but numbers don’t!
Mike S
January 29th, 2010
1:57 pm
I don’t even think that was the ceiling. Udofia had an absolutely horrible game (outside of that nice steal and layup he had after a Wake defensive rebound) and we turned it over 17 times. We haven’t seen how good this team can be just yet. They could beat ANYBODY in the country if they’re firing on all cylinders. If they can keep gelling and finding that chemistry (and more consistency) they can be playing into April.
Also, don’t want to bash Mfon too much, he just had a terrible game. But he was still hustling the whole time and was all over the court (and often on the floor getting after balls). You got to give it to the kid, he plays all out all the time. He’s going to be a great four year player for us.
trey
January 29th, 2010
6:28 pm
(( 30-24 ))
Glad it still hurts sooo bad.
hahahahahahahahahaha
GT ??? G un T oters
January 29th, 2010
6:59 pm
Has Al Groh locked up any all wolrd D players yet? I am sure that today’s kids really want to hear NFL trivia, like the time Groh was across the playing field from Norm Van Brocklin and Tommy McDonald in the very, very ealry 1960s.
HAHAHAHAHAHHAHA
30-24, 1-9 and Dwyer was held to 0 yds. in Iowa game in first half and he only got 33 v s UGa and CWM. The triple option gives Tech three reasons to fire CPJ by 2012. HAHAHAHAHA
Engineer
January 29th, 2010
7:00 pm
Next year, with some improvement, uga may make the NIT!!!! Do they still play in that old rodeo barn in athens??
GT IS NOW A 6TH RATE HIGH SCHOOL TEAM
January 30th, 2010
12:18 am
JELLO JOCKITCH SAME OLD, SAME OLD. SAME OLD CHOKERS. HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA
GT IS NOW A 6TH RATE HIGH SCHOOL TEAM
January 30th, 2010
12:19 am
JELLO JOCKITCH RHYMES WELL WITH AL GROhIN. SORT OF. HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
The Dude
January 30th, 2010
2:00 am
Congrats on a much needed win Jackets. After 26 years in GA I recently moved to TN. Guess what UoG fans, TN fans are more pleasant people to be around. Congrats on being on being that white spot on chicken excrement. You stand out, mostly as pieces of …..
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