Jackets fizzle again, but Radakovich in Hewitt’s corner
Georgia's Gerald Robinson drives past Tech's Daniel Miller for a layup in the second half, and the Bulldogs rallied for a 73-72 win. (AP photo)
For most of the evening, it looked like early December basketball: Missed jumpers, mistimed passes and long stretches of mediocrity interrupted by the occasional highlight.
Actually, if you flipped back the calendar a couple of weeks, it was the Georgia vs. Georgia Tech football game.
In the end, the Bulldogs won this one, too, 73-72 at Alexander Memorial Coliseum. The difference: a 3-pointer by the Dogs’ Dustin Ware that broke a tie with 18 seconds remaining, followed by a Tech team that looked again as if it lacked either a plan or an ability to execute thereafter.
Why would Glen Rice drive the lane for a layup with 6.8 seconds left rather than attempt to set up a three-pointer to tie it?
Why, with the Jackets inbounding the ball with 2.8 seconds left, would Brian Oliver attempt a low-percentage pass the length of the court to center Daniel Miller when there probably was time for a mid-court pass, a dribble and a shot? (The pass was intercepted by Travis Leslie.)
Neither team looked March-ready. Or even January-ready. But only one made plays to win the game, and it wasn’t the Jackets.
Georgia coach Mark Fox wasn’t thrilled with his team’s performance but said: “We feel like we’re leaving here with a good win.”
That’s more than Paul Hewitt could say. Of Oliver’s pass, he said: “Just a [bad] read. The next time he’s in that situation, he’ll make a good decision.”
But an impatient fan base isn’t allowing Hewitt much room for error. This was only the second time in 16 years since the Tech-Georgia game was shifted back on campus that the home team lost. Both times, the Dogs have won at Alexander. The last time: 10 years ago in Hewitt’s first season.
The masses aren’t happy on North Avenue. That’s when there are masses. It doesn’t speak well for the feeling around the program when there are 2,000 empty seats in a 9,000-seat arena.
But before the game, Tech athletic director Dan Radakovich stood up for Hewitt.
“We went to the finals of the ACC tournament last year,” Radakovich said. “We went to the second round of the NCAA tournament. That wasn’t a bad year.”
So you’re satisfied?
“You’re never satisfied unless you win it all,” he said. “But there was significant progress over the previous couple of years. I feel like we’re going in the right direction.”
He said he’s aware of the concern over the direction of the program, adding: “I’m not oblivious to it. But Paul and I talk an awful lot about where the program’s going the next couple of years, bringing in some players that we think will [not leave early]. One-and-dones aren’t bad if you understand them from the beginning. It’s the ones who leave when you don’t expect it that really put the program behind the eight ball.”
Three weeks ago the Jackets lost at Kennesaw State. That left the impression the program was under the eight ball, not behind it. (If the loss wasn’t humiliating enough, consider that the Owls are 0-5 since.)
Radakovich, with a slight smile: “Yeah, we hit a bump at Kennesaw State.”
A bump?
“OK, a pothole. A crevice. An iceberg.”
It pays sometime to have a sense of humor when the barbarians are at the gate. But this end-of-game fizzle won’t help Hewitt’s cause.
The teams shot a combined 25-for-62 in the first half. Georgia at least had an excuse. Leslie sat for most of the half with two early fouls. When he returned in the second half, so did some semblance of flow to the Dogs’ offense.
They made five consecutive three-pointers in one stretch. They finally took their first lead at 48-47 on a three-point shot by Sherrard Brantley with 11:36 remaining. The Jackets fought back. Effort wasn’t the issue, execution was. But that has become a familiar sight.
– By Jeff Schultz
♦
Follow me on Twitter @JeffSchultzAJC and Facebook.com/JeffSchultzAJC
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
489 comments Add your comment
PHIL
December 8th, 2010
12:30 pm
GT Bob you’re living in the past buddy
techlogic
December 8th, 2010
12:30 pm
Doesn’t matter how many times Tech loses to Ugay.
You rednecks will ALWAYS be mowing my lawn, serving my family dinner and taking out our trash no matter how many times we lose at football or basketball.
All of you worship the ground a Tech graduate walks on.
Dostoveyskiy
December 8th, 2010
12:32 pm
Atlanta is full of UGa fans. Why didn’t they pounce on those tickets, heck, they have a chance of having a winning season this year.
there is nothing that the yellow jackets can do
December 8th, 2010
12:32 pm
Yes I am a bitter Tech fan who is tired of always losing to UGA!!!!!
GTBob
December 8th, 2010
12:33 pm
How exactly am I living in the past PHIL?
Writer
December 8th, 2010
12:38 pm
For most of the evening, it looked like early December basketball: Missed jumpers, mistimed passes and long stretches of mediocrity interrupted by the occasional highlight.
Actually, if you flipped back the calendar a couple of weeks, it was the Georgia vs. Georgia Tech football game.
In the end, the Bulldogs won this one, too, 73-72 at Alexander Memorial Coliseum. The difference: a 3-pointer by the Dogs’ Dustin Ware that broke a tie with 18 seconds remaining, followed by a Tech team that looked again as if it lacked either a plan or an ability to execute thereafter.
Why would Glen Rice drive the lane for a layup with 6.8 seconds left rather than attempt to set up a three-pointer to tie it?
Why, with the Jackets inbounding the ball with 2.8 seconds left, would Brian Oliver attempt a low-percentage pass the length of the court to center Daniel Miller when there probably was time for a mid-court pass, a dribble and a shot? (The pass was intercepted by Travis Leslie.)
Neither team looked March-ready. Or even January-ready. But only one made plays to win the game, and it wasn’t the Jackets.
Georgia coach Mark Fox wasn’t thrilled with his team’s performance but said: “We feel like we’re leaving here with a good win.”
That’s more than Paul Hewitt could say. Of Oliver’s pass, he said: “Just a [bad] read. The next time he’s in that situation, he’ll make a good decision.”
But an impatient fan base isn’t allowing Hewitt much room for error. This was only the second time in 16 years since the Tech-Georgia game was shifted back on campus that the home team lost. Both times, the Dogs have won at Alexander. The last time: 10 years ago in Hewitt’s first season.
The masses aren’t happy on North Avenue. That’s when there are masses. It doesn’t speak well for the feeling around the program when there are 2,000 empty seats in a 9,000-seat arena.
But before the game, Tech athletic director Dan Radakovich stood up for Hewitt.
“We went to the finals of the ACC tournament last year,” Radakovich said. “We went to the second round of the NCAA tournament. That wasn’t a bad year.”
So you’re satisfied?
“You’re never satisfied unless you win it all,” he said. “But there was significant progress over the previous couple of years. I feel like we’re going in the right direction.”
He said he’s aware of the concern over the direction of the program, adding: “I’m not oblivious to it. But Paul and I talk an awful lot about where the program’s going the next couple of years, bringing in some players that we think will [not leave early]. One-and-dones aren’t bad if you understand them from the beginning. It’s the ones who leave when you don’t expect it that really put the program behind the eight ball.”
Three weeks ago the Jackets lost at Kennesaw State. That left the impression the program was under the eight ball, not behind it. (If the loss wasn’t humiliating enough, consider that the Owls are 0-5 since.)
Radakovich, with a slight smile: “Yeah, we hit a bump at Kennesaw State.”
A bump?
“OK, a pothole. A crevice. An iceberg.”
It pays sometime to have a sense of humor when the barbarians are at the gate. But this end-of-game fizzle won’t help Hewitt’s cause.
The teams shot a combined 25-for-62 in the first half. Georgia at least had an excuse. Leslie sat for most of the half with two early fouls. When he returned in the second half, so did some semblance of flow to the Dogs’ offense.
They made five consecutive three-pointers in one stretch. They finally took their first lead at 48-47 on a three-point shot by Sherrard Brantley with 11:36 remaining. The Jackets fought back. Effort wasn’t the issue, execution was. But that has become a familiar sight.
TomB
December 8th, 2010
12:38 pm
Gracious Phil, I didn’t start the academic thing; your funny UGA supporter Snoop Dawg did. Go ahead and read his first post and you will know why I responded as I did.
I’ll grant you that UGA post Kemp is a better school with higher academic and admission standards. But, it wasn’t always this way so you give it a rest. I will say that your statement that the performance of UGA athletes is superior to Gt by NCAA or any other measure is a joke and you know it. Back it up with some facts Phil, and I’ll listen to your nonsense.
Since you don’t have any thing else to do Phil, why don’t you look up how many 4 and 5 star players UGA recruited over the past five years and compare it to Tech’s. Go ahead….I’m waiting.
hey phil
December 8th, 2010
12:38 pm
which school is described by the following?
-that routinely has a dozen football players arrested yearly.
-that is an also ran in its own conference in spite of having a ‘dream’ team every year in recruiting.
-that is so inept against uf it makes gt’s record against the frogs seem mild in comparison .
-that has a student body that is so ignorant that they urinate on the carpet of their own school library. so much for education eh?
-that had the jan kemp affair and the jim harrick classes and the cheating by the school of pharmacy.
-that had a lying cheating man like vince dooley for their coach and ad. wasnt ugag on probation like every 4 years under the evil dooley?
-that tosses tons and tons of garbage onto their own campus and any venue they attend. i heard that shreveport under no circumstances ever wants to see the ugag fan base back in shreveport. EVER. st simons is almost to that point.
-that had a nationally written newspaper article describing how the broadcast team of tv announcers commented on the FACT that the ugag fan base was the WORST bunch of out of control drunks they had ever witnessed in 40 years of doing college fb broadcasts. now that is outright shameful.
-that had its most recent married ad arrested for drunk driving while sniffing the panties of the prostitute that was riding with him.
we routinely have the largest group of natoinal merit scholars on our campus. meanwhile ugag is up for the top partay school in the country.
i would be willing to bet we have more ceo’s than ugag does.
and i have not seen a single reputable mag rank uga ahead of gt in acedemics. cheating lying stealing drunkeness yes ….. acedemics no!
a ugag astronaut? lmao. more likely a ugag janitor.
our endowment is bigger by a large factor.
we never had any of our school supply the answers to a national test like YOUR pharmacy prof did. if you guys are so academic why would you have to cheat?
that is an easy question to answer…. cause the dawgs are lying cheating and pathetic.
Dawgy
December 8th, 2010
12:41 pm
Jacka$$,
Lying Vince Dooley? When and where?
Probation every 4 years?
AD “sniffing” panties?
Urinating on library carpet?
Pharmacy school cheating?
Shreveport never wants UGA back?
Losing record against UF?
Frogs?
Nationally written article about terrible fan base?
Where is the proof behind your allegations? Truth? You are even dumber than I thought the first go round.
How about your lying, cheating coach (O’Liary)?
How about your drunk, pot smoking QB’s (Hamilton and Dewberry)?
How about your academic cheating scandal causing forfeitures of football games and other sports?
How about 8 out of nine?
How about free cokes and hot dogs?
How about immature yellow-wigged nerds bopping up and down to the Budweiser song?
Yeah, I’d be proud too of my school for these great accomplishments!
MATHDAWG
December 8th, 2010
12:42 pm
GT is second rate in every sport to UGA and will soon be second rate in production of engineers who can get the job done.
What’s the difference in a GT civil engineer and a Southern Tech civil engineer? The Southern Tech engineer can get the road paved while the GT guy is still making his drawings.
Dawgy
December 8th, 2010
12:47 pm
TomB
Are you even listening to yourself? Are moral victories that important to you? You are a bigger loser than I thought if they are.
BTW,. UGA won by more than an extra point. Thank goodness the ACC refs kept it that close for your moral victory with ball placements on 4th down plays.
Recruit magazine
December 8th, 2010
12:48 pm
TomB is not a 5star athlete
hey dawgy
December 8th, 2010
12:50 pm
do i have your goat yet?
bahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
werent you guys the goats at one point ? bahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
far as proof goes i dont need any ….. your need to defend the truth speaks for itself.
now make my fries first than attend to the men’s restroom. the cubicle next to the wall has a doogie on the floor and its out of toilet paper.
chop chop lil froggie. chop chop!
btw we call you frawggies cause you gaggers are always croaking real loud about something meaningless like a bull frawg does. why is that ? cause you have nothing of real importance that you can brag about. unless you consider being the top partay school important.
now go baaaaaaaaaaaaahck to your work station . bahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
having a fan call himself
December 8th, 2010
12:51 pm
mathdawg is oxymoronic. eh?
Snoop Dawg
December 8th, 2010
12:54 pm
GT Bob,
You don’t have to believe me about the acaedmics. Look up this years average SAT/GPA scores for GT and UGA on USNWR. Plus, then go figure that GT lets in more out of state nerds to puff up their stats…
UGA is rising, and GT is stagnant…
TomB
December 8th, 2010
12:56 pm
Give me a break Dawgy. Did you watch the game? Tech fumbles twice, once on UGA’S 6 yd line and another in the red zone, and still UGA wins by a missed extra point.
I don’t care one bit about moral victories, but I do care about all this mighty SEC crap. You get on these blogs and run your mouth even though your team finishes 6-6 and can barely beat a little ACC team. You are the loser.
PHIL
December 8th, 2010
1:00 pm
@ Bob To think that UGA is not at the level of academia as GT. ESPECIALLY when talking about athletics, which, btw is what we are discussing. UGA is ahead of Tech in any way you or the NCAA can possibly measure.
As far as career goes, do I believe that engineers are the big money earners? No I know they are not. My dads firm employs them. The big money earners are business people and the biggest business people in this state at least, are UGA grads.
Don’t know where you are getting your stats but you should check your sources.
GTBob
December 8th, 2010
1:04 pm
@Snoop Dawg
So you base the quality of the education on the average SAT scores for admission? You choose to ignore average starting salaries, average median career salaries, long term return on investment, and academic rankings? That seems pretty logical.
PHIL
December 8th, 2010
1:06 pm
Tom B last year we won, too. Remember? That was your ACC champion team and it was our second worst team in 20 years, remember that? If you wanted to be a sports fan you should have picked another school, period.
As to the academics of each schools athletes you should know that the NCAA released its most recent data not long ago and it indeed showed that the athletes UGA are far and away exceeding those from Tech. Just stating the facts. Obviously you weren’t aware. Feel free to say what ever you wish from here on out. I have to get back to work and you’re not worth wasting time on since you don’t have a clue to what you are talking about.
GTBob
December 8th, 2010
1:09 pm
@PHIL
Average starting salary for GT grads: 57,300
Average starting salary for UGA grads: 42,100
Average median career salary for GT grads: 105,000
Average median career salary for UGA grads: 78,400
Average 30 year ROI for GT grads: 1.11 million (ranked 31st of all schools)
Average 30 year ROI for UGA grads: 533,000 (ranked 194th of all schools)
Sources:
http://www.payscale.com/education/average-cost-for-college-ROI
http://www.payscale.com/best-colleges/top-us-colleges-graduate-salary-statistics.asp
TomB
December 8th, 2010
1:09 pm
Give it up Snoop Dawg. Read and understand.
GT is ranked 7th among public universities in the 2011 edition of America’s best colleges by US News and World report. GT has been ranked in the top 10 of public universities for a decade or more.
GT’s College of Engineering moved up one spot in the undergraduate rankings to fourth for engineering programs at universities where the highest degree is a Ph.D.
The School of Industrial and Systems Engineering maintained its top ranking and Aerospace Engineering ranked second in its discipline. Mechanical Engineering moved up one spot to join Biomedical Engineering, and Civil Engineering with all ranked third. Electrical and Environmental Engineering both ranked 5th among their peers.
Georgia Tech’s College of Management rose from 31st last year to 28th this year.
For the first time, U.S. News & World Report polled high school guidance counselors. Georgia Tech ranked 2nd among public institutions, tied with the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and the University of Michigan. In rankings including both public and private universities, Georgia Tech tied for 22nd with Boston College, Emory University, Rice University, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, University of Southern California, University of Michigan and Washington University-St. Louis.
Dawg H8R
December 8th, 2010
1:10 pm
Hewitt,for some reason, can’t seem to find a PG. Tech needs namebrand players,they seem to have been forgotten this past decade. How can you allow the dawgs to do you guys like that? Jawja sucks so bad,they hired a coach who isn’t dirty or from the South.
Why did Tech get rid of Bobby Cremins, was he really that bad at the end? Really?
TomB
December 8th, 2010
1:13 pm
Just the facts Phil. Where are they? Give us a link to these NCAA findings. Now, go back to work for your daddy.
jarvis
December 8th, 2010
1:13 pm
I don’t understand then. If Michigan is such a great academic school, how can they excel at athletics the way the do?
Someone just shot a hole in a theory.
Dawg H8R
December 8th, 2010
1:15 pm
MATHDAWG
Does jawja have dem new fangled thangs on camppuss. I thank dey call dem
COMPUTERS. Monochrome monitors have been played for two decades dawgs.
jarvis
December 8th, 2010
1:16 pm
Doesn’t Michigan’s Engineering School also rival Tech’s among the public schools?
Yikes!
North Avenue Trade School
December 8th, 2010
1:19 pm
I want to talk s***. FOOTBALL! Nope, nope, that won’t do. BASKETBALL! Nope, nope, we lost at that too. Um… uh… CESSPOOL! DUM FANZ! Yeah, that’ll show ‘em. Oh and we won ladies basketball, which is the only real sport and is really impressive since all 12 women attending my school are on the team, so there is no margin for error.
GO BUMBLEBEES!
droopydawg
December 8th, 2010
1:20 pm
GT fans: This lazy bitterness is just sad. Your athletic programs suck, get over it. If you do not want to talk sports, why are you wasting your time here? Go look for a job.
Jeff
December 8th, 2010
1:24 pm
My my….seems like our Jackette friends are pretty quiet lately. I guess that’s what happens when your not “BACK” as most Techies were saying earlier in the year. hmmm…since the FLUKE in Athens in 08, the Nerds on North Avenue are what??? 0-2 in football and now, 0-2 in BBall
Salt on the Wound
December 8th, 2010
1:25 pm
I think KSU will fire their coach at year’s end.
From coach PJ....NO MORE GA SCHOOLS ON TECH SCHEDULE...this includes High School team as well
December 8th, 2010
1:26 pm
Enter your comments here
UGA is Just Fine...
December 8th, 2010
1:31 pm
Tech fans, don’t worry Hewitt is as good as gone. He got college athletics’ version of “the kiss of death” (a public vote of confidence from the AD)
T3
December 8th, 2010
1:32 pm
Am I the only one that thinks that Hewitt
is ACTUALLY trying very very hard to get fired?
ty
December 8th, 2010
1:42 pm
Sure are dark days to be a Yechie right now. Sad.
SOCAL Dawg
December 8th, 2010
1:43 pm
“They aren’t real good defenders in one-on-one situations,” Oliver said. “We just didn’t finish.”
What a whiner! If we aren’t “real good” what does that make y’all? Techies bring soooo much happiness to my life. All of Dawg Nation would like to thank you.
Tech freshman
December 8th, 2010
1:45 pm
I’m sure our varsity chess team could beat you mutts!!!
Naz
December 8th, 2010
1:49 pm
If I had the slightest bit of respect for Yech I would actually have pity for them. But thankfully they have the worst fan base in the country so I can take much delight in their misery.
bigdawg8
December 8th, 2010
1:52 pm
Too funny!! All these techies posting on here are so pathetic. Since they can’t boast about their dwindling athletic programs any more the only thing they have left to claim is their so called academic standard. Every time they start spouting off about their “superior minds”, “great jobs” and qualifications to be a fan is being an alumnus just tells everyone else how insecure and bitter they really are. If you don’t care that much about athletics “anymore” then why are you on a UGA sports blog spouting off your putrid and miserable hate speech? Go find a loser tech engineer blog and do your crying there!
Jimmy Carter
December 8th, 2010
1:55 pm
bigdawg8,
I took classes at Georgia Tech. Are you going to call me a failure?
hahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!
December 8th, 2010
1:56 pm
Hey bugs, just wait til Kennesaw gets a football program. Yet another instate school for you to hide from!!!
I hear crickets.......
December 8th, 2010
1:58 pm
Tech fans!?!?! Where are you!?!?!?
bigdawg8
December 8th, 2010
2:00 pm
I think your record speaks for itself! Still an embarrassment.
TomB
December 8th, 2010
2:08 pm
Bigdawg8: Are you so stupid that you can’t see that this blog concerns the UGA Tech basketball game? How does that make it a UGA blog? Is this the reasoning they teach you at UGA? The only reason academic standards are mentioned concerns the difficulties in recruiting especially especially for football. Before you start boasting about athletics, let me remind you that UGA finished 6-6 this year.
superDawg
December 8th, 2010
2:09 pm
If it were not for UGA tek would not exist.You tekies should be thanking us because you need something to look up to.
St. Clarkston
December 8th, 2010
2:13 pm
Hewitt doesn’t seem to be a bad coach. His teams play with intensity. I think he put himself behind the eight ball with a couple of one and done players. Certainly Mark Fox lucked into Thompkins and Leslie staying.
jake
December 8th, 2010
2:14 pm
Nice try TomB. If Reggie Ball and Michael Johnson can hang around Tech’s campus for 4 or 5 years, then obviously some shady happenings are taking place.
And don’t even get me started on all the trash their basketball program has had over the years. So please, try again.
GTBob
December 8th, 2010
2:14 pm
bigdawg8, it was UGA posters on here who started the academic argument. If you don’t want to talk about academics then don’t bring it up.
hahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!
December 8th, 2010
2:15 pm
And let me remind you, your joke of a football team is the reason we are bowl eligible!! So thank you!!!
nene
December 8th, 2010
2:17 pm
I’ll talk academics. It would appear that UGA is going to soon be owning the thugs from North Ave. at engineering as well. Pretty soon we will be able to shutdown that God forsaken campus completely there in Atlanta and those students can finally attend a real school where you don’t have to worry about being robbed on a daily basis.
TomB
December 8th, 2010
2:18 pm
Oh, thank you superdawg! UGA superdawg logic at work again, I see.