Georgia Tech needs a Keener mind on the bench
Since playing for the 2004 national championship, Georgia Tech is 77-75. This will be the Jackets’ third losing season in their past four. They’ve made a postseason tournament – and here we include the low-rent NIT – once since 2005. There’s more wrong than just bad luck. There’s mismanagement afoot.
Tech beat Miami on Wednesday. It was the Jackets’ first victory since Jan. 31, their third of calendar 2009. Nobody expected this to be a Top 25 team, but it shouldn’t have been this feeble. Tech starts two McDonald’s All-Americans but clinched last place in the ACC before February was done.
Miami, by way of contrast, has no McDonald’s All-Americans but is 17-11 and still retains an outside chance of making the Big Dance. Tech, which is 11-17, should have been no worse than that.
After Wednesday’s game, Paul Hewitt said: “This team has been unfortunate more than anything else. It hasn’t been a bad team.” It is, sad to say, such denial that holds Tech back. You don’t go from No. 2 in the country to last in a 12-team league without systemic malfunction.
Tech is undercoached. It doesn’t have North Carolina’s depth of talent, but it has enough to have been competitive. But, since taking an unassuming group to the Final Four, Hewitt has consistently gotten less from more. His 2006-07 team, which lost its first games in the ACC and NCAA tournaments, included four players now working in the NBA.
Hewitt admitted Wednesday he has made mistakes, but only in recruiting. “It’s always recruiting,” he said, and he mentioned Mohammed Faye, who transferred to SMU. Only it isn’t always recruiting. Tech keeps losing because it hasn’t developed players the way a big-time program must.
Being Hewitt, he hopped on his hobbyhorse. “We’ve had to adjust to tougher academic standards,” he said. “I tried to fight the APR [the NCAA’s academic progress report] hard because I felt it could have an effect on our program. But our academics are now in the best shape since I’ve been here. We had six guys on the dean’s list last semester.”
Other ACC schools, however, face similar scholastic rigors. For a coach in his ninth season at the Institute to use academics as an excuse – especially when the same coach took Tech to the NCAA title and was essentially handed a lifetime contract thereafter – is disingenuous. Hewitt knows what it takes to win at this school. He just hasn’t done it lately.
Owing to his recruiting class and his $7 million buyout, Hewitt is going nowhere, but potential help was close at hand Wednesday, sitting in the press section. Dean Keener was Hewitt’s chief assistant his first four seasons here, and he left after the Final Four to coach James Madison. Keener resigned last year and has moved back to Atlanta, where he’s working in the private sector.
Would Keener rejoin Hewitt’s staff if asked? “I wouldn’t even want to begin a dialogue [with a reporter] on that,” he said, and then he professed his relish for his new job, which affords the chance to be around his young children. Still, Keener coached for 20 years, and the itch never fully leaves, does it?
Asked about possible changes, Hewitt said he likes the composition of his staff very much, and certainly Tech’s heralded recruits are a testimony to assistants John O’Connor and Charlton Young and Peter Zaharias. But the best staffs forge a balance between coaching and recruiting, and the Jackets have veered out of plumb.
Put simply, Tech needs Dean Keener as much as it needed Derrick Favors. Maybe even more.
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155 comments Add your comment
TG
March 5th, 2009
2:37 pm
AMEN!!!! I have been saying this since he resigned last year. Keener & Warren were huge assistanst for Hewitt. Let’s get Keener back while we have the chance.
T-Bone
March 5th, 2009
2:38 pm
Well said, Mark. Whether Dean Keener is the answer or not, I don’t know. But Hewitt’s coaching certainly is not. The word is that he’s done a good job recruiting, but I even wonder about that. The bulk of his Final Four team was Cremins recuits. Bosh was a one-and-done. I’ll grant him Jack, T Young, Crittendon–so certainly his recruiting outshines his coaching a development of players.
In my book, he’s got one, at the most two, seasons to turn this ship around.
And the problem is, as a grad and big fan, I like him as a person. I think that he represents the school well. He’s not developed the players that he’s brought in.
Mark Bradley
March 5th, 2009
2:41 pm
Actually, the bulk of the Final Four team was not Cremins recruits. Marvin Lewis was, and I think Clarence Moore was, too. But that’s it.
I like Paul Hewitt as a person, too. That’s what makes it so hard watching Tech thrash about.
leland
March 5th, 2009
2:47 pm
Dear Mr. MB–I say get Keener, before fans get meaner. Your pal, Leland
Greg Pruitt
March 5th, 2009
2:47 pm
That 77-75 record includes all the early season cupcakes.
Match Tech up against the ACC and other major conference schools and his record is horrendous. Coach, do the right thing and step down. That will allow you to devote more time to your Black Coaches Association agenda. Once you are coaching again somewhere else, of course.
Mark Bradley
March 5th, 2009
2:49 pm
That’s a rhyme. I owe you a dime.
T-Bone
March 5th, 2009
2:50 pm
Thanks for the correction, Mark. I’m just a frustrated Tech fan who longs for the ThrillerDome to again be the ThrillerDome! I’m tired of the excuses. Certainly Hewitt sees what Dan Rad did with an under-performing Chan Gailey who also fell out of favor with the fans, despite the financial cost. Again, I think he has (at least he ought ot have) 1, maybe 2, seasons–depending on what he does with next year’s stellar class.
Mark Bradley
March 5th, 2009
2:54 pm
I hear you, T-Bone. It was sad to see all the empty seats Wednesday night.
WPinAZ
March 5th, 2009
2:54 pm
I beleive it’s too late. This ship has sailed. Getting Keener back may help some, but conventional wisdom allows that you never go backwards. Someone once sang: “It’s never as good as the first time”. There is much truth to that in all aspects of life. Hewitt has had more than enough time and opportunity make GT basketball competitive. His TEAMS get worse and worse, with seemingly no TEAM improvement anywhere. I have no reason to believe this incoming class, with all it’s heralded talent, will be any more better AS A TEAM, than the current edition. Why? Same COACH. Given great talent, he get’s nothing out of them. Paul Hewitt has done to GT Basketball what Isiah Thomas did to the New York Knicks. He must go, and go NOW.
Mark Bradley
March 5th, 2009
3:00 pm
I disagree. Look at the galvanizing effect Larry Shyatt had when he joined Billy Donovan’s staff at Florida. The right assistants can make a huge difference.
Gordon
March 5th, 2009
3:02 pm
I find this article discouraging. I didn’t realize Hewitt was so out of touch with reality. He has 2 McDonald’s All Americans, is 2-13 in the ACC, barely above .500 for ALL games in the last 4 years, and only sees a recruiting problem and likes the composition of his staff very much? What were the “big changes” he referred to a couple of weeks ago?
That win over Kansas in 2004 was VERY expensive. Without it, Dave Braine would never have gotten so carried away and Hewitt would be gone by now.
Mark Bradley
March 5th, 2009
3:08 pm
I wouldn’t say Hewitt is out of touch. I would say what a former assistant once said: “Paul’s the most optimistic guy in the world.”
The former assistant? Dean Keener.
Gordon
March 5th, 2009
3:28 pm
“Out of touch with reality” and “the most optimistic guy in the world” are two ways of saying the same thing. Keener knows the truth. The record is the record. 9 years is long enough to see what a coach can and cannot do. You wrote an article in Hewitt’s first year and mentioned the former NC State coach Herb Sendek, saying something like “can you really see N.C. State getting much better with Sendek as coach.” Well, can you see the next 9 years being better than the first 9 with Hewitt?
At best, Hewitt will be a problem that can be worked around with a good assistant. At worst…well you can see that for yourself this year. I’m not a negative person, and like everyone else I think Paul Hewitt is a great guy, but a 9 year record carries a lot of weight with me.
I still believe Tech could be consistently good in basketball, given the conference and city we play in. We also have a great tradition of producing NBA players. But then again, maybe I’m the one who is out of touch with reality.
matt r
March 5th, 2009
3:35 pm
The Jackets have been a non-hustle team since Jack and Co. left.
Ted Striker
March 5th, 2009
3:41 pm
If Tech can’t get Dean Keener, maybe they can try for Dean Wormer.
Mark Bradley
March 5th, 2009
3:44 pm
I disagree. Tech played very hard Wednesday night, and there haven’t been many nights when I’ve felt the effort was at fault.
And Ted, they could always try for Dean Smith.
Russ
March 5th, 2009
3:47 pm
Yes, Keener and Cliff Warren. Were a big part of the final 4 team. Things have not been the same since they left. Those two guys could develop players.
Mark Bradley
March 5th, 2009
3:49 pm
Cliff Warren left after the 2005 season to become head coach at Jacksonville, where he has done a nice job.
Dave
March 5th, 2009
3:50 pm
Couldn’t agree more. Hewitt hasn’t had much less talent to deal with than he had in his Final Four run. The biggest difference from then to now has been coaching, and the biggest difference in coaching from then to now was the loss of Dean Keener. GT LOOKS poorly coached, and plays with low basketball IQ.
GT doesn’t necessarily need Keener in particular (though it wouldn’t hurt to have him), but I echo the sentiments that the assistant coaching staff needs a shakeup. Some guys gotta go, and some new coaching blood needs to be brought in who can develop these talented recruits and have them play with good fundamentals.
I pray Dan Radakovich sees the same thing, and I hope he isn’t drinking Hewitt’s kool-aid that this team began being “misfortunate” coincidentally right after Keener left.
Ted Striker
March 5th, 2009
3:56 pm
Mark, sometimes I miss the obvious.
Mark Bradley
March 5th, 2009
4:00 pm
Other Deans: Rusk, Jagger, Stockwell, Acheson, Meminger and John W.
matt r
March 5th, 2009
4:24 pm
I guess that was a bit of a generalization on the effort level… but the Jack-led Jackets overachieved and that has not been the case since.
DTECH
March 5th, 2009
4:25 pm
Your right on the money Mr. Bradley!!!
DTECH
March 5th, 2009
4:31 pm
One more thing, the key to the final four run was a transfer in Will Bynum combined with the return of Moore who brought a nasty attitude.
carober
March 5th, 2009
4:34 pm
Mark,
How recent are those quotes? Especially the “unfortunate more than anything else” one?
carober
March 5th, 2009
4:37 pm
I guess it just really upsets me that a coach, who is responsible for a team, can honestly argue that the biggest factor affecting this season is misfortune. Great article though.
ga_tech_92
March 5th, 2009
4:38 pm
Thanks Mark. Go Jackets
Bob
March 5th, 2009
4:48 pm
Hewitt is a class guy. The kind Tech needs to help succeed and stay. Hello, DRad.
Paul always has a litany of self-righteous rationalizations on the ready, so DRad will have to exert pressure more than simple suasion for there to be material change. That will mean a collosal but necessary collision of wills.
Missing a recruiting piece or two hasn’t been a problem. Indeed, two years there weren’t enough minutes to divide between 11-12 legit players.
The problems we DO have are:
1. Too little team drills on basics which results in tentative passes, cuts and not enough team D help.
2. A climate which permits failure so long as intentions were good and there was occasional hustle. Tech is mega streaky; either flat or sluggish or on fire. Need some Paul Johnson style instensity for passion and effort to be constant.
3. Special coaching up for ballhandlers. The college game is about the guards, the ballhandlers. Our don’t develop. Looks like Miller and Shumpert aren’t developing like we must have for next year.
Come on, DRad. Not to please grumbling alumni, but to do the tough part of a senior exec’s job. The trend line’s been there too long to accept that doing the same things harder will achieve material improvement.
ExecutiveStinger
March 5th, 2009
4:54 pm
Hewitt made the “unfortunate more than anything else” quote after the game last night.
I would agree with Coach Keener that Paul is an eternal optimist and I would also agree with you, Mark, that we need Coach Keener back if he’s willing to come. However, I think there is more that needs to change. I don’t know what it is, but getting Dean back will not solve all our problems. With as much talent as we have recruited, something just doesn’t give. I still say, with or without Keener, that Paul has a maximum of two years left to prove he can still coach and make Tech a winner in the ACC and around the country. That precedent was set by Coach Hewitt himself, so to settle for anything less won’t fly.
yurtle_the_turtle
March 5th, 2009
4:57 pm
Mark, I’m tired of Hewitt and the whinning. Academics is the issue? Transfers? Early exits? His list of excuses never end. This team is horrible, yet Hewitt built it. He constructed it and if the excuses keep coming, then he’ll be here for a while longer. I don’t even watch GT Basketball any more. I’m through being angry, I just don’t care. I used to be excited about upcoming seasons. I’ve watched only one game this year from start to finish. I actually start hoping we lose games just so we can get rid of Hewitt. Ouch, that hurts!
The GM
March 5th, 2009
4:57 pm
DRad needs to make Hewitt’s position miserable and force him to resign. Until there is a real coach in place Tech’s lack of coaching and basketball IQ will continue to be exposed.
Richard
March 5th, 2009
4:59 pm
As much as I hate to say it, this editorial is 100% on the money.
Tech’s biggest need is on the bench, not on the court.
BravesFan79
March 5th, 2009
5:03 pm
Best article about GT hoops in years!! And exactly what ive been saying all along!!
If Hewitt cant see the facts hes SERIOUSLY outcoached hes not as bright as i thought he was.
I believe in Hewitt.. i just dont trust his judgment in picking assistant coaches.
The AD needs to step in this summer and FORCE hewitt to make staff changes, if not Keener, bring in a old retired coach like a Lefty Drisel, or a Bob Knight.
2HLLWGA
March 5th, 2009
5:07 pm
I agree with a large part of your article. I find it interesting that each of Hewitt’s teams takes longer to gel each year. Since the Bosh year, you can see it getting later and later. In ‘04, even though GT won the preseason NIT, the Cornell game in the middle of the NIT was very iffy. The year we started 0-7 in the ACC and then finished 7-9, but it was too late to make the NCAA. This year, we struggled at the beginning of the year (Mercer???, PSU, IUC) and have had incredibly bad luck thru now.
I think this team has the talent, but I think their problem is chemistry resulting from the lack of a team leader. Shumpert is not a leader, yet. I think we have had too many defections to have a developed our leader this year. Every year that we have had to rely upon a Freshman, we have been sub-par (I am trying to be nice). Examples are Bosh, Crittenden, Starbury et.al.
In my opinion, I would blame it on our poor recruiting. Blaming the problems on academics means that Hewitt does not know how to recruit for GT. He needs to find player/leader who is going to be here for four or five years and groom that player to be the leader. This leader is someone who is more interested in graduating than havign an NBA career. Brian Oliver is a good example of a leader who was interested in graduating and leading the team. He held that team together. The leader creates the chemistry among the players and we don’t have a leader.
Maybe a good assistant helps with the chemistry, but we need a leader deparately.
BravesFan79
March 5th, 2009
5:08 pm
For the people who dont think assistants make much of a difference….. then how come good Offensive and Defensive coordinators are some of the most important part of a football team??
yellarjacket4life
March 5th, 2009
5:12 pm
I think the main reason we made run the national title game was because of Dean Keener and Cliff Warren. Mark, as you mentioned earlier Cliff Warren is now at Jacksonville. Didn’t we almost lose to Jacksonville at home this year with 2 McDonalds All-Americans on our team?
My point is Hewitt can’t develop talent. Everyone keeps saying he’s a great recruiter. How hard is it to convince a kid to come play in the most prestigous conference in college basketball, play on national TV, get a top notch education, play in the city of Atlanta, and come to school that’s known for placing kids in the NBA???
jaxjacket
March 5th, 2009
5:22 pm
Mark, heard on the radio this am that Cliff Warren was picked as coach of the year in JU’s conference.
You know Hewitt, how bad would it have to get for him to do the honorable thing and resign without his shamefully large buyout?
gtlinz
March 5th, 2009
5:35 pm
Great article. On the money.
I believe (or at least hope) that DRad has a handle on this. The buyout would be really hard on our already strapped athleting dept and I think we are getting the company line from DRad. Hewitt has a killer class coming and may be able to overcome it all with sheer talent. I believe (or at least hope) that this will play itself out over the next year or two. Just like another poster, I have given up and do not follow the team anymore. I really used to look forward to basketball season. DRad knows he is losing the fan base. We’ll see how it goes.
Ted Striker
March 5th, 2009
5:58 pm
## Bravesfan79: You are correct about the importance of quality assistants. Coaching is intensely collaborative. Phil Jackson is credited with 9 NBA titles but it’s assistant Tex Winter (born in 1922) who taught the triangle offense to Jackson’s Chicago and Lakers championship teams. It’s also doubtful that the Celtics would have won the 2008 championship without defensive guru Tom Thibodeau.
Heck, even Coach Norman Dale (Gene Hackman) of ‘Hoosiers’ needed his assistant coach “Shooter” (Dennis Hopper) to call the picket fence play after getting that second technical and being ejected.
Mark Bradley
March 5th, 2009
6:07 pm
I would pay to see Dennis Hopper as a Tech assistant coach.
And the “unfortunate” quote, as ExecutiveStinger pointed out, was made in the press conference after Wednesday’s game. The other quotes came from a little post-presser private audience in the hall.
Mark Bradley
March 5th, 2009
6:10 pm
I don’t want to speak for Dan Radakovich, but it’s my sense that he wants to do everything he can to help Paul Hewitt succeed.
Ask the leadership coach » Georgia Tech needs a Keener mind on the bench | Mark Bradley
March 5th, 2009
6:10 pm
[...] unknown posted a noteworthy aricle today onHere’s a small snippetOther ACC schools, however, face similar scholastic rigors. For a coach in his ninth season at the Institute to use academics as an excuse – especially when the same coach took Tech to the NCAA title and was essentially handed a … [...]
Jaded Jacket
March 5th, 2009
6:14 pm
The basketball team needs to spend two weeks with Paul Johnson’s football team to learn about toughness. Hewitt would probablt benefit as well.
Mark Bradley
March 5th, 2009
6:24 pm
Again, I would point to the Final Four team. Those guys didn’t lack toughness. They embodied toughness.
IndyGT
March 5th, 2009
6:34 pm
I thought I remember hearing CPH say something earlier (along the lines of) I’m going to make changes to make sure this never happens again. I hope he does, and maybe hiring Keener is part of the answer. We really have never been the same since we lost those two assistants. Now, I want to see CPH succeed.. but I can’t accept losing like this, especially when we lose to teams that have 2 less McD’s AA. Still, I maintain the biggest problem has been guard play. We haven’t had a consistent PG since JJ. Maybe w/Mfon coming in.. hopefully Mo will pick it up, and Shumpert can play the two. I’m optimistic about next year.. but cautiously optimistic.
Mark Bradley
March 5th, 2009
7:17 pm
I seem to remember Hewitt saying something about changes, too. But I’m still not sure exactly what he meant.
chad
March 5th, 2009
8:12 pm
Plain and simple, CPH is not a top tier coach. Recruiting is not the problem. Priorities is the problem. Basketball is a TEAM game. He spends way tooooo much time on individual coaching. The offense is terrible, the defense has gone away since the final four team. That final four team played great defense. The program is in pittyful shape.
Mark Bradley
March 5th, 2009
8:17 pm
Actually, Hewitt believes this is one of the better defensive teams he has had. Seriously.
chad
March 5th, 2009
8:19 pm
where is the punch line in that joke?
Mark Bradley
March 5th, 2009
8:21 pm
I don’t believe there is one.
chad
March 5th, 2009
8:23 pm
Where is the punch line in that joke? It is a great olay defense.
chad
March 5th, 2009
8:33 pm
Believing something to be true is not always a given that it is. If my arse was on the line like his is I would say the same thing to I guess. He has to know that his efforst are not getting the job done. I wish him well, but if the god father can be let go (Cremins) then he should be a little worried right now. Drad has a new boss and I’m sure he will be forced to make changes whether he wants to or not. I just don’t see how the current situation can be comforting. Two yrs ago he brought in the great class and we all saw how well that turned out.
Very disapointing. Hell they fired gailey and he had a winning record, he was accused of not taking the program to the next level. Where is Hewitt taking the program? Definately not in the right direction.
marseilles mutt
March 5th, 2009
8:39 pm
I have always been amazed at how quality academic schools like UNC, Duke, Wake et al, can constantly recruit the high caliber ‘team type ‘ players that will stay in their respective schools for a minimum of 3 and usually 4, or even 5 years in the case of a redshirt. By ‘team type’, I refer to a high caliber athlete that can accept whatever role is assigned to him by the coaching staff. Is ‘Supporting Cast’ the term I am looking for?
Tech seems bereft of this type of player. What seems to be the problem?
Is the lack of this ‘quality’ a reflection of coaching philosophy/system, offense vs defense, what? Exactly how do coaches recruit or perhaps coach this attitude? I have been a fan of CPH since he arrived at The Flats, and thought that these were the qualities to which he would expect as a given in his recruits, yet this has not been the case. How come?
He, and even CBC before him, constantly appear to seek out the ’super stars’ and be exceptionally successful in landing them. Yet they never seem to surround them with players who will make them even better, and vice versa. I wonder why?
Would rethinking personnel priorities costitute a change? Just wondering.
Mark Bradley
March 5th, 2009
8:48 pm
Carolina lost Marvin Williams after one year. (Who drafted him, anyway?) Duke lost Luol Deng and Corey Maggette after one year, and Shaun Livingston didn’t even enroll. It’s not like the big programs never lose anybody; they simply find replacements. Tech still hasn’t adequately replaced Jarrett Jack, who played his final amateur game in 2005.
Gerry
March 5th, 2009
8:54 pm
Enter your comments hereB.J Elder took that team to the final 4.It amazes me how everybody forgets about him.
BravesFan79
March 5th, 2009
8:54 pm
Actually our defense rated as the top defense in the ACC (opp field goal %) for most of the season! This IS a good defensive team. (mostly due to Aminu and Lawal blocking shots) The problem is not getting out on the 3pt shooters….and could Hewitt please teach our guys to GUARD the white guy on the court….theres a reason there there…. they can SHOOT LIGHTS OUT!!!!
I cant remember how many times ive yelled at the tv…. “DONT LET THE WHITE DUDE SHOOT!”
which is usually followed by “stupid stupid stupid…”
The main problem has been our terrible offensive sets and guard play, lets hope Udofia is ready to step in and be a ACC caliber pt guard.
Good news? Were going to have one of the BEST frontcourts in the NATION next year!!
If we can just hit some 3’s along with that well be fine.
chad
March 5th, 2009
8:57 pm
Didn’t Mempis lose a great point guard from last season’s team? Where are they now? Having foresight is a good thing. I really think the trouble started when Austin Jackson spurned the jackets for the pro baseball route. Hey how about Zam Fredrick, I thought he wasn’t an NCAA caliber player? He seems to be doing well SOCAL East. How bout the great Rasean Dickey. Who do we blame for that? At leat the majority of CBC losses were due to the NBA. Not getting pissed and just leaving. Hewitt has set the program back years.
Mark Bradley
March 5th, 2009
8:58 pm
B.J. Elder was indeed a good college player. But he had little part in the Jackets’ two regional victories or in the Final Four defeat of Oklahoma State that season. He sprained his ankle early in the Sweet 16 game against Nevada, which was coached by Trent Johnson, who’s now doing nicely at LSU.
Elder was also hurt in the New Year’s Day loss at Kansas the next season and was never quite the same thereafter.
chad
March 5th, 2009
8:59 pm
Free throws please
Mark Bradley
March 5th, 2009
9:02 pm
Memphis indeed lost Derrick Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts early to the NBA. But the Tigers signed Tyreke Evans to replace Rose, and away they went again.
BravesFan79
March 5th, 2009
9:03 pm
Without a good quality assistant at least on the level of Keener, we will be .500 in the ACC next year, and be a 7-8 seed in the tourney. (And underachieve just like we did with Crittenton and Young)
But WITH a good experienced assistant to help Hewitt…this team next year can be a top 4 team in the ACC, and a 3-4 seed in the tourney.
Assistant Coaching can make a big difference……. why do u think Lane Kiffen talked his dad into coming to Tennessee instead of hiring some bum off the street?
marseilles mutt
March 5th, 2009
9:03 pm
MB, I would put the Williams and Dengs of the world into the ’star’ quality,wouldn’t you? When they are replaced the surrounding/supporting cast is already there and they keep right on trucking, or am I wrong?
chad
March 5th, 2009
9:04 pm
That is what I’m talkig about! Foresight is a wonderful asset to have.
BravesFan79
March 5th, 2009
9:11 pm
chad: No way you can compare the coaching ability of John Calipari to Hewitt!
Also no way you can compare conference USA to the ACC. Put this Memphis team in the ACC and there no better than 3rd or 4th in the conference.
Mark Bradley
March 5th, 2009
9:12 pm
I’d put M. Williams and Deng and Maggette in the category of complementary players as collegians. Maggette played with Brand and Langdon and Battier. Deng played with Redick and the Landlord. (Who drafted that guy, anyway?) Marvin played with Felton and McCants and Sean May.
But the greater point is, I would submit, that if you’re going to get a one-and-done guy, you’d better have somebody coming right behind him. And that’s always tricky because a recruit is going to ask: “What if the one-and-done decides to stay a second year?”
Gerry
March 5th, 2009
9:22 pm
Damn Mark bring me down a notch.I all of a sudden feel small.I still can’t figure out why an NBA team didn’t draft Elder. I felt he was just as good as Reddick,Mccants and a few others that came out of the acc that year.
AlabamaRamblinwreck
March 5th, 2009
9:24 pm
A: Underachieve & Be Poor Shooters & Play Poor Fundamental Basketball
Q: What will our team continue to do under Paul Hewitt?
Mark Bradley
March 5th, 2009
9:26 pm
It’s the old story: Elder was a tweener — not big enough to play small forward, not quick enough to play big guard, not a good enough ballhandler to play the point. McCants was a natural scorer but something of a pain. Redick is a great shooter who still is trying to find himself in the NBA.
Mark Bradley
March 5th, 2009
9:27 pm
But Hewitt loved Elder, you should know, and once called him one of the best players in the country.
chad
March 5th, 2009
9:27 pm
What are you smoking? They were a number one seed last year. They were three minutes away from winning the national championship last year. They lost a grrrrrreat pg last year. They are in good shape to do some serious damage again this year. This isn’t football, Memphis is legit. I don’t like admitting that, but it is true. Memphis would roll tech by twenty or more this year. That is reality, Tech couldn’t even beat that school from Chicago, can’t remeber there name right now. So how can say Memphis is not legit. Not comparing conferences, comparing teams here. That is the truth no matter how bad it hurts.
Mark Bradley
March 5th, 2009
9:29 pm
Up nine with two minutes left: I’ll never forget it. I had to do one of the fastest rewrites of my life that night. (Almost as fast as the one after Francisco Cabrera singled off Stan Belinda.)
chad
March 5th, 2009
9:32 pm
That was a great night!!!
Jackets Rule
March 5th, 2009
9:33 pm
It’s time to get old school, parochial school and Bobby Knight school into the program.
1. File for bail out money and buy out Hewitt, we’re sure the Army needs more recruiters. Recruiters never get command/leadership positions.
2. Miss a free throw – call a timeout and entire squad runs a suicide for each miss in front everyone. Run out of timeouts – welcome to the bench with the miss. (Train ballboys how to clean up vomit) The players who don’t make the NBA can enter the NYC marathon).
3. Wear skin tight uniforms, that baggy gear gets pulled all the time and referees are too winded to call a fair game and see all the pulling/pushing going on. Football lineman wear them to eliminate the problem.
4. Take a shot, follow the shot – you’re the first person to know it ain’t going in.
5. No ally-oops, showmanship until you’re up by 10 pts. You haven’t earn the right for ‘free play’ basketball.
6. Your shorts aren’t tied, you’re not going on the floor, get off my court. Be prepared or get the hell back into the locker room.
7. Every second a player standing flat footed on offense, another practice suicide is run.
8. Pick up your dribble, throw the ball away, have teh ball stolen or tied up for a jump ball — you’re going to the bench.
9. Since the pep band outnumbered the student body for the last 4-5 games – no student body tickets allowed next season. Since we ’supposed’ to be better next yr, GTAA may make up the 2008-9 ticket sales revenue for full price admission – damn poor students.
xpr
March 5th, 2009
9:35 pm
Mark, nice to see you write an article that doesn’t tick off Tech fans. For a team that can’t shoot free throws, what about also adding Mark Price as an assistant as well? The problem with Keener suggestion is that now it won’t happen since you suggested it and Hewitt would have to then admit he was wrong, which he can’t. But it is a great idea.
Mark Bradley
March 5th, 2009
9:40 pm
I think the Keener thing could happen, my support notwithstanding.
And I hate to be a crab, but … I hear someone yell “follow your shot” at every game I attend, from the NBA to the Upward League at Griffin Middle School. And I should tell you that coaches don’t always want a player to follow his/her shot, especially if he/she is a guard. Coaches want floor balance, and if a guard follows a shot and doesn’t get the rebound, the other team is looking at a 2-on-1.
And someday I’ll explain why all those who criticized Bobby Cox for not guarding the lines when Dave Winfield hit his 10th-inning double in Game 6 of the 1992 World Series are completely wrong.
chad
March 5th, 2009
9:44 pm
Look at this way, how bad is the uga basketball team this year? Tech got lucky, I do mean lucky to beat them. 95 % of the teams Tech has played this year were much better fundamentally than Tech was. Tech is still having trouble on the inbounds pass. Explain that to me please?
Mark Bradley
March 5th, 2009
9:48 pm
It’s hard to fathom, but Georgia has won more conference games in 2009 under Pete Hermann than Tech has under Paul Hewitt.
chad
March 5th, 2009
9:50 pm
That is pittyful, just plain pittyful.
chad
March 5th, 2009
9:55 pm
Mark Price will not commit the time to be a true asst. coach. He enjoys his family time too much. Not that there is anytnhing wrong with that, but he is good at what he does. A semi asst who gives shooting lessons to the team. From my point of view there aren’t enough hours in the day for him to help tech.
chad
March 5th, 2009
10:08 pm
Thank goodness for Tech baseball is here. Hope they don’t disapoint this year. That team could really make some noise.
chad
March 5th, 2009
10:21 pm
Is the discussion over?
BCWRECK
March 5th, 2009
10:28 pm
Good article until you mention Keener. That was odd.
The current Assistants have put this undermanned team in position to win 6 or 7 more ACC games. Tech lead late in most all of the ACC games. How are the assistants responsible for those losses?
The players were looking at the Head Coach during these late collapses.
With the talent on this team, Tech should have won 2 or 3 more of those 6 or 7 games, and should be 4-12 or 5-11 at the end of this year.
Hewitt tends to lose these close games, not his assistants.
reckrider
March 5th, 2009
10:40 pm
We have needed new assistants for a couple of years now and I am glad that Mark has put it out in the open (although it has been discussed ad nauseum in Tech chat rooms). If the current assistants are so great (other than Charlton Young being a great recruiter), why haven’t they been approached for better jobs like Dean Keener and Cliff Warren were. CPH is a great representative for our school and I wish him much success next year. However, if changes aren’t made in the coaching staff after this year, he needs to understand that DRad has every right to ask for his resignation. I know Braine awarded him with an airtight contract, but if he continues to accept money for performance like this year, he should be ashamed.
chad
March 5th, 2009
10:44 pm
amen reckrider!
chad
March 5th, 2009
10:56 pm
I hate using this example, but look at Duke’s bench coaches. They do a wonderful job for coach K. Just saying.
BCWRECK
March 5th, 2009
10:59 pm
Keener was absolutely horrible at James Madison. He was 14-58 in 4 years. Not exactly a Developer, X’s and O’s coach, etc. Why do People and Sports Writers try to divert blame of the Tech Program to Assistants?
Who are the assistant coaches at the perennial losing teams? Do these programs need new assistants?
chad
March 5th, 2009
11:03 pm
Maybe he is more suited as an asst. rather than being a hc?
brian
March 5th, 2009
11:09 pm
Pretty much spot on the issues here. The fact Hewitt keeps making these lame excuses is very very sad. And the double whopper is he thinks this team is so good on defense. How many offensive rebounds did Miami have last night. It was maddening. And all an offense has to to is run a couple pics, create a big man/little man mismatch and go to town. I could sit in the stands (the few times I could tolerate the frustration of the team) and call the play for the other team… If a bozo like me can figure this out, why can’t hewitt? I will not even get into the lack of motion on offense, poor shot selection, free throws, silly ball handling by Miller, amazingly excessive dribbling by Shumpert, puzzling lack of heart by Peacock, and spotty performances by Aminu/Lawal. Oops, I just did. All comes down to what was mentioned – a total lack of player development. I just want to enjoy going to AMC again….
Jackets Rule
March 5th, 2009
11:32 pm
Sorry Mark but the best defense is an offensive rebound on a missed shot and a made shot should yield a 5 on 5 the other way…Tech fails too many times to get back on defense and gave up too many points be floor spectators this season. Hustle is not a word associated with any post-2004 Hewitt team.
chad
March 5th, 2009
11:44 pm
Congratulations to Tech basketball, RPI is 149. Makes me excited to be a jacket?
Ted Striker
March 6th, 2009
12:34 am
I blame the BCS for Tech’s basketball woes. (The BCS is also responsible for global warming, the flagging economy, male pattern baldness, and the Chris Brown/Rhianna fiasco)
The Bitter Gus
March 6th, 2009
12:44 am
9 years?
Since Lethal Weapon 3 in 1990… Tech has finished over .500 in the ACC just twice (Marbury in 95-96 @ 13-3 and Jack & Co.in 03-04 @ 9-7). So that makes 2 over .500 seasons out of 19!!!!!!!!
Translation – Tech STINKS!
There is no “mandate” to be good at basketball at Tech. How do I know this? It is obvious – Hewitt is still coaching! Imagine if Hewitt was the football coach and he was still here?!? MERCY.
Sure TECH will eventually have a winning season soon – but they will NEVER, EVER, EVER be a consistent 20-game winner / 9-10 win ACC team. Based, on the empirical historical evidence – you would be a deluded fool to even think this could ever happen.
Wreck7
March 6th, 2009
3:05 am
Fire Hewitt… Hire Cliff Warren… Just sayin
Alessandra
March 6th, 2009
5:04 am
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Alessandra
http://www.craigslistpostingonline.info
Gordon
March 6th, 2009
6:41 am
Bitter Gus,
I am a deluted fool. I think Tech could be a consistent 20 game / 9-10 win ACC team. We play in a great conference, in a great city, and can attract great talent. With a good coach, why couldn’t we?
GT71
March 6th, 2009
7:00 am
One of the things we like about Mark Bradley is he gets into the job – he cares. He even cares enough to read through fan blogs and answer them. For that, Mark, we all thank you. As for Hewitt, he is, we’ve all heard, a really nice guy and a caring one too. Of course, we all know where the ‘nice guys’ finish. Would I like to have him over for dinner and a talk? Heck, yeah. Would I pick up his contract for next year? Heck, no! We don’t like the blame game, but Braine has to be mentioned in all this. Never, never, never give a coach or a national leader a ‘contract for life’. Never works. Like naming stuff for politicians before they are safely dead.
Mark Bradley
March 6th, 2009
7:06 am
Why, thanks, GT71.
As for Keener’s stint at James Madison … that’s not an easy job. And Larry Shyatt wasn’t a successful head coach at Clemson, but he made a difference as a Florida assistant.
mowreck
March 6th, 2009
7:17 am
Once you get in a rut, its hard to get out of it.
James Jackson
March 6th, 2009
7:43 am
Maybe we could use some of the Obama stimulus package money to buy out Hewitt’s contract. Now that would be money well spent!
BCWRECK
March 6th, 2009
7:52 am
Shouldn’t the current Assistants get credit for giving Tech the lead in most ACC games? The assistants didn’t lose the leads.
willie
March 6th, 2009
7:57 am
I have wondered for a couple of years why Hewitt has been given a pass. That has finally ended, it appears. His players are plenty good enough to perform much better than they do. Like everyone, I like Hewitt and really wanted to him to succeed, but he is flat not getting it done. Next year with Favors will definitely be his last chance. Go Jackets!
Phildo
March 6th, 2009
8:07 am
Great article, but if an assistant is going to make such a difference, maybe an assistant needs to be the head coach. The bottom line is, great guy or not, Hewitt is simply not getting the job done. And, like most losers, it’s excuses, excuses, excuses. Since he’ll never leave on his, ala Bobby, DO YOUR JOB, D-Rad and send him packing, now, not after wasting two more damaging years.
Mark Bradley
March 6th, 2009
8:11 am
Thanks, Alessandra. You’re welcome any time.
79
March 6th, 2009
8:18 am
GT basketball was on TV the other night. When they did a wide shot showing the stands, it looked like the crowd at a 1970’s GT women’s game.
vidalia's bubba
March 6th, 2009
8:27 am
Contract or no contract losses, we must do the obvious, and fire the Coach. I’m sure a good small college coach would take the job for small money if the athletic board has money problems. A good small college coach would jump at the opportunity, and would work for 100k or less. AD could put some incentives in contract, and ifhe succeeded, then he
would make more money. One of the problems this country is facing today, is overpaying these CEO. I guess Hewitt is a CEO. I wonder if Braine would have paid him that much, if he didn’t succeed, and Blaine job depended on Hewitt record. Maybe the AD’s salary and job status should depend on how his hire’s do?
KL
March 6th, 2009
8:29 am
Great article Mark. Hewitt is probably a great guy and I assume runs a clean program, but he can’t coach. Keener coming back may help, but I’m not convinced it’s the answer. Even the Final Four team was floundering around in late-Jan to mid-Feb after their great start. I think the reason for that team’s success was the toughness and leadership of Bynum and Moore.
Mark Bradley
March 6th, 2009
8:41 am
Thanks, KL.
And we can debate for months whether or not Paul Hewitt deserves to be fired — my belief is that he doesn’t yet — but the reality is that he’s going to coach Georgia Tech next season.
chuck allison
March 6th, 2009
8:45 am
I believe Paul Hewitt is successful now at what he wants to do. But he doesn’t care about winning ACC basketball games as much as he cares about other things. Tech should not be the one paying him.
Mark Bradley
March 6th, 2009
8:48 am
Why on Earth would he not care about winning?
GT Fan
March 6th, 2009
8:58 am
Good job Mark. I’ve been waiting for you to finally get around to Paul Hewitt.
I hope Rads will go ahead and pay the 7 million and FIRE Paul Hewitt!!!We will lose more than that by keeping him. I for one have no respect for the man. I love GT but I can’t watch that guy try to coach. Praying for better days.
Mac
March 6th, 2009
9:25 am
Isn’t Charlton Young a former Ga. Southern star?
BLAZER
March 6th, 2009
9:30 am
our defense–run at them and leap as they shoot wide open three on us!!
offense-pg stays 40′ from basket and hopes someone will get open for a pass.
chad
March 6th, 2009
9:48 am
If the ship isn’t right in two years, he will be gone. Period
GTboston
March 6th, 2009
9:53 am
First of all – the final 4 team was mostly Hewitt recruits (his 4th year!)Clarence Moore was only non recruit – Hewitt even had to re-recruit Marvin Lewis. 2nd – When you have 1 or 2 kids stumble academically (and Tech DOES have much more difficult time with academics than ANY other school in this league BY FAR – including Duke – Because Tech is a small school – there is no place to hide kids with easy classes or more importantly, an easy Major – that is how schools keep guys eligible – TRUST ME!!!) when you have kids go early into draft AND you have a couple kids stumble – that throws your program off for a year or two! It effects DEPTH! It gives you no room for error!!
Also – to say he doesn’t develop guys is a JOKE!! Luke Schenscher, Will Bynum, Jarrett Jack, Anthony Morrow – all were not recruited on a high level! ALL HAVE PLAYED IN NBA!!!!! PLEASE!
RELAX on Hewitt – he will be fine! The program will be fine!
If things aren’t better in a couple years – then talk about it!! We should be worry more about Lawal leaving! SINCE he hasn’t been developed at all the last 2 years!
But Keener would be nice!!!!!!!! Sorry Meg (I think that’s his wifes name). haha!
KL
March 6th, 2009
9:55 am
I agree that he will still be here next year–at a minimum (as others have said, the contract and the recruits). It will be interesting to see what happens with the current returners and this highly rated recruiting class. Thye still have to be assembled into a TEAM that can play basketball at both ends of the court. The problem with “if the ship isn’t righted within…” scenario is once the ship has completely sunk, getting it back afloat becomes much more problematic.
RedGADawg
March 6th, 2009
9:55 am
So Tech has lousy coach and the answer is to bring back an assistant as savior, sounds backwards to me! Yellow Bugs accept you are stuck with a long term awful coach, he can recruit, he can not make recruits better, how long before reputaion of Hewitt is that his recruits do not improve, just stagnant in the program. When that occurs the recruiting will match his teams performance over his tenure. How can a coach who can barely break .500 over five years have a $7 million buyout? That is criminal, he should hang his head in shame, not even the top ACC or Big East coaches have that deal. It puts a cloud over the entire athletic program, DR is a strong AD, what a mess he inherited. What does PJ expect as he builds the Bee’s into an ACC power?
BravesFan79
March 6th, 2009
10:09 am
RedGADawg: If Assistants dont make a difference… then how come Mark Richt fought so hard to keep his at UGA??
Most successful programs have a guy on the bench that could fill in for the head coach if needed. I see NO such man on our bench! If anything i see assistants that should be perfecting their trade at a D 2 school…. not in the toughest conference in the land!!
Paul Hewitt has needed help on the bench with game planning for YEARS now… anyone who cant see that is blind.
chad
March 6th, 2009
10:20 am
Will Bynum and Jarret Jack were highly recuited by many progarms. Bynum transfered from Arz. Luke was a project, all be it a succesful one. There aren’t to many players that have over achieved at Tech though. You can’t count the one and dones for they were already talented when they arrived. A Mo was the North Carolina Player of the year. He was one dimenstional at Tech and disappeared a lot in games. Developing talent and a good team are crucial to running a strong program, which Tech does not have or do.
Mark Bradley
March 6th, 2009
10:57 am
Wake Forest isn’t a small school? Duke isn’t a small school?
GT66
March 6th, 2009
11:27 am
Mark this is the best and most honest evaluation of Hewitt that has been written. The record of 77-75 is pitiful. He says that the team is not a bad team. He is in denial. They have been undercoached as you state. He only admits to mistakes in recruiting. What a joke his coaching is one huge mistake. Lastly, we knew academics would come up and naturally he does not want to be held to the APR standard that applies to all schools. He obviously forgets that Duke, NC, Virginia, Wake Forest, Boston College and NC State are all good or great academic schools. Speaking of excuses he is a sorry excuse for a coach to try and claim his staff is good.
Scott
March 6th, 2009
11:42 am
As a life long Tech fan, I can honestly say, without a doubt, I cannot wait until the day we fire Paul Hewitt !!!
GO JACKETS !
Clyde Olson
March 6th, 2009
11:50 am
Mark,
You are right on about Paul Hewitt. Keaner is a MUST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GT class “67″ Season ticket holder for Years.
Mark Bradley
March 6th, 2009
12:15 pm
Thanks, GT66. Thanks, Clyde.
ND
March 6th, 2009
12:31 pm
This is not to stir anything up, I think it is a legitimate question. Does race have anything to do with keeping CPH? His job is to win games and win games he has not.
mike
March 6th, 2009
12:51 pm
i had good friends that played for cremins and then hewitt. i like coach hewitt. he just doesn’t get it. to win in the ACC, you have to get and KEEP players. how many players leave duke and unc after one year? the program will be right back where it is now after favors leaves. tanner smith. those are the types of kids that will stay for 4 years and give you something to build around. he begged to come to tech, but coach hewitt wouldn’t take him. so he goes to clemson. that type of stuff happens year after year. if coach hewitt wants to develop talent for the NBA, go coach in the developmental league. his job is to win in the ACC. figure it out.
hedge puller
March 6th, 2009
1:18 pm
Dave Braine essentially did to Tech with Gailey and Hewitt contracts what your elected officials are doing to the country. Braine was looting before looting became nationalized. Get rid of Hewitt, take the financial beating and I guarantee DRad would get the right guy. Bobby Cremmins or Lefty Drissell woud be better than Hewitt. Heck, get Bobby Knight, I don’t care how old they are. Hewitt is slack
BLAZER
March 6th, 2009
2:15 pm
wake has fewer than 10,000 students i thought
BLAZER
March 6th, 2009
2:25 pm
around 8,000 students
Rob
March 6th, 2009
2:36 pm
Perhaps DRad could enroll hewitt in Coach K’s basketball camp.
Gordon
March 6th, 2009
2:47 pm
Mark, I wonder if you could give your opinion on a realistic level of achievement for Georgia Tech in basketball. For example, do you believe it is realistic to believe Tech could go to the NCAA 4 out of 5 years, with the 5th year being at or just above .500 and NEVER 11 or 12 wins? Average 20 to 22 wins and 9 in conference? How about going to the sweet 16 once every 4 years? The final four once a decade? Winning an NC once every 20 to 25 years? Other than Kentucky, Duke, and North Carolina, I think Tech can achieve as much as anyone in either the SEC or ACC. I don’t think we need a once-in-a-generation coach like Coach K to do it either, just a good solid one (Tubby Smith, Jim Boeheim, etc). Do you agree, or should I and others just temper our expectations?
yurtle_the_turtle
March 6th, 2009
2:52 pm
GTBoston….what makes you think this program is in good hands? You write like Hewitt’s only been around for 3 or 4 seasons. He has had 9 years to get this program running like an elite program and has failed miserably. Most of the folks blogging here were Hewitt fans but he has turned them off. Please! Stop making excuses for this guy. He doesn’t deserve any more excuses. You say the program will be fine. When? Again, it has been 9 years and the program isn’t fine (as a matter of fact, it is worse than when Cremins left).
lawzoo
March 6th, 2009
3:07 pm
Dennis Felton would be a good fit.
BK
March 6th, 2009
4:36 pm
The gripe people had about Cremins was “he’s a great recruiter, but not a very good coach”. Well it seems to me that Hewitt is the same and in a lot of instances even a worse coach. A team can never become a winning program with the “one and done” players like Favors. You have to build a program around a nucleus a players. The great programs do. Otherwise you have to recruit big names like Favors year in and year out and more than one to compete and that just isn’t possible. Duke and North Carolina get All American consistently, but they are only as good as the veteran players.
BK
March 6th, 2009
4:45 pm
Regarding Hewitt’s coaching, he talks a lot about making adjustments throughout a season. Over the course of his 9 years, he has one of the weakest full court presses I’ve ever seen given his belief in substituting non-stop. He should have a press like Arkansas’s from the 90’s when Nolan Richardson was there or a half court trap like Dean Smith had in the 90’s. Then he’d be utilizing his substitutions to wear out the other team and create turnovers. Otherwise, when a combination of his players have good chemistry during a stretch of the game then let them play a little longer and skip the next scheduled substitution. In addition, his team is plagued by turnovers and poor shooting from the free throw line. I’d rather give up some of the athletic talent for some players who take care of the ball and shoot at least 70% from the free throw line. You win big games with fundamentals and Hewitt’s teams don’t have them.
JD
March 6th, 2009
4:50 pm
It has been a difficult season for GA Tech, but I don’t believe it’s due to coaching. Every game I’ve watched I’ve seen this coaching staff doing everything they possibly can to get this team to function properly. I have noticed this, though. They have a hard time scoring. When they should get the ball into the post because of an obvious advantage, they stand outside and take ill-advised jumpshots. The problem is that they don’t attack the basket enough. Their scoring offense is just horrible. On most nights they’re not getting blown out, they’re just getting outscored. They go through too many periods of not being able to put the ball in the basket. That’s not a defensive problem, that’s an offensive problem. Shot selection is a key element in that. If you’re not getting the ball into the hands of your playmakers and just jacking up shots for the sake of having to do it because the shot clock is running down, then your offense bogs down and you don’t get the proper floor balance you should have in order to succeed.
Coach Hewitt has done a good job with this team during his tenure as coach. With him, Tech has remained a mid-tier team in the ACC and that’s really about as good as you’re gonna get, what with national powers UNC, Duke, and Wake Forest in the conference and garnering more heralded recruits (until recently) than Tech. I think the most glaring thing you can point out is that even before Coach Cremins left in 2000, the program was headed for the middle of the pack status that it has now (sans this season because no one could have predicted that Tech would be this inconsistent). I know that most Tech fans find this unacceptable, but Coach Hewitt’s record is pretty good (could be better – 151-120 over his time here). He doesn’t need time to right the ship, he just needs to adjust to the changing climate in the ACC and win.
Glenn
March 6th, 2009
5:02 pm
Nice column, Mr. Bradley, and kudos to you for reading the comments and responding to them. It takes some guts to face the slings and arrows to face the commentariat, and you do it with aplomb.
My point, now (and forgive me if it’s already been mentioned; I didn’t have time to read through the comments): Since you exposed the reality of Hewitt’s contract for life, Mr. Bradley, I’ve had a very sour taste in my mouth about him and it. I certainly don’t blame Hewitt for seeking and signing the best deal possible, but after the way he has underperformed for the last few seasons, a contract in perpetuity seems like a perversion of any kind of incentive-based system, which is what sports coaches and players (professional ones, that is) alike should perform under. If Hewitt ever wants to regain the respect of Tech fans, one of the first steps he should take is to unilaterally amend the terms of his contract to, so to speak, “turn on the clock” for his contract and have it count down, year by year, like any other contract would (i.e., starting next year is year one of a seven-year contract [the ostensible length of his contract] that would expire in 2016, or be renewed or extended based on improved performance). Not only would he have some incentive to perform better, but it would give some hope to Tech fans like me who feel we will never see a light at the end of the tunnel.
You seem to have taken this topic on as a subject of interest, Mr. Bradley. I’d love it if, using the megaphone of your column, you were to moot something like the idea that I’ve here outlined.
Jacket_in_ badgerland
March 6th, 2009
6:22 pm
Mark,
I’ve enjoyed your columns for many years,in the paper and on-line. I must say this is one of the most insightful ones to date. As a die-hard Tech fan , I’ve been frustrated by the lack of success in basketball and feel it is directly attributable to a lack of coaching. A friend of mine once described a certain coach as needing “grandma talent”.In other words he needed talent even your grandma could win with – to overcome his lack of coaching ability.
I think that Paul Hewitt does not take his players and “coach them up”. All players heve weaknesses : free throws , defense , dribbling with their other hand , etc. The good coaches drive players to become better by working on their weaknesses. Hewitt’s best recruits – with one eye on the NBA , come into school thinking they are already super-stars and don’t seem to feel that they have to get any better.
I think Paul Johnson could coach the basketball team better than Hewitt, simply by his use of discipline,hard work, and refusing to accept anything but a player’s absolute maximum effort in practice.If the head coach is not capable of that sort of approach, he must have assistants who can. Unfortunately, I don’t see either one at Tech right now.
Navigator
March 6th, 2009
7:28 pm
Why keep bringing up Hewitt’s mess. Unlike a lot of coaches who have diverse mixture of players, Hewitt has little. This is not to say that he needs players from any one background, but he has proven from the beginning he is unable to create diversity amongst his starting players. I would hate to think players walk away from being recruited because they don’t meet the unwritten requirement of who Hewitt will recruit.
chad
March 6th, 2009
11:45 pm
JD: When a coach takes over a program, it is usually on a down cycle. That is why a change is made. CPH has gone in the opposite direction. He peeked early and has declined every year after the final four run. Reminds me of Bill Lewis, remember him. Turning around a program in a negative way. Every year same old bs, and every year same old problems that are correctable. The thing is CPH doesn’t correct them. His agenda is put as many players in the league as possible. That is great for the few that do make it, but what about Tech? Where is the benefit from it? Chris Bosh prime example. The number two player in the country when he came out. Did he look like it at Tech? I say no simply because what did he do? NOTHING. THAT IS THE COACH no one else. End of story.
George P.
March 7th, 2009
8:48 am
In my eyes and alot of other Tech fans, Hewitt should be done except for the Braineless buyout. Did Tech have a basketball tradition before Bobby? No. Did we have one after Bobby, most certainly although Bobby’s last couple of years were tough. Tech plays in what is, and has been the premier basketball conference for 50 years. It plays in the media hub of the southeast, and has talent all around it to recruit from. Now Hewitt is making excuses. Coach Hewitt has represented the school very well, while making us totally irrelevant in a sport that we should excell in. His record except for 2 possibly 3 borders on horrific. I work for a very tolerable company in sales. If my numbers were not there for one or two years, my company would proably give me that third year to correct them. If not, I would be looking for another job. If Hewitt had a tenth of the class and character of Bobby Cremins, he would take a lesser buyout and resign. Bobby truly cared about Ga. Tech, I can’t say the same about Hewitt.
sprtdog
March 7th, 2009
6:00 pm
I said the same thing earlier in the year right before Felton was fired.
At least he had an excuse because he inherited a train wreck. All GT talks about is their great recruiting class next year. The problem is most of those players will be in the NBA in two years and GT will back in the ACC cellar if they aren’t there next year
panama city beach mike
March 7th, 2009
6:18 pm
New coach, please Dan,it is has to be done.
Mark Bradley
March 7th, 2009
7:15 pm
Thanks, Glenn. Thanks, Badgerland.
And Gordon, I’d say a realistic level of achievement is to be in the NCAA tournament mix every year and to make it almost every year. Cremins went to the Big Dance every season from 1985 through 1993, and that was in a tougher ACC than the one Hewitt faces. (Fewer teams, for one thing, and you don’t have to play Carolina and Duke twice every season now.)
I’ve argued with one of the biggest names in college basketball about Tech — he says it’s a bad job — but my belief is that the dual selling points of the ACC and Atlanta are something that should never leave a team lacking talent. I think it’s a better job than Clemson or Wake or Virginia, say, and I think the right man should be able to have a long run of success. I once thought Hewitt was that right man. Now I’m not sure.
Sorry to be so long-winded. But you did ask.
thom
March 7th, 2009
9:40 pm
The Dawgs had the leadership to pull the trigger. We’re stuck in the ditch!
Mark Bradley
March 7th, 2009
9:44 pm
Georgia also has a different financial picture and a less onerous contract to honor.
Mike Murphy
March 7th, 2009
10:11 pm
The Final Four palyed tough D and hustled at all times. I remember watching us destro th eTERps as Muhammmad Ismail and mates dominate dthe paint and slasj=hed their way to the bucket.
Where has it gone …………?
Gordon
March 7th, 2009
10:37 pm
I appreciate your response, Mark, and agree with it. Next year will be interesting, but I have lost confidence in Hewitt long term. I still had hope before I read this column, but the things he said, especially that the only problems have been with recruiting, convince me that he is in over his head. I almost feel guilty feeling this way, but part of me wants next year to be bad just so we can get on with what must be done.
felton hudson
March 8th, 2009
7:43 am
Tech has the problem of being a one/two year signee and on to the pros. The players don’t stick around long enough for him to develop them. The way I see it is that any school that allows itself to be used as a year of development for the pros deserves exactly what Tech is reaping. The NCAA should start taking away a scholarship for each recruit that doesn’t stay the entire four years. This will again put some meaning back into the term scholar-athelete.
What’s Buzzing? » Blog Archive » Georgia Tech Needs a Keener Mind on the Bench | Mark Bradley
March 8th, 2009
5:46 pm
[...] But the best staffs forge a balance between coaching and recruiting, and the Jackets have veered out of plumb. Put simply, Tech needs Dean Keener as much as it needed Derrick Favors . Maybe even more. …Continue Reading… [...]
DTECH
March 8th, 2009
6:16 pm
I agree Mark, there is NO reason the “right coach” shouldn’t have GT in the NCAA Tourney on a regular basis. Atlanta is a great town, and give me a break we can “hide” the guys that need to be hidden in the Liberal Arts college.
GT
March 8th, 2009
6:56 pm
I wish we could home grow some of our assistants like Duke does. It kind of speaks for the kind of players we have or the system they play in that we can’t find a assistant out of our guys. I haven’t seen that on the North Carolina bench but Williams was a product of that system as were many many more. Do we have anybody coaching from Tech. I bet our football will have some homegrown assistants, you can kind of feel a system over there that you don’t see in the basketball. Bobby Dodd had a ton of assistants that both played for him and coached with him. The little Davidson College use to spit a few out too.
pws
March 11th, 2009
2:40 pm
Mark:
Something is going to have to change, because we fans who have scraped together the additional funds that are now required to purchase the tickets for GT basketball are getting so discouraged that we are thinking about finding a better use for those funds. DRad needs to understand that the fan base is continuing to dwindle, and it hasn’t just been this year. I can remember when a GT season bb ticket was like the golden ticket to the chocolate factory, but not anymore. This year’s team reminds me of the year Matt Harpring was a junior, and there was no chemistry on the team. This year’s team has no chemistry, they have the talent, but as another poster has said, no leadership, and no one that can “rally the troups when there is one minute left and they are either up by one point or down by one point. As tough as he is, Matt was no leader either, he was actually part of the problem that year, because he couldn’t rally the troups. It wasn’t in his personality.
Maybe CPH needs to recruit a leader, instead of a kid that is only coming for one year because he isn’t 19 years old yet….
Anyway, thanks for telling it like it is.
2004 Final Four Player
March 11th, 2009
11:49 pm
You people on here have no knowledge of Tech basketball. I played on the Final Four team… Paul is a good coach and we WILL be ok
What’s Buzzing? » Blog Archive » Georgia Tech Needs a Keener Mind on the Bench | Mark Bradley
March 12th, 2009
3:03 am
[...] But the best staffs forge a balance between coaching and recruiting, and the Jackets have veered out of plumb. Put simply, Tech needs Dean Keener as much as it needed Derrick Favors . Maybe even more. …Page 2 [...]
Bradley’s Buzz: More bad news for Georgia Tech hoops | Mark Bradley
May 7th, 2009
8:31 am
[...] assertion that “our academics are in the best shape since I’ve been here.” In the same March interview, Hewitt noted that six Jackets made the dean’s list last semester and that he “tried to [...]