Live from Tech-FSU hoops, along with 25 NBA scouts!
One of the 25 clubs represented here today. (Extremely artistic photo by M. Bradley)
The press section is jammed today, and not with press. Twenty-five NBA scouts have been credentialed for today’s game — Georgia Tech is playing Florida State — and there are only 30 NBA teams. I conclude from this that the absent five are simply slackers.
The scouts are coming to see three big men who could wind up in 2010 first round — Solomon Alabi of FSU and Derrick Favors and Gani Lawal of Tech. Indeed, DraftExpress has two in the lottery. Favors is No. 2 behind John Wall of Kentucky, and Alabi is No. 14. And Lawal sneaks into Round 1 at No. 29.
Nine games into his one and surely only collegiate season, Favors hasn’t disappointed. He’s not going to be voted the freshman of the year nationally — Wall, who’s not just the best freshman but the best player in the land, will be — but that’s because Tech hasn’t needed him to score big every night. Lawal actually leads Tech in scoring and rebounding, but there’s no question who’s the bigger talent.
And to have two such big men at a time when big men are so scarce — ask Illinois coach Bruce Weber how much he’d trade for either of Tech’s guys — is the key reason Tech should have a splendid chance of reaching the Final Four.
That’s correct. I didn’t say the NCAA tournament. I said the Final Four. Tech has more talent than it has ever had under Hewitt, and early returns indicate there’s mesh being strung together. Iman Shumpert is out until January after knee surgery, but point guard Mfon Udofia has been better than advertised — among Jacket insiders, he was considered the key to the famous signing class — and rookie Brian Oliver has proved he can hit enough jump shots to keep defenses from zoning everything up.
(Tech fans know this already, but here, for newcomers, it is: This Brian Oliver is not the son of the Brian Oliver who helped drive the 1990 Jackets to the Final Four. They’re not related. Although Glen Rice Jr., yet another freshman, is indeed the son of Glen Rice, who helped drive Michigan to the 1989 national title.)
Tech fans will also recall that last season ended in despair after a last-gasp loss to FSU in the ACC tournament at the Georgia Dome. Shumpert took the last shot that day and missed. I’m pretty sure he won’t take a shot of any kind today. And I have great faith that the Jackets will win today. For one thing, Toney Douglas no longer plays for the ‘Noles. For another, Tech is good.
But I am, as we know, wrong on occasion. Indeed, I was wrong just last night at the Arena in Gwinnett. I figured the Illini would win that one going away. Georgia won and deserved to win. So just because Joe B. Hall and I got together and invented college basketball doesn’t mean I’m always right.
Join me for today’s proceedings and we’ll see how wrong — or, as happens once every 20 years , right — I am. I’ll be here until someone other than Shumpert takes the final shot, and I’d be obliged if you’d ride along. Thanks in advance.
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443 comments Add your comment
willie martinez
December 20th, 2009
11:13 pm
and surely nobody really thought that was you. although some of the sarcasm fooled me at first,
willie martinez
December 20th, 2009
11:15 pm
how many times have you said i had to have a thick skin to get into this business
Mark Bradley
December 20th, 2009
11:16 pm
The real comments are highlighted. But do newcomers know that?
willie martinez
December 20th, 2009
11:17 pm
i will investigate and find the guilty party.
FullMetalJacket
December 20th, 2009
11:18 pm
The real comments are highlighted and coherent.
willie martinez
December 20th, 2009
11:19 pm
i got it. it was damon evans just doing a string of conciousness thing.
willie martinez
December 20th, 2009
11:20 pm
stream
FullMetalJacket
December 20th, 2009
11:20 pm
Yeah, we would hate to think that the real Willie, real Felton, real Jesse James, real “fill in the blank” were being mocked or imitated here. I mean, who on the internet would not use his real name?
FullMetalJacket
December 20th, 2009
11:22 pm
Getting too literary in here for me.
willie martinez
December 20th, 2009
11:23 pm
as for the bloggers willie martinez, dennis felton and the fake Mark Bradley, i have a confession to make. they are all part of my paranoid schitzo personality.
Old School
December 20th, 2009
11:25 pm
Just wondering, but how many ACC schools would still hang on to a basketball coach with a record that Hewitt has compiled since the Final Four. Damn, you can only ride that for so long! Was Braine totally out of his mind when he signed on to that totally outrageous buyout! Has any coach— football or basketball ever, ever had that big of a buyout??? Do a little research Mark. And while I am at it: after 10 games I frankly think Favors is overrated. I saw him play in person against Sienna and asked someone if he was sick or just lazy. Freshman or not, if he was anywhere near as good as his press clippings, he would be totally dominating games. Hell, we can lose to FSU or any of the other 10+ ACC games we will lose just as well without Favors. If any NBA team is stupid enough to make him a high draft pick, then AMF!
dennis felton
December 20th, 2009
11:26 pm
i see what you mean willie
WreckHornGoesTHWUGA!!!
December 20th, 2009
11:28 pm
Oh, my. It is almost 11:30. I feel bad about losing another ACC opener at home, with the same worn out script, but I do take just a wee bit of pleasure in knowing I did not renew season tickets this year, and there is still time to get rid of the several single-game tickets I bought. They are all spoken for by friends who are alums at other schools, except for the NCState game… I think my bro-in-law from Raleigh may come down for that one….there, that’s settled. Now I will sleep soundly. I will lose no more sleep over CPH or the Tech hoops team.
TheyCallMeHERSCHEL
December 20th, 2009
11:30 pm
Actually, I am Willie Martinez also, and all those other personalities. I’m every woman…..
Old School
December 20th, 2009
11:31 pm
MSG TO MARK: if you have been watching PH coached Tech teams for so long and make a statement like “how many times I have I seen a game like this” AFTER the game then how in the world can you predict that Tech will go to the Final Four BEFORE the game tonight. I am mystified why you would make a totally unfathomable prediction like that full well knowing how mediocre of a coach Hewitt and how he has coached down all the talent he has had the last several years. In other words, how can you predict that Tech will go to the Final Four and then 3 hours later say in effect that you were not surprised that Tech lost. Please tell us how you can make two incongruous statements like that. I just don’t understand.
Damon (Not the Omen Kid) Evans
December 20th, 2009
11:35 pm
Herschel!!! Is that you? We’ve been looking for you. Barbara Dooley says you demolished her house and now she wants you to come back in and redecorate it….with another personality of course. I wanted to talk to you about the DC job…CMR is wound a little tight, if you know what I mean, and we thought maybe you could inject a little, you know, craziness, into the mix. By the way, could you introduce your agent to the current batch of juniors….they aren’t really NFL worthy but their value is only going down with each season….and it’s all about the kids, you know.
Old School
December 20th, 2009
11:39 pm
MSG TO MARK BRADLEY: Please enlighten us how you can make a totally off-the-wall prediction BEFORE the game that Tech will go to the Final Four and then say in effect AFTER the game that you are not surprised that Tech lost. I am referring to your comment of “How many times have I seen this game? Ten? Twenty?” What made you think that this season would be any different? Did you think the talent was so great that even CPH would not be able to screw it up. I mean really, the Final Freakin’ Four. I thought you had lost you mind BEFORE the game.
Damon (Not the Omen Kid) Evans
December 20th, 2009
11:40 pm
Coach Hewitt: YOu just hang in there and be a tough, strong, proud man. Even if you drive that program right into the ground, just keep cashing those checks as long as those fools will sign them. By the way, if you could loan us a little to hire another football DC that would be nice. We’re trying to determine if Herschel has a defensive personality in him…we think we can trick him into signing for less than Willie, but we’d like to have a little extra just in case…
Dixie Flyer
December 20th, 2009
11:41 pm
With Hewitt at the helm the Jackets will be NO 1 … NO 1 laughing stock of the ACC!
Mark Bradley
December 20th, 2009
11:43 pm
This team is talented enough to reach the Final Four. Talented enough, I said.
Mark Bradley
December 20th, 2009
11:44 pm
And I did not predict that Tech would go to the Final Four. And I did not say that I wasn’t surprised Tech lost. I was surprised. It should have won. But the way in which it lost was pretty darn familiar.
Mark Bradley
December 20th, 2009
11:47 pm
And if you’d care to read my slightly delayed game column, here it is.
FullMetalJacket
December 20th, 2009
11:48 pm
Year after year, season after season, we hope CPH will show some progress, perhaps even just get lucky in a few early games and build some momentum…but alas, he’s burned us again. Don’t wait for the season to end to start looking, DRad. Face the inevitable. WE can’t afford to KEEP Hewitt! For every step forward Coach Johnson makes in Football, Hewitt takes us two steps back in Basketball….and last time I looked, we are in a BASKETBALL Conference. With renewed local, regional, and national attention and interest in Tech because of success in many of the other sports, don’t you think we should be packing AMC for every game, not to mention every ACC game? Wait until after the season to fire Hewitt, but start looking now. No need to play games with the media. Everyone else in the world already knows he’s history.
wesleywhatwhat
December 20th, 2009
11:50 pm
sweet sixteen-level talent on this team.
high school-level coach.
the jackets under hewitt have a self-imposed ceiling and will never improve.
thanks for the final four a generation ago, coach. don’t let the door hit u on the way out once the ridiculous contract is broken.
FullMetalJacket
December 20th, 2009
11:53 pm
Correcto mundo, MB. Team is Talented and should make at least 16 or 8, and maybe F4. I am not surprised they lost, and really not surprised at the manner in which they lost. Just so disappointed… IF a coach can’t learn from five years of mistakes, how can we expect him to teach his players anything? Can anyone think of a single player under CPH who has matured and consistently improved during his time here. Granted, many of them never stayed more than a couple of years. The game experience helps, but players deserve to be taught and to be coached up at this level.
WreckHornGoesTHWUGA!!!
December 21st, 2009
12:02 am
We are already the No. 1 laughing stock in the ACC. A writer from Raleigh, commenting on NCSU’s recent basketball woes and comparing them to Tech, suggested that what makes Tech so pathetic is that they aren’t changing anything (re: Coaches) and therefore don’t even have the hope or promise of the next season to come. Correctly judging the disgust and frustration of Tech fans, he wondered aloud how much longer Tech would be willing to be the butt of ACC jokes and the equivalent of “Vanderbilt in football in the SEC.”
WreckHornGoesTHWUGA!!!
December 21st, 2009
12:04 am
Al said: Toe Meets Leather!!!
Wes should say: Toe Meets the seat of Hewitt’s pants as we kick him out the door.
…but I guess that would be too long to start each game.
WreckHornGoesTHWUGA!!!
December 21st, 2009
12:05 am
Midnight now: I wonder if Hewitt’s limo turns into a pumpkin? We know his head is already full of mush.
JustWokeUp
December 21st, 2009
12:15 am
Tech loses again. Does anyone wonder if Coach Hewitt even loses sleep any more after losing games the same way, time after time? I guess he could put himself to sleep by counting benjamins each night. An honorable man would acknowledge his limitations, offer to serve the university in another capacity (since he obviously couldn’t coach anywhere else in Div. I), and let the school replace him. He could still collect his ridiculous salary–without the automatic rollover–because that was Tech’s fault, not his. But at least he wouldn’t drag Tech’s program down with him, and lose legions of fans. (How many of the students from the last five years will even consider buying tickets once they are alums? And how many alums have already sold off their season tickets?) Coach Hewitt, my father is an alum, Class of ‘51, who doesn’t have many more good years of attending games. Please don’t continue to disappoint him by dragging down the team and the school.
Live from Tech-FSU hoops, along with 25 NBA scouts! | Mark Bradley economic university
December 21st, 2009
12:53 am
[...] post: Live from Tech-FSU hoops, along with 25 NBA scouts! | Mark Bradley By admin | category: FLORIDA STATE University | tags: been-credentialed, from-the-stripe, [...]
SadDawg
December 21st, 2009
1:44 am
At least Tech’s program isn’t as lousy as the miserable Dawgs! We win one against Illinois and you would think that we joined the ACC or something.
JEWELL ROLLEN
December 21st, 2009
8:41 am
AS USUAL….TOO MANY TURNOVERS. NO HALF COURT OFFENSE. NO PLAYS TO GET INSIDE THE ZONE..MAKE OR BREAK YEAR FOR HEWITT….
Tech Hoops and Hewitt will compete this year!!
December 21st, 2009
8:52 am
You guys saying Dennis Felton are stupid, HEwitt a way better coach than that. He would get crushed in the ACC. All you idiots talking trash, its a long season. I think they looked good. For Fla State to shut down the inside game and no fouls being called when it was such a hack fest, that’s good just to get to overtime.
Hewitt can coach, we down by 8 with a few minutes left (and thats where the timeouts went). At one point you got 4 freshemn on the floor with Lawal. Peacock was the one to keep us in the game. Sure other teams know it will be a tough game if they take away our big men. But other teams don’t ahve the talent or height to do so. This was a hard matchup for us. Teams that will beat Fla State are big perimeter game teams (like Duke). And Fla State was picked to be #3 in the ACC so you guys saying we beat a mediocre team are wrong. We were picked just behind them. Don’t worry, we will beat the Va Tech’s, Clemson, State, UVA. And we have another game against these guys in Fla.
HEwitt is a good coach, if you have followed the games these guys are young. This was the team’s 10th game together. Everyone who is a UGA fan talks trash about the SEC being premier in football. Well the ACC is the same in Hoops. Every game a battle and other teams would get crushed playing that schedule. Just watch. I watched some SEC teams go at it. NO off the ball movement on offense (except Kentucky now) Jsut watch. I saw Miss State paly some small team in green. They were just standing around on offense….waiting for a guy to hit a 3.
And someone said where is UGA Hoops compared to Tech, I’ll tell you. UGA’s only 3 star recruit is a hope scholarship walk on at Tech! He red shirted this year because we are stacked inside. Yeah we might lose to UNC (wonn national title) and Duke (beat mightly Gonzaga by 30+ Saturday) but HEwitt will compete with those teams and jsut watch the scores, not many teams will be able to say that at the end of the year. And we ahve both of them at home and may beat one if not both. Hey would you rather be Clemson….0-54 against UNC at UNC lifetime, never won in Chapel Hill.
So keep talking UGA fans, we lost a close one in football, you beat a down Big Ten team this weekend (congrats), but you will lose to this team of freshmen with the “bad coach” you guys are bashing. This team looks really good. See ho well Fla State does this year. They will be close to the top in the ACC, just like Tech. And Tech has the hardest ACC SChedule. Top 3 preseason conference pick plus clemson…we play those teams twice. Thats the toughest schedule in the ACC hands down.
Orang Bowl Bound
December 21st, 2009
9:06 am
Coach Hewitt is not getting the job done. He is a great recruiter, a fine man, and a great representative for the Institute. But he is just not able to do what needs to be done to get this program over the hump. DanRad needs to make the move after the season if the club does not have serious success.
Old Tech Fan
December 21st, 2009
9:08 am
Hewitt has to go. I don’t think he calls offensive plays. The strategy is to dribble around the perimeter and launch a three. As you have said, we have two potential first round picks that are big men. We don’t run plays to get them the ball! Very ugly team to watch. Like watching a Jr High team run down the court and throw the ball out of bounds or dribble off their foot.
Biggest cheer of the night was for Coach Johnson.
Old Tech Fan
December 21st, 2009
9:11 am
I really don’t think Hewitt is much of a recruiter. Other than Bosh and Jack who has he recruited?
Orang Bowl Bound
December 21st, 2009
11:13 am
The following players were recruited by Hewitt and played in the NBA:
Bosh, Chris 2003-2007
Bynum, Will 2005-2005
Collier, Jason 2000-
Crittenton, Javaris 2007-2007
Jack, Jarrett 2005-2007
Jones, Alvin 2001-2001
Morrow, Anthony 2008-
Schenscher, Luke 2005-2006
West, Mario 2007-2007
Young, Thaddeus 2007-2007
Jacket'57
December 21st, 2009
11:20 am
Mark-how can you be so positive about Paul Hewitt, when you watch the same games that we do, and see his teams consistently outcoached and consistently fundamentally clueless, year after year. Hewitt is, without a doubt, the worst coach in the ACC. He is still living off one good year. Besides that, his record is dismal. Take off your rose colored glasses for a minute and see the real world.
Mark Bradley
December 21st, 2009
11:22 am
If you ask Paul Hewitt, I doubt he’d say I’m overflowing with positivity.
DICK ESKEW
December 21st, 2009
11:46 am
GOSH DARN THAT HEWITT. HE SUCKS!
Orang Bowl Bound
December 21st, 2009
3:43 pm
Why in the world are we starting three freshman in an ACC game? Those three Freshman could all be Michael Jordan re-born, they are still freshman. 2 of those guys will likely be playing in the NBA next year plus Lawal. By the time this team starts to gel, at least three will be millionairs. When does the bleeding stop? In his 10th year he is three games below .500 in the ACC. The best he has ever done is a tie for 3rd in the ACC. Mark, what is Coach Hewitt’s road record while at Tech? it has to be just horrible. Are we thinking like Dave Braine who told us about our football program(Tech should not expect to become competetive on the national scene)? Come on!
Live from the Stegasaurus: Hewitt seeks to break a drought | Mark Bradley
January 5th, 2010
5:55 pm
[...] seen both sides in person — having seen Tech lose to Florida State and Georgia beat Illinois — I can imagine no way the drought doesn’t end tonight. [...]
Tough loss at FSU, but Tech again shows its potential | Mark Bradley
January 24th, 2010
3:38 pm
[...] in December — it was the day Georgia Tech first played Florida State — that the Jackets “should have a splendid chance of reaching the Final Four.” On cue, Tech lost to the Seminoles, prompting one and all to question my eyesight and sanity. (And [...]