Live from the Stegasaurus: Hewitt looks to break a drought
Paul Hewitt just can't understand what happens in Athens. (AJC photo by Johnny Crawford)
Athens — Paul Hewitt has beaten Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium. (Once, but it was a big “once.” In 2004.) He has beaten No. 1 UConn in Madison Square Garden. He has beaten a North Carolina team that would win the 2005 NCAA championship in the ACC tournament. He has taken Georgia Tech to the national championship game. But there’s one thing he hasn’t yet managed.
He hasn’t beaten Georgia at the Stegasaurus.
Which makes no sense. The Jackets who beat Duke at Duke and who played for the NCAA title came here in January 2004 and lost in overtime to a band of Bulldogs that didn’t qualify for the Big Dance. (Tech fans maintain to this day that the refs won — or lost — that game.) Three other times Hewitt has come to Stegeman Coliseum and left a loser.
He’s 4-1 against Georgia at home, but that doesn’t say much since Georgia has been in flux for more than a decade. (Mark Fox is the Bulldogs’ sixth coach — seventh if you count interim man Pete Herrmann — since Hugh Durham was fired in 1995.)
Having 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. Georgia has one player (Trey Thompkins) who would crack Tech’s 10-man rotation. Tech might well be the most gifted team in the ACC, which means you’re by definition among the most gifted teams in the land. But the Jackets, as we know, can do some strange things.
And now, a metaphysical question: If a drought is broken and nobody’s watching, does it count? I’m guessing 99 percent of Hewitt’s target audience will be watching another game — Thrashers at Penguins — tonight. (Kidding about Thrashers-Penguins, don’t you know.) And I figure Tech winning here won’t matter much to Jacket fans if the football team doesn’t do likewise at Land Shark Stadium.
But they’re going to play this one nonetheless, and I’ll be here to watch, report and converse with anyone who cares deeply about the lost art of repartee. Join me between Orange Bowl commercials, won’t you? Please?
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
500 comments Add your comment
willie martinez
January 5th, 2010
7:17 pm
uga will probably never be a basketball school.
"Chef" Tim Dix
January 5th, 2010
7:17 pm
Price wiped it clean.
Mark Bradley
January 5th, 2010
7:17 pm
Maybe, Brunswick, on the Tech side. But not on Georgia’s.
Ripper
January 5th, 2010
7:18 pm
Is this game available on radio/online radio anywhere?
collegeballfan
January 5th, 2010
7:18 pm
Tech does not match up well with UGA as you will see as the game goes along.
Can’t believe there is not a sellout there. Fox is a damn fine coach at a school with lousy fans.
willie martinez
January 5th, 2010
7:18 pm
rip, its on georgiadogs.com but premium
Mark Bradley
January 5th, 2010
7:18 pm
Georgia isn’t running any semblance of an offense. Which is why PG Dustin Ware just re-entered the fray.
"Chef" Tim Dix
January 5th, 2010
7:19 pm
No reason UGA should not be a basketball power…fertile ground.
Brunswick-Tech
January 5th, 2010
7:19 pm
wow we are the traveling team
Mark Bradley
January 5th, 2010
7:19 pm
Neither is Tech, come to think of it. Two turnovers in a row. Dogs lead by four.
willie martinez
January 5th, 2010
7:20 pm
dont most home teams play way over their heads?
Ed
January 5th, 2010
7:20 pm
5,000 fans?
Well, nobody ever accused UGA of being a basketball school.
Mark Bradley
January 5th, 2010
7:21 pm
Now by eight. Leslie with a steal and a layup. And — stop me if you’ve heard this — Hewitt takes time.
"Chef" Tim Dix
January 5th, 2010
7:21 pm
Somebody forgot to tell UGA that they had no chance.
dawgfan13
January 5th, 2010
7:21 pm
Mark do you think Hewitt is a good coach?
Mark Bradley
January 5th, 2010
7:22 pm
Georgia by six at the second media break. Can’t say Tech has been even slightly impressive.
Where's PETA when you need them?
January 5th, 2010
7:22 pm
I can’t believe they painted a 3 point line around Russ’s @ss.
That’s just wrong!
"Chef" Tim Dix
January 5th, 2010
7:22 pm
Hewitt’s idea on coaching:So easy a caveman can do it…IF he has the greatest agent ever.
willie martinez
January 5th, 2010
7:23 pm
this is like a pro football game: break, kickoff, break
Mark Bradley
January 5th, 2010
7:23 pm
Do I think Hewitt is a good coach? DawgFan13, you don’t know how many times I’ve gone back and forth on that topic. The best I can offer is: Depends on the year.
willie martinez
January 5th, 2010
7:24 pm
Waffling is always a good strategy.
dawgfan13
January 5th, 2010
7:24 pm
This GTech team is about the same every year! There is no significant improvement! They press and get beat everytime, the coach takes timeouts for no reason because the team come back and make the same mistakes.I tell you what Atlanta basketball teams have horrible coaches HAwks and Tech ! I bet you can find a high school coach in Atlanta that can coach better than Hewitt
Brunswick-Tech
January 5th, 2010
7:25 pm
Mark , Tech has all kind of talent but they have yet to jell into a well playing team. what do you think….? and its almost time for the pre- game show…hehehe
Mark Bradley
January 5th, 2010
7:25 pm
Five turnovers now for GT.
Paul's Hewitt
January 5th, 2010
7:25 pm
8 min in down 8……..time to go P Hewitt. If men want to be treated as men, they should not hide behind anything…. That includes skin color….P Hewiit is a great recruiter but a horrible coach. Man up CPH and leave ……PLEASE.
"Chef" Tim Dix
January 5th, 2010
7:25 pm
Dave Braine’s idea of a better part gift to GT than a years supply of the “San Fransico Treat”: Hewitt’s contract.
tgc198
January 5th, 2010
7:25 pm
If this game was on Saturday once class has started back there would be twice as many people there
Floundering Fox Hounds Batman!
January 5th, 2010
7:25 pm
Mark Fox needs a Spray on tan just like CMR’s. That dude is pale.
willie martinez
January 5th, 2010
7:26 pm
that was poor
Mark Bradley
January 5th, 2010
7:26 pm
Four turnovers for Georgia. And Favors just goaltended a Lawal shot.
willie martinez
January 5th, 2010
7:26 pm
fox doesnt have enough hair for the richt look
Floundering Fox Hounds Batman!
January 5th, 2010
7:27 pm
yeah Willie you are right on that one.
Mark Bradley
January 5th, 2010
7:27 pm
I’m liking what I’ve seen of Fox’s coaching so far. And I wasn’t a fan of his hiring, as you might know.
Brunswick-Tech
January 5th, 2010
7:28 pm
have fun guys and thanks Mark…..go jackets
dawgfan13
January 5th, 2010
7:28 pm
Another question Bradley Why is it that Favours who was one of the best high school players to come out of the state of georgia, looks like an average player at best? His stats are poor! Low in scoring, low in rebounding, all major stats.
Mark Bradley
January 5th, 2010
7:29 pm
Dogs are outfighting Tech. Leslie just missed a dunk but Price saved the rebound.
Paul's Hewitt
January 5th, 2010
7:29 pm
10 mins in 4 fg, 6 To for Tech……coach has GOT TO GO…..MAN up CPH and resign
willie martinez
January 5th, 2010
7:29 pm
it was hire fox or kirby smart..
Mark Bradley
January 5th, 2010
7:30 pm
Jackets have five hoops. Lawal has three of them.
Paul's Hewitt
January 5th, 2010
7:31 pm
NO points outside of paint in 12 min…..Quit hidin behind skin color sir. Please act like a gentleman and LEAVE.
Mark Bradley
January 5th, 2010
7:32 pm
Dogs by six with 7:36 left in the period. Lawal at the line for two when play resumes. Tech has more turnovers than hoops.
"Chef" Tim Dix
January 5th, 2010
7:33 pm
Shame Tech cannot afford to fire the guy.
Mark Bradley
January 5th, 2010
7:33 pm
Let’s leave race out of this, please. And let’s also ask this: If you had a contract like Hewitt’s, would you walk away from it? I think not.
Mark Bradley
January 5th, 2010
7:35 pm
Tech with 16 points. Lawal has nine.
"Chef" Tim Dix
January 5th, 2010
7:36 pm
Only with a LOADED gun to my head could they make me walk away.
Hi, I’m Paul Hewitt owner of the greatest contract in the history of…history.
Floundering Fox Hounds Batman!
January 5th, 2010
7:36 pm
CMR makes an announcement this weekend. Bank on it !
Paul's Hewitt
January 5th, 2010
7:37 pm
Agreed MB….But u cannot tell me that this guy shouldnt be fired…..As a passionate Fan I look for reasons………IDK, debate me on Fox or MSNBC and let me state my case w/o political correctness……it’ll hurt, but its the TRUTH
south
January 5th, 2010
7:37 pm
this is ugly
Mark Bradley
January 5th, 2010
7:38 pm
Tech’s best play — the offensive rebound. Ten of its 18 points on second-chances.
Paul's Hewitt
January 5th, 2010
7:38 pm
BTW MB U R SO right about the money…..I would make them tote me outta there 2!