5 UGA-Tech hoops observations: Favors, Fox and Hewitt
This wasn't a Thompkins trey, but it was certainly an emphatic deuce. (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
1. Derrick Favors doesn’t look like the Derrick Favors who played for South Atlanta. There’s a reason for that. He’s being asked to play out on the floor; his best work is done down low. The shots he’s getting — he took eight apiece in Georgia Tech’s losses to Florida State and Georgia — include too many face-up jumpers. He’s not a jump shooter. He’s a power player with terrific post moves. Trouble is, Gani Lawal is Tech’s No. 1 post option, and he has developed into a good one. But Lawal and Favors don’t yet mesh. They’re not, say, Horford and Noah.
2. Tech has a history of not always getting the ball to its biggest talents. Chris Bosh averaged 9.7 shots per game his one season at Tech. Then he left for the NBA and was the fourth player taken in a famous draft. (LeBron was No. 1, Carmelo No. 3.) Projected to be the second player drafted in June, Favors is averaging 8.2 shots. When asked Tuesday if there were enough shots for both Lawal and Favors in Tech’s offense, Hewitt said, “I think so.” Asked if the two get in one another’s way, Hewitt said, “I don’t think so.”
3. Such is the level of Georgia’s talent that Mark Fox can barely buy his starters a moment’s rest. There came a sequence in the first half when this was brought into stark relief. He removed Trey Thompkins, Ricky McPhee (a former walk-on) and Dustin Ware at the same time, and the result was that the Bulldogs were left with a lineup that had no hope of scoring. One horrid possession was all it took for Thompkins and Ware to be re-deployed. Ware wound up playing 38 minutes, McPhee 35, Thompkins 32. No Tech player save Lawal worked more than 32 minutes. And the team with no depth won. This guy is doing some coaching.
4. Thompkins is twice the player he was as a freshman. Last season was slowed by an early injury and never got into shape. He’s slimmer and quicker now, and he’s a tough matchup for any defender. (Favors started against him but ran into foul trouble, which can happen to post players who are asked to defend face-up opponents.) Thompkins is big but can shoot from distance and make plays off the dribble. The game’s biggest moment was his driving three-point swoop as the shot clock was down to (almost) nothing and the Bulldogs were leading by a point. As coaches say, he made a basketball play.
5. Hewitt has worked against three Georgia coaches without building a winning record against any of them. He was 1-2 against Jim Harrick and 3-3 against Dennis Felton; he’s 0-1 against Fox. Hewitt has twice taken ranked teams to Athens and lost to the unranked Bulldogs. The frustration level in the Tech community seems at an all-time high, and the next five games — opponents: Duke, Virginia, North Carolina, Clemson and Florida State — could well determine not just the course of this season but the path of Hewitt’s future.
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173 comments Add your comment
Tron Carter
January 6th, 2010
11:58 am
73-66
30-24
ALL YEAR LONG
BBBWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHAAAAAAAAA
NICE HUMILIATION IN THE ORANGE BOWL LAST NIGHT
Boise Dawg
January 6th, 2010
11:59 am
Good post JJ.. and I agree with everything but #3. Felton brought in good players, but then he kicked half of them off the team or suspended them. I didn’t mind him being a tough disciplinarian, but either recruit guys that will follow your strict rules or loosen up a little… Felton’s teams looked lost on offense when they were forced to play in the half court… that is really what did him in.
I am afraid the Kentucky game will be ugly, but I fear for big blue that it won’t be long until your program is on probabtion for something. Calipari reminds me of Harrick… one of the best coaches and talent evaluaters in the game, but trouble always seems to follow.
Really unfortunate that Harrick lacked any kind of moral compass, because the guy was a heck of a coach and would have put Georgia basketball on the map… here is to hoping Fox can get it done!
GT STILL IS A 4TH RATE HIGH SCHOOL TEAM
January 6th, 2010
12:00 pm
EVEN IN BASKETBALL. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
GT STILL IS A 4TH RATE HIGH SCHOOL TEAM
January 6th, 2010
12:01 pm
LOSING TO A POORLY MANNED TEAM IS DISGUSTING BUT SO SWEET FOR THE DAWGS.
GT STILL IS A 4TH RATE HIGH SCHOOL TEAM
January 6th, 2010
12:04 pm
THE JELLO JOCKITCH NATION SHOULD BE IN TOTAL DESPAIR TODAY
UGA is SUPERIOR!
January 6th, 2010
12:05 pm
73-66!!!
73-66!!!
73-66!!!
30-24!!!
30-24!!!
20-24!!!
Cogitatus of Borg
January 6th, 2010
12:09 pm
Mark Richt and Mark Fox: Good for you, now flip me another burger.
Dawg fan
January 6th, 2010
12:09 pm
If Mark Fox can recruit the state’s top talent he can build an excellent program and finally force UGA to build a bigger coliseum. If the Dawgs will win at basketball the fans will come. Tubby smith built attendance up in only 2 years. Then Harrick’s teams were packing out Stegman (unfortunately he had no morals!) Felton ended up killing attendance.
A few more wins for UGA like Illinois and GA Tech and the fans will come!
Reality Check
January 6th, 2010
12:10 pm
Actually ND, UGA is rank 1st in the SEC in FT% so guess again. Hewitt definitely needs to be replaced but Yech isn’t that talented after Lawal (who is a baller) and Favors ( who in my opionion needs another year in college but I probably wouldn’t stay at Tech either). You can have all the McDonalds ALL Worlds if you want but that doesn’t make you an all-star. I can point to quite a few 4 and 5 star recruits that got evaluate wrong in highschool sitting on the UGA and UF sideline every Saturday. Yes, you are better in talent than UGA but I don’t think its as much as some of you are making it out to be.
catucky10
January 6th, 2010
12:13 pm
Enjoy the win Dawg fans…Your team’s gonna get throttled in Rupp by the Cats saturday.
Mark Bradley
January 6th, 2010
12:16 pm
The buyout, Dap01, was negotiated the week after Tech returned from the 2004 Final Four.
DaWg
January 6th, 2010
12:17 pm
Any chance the DAWGS make the Big Dance?
Brian in Athens
January 6th, 2010
12:21 pm
Ok, so UGA gets beat by Wofford and then beats Illinois then gets hosed by Mizzou and then beats a team much deeper (not conceding the talent, think Thompkins is every bit as good as Favors or Lawal and Leslie is a human highlight film, but that’s all we’ve got). So, we look like we could be good in a couple of years and Fox knows how to coach. What does that mean for this year? Can we go 8-8 in conference and somehow make the dance? If not are we NIT material? We looked like a bottom feeder, and we know how that looks over here in Athens with regard to SEC basketball. Maybe we can do more THIS year? What do you think?
Truth
January 6th, 2010
12:23 pm
The Poindexter of Techwood continues to out-perform his previous incompetence year-after-year. It sure makes for continued interest in the program. Although I give him credit, he continues to dress really well.
dcp
January 6th, 2010
12:25 pm
DAWG Fan – I am with you – have never understand why they have not upgraded their facilities – they have cash – always have. UGA has a great campus that is attractive to the athletes, and regular students for that matter.
dcp
January 6th, 2010
12:25 pm
DAWG Fan – I am with you – have never understand why they have not upgraded their facilities – they have cash – always have. UGA has a great campus that is attractive to the athletes, and regualr students for that matter.
ND
January 6th, 2010
12:29 pm
Reality Check-I never said anything about UGA at the FT line.
JJ
January 6th, 2010
12:33 pm
Catucky10- Way to state obvious. Good job. As if any of us needed to know the outcome of the game Saturday.
Brian in Athens – Personally, I’m just looking for them to get better each game. At home, they appear to be playing pretty dang good, looking very comfortable and playing confident. They are an above average team in Athens. Unfortunately, on the road they are just plain awful. They seem to lack confidence and get really rattled when things don’t go their way.
If I’m a betting man, I’d say UGA can win 5-6 home games and maybe pull out 1-2 road games in the conference. That’d put the SEC record anywhere from 5-11 to 8-8.
Jack
January 6th, 2010
12:35 pm
tech has mcdonalds all americans. UGA has players that eat at mcdonalds. AND WE STILL BEAT THEM! I’m lovin’ it!
phil goddard
January 6th, 2010
12:37 pm
Hewitt should have been gone two years ago. What is Tech waiting for? If Tech had a coach to match the talent of the players, they would be a Final Four team!!
JEWELL ROLLEN
January 6th, 2010
12:40 pm
same ol’ same ol’ for Hewitt’s teams….They never play smart! More turnovers than assists. No shots for Favors. No offense at all. Poor point guard play. Shumpert was a McDonald’s All-American. You sure can’t tell it with hsi 7-8 turnovers per game.
Born2Buzz
January 6th, 2010
12:46 pm
Mark, what have you seen in this TECH team to convince you they make the NCAA tourney? To me, we are just the same as last year but with Favors instead of Aminu. Yes there is more depth with Oliver, Udofia and Rice Jr (who didn’t even play last night), but Shumpert still has the ball in his hands most of the time and look at his box score line.
This WILL be Hewitt’s last year if the early season trend continues, buyout be damned. If season ticket sales drop to half of the Coliseum’s capacity that is a loss of $2M, plus Hewitt’s $2M salary and suddenly taking a 1 time $7M hit doesn’t look so bad.
ToccoaDawg
January 6th, 2010
12:47 pm
These Fox Dawgs can hunt
PHIL
January 6th, 2010
12:50 pm
I thought Felton recruited really well,he just couldn’t keep them on the team
Coach Cool
January 6th, 2010
12:51 pm
Pick and Roll?
Backdoor?
Post up?
What?? These terms are foreign to me.
Regards,
Coach PH
Mark Bradley's Fan Club
January 6th, 2010
12:54 pm
I thought the contract negotiated with Hewitt was dim-witted when entered into by GTech. Hewitt was a “hot young coach” but he hadn’t been there all that long, and no one– NO ONE– is a sure thing. GTech treated Hewitt like he was guaranteed to be Dean Smith or something. Very foolish. Also did not serve to motivate him– would he be perhaps trying a bit harder if he didn’t have such a nice guarantee? I think so.
But anyway– I’m a UGA fan, so I am quite pleased with the outcome of last night’s game. I think Mark Fox might just put UGA hoops back on the map.
BS Patrol
January 6th, 2010
1:08 pm
You can thank Clough & Braine for putting Tech in this mess.
Larry
January 6th, 2010
1:17 pm
Mark,
No more snarky comments about UGA basketball? I mean, even in defeat, you’ve barely given this team any credit. Yeah, they lost to Missouri by 28, but Missouri was clearly the better team and a previous season elite eight team with a pretty good coach. But you seem to forget the gutsy performance that they put forth to beat Illinois a few weeks ago as well. While your beloved Kentucky is playing pretty well right now, they had to sell their soul to get there by hiring Calipari (i.e. look to recent Bob Knight comments) and their future is not looking so bright with these one and dones without Patrick Patterson around. So enjoy your final four team this year (they’re to young to win it all), a middle of the pack SEC season next year, and probation in year 3.
sidslid
January 6th, 2010
1:23 pm
Local Rankings (man is it getting ugly):
Falcons: They played the last three games like a Super Bowl run. That is professionalism. Say goodbye to Jerius Norwood and Michael Jenkins.
UGA Football: Turned out to be a nice win
Hawks: Now it gets ugly rankings with a four game losing streak earning third place.
GT Football: Big 10 was pretty stout at the top in bowl games. GT offense wouldn’t work in a football conference.
UGA Basketball: They have the coach, now can he recruit?
Braves: Look at Troy Glaus’ stats and you can pretty much track the steroids era.
GT Basketball: Time to go back to no name conferences in the Northeast, Paul.
Thrashers: They were number one in my poll three weeks ago. Me thinks the Kolvy situation has been a dagger.
Person of the Week: Mike Smith. Look at the Jags D since he left and look at the Falcons D down the stretch this year and you will see a Bill Cowher in the making.
Tron Carter
January 6th, 2010
1:37 pm
The tech dorks talked smack about the basketball game (as if it would make up for 30-24) and still got their stingers handed to them ……again.
Grass, hardwood, it doesn’t matter. We run this state.
And for the icing on the cake, they further proved that the triple joke doesn’t work.
Last night’s performance, in the worst orange bowl in history, was a disgrace.
Soon even Duke will shut your joke offense down.
Nice Conference
Next year, even the free hotdog and coke meal, paired with a $5.00 ticket, will not be enough to get people to your games (in the stadium located in the downtown area of the largest city in the state and only holds 55,000 people).
New coach in less than 3 years.
Hoops Dawg
January 6th, 2010
1:45 pm
One of the best indicators of a coach is improvements in the play of his players. In a half season, Fox has given indication that he’ll be a good one. Best single example is the play of Travis Leslie this year. His basketball IQ is steadily improving, and when it gets up there a litle higher, he has the potential of becoming a dominating player. Felton totally wasted this kid’s freshman year (not to mention the soph year of Jeramy Price, whom I believe has the skills to become a very,very good player as well. UGA has some talent, and land the right 2 or 3 recruits, the dawgs could begin to make some real noise in the SEC again.
5 more observations about the UGA-Tech hoops stunner | Mark Bradley economic university
January 6th, 2010
2:26 pm
[...] the rest here: 5 more observations about the UGA-Tech hoops stunner | Mark Bradley tags: ajc, basketball-upset, bradley, derrick, derrick-favors, five-weeks, georgia, [...]
Why , just tell me why?
January 6th, 2010
2:30 pm
7 million sdnt be all that hard to raise on the Flats, if the Alumni and athletic Dept get started now. IMO, it will be money WELL spent.
Sux bein a Jacket today!
NewnanDawg
January 6th, 2010
2:34 pm
Hoops Dawg – good comment
Also, little tidbits from being there last night behind the UGA bench. GT came back out early from their pregame meeting and did a bizarre warm up/motivation thing. They started dunking (which I have always thought was a no-no in pregame) and then Zach Peacock came over and faced the crowd behind the UGA bench pounded his chest and repeated “This is my house!” a few times. The UGA players were still in the locker room at the time, so they didn’t know, but it was obvious that Peacock was seriously trash talking Trey in the first half by the looks of Trey’s reactions. Anyway, the whole thing was really weird, but I very loudly made sure Peacock knew whose house it was at the end of the game.
Coaching notes – I briefly felt sorry for Tech fans watching Hewitt – it was soooooo similar to watching Felton in his last year or two. He got badly outcoached last night. I watched Hewitt spend an entire TO arguing with an official (they were terrible both ways last night, but that is for another day) while his team stood around with no coaching. UGA scored quickly and got a turnover right after that. Ever move Hewitt made was swiftly countered with a better move by Fox. The Dawgs seemed prepared for everything that Tech tried even if they didn’t always execute, while Tech looked lost and confused on several occasions. I’m really looking forward to a hopefully long era of Mark Fox bball at UGA.
And kudos to Travis – #5 & #2 (with a nice feed from Trey) on Sportscenter Top ten last night.
Go Dawgs!
2007 was an illusion (Football & Basketball)
January 6th, 2010
2:39 pm
Any news on a DC for UGA yet? Sure is taking a looooooooonnnnggggggg time!
Lane
January 6th, 2010
2:50 pm
Was this game televised?
If so what network?
Wish AJC could provide better info on televised contests
Hairy's Balls
January 6th, 2010
2:58 pm
My observation: UGA Men’s Basketball is pathetic and Tech lost to UGA. Tech is more pathetic.
JEWELL ROLLEN
January 6th, 2010
3:18 pm
to lane, yes it was on comcast sports south….Newnandawg….WAY outcoached!!!!!
GTJet
January 6th, 2010
3:29 pm
Hewitt sucks, Get rid of him. He is a bozo. I would hate to play for him; one mistake and you are on the bench. He can’t get the ball in the hands of his best players.
Hail Bobby C, what a great story that is.
Mark, what do we alumni need to do to get a petition to get rid of this clown? He has succeeded in making GT hoops irrelevant.
chad
January 6th, 2010
3:40 pm
We beat Siena as far as quality wins. The problem we have is we turn the ball over way to much! I just don’t understand why there has not been an article about the fact that GT Tech can not limit their turnovers. This is truly a result in having subpar coaching. I think Hewitt is a great person but he no longer has the ability to coach.
go tech
January 6th, 2010
3:58 pm
Who would be 3 candidates for a GT Bball head coaching job? Someone who was excellent with game planning, and who could also recruit in the area?
Tron Carter
January 6th, 2010
4:22 pm
Only one observation is necessary – humiliation
73-66
BBBBB.BBBBB…………BB…..BBB…BWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHAAAAAAA
TheItalianDawg
January 6th, 2010
4:27 pm
Bradly, you don’t know what you are talking about, Hewitt is doing a great job. I hope Tech will keep him for 20 more years!
Saint Clarkston
January 6th, 2010
4:52 pm
Once again, you talk more about the loser than you do with the winner. Get you
one of those ESPN apps for your iphone. I think you’ll be surprised to see that the Dawgs
beat Tech in football. Dawgs won their bowl game Tech lost theirs and Dawgs actually WON
the b-ball game last night.
Or you could write another column about how Mark Richt will be a failure if he does or doesn’t
get Kirby Smart as a defensive coordinator.
ND
January 6th, 2010
5:04 pm
Blewitt been fired yet?
Dawg
January 6th, 2010
5:08 pm
My observation is Tech sucks, and UGA runs this state. From my observation last night, it looked like Hewitt’s coaching has paid off well for Favors.
PantherJacket
January 6th, 2010
5:27 pm
Imagine what Pitt’s Jamie Dixon could do with GT talent? Pitt knocked off #5 Syracure away(for the 4th time in a row) without 4 starters(2 playing regularly in the NBA now). And they beat a tough Cincy team(with the top HS BB scorer in NY state history) away on Monday night. After watching an undisciplined, uncoached GT team flail against FSU, I refuse to pay to see them play until Hewitt is gone.
Dawg Tired
January 6th, 2010
5:37 pm
How did Tech win the ACC football title? They just aren’t very good. Man, that QB is the worse passer I’ve seen in a long time on a D-1 (or FBS under this new and stupid terminology) team. That game last night could have been really ugly but for a few dumb play calls by Iowa. It was still fairly ugly when you consider Tech is the actual Champion of the ACC playing a less than great Iowa team from the Big 11 (count ‘em).
Well, at least Tech is far superior to UGA in basketball. What, they lost to UGA last night in BB? That must be rumor because UGA can’t even beat Wofford! This just in, Tech really did lose to UGA last night in BB!
Well, just wait until baseball season.
Well, let’s see who’s better with a slide rule! That’s a very important skill!
Coffee Bluff DAWG
January 6th, 2010
7:31 pm
After watching UGA win last night it is obvious that Fox was the right coaching selection. UGA depth is still not good, but that was expected for this year.
Give Fox a couple years to recruit a few GA HS superstars. When Fox was sucessful at Nevada, not exactly a hot bed for College BB, it was pretty clear he could coach and recruit.
Coffee Bluff DAWG
January 6th, 2010
8:33 pm
On the GT side I saw a lot of one-on-one play. UGA played more as a team and played good D.