Rx for Hewitt: Coach more, Tweet less (new Tweets added)
Here's "GTCoachHewitt", perhaps pondering his next Tweet. (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
I understand what Paul Hewitt is trying to do. He’s trying to foment belief in a team that, after losing four times in six games, has cause to doubt. But I’m not sure Twitter is the vehicle for that. I’m not sure a coach who’s under .500 in a diluted ACC with three McDonald’s All-Americans in his first five needs to be daring Georgia Tech fans to prove their fanhood.
Tech folks have been patient with Hewitt. He hasn’t won an NCAA tournament game since 2005. He has had four losing seasons in his first nine years on the job. He has a losing record against Georgia. Since Tech played for the national championship in April 2004, his record is 96-86 overall and 35-58 in ACC regular-season play. At a place that cared deeply about the sport, he’d have been gone long ago, his $7 million golden parachute absorbed as the cost of doing business in big-time basketball.
But he’s still here. Does he have critics? Yes. (I know. I’m one.) Is he booed when introduced before home games? Not so you’d notice. (And I try to notice.) But when a coach challenges his constituency on his Twitter account, it’s a signal he’s feeling the heat. A sampling of Hewitt’s latest Tweets, all offered in the past three days:
• Clearly we are playing our best basketball of the season. Don’t believe what you read from the “experts.” Believe what you see.
• As we are coming to the latter part of the season, now is not the time to be judgmental. You all need to come out and support this team.
• Are you a critic or a supporter of this team? Supporters will continue to watch this team fight.
• To you critics: when athletes say some of the things you say, then you condemn them as quitters. Are you quitting?
• I believe in this team!
And here are three that arrived Thursday afternoon:
• Our team deserves to be treated truthfully. This young basketball team is on the verge of earning an NCAA [berth].
• We realize we still have work to do but no one should ever question the effort, intelligence, or dedication of our program.
• Their effort and level of commitment should never be questioned.
I don’t think anyone is questioning the team. (Questioning the coach, yes. Is that not allowed?) But saying the Jackets deserve “to be treated truthfully”? Has someone miscalculated the record? Is Tech really 25-2?
And that tired old bit about this being a “young basketball team”? Tech starts a fifth-year senior, a junior and a sophomore. Its sixth man is a senior. In contemporary college basketball, that’s a fairly seasoned bunch.
But that’s not the way Hewitt sees it. Before practice Thursday, he told reporters that coverage of his team has been reduced to “cyberbullying.” He also claimed he hadn’t read the AJC since 2005 because the team that went to the ACC finals and lost to Louisville in Round 2 of the NCAA tournament was “absolutely bashed.” (Given that I covered the ACC tournament and the loss to Louisville, I assume he was referring to me.)
He also contended that the past 3 1/2 games have been the best stretch of Tech basketball in two years. Yet Tech has won only once in that span, and to claim that this team is better than last season’s isn’t saying much. Those Jackets were 2-14 in ACC play.
I should stipulate that, for as critical as I’ve been regarding Hewitt, he and I have never had a heated exchange. I was surprised he took umbrage at a question after Tech nearly wasted a 16-point lead against North Carolina State. He’s usually the essence of professionalism. But he has to know that this season is his last real chance to win back those who’ve lost faith in his stewardship. That said, do you win anyone back via a dare?
Loading ...Some folks laughed when, after losing at Maryland at the horn Saturday, Hewitt said he believed Tech was on the verge of something big. I didn’t. I remember how I laughed six years ago when, after a home loss to North Carolina State that took the Jackets’ ACC record to 6-7, Hewitt said Tech was “playing as well as anyone in the country.” But seven days later it won at Duke, and a month later it was in the Final Four.
Former assistant Dean Keener once told me: “You know Paul — he’s the most optimistic man in the world.” And I submit there is reason for Tech to keep the faith as it heads into March. It is playing better. It could well have a nice tournament run. But it isn’t “critics” and “experts” who have lost seven of the past 14 games. It’s Tech, as coached by Hewitt.
Believe what you see, Tweeted GTCoachHewitt, but I’m not sure he means that. Because some Tech rooters might say, “Know what I see? I see a coach who’s 6-7 with the most talented team in his league asking why I’m not rooting harder.”
That’s the trouble with a dare. Ask someone to look hard at your program and that someone might decide your program isn’t half what it should be. If several such someones band together, it might not be your program much longer.
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275 comments Add your comment
GT in CT
February 25th, 2010
2:22 pm
Cosmo: His contract is never up. It renews itself every year automatically.
Get a grip...
February 25th, 2010
2:25 pm
How is the world can you compare FANS / CRITICS to PLAYERS?
As a fan I make the “choice” to support or not support the players, the coach, or both; however, the players don’t have this choice, they have the obligation.
Mark, next time you see Hewitt please pass this on for me….”little more coaching and a lot less tweeting, if you please”
Mark Bradley
February 25th, 2010
2:26 pm
Here’s my read of Tech’s administration regarding Hewitt: He’s well liked by everyone in power, and they’re rooting very hard for him to succeed. Nobody wants to have to make a tough decision that would be rendered tougher by the magnitude of his buyout.
Cosmo
February 25th, 2010
2:28 pm
Techster: Excerpt from Drad email response to expression of concern for the job CPH is doing: “It is a long season and our success to date has placed us in a position to do some special things before it is all said and done.”
GT in CT: Thanks Braine.
Thrillerdome Forever
February 25th, 2010
2:43 pm
Mark, I’m glad your new hobby is keeping up with Tweets and I look forward to you applying equal scrutiny to all other coaches, from other schools too. You will, right?
Hewitt’s messages addressed ‘critics’ of the team. That does not necessarily mean fans — it means the critics. That would include media, and opposing teams fans. May be it includes people who continually badmouth the best basketball conference in America — the ACC. There are a small number of Tech fans who are rooting against the team, probably thinking this will hasten Hewitt’s departure. I don’t understand those types of fans, I’m not one. I always want the team to win, period.
I have no problem with what he wrote. I am glad he still has fire, or at least a pulse. That being said, Hewitt has underachieved for 3 straight seasons. But this season isn’t in the books yet, so why not let it play out before deciding whether we get in or not? What matters is if we qualify at the end of the season.
dawg fans — let me know when your team is above .500 or in a post season tournament, then I will give a crap. And so will more uga fans.
Cosmo
February 25th, 2010
2:46 pm
Hewitt’s contract:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/12695201/Paul-Hewitt-Contract-Georgia-Tech-basketball
UGAclassof2004
February 25th, 2010
2:54 pm
As a UGA fan, I actually like Paul Hewitt. I think he’s a pretty solid coach. He got his team to the NCAA title game in 2004. Not even Cremins was able to do that. But his teams have really underachieved the last few years. It seems like Tech recruits well, but the team chemistry is just not there and sometimes that’s more important than talent. The ACC is pretty winnable, and for Tech to be hovering around .500 is unacceptable. Maybe the players just aren’t buying in anymore. I don’t know. It seems like Hewitt is the type of coach that overachieves with lesser squads, but when he has some studs on his team he can’t seem to get the most out of them for some reason. Regardless, it might be time for Hewitt to go. I think Tech fans are running out of patience.
T-Bone
February 25th, 2010
2:57 pm
GTman said it well. Hewitt basically set himself up for his own review. He’s got a few games left in the season and the tourney (hopefully tourneys) to prove himself. “So, CPH, if you want us to watch, we’ll watch. Now it’s time for you to do something. Win. Winning will make all of this go away. Take this talent-rich team and do something with it.” I think that most Tech fans would agree that we really want Hewitt to succeed. He’s a great guy, represents the shcool well, and nobody wants the transition mess of a new coach. Just win. No excuses. No “we’re playing great basketball” nonsense. Just win. Quit complaining about the fans and win some basketball games.
Lee Roy Mercer
February 25th, 2010
2:58 pm
DRad To-Do List
1. Fire Hewitt
2. Hire Steve Alford, or Chris Collins, or Wojo
GT2002
February 25th, 2010
3:00 pm
Cosmo, it seems pretty clear to me that he is not meeting the criteria laid out in item m of his agreement: Evaluate individual and team strengths and develop strategies for skill improvement. Can we terminate the contract for this? And look at item y: Hewitt is employed solely as Head Men’s Basketball Coach and may not be assigned to another position. So much for relegating him to towel boy.
EW
February 25th, 2010
3:01 pm
MB, why do these kids keep coming to play for the GT program given the track record of underachievment in recent years? That’s more befulddling to me than Hewitt still having a job.
StingerSplash
February 25th, 2010
3:03 pm
I posted this on Doug Roberson’s blog, so forgive me for being unoriginal. But it is still appropriate for the discussion at hand:
Seriously — any coach who spends this much time and effort addressing his critics at this time of the year is showing poor time management skills.
Then again, anyone who has seen how few timeouts Georgia Tech has had at the end of games in crucial situations has had plenty of evidence of how poor clock and time management have been in the last 10 years, a 10-year stretch that has included four losing seasons and 0 appearances in so much as the ACC tournament championship game.
The national championship game was great, but that was a long time ago now.
That Tech, under Hewitt, did not build from that game is an even further indictment of the change needed in the basketball program.
SOUTH GA DAWG FAN
February 25th, 2010
3:03 pm
anybody got an update on the swedish curling team ?
EW
February 25th, 2010
3:04 pm
Thillerdome Forver—you must be talking about when UGA won the SEC tournament right? Does that count as a postseason tournament?
EW
February 25th, 2010
3:08 pm
Stinger Splash…time and effort addressing critics??? VIA TWITTER??? how long does it take you to type 140 characters? Yes..your logic is PERFECT…Hewitt would be a better coach if he didn’t waste all day typing that Tweet!!!!
Peach Basket
February 25th, 2010
3:09 pm
CPH is a good, solid recruiter, but not a game coach. The talent that he has, especially this year, is too skilled to be 1-infinity on the road.
Time to buy out that contract. Collins and Wojo would be solid replacements, with Mark Price as the guy with the most juice in the area
Thrillerdome Forever
February 25th, 2010
3:09 pm
I think the tornado that hit the Atlanta was the only story from that weekend EW. How’d they do in the NCAA tournament by the way, its been too long for me to remember?
Mark Bradley
February 25th, 2010
3:10 pm
If you haven’t seen GTCoachHewitt’s newest Tweets, they’re included above.
EW
February 25th, 2010
3:11 pm
Bout the same as GT in the same time span.
Benjamin
February 25th, 2010
3:12 pm
Man, just voted in the poll and say 155 votes… and only 21 percent think he should stay at all next season, most of those voters saying that he should let his assistants go…
That’s not a good response.
Thrillerdome Forever
February 25th, 2010
3:13 pm
By the way, I think its really funny that EW brought up that SEC tournement…was that like 5 years ago? I meant ‘lately.’ I just didn’t think uga fans would be weird enough to bring up something from several seasons ago thinking it was somehow applicable to their current season. That’s pretty funny.
Born2Buzz
February 25th, 2010
3:17 pm
MB, two things:
1) You said earlier that you thought 8-8 in ACC reg season and 1 ACC tourney W would be enough to get into the NCAA’s. What about 7-9 reg season and 1 ACC tourney W? I kind of think not but want your take.
2) I posted this on the other blog…can you do the research. Name me another coach that has 10 years with one team in a major conference and has a conference record 20 games under .500. I dare say, without doing all the research, that there isn’t one. I would think they would have been canned by now.
All that being said, I would like nothing better than for this team to win the last 3 games, win at least 2 games in the ACC and make a nice run in the NCAA’s. There is talent there and if the team that looked so good against Wake shows up again there is a possibility.
All true Tech men want our coach to succeed. Nobody wants him to fail and have to admit we made a mistake with this hiring/contract extension. Which makes it even more surprising that he would call out the fans with his tweets.
NO FUSSING JUST FACTS
February 25th, 2010
3:19 pm
if all we are going to go by is championships which a bunch of people like to do even with backdated championships I believe the two schools have the same number of titles , i could be wrong
but if only one school can ever brag at the end of the year every year both schools have nothing to brag about in basketball.
Mike
February 25th, 2010
3:21 pm
Mark, did you go to Georgia? The last time I checked, Coach Hewitt is the only Coach that has taken GT to the NCAA finals. GT is not North Carolina – no Coach at GT will be in the top 20 every year. Oh, I forgot even North Carolina is not in the top 20 this year.
EW
February 25th, 2010
3:21 pm
Yes ThrillerDome….that was 07-08 season….wayyyyyy back there five years ago. Holler at one of your engineer cronies to check your math before you spew the non-fact-backed trash that most GT fans love to spew on here…sorry it hurts so bad to lose in football and basketball.
Richard Johnston
February 25th, 2010
3:23 pm
Georgia Tech has 2 requirements to reach a higher level. A skilled penetrating guard a nd free throws. What differentiates the Final Four team from the 2010 team? Guards that can penetrate, period. Thin Jarrett Jack and Will Bynum. Do we have anyone that can drive to the basket against Oklhahoma State for the winning basket? Imagine how Lawal and Favors would be doing if we had a guard that can drive to the basket and score or pass it off to them when he draws a double team.
Mark Bradley
February 25th, 2010
3:25 pm
I think Tech will get in the NCAA even at 7-9, Born2Buzz. The RPI is still good enough.
Daniel B.
February 25th, 2010
3:29 pm
Who cares if Hewitt tweets? It takes like 5 seconds to send out one tweet.
I don’t see what the big deal is. The man is voicing his opinion just like the rest of us.
And I don’t see anything wrong with what he’s tweeted. He wants fans to continue to support the team. What’s wrong with that?
Mark Bradley
February 25th, 2010
3:31 pm
I’m not sure he’s asking people to support the team, Daniel. Almost as if he’s daring them.
Gordon
February 25th, 2010
3:40 pm
I would think if Tech finishes 7-9 they would have to do something in the ACC tournament. If not they will be 7th or 8th in a league having a down year, and will have lost 7 of their last 10. They just wouldn’t deserve to go.
wesleywhatwhat
February 25th, 2010
3:41 pm
neither of those answers work for me.
i chose the 4th answer:
FIRE HEWITT AFTER THE SEASON!
no buyout of a 5 year rollover contract. just fire him. that contract CAN’T hold up in court.
Mark Bradley
February 25th, 2010
3:43 pm
I’m pretty sure this contract would hold up in court, wesleywhatwhat. Both sides signed it in good faith.
Daniel B.
February 25th, 2010
3:44 pm
Mark, even if it is a dare to the fans, I still don’t see anything wrong with it. That’s how coaches talk and how they motivate players, fans, etc.
gotech
February 25th, 2010
3:48 pm
Look, almost all the fans hope our players do well. We love it when Miller feeds Favors for a jam. It’s not the players anyone has a beef with. It’s the constant underperformance by our coach. We have great players, but a less-than-servicable coach.
I’d be almost as happy going coachless for the rest of the season; maybe have a G.A. do the subs.
SamInAtlanta
February 25th, 2010
3:49 pm
Anyone wants Cremins back??
Gordon
February 25th, 2010
3:55 pm
“Anyone wants Cremins back??”
NO!!
His last 4 years were eerily similar to Hewitt’s last 4 before this season. He did a great job for the 19 years he was here overall, but it was time for him to go. If we reach that point, I’d like the guy from Missouri (Mike Anderson). But not so much that I’d give him a rollover contract. I don’t want anyone that much.
aztec
February 25th, 2010
3:57 pm
wasnt every sr, jr, and reshirt soph on that team that went to the final 2 a bobby cremins recruit??
Chris
February 25th, 2010
3:58 pm
Mike,
Bradley went to UK I believe and as much as fanatics want to believe he has an agenda against ‘their’ team, I’m fairly certain he doesn’t have a dog in the fight locally. Schlabach and Barnhart went to UGA and their writing is also fair, balanced and insightful.
While his writing is always good, I believe he may do his best stuff when it comes to college basketball. This article is dead nuts spot on accurate.
Mark Bradley
February 25th, 2010
4:00 pm
I did go to Kentucky, Chris. And thanks for the kind words.
Mark Bradley
February 25th, 2010
4:01 pm
No, Aztec. Of the players on the 2004 team, only Clarence Moore actually played for Cremins. (Though Marvin Lewis was recruited by him.)
aztec
February 25th, 2010
4:03 pm
oh ok thanks mark, i wasnt sure
PMC
February 25th, 2010
4:06 pm
It’s just what people do who are desperate. He knows he’s got a 7 million dollar buyout so he’s probably not going to be fired or if he is he’s secure but he’s worried about the psyche of his team. This is similar to Ron Zook who consequently is also a fantastic recruiter and average head coach. That being said Hewitt usually does a great job of owning up to being substandard even when it hurts like now. I don’t doubt that they are trying to do everything they can.
Every Tech fan wants to see Tech win period. They are always pulling for Tech to do well… hopefully they can pull it toegther do well in the ACC tourney and have a good showing in the NCAA’s… I understand the frustration…. from both sides of the issue.
Mike
February 25th, 2010
4:06 pm
Chris
The article is not based on any facts. It’s simply an opinion that this particular coach tweets to much. I would agree with you if he produce one iota of evidence that he either tweets more that most coaches, or that it dimished his abi;ity to coach.
Billy Joel
February 25th, 2010
4:08 pm
How does that expression about “glass houses” go…?
PMC
February 25th, 2010
4:09 pm
Why would one not question the intelligence of the program though? That’s EXACTLY what is in question… doing the same failed things year in and year out expecting a different result. That’s not smart basketball.
Thrillerdome Forever
February 25th, 2010
4:11 pm
Hey EW, Dont get in a tizzy. Its not my fault uga has no basketball blog/press/respect/fans. How bout you get off our n***s and finish making my coffee? Lol.
lighten up
February 25th, 2010
4:11 pm
It’s tough to have a better than 500 record in the ACC…dilution or not. Three McDonalds All Americans…what about UNC…they have 7 and what’s their record….3 and 10.
Mike
February 25th, 2010
4:15 pm
It’s not unsurprising that CPH calling out the critics receives a critical response.
aztec
February 25th, 2010
4:15 pm
hye mark if the ramblin wreck dont make the tourney mayby my SDSU AZTECS will make it as the 3rd team out of the mountain west
Get a grip...
February 25th, 2010
4:24 pm
Mark,
I understand that Hewitt had some press meeting this afternoon, any news about this subject come up?