Live from Tech-Ohio State: Guess who’s getting a feeling?
Sunday, 12:27 p.m. CDT: The Georgia Tech players ready for the task. (Photo by M. Bradley)
Milwaukee – It’s eerie. In 2004 Georgia Tech entered as the No. 3 seed in the Midwest Regional, only to see second-seeded Gonzaga lose to Nevada (Mark Fox was a Wolfpack assistant coach) on Saturday of the first weekend and then No. 1 Kentucky lose to UAB a hour after Tech had dispatched Boston College on Sunday in the Bradley Center.
Here we are, six springs later, and seeds Nos. 1 and 3 in the Midwest are gone, and the Jackets can unhorse the second seed themselves. Should they get past Ohio State, they’d head to St. Louis with as good a chance to reach the Final Four as any opponent they’d find. Tennessee is nothing special. For all the stunning work it has done this season, Northern Iowa isn’t apt to win four times in this event. The final qualifier will be either Maryland or Michigan State, and Tech just beat one of those.
If you’re asking, “Are you having one of those Bradley Feelings?”, the answer is, “You bet.” Tech is playing well at the right time, and the bracket, which looked so daunting in theory, is breaking the Jackets’ way.
That’s provided the Jackets can upset the Buckeyes, which will be difficult. It will not be impossible. Tech is deeper and stronger. Tech has a defender it can run at Evan Turner, the Big Ten player of the year. (The Jackets have grown accustomed to the faces of POYs — Greivis Vasquez and Jon Scheyer, each of whom Tech saw in the ACC tournament in Greensboro, ran 1-2 in ACC voting, and James Anderson, whom Iman Shumpert defused Friday, was the Big 12’s player of the year.)
I didn’t pick Tech to win today, if that matters. (And it should not, seeing as how I’m the genius who picked Kansas to win the NCAA crown.) But I like the way the Jackets are defending, and I see in them a self-assurance that wasn’t there 15 days ago. Speaking of which …
Remember how galling those losses to Clemson and Virginia Tech in the last week of the regular season seemed? Well, Clemson was one-and-done in the Big Dance — when isn’t Clemson one-and-done in the Big Dance? — and Virginia Tech didn’t qualify. And that’s why, even after the Jackets flopped against V-Tech at home, I wasn’t ready to write them off even though every shred of empirical evidence suggested I should.
See, I’ve seen a few NCAA tournaments. (This is the 30th I’ve covered.) Weird things happen herein. Who saw Villanova coming in 1985? Who saw Kansas in 1988? Who saw N.C. State in 1983?
Speaking of which … Georgia Tech has lost 12 games. Should the Jackets win the NCAA championship, that would set a record for most defeats by a titlist. (Kansas had 11, N.C. State and Villanova 10.) File that away.
And with that, our latest live chat is up and running. Please join me. This could be a significant day for the Jackets.
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1,063 comments Add your comment
kennyh
March 21st, 2010
6:26 pm
find out where st marys asre getting their players..
Pi$$onaDawg
March 21st, 2010
6:26 pm
TRUTH you need to go to UGA on a Fri., Sat., or Sun. morning and tell that dormroom/daterape/to drunk and scared rape didn’t happen. My grad neise just left UGA and don’t act like UGA is safe.
coach mike reddick
March 21st, 2010
6:27 pm
Hey! If for 1.6 mil Hewitt can’t take my boy to at least the Elite 8, then maybe I need to be GT’s next head coach! Heck I’ll take the job for merely 10 grand more than I get at South Atlanta!
WW
March 21st, 2010
6:27 pm
Good season…Tech needs two freshmen next year who can hit 3s. All of the other pieces are pretty much there.
Lehnerd
March 21st, 2010
6:28 pm
I see tech renew Hewitt contract so can stink up the place next for years n yes Ohio state won i new should Oka state should had won instead they gave them game…..But so far me Ncaa picks lookin good …Oh and be sure to give hewitt a nice welcome do not show up at airport
kennyh
March 21st, 2010
6:29 pm
hell, recruit in northern Iowa
Pi$$onaDawg
March 21st, 2010
6:29 pm
sorry Niece didn’t reread before I sent it.
Pi$$onaDawg
March 21st, 2010
6:31 pm
LEHNERD I hope you ment to type that way because I have no idea wht the F… you are saying! put in your teeth and type so we can understand you.
Pi$$onaDawg
March 21st, 2010
6:35 pm
I really cant believe DUKE is putting it on CAL like this. WOW!
ccrider
March 21st, 2010
6:40 pm
Mark: I think we saw today the limitations of this group of players and it ,for me at least, takes some of the heat off Paul Hewitt.
The players are much more limited and incomplete than their high school star rankings would lead you to believe. Shumpert and Favors continued to improve as the year went on, but even they are not as finished products as an Evan Turner, Jimmy Fredette, John Wall, etc. Favors is indecisive and lacking upper body strength, allowing rebounds and possesions to be stripped away. Shumpert gets anxious and rushes his shot and passes when the team starts to struggle.
A quick rundown of other players: Gani Lawal- lacks mobility, is stripped of the ball easily. Moe Miller- continues to try penetrating and shooting against players 6-8 inches taller and doesn’t have the body control or vision to find an open man. Brian Oliver is basically a spot up shooter, who has lost his shot- the arc on his 3 point shot as become flat and thus less accurate. Rice has a hard time playing under control and his defensive effort is there, but he pickups fouls with slow foot movement. Peacock tries his best , but his slow feet and slower reaction time, limits his ability to be more than a decent backup. Deandre Bell made a great comeback from injury, but he had lost a step and some mobility, although until today his shooting had actually been better than before the injury. He looked slow and tired today, maybe due to the short rotation as a result of Udofia’s sinus infection.
The big picture of this team shows Favors and Lawal will seriously struggle if they leave for the NBA. Both need more upper body strength, hand strength and skill refinement. Favors will take 3-4 years just to get into the top 8 rotation of any decent team. Lawal will just be a banger off the bench and a career backup. The rest of the team needs to realize they are not in high school and can’t always be the star, LEARN TO PLAY AS A TEAM, quit throwing up bad lame shots, learn from the less talented teams in the Tourney(Cornell, N. Iowa, St, Marys, Butler, Ohio St, West Virginia) that good players playing together usually beat modestly talented teams that play individually.
Hewitt doesn’t get a walk, but this team seems to have trouble playing for each other and until they GET that they will continue to underacheive!
Mark Bradley
March 21st, 2010
6:40 pm
Here’s the postmortem, if anyone is inclined.
Hewitt $$$
March 22nd, 2010
8:50 am
Don’t look now—Hewitt’s contract just rolled over again!! Tech owes him more millions—pay up!!!
Richard Dawson
March 23rd, 2010
12:57 pm
Nice “feeling”, Mark. Just a great call as usual. Would love to see how your “feelings” pan out in the stock market.