Tech leaves us wondering how much it might have done
D'Andre Bell's postmortem on his Yellow Jackets : "We were just inconsistent." (AP photo)
Milwaukee – Elbows on knees, a scowling Iman Shumpert bent forward in his chair. Someone asked if Ohio State was better than Georgia Tech. “Not at all,” Shumpert said.
So: Was Tech better than Ohio State? Said Shumpert, almost spitting the words: “A lot better.”
Judge these teams 1-10 and there’s no comparison. Brad Sheehan, Tech’s 10th man, was pressed into service Sunday and contributed a three-point play. Ohio State deployed only seven men, and its two reserves worked a total of 13 minutes. (Brian Oliver, Tech’s eighth man, played 16.) But college basketball isn’t a draft lottery, and it isn’t a beauty contest. It’s a matter of what coach can take talent and mold it into a team.
Paul Hewitt spoke this season of his Jackets having a “high ceiling.” They altered our perception of them as rank underachievers with a stirring run in the ACC tournament and a Round 1 NCAA dismissal of Oklahoma State, but in the end that ceiling remained untouched. This team took Hewitt back to the Big Dance for the first time since 2007, but with three McDonald’s All-Americans was that the ultimate goal? Just to make an appearance?
Said D’Andre Bell: “We were inconsistent. At certain points we showed how great we can be.”
A great team would have beaten Ohio State on Sunday. As strange as it sounds, there was a clear imbalance of talent between the No. 2 seed and the No. 10. Tech had the three best big men this day, and yet Gani Lawal and Derrick Favors got called for the fouls that changed the game. Jacket fans will complain forever about the officiating, but here’s the thing: With no Ohio State post presence to defend, Tech’s post players still fouled. How? Why?
The Buckeyes left the door open almost all game: They fell eight points behind early and gave back 11 points off a 15-point lead late, and they missed six free throws and made 18 turnovers (to Tech’s 21). Evan Turner scored 24 points but needed 19 shots to do it, and his nine rebounds and nine assists were undercut by nine turnovers.
But Tech didn’t lead over the final 22 1/2 minutes because it could never punish the Buckeyes, who essentially start four guards, and when the Jackets’ offense crumbled the game became a flurry of Ohio State fast breaks and transition treys. If it wasn’t easy for the Buckeyes, it was never as hard as it coulda/shoulda been.
So much awaited Tech if it could have upset Ohio State. The Midwest Regional would then have been without its No. 1, 2 and 3 seeds, and nobody in St. Louis — not even Michigan State — would have matched the Jackets on manpower. Asked if Tech could have reached the Final Four, Derrick Favors said: “I think we could have. But we ended up losing this game.”
Loading ...Thus do we take our leave of the most gifted team in Institute annals. If its legacy won’t be of utter failure — it did reach the ACC finals and win a game in the Big Dance, both accomplishments Tech hadn’t managed since 2005 — neither did it approach its potential. It finished seventh in a diluted ACC, seventh with a losing conference record. It lost to Georgia. It made the NCAA as a 10th seed and was gone on the first weekend.
Said Hewitt: “We got to the [NCAA] tournament, and that’s a really major accomplishment. I think our guys played really hard and were really unlucky at times, but their effort never wavered. We had a great year.”
Then, perhaps realizing he’d oversold his case, Hewitt said: “A very good year.”
Actually, it was neither. It was a B-minus season. If losing 13 games with Favors and Lawal and Shumpert is a “great” — or a “very good” — year, standards need to be recalibrated. Hewitt can and will endeavor to put the sunniest of faces on this season, but the empty looks in his locker room Sunday told a different story.
The Jackets knew how much they had and how far they might have gone. Sad to say, this team of vast promise was done playing before it really got going.
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481 comments Add your comment
Bucky
March 21st, 2010
8:30 pm
Actually I thought gtu had an Awesome season. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA
thwgt!!!!!!!
Blewitt agian
March 21st, 2010
8:31 pm
Hire Mark Price!
Wishful Thinking
March 21st, 2010
8:31 pm
Maybe the dawgs should even play in the tourney before they open their stinky mouth?
whack hyder
March 21st, 2010
8:31 pm
here is hoping the Big Apple beckons!
Hayseed Dixie
March 21st, 2010
8:31 pm
I mean, could it be any more obvious?
Losing ACC records?
One-and-done players with minimal impact?
Precipitous turnovers?
Horrid foul shooting?
Incredibly undisciplined, inconsistent teams?
I’m sorry, but I’m so angry that Paul Hewitt is our coach. Tech basketball deserves better.
Jackets2010
March 21st, 2010
8:32 pm
It was my Techvent that said “what a difference a point guard makes” after the 1st UNC victory.
But I was mistaken.
Shumpert never understood the main aspect of his job which is responsibility to run the offense and get everyone going.
He could actually score zero points and still do a great job.
I agree with those who have posted in the past that he should be benched after putting up a three without trying to get a better shot.
He also doesn’t get that he needs to work on limiting his TOs.
Well there is still N Iowa and St Marys to pull for.
Yurtle_the_turtle
March 21st, 2010
8:32 pm
and in a few weeks, DRAD will explain to us that GT is keeping Bluwitt and we’ll see “changes”, just like last year. However, I don’t remember one change we saw this year from last. So, I guess we’ll put up with another year of lousy coaching.
Poindexter Jugdish
March 21st, 2010
8:34 pm
Coach Hewitt came in to the QuikTrip the other day waving a sword and threatening to punch me in the face.
He then played laser tag with my third eye while he filled a Slurpee and proceeded to drink it in one gulp.
As he left, without paying, he said he had an icecream headache and to screw the NCAAs, he had bigger fish to fry.
He is BANNED from the QuikTrip!!!
Great year Hewitt
March 21st, 2010
8:34 pm
Ed,
If GT would have gotten some calls in the ACC maybbe we would not have been a 10th seed right….How did Hewiit reck his staus when he got bad calls on him all year and Hewitt had to rotae him in and out just to save him from gettting fouls…How about you guys start complaining about the refs more…Hewitt has lost recruits b4 becasue of bashing him..no kid wants to go play somewhere for 4 years not knowing if the coach will be there….and u are right not every team has NBA players but not every team is young like tech in the backcourt either….St marys,Northen Iowa, Cornell are all VEteran teams idiot…kentucky has 5 or 6 first round picks
Jeff Flinn
March 21st, 2010
8:35 pm
Who IS this clown writing this column? He evidently knew NOTHING of GT’s opponent. GT played right into the HANDS of the OSU offense today. “Fast break” and “transition treys” — that IS the OSU offense. That doesn’t just “happen” to an opponent, OSU forces it to happen. And who CARES if GT’s no. 8 man on the bench plays 16 minutes — OSU had three starters that played EVERY MINUTE of all three Big Ten games, including a 5-minute OT; a fourth, Turner, the POY, fouled out with 2:18 to play. It’s called “Know Your Opponent” before you try to analyze why your team lost. GT got beat by a superior opponent. OSU’s starting five ran circles around GT. they didn’t know how to guard Turner, Lighty or Diebler. After GT was up 14-6, they got outscored the rest of the way, 69-52. And Schumpert STILL doesn’t see the difference? Face it, GT fans: The BETTER TEAM WON. End of story.
Matt
March 21st, 2010
8:36 pm
Lawal and Favors are definitely better than Lauderdale, but that’s where GTech’s talent edge ends. Shumpert is not better/more talented than any of the Buckeyes 4 other starters and I’d say he’s GTech’s 3rd best starter.
They are also the dumbest team OSU has faced this season. Being dumb and talented should help them at the next level – for the 2 guys that are going to get drafted on that team.
not a homer
March 21st, 2010
8:36 pm
What a homer column. The best team won, deal with it. MB don’t you feel bad stealing the AJC’s money?
whack hyder
March 21st, 2010
8:38 pm
Ol’ Blue Eyes said it best, “New York, New York”.
Paul in Sav
March 21st, 2010
8:38 pm
There was nobody on this team that could be counted on to score crucial points or to take over a game and carry the team. today was a perfect example. top scorer had 11 points.
Great year Hewitt
March 21st, 2010
8:39 pm
jeff flinn,
Youe are so true…but the AJC just wants Hewitt out of GT because he is black…If u think losing in the second round to a team with maybe the 3rd pick in the draft is bad u should have seen the cremins era…he played a 6 man rotaion,and made student athletes transfer when he did nt want them any more….He also had a team full of future NBA players with best,geiger,mackey and got no where but people never complained
The Ohio State U
March 21st, 2010
8:40 pm
not a homer said it best….this was a homer column. The best team won hands down…..just love the excuses being made on here. Well on we go….to play a very quality team in Tennessee. Go OSU!.
Ed
March 21st, 2010
8:41 pm
Some calls? You are a lousy excuse maker. How about if they knew how to handle and distribute the ball efficiently, take smart shots, in bound the ball and make free throws, they would have won. You know the things you learn in middle school about basketball.
2 bad calls doesn’t give tech the win. Unc duke and md win the acc more often because they have proven solid coaches unlike gt.
4 years? Haha. Half the non seniors(2) won;’t even be here 4 years.
Tech IS NOT young. They have 2 seniors, 2 juniors and 2 sophmores who play. Look at kentucky. They are younger and 10x better. The teams you mentioned play freshman to moron. They win because they play fundamentally SOUND basketball and not that street ball you probably enjoy.
mwh6767
March 21st, 2010
8:42 pm
Big article in ajc today about the 300 million education cuts that are coming down and how it effects scholarships for athletes and the gt athletic ass. budget. DRAD say it will costs the gtaa over $200,000 next yr alone and they expect that cost to rise every yr. after. So unless some serious donations are given we are stuck with Hewitt for a LONG time. Im not doom and gloom as some about how this season ended. YES we had the talent to beat anyone. Puke in dc just find Coach Ks interview after acc title game. Coach K recognized the talent tech has. Hewitt needs to retool his staff IMO. Get some ass. coaches to get in the faces of these guys and whip them into shape.
Mark
March 21st, 2010
8:42 pm
“Tech had three big men better than any Buckeye?” Really? I wasn’t aware they had three players up for National Player of the Year.
Georgia Tech could have won the game today, but they didn’t. OSU’s depth is irrelevant. They’ve played that way ALL season. Also, it’s not like OSU played their best game either. If OSU plays like they did against Minnesota in the second half of the Big10 tournament, they win this game by 35. First two games so far, OSU has not played well. But, they survive to play another day and that’s the name of the game.
Technophobia
March 21st, 2010
8:42 pm
John, you say a 2.8 is a C minus and then call ME a moron? You’re hopeless.
Fan
March 21st, 2010
8:43 pm
GO BUCKEYES!!!!
Tech Grad
March 21st, 2010
8:44 pm
Face it, Dan. No one else is going to hire Hewitt away and solve the $7 million problem for you, so you are going to have to figure out a way for Tech to pay him off. It’s not fair – you didn’t cause the problem, but you are going to have to be the one to fix it.
Tech vs. Round 2
March 21st, 2010
8:44 pm
GT women’s team down almost 20 points, looks like they might be headed home too (looking a bit overrated if they lose by 20+)
Blewitt Must Go
March 21st, 2010
8:46 pm
Hey Buckeye Fans….You’re preaching to the choir!
Harp-c
March 21st, 2010
8:48 pm
Slim G has it correct when he notes has no shooters. They didn’t hit threes until the pressure was off because they were so far behind. Evan Turner is not shooting well, William Buford, a dangerous scorer, was largely a nonfactor today, and Diebler didn’t get untracked until midway through the second half. If Tech had shooters, it could have put some distance between itself and OSU early and caused them to press. But OSU had to realize it had little to worry about, as bad as its own shooting was, because Tech has an awful permiter lineup in terms of scoring the basketball.
GT66
March 21st, 2010
8:49 pm
Hewitt should take some of his own money and hire Lebron James to come into AMC for a little one-on-one with Favors, Lawal and other underclassmen thinking about jumping to NBA. After LJ23 puts some moves on them and stuffs the ball back in their face, they may consider the step up in level one they can’t make.
Men of the Scarlet and Gray » Blog Archive » Kellen Winslow, Jr. Plays Basketball at Georgia Tech
March 21st, 2010
8:49 pm
[...] Man, these sour grapes are SOUR! March 21, 2010 | el Kaiser | Filed Under Ohio State Basketball [...]
Mark Bradley
March 21st, 2010
8:49 pm
Isn’t Brad Sheehan white?
GTpak
March 21st, 2010
8:51 pm
Mark, I know you call Lawal and Favors lottery picks, but as the tournament shows, there are quite a few players that are can actually deliver consistently. For two guys that didn’t make the 1st or second ACC team, I would have to say no to them as lottery picks, or at least as top lottery picks.
If they truly have the ability you say they have, then there is only one or two conclusions. Either no heart or poor coaching. It can’t be they are great players and have good coaching.
Brutus
March 21st, 2010
8:52 pm
Georgia Tech’s “lottery pick” is going to have trouble in the NBA if a 6′5 guard in David Lighty can cause him fits. When a guard can handle your big man, you’re not that good.
SEC Fan
March 21st, 2010
8:53 pm
Article is full of excuses…whatever. Fact is GT lost and OSU won. I am a big fan of the SEC. Heres to hoping that UT beats OSU…I think they will. And to UK winning their game. I know they will. Go SEC!
Mark Bradley
March 21st, 2010
8:54 pm
I’m not sure Lawal is a lottery pick, Brutus. Favors, absolutely.
SoWeGa Jacket
March 21st, 2010
8:54 pm
here’s another two cents…No ability to hit threes even
when wide open. Since MB was apparent in his expectations
for season it’s also clear the team did not meet them. For many
others this is a young team…Made it back to tourney after
missing. Few teams go from cellar to top. Depending on
who returns for next year, its possible to improve again
next year…UNC shows its possible to go from Top to
cellar though….
Gravy Train
March 21st, 2010
8:54 pm
I’m more surprised Tech got as far as they did. From everything that did or didn’t happen during the regular season and the vitrol soaked Paul Hewitt, to beating themselves with turnovers and no perimeter defense against a very suspect Big 10 team. It ays something whwn you can out-choke an opponent known for choking outside of Ohio.
Biff Pocoroba
March 21st, 2010
8:55 pm
Great year, are you Hewitt’s wife? His family is the only one that still defends him because they like him bringing home that pay check from Tech and the BCA. Our only hope is that Seton Hall or St John’s comes calling.
Butts Wagner
March 21st, 2010
8:55 pm
Hewitt knows defense, but knows nothing about Offense
I’m beginning to think that Hewitt knows something about Offense, but that he doesn’t know how to coach it. Tech runs plays, and the post players do their job getting open. But it’s like the players have never successfully executed the plays in practice and are afraid of failure to the point that they don’t react well and do not trust their abilities. How many times per game is a pick and roll run, but then the guard doesn’t pass or shoot, and the offense resets? How many times is a post player open and doesn’t receive the pass from the guard who is staring right at him? How about on inbounds plays when the player who receives the pass from out of bounds needs to pass quickly when the double team comes on him, but instead gets himself trapped in the corner and a timeout or turnover ensues? These are all results of not being able to react, and reactions get better/faster with more practice. When I see Tech on offense, they just look like they aren’t prepared to execute. If the players aren’t doing their job in practice or are prima donnas, then Hewitt needs to be recruiting different players because the offense has been this disjointed for years. I can’t claim to know how practice goes because I’m not there, but whatever the reasons for lack of offensive execution during games, the coach is ultimately responsible.
Technophobia
March 21st, 2010
8:55 pm
Here’s the box score if anyone’s interested.
http://espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=300800194&refresh=30
To me the most glaring stat, and the only one that accounts for the whole margin and then some, is the three pointers.
crabapplejoe
March 21st, 2010
8:56 pm
@Mark Bradley: Mark Sheehan has played in 19 games averaging 7 minutes per game….not exactly Singler/Scheyer numbers…LOL
Delbert D.
March 21st, 2010
8:57 pm
Forget Favors. He’ll be stumbling off to the NBA Lottery. I hope Brad Sheehan stays around for his Master’s degree. Paul Hewitt is inept at finding kids who can shoot the trey. They are out there, we’ve seen a lot of them this March.
Mark Bradley
March 21st, 2010
8:57 pm
Brad Sheehan scored three more points today than did Ohio State’s bench.
Technophobia
March 21st, 2010
8:58 pm
Mark, now that the season’s over, do you know how Daniel Miller is shaping up? He’s had a year of practice against Favors and Lawal so I’m hoping he’s been progressing well.
Big10 Champions
March 21st, 2010
8:59 pm
How does a team that is “a lot” better lose by 9 points. OSU’s lead in the second half was what a 14 point lead? GT lead the game twice – only for a brief moment.
Let’s face it Bee fans, the better team one – and did it with less players. Period. Stop crying about it. Lose with class.
Mark Bradley
March 21st, 2010
8:59 pm
I don’t know much about the progress of Daniel Miller, having never see him play. And Kammeon Holsey is still rehabilitating his knee.
Brutus
March 21st, 2010
9:00 pm
What is your point? Ohio State’s bench has not scored the entire year. Why do you act like this is a new occurrence? Did you not research Ohio State before the game? It doesn’t take 10 seconds to research Ohio State and discover they do not use or need a bench.
Alphare
March 21st, 2010
9:00 pm
I pick Tech and Mizz for the upset. You know how that goes.
To me, Tech just cannot keep games flow, so mechanical to me thru-out the season. If Tech is looking for a role model, Kentucky can be the best one.
Mark Bradley
March 21st, 2010
9:00 pm
Actually, Tech led for about the first 12 minutes — by as many as eight points.
Butts Wagner
March 21st, 2010
9:01 pm
Face it, GT fans: The BETTER TEAM WON.
The better team did win. The team with the better individual talent lost.
John
March 21st, 2010
9:01 pm
Techno
Are you really this stupid? I never said 2.8. I said it’s STILL a C Minus. You apparently can’t to 5th grade math.
3 c’s is 3×2=6
1 a =4
1 b = 3
1 d = 1
Now follow me because I know this is so hard. 6 + 4 + 3 + 1 = 14.
Fourteen divided by 6 is….. 2.3
2.3 on a scale where 1 is a D and 4 is an A would be a C MINUS. Good lord you’re retarded.
Technophobia
March 21st, 2010
9:02 pm
I’ve seen that Lawal has moved up to #15 in at least one mock draft so he’s almost certainly a first rounder and could go lottery. I’m afraid he’s played his last game as a Jacket.
bake
March 21st, 2010
9:02 pm
i just love it when teck loses…especially to my BUCKS!!! great day ACC!!! lose a couple to the Big 10 and a crappy dook team that got gifted a bracket is all you’ve got left. what a joke. wonder who else shrimpert thinks they are better than…the Cavs….the Hawks….the Lakers…what a loser.