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.
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
481 comments Add your comment
GT Fan...
March 22nd, 2010
12:52 am
“We made the NCAA Tournament, and that’s a major accomplishment”
Does this coach know where’s he is coaching, and how much talent he has at his disposal? And he makes a comment like that ……. utterly unbelievable!!
Buzzzed
March 22nd, 2010
12:55 am
OSU basically only played 5 players and beat Tech’s super deep team. You’d think we could have just run them to death. Tech just brought their ‘D’ game today – D for done.
Bigstack O' Pancakes. It is an Irish name.
March 22nd, 2010
12:58 am
It all starts with coaching and there isn’t a single coach on this staff. Hewitt needs to be fired. When the talent jumps to the NBA and it will, good luck Favors and Lawal and maybe even Shumpert, the Jackets will be back at the bottom of the ACC next season and Hewitt will hopefully be gone unless he lands another big name recruit then they will be afraid to can him and lose said recruit.
keno
March 22nd, 2010
12:59 am
Tech needs to recruit “smart players” and not focus so much on the athleticism. Duke players play smarter. Kentucky players play smarter. Everybody with Tech’s physical talent plays smarter. Mark Price, Kenny Anderson, Marbury, Blemker,Yunkas, Kaiser, Denton, Randall, Sallie, Best, and many other former Tech players, even the tall Australian played smarter. Crittendon would have fit in well with this team. So, what’s it all mean! I’m probably being too hard on the players, especially the freshmen, but I am so sick of seeing so many bonehead plays. I don’t think I could watch them play again even if I had the chance.
Not Fairweather
March 22nd, 2010
1:12 am
Can the UGA fans go on their own blog? To be talking about a football score at this time of year is absolutely dumb.
Tech fans, if you don’t wanna support the team, then be quiet. It goes to show how people will kick you when you’re down. Most of you on here have never played basketball, but you know oh so much at it and what it takes to win. You all are just as bad at Dickie V, talk all basketball but can’t play a day of it.
Hewitt is not the best coach. I hate that they didn’t advance further or even have a better year. But, I guarantee another coach will not be able to even recruit if he came here (unless they got Tubby or another high profile coach). But, it will be tough to get a great coach here. Also, quit comparing Hewitt to Paul Johnson. Both, in my opinion, are underachieving. We beat UGA once in football and now PJ is a master. Hello, we have lost both bowl games under him. Yet, I will support them til the day I die and go to Jacket heaven!
mike
March 22nd, 2010
1:18 am
I think Hewitt is a great coach he cant play the game for them.. Hewitt only won 9 games in 2009 he won 23 this year with the freshman he brought in people think Duke had to grow to be as good as they are now they struggle when shycher n singler where freshman.. I agree if Favors come back next year nothing less than elite 8 i think more likely final 4.. assuming rice n oliver stay n one dont transfer.. Tech fans are ya’ll going to yell if Paul Johnson don’t when the Acc again and make it 2 another BCS game and lose to georgia and lose the bowl game.. I think Tech football team should make a run in the championship game in football next season.. Hewitt got you to a Tittle game lets see if Paul Johnson can in 3 years time hewitt did.. and he faces a top 10 Carolina and Duke every year except Carolina this year..
Miles
March 22nd, 2010
1:36 am
Tech has got to get a floor general. It was painful to watch 21 turnovers. At least four times in the game, Tech stole the ball from Ohio St and then quickly went down and threw it away themselves. Tech has to get a floor general that can shoot free throws at a 85% clip – especially at the end of the game. (The 24/25 Free Throws over OK St. was a fluke.) If Butler and other mid majors can get excellent guards, then Tech should be able to get at least one. If you look at the 16 teams remaining, they all have one thing in common. They all have an outstanding point guard. An outstanding point guard will be the key. Without a great floor general, they just look like disjointed athletes – not a basketball team.
col foot
March 22nd, 2010
1:44 am
georgia tech and all of it’s ramifications SUCK!
George Hale
March 22nd, 2010
1:45 am
Tech needs a coach that can teach what Wooden taught at UCLA. There is no I in TEAM, only in WIN.
Steve
March 22nd, 2010
2:36 am
Yet another year of underachievement for a GaTech athletic team.
Those of you Tech fans bashing UGA basketball are pathetic. This isn’t about UGA basketball. This is about one of the most talented teams in the country year in and year out constantly underachieving.
Stop trying to shift the focus of the problem. Hewitt is a good recruiter and a good basketball school. I do not know if the problem is Hewitt’s coaching ability, or the fact most highly rated recruits were so athletically superior in high school that they might not have learned how to play the game. When they come up against players even remotely close to them talent wise Tech players just completely play beneath their abilities.
Don’t worry though, tech gets to look forward to underachieving in baseball for the 24th season out of the last 25. Yes, you make it to a CWS now and then, but your team in continually ranked in the top 10 at or near the beginning of the season, only to sputter and fail and usually end up outside the top 25.
theight
March 22nd, 2010
3:40 am
Most of you posters don’t know much about the game. Tech landed exactly where most thought they would this year because of a very young team. The majority of the team is barely out of high school plus Hewitt have no shooter or athlete and too many of his players he recruit leave too early so its hard for him put together a team to build up on. Favors stats wasn’t bad at all, they could have been better if the team had better shooters on the team or a player like Taylor from Ohio State. I think its time for Hewitt to forget about the hometown guards and focus on the New York point guard like bobby cremins did.
theight
March 22nd, 2010
3:55 am
Kansas was the number 1 team in the nation. I guess their coach needs to fired now!! Georgiatown, Villanova, maryland, pitt, and wisconsin coaches also need to be fired. These teams actually lost to teams in lower seeds than them. Tech lost to the number 2 seed, while being in foul trouble the entire game.
Billy
March 22nd, 2010
4:44 am
Holy Smoke
March 21st, 2010
8:16 pm
wELL ALL YOU DAWGIE FANS…WHERE WERE YOU PLaying today?????????????
With yourselves!!!!!!!!!!!
Why are you so Hostile Holy Smoke?? Is it because Tech lost to the DAWGS even in a very bad year for UGA??
big dawg
March 22nd, 2010
6:13 am
Please Mark, don’t blame everything on the coach. Lawal and Favors are projected as first round picks. I don’t see it. Lawal has the worst hands I have seen this year. Favors has zero creativity-while the NBA is all about dunks, it is more than that. As a team they have got to be the dumbest on the lot. All these turnovers cannot be laid to Hewitt. Pathetic perforomance against Ohio State-but what do you expect from a bunch of glory hounds who would not recognize team concepts if it flew through their living room at night and they knew it ewas coming. And I am a bg time Tech Fan, or I used to be.
FalconUGAFan
March 22nd, 2010
6:30 am
From a DAWGS fan, Congrats to both GT and OSU. Folks lets try to remember we are talking about college teams here and the kids deserve kudos for being in the tourney.
Average fan
March 22nd, 2010
6:48 am
Gani, If you’re two feet from the basket and get fouled on the way up…….FINISH the shot man!
bertis downs
March 22nd, 2010
6:52 am
Big Fish at 7:39 last night: Has Hewitt ever recruited a white player ?
Ed Nelson, Brad Sheehan, Daniel Miller, Ty Anderson, that Finnish off-guard early years
perhaps there are others but who really notices skin color– is that all that matters to you?
your racism is exceeded by your ignorance, but I guess that’s usually “the way it is”
DawgNation
March 22nd, 2010
7:13 am
To GTman, Reality, and Holy Smoke,
For you guys I will just quote your favorite Tech fan m. “I’m glad it hurts so much”.
To the rest of the disappointed Tech fans. You made it with an underachieving team and kudos for that. I do not even pretend to know anything about basketball so no jabs or sarcastic remarks. See you guys in Nov.
Corny Hull
March 22nd, 2010
7:15 am
One thing I wonder…..Is Hewitt too stubborn or is he bright enough to get a fix for next year (’cause of the departing players) by goinh to the Junior college level and getting a proven point guard and a couple of big men. That’’s one thing Cremmins did when he was in the bind and the players worked out fairly well. At least it would give Tech proven (already played successfully 2 years)players and certainly no worse off than one-and-doners. It would buy him time(Hewitt stays ’til he’s let go) until he can find good recruits
David
March 22nd, 2010
7:24 am
Tech is talented, but they don’t play intelligently. Combine that with mediocre coaching, and you get an inconsistent team and season.
bertis downs
March 22nd, 2010
7:26 am
BigFish last night at 7:39 pm
Has Hewitt ever recruited a white player ?
let’s see: Brad Sheehan, Ed Nelson, Ty Anderson, Daniel Miller, the Finnish off guard early years– maybe there are others but is that what really matters? Skin color? Really?
the racism implied by your comment is matched by your ignorance but I guess that’s usually the way it is
Required Reading | Hard Knox Sports
March 22nd, 2010
7:29 am
[...] What if Tech hadn’t underachieved? [AJC] [...]
tech 2222
March 22nd, 2010
7:31 am
Tech’s team is young! If all the players come back next year, they will be a lot better and may go to the Sweet 16–bank on it!!!
oldfart
March 22nd, 2010
7:38 am
Uh, tech 2222, youth doesn’t matter if they aren’t staying.
papadawg
March 22nd, 2010
7:40 am
Why are you trying to make GT anymore than average at best. Remember they lost to a weak Georgia team this year.
4 Jacks
March 22nd, 2010
7:45 am
Paul Hewitt, “a great year, a very good year”, yeah, maybe by a losers standards. Oh, and we were “unlucky”. God, I am so thankful that we do not have a head football coach with this attitude or mentality. Hewitt is a loser, just look at his ACC record. Now tell me, why should I buy tickets to any of the games with a loser like Hewitt for a coach. What a joke, and sorry attitude, to so call lead this team. Guess he is like the dems who put a spin on everything to force their will down your throat. Hewitt, be thankful that you do not have to face a vote from the fans…the only fans votes that you would get are from the opposing teams. They want you to stay, and with good reason. LOSER!!!!
Furman Bisher
March 22nd, 2010
7:45 am
I saw a serious lacking in fundamentals all season. Perhaps a Bob Knight could have slapped some of these guys into longer attention spans.
Furman Bisher
March 22nd, 2010
7:51 am
I observed a serious lacking in fundamentals all season, and we all know these guys are better than their record. Perhaps a young Bob Knight could have slapped them on the noggin and gotten better outcomes, at a more reasonable salary, I might add.
rascal
March 22nd, 2010
8:10 am
I remember a recent Tech coach that said, “8-4 is a pretty good record for a school like Tech with all the academic requirements and all”. That coach was gone very soon. DRAD, if you heard coach Hewitt explain how he felt about the season, you have the same decision to make. Give me the coach that expresses his disappointment not only after the season but after every game and practice that is subpar. I’m done with my season ticket purchases
Retired BBall Coach
March 22nd, 2010
8:13 am
Coach Hewitt would give his left *** for a slick point guard.
rumble
March 22nd, 2010
8:24 am
tech needs a true point guard
Realist
March 22nd, 2010
8:28 am
Mark, we kept hearing that Tech was going to go deeper in the tourney than Duke. Where’s the column acknowledging that was a ridiculous prediction?
howard
March 22nd, 2010
8:44 am
I like Tech’s basketball coach but when you watch them play you realize they are not well coached…You don’t keep a coach because you like him, you keep him because he gets the most he can out of his players. Tech’s coach does not. His players do not play to their potential. Tech needs to change coaches to reach the next level. It was true in football and now its true in basketball.
SJ
March 22nd, 2010
8:47 am
A tale to two Pauls…
One comes to Tech, takes someone else’s recruits, demands nothing less than excellence, and in a short time span molds them into a unit feared by others, accepts no excuses for sub par perfomance and takes responsibility for anything less.
The other, now years later recruits some of the finest talent in the land continues to proctor underachievers with no real concept of teamwork, sets the example for his players who make nothing but excuses and blames others for questioning the obvious.
One Paul almost always makes terrific, sometimes brilliant halftime adjustments, the score reflecting the strategy.
The other; you tell me as each half looks like a disorganzied schoolyard mess no matter the final score. What strategy…?
One Paul gets the equivalent of pennies on the dollar for what he does.
The other is set for years for what he hasn’t.
One Paul has so far made fine wine from ordinary grapes.
The other has turned lemonade into lemons.
Where is the logic in all of this?
Where are the Braines when you need them?
Too bad one Paul ain’t the other Paul’s boss.
Hewitt Rules
March 22nd, 2010
8:49 am
Hewitt should stay, with all these young players coming back and Tech should reward him with a nice raise and bonus for getting this young team to the NCAAs!!
GTsupporter
March 22nd, 2010
8:52 am
Retired bballcoach and rumble read this carefully… GT has slick/talented Point Guards but Hewitt cant coach….Mfon Udofia was agruably one of the best pg’s in the country and so was Moe Miller coming out of high school…Moe Miller was gatorade player of the year in tennesse. Paul Hewitt doesnt allow his guards to play to there strengths…I saw Hewitt actually start Udofia at the shooting guard position this year..Hewitt cant Coach…All of these one and done guys are obviously going to the league…Who has Hewitt coached to the league??……If Cremins were there Udofia, Miller, and Shumpert would make ACC Teams…Oliver and Rice Jr. too. Hewitt isnt a pg coach….Actually Hewitt is a mid major coach…I’ll give you an example: If an all academic student coming out of high school with a 4.5. gpa has a problem with grasping mathematics …who’s responible for assisting the student in getting better..THE TEACHER…Hewitt is suppose to mold his talent and yes he has alot of pg talent….Hewitt just isnt a good coach…He relys on the one dones to keep his job…Great recruiter…but not a good coach.
Think about Anthony Morrow..Mr. North Carolina coming out of high school….It took him to leave GT for the world to see he could play bball..If another coach was at GT Morrow would have been drafted and would alot of other players through these last 10 years. Bad Coaching.!!
GTGuy44
March 22nd, 2010
9:02 am
Just ask yourself did this team play any better than they did at the beginning of the season? Did they turn the ball over less at the end of the season (20 plus times most games)? Did they shoot foul shots better (no other than one game against Oklahoma State)? Ohio State started 4 juniors and 1 sophomore and only played 7 players, yet won and certainly could not be considered an experienced team nor a really good team. Also, the conference only has one team left in the tournament just confirming what we already knew and that is that the conference is the weakest it has been in many years which just makes our record all the more embarrassing and underachieving. Hewitt is a terrible coach who attempts to defend the indefensible. You think this year was bad just wait until next year when we lose 4 of our top 6 players.
Cremins then Hewitt
March 22nd, 2010
9:14 am
GT was nothing before Cremins and returned to nothing the last three years under Cremins. Everyone wondered why Bobby couldn’t get more from his talent. Hewitt picked up where Cremins left off and has further perfected getting less out of talented players. GT has not been a consistent force for years and will not become one under Hewitt. They need a disciplinarian to run the team versus letting the team run the coach. It’s kind of sad when reality becomes louder than the dream. Unfortunately the GT brass have a long record of rewarding underachievement and this is not likely to change.
nomoneyman
March 22nd, 2010
9:18 am
“Tech leaves us wondering how much it might have done” ??? They didn’t leave me wondering. Considering how they underperformed all season, they got further than I expected in the ACC tourney and NCAA, even giving themselves a chance to win against the 2nd OSU.
Overall it was still a disappointing season. After watching the 1st two rounds of NCAA tourney, I am even more convinced that Tech, and any decent academic institution, should recruit solid student-athletes with potential as team players and individuals, and let them develop over 3-4 years. I’m tired of this one and done & two and done. How many great kids do we miss because they don’t physically mature as early as these McDonald’s all-stars? Get some good kids and build a team. Quit trying to recruit an instant winner.
Also, in the day, didn’t Cremins only play 6 or 7 players.
Techman78
March 22nd, 2010
9:20 am
SJ- I think that is the best post that I have EVER seen. Well put, that explains it all. I wish a lot of other people could see it the way you do.
Ronboy
March 22nd, 2010
9:28 am
That column was/is crap. Tech was beaten by a better team. Maybe they did have more talent than your usual 10 seed, but they were not better than the regular season BigTen Champs, BigTen Tourney Champs (same BigTen that has 3 in the Sweet 16, how bout the ACC or BE?) or the @ 2 seed in this region. So the Buckeyes only go 7 deep. So what. They are a better team than Tech, much better.
Kevin
March 22nd, 2010
9:29 am
Mark Bradley, what spin are we supposed to ignore, yours or Techs? If they win its because they were supposed to, if they lose, fire the coach. You have never played a sport, have you Mark?
CanHewitt
March 22nd, 2010
9:32 am
While I don’t think Bill Self is such a great coach don’t ever compare him to Paul Hewitt. After you win a National Championship and have a great track record for a long time, you’re allowed to have a down year or an underachieving tournament or two. Ever since Hewitt had a good run in 04, his team underachieved since. 2005 was horrible. 2007 was even worse. He did it again last year and this year. It’s become a trend.
buckeye10
March 22nd, 2010
9:43 am
Blah, Blah, Blah…..You got beat by the “Buckeyes”.
Spanky
March 22nd, 2010
9:50 am
Paul Hewitt says hello.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_54gulbqEJ3w/S6IjMFtO6hI/AAAAAAAAAOQ/Em5qJsvbWFs/96424633.jpg.14896_feature.jpg
Jacket Fan
March 22nd, 2010
9:50 am
Hewitt is a joke among the ACC. I didnt watch and will not watch any GTBB as long as Hewitt is at Tech. Go ahead and criticize me for “not being a true fan”, but this is the only want that idiot Drad will do something… he is only about the $$.
rj
March 22nd, 2010
9:51 am
Last year, Ohio State had a center named B.J. Mullens. He was a top 5 player his senior year in high school. He would’ve been a top 10 NBA pick if he had went directly to the NBA, but that pesky collective bargaining agreement got in the way. He couldn’t beat out Dallas Lauderdale. Really. Lauderdale deserved to split time last year. Why? Because Mullens had ‘one foot out the door’ as Thad Matta has been quoted as saying. Mike Conley, Greg Oden, Evan Turner…they didn’t have one foot out the door. They played, they paid attention, they contributed. And we wish them well. Mullens, Dequan Cook (Miami Heat) had one foot out the door.
Matta told Turner not to have one foot out the door this season, and he hasn’t. He’s been focused. He turned into THE MAN not only at Ohio State, but in the Big 10, and maybe the entire country. This isn’t about NBA potential. This is about producing as a college player.
As I watched the game yesterday with my 13 year-old son, I was very concerned. Tech was just as athletic as OSU and much stronger in the front court. But, Tech was very sloppy with the ball, we weren’t. It’s like those guys were playing with one foot out the door….
PMC
March 22nd, 2010
9:52 am
Not really, They played pretty well for what they are. They only really have one great player Derrick Favors and he’s a fairly raw freshman. The guards… aren’t that good. Gani Lawal is physically imposing but he’s not a game changer.
They did well in the ACC tournament and played fairly well in the NCAA’s improving greatly in the last 2 weeks as a team.
7-9 in the ACC is what they are. An average to below average basketball team. They just didn’t play well enough to win yesterday.
This team had a ton of hype due to the addition of Derrick Favors… but outside of the outstanding defensive and free throw shooting extravaganza against the Pokes…. this team hasn’t played like one of the best teams in basketball all year. It’s unrealistic to believe they should have done better.
I don’t imagine they will fire coach Hewitt over this seasons performance but surely he has to realize for the money that he earns he’s got to make some changes in the way they do business because middling to awful (just the last two seasons) in the ACC are not worthy of his contract or buyout.
PMC
March 22nd, 2010
9:58 am
You are what your record says you are. If they are that talented… none of them outside of Favors showed it period.
If they feel that they are better than this…. it’s pretty much on the players to show it this summer.
Iblameurparents
March 22nd, 2010
10:01 am
Keno, you are kidding right? “Tech needs to recruit smart players… Duke players are smarter…” are you serious? I guess “smarter” is the code word for “white” and “athleticism” is the code word for “black” because we all know you can not be both! How absurd! You mentioned Kentucky players “play smarter” not that they are smarter probably because they are both black and athletic, there is no way they could actually be smart. A couple of key points to be brought to your attention, these guys are attending Tech, not the run of the mill college by any stretch. So they must have some degree of intelligence just to get in, no junior college transfers here. Secondly Duke and Kentucky, particularly Kentucky, has a outstanding point guard. Although Kentucky’s PG is a freshman, he is one of the best in the country, thus compensating for his youth, but didn’t even he have problems with his coach early in the year. Guard play has always dominated the NCAA tournament and makes you look a lot smarter than you are. Duke has been trending toward the “smarter” players (white) for the last few years and how many championships have they won in that span? The same as Tech. This time of year you win with a veteran team or dominate guard play. To win it all you must have both. Here is another news flash… all black players are not athletic and certainly whoever validated the fact that all white players were “smart”? All subtle racism aside, your way of thinking, you were not born with, it is a learned behavior and I do not hold judgement against you for thinking this way, Iblameurparents.