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
GTGuy44
March 22nd, 2010
1:33 pm
Sporty Black you must have trouble reading and understanding the English language. I did not lie. Name me one outstanding white player Hewitt recruited actively. There have been none. All we want to see is balance and that is going after the best players available (white or black) that can get into Tech. Certainly any player that can get into Duke or many other big time Division One programs can get into Tech.
Sporty Black
March 22nd, 2010
1:33 pm
He’s not defending the indefensible, he is Telling It Like It Is.
To all bloggers out there: If I offended you with the white woman comment, I sincerely apologize. Please be assured that I only have preference for intelligent women; race, height, weight, religion, national origin all means nothing to me.
Mike
March 22nd, 2010
1:38 pm
Ohio St. has a far more talented starting line up than Tech. Tech does have a deeper team. Diebler and Buford were both McDonald’s All Americans, Lighty was the #30th ranked senior in the country by SI.Com and Turner maybe the nations best player this season. Lauderdale is not much of an offensive player but is a better defender than Lawal and Favors. neither team played their best which is usually the case for Tech and seldom the case for Ohio St. In a four game series, Ohio State wins 4 games to 1. look at their seasons, Ohio St. has the far superior team. Tech made a good run at it and has a chance to build on their success, the loss of Favors and Lawal will hurt.
Sporty Black
March 22nd, 2010
1:39 pm
@ GTguy44
Because you support GT, I’m not going to hurl insults, I’m going to be part of the solution (you may want to write the following down).
The fallocy in you logic is to assume that your opinion of what an outstanding white player is indeed fact. Well, it’s not.
Anyone can boldly state that the last outstanding white player was Rex Chapman. Many would agree. Many more would disagree. The point is that it is not factual. It is opinion, just like you comments made today.
Okay…
juvenal
March 22nd, 2010
1:52 pm
any chance Gani stays to graduate?
Cindy
March 22nd, 2010
1:54 pm
It was not a good year at all. This tournament and the ACC tournament proved that point even more. We had the talent but we didn’t use the talent. Look in the stands, the fans aren’t there, and if you do endure and come, you leave so frustrated and only wishing you had stayed home. We reduce talent at Tech, instead of maximizing it. The media made a big deal about Hewitt taking the cell phones but what kind of respect is demanded or shown by a team that would have had their cellphones out in team meetings to begin with. I can’t imagine any player sitting in the room with Paul Johnson would dare to take out his cell phone and ignore their coach. The wins at the end doesn’t make up for the holes in the program. We had one of the most athletic teams in the nation and their selfishness, lack of discipline and failure to perform reduced them to mediocrity and that has been the signature of Paul Hewitt’s reign. Mediocre at best!
Willie Coyote
March 22nd, 2010
1:54 pm
How did our bigs foul? Did you not see the crap calls in the post? They let OSU defenders get away with murder defending our bigs and the officials called offensive fouls on our guys when they finally pushed back. You are not supposed to actively push someone out of position or stick your knee in their back or rib cage while defending the post.
Despite the foul trouble, Tech lost because they couldn’t throw it in the ocean for most of the game. That coupled with the b.s. offensive fouls is why Shumpert was upset and why he said what he said. He was frustrated with the way they played AND with the officiating. He showed a little immaturity and emotion but I’m sure others who are criticizing him have done something immature in their life too.
Willie Coyote
March 22nd, 2010
2:10 pm
Ok, I made a comment about the game before I saw that the conversation had degenerated into crap. Sorry I change the subject guys. Have at it.
Big Chief
March 22nd, 2010
2:25 pm
If you discount the two losses to FSU, Tech should have been at least a 2 seed.
TheOSUHackers
March 22nd, 2010
2:27 pm
OSU (the) had to be the most classless team I have seen in quite a while. I have never seen so many leg hooks, pushes, shoves, and down right hacking. Then when Favors tries to establish position inside away from the ball- whistle- offensive foul. Pretty obvious the script was written on this one before it started. Do you really think the NCAA could allow three top seeds to exit the first two rounds? And a Big Ten team on top of that?? Please, that would mean they screwed up the seedings, and they can’t allow that kind of question to arise.
TheOSUHackers
March 22nd, 2010
2:36 pm
Mike- pretty easy to run a good record in the “Big Ten”.
Sporty Black
March 22nd, 2010
2:36 pm
I somewhat agree OSUHackers. However, when the referees are molding the outcome of the game, its time to do something different… I call it coaching.
Chuck Daly (RIP) had the ‘no layup rule’ with the Bad boys of Basketball. The Pistons were not the most talented team when they won back to back NBA titles. More recently, people got made at John Chaney for stating that he sent in his “goons.”
Not sayng it’s right, I’m saying you get criticized by everybody and their momma for losing. By sending in “the goons,” Turner would have stopped all that penatration crap. Hence, the game would of been on a more even playing field. The foul that was committedon Lighty late, should of happened at the 10 minute mark in the first half.
Mr. Turnip-Green Jeans
March 22nd, 2010
3:14 pm
Which brings us to, SPOOOOON!!
Mike Singletary
March 22nd, 2010
3:16 pm
So now we’re going with conspiracy theories to explain Hewitt’s & Tech’s under performance. Really?
Now we’re reaching. We’re treading into UGA territory here.
TheOSUHackers
March 22nd, 2010
3:27 pm
I agree Sporty. With all the talk about Tech’s three bigs, how do you allow penetration the entire game? Because Hewitt did not adjust when he saw how they were calling the game. Instead he just shakes his head. Now, so do all the Tech fans left to wonder what if…
Golden Tornado
March 22nd, 2010
3:28 pm
UGA RULES ATHENS.
TheOSUHackers
March 22nd, 2010
3:28 pm
Oh well, is it football season yet?
cricket
March 22nd, 2010
3:29 pm
Need to get a better coach for any hopes of getting out of mediocrity, just like the football team.
TheOSUHackers
March 22nd, 2010
3:30 pm
Wow Golden- that is not saying much to rule Athens. Without the school, is there anything else there except trashy bars and trailer parks?
WonderDawg
March 22nd, 2010
3:40 pm
I heard Bill Simons say the other day that Tech had terrible guards. I watched the game yeaterday and they are. How can Hewett let them come down and force shots time after time without trying to get the ball to Favors?
OSUBuckNutter
March 22nd, 2010
3:45 pm
Well, its refreshing to see so many Tech Whiners here. It’s always the same. “We were better…they hacked us up…mommie didn’t breast feed me….waaa waaa waaa!! Why not just man up and say your nuts got crunched by the Big Nut Crunching Machine? When we lose, we at least say, “Good game, wow, you took it to us…”. But no, the little crybabies at Tech have to suck their tiny weenies and complain about the big bad foulers…like they committed none. Wake up! Tech just simply SUCKS, and that is all. Now go back to your mommie’s hairy butt and play in the buttjam. Morons.
Decatur Tech Fan
March 22nd, 2010
3:48 pm
N Iowa, St Marys, fundamentals, inbounding, free throws, 4 passes before shooting > one and done thugs, TO’s , 7-9 in down ACC, Ga Tech.
Discuss.
“white men cant jump” they just know how to win.
Guy Wilson
March 22nd, 2010
3:49 pm
One good game in tournament gave us hope – team folded when Favors and Lawal got 2 fouls. Our guards never inproved they took bad shots, made horrible passes that jr high players would not have tried, never learned how to move ball to open players, when our offense could not throw to open player under basket we just gve it away. Ohio deserved to win they got open shots (never understood why we could not wait for open opportunity) out rebounded us on their offensive board – just out played us. Was it game plan ? or just too many 40 footers forced by poor shooters with time on the clock. Paul Hewitt, If you stay, you need to find a coach with guard teaching ability and some past experience as to how to teach simple fundaments of BB play making. I hope you can stay, you recute well, you seem to have repore with your players, but I don’t see enough fire from you during game I would not have lasted against Ohio St. or other games when the officials were so bad. Basketball officials and rule makers need to fix the flaws in calling blocking and charging – allowing the biggest man with the ball to back over the one trying to hold position behind him is just poor rule interpretation. “Bash ball” is not what college basketball should be – In this years tournament it cannot be described in any other way. I believe if it is not returned to the orriginal rule interpretation this great game will loose the interest of the public. Hands off needs to be restated again also.
Coach Hewitt..
March 22nd, 2010
3:54 pm
The Best Part of This Story is that Hewitt’s agent is…wait for it…Mark Carmony, University of Georgia Class of 1991. Georgia Tech, home of the self-professed greatest minds in the Universe, got taken to the contractual woodshed by a Dawg. Outstanding.
Tech is too cash strapped due to the reckless financial decisions made by Braine to even consider biting into that buyout. If they do bite it into, they’ll be further cash poor.
Braine’s decisions include but are not limited to:
* Investing $65+ million for additional seats at Bobby Dodd Stadium for rival fans
* Monitoring GT eligibility requirements into a 4 sport NCAA violation
* Extending Chan Gailey’s contract in the face of total mediocrity
* Announcing that GT would never be consistently good in football
* Hewitt’s contract….
I wish Dave Braine nothing but the best of health and many more years of happiness. But it looks like long after he’s gone, he’ll still be giving Tech fans the business.
$7.1 million or STFU…..LMFAO..Paul.
buckeye fan
March 22nd, 2010
3:58 pm
I was worried going into this game with our lack of strength in the post. However, we have four starters who can, at any time, be amazing or not-so-great. Each has the ability to make shots from anywhere. If one is off, another one (or two) will step up. We make for a good attack because other teams can’t double team everyone. Turner is incredible in his ability to either find (or create)the shot or find the open person when he’s double (or triple) teamed. That’s what makes our team so good overall. Each of those four players is capable of making great plays. Our defense inside can be daunting with all the blocks. Fans were on coach this season for not playing more players. In his playing the 6 (sometimes 7) players, it has helped them become a great team, knowing what each other is doing and having an almost psychic ability to find an open person. While other teams rotate frequently, we have the same group to work together. If you haven’t seen Turner all year (don’t forget the games he missed with a broken back!), you can’t imagine how good he really is. But that also hides the fact that Buford, Lighty and Diebler all know how to play, too — and play both sides of the ball very well. We may turn it over a lot, but usually make up for it with our overall play.
I’ve always liked GT and their teams, good luck next year!
All I'm Saying Is...
March 22nd, 2010
4:01 pm
Tech lost to the better team primarily because Tech’s guards were awfully inconsistent all season.
Turnovers typically occur thanks to the primary ball-handlers and that is the guard position and Tech’s were brutal.
Every non-senior needs to come back for another season and Hewitt needs to find better point guard play (no flash, all substance) or take the St. John’s job if they come after him.
Leo
March 22nd, 2010
4:08 pm
I’m amazed that Mark Bradley gets paid to write about sports. To believe him, you must believe a team with seven acc regular season wins is the most talented team in the conference. You have to forget everything you’ve seen for the last 4 months and go back to what they look like on paper . I have watched the majority of techs games this year and have come to the conclusion that 20 turnovers a game doesn’t just happen. You almost have to make a concerted effort. Tech was never good this year, period. If they played the season over again they would still be a 7 or 8 win team in the conference. What gave Bradley the notion that this team was about to make a run? They beat North carolina? How does this guy keep his job?
Chan
March 22nd, 2010
4:16 pm
I just had a flashback to Chan with the “it was a great year” quote. I think that’s why I like coach PJ so much.
When the Bills win 7 games in 2010(an improvement over 6 wins) and miss the playoffs again, I’m fully prepared for Chan to report “it was a great year.”
The inability to inbound a basketball just astounds me.
I guess the NBA does draft based on potential, because it certainly does not appear that Favors will ever have to worry about having been “over-coached” in college.
atlvol55
March 22nd, 2010
4:28 pm
As a interested Vol fan, I wasn’t sure who I was rooting for in that game. I feel as though OSU is the better team and better coached. However, Favors and Lawal inside scared me.
With that being said, I think Georgia Tech really lost this game in the first 10-12 minutes. Ohio State played absolutely horrible during that stretch and Georgia Tech could only muster and 8-10 point lead. It really should have been more like 15-18 point lead. Do that, and they probably win the game.
I’m not sure the Vols will be able to handle Ohio State either. Turner and Diebler (?) on the outside are a tough combo
Go Vols
NavyJetsMissHewitt
March 22nd, 2010
4:41 pm
The Navy has temporarily suspended two Navy fighter pilots and Tech graduates for flying too low over Bobby Dodd Stadium last November during the Wake Forest game. While Tech fans loved the display by their fellow alumni, several GTAA officials were heard muttering “they missed Hewitt’s office, dammit.”
NavyJetsMissHewitt
March 22nd, 2010
4:49 pm
As a blogger on another site said, Paul Hewitt is running a plantation system wherein he exploits his student-athletes (virtually all of them minorities) to fill his own pockets without providing them the educational access explicitly guaranteed to them in their scholarships. It is difficult to feel sorry for a multi-million dollar NBA player who is just 19 or 20, but the fact is most of the early-bolters are less-than-successful in the NBA and they lack the education, maturity, and lifeskills to succeed in life. Of course they make enough in a year to support themselves and their families for life, but then, how many of them really do just that. Most end up as poor as before, or better yet, in legal trouble a la Crittenton. You don’t have to be white to be a greedy plantation owner, being Jamaican is good enough.
LoveourJetJackets
March 22nd, 2010
4:51 pm
I was at the Wake game and the flyover was exhilirating. Sorry the pilots got in trouble for it, but they are Jacket Aces in my book. (I also agree I wish they had “accidentally” dropped some ordinance on Hewitt’s car in the parking lot, just to get his attention.}
Danny G
March 22nd, 2010
4:52 pm
I bet you techsters can beat the Dawgs in chess too. There is only one game that really matters and you can’t beat us but once every 10 years or so. You can take the rest of the sports and stick them up your little bee behind. Your Basketball team was suppose to be good. It wasn’t. Once again…beautiful losers.
bradleyisaclown
March 22nd, 2010
4:53 pm
For the love of god, Bradley, get over it. This seems like the 11th column in the last 3-4 week period with the exact same subject matter. We get it. You are having a personnal battle with CPH and want the last word, but dont you owe it to the folks at the AJC and your readers to come up with something new?
You are a clown and your writing, aside from being annoying, is uninspiring. Using the word “Alas” in every 3rd column makes you a wordsmith, not.
Fred
March 22nd, 2010
5:00 pm
Mark, you hit the nail on the head – a lack of expectations. Mr. Hewitt clearly sets the bar low with his management – why else would he have his contract renewed after such a dismal performance!? We (the alumni, the fans, the school) need to make it clear we expect more.
Iblameurparents
March 22nd, 2010
5:09 pm
GTguy44, I hear your complaint but let me ask you this, would you feel the same way if GT’s coach was white? If a white guy was the head coach and his team was made up primarily of black players would you feel he did not recruit white players? The fact of the matter is, most college basketball teams particularly those of note are comprised mostly with black players. When Bobby Cremins coached the jackets he had one excellent white every four years, never more than one at the same time. Don’t give me Craig Neal, don’t give me Barry, they were adequate in flashes but erratic in others. Dating back to Kaiser coming forward there were two, Mark Price and Matt Harping. Did the white coach not go after white players? If he had primarily pursued these players because of race he would have not been at Tech or any other institution long. In fact how many white McDonald’s All-Americans were there in the last 10 years? and shouldn’t you recruit the best players you can get. Division I schools have long had the kids of alumni and token walk-ons at the end of the bench that happen to be white, to placate the masses. These kids will never play save a blow out but they will develop relationships that will help them in life. The marginal black kid will never be able to walk on an gain that experience. Duke is the exception, the marginal athlete stays in school long enough to develop cohesive chemistry with his teammates and although individually flawed makes a very formidable team. I contend this formula is good enough to get you a couple of wins in the tournament if you have a hall of fame coach but you too will soon be packing your bags on your way home. You have to get the best players available and hope you have them long enough to develop champions.
GTsupporter, I have no idea what you are talking about. You surely are a Tech supporter because you are a rambler. You never heard me say blacks were not smart, I was speaking just to the contrary. I have never heard of college programs being assessed by the number of NBA players they put on the court. I thought it had more to do with Championships, wins, things of that nature. Certainly you did not mean blacks only aspire to be successful in sports and entertainment perhaps that is the only manner in which you are cognizant of successful blacks. Maybe you should get out more, see the world, it is bigger than your local sports bar. Really though I have no clear idea what you are talking about, must not be that bright, must be in your genes, ( and I do not mean your Wranglers) for that Iblameurparents!
bruce mac
March 22nd, 2010
5:13 pm
What time is Tech’s NCAA game tonight? Or is it tomorrow night? Oh sorry, you are out of tournaments all together. UGA is playing tonight, check it out. Sorry Yechs, maybe someday you can be like UGA with a BBall tradition.
bruce mac
March 22nd, 2010
5:15 pm
What time is the Tech NCAA game tonight? Oh sorry, just UGA left in NCAA Tourney. Maybe some day Yech will be competitive like UGA.
Tell It Like It Is
March 22nd, 2010
5:19 pm
Thank god for affirmative action. Coach Hewitt is being paid just like white coaches who don’t produce. He should go out and recruit only good white guys for balance to satisfy the alumni. If Northern Iowa, St. Marys and Cornell can do this, then so can Tech. I wonder how many games these teams would win in the ACC? It fun to watch them play in the Big Dance. With the exception of the Cornell team,I would go crazy watching them play every week in the conference play. Good basketball skills with no entertainment qualities. You need at least three black guys to keep it interesting.
SJ
March 22nd, 2010
5:46 pm
Thanks for the kind words Techman78. Just off the road after a long drive home from Central Florida. I along with obviously lots of other Tech fans am frustrated with subpar performance accompanied by excuses, justifications and rationalizations.
pete
March 22nd, 2010
5:48 pm
Why does Mark Bradley think GT has so much talent? I do not see it. I’m not sure anyone else sees it either. I sure haven’t heard any other media people (local or national) call them “the ACC’s most talented team”. Who cares if GT plays 10 guys? The bottom line is several teams top 5, top 6, and top 7 was better than GT’s this year. If your number 10 guy gets solid playing time, maybe that means the top 6 or 7 are not as talented as advertised.
And, sorry, but anyone who thinks GT is more talented than Duke does not watch much basketball. College talent is a lot more than just how many NBA guys you have, or how many McDonald’s All aAmericans you have.. In college basketball, I would take Scheyer, Singler, and Smith over Lawal, Favors, and Shumpert all day long. And, please stop with the “GT is more talented than Ohio St.” nonsense as well. Who would not take Turner, Diebler, and Buford over GT’s top 3 guys? And, no way can anyone sell that GT’s role players are better than these team’s role players.
A team is who they are over 30 some games. GT had the talent this year to be a middle of the pack ACC team who could make the NCAA tourney, which is exactly what they did. If they want to get to sweet 16s and improve the program, they need more talent because no way does this team compare to some of the top teams out there.
Mike in C-Bus
March 22nd, 2010
5:51 pm
G-Tech would finish no better than middle of the pack in the Big 10. If Shumpert and Turner were grade school teammates, Shumpert better go back to school.
Beeswax
March 22nd, 2010
5:52 pm
Thinking the article misses a really big point. OSU is good. A 2nd seed with the National player of the year. Just because Shumbert says we are better, doesn’t make it so, and probably is not so. Big men were in foul trouble becdause they were guarding smaller players who were significantly quicker. Nobody on our team can guard Turner, so maybe we are coming down too hard on the squad for this loss.
Tell It Like It Is
March 22nd, 2010
6:03 pm
Pete,
Lets see where the talented Duke players and the talented Tech players will be in three years. I would wager that Favors,Lawal and Shumpert will be millionaires. Scheyer, Singler, and Smith will be looking for a job with a good education. Collge basketball is all about the Benjamins and capitalism. Money talks and bulls..t walks.
Southside Sal
March 22nd, 2010
6:05 pm
Tech was clearly better than Ohio State but got hosed by the refs the whole game! Hewitt should file a protest with the NCAA over all the bad calls.
heeldawg
March 22nd, 2010
6:10 pm
I predicted this finish in the preseason, when all of you Bozos were saying Tech might make the Final Four. Once again, a Hewitt team underachieves–lost to Georgia, exited the NCAAs in the second round. Why does this seem to surprise people?
Jersey Dawg
March 22nd, 2010
6:11 pm
First of all, Southside Sal, you make a perfect Tech fan. Blame the refs.
Second, that was the most uninspired, poorly coached final 2:30 that I have ever seen in a close college basketball game. Clearly, the 2 draft picks made their decisions right then and there and just absolutely quit. They should be ashamed of themselves.
Realist
March 22nd, 2010
6:11 pm
Favors is going to be an NBA starter someday. Lawal? Shumpert? These are guys with shots at the NBA, but they are far from sure things. Rice? Oliver? Good players with bright futures, but come on, they are just freshman, and not freshmen of the Carmelo Anthony/Derrick Rose/John Wall type.
Mark Bradley sold the “talent” idea so hard he started buying it himself. But the reality is that, aside from Favors, those guys are NOT appreciably more talented than Duke or Maryland or Ohio State or a number of teams are this year. Singler, Scheyer and Smith will all get NBA looks, with at least a couple of them sticking in the league for a while. Andre Dawkins plays <10 minutes per game and he has as bright an NBA future as Iman Shumpert or Glen Rice, who are playing more significant roles for Tech. No doubt this Tech team was poorly coached and could have played more consistently, but the whole "talent" thing was WAY overplayed.
Tell It Like It Is
March 22nd, 2010
6:25 pm
One thing is for sure. All of us bloggers have never coached or played at the level that Tech played this year. We are just a bunch of wind bags with unsubstantiated opinions of what it takes to win at the highest level. All of us need to get a grip on reality.
Paul in RDU
March 22nd, 2010
6:45 pm
NavyJetsMissHewitt @4:49 pm
Way to make some generalities about “most early bolters” not being successful in the NBA.
Hewitt has had 4 of them. Bosh, Young and Crittenton were 1 and done and Jack went after his JR year.
Bosh is an all-star, Jack is starting part of the time at Toronto and Young is in the 8 man rotation at Philly. Crittenton, as we are all aware, has some problems at the moment. It doesn’t look to me that most of these early bolters are struggling.