Tech’s Iman Shumpert: Domination on a level I’d never seen
Iman Shumpert flees after a theft from Malcolm Delaney. (AJC photo by Hyosub Shin)
I’ve seen all the famous Georgia Tech point guards: Mark Price, Craig Neal, Kenny Anderson, Travis Best, Stephon Marbury and Jarrett Jack. I’ve seen all of those worthies have fabulous games. I’ve never seen any of them play better at both ends than Iman Shumpert did against Virginia Tech.
Much is being made of Shumpert’s triple double — only the fourth in recorded Tech annals and the first since Anderson against Pitt in December 1989 (I covered that game, incidentally) — but stats didn’t offer the full measure Tuesday night. Even more impressive was this: Shumpert took a very good opponent and destroyed him.
Virginia Tech’s Malcolm Delaney entered the game averaging 18.9 points. When last he played against the Jackets here, he’d scored 32 points in a game that nearly knocked Georgia Tech out of the 2010 NCAA tournament. On this night Delaney managed eight points — two on a goaltending call — against eight turnovers. Six of Delaney’s eight turnovers were a function of Shumpert steals.
I asked afterward how this defensive masterwork compared to that authored in Round 1 of the NCAA tournament against Oklahoma State’s James Anderson, the Big 12 player of the year. Shumpert said they were close, but that he’d probably pick the one in Milwaukee because “it was my first time in the tournament.”
Me, I actually preferred this one. It’s one thing to clamp down on a shooting guard, which you can do by denying him the ball; it’s something else to harass a seasoned point guard who has the ball in his hands all the time into something approaching surrender. (Four of Delaney’s turnovers, all Shumpert steals, came in the final five minutes.)
The offensive part: That was nice, too. Shumpert had 22 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists against one turnover. (Against Anderson and Oklahoma State he’d had only one basket and four assists.) But over time I’ve seen lots of Tech guards dominate games on offense; I’d never seen any of them play so well over the full 94 feet.
You probably knew this already, but after such a night it seems worth saying: Iman Shumpert is one heck of a player.
By Mark Bradley
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86 comments Add your comment
JSS
January 26th, 2011
12:59 pm
@ Mark Bradley…
Please check your comment filter…
juvenal
January 26th, 2011
1:00 pm
my bad(watching my kids games more than others, more fun)…& how many come out that aren’t on boards? hope he stays…….
Jackets2010-11
January 26th, 2011
1:02 pm
Judging by remarks on artiles and in liveblogs, few will believe this but the Charlotte loss was fun and an indication of what was to follow.
I was a little worried all the negative folks would defeat their own team but I should not have been.
This team has resolve that is getting stronger with each game.
At some point, they’ll learn how to win on the road.
We could be really good next year if Shumpert comes back.
gatorman
January 26th, 2011
1:03 pm
18 out of 21…..NOW THAT’S DOMINATION!!
Jackets2010-11
January 26th, 2011
1:09 pm
People complain about the money Hewitt makes but Braves SP Mike Hampton made ten times (17 mil vs 1.7 mil) as much a year and spent two years rehabbing.
17 mil to rehab and I don’t get a dime when I do it with a running injury.
Could it be every one in sports is way overpaid?
Except Mark of course.
Mister T
January 26th, 2011
1:09 pm
@D A DoubleU G
You summed up my sentiments exactly…well except from the Tech prospective. Nice link to College rivalries. I followed several of the links within. Very informative.
I have shared this a couple of times. While I do truly love my friends that went to uga, I would never pull for uga.
I grew up in South GA as a Tech fan in the 70-80’s. It was a difficult childhood to say the least. What really set me against uga and their fans was the ones that said, “Well, I pull for Tech with they aren’t playing georgia.” Then on Sunday morning at church following a Saturday that saw uga win and Tech lose, they would hunt me down to give me grief. Well, that didn’t exactly sound like you were pulling for Tech in my book. So the condescending uga fans & alum have been the reason that today, I would pull for the Taliban against uga in a game of tiddlywinks.
THWg!
IndyGT
January 26th, 2011
1:09 pm
Great game by Shumpert! There’s no denying he’s a lockdown defender.. its just the offensive side that seems to slip. The UVA game – he sat with foul trouble, and I thought – that’s the end of this game. I wouldn’t be suprised if we beat MD this weekend. But, CPH needs to treat the UM game as a must-win. Happy for the win – great job by the Jackets. But, I’m still cautiously pessimistic about this team – need to see a few road wins. We’re not even close to a tournament team right now.
SilentCC
January 26th, 2011
1:11 pm
I saw something last night I don’t care for, because it begins to sidetrack a team and make them petty. They began shoving and hitting stupidly — like Oliver’s (I think) push of Delaney to the floor and then… “Oopss, sorry there Mr. Delaney — I don’t know HOW I ever ended up sitting on your chest, but it’s comfy.” This was the stuff of Dickey and Mob back several years ago when all they wanted to do was play street ball and start throwing elbows everywhere. I don’t respect a team that gets into that. Maybe it’s warranted at times to even the score on the floor, but I hope it doesn’t become a habit.
milton dad
January 26th, 2011
1:11 pm
Worm: Actually the old ACC IS what it used to be. It’s the new ACC that ain’t what it used to be. But I quibble….
Jackets2010-11
January 26th, 2011
1:13 pm
Funny Mister T.
Walton
January 26th, 2011
1:13 pm
Yep. How do you have Shump and Favors on the same team and not do more than they did last year? Most coaches would kill for players that talented; never mind 2 of them.
GTFan478
January 26th, 2011
1:18 pm
Hell of a perfomance, but he’s just to inconsistent. If he can get the light to click in his and keep it on, he would be unstoppable.
Jackets2010-11
January 26th, 2011
1:19 pm
Speaking of the difficulty of winning on the road, I’d bet FSU can’t beat Duke in Durham or at any neutral site.
Probably not at home but maybe 2 times out of ten.
The flaw of this Tech team has been stopping the three on the road.
I am cautiously hopeful we’ve figured that out though as with VT, it opens up getting beat off the dribble as coach said.
Reality Bites
January 26th, 2011
1:23 pm
Blind squirrels….nuts…..get the picture.
Please fire Hewitt. I have two words for u guys who think this team is going anywhere *Kennesaw State*. nuff said.
yellarjacket
January 26th, 2011
1:26 pm
Hey Mark – do you think Shumpert has a chance at ACC Defensive POY? I think he’s the best on-ball defender in the ACC, maybe in the country.
D A Double U G – I believe Shumpert also dominated your boy Travis Leslie in Atlanta earlier this year and he’s supposedly going to leave UGA early for the NBA. Leslie scored 4 points and sat most of game with foul trouble because he couldn’t guard Shumpert one on one.
Shumpert continuously draws the opponents best perimeter player and usually keeps them well under their scoring average, while carrying the scoring load for the Jackets as well. The guy does everything for this team. For the record, he also shut down Richmond’s Kevin Anderson and UTEP’s Randy Culpepper. You should add those two names to the list of players Shumpert has abused this year.
Jackets2010-11
January 26th, 2011
1:29 pm
Walton
I’ve been a Tech fan all my life.
Would any top coach in football or basketball “kill” to coach at Tech?
Being objective, I’m thinking Heisman who we stole from Clemson was the one time we got a top coach and that was at the beginning of his great coaching career.
Would Calipari or Self come here?
If we paid money we can’t afford but I doubt it.
We got lucky with Dodd, promoting the assistant.
Yet even after 1956, he was starting to have diminishing returns.
I don’t like Dodd as much as everyone else because I only saw his sixties’ teams and he wrecked my then hero’s senior year basketball team by mistakenly getting us out of the SEC.
No need to me to hear the reasons.
I’ve heard them a million times.
GoJackets!
January 26th, 2011
1:33 pm
Jackets2010-11, your comparison does not work. Hampton’s a pro baseball player who was paid through a guaranteed contract. And it’s crazy to think he was never criticized by Braves fan. If there was a way to void his contract the braves would’ve done that in a second. Besides, he was injured so they were able to recoup most of his salary through insurance. Coach Hewitt deserves all the criticism he’s been getting. I hope he listens and coach better.
Harry from da Burn
January 26th, 2011
1:34 pm
Mark, never assume someone decent will forego the draft after his Junior year. I’m not even talking about no one really that good stays four years at Tech, but college basketball as a whole. Hopefully he does stay so we can be in the dance next season. Don’t be completely shocked if we win the ACC tourny (like the only UGA dance appearance this past decade.)
Born2Buzz
January 26th, 2011
1:40 pm
For those who weren’t at the game (and there were a lot of you), it was a tight game until about 3 minutes left. VT did what I thought they would by playing zone and making us hit some outside shots. But after a slow start, Hewitt actually made a slight adjustment on offense and some openings created some good shots. The fact that Oliver found his stroke was key and opened things up, eventually causing VT to switch to man at the end in an attempt to get some steals.
Shumpert played maybe, no, without a doubt, his best game in his career. Not only did he almost have a quad double but he only had 2 TO’s and one of those was because Miller couldn’t hold onto a perfect, albeit very hard, pass.
I’m still not happy with Hewitt and his track record speaks for itself. But it was obvious last night and on other occasions this season that there is plenty of talent on this team. If Shumpert continues to play like this they can win a few more and maybe even win one on the road. But I’m not holding my breath.
At least it was another fun night to be at the AMC. More of you GT fans should come out and see what we have going on.
Steve
January 26th, 2011
1:56 pm
yeah yeah, the guy was probably sick. we’ll see what happens when we play up there in a few weeks. and we’ll see how he plays against maryland. tech players and blewitt are known for their good game appalling game. let’s see him do this for 2 weeks and on the road and then i will pay attention
Seth
January 26th, 2011
2:03 pm
I’ll be laughing if this team somehow goes 10-6 in conference but misses the tourney becuase of pathetic ooc losses. Fact is, they need to go at least 11-5 in conference and probably 12-4 to make the tourney. 10-6 and a trip to the acc champ game would do it too. But we know this team and it’s coach. They can’t win on the road and will crumble when they play at duke, vt, and the other road games they have left.
GTBob
January 26th, 2011
2:05 pm
@Steve, Shumpert’s last 4 games:
UNC – 30 pts, 5 rebs, 3 assists, 3 steals
Wake – 20 pts, 6 rebs, 2 assists, 3 steals
UVA (road game) – 19 pts, 9 rebs, 4 assists, 1 steal
VT – 22 pts, 12 rebs, 11 assists, 7 steals
There is the two weeks that you wanted to see. I would say he has done ok. Also, only 6 turnovers in his last 4 games. He is playing pretty lights out overall right now and last night was the high point.
domination happens no matter where you play....
January 26th, 2011
2:09 pm
while I man had a good game at home …
-until he does it game after game after game.
-until he does it against great opponents (let us see what he does against duke)
he is just a good player who had a great game with some home cooking. i dont know which game you watched but they played a montage of some of the plays during the game. it looked more like fb not bb.
there were at least half a dozen or more times when I man should have been called for a reach in foul but it didnt happen. as we have seen for 3 years worth of games in the past….. get I man in foul trouble early and his game goes out the window.
as far as I man staying at gt after this year….. aint gonna happen. lets face it. phew can not teach the kid anything via coaching. phew is NOT coach k. anybody want to make a wager?
we are still a sub 500 team with a crappy coach. this season will be just like that old song ‘i’m henry the 8th i am’…….. next verse same as the last.
And next year? take our leading scorer… and our leading rebounder…. and our leading ball handler… and our leading assist guy …. and our leading defensive player…. and our leading thief away from this team and we are last in the acc.
BR
January 26th, 2011
2:10 pm
jackets2010
fsu already beat duke at home this year idiot.
Joshua Barlowe
January 26th, 2011
2:11 pm
UGA copies everybody – they have Green Bay’s logo, Auburn’s fight song
GTBob
January 26th, 2011
2:17 pm
Are you guys really pretending that this was Shumperts only good game?
Shumpert since January 1st:
22.3 pts a game
7.6 rebs a game
3.1 steals a game
5.3 assists a game
Only 11 turnovers. About a 3 to 1 assist to turnover ratio.
Pretty awesome numbers. Could be worse also. He only played half of the Wake Forest game. Yes, last night was the best of the bunch but he has been awesome all year and has gotten better and better as the season has gone along.
JROLL1
January 26th, 2011
2:25 pm
THREE STEALS AWAY FROM A QUADRUPLE DOUBLE! OUTSTANDING GAME.
wreckmaniac
January 26th, 2011
2:26 pm
For Coach Hewitt and the team, this is impressive. As much as this team has been laughed at all
season, anybody would have to say this is a big win.
Boobie Bowden
January 26th, 2011
2:34 pm
Georgia did suck, Georgia does suck, Georgia will suck.
come on
January 26th, 2011
3:42 pm
lets be fair to shump. people keep saying he is not consisitent enough, but that fact is he has been the most consistent player on the team this year. he leads the team in scoring, rebounds, steals, and assists. only player in the country to do so. he is not the consistency problem it is the rest of the team that is hot or cold
Rich
January 26th, 2011
4:05 pm
I would put this performance #2 on the ACC era list at Tech behind Kenny Anderson’s 18 assist game in the dismantling of UNC in 1990. The only reason I would give the edge there is that UNC was a far better team than Virginia Tech is this year. Shumpert was amazing last night, and once you factor in his superior defense, it is a very close call when compared to Kenny’s game.Beating Carolina by 27 and making Dean Smith’s trap look like a joke was just too beautiful to drop down to second.
Mark Bradley
January 26th, 2011
4:08 pm
That was indeed a great performance, Rich. I covered that one as well.
gt45
January 26th, 2011
4:25 pm
He put on a show, and had a great supporting cast. I have not seen Tech play so selfishless in a long long time!
Tweets that mention Tech's Iman Shumpert: Domination at a level I'd never seen | Mark Bradley -- Topsy.com
January 26th, 2011
4:52 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Mark Bradley, ajc sports editor. ajc sports editor said: From Mark Bradley: Iman Shumpert's performance quite special against Va. Tech http://bit.ly/eeWtvF [...]
GA GAME
January 26th, 2011
6:21 pm
Hey UGA! Nice clutch performance last night against UF. Man, they own you in football and in basketabll. You went from potentially leading the SEC East to the cellar, where you belong. How Bout Dem Gators. LMFAO!
Shumpert the ACC player of the year? | Georgia Tech
January 27th, 2011
4:01 am
[...] Another player View Results Loading … Shumpert is one of the ACC’s best defenders. In addition to crushing the Hokies on offense, he shut down Malcolm Delaney on Tuesday, holding him to 10.9 points under his season average. Colleague Mark Bradley called it the most dominating performance from a Tech point guard that heR… [...]