For Georgia Tech, it was the worst night of a difficult season
BG of GT, shown in demanding mode. (AJC photo by Johnny Crawford)
If the record doesn’t indicate that Georgia Tech is under new management, two bits of data did. Entering Thursday’s game against Virginia, the Jackets ranked 21st among 338 Division I teams in field-goal percentage defense and 29th in rebounding margin. And that told us … what?
That Georgia Tech, without benefit of top-shelf talent, is paying attention to the grunt work — namely, defense and rebounding — and also that Brian Gregory, in his first season as coach, has gotten his players’ attention. He arrived insisting his teams would guard and rebound, and sure enough …
Here we note the difference from, say, last season. The 2010-2011 Jackets ranked 222nd nationally in field-goal percentage defense, 145th in rebounding margin. Which is why Tech needed a man like Gregory to right a program gone egregiously wrong.
Which isn’t, let’s emphasize, to say that Tech is fully righted.
The Jackets managed 17 points Thursday in the first half against Virginia at Philips Arena, the bigger of Tech’s rental-homes-for-the-season. The Cavaliers more than doubled that. Over nine galling minutes they scored on 11 consecutive possessions. (Hey, nobody said defending is easy.)
And then, astonishingly enough, it got worse. Tech was outscored 35-21 in the second half, leaving the final count at 70-38. For mavens of minutiae, Virginia banked its 39th point 67 seconds into the second half, which means the Cavaliers could have gone scoreless the final 18:53 and still won.
The 38 points marked Tech’s lowest output since 1982, Bobby Cremins’ first season, and it was accomplished, if that’s the word, on a night when the Jackets made only six turnovers. “We shot it before we turned it over,” Gregory would say afterward, actually managing to smile.
Thirty-four times in 48 tries, Tech shot it and missed. In its third season under Tony Bennett, Virginia has mastered the many nuances of the Pack Line defense Tony’s dad Dick used to numbing effect at Wisconsin. (The Pack Line incorporates man-to-man and zone principles, the effect being that it seems everybody is being double-teamed all the time.)
In sum, the 15th-ranked Cavaliers looked like a well-coached team that knows exactly what its coach demands. Tech, to no one’s great surprise, isn’t nearly there yet. Tech made eight first-half baskets to Virginia’s 15 and spent 30 seconds of every possession trying to find a decent shot, trying and failing. The Jackets were also outrebounded 45-22 on the night, which means somebody’s going to run some steps.
Gregory called the rebounding, or the lack of same, “abysmal,” and noted his players “weren’t guarding a soul” early. He also said: “Our margin of error is very small.”
Even for a team in flux, it was as bad a game as can be imagined. That said, it was possible to look on these two squads and wonder if, two years hence, Tech mightn’t be the better bunch. Tony Bennett’s teams, like his father’s before him, play a halting style. Big-time recruits enjoy expressing themselves freely and often. If Tech can find enough big-name recruits willing to believe in BG, as Gregory is known, good things can happen here fairly soon.
Toward that end, early returns have been promising. Tech’s signing class is ranked 15th nationally by Rivals.com, and big man Robert Carter of Shiloh is listed as the 28th-best player of this class. Small forward Stacey Poole, who’s transferring from Kentucky, has already enrolled at Tech and will be eligible for the second semester next season. Poole was rated No. 33 in the class of 2010. Meaning: The Jackets in January 2013 will be assured of having at least two players better than anybody on this defoliated roster.
That’s a thought that should keep Tech fans warm through what is becoming a chilly winter. These Jackets had a nice December moment by beating Georgia in Athens, something BG’s predecessor never did, but then they lost at Fordham and to Mercer at Gwinnett, which didn’t augur well for ACC play. An honorable loss to Duke followed by an 11-point victory over North Carolina State in Raleigh offered another sliver of hope, but State is coached by Mark Gottfried, who learned under Jim Harrick, who never cared one whit for defense.
For Tech, Thursday’s wipeout loss in a borrowed arena was the worst night of the season, and surely more drubbings await. (It has to play North Carolina in Chapel Hill on Jan. 29. Yikes.) But we knew that’s how this necessary changeover would be — difficult at best, painful at worst. This was always going to be the season Tech had to endure for the sake of better seasons down the road.
“As we forward as a program, our ability to maintain and sustain the way you want to play is going to be important,” Gregory said. “Unfortunately, in the position we’re in, there are going to be nights like these.”
If you look hard, there are times when you can see progress being made. Thursday night wasn’t such a time. Thursday was a night to avert your eyes and count the days until Carter and Poole are eligible.
By Mark Bradley
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105 comments Add your comment
Goldenrod
January 19th, 2012
11:04 pm
At least we beat Fox’s Hounds.
WE RUN THIS STATE!
We’re now officially a football school.
GT89Iee
January 19th, 2012
11:09 pm
FIRST! You nailed it Mark, this is a rebuilding year. Next year we should be ready to compete with Duke, UNC & FSU. We need to sign a few more McDonald’s All-Americans and we can challenge anyone in the ACC.
Just like Coach Johnson, there is no doubt in my mind that Gregory was the right hire!
TybeeDawg
January 19th, 2012
11:14 pm
While I root for the Dawgs in football, I do pull for GT basketball but Goldenrod, your comments are out of line.
You in no way “RUN THIS STATE” and you sure aren’t a football school, you might not be a basketball school and you sure ain’t Clemson!
Go Dawgs!
derrick
January 19th, 2012
11:16 pm
You wanted a new coach, all you TECHIES, you got one. You also get your loses.
Ron Jirsa
January 19th, 2012
11:20 pm
68-56
Buzz2011
January 19th, 2012
11:22 pm
The Dawgs are a big factor in SEC basketball aren’t they?
Goldenrod
January 19th, 2012
11:22 pm
Hey derrick, WTH is “loses”? Go back to your job taking the new BK fries out of the grease you lousy leghumper from the cesspool up north!
UGag fans are such IDIOTS!
NiquePhotog
January 19th, 2012
11:23 pm
TybeeDawg,
Was it that hard to realize the sarcasm in Goldenrod’s comment?
RealityCheck
January 19th, 2012
11:24 pm
‘This coach makes Dwayne Morrison (coach prior to Cremins) look like Adolf Rupp………What a joke of a hire. My kid’s Upward basketball team can score 38 points- and she’s 9.
Paul in NH
January 19th, 2012
11:24 pm
Mark – I think you wrote a pretty accurate summary of the current status of GT b’ball. They play hard but just don’t have the horses to compete with many of the teams in the ACC. We’ll just have to see how well CBG can recruit and coach.
I am chalking tonight up as “one of those games” where a team just doesn’t have it – like UNC vs FSU last week or UNC vs GT last year.
Paul H.
January 19th, 2012
11:25 pm
derrick: Thanks….
David Robinson
January 19th, 2012
11:26 pm
Coach Gregory played with me at Navy when we went to the Elite Eight. He will succeed and has the potential to be the third best coach in the ACC. MUCH better alternative than Paul Blewitt.
Beat Army!
Reggie Ball
January 19th, 2012
11:28 pm
Do you guys know how to post videos, to Facebook?
RealityCheck
January 19th, 2012
11:30 pm
Reggie, you can post videos in 4 easy steps…..or was that 3 easy steps……I’m confused………
GTBob
January 19th, 2012
11:31 pm
You wanted a new coach, all you TECHIES, you got one. You also get your loses.
If we were 0-18 right now I would still rather have Gregory.
Zach Klein
January 19th, 2012
11:32 pm
This just in – Georgia Tech failed to score 40 points. The lowest point total since the 81-82 season. 1 of 15 shooting from behind the 3-point arc.
OkieDawg
January 19th, 2012
11:33 pm
OUCH!
RealityCheck
January 19th, 2012
11:34 pm
GTBob-
Just wait til next year, you may get your wish. 0 – 18 that is…….
Hey GTBob
January 19th, 2012
11:37 pm
I would rather go 9 out of 10 in football than 0-18 in basketball!
#PleaseKeepAlGrohsDefense
GTBob
January 19th, 2012
11:38 pm
Just wait til next year, you may get your wish. 0 – 18 that is……
Our team will be completely different next year. We will probably make the NCAA tournament.
Reggie Ball
January 19th, 2012
11:38 pm
RealityCheck this isnt the Poughkeepsi Journal-we know who Morrison is. Go over to Junkyard Blawg! If your kid was any good she’d be playin for her school and not some uppity soccer Mom league!
GTBob
January 19th, 2012
11:42 pm
OUCH!
Ouch is knowing that this GT team smoked UGA in Athens.
GTBob,Jr.
January 19th, 2012
11:43 pm
Dad: Get ‘em. We will make the ACC tournament but we miss Reggie at QB dont we?
GTBob,Jr.
January 19th, 2012
11:45 pm
Dad: Google how many times Tech has won the last 10 and then catch a bubble!
RealityCheck
January 19th, 2012
11:46 pm
Reggie Ball – my kid could take you and your sorry basketball team to the rack any night of the week. Now get back to Basic Math Fundamentals you moron before I take that crack pipe away from you…….
Is it 3rd down…..oh,wait a minute, is it 4th down…..oh, wait, I don’t know…….here let me throw this in the stands. Don’t hate because your team sucks. You should be used to it by now……
CMR Fan Club
January 19th, 2012
11:47 pm
GTBob Jr.- Ask pops his boyz record in football the past 10 year vs us. LOL
Sad Dawg Fans
January 19th, 2012
11:47 pm
Talking trash about basketball?! Really? 68-56.
RealityCheck
January 19th, 2012
11:48 pm
Reggie Ball- You know what comes after 4th down right?……another UGA victory…..now get back to Fundamental Math Class…..
Michigan State
January 19th, 2012
11:51 pm
Fun bowl game guys. Thanks for not being imposing or fast like those other scary SEC teams. You gave us a run there. Good try!!
GTBob
January 19th, 2012
11:52 pm
Talking trash about basketball?! Really?
It is pretty silly isn’t it? I’m not sure there are 5 UGA fans on earth who can name the current starting lineup for the UGA basketball team.
The Iceman
January 19th, 2012
11:53 pm
Both UGA and Tech are transitioning this year and were expected to lose ball games. This loss shouldn’t be huge news to GT, as UGA’s league play shouldn’t come as a shock to it. These teams are going to be interesting to watch grow under their coaches and compete against one another in the future.
Go Dawgs
RealityCheck
January 19th, 2012
11:56 pm
You Nerds won’t be laughing when my Dawgs win the National Championship this year. Murray and Crowell will be the best tandem in football.
RealityCheck
January 19th, 2012
11:56 pm
Nice try Reality Check imposter. I’m not that delusional……..
CMR Fan Club
January 20th, 2012
12:00 am
Heck yeah Reality! This is our year. We’re definitely better than LSU and Bama! Go Dawgs – 2012 National Champs!!
duronimo
January 20th, 2012
12:01 am
I think Tech has a good coach. They have had some pretty good wins this year already.
They will get better. Can’t get worse.
RealityCheck
January 20th, 2012
12:01 am
Nope, just another boring, ho hum 10 – 11 win season with victories over Tenn, Fla, Auburn, and-of course – GT…..but no National Championship. That will be The Tide – Again.
Zach Klein
January 20th, 2012
12:05 am
This also just in – Tech beat UGA 68-56. Now what’s that say about my dawgs?!
RealityCheck
January 20th, 2012
12:06 am
Maybe GT should hire Javaris Crittenton – I hear he’s a hell of a shooter……
ignition
January 20th, 2012
12:06 am
While George Mason just keeps on Winning !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ha Ha..
Udolfia and Glen Rice JR were both high recruits 4 stars
Julian Royal & Daniel Miller 3 stars..
You GT fans let the humped back buffoon Mark Bradley chase off a good coach (PROVEN SUCCESS)
for a coach that can’t coach offense.. AT ALL !!!!! Check the stats for Dayton and why they had no love lost for him..
RealityCheck
January 20th, 2012
12:09 am
Can’t believe my Dawgs lost to Michigan State! Also can’t believe I’m wasting time talking Tech basketball with a bunch of Tech fans. Oh well….the life of a troll I guess. It’s sad but it’s all I have really.
RealityCheck
January 20th, 2012
12:10 am
Maybe GT should bring over Paul Johnson to coach the basketball team. At least his offense scores more points than the basketball team……of course, they may want to hire a defensive coach.
Time
January 20th, 2012
12:10 am
Maybe Tech should go the same route for hoops as they did football. I’m sure Norman Dale is available to come run the picket fence.
ignition
January 20th, 2012
12:11 am
Meanwhile coach Mark Fox is going to take my Dawgs to the Final Four!
RealityCheck
January 20th, 2012
12:11 am
Can’t believe that I’m not creative enough or smart enough to create my own name for AJC posts and that I have to hide behind my closeted love for all things UGA while pretending to be a GT fan…..
Hey Reality
January 20th, 2012
12:13 am
How’d your Dawgs do against Tech in basketball this year? Must have done pretty well to talk this much trash right? I mean if they beat you in your own house all this trash talk sure wouldn’t make your team look all that great right?
RealityCheck
January 20th, 2012
12:13 am
Virginia just scored again…..and GT didnt……
Reggie Ball
January 20th, 2012
12:16 am
RealityCheck: Forgive my last comment…ur 12:10 message gave me a whole new respect for you.
Hey Reality
January 20th, 2012
12:16 am
68-56
RealityCheck
January 20th, 2012
12:16 am
Hey Reality, your team scored 38 points – against UVA. BTW- Ralph Sampson left a long time ago, so you can’t say it was his fault. Admit it, your team and athletics dept stink. Sure, you finally beat us in Athens this past year but you also ‘finally’ beat us in football a long time ago but you haven’t won since. Hate to tell you, but don’t plan on winning anytime soon……
Reggie Ball
January 20th, 2012
12:18 am
Can’t believe this terrible Tech squad beat my Dawgs at home!
RealityCheck
January 20th, 2012
12:19 am
Reggie- not saying much, I admit UGA basketball sucks this year…and probably next year…and next….
GTBob
January 20th, 2012
12:19 am
Hey Reality, your team scored 38 points – against UVA
UVA is a top 15 team right now. Do you know anything at all about basketball? Do you really think UGA would even be competitive with UVA? You guys needed overtime to beat a crumbling Tennessee team. Mark Fox is really tearing it up in his third year.
Reggie Ball
January 20th, 2012
12:20 am
You a Virginia fan or a Dawg fan. Last time I checked your team lost to the team that only scored 38 tonight. Not saying Tech is any good. In fact their awful. But what’s that say about UGA this year?
sports
January 20th, 2012
12:23 am
to bad it couldn’t have 100 to 38…is there another $7.3 million coming…what a worthless bunch.
RealityCheck
January 20th, 2012
12:24 am
GTBob – UVA is top 15 in Lacrosse, MAYBE……they haven’t been relevant since Thomas Jefferson was there stalking the help….or since Sampson, Carlisle, Lamp, Stokes, etc. were there and lost to Chaminade in Hawai….any other basketball history/knowledge I can share with you??
GTBob
January 20th, 2012
12:26 am
any other basketball history/knowledge I can share with you??
Sure. Can you let me know who is 15th in the current AP poll?
RealityCheck
January 20th, 2012
12:27 am
GTBob- I have to admit I love watching GT play when they had Price, Dalrymple, Josep, Salley, Pettway, Noodles, Hammonds, Ferrell through Anderson, Scott, Oliver, Johnny McNeil, even Ivan Newbill….the Thriller Dome was rocking in those days. Now that’s hard for a UGA to share….
Down Year
January 20th, 2012
12:35 am
due to all the problems and attitude cases left by hewitt, it will take tech 2-3 years to get back to a good level.
Tech > UGA
January 20th, 2012
1:46 am
at least tech is better than lowly uga in basketball. Ga’s coach doesn’t have a clue.
J'boroJacket
January 20th, 2012
1:47 am
We seem to be lacking in Bball IQ. We don’t move to open spots, nor do we execute the pick&roll. We are watching the paint dry! Our passes are such that they are too laidback or just plain bad. I was taught by Coach Hebron to make a pass that they could go right to shooting or making a move. Too many times we take bad shots, not allowing people to be in rebounding position. I would like to see us pound it in down low. 2 guards, 2 forwards and the center. We have the size, just need someone who will also be able to penetrate the key every now and then. Oh and maybe we might want to practice our freethrows.
Stinger2
January 20th, 2012
4:42 am
No one expected a good won/loss record for GT this year.
They are doing some of the basic things better such as free throws, gettin the ball in bounds, etc. GT fans need to be patient.
Hewitt Fan
January 20th, 2012
5:08 am
GMU is 15-5…Paul Hewitt is the head coach…CBG has to be the worst hire in NCAA history!
SuperB
January 20th, 2012
6:42 am
N. C. State yielded 40 points to Wake Forest. Duke then yielded 73 to Wake Forest. After State’s abysmal effort against GT, Gottfried drilled his Pack to death on defense. The result: State has given up 102 point in it’s last two games. Didn’t you know that Mr. Bradley?
Say Whut
January 20th, 2012
6:46 am
Basketball is ONLY important to schools that aren’t much good in football– like the ACC schools! I’m talking to you GT, UNC, Duke, etc.
PT Barnum
January 20th, 2012
6:47 am
My understanding is BG was on his way out at Dayton. At least he has Creflo $$’s nephew to recruit players ……this game shows how far we fell under that lousy P.O.S. we had before Gregory.
Ha Ha
January 20th, 2012
6:57 am
This is what you get when you settle. Enjoy this season Nerds because just like PJ as the previous coaches superior recruits leave it’s only going to get worse
Gordon
January 20th, 2012
6:57 am
Next year will be better, but it won’t be until the third year until we really start seeing improvement. As good as our incoming class is, it doesn’t include a point guard. We need more than just a point guard, but an upgrade at that one position would mean more than anything else. There just wasn’t a good one available with the late start this year.
All that said, a person would have to be blind to not see that Tech is much better coached this season. We lost 2 of our top 3 ball handlers, and 3 of our top 5 scorers and still may match last years win total. We have had only one ranked recruiting class the last five years, and 2 of those are gone and one was vastly overrated. We’re doing fine with what we have.
@PT Barnum, Gregory won 97 games his last 4 years at Dayton. He gets the benefit of the doubt for now.
Jimmy Crack
January 20th, 2012
7:01 am
Wow, Tech hoops suck, UGA hoops suck…I guess I’ll root for State!
GT
January 20th, 2012
8:09 am
Physically a very weak team. Virginia ,as many other teams this year, physically beat them up on the offensive boards. A lot of that is Va. got position under the basket as Tech still has that Hewitt habit of hanging out away from the basket, but when there was an even chance with position, the winner was always Va. This will change as new personnel come to Tech, you can see what they are trying to do they just don’t have the muscle or the toughness to do it. I like Gregory’s intensity, I like the bench coaches, they are recruiting well, I would buy stock in them.
Virginia may be one of the top five best teams I have seen this year. This is the real story here. The ACC is coming back in the game of basketball. Bennett is a great coach, got that “it” whatever that it is. The ACC is a little top heavy but so is the SEC in football, and there is no dispute here they are the best football conference. I think in both cases the potential of the bottom dwellers to raise to national competition is there.
Jacket Dad
January 20th, 2012
8:19 am
Ouch! Well, that was embarrassing to watch! But in reality, we knew this was going to be a tough year with so many distractions and the mere fact that Gregory is having to dig out of the funk that Hewitt brought and left on this team.
Yes, last night was painful. But I hope the Jackets hang in there and use this time to improve and gel. I am excited about next year and beyond. And hey, as painful as it was last night, at least this year the team actually has moments when they are a team and there appears to be something creaping back into their world – fundamentals.
Hang in there Jackets and Jacket fans. The next few seasons will show what both are really made of.
Ted M
January 20th, 2012
8:26 am
how come the talent at Tech stinks…one thing Hewitt was good at was recruiting as he sent a ton of players to the NBA.
Hewitt is 14-5 at George Mason is that good or should they be better.
Still glad Hewitt is gone.
Not a chance
January 20th, 2012
8:27 am
No way tech could beat UGA again. Fluke city baybeeee. Tech is horrible.
Paul in NH
January 20th, 2012
8:38 am
Hewitt Fan
January 20th, 2012
5:08 am
GMU is 15-5…Paul Hewitt is the head coach…CBG has to be the worst hire in NCAA history!
——
Wow – according to Hewitt Fan, CBG has gone from being the worst hire in ACC history (worse than Bob Wade, Matt Doherty, Sidney Lowe, Steve Robinson, ….) to being the worst in NCAA history.
I wonder if he has ever heard of a guy named Dave Bliss?
Paul in NH
January 20th, 2012
8:41 am
Say Whut
January 20th, 2012
6:46 am
Basketball is ONLY important to schools that aren’t much good in football– like the ACC schools! I’m talking to you GT, UNC, Duke, etc.
——
Ever hear of a school named the University of Florida? Somehow they managed to win both the CFB MNC and the NCAA in the same year.
Mike Shuchefskii
January 20th, 2012
9:43 am
Hewitt is 14-5 at George Mason is that good or should they be better.
He’s doing it with the previous coaches talent. Once he starts recruiting his style of players, it will return to not being able to make an inbound pass, no defense, a couple of one and done on each team and poorly executed playground ball.
Jackets 2012
January 20th, 2012
9:55 am
Dawg trolls who knock the BG hire are worried about how well BG & staff are recruiting.
Does a top player want to play in the ACC or the SEC?
Please.
juvenal
January 20th, 2012
9:57 am
Paul-sit 30′ from Tech bench-playing hard not part of the equation last night……
UVA Mike
January 20th, 2012
9:59 am
Suck on that Tech. Wahoowa
Jackets 2012
January 20th, 2012
10:01 am
It might actually be a stronger debating style to ignore the Hewitt comparison made by Dawg trolls.
I wish him well.
I pulled for him when he was here.
When Tech finished 2nd in the nation, he was due a huge raise and Tech paid it in a deferred money.
Gailey got the same type of money and never produced a great season or beat Uga.
What we really don’t want to know is what kind of pension package Brainless got.
Another plus about Hewitt is he somehow did beat UNC.
He is gone.
Let him go.
Jackets 2012
January 20th, 2012
10:05 am
@UVA Mike.
Tech’s 1990 NC football season came at the expense of a UVA team at least as good.
We got the NC and your best football season was just another bubble popped.
No matter what u do to us, u will never be able to top that.
Vespula
January 20th, 2012
10:29 am
Embarrassed. Hurting. Fighting hopelessness. All of these express how I felt when I saw the results of this game. Then came questioning – why? And finally came the sunshine of hope. No matter how bad this season gets, I saw us survive Dwane Morrison and watched Bobby Cremins transform Georgia Tech into a consistent national power for the first time. Whether Gregory can be another Cremins remains to be seen, but our Yellow Jacket family has seen much worse and come out powerful and respected. I’m facing the sunshine now. This will get better.
gt4ever
January 20th, 2012
10:41 am
Just think! Paul Hewitt has brought our basketball program to the brink of disaster… Just think about what is happening to our football program…The damage that Paul Johnson is doing is 100 times worse!
DesignerJacket
January 20th, 2012
10:42 am
How is naming Reggie Ball supposed to be any kind of jab at Tech fans anymore? Isn’t that like bringing up Jan Kemp? It’s so long ago now it’s just plain irrelevant. Different coach. Different decade. And in this case, different freakin’ SPORT! Let the dwags enjoy our loss last night. They got beat by us at home. (That’s the same logic they use when we try to laugh at any of their football losses, so I find it fair enough in this case.) Also, we’re playing an ACC basketball schedule now. Virginia’s a ranked team for heaven’s sake. There’s just no shame in it when we’re on such an obvious rebuilding year and don’t even have a home court. Anyway, Tech basketball is headed in the right direction and will be something to see once we get more ACC-worthy talent. Good write-up on it. Go Jackets!
DesignerJacket
January 20th, 2012
10:48 am
gt4ever, I know you’re preaching this daily, but stop. GT football is gonna be just fine. This is not the brink of disaster. That time was the 1980’s. No, CPJ is not beating georgie as much as you want, but he is winning more games than the guy before him. And his recruiting classes are getting better to boot. If you’re whining that we’re not UGA yet, then keep waiting cause it’s not where we’re ever gonna be. But if you wanna compete for ACC Titles stay tuned and get on board. The Groh defense in year 3 should be improved, and we have a veteran O-line coming back. But whatever, if you want to see us go pro-style or something again I’m not gonna even try to argue with you. CPJ is doing a great job. Talent is all that’s really left to get, and that will get easier to do the more we win. Turning a CFB program around is a marathon not a sprint.
And Tech b-ball is gonna be fine. Also just need ACC-level talent. We have some coming in next year, when we’ll also get a true home court back.
Therut
January 20th, 2012
11:01 am
I’m going to ignore all this stuff above me and just say I certainly thought Tech was better than this.
billdawg
January 20th, 2012
11:23 am
After reading the above, it is obvious that few, if any, actual graduates of either UGA or GT have written in today.
crackbaby
January 20th, 2012
11:31 am
@ignition & Hewitt fan,
Here is Paul Hewitt’s ACC record and standings at Tech (these are facts):
‘00-’01 8-8 5th
‘01-’02 7-9 5th
‘02-’03 7-9 5th
‘03-’04 9-7 3rd (NCAA runner up)
‘04-’05 8-8 4th
‘05-’06 4-12 10th
‘06-’07 8-8 6th
‘07-’08 7-9 7th
‘08-’09 2-14 12th
‘09-’10 7-9 7th
‘10-’11 5-11 10th
Now for an opinion. That record is terrible and by ‘08-’09 Hewitt had lost support of the alumni. Neither of you attend any games I would venture to guess.
Jackets just need to forget last night’s game. It’s only one loss unless the coaches and players allow it to linger. Beat Clemson!
Wreckmaniac
January 20th, 2012
11:35 am
5000 fans ? 38 points ? This is all on Hewitt. We now see what he left us.
Wreckmaniac
January 20th, 2012
11:36 am
Should we establish an AJC Sports Blog- College Graduate only edition ?
Wreckmaniac
January 20th, 2012
11:39 am
Designer Jacket: Georgie ? How demeaning and cruel !!! Only Bobby Dodd was allowed to say that !
Supersize that order, mutt
January 20th, 2012
11:39 am
@ Designer Jacket…….well said
Wreckmaniac
January 20th, 2012
11:43 am
Yes, this is a transition season. Coach Gregory is having to deal with an abundance of problems. He and Tech will be successfull. This is going to be a very tough season. All I want to see is the establishment of identity, pride, and discipline all of which were missing last year. When you play in this conference , you cannot make a half-hearted effort. This is high-stakes competition.
ignition
January 20th, 2012
2:54 pm
From another blog to whom I agree:
There’s multiple top 100 recruits on this team (Udofia, Holsey, Royal, Morris) and the best player is one who wasn’t (Rice Jr.). There’s a solid rotation of bigs and what on paper should be a decent backcourt. This team just isn’t well coached right now. Maybe they will be later on in Gregory’s tenure, but right now I’d be willing to bet that Hewitt would have a better record with this group. And that’s NOT a compliment.
Last night was an absolute embarrassment for this program. There is not a single valid reason for GT to ever play that badly. EVER.
PMC
January 20th, 2012
3:09 pm
Maybe just shut the program down for a year, practice recruit and then come back strong after some reovations.
VoiceOfReason
January 20th, 2012
3:11 pm
GTBob,
I’d venture to say that there aren’t 5 uGAg fans on this blog right now that can count to 5 without using their fingers.
PMC
January 20th, 2012
3:12 pm
The hardest part is over anyway, Hewitt is gone along with his millions.
VoiceOfReason
January 20th, 2012
3:12 pm
Enter your comments here
drew
January 20th, 2012
3:36 pm
Mark Bradley…why isn’t Glenn Rice Jr starting for Tech? Is it because he’s undisciplined and out of control most of the time he’s on the floor? The announcers last night talked about GRJ being our most dangerous offensive player, then he comes off the bench and starts attempting these crazyazz shots. Is there something going on between him and Gregory? Yeah, Rice displayed these same tendancies last year, but it almost looks like he’s taking this out of control play on purpose just to spite Gregory. Seriously…is it an attitudenal thing? What’s the deal with GRJ’s play?
That was one of the worst showings I’ve ever witnessed by Tech ever, but I’d still take Gregory over Hewitt. Just because George Mason has the better team doesn’t mean they have the better coach. You can’t win scoring 38 points on 29% shooting and one three out of fifteen attempts. If BG can get them back to rebounding and playing good hard defense, I’ll be satisfied. BG gets a pass this year. All I want to see is EFFORT and improvement over time…something PH failed miserably at.
Really?
January 20th, 2012
4:43 pm
I thought the trade school’s football team was lousy LOL LOL LOL LOL and I was right. Seriously though that is just pathetic basketball bugs.
At least y’all still have the most dangerous campus in America so there’s always that.
dry dirt road
January 20th, 2012
7:36 pm
I know what the problem is. It’s the double black side stripes on the uni pants. I am Ga Tech grad, and I’ve researched Tech basketball unis. They wear gold stripes. When they wear 50% of Georgia’s colors, they play lousy. I saw them in the black side-sriped unis at Phillips on tv this year, and they couldn’t shoot. The lack of accuracy is blamed on the color black, b/c the head of the alum assn at Tech said “Black is out” as a Tech uni color when he wrote an article about that in the “Tech Topics” alum mag at Tech back in the late 80’s or early 90s.
Skeezix
January 20th, 2012
9:04 pm
Virginia is a good team, but…… just when I was starting to feel better about Tech—then they go and lay this egg. What has happened to the team that played so well against Duke?
Paul in NH
January 20th, 2012
10:14 pm
juvenal
I understand where you are coming from – last night was bad all around. Hopefully it was just “one of those days”
Ga tech > ga
January 21st, 2012
12:54 am
At least tech is better than georgia–their coach is in year 3—he better start winning.
William Casey
January 21st, 2012
11:07 am
There is almost always inconsistent play in the first season when a disciplinarian coach replaces a CEO style coach. Don’t want to discuss CPH, no purpose in that. Looking at the talent level and the last five games: GT overachieved vs Duke & NC State, underachieved vs Alabama & Virginia, and played to their level vs Maryland. There is a pattern there. Alabama & UVA are coached by defensive-minded coaches. These guys know how to exploit GT’s one GLARING weakness: no point guard!!! No knock on Udofia but, I remember seeing him play in HS and wondered (amid the hoopla of the highly rated “Favors class”): who’s going to run the team? Udofia was (and is) a transition style 2-guard. Point Guard is a mind-set as well as a position. GT hasn’t had one since J Jack. I’m guardedly optimistic about next year but worried about not having a PG.
Buzz 2011
January 21st, 2012
7:10 pm
Brian Gregory is just getting started……..2013 will be really big for Yellow Jacket hoops.