A conference tournament run for Tech? No. For UGA? Maybe
Georgia has wrong-footed Tennessee once already this season. (AJC photo by Hyosub Shin)
Hoops Hysterics
1. Does Georgia Tech have a chance to make a run in the ACC tournament? A run, no. Tech hasn’t won consecutive games since before Christmas. It might, however, upset Miami on Thursday night. The Jackets lost to the Hurricanes at Philips Arena by 15 points in January, but Tech has steadied a bit over the season’s final fortnight. (Heck, it actually won twice at Philips, where it had been 1-7.) That said, Miami needs to win a couple of games this week to play itself into the NCAA field, so the Hurricanes won’t take their Round 1 opponent lightly.
2. Does Georgia have a chance to make a run in the SEC tournament? Oddly enough, yes. The Bulldogs open with a desperate opponent in Mississippi State, but Georgia beat the maroon Bulldogs in Starkville last month. Then UGA would play Vanderbilt, which traditionally bombs in this event, and the winner of that game could face second-seeded Tennessee in the semis. (That’s correct: Tennessee tied Vandy and Florida for second and won the seeding tiebreaker. Cuonzo Martin did a great coaching job.) Georgia has already beaten Tennessee, too. And what if Florida would upset Kentucky in the semis?
3. How did Paul Hewitt fare in his first season at George Mason? He inherited two starters off a team that reached the final 32 of last season’s NCAA tournament. Picked to finish second in the Colonial, the Patriots wound up third to Drexel and VCU. They beat Georgia State in the CAA quarterfinals Saturday on what appeared to be a nicely designed play (dribble penetration off a high double screen). Then they made nine turnovers in the first nine minutes of Saturday’s semi and fell behind VCU 22-0 and 32-4 before losing 74-64. At 24-9, George Mason figures to make the NIT. By Mason standards, that’s only an OK season.
My Super Sweet Sixteen
1. Kentucky: The unbeaten SEC season didn’t exactly have a difficult final lap. The Wildcats beat Georgia by 30 points, then won at Florida by 15.
2. Syracuse: The joys of finishing first in the 16-team Big East. Eight tournament games will be played before the Orange tips off in Madison Square Garden.
3. Kansas: Jayhawks fans should be warned. I’m starting to think Kansas might be the best team in the country. Whenever I do, KU loses its next game.
4. North Carolina: The Tar Heels looked like the best team in the country in routing Duke. Trouble is, Carolina doesn’t always play with such focused fury.
5. Missouri: Eleven months ago I thought Frank Haith was an absolutely terrible hire. Today I’m thinking he deserves to be national coach of the year.
6. Murray State: After winning the Ohio Valley tournament, coach Steve Prohm said his Racers deserve a No. 2 NCAA seed. They won’t get one, alas.
7. Ohio State: Just when folks were starting to doubt the Buckeyes’ toughness, they won at Northwestern and Michigan State on last-second baskets.
8. Duke: The 24-point halftime deficit against North Carolina was Duke’s largest ever in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Good thing the ACC tournament is here, huh?
9. Michigan State: Wait a second. Aren’t Tom Izzo’s teams supposed to peak in March? This one just lost by 15 at Indiana and to Ohio State in East Lansing.
10. Michigan: Folks are loving this in Ann Arbor. Michigan State’s final-week slide enabled the unassuming Wolverines to grab a piece of the Big Ten title.
11. Marquette: The Golden Eagles took second in the Big East after a wild week — an 11-point loss at Cincinnati followed by a 14-point thumping of Georgetown.
12. Wichita State: Bubble teams hated the Shockers. Their one-point loss in the Missouri Valley semis could have cost some big-name school an NCAA bid.
13. Georgetown: Oh, the indignity! The Hoyas’ loss at Marquette dropped them to fourth in the Big East behind Notre Dame, whom they’d just beaten.
14. Saint Mary’s: The Gaels defeated Gonzaga in the West Coast final Monday night. The two had split earlier games; the third was an overtime classic.
15. Indiana: It took a while, but Tom Crean finally has it going in Bloomington. His Hoosiers hurry into the Big Ten tournament on a four-game streak.
16. San Diego State: An overtime victory at TCU gave the Aztecs, who’d wasted an 18-point lead, a share of the Mountain West title with New Mexico.
Dropped out: Baylor, UNLV.
By Mark Bradley
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86 comments Add your comment
Supersize that order, mutt
March 6th, 2012
11:51 am
beanster, I think I have seen your name on the Tech blogs. If so, then you have to be aware of the idle rantings of WnE, who CLAIMS to be a Tech fan (HA!!!). If ANYBODY should be banned for annoying fans, he should be, but Ken can’t do it.
beanster
March 6th, 2012
11:58 am
Sup, I am always beanster. You and I had a few back and forth exchanges last fall. The conspiracy theories about WnE are pretty hilarious to me. To be honest, after another sound whipping of Tech this past November, I am back to pitying Tech fans again. Therefore, I will not try to instigate arguments with Tech fans.
For the record, my comment about “sleazebags” and “cheap shots” had more to do with Bama fans than any other fanbase.
I am sorry that Chip has more control of his blog than Ken. Not sure what to tell you there.
harold
March 6th, 2012
12:08 pm
GEORGIA TECH—-POSSIBLE. UGA—–LOL—–THEY SUCK!
UGA IS NOT AND NEVER HAS BEEN COMMITTED TO BASKETBALL. EVERY TEAM LOSES PLAYERS AND FOX “KNEW IT”! IT IS TIME FOR FOX TO GO!
beanster
March 6th, 2012
12:09 pm
And the Tech troll wins by a nose!!
DawginLex
March 6th, 2012
12:10 pm
harold
you are one huge idiot. fire Fox after 1 rebuilding year?
Good lord you are stupid
Supersize that order, mutt
March 6th, 2012
12:11 pm
beanster, so why does Chip have the power to block or ban whomever he doesn’t like, but Ken doesn’t have a similar power? Why is what Chip thinks so important?
beanster
March 6th, 2012
12:11 pm
Actually, I take that back. I won’t do that to you Tech fans. I am pretty sure harold washes Nick Saban’s jock strap for a living.
beanster
March 6th, 2012
12:12 pm
Sup, I have no idea about the hierarchy of the AJC. Maybe you could send an email to the editor-in-chief to voice your complaints.
crackbaby
March 6th, 2012
12:14 pm
sorry but highly unlikely. Miami is a terrible matchup for the Jackets.
Supersize that order, mutt
March 6th, 2012
12:15 pm
beanster, that was a fari response to my question. However, you do need to recognize that there IS a disparity there, which further bolsters Tech fans’ claims that the AJC is a homer paper for UGA.
Hoopster
March 6th, 2012
12:17 pm
Tech upsets Miami. Georgia gets thumped by Miss St. I don’t know what Bradley’s been smokin’…………but I want nothing to do with it.
I've got your super-sized order
March 6th, 2012
12:18 pm
Somethings never change: nerds boo-hooing about a blog? The fact of the matter is that there are atleast 10 times as many UGA fans than Gnat fans that look at these blogs. If it bothers you so much, GET OFF! Also, I find it amazing that Tech people think their hoop team is relevant. UGA has a winning record against GT over the last 10 years even with all of your blue-chip players. Ya’ll suck!!
beanster
March 6th, 2012
12:23 pm
Sup, I gotta say that I think you’re a bit jaded. Both UGA and Tech have their fair share of trolls. At least in your case, the only trolls you have to deal with are UGA fans. Alabammer fans have nearly destroyed Chip’s blog. Lord knows if Tech were to beat UGA on the football field it would get out of hand, just like it did post the Tech win in ‘08. Remember Saint Simons? m? What goes around, comes around.
I get a kick out of posters who claim Bradley is a UGA homer, Schultz is a UGA homer, etc. I don’t think that’s the case. There have been plenty of times when I have thought that Schultz hates Georgia but I am fairly certain now that they try to remain objective and in their heart of hearts, they have favorite teams that are not UGA.
beanster
March 6th, 2012
12:24 pm
My comments are getting eaten left and right. Apparently if you use the word B a m a or A l a b a m m e r, the filter yanks them.
IT’S A CONSPIRACY!!!
RG1
March 6th, 2012
12:28 pm
Love the path UGA has to go through. All beatable teams up until the Championship. What a 4 day stretch that was in 2008. Would be nice to see a semi-repeat (this team is better than the 08 team)
Supersize that order, mutt
March 6th, 2012
12:28 pm
beanster, try using the word for the day before today. That will get eaten too
harold
March 6th, 2012
12:42 pm
FOX NEEDS TO BE FIRED AFTER THE LOSS TONIGHT! HE BELONGS IN THE TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT AT UGA!
harold
March 6th, 2012
1:21 pm
FOX NEEDS TO BE DONE. NO IMPROVEMENT AT ALL! FIRE HIM AND PUT HIM IN THE TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT AT UGA! THIS TEAM JUST SUCKS!
GT Dude
March 6th, 2012
1:29 pm
Lets just say we are a grateful that the end of this horrid basketball season is only one game away for both the local teams….
AMS Jacket
March 6th, 2012
2:03 pm
Mark,
Um…am I missing something? Didn’t Tech just defeat Wake? Would that be two consecutive victories?
Techster
March 6th, 2012
2:45 pm
I don’t see Tech making a run in the ACC tourney, but would love to see it.
We are probably going to see a UNC/Duke rematch in thye final. The recent blow out by UNC may be a sign that Duke’s young players are tiring, but my guess is their 3 point shooters won’t be as off the mark again, K will certainly have a different game plan and there is always the revenge factor.
So we could be in store for another great UNC/Duke battle.
Finkerstein
March 6th, 2012
2:48 pm
I think Bradley has been smoking that nasty weed that grows along muddy creek.
Mark Bradley
March 6th, 2012
3:05 pm
The Jackets did just beat Wake. But they’d lost at Boston College on Wednesday, AMS Jacket.
DawginJail
March 6th, 2012
3:15 pm
Jackets and Turds, one and done.
SC
March 6th, 2012
3:16 pm
ALABAMA
SC
March 6th, 2012
3:18 pm
ALABAMMER
SC
March 6th, 2012
3:18 pm
BAMA
SC
March 6th, 2012
3:19 pm
STUPID
doc
March 6th, 2012
3:56 pm
a lot of your old home spun humor in this one mark, especially including paul hewitt in the discussion.
doc
March 6th, 2012
4:00 pm
mark i grew up on the south and your comments on paul remind me of a saying i heard often … FORGET HELL!
RAMBLE ON!!!
March 6th, 2012
5:06 pm
Phewitt will destroy GM if he’s there for 2 years.
GT will not have the legs to go deep in the ACC tourney, even though they are playing their best basketball this year. Fatigue will set in. I hoping for two wins.
AMS Jacket
March 6th, 2012
8:01 pm
Mark,
Sorry I wasn’t clear enough…I was referring to a win over Miami on Thursday.
In any case I agree with your column. I think Tech might take a game or even two but won’t win their way into the NCAAs or even the NITs. I still think Coach BG has done a great job with what he had this year. Tech will be fine next year and the freshmen will get tons of playing time so he should be able to recruit at a very high level for a year or two to get started.
Thomas Brown
March 7th, 2012
6:05 am
This is when you can BRAG on our Players Coaches & Results :
1. When we Beat a team who ends up Top 10 – lost 7 in row
2. When we Beat a team who ends up Top 25 – lost 9 in row
3. When we don’t Lose teams who don’t end up Top 25 – 10 such
4. When our QB isn’t # 72 nation pass completion % – which he is
5. When we don’t end up # 5 SEC team in all polls – which we did
6. When we don’t have NCAA # 52 Total Offense – 11 years’ average
7. When we don’t go to 7-5 in bowl game record – with another bowl loss
8. When we don’t kick 26 players off team for 2012 – which we’ve done
9. When we don’t play :
(1) 2-10 Ole Miss at Sanford Stadium and
(2) 0-00 Georgia Southern at Sanford Stadium and
(3) 1-11 Florida Atlantic at Sanford Stadium and
(4) 3-09 Buffalo bills at Sanford Stadium and
(5) Vandie with their losing record too and
(6) vols with their losing record as well
These are the 6 Home Games other than lowly (7) Georgia tek which we have at Sanford Stadium.
Fan apathy ? Negative posts abound by every poster to every blog ?
Former Players saying we don’t win big, players such as Fran Tarkenton, Herschel Walker, David Pollack, Justin Houston, etc.
Floundering Fox Hounds Batman!
March 7th, 2012
4:37 pm
Lets face it….. Mark Fox looks like a Tax accountant rather than a basketball coach. One and done baby!
UGA 89
March 9th, 2012
2:02 am
This is to all you UGA haters… Bawaahaaa.
Nerds lose and UGA rolls. Don’t ever count UGA out-these players have heart.
Sam
March 9th, 2012
9:31 pm
I was looking forward to the game but I just turned on the t.v. and heared a chick doing the color. why do the broadcasters insist on ruining the games by letting females do the color or ply by play? can us men not even a few hours of guy time?