Georgia Tech random thoughts

[whereinthehellami]

With the off-season upon us I thought we would look at each ACC team and throw out some random thoughts about each school. I thought we would start at the top of the ACC and go from there. Keep it flame free and maybe even get some of the fans from the other schools to weigh in. It doesn't have to be all Bball related but that should be focus.

VT (http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1718), BC (http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1608), MD (http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1483), UVA (http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1331), and UNC (http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1252) were previously looked at.

Lets take a look at Georgia Tech:


GT was picked to finish 4th in the pre-season poll last season, they finished 7.



Crittenton made 3rd team All-ACC.



GT only loses one senior, Mario West (19 MPG, 5 PPG).



Their two leading scorers were freshman, Javaris Crittenton (6-5, 31 MPG, 14 PPG, 6 APG), and Thaddeus Young (6-8, 30 MPG, 14 PPG, 5 RPG).



10 guys averaged over 10 MPG with 4 averaging double figures in points.



GT had more TOs than assists last year (491-503).



GT had 3 guys shoot over 40% from 3 (Young 42%, Clinch 48%, Morrow 42%).



GT signed one recruit in the RSCI 100, Gani Lawal (6-8, PF) at #22, just in front of Taylor King.



GT also signed two other players, Maurice Miller (6-2) and Lance Storrs (6-4).



The short term future of GT depends on Crittenton and Young and whether they decide to stay in the draft. They need both back to make a run at the top of the ACC.



Paul Hewitt seems like he has been on the edge of taking the next step of success as a coach in the ACC but hasn't quite been able to get there.



Paul Hewitt has been at GT for 8 years now and is now 127-95 (W-L).



In football GT returns 18 players, which was more than any other team.



Calvin Johnson was drafted second in the NFL draft last weekend.



The success of the GT football season rests with their offense and the QB Taylor Bennet.

[gw67]

I'm not sure what I did to mess up my previous post but here is corrected version. It appears that program doesn't like their reserve center's name.

If Crittenton and Young return, Tech will have one of the top teams in the country on paper. They return 10 of 11 players, have a good incoming freshmen class and a transfer point guard. It appears that they have it all. They have experience, size, depth, three go-to players (Crittenton, Young and Clinch), and good outside shooting. They need to protect the ball better, improve their free throw shooting, and, most of all, Hewitt and company need to learn to win on the road.

If Crittenton and Young don’t return, Tech still should have one of the best teams in the ACC. Potential line-up would be:

PG – Causey/Miller

SG – Clinch

SF – Morrow

PF – Smith

C – Dickey

With Lawal, Faye, Bell, Miller and others coming off the bench.

gw67

[Patrick Yates]

I think GT is screwed. Hard.

Hewitt planned on losing Young, who was a mild dissappointment with regards to expectations. But GT thought Crittendon would be arround for a while. JC could be the second PG chosen in the late lottery, and this is unexpected.

Next year, GT has some talent, but it will be in the hands of a first year PG, who is merely a placeholder until the actual PG gets there next year which is when Hewitt thought he would lose JC.

There is no driver for all the talent, now. True, the rest of the squad is solid, but I do not believe they are spectacular. With a good to great PG, this squad could be a darkhorse for the the FF. Without that, they are a middle of the pack ACC team, and next year I doubt anyone below 4 gets in. I see the middle of the pack being NCSU, GT, UMD next year, with UNC being the top tier, with Duke and Clem right below. only 1-2 of the middle tier gets in.

Honestly, given the drop off in talent in the ACC, coupled with the league's less than steller showing last year in the NCAA tourney, and a 3 bid year might not shock me, especially in UNC is undefeated or only loses 1-2 games next year. A truly dominant run by UNC would make the rest of the league look really bad, and keep the bids down. I think the ACC has 3-4 teams next year that might only beat each other next year, with the rest of the league whaling on those losers. UVA (sans Singletary), Wake, VT, and BC look really weak to me, with Miami and possibly FSU also being bad.

This will really hurt the mid level teams in the acc, since beating that gaggle of loser-dorks will not count for much, and those same middle teams probably losing most of their games to the upper 3 teams as well.

I can see GT anywhere from 4-6. If one of the Frosh comes back, they move into the 2-4 range, and are likely to make the tourney. If young and Critt stay in the draft, it is a crapshoot.

If I am a GT fan, I have to start wondering, and soon, why Hewitt is not getting more out of his short term stars.

Patrick Yates

[whereinthehellami]

They return 10 of 11 players, have a good incoming freshmen class and a transfer point guard. It appears that they have it all.

Gani Lawal (6-8) is their highest rated player coming in next year. He is described as an athletic Chris Bosh type who gets alot of his points on dunks. He should get into the regular rotation next year, especially if young leaves for the NBA.

Maurice Miller (6-2) is one of the top 25 PGs in HS ball who many recruiting sites list as a four star. He is described as being old-school and understands the position well but needs to improve his offensive consistency to have a major impact in the ACC. Miller's minutes for next year are tied directly to whether Crittenton stays in the draft or not. I'm thinking GT doesn't want ot see much of Miller next year.

Lance Storrs (6-4) is described as a shooter who needs to refine multiple parts of his game (ball handling, mid-range game) before he see significant time in the ACC. Storrs seems like a replacement for Clinch and is probably at least a year away from getting into the regular rotation.

Matt Causey (6-0), a transfer via North Georgia State (after transferring from Georgetown) is eligible next year for GT. He was a top 100 recruit coming out of HS and did well at NGS but that was in the Peach Belt conference, you gotta think the ACC will be an adjustment for him! So I guess at Georgetown he couldn't cut it, transfers to a small school and tears it up, and now thinks that he can cut it at the ACC level. I'm guessing that we won't see much of Mr. Causey, though he should be older and more mature than most kids, so who knows.

[gw67]

Causey was a good recruit for Georgetown and played very well in the high school all star game played in DC. My understanding is that he transferred to play with his older brother. He was an NAIA All American. He has practiced with team for a year and I suspect that he might have an advantage over Miller if Crittenton leaves.

gw67

[ACCBBallFan]

Ga Tech next year will be this year's UVA. They have an amazingly easy unbalanced ACC schedule and will finish in top 4, despite not being all that good due to no PG (whereas UVA was weak due to no front line).

http://www.cstv.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/acc/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/model-three-years

The only ACC teams GA Tech plays twice are its primary partners Wake and Clemson and its rotating partners Maimi, UVA and VA Tech.

Clemson again has the toughest unbalanced ACC schedule and would probably have been on the outside of the bubble even if James Mays returns.

The oher 4 and FSU will probably all end up in bottom half of ACC Basketball next year.

[whereinthehellami]

Ga Tech next year will be this year's UVA. They have an amazingly easy unbalanced ACC schedule and will finish in top 4, despite not being all that good due to no PG (whereas UVA was weak due to no front line).

The only ACC teams GA Tech plays twice are its primary partners Wake and Clemson and its rotating partners Maimi, UVA and VA Tech.

If Young and Crittenton both return (which i think will happen) the Jackets line-up will look something like this:

STARTERS
Clinch 6-3 JR
Crittenton 6-5 SO
Smith 6-6 SR
Young 6-8 SO
Dickey 6-10 SR

BENCH (over 10 MPG)
Morrow 6-5 SR
Peacok 6-8 SO (misspelled on purpose, to defeat the software)
Aminu 6-10 JR
Faye 6-10 SO
Lawal 6-8 FR

That is a pretty good lineup, especially considering the rest of the ACC. That would would put the Jackets up there with UNC and Duke. Of course if young and/or Crittenton leave its a whole different ball game.

Based on the line-up above:
HOME GAMES
Clem - W
WF - W
Miami - W
UVA - W
VT - W
FSU - W
MD - W
UNC - W

AWAY GAMES
Clem - L
WF - W
Miami - W
UVA - L
VT - W
BC - W
Duke - L
NCSU - L

That would put GT at 12-4, though they could easily beat UVA and NCSU on the road. I think they will be one of the more veteran teams in the ACC next year and should be able to pull out some road wins.

[JasonEvans]

Causey was a good recruit for Georgetown and played very well in the high school all star game played in DC. My understanding is that he transferred to play with his older brother. He was an NAIA All American. He has practiced with team for a year and I suspect that he might have an advantage over Miller if Crittenton leaves.

Also worth noting that Matt Causey is the younger brother for former Duke player Mark Causey. After Mark transferred from Duke to North Ga College, Matt followed him so they could play together. His other brother, Michael, played college ball at TCU and Harvard. His mom played college ball and his dad was a college soccer player at Emory. This is an athletic family!

Matt is a world-class FT shooter-- which could be valuable late in games for Tech. He hit 53 FTs in a row at North Ga his last season there.

I doubt he will get major minutes for Tech, even without Crittendon there-- but he could play 6-10 minutes per game and be a contributor.

-Jason "don't discount a kid who has practiced with the team for a year-- he'll be experienced with his teammates" Evans

[Patrick Yates]

Why do you think JC will be back? Many of the major sites now have him as the second best PG in the draft, behind Conley, and a late lottery selection. He is the type of player whose stock will soar in private workouts. I doubt he falls past the 10 selection.

Also, you know the Hawks will take him, unless they freak into a top 2 lottery selection, thus allowing them to get Durant or Oden. I have to believe that the ATL might take him over Conley due to the hometown favorite son issue. Cause the Hawks are improving, slowly, and so is JC, so he might not be available next year. Also as JE has stated (preached, ad naseum, we get it, ok ;) ) the hawks need a PG, bad. When JC hits his stride in two years, that team could be fun to watch, and a perennial power in the East.

Since he is a young player, his selection would also give the mgt and coaches of the Hawks a reprieve, as he cannot be expected to be great immediately, thus allowing them more time in office to see how (much) he improves.

No, JC is in to stay. He might not be there when the the Hawks pick, but if he is, the Hawks rep will hand the selection of JC to the commish within Seconds of the previous draftee leaving the stage.

Also, if JC stays, which he will, you know that Young will stay in. Since he was the higher rated recruit out of high school, his ego will not let him go back to college, not when his hated rival (Wright) and lesser hyped college sidekick (JC) are in the lottery.

Also, in private workouts, TY might look pretty good. He is an athletic young scorer, whose game probably translates better to the pros than to college. I do not really see him dropping out of the lottery either.

Patrick "love to hear the DBR's Atlanta Field Reporter weigh in on my Hawks theory" Yates

[JasonEvans]

Great point about Tech's schedule. They are next season's Virginia. I have a hard time seeing them going less than .500 with that easy ACC-sked.

Lawl and Miller will both be significant contributors.

Young and Crit will not. Those guys are in the draft and are almost certainly staying in. Young is a lottery pick -- or maybe just after the lottery is done. But, I am not as high on Crit as Patrick Yates is. I don't think the Hawks will reach for him at #11 (Indiana's pick). Most mocks I have seen forecast him as a mid-early 20s kinda pick. I don't think the hometown factor will entice the Hawks to get him that early-- especially if Conley is still on the board. This team is sensative to public opinion because they have such a bad image in town. They cannot afford to have everyone mock them for making a bad draft choice -- AGAIN.

The nightmare for the Hawks would be if Hibbert and Conley were both off the board when the draft. With no big man and no PG to take, they'd be lost. At that point, they might reach for Crit or Acie Law as a PG.

-Jason

[Olympic Fan]

Just a small correction on the original post -- Miller IS a top 100 prospect according to the RSCI -- barely at No. 98:

http://home.nc.rr.com/rsci/RSCI_100_Summer_2007.htm

What's interesting is that all five recruiting services surveyed have him ranked, although none higher than No. 83.

As for Crittenton-Young, I have a friend in the athletic department there (not in basketball), who tells me that the word in the department is that there is a 50-50 chance that Young pulls out of the draft and returns, but that they have no hope of Crittenton changing his mind.

Take that for what it's worth ...

On the other hand, they sound fairly confident that Miller/Causey will be able to handle the PG duties and that the rest of the team will be good enough to win with merely adequate PG play.

I'd point to two positive developments for Tech next year:

(1) I think some of you are underestimating Lawal. I believe he'll be a stud will will at worst push Smith and Dickey to a higher level of performance in the post. Motivation is a big problem with Dickey -- remember, Hewitt tried to light a fire under his butt last year by starting Peac*ck early last season. Having Lawal, a legitimate post standout, could really help in that regard.

(2) I want to see how Morrow plays. I think three ACC players really struggled last year with preseason injuries-- Duke's Greg Paulus, UNC's Bobby Fraser and Morrow. They all played, but none had the kind of year they expected. Morrow, who had preseason back surgery, was almost useless early, but by the end of the year, he was impressive -- remember the show he put on in that great ACC Tourney game with Wake Forest. Morrow averaged 16.0 points and led the ACC in 3-point shooting as a soph ...

If Young AND Crittenton return, I would rank them No. 2 in the preason ACC rankings and maybe 8-15 nationally. Without Crittenton, I still think they're in the mix with Duke and N.C. State for a first division spot. Still a very deep, talented team -- but (very much like N.C. State) we can't really guess how good they're going to be until we see what kind of point guard play they're going to get.

[whereinthehellami]

On the other hand, they sound fairly confident that Miller/Causey will be able to handle the PG duties and that the rest of the team will be good enough to win with merely adequate PG play.

(1) I think some of you are underestimating Lawal. I believe he'll be a stud will will at worst push Smith and Dickey to a higher level of performance in the post.

It sounds like Critterton is gone. While PG play is spotty in the ACC, I wouldn't want to be in a position to play Miller/Causey for extensive minutes. One is a true freshman and the other is questionable from an ability standpoint.

The thing with Lawal is going to be defense and how quickly he can give Hewitt the effort and consistency they need. They got some other frontcourt players with more experience in Hewitt's system, so how quickly Lawal adjusts to ACC level play will determine how many minutes he can get.

[whereinthehellami]

msn.foxsports.com/cbk/story/6846158

So he's staying in and Duke now has the edge over GT for second place in the ACC. I'd probably take NCS over GT at this point too.

[Patrick Yates]

With Crittendon in the draft, and Young almost certain to stay in as well, GT will really tumble. Middle of the pack is certain, and they will be on the low end of that spectrum.

UNC, Duke, UMD, Clemson, NCSU, and probably FSU are ahead of them, or at least equal to them.

This hurts bad. I think Hewitt really thought he would get two years from JC.
I hate to kick a man while he is down (patently untrue, this is perhaps the thing that gives me more joy than anything) but has everyone else noticed that Hewitt cannot max out his best players. Bosh didn't make the NCAAs. JC and TY may both be lottery, or near lottery picks, and again no NCAAs. We would all like to get players to stay for more than 1 year, but this is getting bad at GT. He is recruiting well, but he can't win with the short termers, and he seems genuinely shocked and lacking in backup plans when kids make decisions that are not really that shocking. That FF is starting to look more like a fluke than any indication that the program is ascending.

Patrick Yates

ps Also, I know others will disagree, but I think JC has the most upside of any PG in the draft, and that he will realize that potential within 2-3 years. He has all the tools, and he will play D, unlike many other top PGs. At the 11, if I am the Hawks, I take him and run. Don't focus on Conley.

JC will be there at the 11. Do not trade up for Conley. In fact, only trade if you can get an established, young, PG. JC would be the PG in the ATL, especially as a popular local kid, who would win games and sell seats. This will happen, mark my words.