Georgia Tech 66 Clemson 64: Zach Peacock to the rescue
by Winfield Featherston on Jan 20, 2010 7:30 AM EST
26 comments
It was a game of slop-ball as both teams shot under 40%. Gani Lawal had his typical stellar performance and Derrick Favors finally had his ACC breakout game. But it was key free-throws from Zach Peacock (84% FT shooter), after a reach-in foul was committed by forward Trevor Booker, who sealed the deal in the final seconds.
"Just like another day in practice shooting free throws," Peacock said. "I feel as calm and cool as I want to be."
Seems like he could teach the team a few things. Both the Jackets and Tigers failed at the free throw line, shooting 50% each though neither team reached the line more than 22 times. Peacock himself was 2-for-3.
The combination of Derrick Favors and Gani Lawal proved to be deadly last night as both players reached double-double status with Favors leading the way in both points (17) and rebounds (14). The Jackets needed every one of those points and rebounds so they could give the ball to Zach at the end. An interesting stat about Peacock is that even though he took a "bench" role to Derrick Favors for this season, he averages 21.6 minutes per game and played the 3rd-most minutes of the game (29). In summary, Zach Peacock is our 6th Man and has developed quite well as a player over the season.
The win is of significance to the program as well. For the first time since 2004 Final Four run, Georgia Tech has beaten three straight Top-25 teams. The Jackets have also completed this in 11 days. The Jackets take a break from Top-25 action but not ACC play as they head to Florida State on the 24th. It's time for revenge and another road victory.
Finally, the poll:
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I think he did a better job with game management yesterday (in part because he had to with our fouls situation but I still for the life of me can’t figure out why Gani was on the bench with the game on the line…worst case he gives you another opportunity for a tip in or something…Maybe he addressed that in the post-game interviews but I don’t get it
Are you a LION or a GAZELLE?
I think it was foul trouble
He wanted Lawal available for possible OT action because at the last TO it was looking like it was heading to OT. That’s my take anyways, so Hewitt could have a different reason.
"Big Ten can have this challenge. Duke loses, we all win..."
-Marcus Ginyard, G - UNC
The thing I dont get is why Shumpert isnt in the game when Udofia fell down for the traveling with what 25.6 seconds left in the game? Shumpert has turned himself into a fine PG and the best on this team for sure, and HES NOT IN THE GAME AGAINST A FULL COURT PRESS WITH UNDER A MINUTE TO GO!!
what is that about?
I agree
At this point in his career Udofia isn’t ready for that kind of pressure. Shumpert or Peacock should have been handling the ball.
by Joe Hamilton's Chauffeur on Jan 20, 2010 3:11 PM EST up reply actions
anyone else notice this...
We’re 5-0 on national TV (ESPN affiliates) and 10-4 with no TV or local broadcasts. Weird trend…
I guess the atmosphere that I've tried to create here is that I'm a friend first and a boss second, and probably an entertainer third.
also
Hewitt post game. I think the team definitely needs 5 days off to catch their breath before heading down to Tally. Good stretch of tough games down, get some rest, and TCOB.
I guess the atmosphere that I've tried to create here is that I'm a friend first and a boss second, and probably an entertainer third.
last six minutes of regulation
I guess the atmosphere that I've tried to create here is that I'm a friend first and a boss second, and probably an entertainer third.
Have to win that game at home.
Good chance this weekend to get back the one we let slip away. Hopefully last night showed that Favors is getting use to how physical the ACC is. What killed us last time we played FSU was the outside shooting (and it hurt last night too). We will need Udofia to have a bounce back game.
I don't understand the Hewitt Hate
Sure this team has talent and the UVA and UGA losses hurt, but they are playing hard, playing tough defense and seem to have a lot of confidence at the end of games. What’s not to like about how this season is going so far? Or better yet, as the freshman mature what this team can do in March?
Since when are Tech fans so hard to please?
I blog the Carolina Panthers at www.catscratchreader.com
It's not so much this season as the last 4...
21-43 in the ACC is disgraceful. Yeah this season is great (so far), but it doesn’t get the bad taste out of my mouth from 3 losing seasons in the last 4.
The way this season is going (top 15-20 team, 3 wins over ranked opponents) should be the norm, not the exception. The exception should be 2004 – elite eight or better. That should happen maybe once or twice a decade if we want to consider ourselves a “basketball” school (which we clearly aren’t right now). We should make the tourney 8 or 9 times out of 10.
For example, take the guy Hewitt replaced (because Hewitt was supposed to take our program to the next level). Cremins made the tourney 10 times out of 12. In that span, he made the Final Four (89-90), the Elite Eight twice (84-85, 89-90), and the Sweet Sixteen five times (84-85, 85-86, 89-90, 91-92, and 95-96).
In Hewitt’s nine seasons here, he’s gone Finals once, Final Four once, Elite Eight once, Sweet Sixteen once.
Yeah, he won one game that Cremins didn’t. But during Cremins’ best years, he made the Sweet Sixteen over 40% of the time. Hewitt’s done it once. You can’t make the Sweet Sixteen if you aren’t making the tourney. In fact, Hewitt teams have made it to the tourney (44.4%) at about the same clip as Cremins teams made it to the Sweet Sixteen during his twelve best years (41.7%).
Sure, Cremins slipped a bit his last four years at 56-65, 20-44 ACC. But that’s why he was pressured out, because he was no longer getting the job done. In comparison, Hewitt got the job done once. In the last four years Hewitt has gone 57-63, 21-43 ACC. Those numbers are so eerily similar to Cremins’ numbers during his last four years it’s remarkable.
I’m not saying Hewitt should be fired, but his leash should be razor thin – not just this year but next year too.
Tech would have made the final four in 85
if Price hadn’t gone stone cold against Georgetown. You can’t blame the guy; it just happened. His game against Illinois in the previous game was amazing.
When Ewing got his third early in the second half and was pulled I just KNEW Tech was going to win. And they should have.
They’d have lost to Villanova in the championship game, because Villanova seemed incapable of missing any shots, but Tech would have been there.
It was still a great run.
You make good points Howell
and if we were off to a bad start this year I would agree Hewitt may be on the way out…but its going to be a good season. Hopefully this is the start of a long running upswing for the program.
I blog the Carolina Panthers at www.catscratchreader.com
The poll is for Hewitt's career. Not this season.
If the poll said. Do you approve of the job Hewitt is doing THIS SEASON? I would have answered yes.
If that's the case
I still don’t approve. We didn’t win that Clemson game based on coaching. The “plays” we ran immediately out of timeouts went nowhere. Shumpert wasn’t in the game when it was on the line. Gani was on the bench for way too long when he got in foul trouble late. Often times, when he had the ball, Hewitt was jumping and screaming at his players trying to get them to do the right thing. To me, the time to teach players what to do is during practice, not during the game.
When I start to see an actual half court offense and consistently strong play across both halves (as CPJ would say, finishing), I’ll vote I approve Hewitt of this season. I’m not gonna get in a tizzy celebrating a narrow home win over a very overrated Clemson team with a hurt point guard (especially when we should have put the game away), nor the same kind of win against UNC, even if it was on the road, ditto an overrated Duke team. Sure they are good wins, but we blew huge leads in two of those games and UNC and Duke haven’t exactly been unbeatable recently.
If we play strong both halves and win the next 2-4 games, I’ll probably change my vote.
Not completely sold yet
If we are good enough to down three teams ranked higher than us, then we should not have lost to FSU, UVA, or uga. Beat FSU soundly and prove the first time around was a fluke and I’ll gladly go back to full CPH support/apologist mode.
"Big Ten can have this challenge. Duke loses, we all win..."
-Marcus Ginyard, G - UNC
While we're dangerous
With all of the young guys playing big minutes right now, this is clearly a team that could beat anyone in the country, but could just as easily lose to anyone in the top 150. The team has the potential to get to the final four, but losing in the first round of the acc and ncaa tournaments is also entirely possible.
/pulls hair out
by Joe Hamilton's Chauffeur on Jan 20, 2010 3:15 PM EST up reply actions
Let's not forget
We’re going to lose four players this season (Lawal, Peacock, Bell, and Favors, right?). We still don’t know who we’ll be getting in the off season, but if it’s another recruiting class like the one this year, we should be pretty good. The last time Hewitt had a recruiting class this good was Anthony Morrow, Jeremis Smith, and Ra’Sean Dickey, and he followed that class up with Lewis Clinch, D’Andre Bell, and Alade Aminu. We didn’t do so well with those classes because there wasn’t a point guard, but now we have two solid candidates at the point going forward, so there is a lot of reason to have hope.
Also, here’s one guy that ESPN says is coming to Tech:
http://insider.espn.go.com/ncb/recruiting/tracker/player?recruitId=44547
by Portmanteur on Jan 21, 2010 12:16 AM EST up reply actions
early entries will continue to hamper us
Peacock, and Bell will be gone next year. Favors and Lawal could come back, but either one of those returning would be stunning and Shumpert will probably be gone as well. Coach Hewitt will probably pull in some really athletic guys to replace them, but the best case scenario for next year is that we’re in this same situation as this year: raw team that can’t consistently generate points from a half court set, is too dependent on underclassmen, and is at risk of talent drain from early departures. I can’t blame him for going after the best players we can get, but the program really needs the stability that guys who stay for three or four years provide.
by Joe Hamilton's Chauffeur on Jan 21, 2010 10:55 AM EST up reply actions
im torn...
this season i am beginning to approve but overall i still do not…. Yall should consider putting an option like the one i said in the poll…
by The_GT_LineageX11 on Jan 20, 2010 12:39 PM EST reply actions
FSU should still be in the top 25 caliber win.
Just based on “Length”. A win here I would consider would be more than revenge, and still a top quality win, even though RPI will take a hit.
Makes you wish they ran BB like CFB-more subjective, less objective.
BTW, did I mention that Free Shoes University has Length?
Does it seem like the kings of the ACC (Dook, Heels) are down and the 2nd tier has all the energy (Jackets, Tigers, Wolfpack over DOOK).
Tourney will be must see.
by DressHerInWhiteAndGold on Jan 21, 2010 9:29 AM EST reply actions
We certainly have the team to win the ACC this year
but can they get it done?
I blog the Carolina Panthers at www.catscratchreader.com
Interesting note about FSU
Kenpom has them rated 24th overall (GT is 26th) with the 3rd best D in the country (GT is 14th). They have the 102nd O whereas GT is 71st, so maybe now that Favors is truly playing well and the team has had a little more time against real teams, they can put it on FSU offensively. Hopefully I’ll get to watch it down here in J-Ville.
"Big Ten can have this challenge. Duke loses, we all win..."
-Marcus Ginyard, G - UNC
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