Hoops - Jackets Cruise to 2-0

Another day, another route, as the Jackets take down Jackson State 100-70.. Again I watched the game online, using my one-month $4 to ACC Live. Again, a nice package that works well with a good broadband connection - although choppy on my wireless...................


FIRST HALF NOTES
The first 7 minutes of the game were just fun to watch. We're talking excellent box-outs, which caused two defensive over-the-back calls, excellent passing, including a nice hi-low pass from Jeremis Smith up high to Zach down low, who had sealed his man off to get a lay-up. We're talking Critty pushing tempo bigtime, strong defense, a nice alley-oop to Thad Young. Zach played out of his mind early, grabbing boards, hitting foul shots, stealing balls. Looks like he's upping the ante for Ra'Sean to win back his starting spot. And no sooner did he have a great first 7 minutes, then he went silent the rest of the half........................ After that opening 7 minute stretch, things slowed down a little, as the Jackets maintained their 20+ point lead the rest of the way. However, defensively, the Jackets held Jax St to 36% and 0% from long distance. The forced 12 turnovers and grabbed 6 steals. They outrebounded Jax St 21-14, although that edge really came on the defensive side.................... Offensively the Jackets were efficient with 12 assists on 22 buckets, shooting 69% from the floor and 33% from long distance. I mean give me a break - they won't keep that up. But this is a clearly overmatched and undersized team they are facing. Tech had 6 1st-half blocks as well......................... The negative - 11 turnovers in the half. Way too many. Way too many, and most of those came in teh 2nd part of the 1st half, when they got a bit sloppy - and quite frankly when Coach Hewitt started changing line-ups a good bit.


SECOND HALF NOTES
A bit sloppy to start things off, and a bit choppy at times, but a solid effort to extend the lead and bring it home. Tech continued their high shooting percentage for much of the half, but Jax St was able to pick things up. Things got more sloppy as Coach Hewitt brought on the "reserves" with Diaw, Bell and Aminu...................... Dennis Scott made a cameo on the broadcast giving Marvin Lewis a hard time in his 2nd official broadcast as color man............................. One scary moment when Critty made a strong runout on a steal and was fouled hard going in for the basket. It looked he had the breath knocked out of him, but stayed in the game, showing his toughness. Of course that makes you realize the thin-line that is our point guard situation.......... and I mean thin line...............


DEFENSE....... B-
I wanted to give a better grade because for a lot of this game the defense was very good. They forced up a lot of bad shots and altered many others. The help defense was pretty good. However, it just was not consistent enough, and it just dropped off in the 2nd half. Jax State's top scorer, Trey Johnson, had a field day, although he did hit some tough shots. He ended with 33 points on 12-28 shooting and 3-5 from long distance. However, he did turn the ball over 7 times so they tried to stay in his face. Give the kid some credit................. They did hold Jax to 39% shooting, forced 23 turnovers, had 13 steals and 9 blocks. Overall that's a very solid effort. You can really see the potential.................... For me a key question is the chemistry of the various units on the floor. You can see certain line-ups as more effective as others. However, the timing in the game plays a role too.


REBOUNDING.......... C+
I had to think through this one a bit. The Jackets outrebounding Jax St 37-30, but this was NOT a big team, so a rebounding advantage should be a given. The Jackets were actually beat on the offensive glass 13-11, which is a key stat. That's just hustle, desire and technique. I thought the Jackets were really cleaning up on the glass early, but then they got sloppy. Again, a consistent effort will be needed.


OFFENSE.............. B
Look, it's going to be hard for me to give an "A" when you play a team like this. So yes, we shot 65% overall, really dominating inside the paint, creating a lot of easy shots. However, we turned the ball over 20 times. That's a lot like last year's team, and will not cut it if we're going to improved on 11-17..................... Against Elon we saw a team assist/to ratio of about 1:1. Tonight it was a little better at 1.1:1. Still needs work.


INDIVIDUAL EFFORTS
Too many to go through, however there were some notables. There were 6 guys in double figures.................... Javaris Crittenton had a double / double with 12 pts / 10 assists. Throw in 4 boards, 3 steals and only 4 turnovers and it was a nice night for him. He'll have to keep working on the to's, but a nice effort............... Lewis Clinch continued his hot start with a team leading 16 pts (7-9) and 2 steals................. Ra'Sean Dickey decided that he was going to keep winning his job back and not sulking. He finished with 15 pts (7-9), 8 boards (led the team), 3 blocks and 1 assist.................. Now Zach Peacock had something to say about that with 14 pts (4-6), 3 boards, 1 block, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 to. He played especially good to open the game. Honestly, this Dickey / Peacock thing could turn out to be a great thing watching these guys push each other..........................


COACH HEWITT POSTGAME COMMENTS
He liked tonight's effort. He said this is a big week academically at Georgia Tech and the players have had to miss some classes so considering that, he's happy with what he saw. Yes, they can execute better and they looked a little fuzzy at times, but considering other things going on in these kids lives, he'll take it and move on............ He also talked about how this team really finishes well - how they capitalize on turnovers as well as any team he's been around, which is why the field goal percentage looks so good................ He said Javaris looked good and he'll continue to work on controlling turnovers and also said that Zach's double digit scoring performance is definitely what he is capable of on a regular basis. Also noted that M.Faye was a bit frustrated because he wasn't getting good shots offensively, but he played some great defense to get his head in the game.


Overall a nice night and a lot of positives to build on.......................

GO JACKETS!!!