Voice Mail: ACC Tournament Expectations?

Tech fan Lee Smith left the following voice mail asking about our realistic expectations to make a serious run in the ACC Tourney starting Thursday:



Also, just before I hit the sack, "Matt T" left a voicemail with his thoughts:



Well Lee and Matt, here's my take

• You'd be crazy the think we'll win it all
• You'd be crazy to say it would be impossible.

So we have ourselves a little bit of....... who the heck knows what is going to happen. We have stretches of play this year that would make you think this team can hang with anyone. Then there are other stretches, that...... well..... you know.

So what's it going to be? Well, GT is 0-4 in Thursday games (play-in day) at the ACC tourney. That's not so good. However, Charlotte has been kind to the Jackets, as two of our three ACC titles transpired there. That's pretty good. No ACC team has ever won 4 games in a row to win the ACC Tourney. Not good.... Heck, Tech's longest winning streak this year is three games, and that certainly wasn't 3 days in a row. It's a daunting task.

Well, there are plenty of reasons to think it can't happen. It's easy to sit back and take shots. However, this team is capable. They have enough talent, athletisicm, offensive punch, and face it it - they don't have anything to lose. They need to play lights-out defense, start protecting the boards, continue to protect the ball and do what they do on offense. They can make a run. They can create some magic. They can leave a mark.

At the end up the day I'm going to watch Thursday night with hope. Not so much expectation, but just hope. For me, it's a very different mental approach to a game. I will be rooting for Jeremis Smith and Anthony Morrow to shine. There's a part of me that likes the classic underdog story.... the redemption story...... the feel good story. Having those guys go out on top would be sweet justice. Of course every ACC has their own set of stories. Our first opponent has their own "feel good" story with Sean Singletary, so there's a story on every team. It would just be nice for us to have the happy ending. It's been awhile.

So there it is. I think this famous movie scene about sums it up for me: