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I decided to take a little bit of time at lunch to bring up something that's on everyone's mind - where is Paul Hewitt taking the Georgia Tech basketball program.
I don't want this to come off as a negative rant, so it's important for you to know up front that I want to see Coach Hewitt succeed bigtime. He's a great representative of the school. He's an outspoken leader for the student-athlete and the Black Coaches Association. He recruits ultra-talented kids of high character, great work ethic and huge potential. So I want to see him take the program to new heights.
Now the problem - he ain't gettin 'er done. What prompted me to put write this are some recent comments from independent groups about our former players.
EXHIBIT 1:
Alade Aminu goes to the Portsmouth Classic (for top seniors) and leads his team to the championship. He shines from day 1 and completely helps his case in getting a shot in the NBA. Here are comments from DraftExpress, who went back and watched Alade in a bunch of film from his GT days:Aminu didn’t play a very big role this season at Georgia Tech—in fact, he came off the bench for the team’s final 12 games. The fact that he struggled to make an impact on a team that finished last in the ACC and posted a 12-19 record is a bit of a red flag, but as we learned the hard last year with the way Anthony Morrow panned out, players from this team need to be looked at a more in-depth, especially ones who are only 21 years old.
Comparing the way Aminu played at Portsmouth with what we can now see from his film at Georgia Tech reveals a pretty stark contrast—it doesn’t seem like he was utilized very well at all in college from what we can tell. Aminu was an absolute devastating force as a pick and roll finisher for his Norfolk Naval Shipyard team—thanks to his tremendous combination of size, length, terrific hands and excellent mobility. At Georgia Tech he was barely used in this fashion at all—just 4.3% of his offensive possessions came on the pick and roll. They looked incredibly disorganized in the film we took in, with no point guard, no system, and very little ball-movement. It appeared that Aminu often was asked to play very far from the basket, and pretty much all of his shots were opportunities that he was forced to create on his own.
EXHIBIT 2:
Anthony Morrow was one of the purest 3pt shooters in ACC history, yet he never reached that "next" level in college. As a result he wasn't drafted, but signed a free agent deal with Golden State after lighting up the summer leagues. After a 37pt debut, setting a record for undrafted free-agent debuts, he went on to prove hee belonged, by leading the ENTIRE NBA in 3pt shooting percentage. The entire frickin NBA..... as a rookie...... undrafted.
Then I ran across these comments from a nice feel-good story on A-Mo:
How does this happen? How does a guy not get drafted, not get off the bench in two summer league games, and then lead the NBA in 3-point shooting?
We asked some scouts:
^ "If we knew that ... That's a tough one. His coach at Georgia Tech subbed players in and out so he had trouble getting in a rhtyhm. And he didn't put the ball on the floor well. He had limitations."
^ "He was a little hurt his junior year, but it was kind of mind-blowing that he didn't have a bigger role in college. The chemistry wasn't quite right on that team. He was just too good a player and shooter not to be doing more. His freshman year, I thought he had a chance to make (the NBA), but then by his senior year he wasn't playing as much."
"He's one of the best shooters I have ever coached," Head Coach Don Nelson said. "My goodness, what a surprise."
EXHIBIT 3
Gani Lawal declares for the NBA draft (without hiring an agent). Fine. He improved his numbers significantly his sophomore season while his team went into the tank. Into the tank. Then, this quote:
“He’s a lot like a Thaddeus Young, or Chris Bosh, who went into the league somewhat undefined,” Hewitt said, “but because of their tremendous upside, they turned into better players.”
EXHIBIT 4
There are plenty more exhibits. Missing the NCAA's with Chris Bosh and Jarrett Jack. I know, they were freshman. Barely making the NBA with Javaris Crittenton and Thaddeus Young, then bowing out quickly. Squandered potential with guys like RaSean Dickey, Lewis Clinch, and many more. Never a returning PG. Always the one-and-dones. But when we do keep guys like Jeremis Smith, Anthony Morrow, Aminu, Clinch, it just doesn't make the difference either. Injuries - yes I know. Academic casualties - yes I know. There's always a legit reason why.
Why are guys turning into better players later and leaving GT "undefined"?
Why are 4-year guys blossoming in other people's systems after they leave?
Why are scouts starting to realize that you can't judge GT guys based on their college film?
Why are there always reasons to hide the fact that kids just don't get our on-the-court system?
Why is there always a reason things aren't working out?
At the end of the day, I don't have a clue what it takes to run a collegiate basketball program. I don't have a clue how to coach the game on the floor. But results are results, and we don't have to be experts to know things aren't working out. I just wish I had a better feeling about what was going to be done to change it. We already know that all the freshman talent in the world ain't going to get it done. Now what?
51 comments:
I still don't know how Aminu didn't just dominate at Tech. You saw glimpses of his talent this year...I believe he even had a nice run of double-doubles or close to it. A big problem with him is his aggressiveness, or lack there-of. This goes back to the coaching staff. They are the ones that need to push him. All season long you saw him run like a gazelle down the floor and even handling the ball. For a 6'10 guy that's pretty impressive. An aggressive Aminu combined with Lawal should have won us more games last season. I'm with you...I don't know how many times I've heard announcers during games and non-Tech fans say that our record just doesn't reflect the talent we had on the roster. We might not have been top 1-4 in the ACC, but we DEFINITELY should not have been last.
I think that most of our players are not given the opportunity to shine on offense at Georgia Tech. I attribute that to our inflexibility in terms of the offensive schemes we run. I think Coach Hewitt pretty much exclusively runs the motion offense. I would like to see more variety on that end of the court.
Defensively, I think Coach Hewitt's schemes fully utilize the athleticism and talent of our players. Our aggressive man-to-man and press defenses are well suited for players of the caliber we have.
So that brings me back to offense... I have some questions about the motion offense and offenses in general:
-What other teams at the college level successfully run the motion offense?
-What types of players are suitable for the motion offense?
-What other offensive schemes has Georgia Tech run (for significant periods of the game) under Coach Hewitt?
-What are the most successful offensive schemes at the college level?
-From a scout's point of view, what offensive scheme allows a college player to fully display the range of his game?
I'm not trying to be critical of the motion offense. I would genuinely like to get the pulse of everyone reading to learn more about the offense and what you think would be a better fit.
P.S. I also found the comment about "Hotel Hewitt" very interesting. I've often wondered if players are able to develop a rhythm with the frequent substitutions. I think Coach Hewitt cut down on his substitutions this year, but it may have been due to a lack of depth.
Exhibit 5: Will Bynum
glad to have you back, Scott! (even if for only one post)
you make some great points about our bball program. what are you thoughts on getting our old assistant coach (Keaner?) back?
Scott - excellent and well thought out summary.
Again, since 1986 when Price and Salley left(now almost 25 years ago or a quarter-century!) Tech has finished more than 2 games over .500 in ACC regular season play just once (1996 Marbury).
When you have this irrefutable "body of evidence" that illustrates Tech's mediocrity - it is truly a wonder how any of us (outside of Atlanta) are still fans.
I guarantee you that if there was no such thing as "the Internet" and I had to follow Tech games on the ESPN ticker (like the old days) and rely on just watching the team on TV about 6-8 times a year - I would NEVER still be a fan,. Even now- I am maybe 30-40% the fan I was.
Down a rat hole again. Excellent article, Scott. Have sincerely missed your postings.
Mike in Virginny
wjg, while you are prob right about the 2 games above .500 keep in mind that under bc we went to 10 ncaa's in a row. say that slowly....
10 IN A ROW.
out of 17 years under bc we went to 13 or 14 post season tourneys. one season we turned down an nit bid due to an ncaa slight. so we had 2-3 bad years under bobby and we canned him.
our success at gt under phew has been spotty at best. it has never approached the consistency of a bc and he is still here.
when bobby was losing he would say 'i can't sleep'. a recent interview with phew revealed that phew sleeps just fine. say wha?
when we hired phew he was supposed to be an upgrade from bc. boy was that a mistake.
scott... great great post. just dont agree with your asertion about phew being a good gt rep.
i see phew as being egotisical and selfish and a racist.
from my viewpoint....
-bc gave back millions to gt. phew gave back a few pizzas years ago.
-phew thought so much of gt that he has dragged down our program to where it it is now. And he is ok with that per recent interviews. drad told me personally that phew is ok with the job he has done in an email.
phew should have resigned last year with dignity.
-phew is going to hold gt hostage for 7 million dollars at some point. i can think of 2 quality coaches who cared enough for their schools not to do that ... unlike phew. bobby cremins and tommy bowden. when we canned bobby he went with grace and dignity. anybody think that phew wont throw some bow shots at gt when that happens? i dont see that as being a good rep for our school.
-phew is a guy who has recruited ONE white blue chipper in 9 years. NINE YEARS. its not hard to connect the dots between this fact an his BCA Presidency. phew is a throwback to those racist fb coaches of the 50's 60's and 70's that thought black players werent smart enough to play qb. it is obvious that phew doesnt think all that much of white talent. unlike bc phew is not color blind. i dont see that as being a good rep for our school.
being a smooth talker and wearing nice suits does NOT equate to being a good rep imo. he reminds me so much of d richardson out of arkansas a few years back. phew has issues with white people and they will surface when he gets canned. i dont see that as being a good rep for our school.
phew apologists keep saying he is a great coach. maybe im missing something but nary a high school, cc college, college or nba team has added phew onto their list of a must have coach since 04. NONE!
if phew was such a great developer of talent the nba would have snapped his a$$ up as an assistant long ago.
keep in mind that phew played college ball at a cc level and he never coached under a single great coach ever.
a great coach wants to constantly improve. i read about coach k and coach w going to basketball seminars to learn differnt ideas and techniques. our coach obviously thinks he is a finished project. talk about being an egotist.
An for you folks who think next year will be better...
phew couldnt get it done with an experienced team this year with only ONE freshman. And we recently lost an assistant.
i just dont see us getting better by adding SIX FRESHMAN and losing an nba quality big man.... at least not under phew. EVER!
what do you call a man who takes his foot off the gas after he gets a big raise and a world class contract?
PAUL HEWITT
the end of college bb??????
http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news?slug=dw-tyler042209&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
14 year old hs jr to forgo school an turn pro.
i think he is making a good decision. its probably what favors should have done.
WOW! that was a pretty deep comment about Hewitt and the BCA.
I read that Hewitt now wishes he had redshirted Aminu after seeing his improvement over the years but he felt he needed another big body to play in '05-06.
I agree with the flow. Players can't get into it Hewitt's system. Shooters have to have rythm.
Defense is about hard work and hustle and not much else. Anybody at the college level should be able to teach that.
I think GT needs an offensive mind on the bench.
Paul Hewitt is pretty offensive to me and he is on the bench.
Problem solved!
Scott, very insightful post. I have really been torn in my opinions of Hewitt. On one hand I give him the benefit of doubt with the early defections, transfers, injuries, and even one kid going to play pro baseball. I can make a case for those being to primary reasons for Tech struggles the last 4 years.
On the other hand, its obvious that there is something wrong with the discipline and focus on the court.
As for the post criticizing Hewitt being involved with the BCA, I don't see why its even an issue or why its brought up when talking about the basketball program struggles. If Hewitt was producing NCAA tourney teams every year, it wouldn't be an issue. So, why is it an issue now. As for the number of white players on the team, just look at major college programs overall (outside of Duke and BYU). Most have predominately black players, and so does Tech.
Again, if Hewitt was producing NCAA tourney teams, this wouldn't be an issue, but since the program is struggling, its now a problem.
Anonymous 9:51 Am,
You left out UNC, Gonzaga, Michigan. Even Texas, Tennessee snd Clemson have more caucasian starters.
Charlie Roberts
I don't care if they are purple, yellow. blue or green. I do care that they are NOT developed by our coach (or coaching staff) and the program sucks (no nice way to put it). How many people think this program will make the NCAA tourney in 2 years? Why is the BCA an issue? Because CPH cares about it enough to do alot for it and he does not care enough about GT to do a good job there. Personally if I was the BCA i would not want CPH to be a person associated with it. There are many far more sucessful canidates. That being said, his involvement might be why we are landing these prize recruits. Either way does not mean anything if he is simple recruiting and praying the team wins. He is a big fat zero when in comes to player developement and utilization. That is the real issue.... AMG
Spelling an issue....whoops...AMG
i like all our players. i don't have a problem with our players at all.... black or white.
i do have a problem with a bigot along the same lines as a don imus or jesse jackson.
first anon... so your saying that as long as we win we should ignore the fact that paul hewitt recruits black athletes only? every white player on our team made our team because they were a last choice and nothing more. an afterthought because we had number issues.
if paul hewitt actually recruited and offered white blue chip players schollies i would be fine with that. he doesn't! call it what you will.
next time you read an article on paul hewitt notice the times he says 'black athletes' vs athletes or players. why the differentiation?
sorry but his job is not to help graduate as many 'black' athletes as he can. (he has used those words more than once)his job is to graduate as many of his PLAYERS as he can.
paul hewitt does the very thing to white players that he says is at issue with the hiring of black coaches. the words 'token' and 'ironic' come to mind.
everybody keeps saying how nice of a guy paul hewitt is.
a nice guy wouldn't hold our program hostage the way he is doing.
a nice guy would give back to the gt community.
a nice guy is more than just a good public speaker in a slick suit.
a nice guy would recruit good players regardless of the color of their skin.... unlike paul hewitt.
And the reason this was brought up was because some folks keep saying that he is a nice guy.
bobby was a nice guy.
paul hewitt has issues and an agenda that he puts above his commitment to gt. i agree with anon above.
that is why we have a crappy program. that... and the fact that paul hewitt is a crappy coach.
paul hewitt and d.
am i missing something here?
proud jacket said that he has no problems with our d under hewitt?
well i do!
the last time i looked he plays man to man d almost exclusively.
have you ever seen us play zone? have you ever seen us play a box and one? have you ever seen us play the 2 3 zone?
i honestly can not recall us ever playing any defense other than man to man with occasional pressure on the inbounds.
just like the pros. And we all know who wants to be a pro coach.
hasnt our coverage of outside shooters been an issue with paul hewitt since day one?
you disrupt a good shooting team with a strong zone defense.
we dont!
Ummm...you don't want to run a zone against a hot shooting team. In general, a zone defense is used to slow down the tempo of the game and keep the offense out of the lane. A zone actually encourages outside shooting. To "beat" a zone, you collapse the zone with a drive or pass and kick out for a shot. If you're playing against a hot shooting team, you'll get killed playing a zone.
My original point was that I'd be concerned with playing exclusively a zone defense given our level of talent. With players as athletic as ours, we should be forcing the tempo. The man-to-man defense forces turnovers and creates transition opportunities. I don't particularly think we are well coached in running a man-to-man. We may be a little overly aggressive given the number of fouls we give up.
As far as all this racial talk is concerned, I think we should refocus on basketball. The truth is that if we were winning, no one would care if Coach Hewitt had five Martians running the floor. So, let's focus on what's missing and why we aren't winning. I don't think talent (black, white, brown, yellow or Martian) is the problem.
well if your goal in life is to win at all costs than i feel sorry for you. that does seem to be the american way of life these days unfortunately.
if he was a wife beater or a pedophile would you want to focus on bb too? quite frankly all 3 issues are distastefull.
and i beg to differ with you on the racial talk. i have chatted with quite a few jacket fans and many have expressed dismay at this issue. for some reason if your white its not pc to talk about race. i do not fall into that crap trap and im not afraid to discuss unpleasant issues.
sorry, but i wouldnt want a coach with an attitude like paul hewitt's even if he was winning.
just my opinion.
Thanks for avoiding the topic of basketball again. I can't say I blame you since you don't know much about it.
"Winning at all costs"? Excuse me? I shouldn't even dignify that comment with a response. You make it sound like Coach Hewitt is doing something illegal. You have no proof that his recruiting is biased. Isn't it possible that a team in a predominantly black sport would be predominantly black?
Put the red herring back in your pocket and get back on topic.
Why some of our frontcourt players haven't shown full potential while at GT is very simple. Our PG situation and playmaking skills in general have been very suspect. As for Morrow, it was the same issue. He did not have adept playmakers to get him the rock at the right times in the right spots. Ditto Aminu. Ditto Lawal. And ditto Bosh, mostly because Jack was a freshman learning on the fly.
Gents...our gaurd play the last several years has been the culprit for a lot of our woes, and CPH has not adequately planned and recruited to address this glaring weakness. That said, next year's roster although very young, will have the best skill and depth in the backcourt that we've had in the last several years. College is a gaurd's game, pure and simple. If you look at our roster from last year, we simply were way overmatched in the backcourt too often.
Amen!
proudjacket your a hoot.
we both have our opinions and you know what they say about opinions.
funny though you had to take a personal jab at me.
now that certainly made your arguement!
btw ill take my 45 years of watching bb over yours any day bud.
why dont you answer that with another personal attack.
as far as hijacking the thread goes. scott made the claim that paul hewitt is a good rep for gt in his original story and i posted reasons why many of us dont think he is!
does that make better sense to you now?
Just an fyi, If you replace CPH with Coach K this year, TECH would be ranked #1 preseason or at least top 5. With CPH we are considered likely to make the NCAA tourney. I doubt that Tech is going to go to the NCAAs every year for the next 3. Any one want to place a bet? I will put $10,000.00 against Tech making the tourney the next three years. Any takers? Then shut your pie hole about CPH being a decent coach! We are a top 25 talent team almost every year, we just never live up to it. Ever notice we lost an assistant coach to Tulane in 2005 after our run and we have sucked ever since.
ProudJacket,
What do you eat for breakfast? Roach turds?
Have you EVER heard of extending a zone. Zones do not have to COLLAPSE around the basket.
Keep supporting CPH and you'll have your heart broken year after year.
Press Judy
Scott,
First, let me apologize to you that the comments on your blog have taken such a turn for the worse. This was not my intent. I was trying to pose a legitimate question.
Let me address the issues that anonymous and Press Judy brought up.
Anonymous: First, I apologize for the "personal attack". It was intended as more of a playful jab, but if you saw it as an attack, I'm sorry.
Back to the topic, I'll agree to disagree, but I think we're really not on the same page. You're talking about Coach Hewitt's character (which I think you're slightly exaggerating). I'm talking about his coaching style. I think both are valid things to talk about. I'm not vouching for his character or his coaching style. Let me get this straight: I'm not a Coach Hewitt fan. Unfortunately, his character (and decision to hijack our program) has left us no choice but to consider how to make him work. Please bring your 45 years of basketball watching experience to the table and provide some insight into our offense.
Press Judy: First, nowhere in my comment did I say I support Paul Hewitt. I support the head coach of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets because of the team he leads. I don't particularly like where Paul Hewitt is taking us.
Second, the perimeter is one of the weakest areas of a zone defense. That's why poorly coached offenses (like ours) get suckered into throwing up three pointers. It's a great defense to play against a poorly coached defense with poor perimeter shooting. It's also a good alternative to the man-to-man when you don't match up well with your opponent's athleticism (which is rarely the case for us). It's probably not the best choice against a hot shooting team.
I think I'll go eat some roach turds now while I try to catch up on all those lost years of basketball watching. Just kidding. :)
It comes down to this. Successful man-to-man defense depends first and foremost on a player's ability to move their feet, which is beyond the coach's control. Defense is also much easier to play than offense because it is far less complicated and players simply have to react to what is going on around them.
Offense is difficult because it requires a diverse skill set (dribbling, passing, shooting, recognition, etc.), a plan that is geared to the skills of the players and all 5 players to be in sync with each other at the same time. Watch any good offensive team and all 5 guys are moving most of the time. This keeps the defense off balance and provides multiple avenues of attack.
Finally, the fuel for any successful team is confidence. Confidence is the focused look in the players’ eyes that says ‘no way do we lose this game’. The belief that you can get the shot you want when you want it. The ability to impose your defensive will on the other team when necessary. Coach Hewitt doesn’t seem to be able to sustain his team’s confidence over the course of the season. The last time I saw a confident team take the floor at the ThrillerDome was the final home game two years ago against Boston College. Georgia Tech came out of the gate quickly and had a double-digit lead with 2 minutes left on the first half. The lead never got below10 the rest of the game. We had a confident look from the moment the game tipped off and played that way. Haven’t seen that look since then.
is easy to play because it is about a , . GT excells at defense because we have top 25 (or better) talent and we
As a season ticket holder with a good view of the GT bench I don't see Coach Hewitt having alot of fun out there losing all the time. That being said, get it going in the right direction for a number of years coach or things could start getting ugly. We are a patient and tolerant fan-base, willing to wait for success, but we need to see consistent success from you at this point. You’ve shown us you can win, we’d like to see it more often.
Bottom line is that Dave Braine should be the target of our anger. Paul Hewitt's team made a great run to the final four in 2004 and Mr. Braine gave him a contract with an insane $7MM plus buyout that has to roll over every year. Before we blame Coach Hewitt for signing the contract, we should ponder what any of us would do in the same circumstances. Answer: We would be all over it. It was a bad decision in every sense of the word and the responsibility rests squarely on Dave Braine’s shoulders. I will criticize Coach Hewitt for his record but not for signing his contract.
I've been critical of Hewitt for years, but I just can't get over what a great class he signed. To me though there is to much bad history. If he can't get the 2009-2010 team to the NCAA's, I am ready for a new coach. I've been ready for awhile, but lets what this class does.
Ground Hog Day -
It's been stated a million times before and will be stated a million times more. Hewitt is basically untouchable due to his countract rolling over 7 years every year. If you ever "don't renew it", that constitutes firing him without cause and he is paid 7 years of salary. That is why he is still here.
Now, to the summary of our problems. He is a great recruiter, but he doesn't 'get' that you MUST have depth at PG in this league, to be sure early departures don't cripple you. We are too tall and slow at PG usually, which means we can't keep a quick guard in front of us. This means a quicker guard breaks down our D...we colapse...he dishes to the open man...it's easy basketball. On offense, we struggle to get into our offense for the same reason. Our guards are too tall and slow to beat anyone off the dribble consistently, so we can't dribble penetrate...then dish to the open man caused by the D colapse.
In short...he is great at recruiting everything but true PG...but not a good coach with any of the recruits. Every year it's a different reason/excuse...every year we are far more talented than our results...that is the head coach...but he can't be fired because of the contract...thus Ground Hog Day.
Very glad to hear from you again Scott...you've been missed!
ground hog....
you are wrong about hewitt being a great recruiter.
gt sells itself. if you believe otherwise than i suggest you have the same opinion of gt that dave braineless had. if we had a good coach this year imo we would have had a winning season.
bobby was a good recruiter. he recruited not only for quality but he recruited for chemistry.
something i have never ever heard phew say anything about. bottom line is bobby knew how to put a TEAM together. 14 post season teams in 17 years is pretty good.
phew is not only one dimensional in his recruiting. he has nary a clue about bb iq or chemistry.
proud... would you agree that the nba has the best shooters on the planet? yet they do not allow zone d to be played. hmmmm. imagine that.
on another front phew takes gt's bb program down yet another notch.
AND he doesnt offer to resign. such a stand up guy he is. what a rep he is for gt.
while i understand the tranfer issue most folks who see that article dont. that certinly helped make gt look better in the eyes of the layman. NOT
we not only finished last in the conference last year but now we find out that we were last in the conference as far as acedemic progress goes as well.
hey ground hog...his recruiting isnt looking so good now is it? ALL the other coaches in the acc seemed to have figured out how to maintain good acedemic progress but... phew.
how many players have we had graduate in the last 4 years? one?
one player gets caught for cheating while another just up an quits in the middle of his rehab. one player was asked to leave because he was LAZY both on the court and in the classroom. another 4 year player was forced to leave an graduate at sc.
we were soft on the court. we had poor conditioning. AND if you read the hive, the players do not attend classes reqularly.
if this is how paul hewitt reps gt than ill have to pass on that plate.
And for comparison... ill bet that cpj players will not miss many classes. AND he is in charge of 85 players not 14.
http://ramblinwreck.cstv.com
/genrel/050609aab.html
way to go paul. so much for the myth of paul bringing in those fine sa's.
anonymous: All illegal defense rules were removed from the NBA rule book in 2001...including the rule against zones. Some NBA teams play zone defenses from time-to-time today. You're right though, they don't play a zone that often against the "best shooters on the planet"...which I think was my point quite a while back: don't play a zone against good shooters.
The original motivation for disallowing zone defenses in the NBA had nothing to do with the players...it was all about the fans. The NBA did not allow zone defenses because they slowed the pace of play. They wanted faster paced, high scoring games (probably why the shot clock is 24 seconds instead of 35, too).
Anon,
I'm not saying I like how he recruits. I'm not saying he recruits good SA's. I'm saying he recruits players that are generally well perceived by the periodicals like scout.com. IE...what the football team typically does NOT do. I love CPJ btw and am NOT a fan at all of CPH. We're basically on the same side here dude =P
Imagine BC's PG's with CPH's forwards...and anyone but CPH coaching the talent...
proud i guess you exposed me for an nba hater.
i hate the nba. i wouldnt watch an nba game if you payed me.
well maybe.
one thing we do agree on.... they avoid the zone because they want high scoring games.
gt_tech and proud i do beleive that we all agree that phew should resign if he has an ounce of integrity!
if i had a magic wand i would love to have seen what bobby would have done with phew's talent.
speaking of bobby.... look for bc to win the southeastern conf next year and make the ncaa's.
i would love to see a matchup of gt vs charleston in the ncaa's next year.
that is the kind of ncaa matchup that the committee loves.
alas i think that our program is such disaray that we miss again next year.
Amen! Hallelujah! We agree!
GO JACKETS! (and go away Paul Hewitt)
I agree with ga tech 92. CPH has recruited well enough to stock our roster with talent, but there are always gaping holes, especially in the backcourt. This fact has made us predictible, easy to defend on offense, and has put us at a speed and athleticism deficiency on defense. Result...what we've seen the past several seasons.
I am excited and hopeful about next season's incoming class. The problem is that I'm also skeptical about CPH's longer term plan to sustain success beyond a one year period. It saddens me as someone who has LOVED following the program for over 25 years, that it's been so hard to live in and enjoy the present with the program. I say this and I'm someone who has typically been a staunch supporter of CPH, and still badly want to see him and the program succeed and recieve regular NCAA bids and top half ACC finishes.
CPH just can't coach. Period. End of story.
i dont want to see phew succeed.
he doesnt give a rat's ass about the gt program.
what he does care about is his agenda and the bca.
his whole world revolves around this issue and the chip on his shoulder...
someone needs to kick that man in the A$$ and send him to the curb.
It's a double edged sword. On one hand, I do NOT think Hewitt is a good coach, so I want him gone. He will not be 'gone', if he is perceived to 'succeed', thus I want him to fail. At the same time, I never want any GT programs to fail. The whole problem is who ever the retard is who signed him to a contract that makes him unfirable. WHO DOES THAT!?!?! What has PH ever done to deserve such a thing!?!?
ga tech 92 i agree 100%. even coaches like williams and coach k who have maintained thier respective programs at a high level dont have contracts like phew has.
my worse fear is that phew will have a decent year next year and than slide back to HIS norm which is mediocrity.
drad in emails to me has flat out stated that phew is happy with where the program is. say wha?
one good year and all of a sudden phew will be given lisense by those who think he is a great coach for another 9 year run.
yes his failure is a double edged sword but ill take one or two more years of his failure as long as it results in his dismissal. this is a better option than to endure 9 more years or what we have now in my view.
if phew is canned i would expect him to retire from coaching due to a lack of interest by other programs and become a permanent fixture at the bca.
what program in their right mind would want a coach with phew's attitude. a coach who holds the program hostage. a coach who is ok with mediocrity.
Does anyone know the background on PHew pre-GT? He was at Sienna right? Did he achieve amazing things there? I really don't know.
I can't wait to watch more grit and option football. We might not win every game, who does, we might not recruit the best players (with the system), but I bet the guys will play balls-to-the-wall and run-through-walls for coach Johnson. That is the history wherever he has been.
Go Jackets!
PH's record at Siena:
Overall League
97–98 17-12 10-8 T-3rd
98–99 25-6 13-5 T-1st NCAA 1st R.
99–00 24-9 15-3 1st NIT 2nd Rnd
Mike in Virginny
So, his record was better at Siena than at GT in other words. None of his records are deserving of the contract he has, imo. Who has a contract like his? What stature of a coach is on on level with contract wise, considering the buy out options?
To answer the question....
"to the cleaners and laughing all the way".
He is a shyster.
you need to look beyond sienna.
did he play basketball at a high level in a reputible conference?
NO... his experience consists of playing ball at the same level as dekalb perimeter college.
did he coach under a top notch basketball mind for an extended period of time?
NO... he was an assistant for 2 years under george ravenal a mediocre coach at best who left under ncaa scrutiny. george ravenal's claim to fame is that he was one of the first black coaches to coach at a major college (iowa and usc). other than that his resume is mediocre.
the only thing that phew had any kind of continued success with was that he was able to recruit SOME high level talent when he was an assistant at st john's where he was stayed only a few years.
1. personally i think that part of our problem is that we had a weak AD. WEAK! or he left with a chip on his shoulder towards gt for some reason. i think its a bit of both.
2. the remarks that braineless made about gt being a 7-5, 8-4 program with an occasional 9-3 speaks volumes about how he viewed gt. he viewed gt as mediocre at best. braineless attracted mediocrity.
3. this is the same exact stance that some gt fans take when they say phew is a good coach and the best that we can attact. (lovers of chan ideology)
sorry but i aspire more out of gt.
looking back at points 1,2 and 3 i think paul hewitt sees the same thing.
re no 1... phew is no bc. phew seems to tolerate gt more than love it. AND its getting worse.
re no 2... phew is fine with our record and accomplishments. we have seen him say as much in the newspaper and i have direct evidence from drad to support this. he is ok with mediocrity as long as he can further his bca agenda.
re no 3... look no further than phew's outburst last year on radio regarding his record. he said angrily that he was a fourth or worse pick for the coaching job at gt. sounds like he lived up to his expectations to me.
this guy thinks that he is gt's best shot.
sorry phew your wrong.
AND i wont even mention the fact that phew never saw a basketball seminar that he liked. no not the ones where he gets payed... i mean the ones where he actually learns more about the game of backetball.
i cant count the times i have read about top coaches attending coaching seminars as a 'student of the game' unlike phew.
i guess phew is too busy with his bca agenda for that!
If you look at the record, personal attributes and recruiting classes of both Gailey and Shemansky and compare them to Hewitt there is no rational case to be made why they were fired and he is still here - other than the contract. The comparison is pretty stark but the reason for him to be here is pretty obvious.
The key thing is matching talent with what he asks them to do. Scott hit a lot of them but I will add a couple. The other side of the pick and roll for Aminu last year would have been Shumpert. We ran a little pick and roll with Shumpert and Sheehan early in the year but quit. So instead of running Shumpert and Aminu with hard pick and roll from the elbow we had Aminu set brush screens beyond the top of the key and had Shumpert trying to act like Clinch with getting the ball one on one outside the arc. Teams simply sluffed off of him, doubled Gani in the post and forced Shumpert to shoot long jumpers (not his strength). NE1 else think Shumpert would have been much better last year working 18 feet and in with a pick and roll?
As for D, yes it takes commitment from the players, but it also takes coaching on co-ordination of where to help and recover, who to double, how to play passing lanes, etc. In past years this has been a huge problem for us. So we have had problems on both sides of the ball - with one consistent factor.
I do not trust Paul Hewitt with the talent coming in next year. If we are not going to fire him, then we need to find some hot-shot offensive prodigy to come in and take over the offense. I am not worried about recruiting, we live in the friggin ATL for Christ's sake. Every hip-hop loving teenager wants to come to Atlanta. I am seriously worried that he will squander the talent coming in, they will all leave after just one season, and we'll be left worse off following next season than we were this past season. I'm a Yellow Jacket for life, but honestly haven't watched more than one or two men's basketball games in the past 2 years. I go to all the football games, some baseball and women's basketball games, but I don't bother with the mens basketball cause I'm just tired of their weak offense, it's painful to watch. I got on the waiting list for men's basketball season tickets 5 years ago, and this past year when tickets finally became available, I was no longer interested. I'm still a fan, but I'm just not gonna get my hopes up until someone in the AD office takes the program seriously and does something to fix it.
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PLEASE GRT RID OF THIS POST OR PUT SOMETHING NEW UP! I AM SICK AND TIRED OF SEEING IT....
MIKE IN VIRGINNY
Dear Coach Hewitt and AD D-Rad,
It is interesting to read the following about coach Hewitt’s predecessor. There are many lessons coach could learn from Coach Cremins.
Cremins said he was appreciative of the work school president Dr. George Benson and Hull did in extending his contract.
Cremins came to the school in 2006 and signed a six-year deal for $225,000 per year with two-percent annual increases. While his contract was extended, he did not get a raise.
"I know these are tough times, so I didn't ask for a raise and I didn't want one," he said.
What has Hewitt done for TECH since the NCAA run years ago? He has made a boat-load of excuses. Our players show little or nothing in the “Hewitt system” and have won a paltry number of games, yet they move on to the NBA and flourish. It is obvious where the problem is. It’s not the players, school, fans, academic rigor, or injuries. The problem is coach Hewitt and his inept staff.
Please step aside and let someone who appreciates the opportunity to coach at TECH take the reigns…..
THWG!!!
M. Murphy
PH told me that due to the way his parents raised him, he would not tell me to stick it up my _ _ _. What a gent!
GT ‘69
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