Tobacco Road Report

By Chris

Georgia Tech survived a strong showing by the Nittany Lions in the Thrillerdome last night, 77-73. The game exposed a series of flaws in the Yellow Jackets that Coach Hewitt will need to repair before ACC play begins on Sunday.

Penn State played a variety of zones against Tech as Coach DeChellis recognized that his squad lacked the athletes to play Tech man-to-man. Regardless of the zone set, the post was double-teamed and Tech’s big men were caught holding the ball too long on several occasions.

The sagging zones allowed Tech’s shooters to have free open looks which they exploited by hitting 10-24 three point attempts. The trouble with these open looks is that it took Tech away from its inside power game with Jeremis Smith and Ra’Sean Dickey. Dickey attempted one field goal on the night. Smith attempted 8 shots and finished with 12 points, but most of his work was in the transition.

On the defensive end, Tech was just plain horrible. Jamelle Cornley and Geary Claxton combined for 32 points inside against Tech, which showed poor post position repeatedly. Cornley caught the ball with a defender sealed at least four times. The Jackets were also outboarded 28-21. The Jackets were saved on the defensive end by forcing 20 turnovers by Penn State. Javaris Crittenton was aggressive in the passing lanes creating four steals.

The Jackets were without Thaddeus Young who has tendonitis in his left knee. Still, Coach Hewitt was visibly unhappy with the defensive effort that allowed Penn State to shoot 55.6 percent from the floor. If Tech cannot improved its defense on dribble penetration and ball entry to the post, it will be a long ACC season.