Tobacco Road Report

Georgia Tech 74, NC State 65

In a game that was a microcosm of Tech’s entire season, the Yellow Jackets went on an 18-0 run over an 8 minute period to rally for an impressive victory on Tuesday night. The Jackets were led by Javaris Crittenton (21 points, 7 assists, 2 turnovers) and Thaddeus Young (15 points, 7 rebounds), while the Wolfpack put four players in double figures.

The game showed the true Jekyll and Hyde team that the Jackets have been this season. In the opening minutes, NC State rushed to a 17-2 lead with perfect execution of the half-court set. The Pack took advantage of Georgia Tech’s non-aggressive man-to-man defense, creating multiple open looks. It is amazing the efficiency difference with this squad when Atsur is on the floor. He may not post numbers, but his control of tempo lifts the Pack. It also helps to get Grant and Fells in their natural positions off the ball. Coach Hewitt also may have made a permanent change 3 minutes into the first half. After watching NC State run a slip screen off the high post that Ra’Sean Dickey let go for a dunk, Hewitt pulled Dickey, and he did not appear again in the game.

The game turned at the 12 minute mark in the first half. On a drive to the basket, Crittenton’s elbow connect with the nose of Dennis Horner creating a cascade of blood on the court. The net effect was that NC State’s 7-man rotation was cut to 6 which would become a factor in the second half. Tech began to exert more pressure at this point tiring out Atsur and the NC State bigs. After trading baskets for the next twenty minutes of clock, Tech broke the will of NC State with about 11 minutes left in the game. Tech began their 18-0 run by extending the defense and forcing turnovers in the open floor. The tempo increased, and it seemed that Tech’s freshmen began to exert leadership on the court. For once, Thaddeus Young looked to operate with the ball in the half-court set, and the Wolfpack did not have an answer.

The most curious moment of the night came with 8:30 left in the game. Angry at the non-reset of the shot clock on the previous possession, Coach Lowe wandered out on the court to protest the non-call. Looking like Shooter from Hoosiers, Coach Lowe drew the technical foul that led to a tie game. TRR got a few laughs on this one.

What did we learn?
For NC State, we like the starting five for this squad. Their half-court execution is solid and the ability of the bigs to shoot from deep gives the team opportunities to spread the floor for off-ball cuts. The weakness we see is a complete lack of depth. Adrenalin probably carried them through at home against UNC last week, but Tech was able to wear down the Pack and sneak out the win on Tuesday.

For Tech, we like the decision to bench Dickey and give playing time to Aminu. At TRR, we don’t rip players for performance, but we do comment on lack of effort. Dickey’s passive-aggressive nature on the court has frustrated us for awhile now. For Tech, Dickey and Morrow (the scoring leaders from last year) combined for ZERO points last night.

Both teams are improving, but both have a long way to go to get on the bubble.