Fall from grace - Tech basketball is at where GT football was from 1967–94

[Ramble1885]

A meandering journey

 

[gte447f]

Well, for all the Hewitt hate, one of his teams did make it to a national championship final.

One of pastner’s teams also won an ACC championship.

It hasn’t been all bad, but I get your drift.

 

[Ramble1885]

Well, for all the Hewitt hate, one of his teams did make it to a national championship final.

One of pastner’s teams also won an ACC championship.

It hasn’t been all bad, but I get your drift.

I am still of the opinion that we NEVER should’ve fired Hewitt.

Was he mediocre a bit the second half of his tenure? Yes. But that 2010-11 team had no big man bc Favors went pro. They had babyface Daniel Miller starting as a freshman.

Hewitt could recruit, he could coach well enough to put his players in a good position to win. His firing reminds me of Wake firing Dino. Neither program has been the same since.

 

[Ramble1885]

Well, for all the Hewitt hate, one of his teams did make it to a national championship final.

One of pastner’s teams also won an ACC championship.

It hasn’t been all bad, but I get your drift.

I will also always love CJP and wish no ill to him. 2019-2021 were two special seasons here. But when he didn’t have a good big man (Lammers, Banks, Wright) his systems never worked.

That said imagine him with Baye...

 

[Northeast Stinger]

I am still of the opinion that we NEVER should’ve fired Hewitt.

Was he mediocre a bit the second half of his tenure? Yes. But that 2010-11 team had no big man bc Favors went pro. They had babyface Daniel Miller starting as a freshman.

Hewitt could recruit, he could coach well enough to put his players in a good position to win. His firing reminds me of Wake firing Dino. Neither program has been the same since.

I think after Cremins and Hewitt we must have seen ourselves as such a strong program we could fire someone after a few mediocre seasons and not lose our brand.

I’m reminded of when uga fired Mark Richt, not because he wasn’t a good coach with a winning record, but because the program had a very inflated sense of who they were. I thought it would be a disaster but, by golly, they ungraded just as they thought they would. I was wrong and it was not the risk I thought it was. Still, making the right hire helps. I don’t think we thought the hire after Hewitt was as critical a decision. I think we thought getting some workman like, but unexciting, journeyman coach would tide us over until we got out from under the Hewitt contract and no damage would be done.

Colossal mistake.

 

[MWBATL]

I am still of the opinion that we NEVER should’ve fired Hewitt.

Was he mediocre a bit the second half of his tenure? Yes. But that 2010-11 team had no big man bc Favors went pro. They had babyface Daniel Miller starting as a freshman.

Hewitt could recruit, he could coach well enough to put his players in a good position to win. His firing reminds me of Wake firing Dino. Neither program has been the same since.

Cannot agree. I was much more of a fan back then, and the trouble Hewitt’s teams had inbounding the ball was tortuous to watch. The term Clogged Toilet Offense might refresh your memory of how bad things were towards the end of Hewitt’s tenure.

Hewitt was fine early in his career. He hired quality assistants and they did well with the talent on hand (which wasn’t bad). After the National Championship Season, Hewitt lost his top two assistants and got that massive rollover contract which essentially was a contract for life. He openly spoke about his priorities shifting towards developing black assistant coaches and getting players into the pros. Both are laudable objectives as long as they don’t impair the W-L record. That’s where the arguments arise. Many felt he didn’t care as much about winning games.
I would argue that there’s a good reason Hewitt never got an NBA coaching position offer, and he failed after he left GT at George Mason (iirc).
Hewitt is a solid person, well spoken, intelligent, a wonderful representative for whatever entity he works for. BUT he did not maintain that desire to win as opposed to accomplishing other results.

 

[Ramble1885]

Cannot agree. I was much more of a fan back then, and the trouble Hewitt’s teams had inbounding the ball was tortuous to watch. The term Clogged Toilet Offense might refresh your memory of how bad things were towards the end of Hewitt’s tenure.

Hewitt was fine early in his career. He hired quality assistants and they did well with the talent on hand (which wasn’t bad). After the National Championship Season, Hewitt lost his top two assistants and got that massive rollover contract which essentially was a contract for life. He openly spoke about his priorities shifting towards developing black assistant coaches and getting players into the pros. Both are laudable objectives as long as they don’t impair the W-L record. That’s where the arguments arise. Many felt he didn’t care as much about winning games.
I would argue that there’s a good reason Hewitt never got an NBA coaching position offer, and he failed after he left GT at George Mason (iirc).
Hewitt is a solid person, well spoken, intelligent, a wonderful representative for whatever entity he works for. BUT he did not maintain that desire to win as opposed to accomplishing other results.

This all is true but I feel he would have had us in the tournament well through the late 2010's.

 

[MtnWasp]

Anyone questioning the dismissal of Hewitt is failing to remember how ugly the team played in his last 6 years. Even with the teams with the 5* studs, the offense was agonizingly stagnant. When questioned about it, Hewitt got snarky and defensive. If Hewitt had a list of professional interests and priorities, winning for GT wasn't high enough on that list.

There were all the tell-tale signs of the professor who ceased to publish and land the big grants once they got tenured.

 

[SandySpringsJacket]

From the title of this thread, did you miss 1990 in football???
.

 

[Ramble1885]

From the title of this thread, did you miss 1990 in football???
.

l mean more by not sustaining coaches and thus not CONSISITENTLY sustaining success

 

[Root4GT]

View attachment 17615
A meandering journey

Bobby gets let off the hook for his last 7 seasons at GT. Bobby saved GT athletics and had some great teams thru 199201993. After that he had Marbury's very good team and a bunch of bad teams.

Hewitt brought GT BB back to National Relevance then his program fell apart. GT BB has been bad since then. CJP had one very good year out of 7. Gregory's never got to the NCAAT. Nothing looks encouraging now!

 

[Ramble1885]

Bobby gets let off the hook for his last 7 seasons at GT. Bobby saved GT athletics and had some great teams thru 199201993. After that he had Marbury's very good team and a bunch of bad teams.

Hewitt brought GT BB back to National Relevance then his program fell apart. GT BB has been bad since then. CJP had one very good year out of 7. Gregory's never got to the NCAAT. Nothing looks encouraging now!

His 1994, 1995, and 1998 teams weren’t bad and had a case for the tournament. His only bad teams were 1997, 1999, and 2000.

 

[Root4GT]

His 1994, 1995, and 1998 teams weren’t bad and had a case for the tournament. His only bad teams were 1997, 1999, and 2000.

His last 4 years were all bad. The 94 & 95 teams defined mediocre.

Bobby was one of GT most important coaches ever. Things were never the same after his flirtation with USC east

 

[Ramble1885]

His last 4 years were all bad. The 94 & 95 teams defined mediocre.

Bobby was one of GT most important coaches ever. Things were never the same after his flirtation with USC east

His 1994 team finished .500 in conference play and beat UNC twice when the Heels were #1 both times…

 

[Root4GT]

His 1994 team finished .500 in conference play and beat UNC twice when the Heels were #1 both times…

8-8 is the definition of average. The team did not play in the post season that year.

Now for our current state of basketball that would be real progress. Sad as that is.

 

[MtnWasp]

GT has finished above .500 in conference play a total of 9 times since joining the League (43 seasons not counting this season). That is 21% of the time.

GT has finished .500 or above 15 times in 43 seasons (35%). Back in the Cremins and Hewitt years, that meant an NCAA bid. Not so much now.

So no, .500 in the ACC is not average for GT.

Gt has finished above .500 in consecutive seasons only 4 times:

'85 (9-5) & '86 (11-3)
'88 (8-6) & '89 (8-6)
'89 (8-6) & '90 (8-6) (we were 8-6 three seasons in a row from '88-'90)
'20 (11-9) & '21 (11-6)

 

[Root4GT]

GT has finished above .500 in conference play a total of 9 times since joining the League (43 seasons not counting this season). That is 21% of the time.

GT has finished .500 or above 15 times in 43 seasons (35%). Back in the Cremins and Hewitt years, that meant an NCAA bid. Not so much now.

So no, .500 in the ACC is not average for GT.

Gt has finished above .500 in consecutive seasons only 4 times:

'85 (9-5) & '86 (11-3)
'88 (8-6) & '89 (8-6)
'89 (8-6) & '90 (8-6) (we were 8-6 three seasons in a row from '88-'90)
'20 (11-9) & '21 (11-6)

Sad truth that .500 in conference play is a good year for GT BB. GT fan expectations for BB are not what reality has proven to be!

 

[MacDaddy2]

GT has finished above .500 in conference play a total of 9 times since joining the League (43 seasons not counting this season). That is 21% of the time.

GT has finished .500 or above 15 times in 43 seasons (35%). Back in the Cremins and Hewitt years, that meant an NCAA bid. Not so much now.

So no, .500 in the ACC is not average for GT.

Gt has finished above .500 in consecutive seasons only 4 times:

'85 (9-5) & '86 (11-3)
'88 (8-6) & '89 (8-6)
'89 (8-6) & '90 (8-6) (we were 8-6 three seasons in a row from '88-'90)
'20 (11-9) & '21 (11-6)

so in other words, Poop Town!

 

[Ramble1885]

8-8 is the definition of average. The team did not play in the post season that year.

Now for our current state of basketball that would be real progress. Sad as that is.

yes but many of his teams from 85–93 went 8-8 in ACC play and made it to March...

 

[Root4GT]

yes but many of his teams from 85–93 went 8-8 in ACC play and made it to March...

True. Back then ACC BB was like SEC Football has been for the past decade. Top third ACC teams were viewed as really good as currently top third SEC football teams are viewed.

Sadly those days are long gone.