Suguira on tech missing out on Connaughton

[Bruce Wayne]

Interesting read. I am sure the regulars here were familiar with this backstory but I wasn't.

Most like to give Hewitt a lot more credit as a recruiter than I am willing to do. I think he rarely was able to actually put a real solid team together. Clarence Moore and Marvin Lewis were both Cremins kids who had as much or more to do with Hewitt's one really special year than any of his recruits w/ the exception of Jarrett Jack.

But I suppose being unable to coach and develop can make it harder to tell if underlying poor recruiting choices were being made as well. Anyway, that is ancient history. Now I kind of regret bringing this up and linking to Suguira's story.

 

[Peacone36]

Wouldn't matter. Wouldn't develop under "C"BG anyways. Young man made a good decision to go elsewhere. Glad he is succeeding

 

[dtm1997]

Interesting read. I am sure the regulars here were familiar with this backstory but I wasn't.

Most like to give Hewitt a lot more credit as a recruiter than I am willing to do. I think he rarely was able to actually put a real solid team together. Clarence Moore and Marvin Lewis were both Cremins kids who had as much or more to do with Hewitt's one really special year than any of his recruits w/ the exception of Jarrett Jack.

But I suppose being unable to coach and develop can make it harder to tell if underlying poor recruiting choices were being made as well. Anyway, that is ancient history. Now I kind of regret bringing this up and linking to Suguira's story.

Neat story.

WRT the bold... 2 words... Will Bynum

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Neat story.

WRT the bold... 2 words... Will Bynum

I thought of putting Bynum in with Jack as above Mo and the multi-year captain Lewis in importance, but then decided the argument was close enough for me to just single out Jack.

Bynum was a transfer in that year who came off the bench all season and then had his clutch moments we all remember him for in the tournament. Those minutes may not have even been given to him had Elder not sprained his ankle in the Nevada game (Sweet 16).

I can still picture C-Mo repeatedly huddling the team up and getting on everyone to keep it together. I was not surprised at all when he was able to get into coaching and then get a shot as a head coach as quickly as he did.

 

[dtm1997]

I would not downplay Will Bynum to just his few clutch plays along the way and I wouldn't dismiss him as just a transfer. Can't play "What-If" with him either. How is that fair to him when all he did was step up when we needed him to?

We were one of his final choices coming out of HS, where he was an All-American. Probably one of the toughest players to ever put the GT uniform on.

Clarence Moore was a great leader for that team and he needed to be. After all, they voted him back on the team after he walked away for a year (with good reason) and he lived up to that vote of confidence.

 

[eetech]

Hewitt sucks because he did not want to spend a scholarship on a largely unheralded player playing a position we had 3 Soph players in and did not even recruit.

Oh, and we may have lost him to ND anyways.

Hewitt had a lot of flaws as a coach and made a lot of mistakes at Tech, but this was not 1 of them.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I would not downplay Will Bynum to just his few clutch plays along the way and I wouldn't dismiss him as just a transfer. Can't play "What-If" with him either. How is that fair to him when all he did was step up when we needed him to?

We were one of his final choices coming out of HS, where he was an All-American. Probably one of the toughest players to ever put the GT uniform on.

Clarence Moore was a great leader for that team and he needed to be. After all, they voted him back on the team after he walked away for a year (with good reason) and he lived up to that vote of confidence.

How did I downplay, dismiss, or what if him? I gave my reasoning for thinking he was basically on par in importance to the two guys that Cremins recruited into the program I was praising. My motive and intent was clearly to diminish Hewitt and not Bynum.

 

[dtm1997]

Dismiss may have been a strong word, for which I apologize, but your original post basically credited 2 Cremins kids and put Jarrett Jack on par with them. While I'm not against diminishing Hewitt, my view is that Bynum was very important that year and Hewitt brought him in. Elder was actually pretty important that year, pre-injury. Defense from Ish & McHenry were as well. I guess at the end of the day, the point is not to raise up the two Cremins kids, as much as state that team's success was a total team effort more than anything. I don't think you can make the case any one player was key, as so many players played a key role from night to night.

 

[lv20gt]

Trying to write off the 04 run as a result of Cremin's recruiting is silly.

Moore was a good influence of the rest of the team, and was a glue guy, but Jack, Bynum, Elder, Ish, and Luke all played larger roles than him. He and McHenry did a lot of dirty work, but saying he had as much or more impact than the rest of those guys is just not true.

Elder was our leading scorer, nearly 15 a game, and had as many rebs and assists as Lewis. In 03-04 Elder was arguably our most important player.

And Lewis was a very good role player, but he was no more, or less for that matter, important than Bynum, Ish, or Luke.

5 of our top 6 players were Hewitt recruits, and that is without the two previous freshman of the years that he also recruited.

Hewitt's issue with team building, of which recruiting plays a huge role in, was that he never could maintain a level in PG play near what we had with Jack and Bynum. Various reasons play a part in that, deciding to play baseball, taking one and dones, injuries, poor evaluations etc. It had little to do with not recruiting guys like Lewis or Moore.

 

[jacketup]

The kid did not fit Hewitt's philosophy. Hewitt used the old Wooden west coast philosopy. He preferred big guards that can create mismatches and post up against smaller guards.

The problem, as Denny Crum at Louisville proved, is that the philosopy ceased to be as effective when the 3 point shot came along, which has only been 25 years or so now. Guards/wings who can shoot the 3 are now more important than guys who can post up for 2. The Harrison twins are 6'6", but Calipari would not want them if they weren't decent outside shots.

We have had 2 coaches in a row that don't seem to understand what that big arc on the floor means.

 

[jeffgt14]

That 04 team was just a perfectly put together team. Reminded me of the Spurs team that won the NBA Championship that next year. Great PG with Jack (Tony Parker), Luke was a hoss. Terrific FT shooter for a big man and an incredible passer out of the high post (Duncan). Ish was a terrific on ball defender (Bruce Bowen). Clarence Moore with great leadership (Robert Horry). Great scorer in Elder (Manu). Excellent 3P shooter in Lewis (Brent Barry) I don't have a comparison for Bynum

Maybe the reason we didn't win it all was because of Hewitt (Not Popovich).

 

[TechPhi97]

Interesting read. I am sure the regulars here were familiar with this backstory but I wasn't.

Most like to give Hewitt a lot more credit as a recruiter than I am willing to do. I think he rarely was able to actually put a real solid team together. Clarence Moore and Marvin Lewis were both Cremins kids who had as much or more to do with Hewitt's one really special year than any of his recruits w/ the exception of Jarrett Jack.

But I suppose being unable to coach and develop can make it harder to tell if underlying poor recruiting choices were being made as well. Anyway, that is ancient history. Now I kind of regret bringing this up and linking to Suguira's story.

You're going to regret this!........

I had to respond, only because I feel the same as you about Hewitt's recruiting rep. He was better than Gregory, but probably my biggest disappointment was his inability to capitalize on the national championship game run with a huge class the following year. We had guys like CJ Miles, Bobby Frasor and Danny Green on the hook but couldn't close. The iron was hot, and we didn't strike it fast or hard enough.

 

[dtm1997]

You're going to regret this!........

I had to respond, only because I feel the same as you about Hewitt's recruiting rep. He was better than Gregory, but probably my biggest disappointment was his inability to capitalize on the national championship game run with a huge class the following year. We had guys like CJ Miles, Bobby Frasor and Danny Green on the hook but couldn't close. The iron was hot, and we didn't strike it fast or hard enough.

Did Hewitt not close those guys or had he already closed on other guys? That next class (Dickey, Jeremis, Morrow, Zam) was solid, although not on par with the McD's AAs you mention. I just don't remember the story at this point, so I'm asking.

 

[TechPhi97]

Did Hewitt not close those guys or had he already closed on other guys? That next class (Dickey, Jeremis, Morrow, Zam) was solid, although not on par with the McD's AAs you mention. I just don't remember the story at this point, so I'm asking.

We just couldn't close those guys; they were high on the list and we didn't get 'em.