2010-2011 ACC Preview

#10: Georgia Tech

Games against 2010 NCAA Tournament teams: 10
Best non-conference game: Nov. 26 vs. UTEP (in Atlantic City)

Projected Starting Five:
F - Kammeon Holsey (Freshman)
F - Brian Oliver (Sophomore)
G - Glen Rice, Jr. (Sophomore)
G - Ufon Mdofia (Sophomore)
G - Iman Shumpert (Junior)

I like Paul Hewitt. He seems like a good guy, and he has proven to be a very strong recruiter. But the fact of the matter is he's not a very good coach. Hewitt's Georgia Tech teams have consistenly underachieved. He has had so many one-and-done players over the years who really don't help the program. If there was any year that the Yellow Jackets would succeed, it would have been last year, with Derrick Favors and Gani Lawal. But they couldn't even break .500 in the conference, and barely made it in the NCAA Tournament.

So what does that leave Georgia Tech with this year? Lawal and Favors are gone, as is Zach Peacock. They have some talented young guards, notably Ufon Mdofia and Iman Shumpert. But they literally have no frontcourt whatsoever. When I was putting together their starting five, I had no idea who to put in the post position. On their roster of 15 players, they have listed 11 guards, 2 forwards and 2 centers. Of the forwards and centers, three are freshman. And the fourth, Brian Oliver, is not a post man.

So I see the Yellow Jackets going with a very small lineup. It doesn't matter how good your guards are, if you can't defend other teams' interior players you are going to struggle. I see Georgia Tech's young team turning the ball over a lot, even more so than in previous years. And it will be an extremely difficult task for them to get back to the NCAA Tournament.

Taking a look at their schedule, we should find out a lot about Georgia Tech in the Legends Classic in Atlantic City, where they will play UTEP and either Michigan or Syracuse. From there on out, they have few non-conference tests. Fortunately for Georgia Tech, they only have one game against Duke and one against UNC. But I could easily see this being Paul Hewitt's last year in Atlanta.