ACC Countdown Preview

#7. Georgia Tech

Games against 2009 NCAA Tournament teams: 16

Best non-conference game: Dec. 5 vs. Southern Cal

Projected Starting Five:

F - Gani Lawal (Junior)

F - Derrick Favors (Freshman)

F - Zach Peacock (Senior)

G - Maurice Miller (Junior)

G - Iman Shumpert (Sophomore)



I like Paul Hewitt a lot. He took a tough job, trying to follow in the footsteps of Bobby Cremins. And he did a great job, getting Georgia Tech to the title game in 2004. But since then, a lot has gone wrong. He has recruited talented players, but a lot of them have bolted early. And last year the team was quite bad. But it's interesting to see how they are being received coming into this season. They got one of the most highly touted recruits, Derrick Favors, and all of a sudden people are saying they could finish in the top 3 in the ACC and ranked in the top 25.



I think that's all a bit of an overexaggeration. I think the Yellow Jackets will definitely be better with Favors. He's most likely one of those one and done players who will put up great numbers in the post. If you look at the rest of the team, they have a solid inside presence in Gani Lawal. Their guards, Mo Miller and Iman Shumpert, are pretty erratic. They can go off and score in bunches but can also turn the ball over a lot.



So what do I expect from the Yellow Jackets this year? For one thing, the schedule is very tough. They play 16 games against teams that made the tournament last year, which is 3 more than any other ACC team plays. That will make things tough. I see Georgia Tech with a definite improvement over last year, but I think with the difficult schedule it will be hard to make it to the NCAAs. And sadly, that might not be enough to keep Paul Hewitt around for another year.