ACCMedia Day Quotes 1 – Paul Hewitt (audio)
ACCMedia Day Quotes 2 – Paul Hewitt (audio)
ACCMedia Day Quotes 3 – Paul Hewitt (audio)
ATLANTA – Georgia Tech’s men’s basketball team makes its first public appearance under new head coach Paul Hewitt Saturday with a 30-minute scrimmage as part of the annual Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Alexander Memorial Coliseum at McDonald’s Center.
Fans will have the chance to watch both the Georgia Tech men’s and women’s and men’s basketball teams, with Yellow Jacket squads conducting scrimmages beginning at 5 p.m. They will also sign autographs, give away prizes and pose for pictures with fans. One lucky fan will win two tickets to the NASCAR season finale, the NAPA 500, on Nov. 19 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Tickets for this fun-filled event are $5 per person and all proceeds will benefit Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
From 4-5 p.m., Tech fans can have their pick of remaining season ticket seat locations for both men’s and women’s basketball. Available seats will be marked for purchase, and representatives of the ticket office will be on hand to take orders.
Georgia Tech plays its first exhibition game at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday against the California All-Stars at the Georgia Dome. Tickets for that game are $14 and are available through the Tech ticket office (888-TECH-TIX), the Georgia Dome (404-223-8428) or Ticketmaster (404-249-6400).
Tech has practiced hard for more than two weeks, and Hewitt has been pleased with the performance of his team so far.
“There are spots we still have to smooth out,” he said. “The players are learning an entirely new system, so every day they’re getting something new thrown at them. The thing that I will continue to look at is the intensity level and the energy level. The guys are playing hard. They’re not exactly polished all the time, balls are flying all over the gym. But as long as they continue to play at the effort level they’ve been playing at, I’ll be pleased. We’ll have to live with turnovers for a while until we get everything smoothed out. In the scrimmage Saturday, I want to see us start taking care of the ball better.”
As Tech nears its first test against outside competition, four of the five starting positions are set with 6-11 senior Alvin Jones (Lakeland, Fla.), 6-7 senior Jon Babul (North Attleboro, Mass.) at one of the forward positions and 5-11 junior Tony Akins (Lilburn, Ga.) and 6-3 senior Shaun Fein (Centerville, Mass.).
Akins (11.5 points per game), Fein (10.6) and Jones (9.7) were the No. 2-4 leading scorers on last year’s 13-17 team. Akins and Fein averaged 7.0 assists per game between them, while Jones averaged 8.0 rebounds. Babul is coming off a tough year with chronic bursitis in his hip which limited him to 17 games and averages of 3.9 points and 3.6 rebounds.
“Alvin has been very impressive, particularly in the last few practices,” said Hewitt. “He’s been tremendous on the glass, he’s been running the floor, blocking shots. He’s really starting to assert himself. And he’s shooting the ball well.
“Tony’s been very consistent. He’s had very few poor practices. They’ve all been good to excellent practices. He’s probably been the most consistent of all the guys. Jon and Shaun are as steady as they come. Shaun is a tremendous leader and really knows the game. Jon knows the game and has been very reliable on the glass.”
T.J. Vines (Woodstock, Ga.), a 5-10 senior guard who averaged 4.4 points and 2.3 assists last season, and 6-3 freshman Marvin Lewis (Germantown, Md.) are the frontrunners for the fifth starting position. Clarence Moore (Norco, La.), a 6-4 sophomore forward who averaged 4.8 points and 3.9 rebounds last year, is recovering from a broken foot and should figure in that race when he returns at the first of December.
“I’m not sure how I’m going to divide the squad yet [for the scrimmage],” said Hewitt. “What I do every day in practice is divide them different ways to see different combinations. If we were to play tomorrow, I’m not sure who would be in that fifth spot. Right now, the guys who are vying for that are T.J. Vines and Marvin Lewis a little bit.”
Depth comes from 6-3 senior guard Darryl LaBarrie (Stone Mountain, Ga.), 1.3 points and 0.3 rebounds last year; 6-8 junior forward Michael Isenhour (Lawrenceville, Ga.), 1.2 and 0.3; 6-6 freshman forward Halston Lane (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) and 6-7 freshman forward Robert Brooks (Saginaw, Mich.).
Important Dates
Nov. 4 Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Scrimmage, 5 p.m.
Nov. 7 Exhibition: California All-Stars, 7:30 p.m. Georgia Dome
Nov. 13 Exhibition: USDBL All-Stars, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 17 Season Opener: Wofford, 7:30 p.m.
All events at Alexander Memorial Coliseum at McDonald’s Center except where noted.
