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Ga. Tech Believes it Can Handle Duke

By Jake Lloyd

Mar 13, 2008

Charlotte, N.C. — Georgia Tech has a formula to beat Duke. Friday night, it will get its chance to execute it.

It's safe to say the Yellow Jackets believe they can upset the second-seeded Blue Devils (26-4).

"Definitely, definitely," Jeremis Smith said. "I mean, I'm not going to sit here and tell you I think we're going to lose tomorrow. So, I mean, I definitely believe that we can win tomorrow.

"I think we can go four (wins) straight and go back to Atlanta. I definitely believe that. Starting with tomorrow, though."

The Yellow Jackets (15-16) played as one Thursday night during their 94-76 pasting of Virginia in the first round of the ACC Tournament. They dished out 22 assists on 34 field goals.

The performance was a far cry from their 71-58 loss at Duke two weeks ago when they set season-lows for points and assists (three).

Since that loss, Georgia Tech has won four of five, with the only loss a two-point nail-biter against Virginia.

The key, as simple as it sounds, has been teamwork. Georgia Tech has rededicated itself to crisply moving the ball on offense — limiting the dribbling and one-on-one play — also playing help defense.

"The past five games, we've been moving the ball, being unselfish, so that's just helped us a lot," guard Matt Causey said. "That's going to be a key factor tomorrow, especially since Duke likes to get up in you and try to deny everything."

The Yellow Jackets will need the kind of balanced attack they featured Thursday to outscore the No. 7 Devils. Five Georgia Tech players scored in double figures, and with D'Andre Bell adding nine and Lewis Clinch eight, it could have easily been seven players.

"I'm just having fun watching them play basketball," coach Paul Hewitt said.

The Yellow Jackets agreed that Thursday's win was good preparation for Friday's quarterfinal with the Devils. Virginia played a similar man-to-man defense to Duke's, pressuring Georgia Tech on the perimeter. While the Yellow Jackets turned the ball over 22 times, they made up for it by shooting 57.9 percent from the field.

"I think they'll even be more extended," Hewitt said of Duke's half-court defense. "We're going to have to get the ball entered (into the post).

"If you look at the game there (at Duke), we didn't do a good job of getting the ball entered on offense and we did a lot of dribbling."

Another key for Georgia Tech will be getting out in transition. While Duke goes nine players deep, so do the Yellow Jackets, and no one was complaining of fatigue after Thursday's track meet.

Georgia Tech outscored Virginia 30-16 in fast-break points, turning 16 Cavaliers' miscues into 21 points. As good as they were running the half-court offense Thursday, the Yellow Jackets would prefer to not let Duke set up its pressure defense.

"To run the floor tomorrow will be real big," Smith said. "It (Georgia Tech's depth) will definitely show in the last 10 minutes of the game tomorrow."

Don't expect Duke to take Georgia Tech lightly. Coach Mike Krzyzewski is well aware of the fact that of Georgia Tech's nine conference losses, two were by a single point and two were by two points.

"They've been in more close games, I think, than any team in our conference," Krzyzewski said earlier in the week. "They've really been in every game. … just ridiculous, where you can take five exchanges and, 'OK, they work instead of they didn't work,' and all of a sudden they're not playing on Thursday (in the first round)."

Hewitt talked about the same thing in the Yellow Jackets' cramped locker room after Thursday's win. He laughed about a Big East Tournament game he was watching earlier in the day when West Virginia got all the lucky bounces to upset Connecticut.

It will likely take a little good fortune for Georgia Tech to pull off a shocker Friday night, but it will most definitely take the kind of execution that was on display for much of the Yellow Jackets' first-round victory.

"The game plan is not going to change any," Smith said. "Teamwork, move the ball, reverse the ball, drive (the lane), get the ball down low, work it inside-out.

"I mean, we can pretty much tell them our game plan, and as long as we execute, we won't have a problem tomorrow."