ACC Roundup - Gottfried Gets Mad

It’s been a while since we’ve had a good coaching rant in the ACC. Roy Williams has had a few but they tend to focus on things other than his players including, at times, the fans, the NCAA, or not being able to have a dadgum Coke after a game.

No Coke. Pepsi!

So it’s kind of a treat to see State’s Mark Gottfried go off in his.

He ripped his team, fought with the media, cursed again (and immediately apologized) and generally threw a pretty solid fit, ripping his team for a total lack of defense.

One of our favorite parts, which has a shot at becoming ACC lore, was when he said that the Georgia Tech players had enough time to check for wind before launching threes.

Another: he said he’s not interested in playing dirty but he wouldn’t mind one his players just taking someone down to make a point.

Then he got in a fight with (we’re pretty sure) the N&O’s Joe Giglio, who seems to have gotten under Gottfried’s skin.

There’s often a certain tension between members of the media and coaches - Duke had some real issues with the N&O’s Laura Keeley and Steve Spurrier had a long-running feud with Ron Morris.

You should really watch video of this when you can. It’s pretty good stuff.

Gottfried has a point though.

State is too talented not to defend. Dennis Smith came to school with a reputation as a next-gen Glove, a Gary Payton for our times.

He can’t guard everyone obviously, assuming he is meeting Gottfried’s expectations.

Georgia Tech was 10-16 from three point range - this is the worst three point shooting team in the league.

On the other hand, State’s big men continue to struggle for some reason. Obviously they rely on the guards to get them the ball but even so: State’s big men - Abdul-Malik Abu, Omer Yurtseven, Ted Kapita and Beejay Anya - combined for 13 points and 13 rebounds.

That’s basically an average night for Amile Jefferson all by himself.

On the other hand, Dennis Smith had 31 point, eight rebounds and six assists - spitting distance from another triple double. Maverick Rowan had 17 points and six rebounds.

Still, Georgia Tech shot 62.5% from three point range and 49.2% overall and the Yellow Jackets had 24 assists on 31 shots. There’s not much question who played better.

Only one game on Monday as Syracuse travels down to Chapel Hill for an interesting game. UNC is playing well but has shown a tendency to waver at times. Syracuse still has a lot of potential and has started playing harder.

Our feel for conference play hasn’t been that great this season, but it’s hard to pick against UNC here.

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