Georgia Tech Basketball: Brian Gregory Has Earned Lame Duck Coaching Status
Georgia Tech’s loss to Boston College on Sunday was simply confirmation of something that Georgia Tech Basketball fans have known for the last four hoop seasons — Brian Gregory is a good coach, just not a good ACC coach.
The ACC conference will expose a coach quickly if the coach is not recruiting ACC caliber talent, and not sound offensively with the clipboard.
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Brian Gregory’s philosophy on how to win basketball games makes sense to a degree; play solid defense while owning the offensive and defensive glass.
But even with Gregory being an assistant under one of the best coaches in the nation, Michigan State’s Tom Izzo, Gregory knows you still have to be able to put points on the board.
What Georgia Tech fans have seen time and time again offensively from Gregory’s Jackets is the same run of the mill offense, running into the same problems.
If you were to ask any Tech fan how they would go about stopping a Brian Gregory offense, fans would simply say “put a 2-3 zone on the floor”, and they would be right.
Gregory has not recruited any consistent shooters to be zone buster for him since he has been at Tech.
What makes it worse is that when you watch the games, his players look completely lost on how to break down a zone through ball and player movement.
As far as his guard play goes overall, it truly has left much to be desired.
Outside of Trae Golden, who transferred to The Flats from Tennessee, the choices that Brian Gregory has made at guard simply have not worked out, and especially this year.
Chris Bolden averages 5.8 points on 38.9% shooting, Travis Jorgenson is averaging 2.9 points on a meager 26.3% shooting, and Corey Heyward, who has started the last few games in conference play, is dropping 1.3 points on 27.3% shooting.
Even the new guards to the roster have struggled.
Freshman Tadric Jackson, who should be commended for not being bashful when it comes to shooting the pill, has not been productive this campaign averaging 4.6 points on 25.2% shooting.
Josh Heath, who transferred to Georgia Tech from South Florida , has been the only bright spot for what it is worth, averaging 4.4 points on 43.4% shooting.
The lack of guard play and outside shooting is appalling– especially for a school that traditionally has strong guard play and outside shooting.
Kenny Anderson, Stephon Marbury, Mark Price, Dennis Scott, Jarrett Jack, Jon Barry, Matt Harpring, Brian Oliver, and Travis Best all played at Tech and could all either run an offense, create their own offense, or knockdown a consistent shot.
This list is just off the top of my head being a long time Georgia Tech observer from the Bay Area.
Brian Gregory, for whatever reason, isn’t able to market the basketball tradition that the nation knows exist with Georgia Tech, to get the kind of talent that the nation is used to seeing this institution grab.
In a yahoo.com article by AP writer Charles Odum, Tech athletic director Mike Bobinski was asked what he tells fans who ask if Brian Gregory can turn the program around? Bobinski simply said:
When you read between the lines on that statement it wreaks of, “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”.
But here is something nice to say out of fairness to Brian Gregory. Defensively he has his teams prepared, and he gets a solid effort out of his players.
Anyone that says that the Yellow Jackets have dogged it in any games, or that they have given up in any fashion during a game is lying!
The players truly have given Gregory everything they have, it just has not been good enough to get a win to this point.
Sadly, even if Tech was to get on a roll, it still should not be enough for Gregory to save his job.
Gregory is 52-62 as head coach of the Yellow Jackets in four seasons at the helm.
The fans are losing their patience as we speak and have no problem saying that in their world, Brian Gregory is a lame duck.
@YellowJackedUp I think it's beyond that status. What could you write and or say to give our fan base hope?
— Chad (@Chad9113) January 26, 2015
@YellowJackedUp @GaTechFan10 yes. He has got to go.
— Todd H (@toddh_1991) January 26, 2015
@YellowJackedUp #fireBrianGregory #fireBrianGregory #fireBrianGregory #fireBrianGregory #fireBrianGregory #fireBrianGregory #fireBrianGregor
— Cmack (@cmackNFT) January 25, 2015
@YellowJackedUp He is a great guy, but he has to go as soon as possible. We have to do what is best for the program.
— Clay (@ClayGT10) January 26, 2015
@YellowJackedUp Unfortunately yes. Another game that GT had and lost
— Stewart Zwald (@SDZwald041599) January 26, 2015
Of course you don’t bounce a coach out in the middle of the season. Brian Gregory deserves to be let go with as much class and dignity that a situation like this warrants.
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At the end of the day however, a change has to be made. Anyone that is aware of the tradition that Georgia Tech basketball has, knows that the program currently is at an all-time low.
What the rapper Nas said about Queensbridge in 2001 is appropriate as it pertains to the current state of Georgia Tech Basketball, “this is a time we destroy and rebuild it”.
That is just a crude, hip-hop way of saying ‘it is time for a change’.
Deep down everyone knows that it is time, fans just have to patiently wait.