Great win in McDonough

It was great to see a packed McDonough for tonight's game. Everywhere the camera went there were students right on top of the action. Does anyone know if we'll get any more NIT games on campus?

Great story about early days of JTII.

http://www.nola.com/sports/t-p/index.ssf?/base/sports-17/1111474676103450.xml

Post-Season in McDonough

Hoyas To Host NIT Second Round Game at McDonough Tuesday Evening
The team will take on the winner of the San Francisco - Cal. State Fullerton game.
March 17, 2005
The Men's Basketball team defeated Boston University 64-34 on Wednesday, March 16, 2005 in the first round of the NIT. The Hoyas (18-12) will advance to the Second Round to take on the winner of the San Francisco - Cal. State Fullerton game on on the evening of Tuesday, March 22, 2005 (time to be determined) on campus at McDonough Arena.
General admission tickets will be sold on a first-come first-served basis for $20 each beginning at 10am on March 18, 2005 by calling 202-687-2449. Tickets also can be purchased at the McDonough Arena Box Office.
The Hoya Hoop Club will sponsor the student tickets allowing students to purchase tickets for ONLY $5. We anticipate a sell out. Tickets can be purchased at the places and times below:
Red Square:Friday, Monday and Tuesday 11:00 am to 1:00 pm
Leo's:Saturday and Sunday: Noon to 2:00 pmMonday 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm
McDonough Arena Box Office:Friday: Noon to 5:30 pm Saturday and Sunday: Noon to 4:00 pmMonday: Noon to 5:30 pmTuesday: Noon until game time
Fans who call in their orders via telephone can pick up their tickets at Will Call during box office hours on any of the days above.
Television/radio/webcast will be determined shortly. Check http://www.guhoyas.com/ for up-to-date information.
Come out and cheer on the Hoyas!! We are Georgetown!

JTII slams Brand

I gotta think this is payback for what he did to his friend Bobby Knight.

http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/sports_story.asp?intID=38427123

Boston U in the NIT

I really hope we win our first few games and take on Maryland in the semis.

Good effort and Calhoun's on-air post-game comments

I also applaud the way the team played. There were numerous times when it looked like we were on the verge of getting blown out and then fought back to make it a highly competitive game. A little bit better play and better decisions during the last two minutes of the game would have gotten it done. Our last offensive possession left a lot to be desired....with twenty-five seconds left, we could and should have gotten a better shot off (alhough I thought Ashanti was huge all game--there were three or four critical junctures during the game where he hit a big shot to keep us in it).

Did any catch Calhoun's on-air comments right after the game ended?

At first he seemed highly complimentary of Georgetown and critical of his own team when he said something to the effect of he didn't think the team that put out the better effort won the game.

He then continued (and I'm paraphrasing here) and essentially said the only reason the game was close was because UConn played so poorly, which was a real slap to our team and the effort we brought to the table tonight.

Did anyone else have the same reaction to his comments? I sort of felt like he was subtely putting us down without directly saying so.

heartbreak

Boy do I wish we had a timeout left before that last play. Three huge mistakes: (1) Owens missing the front end of a one and one; (2) Cook dribbling the ball off his foot; (3) Cook not passing to a wide open Green at the end of the game. This is incredibly disappointing but we played, I think, the best we have all season. Maybe our performance against Pitt was a little stronger but this was great. They gave it everything they had and just stumbled down the stretch. This team has a lot of heart. I expect them to see them doing real damage in the Super Big East next year.

Priceless

Okay, I've got three priceless bits of info to share.

First, check out this exchange between Patrick, Deke, and Yao:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/players/03/07/first_person0314/

Second, read this description of MSG was West Virginia was pounding BC: "The Eagles, who will join the Atlantic Coast Conference next season, were showered with chants of 'ACC!' and 'overrated!' during the final minutes. " How sweet would it be if BC got bumped in the first round of the NCAA? Other BC-appropriate chants include "Fredo" and "Judas." (Jeff should appreciate how the Fredo chant works on multiple levels.)

Third, I love this email in the Post from a disgruntled Terps fan:

"I'm catatonic. I don't know what to do with myself. I don't know how it's physically possible to lose to Clemson 3 times, twice basically at home. Win any one of those games, and you're in. And you lose three times to Clemson. I don't know if I can ever root for them again. When a team is not very good, or is having a down year because of player losses, or whatever, I can handle that. I handled it for years after Len Bias died. I handled it through the entertaining but fruitless regime of Exree Hipp, Johnny Rhodes, and Duane Simpkins. I handled it through the slightly underachieving Joe Smith, Keith Booth years. But when a team brings back 4 out of 5 players from an ACC tournament Champ. Team, and can't make the NCAAs, and can't beat the CLEMSON TIGERS once in three tries...I just don't know how to process this information. I can't work. I can't think. I can't even begin to think of how to make sense of this. I think the Williams era is over. There were many, many great moments. And I will always remember Gary fondly for doing the impossible, turning the program around and bringing us both a Nat'l Championship and an ACC Championship. But this year has been the most sour I can remember since the death of Lenny. I've never seen anything like it. I'm literally on the verge of being physically sick."

Is this not the IPB as a Terps fan?!? ;)

So the Clemson players want to know if the "BEAT UNC" ralley is still on for tonight. They want to take the metro into College Park to attend: http://clemson.scout.com/2/358913.html

Hey, even if the Hoyas don't make the NCAA we'll always have Schadenfruede as a consolation prize. Visit Notre Dame's message board: http://www.ndnation.com/boards/index.cgi?thepit

"Washington's Team" Loses AGAIN

The Terps fell to the mighty Clemson tiger today for the THIRD time -- a team we spanked by 20. Maryland is 3-7 over their last ten games with three losses coming against Clemson. If they make the NCAA with a 7-10 ACC record, I'll quit following college basketball. Fun fact: MD's only top 25 wins were both against Duke. Most analysts think Maryland only need to win one out of their last 4 games to be a lock. As bad as our meltdown has been, it pales in comparison to MD with almost all of its players returning from the ACC Championship/Sweet Sixteen team of last year not making the tournament by failing to pull out one win against Clemson in three tries. Research project: What is the shortest time span between a program winning an NCAA tournament and then subsequently failing to qualify for the field of 64? Maybe Marquette after Al McQuire won in the late-70s? Didn't Duke have a meltdown in the mid-90s? Anyone know?

Also, West Virignia took out BC in its last ever Big East game. Nice way for them to go out. West Virignia was up 22 at the half and held off BC which had a great comeback.

Chances tonight

Okay, so what chance to we have tonight. UConn is better than us at every position and is playing their best basketball of the year. And we played yesterday. They also beat us easily twice. I'm saying we have a 5-10% chance of winning because they probably will not be playing with much of a sense of urgency and could be a little rusty b/c they've had the last week off. That said if we win we very well could sneak into the tourney. There were a number of recent developments that could help us. First, everyone has been calculating the RPI wrong. We're in the mid-60s, NOT the mid-90s. Second, Notre Dame's loss really hurt them. I think they are cooked. Third, a lot of bubble teams have lost recently. Although I realize this is primarily an academic discussion, if we win tonight, and West Virginia loses, there is no way their they or ND gets in over us (all three of our RPIs and SOS are comprable). Would the committee only take 5 teams from the Big East?

HEART

The guys could have easily folded, down by 11 with 7 minutes to go, but fought back with rebouding and defense. We played worse offensively than we did against Providence but stepped up the intensity on defense and that was the difference. Big win for these guys. I can't imagine there is much left in the tank to take on a well-rested UConn, though.

Here are the post-game comments from JTIII, Brandon, and Darrel:

http://bigeast.org/sports/mbball/champs/quotes/2005/game1_gw.asp

BTW: The IPB must have gone ballistic when Brandon turned the ball over with 18 seconds to go and a 2 point lead. All he had to do was get fouled -- why the hell was he trying to run up the court?!?!

I wonder if Darrel has played his way to a scholarship for next year. His future with this team is still up in the air -- officially anyway.

Great article in the Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22198-2005Mar9.html

The two other BE games were interesting. West Virignia spanked Providence -- basically they did to them what we failed to do; and we did to Seton Hall what they failed to do. Funny how both Hall and Providence looked like much better teams in their last games. Also, it looks like Notre Dame won't be dancing. Rutgers came out and played very well against them. That's gonna kill their RPI and they've now lost 3 out of their last 4.

Green shares BE ROY honors

Great honor for Green. He's GU's fifth ever: Fred Brown in '81; Pat Ewing in '82; Othella in '93; and AI in '95. Hopefully, we'll add another one next year with Sapp, Spann, Thornton, or Egerson! (How did Sweetney not get one in '01? Was Eddie that much better? And wasn't he the one who punched Ty Shine and ruined what should have been a great season for the Hall?)

http://www.bigeast.org/sports/mbball/release.asp?RELEASE_ID=111

Also, West Virginia spanked Providence. WV only got outrebounded by three. That makes a big difference! I imagine they are still one more win away from the tourney, though. Their loss to Seton Hall really hurt.

Another source saying that we need to win the tourney...

...and not just make the finals.

[CLICK HERE] to see the article from today's Washington Post.

SportsNation Poll

ESPN.com's SportsNation poll is currently asking, "[w]hich team is most deserving of an at-large bid?"

The choices are: Georgetown, Indiana, Saint Mary's, Vanderbilt, and Virginia Tech.

The Hoyas ain't doin' well in the court of popular opinion.

Big East v. ACC

Here's a great article on how the Big East is a better conference than the ACC...and has been since 1984. [CLICK ME]

Updated Rankings

Food for thought, but has anyone seen the updated rankings? I'm looking at them, and I just don't see how UConn is ranked 14 by ESPN w/ BC ranked 7. As of late UConn is a much tougher team and arguably much more of a favorite to win the BE than BC. Not the greatest news for GU as a win over the hall gives them a crack at UConn.

On another note, I recommend checking out the viewers' poll on the big east championship website. Apparentely GU is a fan favorite to win.

nit - depressing

Tough loss tonight. Sounded like an amazing game -- back and forth all the way. Providence really killed us inside. Green and Hibbert simply couldn't handle Gomes who hit the game winner with one second left. Rebounding was the difference, period. We shot very well and the defense (sans rebounding) seemed quite good. But man did they kill us on the boards. 8-8 on the season. Good run but very very disappointing finish. What really sucks is that with West Virginia's loss to Seton Hall tonight we were poised to get into the tourney with two wins (tonight and in the first round). Now, it would take a run to the finals and that ain't gonna happen. Oh well, maybe we'll see Maryland in the NIT.
In other news, JTIII has been nominated for the Naismith award but the loss tonight pretty much guarantees he won't get it. (I imagine no coach has ever recieved it without going to the tourney.) Funny -- this Providence team has lost 5 games this year by less than 5; everyone kept saying that just couldn't hit the big shot. Well, tonight they hit it.
In other Big East news, UConn showed that they are one of the best teams in the country by dismantling Cuse. I wouldn't be surprised to see UConn in the final four.

Random Musings

Last night I was getting ready to watch The Apprentice and was attempting to kill time by watching the Madison Square Garden channel. Expecting to see a Mets vs. Cardinals preseason game, I almost fell-off my chair from what I saw - GU alum Jerome Williams giving a narrative and doing interviews at a local dog show. The JYD seemed to know his stuff and actually sampled a doggie treat during the showing.

On a different note, anybody have any thoughts / opinion about how Temple should handle John Chaney? I must confess that I really didn't know enough about Temple / Chaney to realize that Chaney has a temper. While what he did was pretty bad, one has to stop and think to realize that many coaches send in "goons" to make games physical. The older JT would only send in Jerry Nichols to mix it up. Having said that, calling one of your own players a goon certainly doesn't help team morale.

Bracketology - Wednesday Edition

The Wednesday Edition of Bracketology still (somehow) thinks we're going to The Dance.

But we are now listed (along with GW, WV, and Norther Iowa) as one of the last 4 teams in. Plus, this is all predicated on the Big East getting 8 teams into the Tourney.

The ship is sinking boys...

Today's Bubble Watch on ESPN.com is not kind to the Hoyas:

Georgetown [16-10 (8-7), RPI: 72, SOS: 55] Was blasted at UConn for fourth straight loss and now is in real trouble. Profile weakening rapidly. Must beat Providence at home in finale to have any chance.

That being said, they haven't officially said we're out of the money. Plus, the more I think about it the more I like the idea of a solid NIT run. It might be better for our young team in the long term.

On-Campus arena

How cool do these plans look? I found this by doing some random searching on-line. Check out the design for an on-campus sports complex for basketball -- it has a full arena and three practice courts where the current outdoor tennis courts are. THIS is the kind of facility big-time basketball programs have. I hope JTIII can deliver it!

http://www.hgaarch.com/projects/college/georgtownmp1.htm