The Van Buren Boys


The Blogosphere's best source for the latest analysis and
commentary from the world of Georgetown Hoyas basketball.


Friday, August 17, 2007

5 To Win It All

The Sporting News has write-ups on the five college basketball teams it thinks could win a national championship next year. Along with Georgetown, it lists Kansas, Memphis, North Carolina, and UCLA. Here's the Georgetown entry:

Georgetown

Required NBA-type talent:
C Roy Hibbert, SF DaJuan Summers, SG Austin Freeman, PG Chris Wright.
Perimeter shooting: Absolutely. For a big freshman, Summers did a nice job in this department. Jonathan Wallace is accurate and makes them under pressure. But no one else is a volume shooter.
Size and power: Starting with 7-2 Hibbert, maybe more than any other contender.
Breakdown scorer: Georgetown did not have this sort of player last year, although Jeff Green was very clever at creating opportunities because of his ballhandling skill. Freeman might be the guy.
Point guard play: Not a strength. The Hoyas rely a lot on the Princeton system, which does not demand the point guard be creative. But if Wright can squeeze into the lineup crowded with Wallace and Jessie Sapp, he might provide this kind of spark.
X-factor: Can you win a championship playing Princeton ball? Well, yeah, you can win the Ivy League. And Georgetown proved you can win the Big East. Can you win it all, though? Or does the system ultimately stifle the greatest talents?


http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/news;_ylt=Ai.rbQYF1UAEqIWXudfWfwXevbYF?slug=ourpickforchampionisamon&prov=tsn&type=lgns

I have a few quibbles with this. First, and most obviously, after a Final Four appearance last year, there is no way that anyone can ask the question: "Can you win a championship playing Princeton ball?" We were two games from doing so last year. And why in the heck can an offense that permits you to win a Big East Championship and a Big East Regular Season Championship not permit the team to win a national championship. That's just silly. Also, how can you pencil Freeman and Wright in as NBA talent, and then claim that guard play is a problem? Finally, Wright is going to be a breakdown scorer before Freeman. Not that Freeman can't get to the hoop, but he won't really do so in a classic "breakdown."

1 comment:

bluediamond said...

Dear Diamond Mike- You have a great blogspot. You all are SERIOUS Hopa Hoop-a-Holics. My friend Zach Smith and I would like to join your blog spot. Zach has bonafide credentials, having followed Hoya hoops and Chris Wright especially since the kid was in diapers! let us know if we can become associates of the Van B Boys