Keep Those Heads Up

Back-to-back losses is always disheartening. But the Hoyas performed well, overall against Pitt. I hate to say it, but I felt myself nod along as Dicky V said that he gave Pitt an A+, but still gave the Hoyas an A. We lost a close game on the road to a very good team. And it's not just me and Dick that feel that way.

This was part of the analysis that appears on CBS Sportsline:

Georgetown lost its fifth game of the season on Jan. 13, but the defeat was as encouraging as a loss could be.

The Hoyas took on the best team in the Big East on the road, played a good game, and fell just a little bit short in a 74-69 loss to Pitt.

The Hoyas haven t always shown an ability to get up for less-talented teams this season, as losses to Old Dominion and Villanova show. They hadn't stepped up against comparable teams either, looking less than sharp in defeats against Oregon and Duke.

But Georgetown brought it's A-Game to Pittsburgh, and showed why it was ranked so high in the preseason polls. The offense clicked all night in a balanced attack that saw four players finish in double figures and a fifth wind up with eight points. The defense held Aaron Gray to 11 points.

The problem was that the Panthers didn't cooperate with the gameplan. The defensive numbers were ugly for each side, but that's largely because both teams hit shots with defenders in their face as well as wide-open looks. In this case, a good offense proved better than a good defense on both ends of the court.

If John Thompson III can bottle that effort the rest of the way, his team will be among the most dangerous in the country down the stretch. The coming weeks will tell whether this was the first sign of a Georgetown resurgence, or a random game where the team finally played to its
potential before falling back into maddening inconsistency.

http://www.sportsline.com/print/collegebasketball/teams/report/GTOWN/9933576

Taking Stock

The blog has been a very quiet place as of late. It wasn't until today that I could even bring myself to update the Hoyas' record in the left-hand column. The loss to Nova stung. Losses to the Wildcats always do. But I think it was especially bad because we had finally looked like a contender in our game against Notre Dame. I guess we have some room to grow soon.


Some quick thoughts. Throughout the pre-conference season we have been sounded like a broken record about Roy Hibbert's weakness. Over and over we've said that he needs to play more physical. He needs to finish shots and he needs to use his size. Villanova exposed how soft Roy really is. Hibbert finished with two points and not a single shot from the field. He could have had a shot, and potentially a field goal, if he had fought through the foul that led to his two free throws, but I digress. Roy's lack of productiveness can partially be attributed to the excellent job Villanova did keeping a hand in our guards faces and preventing them from seeing the passing lanes into the paint. But the bigger problem was Roy's inability to get position. There were definitely a few times when he was able to get open, and you could hear the collective gasp from the crowd as they hoped in vain that someone would get him the ball. But these opportunities were few and far between. A physical center, even one that is much shorter that Roy, can dominate him if they are willing to push him around a bit. In the Big East you should find lots of candidates willing to take on this role. To be honest, I don't know what Roy can do to overcome this problem. I just don't think he has it in him.

My second observation has to deal with the full court press. Nova threw a press against the Hoyas for the entire game. Immediately after the contest I thought we had done an okay against it. There wasn't a single 10-second violation. We had a few turnovers off the press, but we were throwing the ball away all over the place in our half court set too. But the more I think about it, the more I realized how devastating the press really was. We methodically broke Villanova's pressure, but we did it slowly. As a result we were consistently forced to run our half-court offense with only 25 seconds. I think this made it much harder for us to get good looks. JTIII definitely needs to address this issue and find a way to get across half court more quickly.

Moving forward, all is far from lost. We have a tough game this Saturday, which I personally think we should and will lose. But the season is still quite young, and this past week as shown that the Big East is wide open. Connecticut and Marquette, two excellent teams that have been ranked for much of the early season, both have losing records in conference so far. Providence, a team that no one has talked much about, is 2-0 with a quality win against Marquette. That Notre Dame team that we killed went out and beat a hot West Virginia team. In short, the conference is going to be tough, but everyone is going to lose games. We need to keep our heads up, learn from our mistakes, and improve. If we do, we'll be fine. We have the talent, we just need to find the passion and execute.

Go Hoyas!

Climbing Back

Every Sunday night CBS SportsLine writer Gary Parrish ranks his best 26 teams. This week the Hoyas made it back to the 26 spot (what Parrish refers to as the "and one" position).


I think Parrish's one liner about the Hoyas gets it just about perfect. He says: "Suddenly the Hoyas are playing like they're supposed to be playing." I couldn't have put it better myself.

Bring on Nova!

PS - The best thing about going to the game tonight will be avoiding all of the clips about Nova's '85 upset of the Hoyas on ESPN. It was over a decade ago...could be please move on?

Georgetown vs. Nova

It doesn't get much better than this. I hope a lot more students make it back for this game. We've got to shut down Scottie Reynolds. This is his first game back in D.C. and he lit up Providence on Saturday. I say stick Pat Jr. on him.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/07/AR2007010701250.html

WE ARE GEORGETOWN!!!!

Total domination from start to finish. We looked like a top 10 team for the first time this year. This was even more impressive than the Michigan shelacking. IPB claims that Egerson was a "cancer." I still say we are going to miss him, but I was thrilled at how Pat has stepped it up. He looked great on defense.

Freeman and Wright light it up

As expected, it was the Austin and Chris show as Dematha topped St. John's at Trinity University. Freeman had 27 and Wright had 31. Coach Broadus was in attendance with Sapp and Ticket.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/04/AR2007010401876.html

OUCH!!!!

EGERSON GONE.


This is a huge loss and could really impact how well we do this season. Summers and Tyler better step it up. As this coincides with the beginning of the new semester, I'm guessing it was related to academics. Marc was a pretty risky selection in that department. I'm sorry the risk did not pay off -- he was a nice player and seemed like a good guy. JTIII's first recruiting class is turning into a major bust. Marc and Thornton are gone, and Spann has yet to see major PT. Sapp seems to be the only real success from that class. (He was ranked in the top 50, and none of the others were, so that is not shocking.)

http://guhoyas.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/010407aaa.html

Gauging Interest

There are two interesting Hoya events on the horizon.

The first is the January 4th meeting of St. John's and Dematha at Trinity College.

http://thevanburenboys.blogspot.com/2006/12/january-4th.html

Who is interested in this? It would be a great opportunity to see Freeman and Wright in action; and maybe also to catch Braswell if he has rejoined the team.

The second event is the banquet for the 100th anniversary of Georgetown basketball. This is on February 10th. It could be a pretty neat event.

http://guhoyas.cstv.com/ot/gu-hoyas-unlimited-events.html#100

On to Notre Dame....

We need another strong performance on perimeter defense to beat the Irish. They are largely a one-trick pony and will probably be without one of their strongest horses.

Notre Dame's McAlarney suspended after arrest

Notre Dame (No. 24 ESPN/USA Today; No. 19 AP) suspended starting guard Kyle McAlarney indefinitely after he was arrested on a marijuana possession charge. McAlarney, who had been averaging 10.3 points a game, did not play Saturday in Notre Dame's 95-66 victory over Stony Brook. "He made a grave mistake, he knows it, we've discussed it, he's handled it like a man, he will take his medicine like a man," Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said after the game.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=2714393

McAlarney is a fantastic shooter as the IPB can attest to and his loss will be huge for the Irish. As I posted earlier, he was a major target for JTIII and I've been pissed that we missed out on him. Against Maryland, McAlarney shot 4-6 from three; against Alabama he was 4-6; and in his last game against Rider he was 7-9. We will be very luck if he does not suit up against the Hoyas.

DEFENSE

Against Michigan we played great perimeter defense for the first time this year. That was the difference between a close game and a blowout. I thought that the team played okay on offense but our defense really was outstanding. Jeff and Roy still need to step up. Roy was soft for most of the game and Jeff was agressive but off. Egerson was huge and really made a difference in the game and Wallace was steady. I thought Barker summed it up well.

The Hoyas did not play particularly well relative to their ceiling or Thompson's demanding standards. But a fair performance still yielded a comfortable victory -- both a tribute to Georgetown's development and an indictment of the Wolverines (12-3), who were outclassed from the get-go by the Hoyas.

http://washingtontimes.com/sports/20061231-014048-2383r.htm

SLAM Mag interview with Chris Wright

There is a lot of great stuff here, including the mention that Chris has a 3.48 GPA and is fully qualified.

On committing to Georgetown:
It was mostly Coach Thompson. He basically personally recruited me himself. I felt comfortable with the team and felt we could win a championship my freshman year. Just being home, the school, the team. He didn’t promise me anything, but he said I have a very good chance to play big minutes as a freshman. I don’t know if I’m gonna start, but if I don’t I know I’ll contribute. There were too many schools on the east coast for me to follow Coach Sendek to Arizona State (Chris previously committed to NC State, before Herb Sendek was fired and subsequently hired by Arizona State). Freshman year, we’re winning the chip. Mark my words.

On playing with high school rival and fellow DC area top senior Austin Freeman (Dematha) in college:
Actually, we’re real good friends. We’re enemies on the court because of the rivalry, but off the court we’re the best of friends. I always wanted to play with Austin. We had chances to play with each other (in AAU), but it never worked out. This time, when he called me to play on his team, the timing was right. We know that Georgetown is coming back. Me and Austin are both anxious to get there. We know we’re gonna be a part of something good and we just wanna keep it going.
. . . .

On making the McDonald’s All-American game:
Those things are politics. It’s no way that Paul Harris (Syracuse freshman) should not have made the McDonald’s game last year. I wanna make it, but if I don’t, I wont cry over it.

On the strengths of his game:
My speed and quickness and ability to create shots for other players.

On his weaknesses:
Full court man-to-man defense.

On his favorite high school player to watch:
Austin (Freeman) because he can score in so many ways. People don’t know, but he’s explosive. He will dunk on you.

http://slamonline.com/online/2006/12/chris-wright-qa/

"Point Forward"

Barker Davis's article today on Georgetown's victory over Towson refers to Jeff Green as the Hoyas' "dynamic point forward." I like that. I've never heard anyone referred to as a "point forward" before, but I think it fits Green nicely.

That being said, Green was a relative stinker last night. His final line wasn't bad (12 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists -- he led the team in the latter two categories), but he definitely seemed to lack something. Roy was not very good either -- though he did have a beautiful move in the low post, and showed flashes of assertiveness on several occasions.

The media reports imply that Green and Hibbert's lack of production is not a problem. They focus instead on the way everyone else is stepping up. I agree. It's nice to see a balanced attack again. That's the way our offense is designed to work and we are much more effective when that happens. I am concerned, however, that Jeff and Roy aren't stepping up against relatively weak opponents. Undoubtedly, teams are gunning for our two men. But great players have to find a way to fight through that. If they can't do it against the Towson's of the world, they aren't going to do it against Pitt.

Still, I am happy with the rest of the team's progress. Summers is definitely the real deal. Is there anything he can't do? He scored a team high 18 points (7 for 9), which included a 4 for 6 performance from behind the arc. Crawford also showed that the shooting clinic he put on at McDonough against Winston-Salem was no fluke. He shot 2 for 3 from three-point land. It looks like everyone was right about his shooting ability. And Wallace returned to his early season shooting form; he was 4 for 4 from behind the arc.

Sightings: Ashanti Cook stopped by to catch the game on his way back to the West Coast from his current home in Germany. When they showed him on the jumbotron he got the loudest ovation of the night (that's not saying much since the crowd was tiny). It was great to see Ashanti, but the team's recent shooting is almost making me believe that we can get on with out him.

Apologies: For the first time this season I have to agree with the idiots in the row behind me. Their basketball IQ is very low, and they are constantly saying the stupidest things I've ever heard. But even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes. Their attacks on Rivers have been relentless. Last night they had a reason to attack him. He was definitely the worst player on the floor. In the span of about two minutes he had a three pointer completely blocked and air balled a second one. Plus, he looked slow on defense. I'll cut him some slack because he's a frosh and it can be hard to come back from a badly twisted ankle. But it was really pretty embarrassing.

Great Article Re: Red

See great article below from Jackie MacMullan of The Boston Globe about Red Auerbach's friendship with a local doctor (urologist), who was Red's traveling companion for the last few decades.

A few highlights:
(1) Red took in his last draft from his DC home with Thomspson Jr., JTIII, and Alonzo Mourning.
(2) At age 86, Red suffered from a severe urinary tract infection and was horribly sick, feverish, and shivering when he called his old friend, Dr. Lieberman. Lieberman recognized the gravity of Red's condition and called an ambulance, which was immediately dispatched to Red's apartment. When the EMTs arrived, Red refused to leave his apartment for the hospital until the Celtics game he was watching wrapped up! The EMTs stood there incredulously as he made them watch the last half of the 4th Quarter. Unbelievable.

This is a great article.

For the basketball fans out there, I also commend to you John Feinstein's "Let Me Tell You a Story." It is not a mere hagiography of Red. Rather, it transcends Red and the Celtics and should be read by anyone who considers himself a true fan of the game. For the skeptics, I have a copy if you would like to borrow it. I guarantee you will enjoy it.

We all owe Red a huge debt, as I have absolutely ZERO doubt in my mind that we would not be attending Georgetown games or enjoying things like March Madness (which is absolutely stunning since Red never coached a college game except for a very brief stint as an assistant at, of all places, Duke!!!) or the NBA Finals, without his involvement in the game. This is not hyperbole.

While Naismith might have invented the game, Red was almost single-handedly responsible for popularizing it.

I know his presence will be missed at Verizon this year.

FYI--MacMullan gets one fact wrong in the article. Red's famous Tuesday lunches were always held at The China Doll (which is now sadly closed) not China Blossom.

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2006/12/20/doctors_hours_emptier/

A plea

The stats don't lie....

I checked the stats of each Georgetown player and what I discovered about Marc Eggerson confirm what I, along with others, have been noting anecdotally.

Of those who attempt a significant amount of 3s (which I am arbitrarily limiting to 10 TPA or more to date), he is by FAR the worst three point shooter on the team, averaging an abysmal 20% from beyond the arc (5/25 so far this season).

His overall FG% hovers around 44% (27/61).

HOWEVER, if you take away his absolutely gut-wrenching three point shots, his FG% rises to over 60% (22/36)!!!! Most of those buckets, as we have seen, occur close to the basket, where Egerson is not afraid to take it and I give him big props for this.

Now I realize no one (except for maybe Steve Kerr) shoots as well from behind the arc as inside the arc. But these stats are startling.

It does not take a genius to figure out that Eggerson's outside shooting form looks pathetic. While we might be able to get away with his ill-advised 3s against the likes of James Madison and Winston Salem St., mark (no pun intended!) my words that his shot selection is going to hurt us eventually.

For a team that does not attempt a lot of FGs during a game, shot selection is critical.

So my plea is for Eggerson to recognize his limitations and stick with what he does best, which is taking it to the rim and cleaning up around the rim.

Part of what makes a great TEAM is recognizing player's individuals capabilities as well as their limits and figuring out how this best helps the team.

Now Eggerson has a couple of more years to go and might be able to work on his 3s next summer, but the regular season is not a time to do it.

Iverson Trade

Let me just say for the record that I am absolutely ecstatic that Allen Iverson did not wind up in Boston, who was rumored to be one of the potential suitors. I have been experiencing sleepless nights for days thinking about the prospect of Iverson in Celtic green. This is not a bad deal for the Nuggets, although Philadelphia may get the better end of the bargain long-term provided they draft well. It would have been a disaster for Boston though.

Something makes me think that Red may have worked some magic here one last time!!!

I am uncorking a bottle to celebrate tonight!!!!!

Happy Birthday, Stallion!

In honor of your birthday, I thought I would post a picture of an individual whom I recall you making your "bitch" on a cold January night in 1997.

The Blowout

I wanted to give a quick recount of the GU - Winston-Salem game. The IBP and I attended and I think that he'll agree it was a great time. McDonough was absolutely rocking the whole time.

Georgetown, unsurprisingly, was absolutely dominant. Not only did we win by 44, but that included a 30-1 run and we were able to prevent Winston-Salem from making a field goal for almost 12 minutes at one stretch.

Tyler Crawford finally demonstrated that shooting touch we've heard so much about. He was just stroking it. And it was great to see the big smile on his face when he hit his third in a row. The kid plays with passion.

Sapp continued to look good. He really has been doing it all, and I think that it's starting to get to the point where Wallace must be feeling some pressure to step up his game.

I also thought that Summers looked fantastic. He had an alley oop dunk that was absolutely sick. In fact, he looked so good that I told IBP that I wouldn't be surprised if he was the best player on the team next year. Everything just seems so effortless for him.

All of those great things aside, I was again disappointed with Hibs and Green. Hibbert is the definition of weak. He ended up with quite a few points due to a solid performance from the free-throw line, but he could not finish anything. That was especially troubling given the team of midgets that W-S threw against the Hoyas. The tallest player on the Ram's squad is listed at 6-7 and I'm sure that's a lie. I would be surprised if anyone on that squad was over 6-5.

Green was completely invisible. He ended the game with only 5 points and was a complete non-factor. That being said, he did not play at all in the second half. This was very strange. At first, I thought that maybe he was not feeling well or that he was possibly being benched because of his lack-luster play. But his big smile on the bench leads me to believe that is not the case. We'll have to do some follow up on that one.

Overall, I was happy to have a solid win over a very bad team. I was also glad to see the guards' play continue to improve. I am, however, concerned about our disappearing big men. We'll have to see if things change when we move into the Big East season.

Bam-Bam is Ripped!!!

Check out this shot from the Post's profile of TC.

Tyler sounds like a great kid and a very important piece if the team is going to go far this year. You can't have too many guys like him -- athletic, reasonably skilled, great attitude, always plays within himself, works hard and gets the guys around him to work harder. I have to say, the Esherick Error ended with a pretty good class of recruits.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/15/AR2006121501859.html

January 4th

Freeman (and Braswell) versus Wright. Who's in?

Backcourt duo has Hoyas hopeful

ESPN's recently revised recruiting rankings list Freeman, a 6-foot-4 shooting guard, as the nation's No. 9 player and Wright, a 6-2 point guard, as No. 20, giving the Hoyas next season's most coveted incoming backcourt. . . . Freeman expects to return to the lineup next week. And both DeMatha and St. John's hope to be at full strength and retain their current positions as the area's top-ranked squads when they meet Jan. 4 at Trinity University. "It'll be one of the last times we'll go against each other wearing different uniforms, and it's going to be very competitive," Freeman said of the matchup against Wright. "We've become real close and developed a tight friendship. We call each other all the time. That's one of the reasons we've got to beat them. I don't want to hear it from him if we lose." Regardless of the outcome Jan. 4, Thompson and the Hoyas will be wearing the smiles of the ultimate winners.

http://www.washtimes.com/sports/20061216-120524-5479r.htm

Winston-Salem

I think tomorrow will be a bad night for Winston-Salem. Based upon the press coverage, it would seem that the Hoyas were thoroughly embarassed by their loss to ODU at McDonough. I would not expect them to lose there again this season.

Unfortunately, that is where Winston-Salem has to play Georgetown. The Rams are a dismal 1-12 on the year. Their one win came against a non-NCAA school--Anderson. In the majority of their games Winston-Salem has only scored in the 40s. They have played two other Big East teams and have lost by 35 (to the Irish) and 20 (to South Florida).

I feel bad for them.

Go Hoyas!

The Answer in Boston

Jim O'Brien has lots of nice things to say about Iverson and notes that he'd be a good fit in Boston. I wonder if they miss Jim up there. It seems like as soon as your son leaves Georgetown the Celtics fire you. Hopefully, Jeremiah will have four good years in Hoya gray.


http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dailydime-061214a&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab6pos1

This Year & Next

Jerry Meyer on the Hoyas this year and next. He does not think that Austin Freeman will go pro after next year and notes that the Hoyas will be getting a major back court upgrade with Freeman and Wright.
He also has some interesting analysis about the Hoyas woes so far this year. He is the first observer to actually point out that the guards have been playing well (Seth Davis, I'm looking at you). It is the big men who have been absent. But anaylsis seems to stop there without any conclusion, other than the Hoyas will be a factor but probably won't be in the Final Four (as if only the 4 best teams make the final four).

http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=616455

Will Iverson be reborn in Boston?

Money quote:

For three years, Boston has been stockpiling assets and waiting for someone like Iverson to become available. Now they could probably get him for Sebastian Telfair, Gerald Green (that part would kill me), their 2007 No. 1 and Theo Ratlif's corpse, er, contract (which expires in 2008) and make immediate noise in an awful conference. Remember, in a league where only a few teams have more than one good perimeter defender, the Celtics could exploit matchups every night by playing Iverson and Pierce at the same time. I also believe those guys would refine their games to make room for the other, because that's what stars do when they hit their 30s -- they sacrifice shots for a chance to win, whether you're talking about Shaq in Miami, Aguirre in Detroit, Monroe on the Knicks, Stackhouse on the Mavs, etc.). This could work.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/061213

It's not how you start....

The Examiner has a piece on the Hoyas that includes a few encouraging words for Pat Ewing, Sr. I thought Jeff Green actually had the most encouraging and articulate words for the fans:

Our defense is getting better, our communication is getting better, and at the end we’re going to be a much different team than we were at the beginning.

http://www.examiner.com/a-450888~It_s_not_how_you_start.html

The role communication plays in such a precise offense cannot be overstated. That was the overridding take-away from the Oregon debacle. The players were visably frustrated with each other not being in position. Even against Oral, there were a few time outs where Macklin or Summers was pulled aside. Speaking of Oral, since nobody did a recap, I thought someone should at least give props to the students for the cheers (and for high attendance in the middle of finals). I counted 10 different chants at the Oral Roberts game. In addition to the three most popular (Hoya Saxa, "Let's Go Hoyas," and "Defense), these all made their first appearances of the year:
1. "That's not Christian" (in response to two near fights)
2. "Our Green's better" (Jeff vs. future NBAer Caleb)
3. "We're not Kansas"
4. "God's on our Side" (better against Notre Dame)
5. "Ev-o-lution"
6. "These refs suck" (so true)
7. "Anal's better" (totally inappopriate)

This Week's Polls

Play better and get less respect. That seems to be the message the pollsters are sending to the Hoyas this week. After destroying JMU and easily beating a good Oral Roberts team Georgetown finally looked like the squad that got all of the hype at the beginning of the year.

And the result? Less votes in the polls. I didn't expect us to vault back into the Top 25. We don't deserve that (yet). But I did think that a couple of the early believers might start turning an eye back towards the Blue & Gray. No such luck.

Last week, after their back-to-back losses to Oregon and Duke, GU received only 5 votes in the ESPN/USA Today poll and 60 votes in the AP poll. After a very impressive week, the Hoyas now only managed 2 votes from ESPN/USA Today voters and 24 votes from the AP.

It looks like the road back to respect will be a long one.

Click here to see all the rankings.

Professor Kirkpatrick RIP

One of my favorite GU professors.


http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/12/08/kirkpatrick.obit.ap/index.html

Tomorrow's Game

I am not sure what to make of Oral Roberts. They obviously beat a very good Kansas team (78-71), but their record thus far is anything but spectacular. The Golden Eagles sport a familiar 4-3 record coming into the Verizon Center and most of their opponents have not been as good as Kansas.

Oral Roberts has wins over the University of Louisiana, Lafayette (54-51), Panhandle State (91-41), and Lamar (88-63). But they have lost to Loyola-Marymount (68-65), Tulsa (75-57), and Akron (61-59). Their road record is 1-2 (Kansas being their only road win).

Apparently, since beating Kansas Oral Roberts has struggled from the field. But in its most recent game, the Golden Eagles' victory over Lamar, they shot 54%, including 8-15 from behind the arc.

I think that a big part of the GU-ORU match up is going to be our perimeter defense. In beating Kansas ORU was 11-19 from three-point land. That was the difference maker. If we can take that away from them, and then shoot anything approaching what we did against JMU, we will be more than fine.

P.S. - Obviously, no one posted a review of the Madison game (I guess we were all content to simply bask in the glory of our only dominating performance thus far). However, I couldn't let the victory go without at least some reference. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I will let this speak for itself.

Profile of Father Drinan

Great piece on Father Drinan on Law.com.

Drinan waves hello, then raises his hands and exults, "God heard our prayers!" All who hear him know he's talking about the results of the midterm election.

http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1164896312488&rss=newswire

Further confirmation

of my previous post.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=263410087

Check out the 3-point stats (12-28!).

This team will not be the pushover of previous years.

We better be all over these guys...

Is Villanova

supposed to be any good this year? Thoughts?

Rivals ranks the Big East's 2007 freshmen

They name Austin Freeman the best perimeter scorer, best shooter, best player in the clutch, highest basketball IQ, and player with the largest impact among all Big East recruits. Boy, we could sure use him right now.

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/news?slug=rivals-76192&prov=rivals&type=story_recruiting

Easterbrook on Stallion's favorite

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=easterbrook/061205#cheerleader

MASN is the Georgetown network!

Great news. Hopefully, one day we will be watching home games in MASN arena.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/04/AR2006120400525.html

5 Votes

The ESPN/USA Today poll is out. As was expected, with back-to-back losses the Hoyas drop out of the top 25. The thing that hurts the most, however, is that we only received 5 votes. Ouch.

Update: The AP poll is out. Georgetown is no longer a member of the top 25, though we did manage to muster 60 votes there; the second most votes among an unranked team. The only team to receive more votes and not be ranked was Oregon, who received 107.

Two Hoyas win Marshalls

http://www.marshallscholarship.org/winners.html

This is a nice little run for GU. That makes 4 in the last two years. Interesting how Princeton cleaned up on these after getting shut out of the Rhodes (or, potentially, declined the Rhodes in favor of the Marshall).

Maryland's Vasquez

On a side note, let me go on the record now to say that Maryland got quite a coup in recruiting Vasquez. You heard it here first. Diamond and I watched him dominate a high school all star game this summer, which is where I first got wind of this kid.

Although he played a poor game this evening, this kid can clearly play and I expect we will be hearing a lot about him over the next four years. Too bad he is not at Georgetown. He possesses a high basketball IQ and is a fabulous passer. He is a big reason for Maryland's early season success, tonight's result notwithstanding.

Notre Dame Scouting Report

I attended this evening's Maryland-Notre Dame game. The scouting report is fairly simple--Notre Dame, like last year's squad, essentially does nothing but shoot threes. We must guard the three point shot against Notre Dame or we will be in big trouble because Notre Dame has about three shooters who are fairly deadly from the outside. Notre Dame also proved fairly adept at driving the ball inside, thus causing the Maryland defense to collapse on the paint, which was inevitably followed by a kickout to an outside shooter who more often than not nailed the shot at a pivotal time. Notre Dame attempted 58 shots, 24 of which were threes (over 40%).

Don't get me wrong...I am not ready to proclaim Notre Dame a beast of the Big East, but I think they are better than last season and should not be overlooked. I believe they might surprise a few teams in the Big East.

At least we no longer have to worry about Bowman fouling these guys while they jack up threes. PE Jr. now seems to have occupied this role, but hopefully he will be riding pine most of the season.

The real story on Gerry McNamara...

according to The Globe's Peter May.

Note who will be coaching him at Bakersfield.


Tuning up with a Jam session
Former Syracuse guard Gerry McNamara is back in the US, and look for him to surface in the NBA's Development League with the Bakersfield Jam. McNamara had signed with the Greek team Olympiakos, but the deal was only for Euroleague play, which, depending on how well the team does, can mean upward of 20 games. (The rest of the schedule is against Greek teams.) McNamara played one minute in the first five Euroleague games. "We asked out," reported McNamara's agent, Bill Neff. "He was getting paid, but he wasn't playing. He wanted to play." Neff said he asked for a "Euroleague only" deal with Olympiakos in part so that his client could get healthy. He said McNamara played with a bad groin all through his senior year at Syracuse and was still hobbled when he went to predraft camp and later when he was trying out for the Orlando Magic. "He just never let it heal, because Gerry wanted to play," Neff said. "He played great one day at the predraft camp. After that, he played well enough to make Jordan Farmar a first-round pick." Neff said McNamara still had options overseas, including one from a team in Iran. "We're not going to field that one," he said. The Jam are coached by former UCLA/URI coach Jim Harrick, and Neff said McNamara thinks that's the way to go. "He can always go back to Europe if he wants to. He has made money [from the Olympiakos deal]. But the NBDL thing looks the most intriguing right now." Among those who think McNamara has a shot in the NBA is Celtics hoops boss Danny Ainge. "In the right conditions, I think he can be an NBA player," Ainge said. "He can shoot. He's tough. So, yeah, he could be an NBA player."

The Dukie's Take on The Game

Here's a link to an article about tomorrow's game from the The Chronicle, an independent daily at Duke. It includes some pretty insightful comments from a few Blue Devil players about where they went wrong last year, and why they think they are in a better position to beat us this year. The article also notes that Duke got a bit of a warm up game by playing Air Force, who runs a Princeton style offense similar to the Hoyas'.

Not to Beat a Dead Horse

But I thought this AP article by Joseph White did a good job summarizing what we all reported about Georgetown's position following the Oregon game.

First, J-Wal accurately identifies the major problem with the team:

"We need to stop thinking so much," said Wallace, a junior guard and the only player to have a decent game in Wednesday night's 57-50 loss to the Ducks. "And just relax and play basketball."

And the author accurately explains what a disappointment Hibbert and Green have been (reflecting Ryan and my respective positions nicely):

The losing would be easier to stomach if it were only attributable to the younger players, but the junior frontcourt duo that was supposed to lead Georgetown to its best season in a decade is off to a slow start. Green and Hibbert didn't score a single point between them in the first half of the Oregon game. They finished with nine points on combined 4-for-11 shooting.

Hibbert simply appeared to have an off night. Ducks center Maarty Leunen pushed the limits of contact nearly every time down the court, grabbing Hibbert's jersey and staying physical in the paint. Hibbert's contested 2-footers would bounce on the rim and not fall in.

But Green simply went missing in action for long stretches, a common occurrence this season. He has failed to reach double figures in three of his last four games. He took only two shots in the loss to Old Dominion, four shots in a victory over Fairfield and four shots in the loss to Oregon. He has the talent to take over a game, but he is too often concerned with making the extra pass instead of looking for his shot.

On Thursday, Green pleaded guilty to taking the lessons of being a team player to the extreme.

"That's just me," he said. "By me being myself, it can hurt me just as much as help me."

Green said he has been limited by double teams and foul trouble - he's fouled out twice already this year. He is averaging 10.8 points, close to his average (11.9) from last season, but that team had Brandon Bowman, Ashanti Cook and Darrel Owens on the perimeter to share the scoring load.

Green acknowledged that he needs to assert himself more. His coach wholeheartedly agreed. As Thompson III said earlier this year: "When he's off, more than likely we will be off."

"We've got to get him more touches," the coach said Thursday. "And he has to be more aggressive."

But the most important message from the article may have come from JT2:

Jonathan Wallace was answering question after question about Georgetown's early season struggles when a familiar, booming voice interrupted.

"What month is it?" said John Thompson, the longtime Hoyas coach and father of current coach John Thompson III.

"November," Wallace answered.

"Thank you," said Thompson, who then walked away, having made his point.

There's still a lot of season left. Bring on Duke!

On to happier thoughts....

We are getting the two best players out of Dematha in 2007 and 2008 -- two top 20 recruits, one of whom is a guard. This makes me feel warm inside on this very cold day for Hoyas fans.

Small Consolation

It doesn't take away the sting of last night's wretched performance, but at least it helps me believe that we didn't lose to an absolutely horrible team. SI.com's Luke Winn has listed the Oregon Ducks as number 14 in NCAA Power Rankings.

Oregon Ducks (6-0) If the coach of any Georgetown opponent were to come into a game saying, "We're going to guard 7-foot-2 Roy Hibbert with a 6-9 guy all night, and he'll hold Big Roy to four points and zero offensive rebounds," I'd question his sanity. But that's what Ernie Kent did Wednesday at the Verizon Center, putting Maarty Leunen on the Hoyas' center & and it worked. Extremely well. After the Ducks' 57-50 win, Kent said the game plan was a matter of resistance: "Do you go big to match their size? We said no." Point guard Aaron Brooks, who led the way with 15 points, gave props to Leunen's D. "It's all about Maarty," he said. "If he hadn't done that, there's no way we could have won that game." Now, can the Ducks get more than one vote in the next AP Poll?

Calling Jeff Green (and Roy Hibbert)

There is no need to pile on so I will keep this brief.

Tonight's loss was/is a major disappointment and while you can slice it and dice it any number of ways, we are going to lose and continue to lose more games when your two alleged best players (i.e., Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert) combine for 8 points of total offense.

The expectations for Hibbert are obviously high every time he touches the ball and he did not live up to those expectations this evening. But at least he took some shots and made some attempts to go at the basket. I will cut him a little more slack because overall he has been active this season and as of last game his FG% was hovering at nearly 70%. Point is he played...he might not have played well on the offensive end but at least he played.

The real story of this season so far has been a series of uninspired performances by Jeff Green (the Ball St game essentially does not count since this is akin to stealing from the blind). Don't get me wrong....it's not what Jeff is doing on the court, it's what he's not doing. His play, or lack thereof, has made him irrelevant. For many of this season's contests we might as well be playing with 4 men on the court. Until Green decides to wear the mantle of leader and demonstrate that leadership through his play on the court, we will continue to struggle and probably lose more games than we win. For someone who has been hyped as a top-10 NBA pick, he sure isn't playing like it.

This is a pretty simple thing...if Jeff Green (or Roy Hibbert) had a somewhat decent, not great, but decent, game this evening, we win. They didn't and we lost. End of story.

I would love to see these two, especially Green, publicly call themselves out, acknowledge the poor play, and step it up. This does not seem to be too much to ask.

On to Duke!!!

Tonight and next year

Here are a few good articles on the game tonight. Everybody is noting how Sapp and Summers have stepped it up. They will both be key this year.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/28/AR2006112801732.html

http://washingtontimes.com/sports/20061128-115555-9166r.htm

Also, ESPN has its updating rankings of the class of 2007. Freeman is at #9 and Wright is at #20. Is there any way one of these guys can graduate this semester? What is truly amazing is that only Sead is scheduled to graduate at the end of this year. Theoretically, we could have the entire team we have now, plus Freeman and Wright at this time in 2007. Wow.

http://insider.espn.go.com/ncb/recruiting/tracker/espn150?&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fncb%2frecruiting%2ftracker%2fespn150


Update: Freeman dunking:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zc_us9bmXhw

From Insiders:

"Austin Freeman is a tremendous college prospect because he is physically strong and mentally mature young man. He is a very consistent and efficient player. He is also a very versatile player, because unlike many players today he has a complete game. He can handle, pass, shoot, defend and rebound. Freeman has elite scoring instincts and reminds me of a young Mitch Richmond. One of Austin?s special skills is that he makes every one around him better. He is a winner, has a hi basketball IQ and very good knowledge of the game. He understands his role and is the consummate team player. Freeman knows how to play with and without the ball. Austin is a very strong physical specimen with NBA skills. He should be able to make the adjustment to college very quickly because of physical maturity and versatility. Austin is a smooth perimeter player, and has deceptive quickness with the ball. He penetrates with ease and is adept going both to his right and left. Freeman is a pure scorer. He is an explosive offensive player. Austin has a tremendous mid range game with an excellent shooting touch. His strength allows him to finish in traffic and elevate with the best of them. He will be a go to guy early in his college career. He has lost weight in the past year it has helped his explosiveness. He needs to continue to improve his lateral quickness so that he will be able to defend at the highest level in college."

Oregon Cheat Sheet

I don't know much about Oregon's team this year, other than the fact that they are 5-0. That being said, they have not played the world's toughest schedule so far.

DATE	OPPONENT	RESULT
11/10	Lehigh	W 77-65
11/11	Cal State Northridge	W 84-73
11/12	Portland State	W 116-68
11/17	UC-Irvine	W 85-42
11/20	at Rice	W 79-73

The one thing that is clear from Oregon's games thus far, however, is that they are definitely capable of putting up some points. Let's hope our boys are ready to play some tough D.

"Beatable"

I don't want to get ahead of ourselves. The team definitely needs to focus on tonight's game against Oregon. But I wanted to briefly comment on this Saturday's big match up against Duke.

I caught the first half of the Duke-Indiana game last night. Duke was up by 12 at the end of the half, but they only ended up winning by 3 (54-51). What I took away from the game, is that this Duke team is infinitely "beatable."

Even when Duke was up big, they looked sloppy -- not at all what you expect from a Coach K team. They definitely have some players that can shoot, but no one looked unstoppable. McRoberts did not have a good game and, in my estimation, Greg Paulus is a disaster. He's supposed to be fully recovered from his foot injury, but he did not look good. That didn't surprise me, because I've always thought his play was questionable. I would take J-Wal (or even Sapp) over him any day.

I was most impressed by junior DeMarcus Nelson. But you have to assume that he hasn't been a big contributor for the Blue Devils the past two seasons for a reason. If GU plays tough defense they can make him a non-factor.

In short, after watching Duke play I feel much better about our ability to go into Cameron and win this game. Now the question becomes whether we actually do it.

P.S. - Florida, on the other hand, looks very impressive. They beat Southern University by 56! Granted, Southern was 0-5 going into the game, but the Gators victory shows that they have that killer instinct. GU needs to learn to put its lesser opponents away in that manner.

Domination

I thought that this was our most impressive performance this season. We showed that we could effectively attack a zone, albeit a weak one, and maintained balanced scoring from a number of players and on a number of different plays.

Here are my player evals:

Hibbert--Very quiet game but had some nice rebounds. The drive and dunk was fantastic. Why the heck couldn't he defend his man? He never even put his arms up. That needs to be a focus for him this week.

Green--Back to form. Dominated the first half.

Sapp--Great game. I love how he drove to the hoop and he hit a 3. He attacks the zone better than any of our other guards.

Wallace--Quiet game. He took a terrible 3 and just wasn't hitting much of anything. He also missed a layup.

Summers--Summers is a stud. He will be a great Hoya. I love his blocking on defense and he has a nice stroke.

Egerson--Nice game. He hit a three and a sweet little mid-range. He is playing with confidence and doesn't seem to be pressing after losing the starting gig.

Ticket--Loved Vernon's dunks. He is still very raw but lightning quick and freakishly athletic. The dunk off of the Egerson miss was incredible.

Pat--The three will only embolden him.

Rivers--He's a players. His 3 looked good and he showed the ability to dribble-drive. Very happy with his game. Evidently, Doc was in the crowd last night.

All in all, a good win and fine tune-up for Oregon. We really still need to step up our defensive intensity. Oregon's guards are going to eat us alive if we don't tighten things up.

I was happy with the student turnout considering they just got back from vacation and are heading into finals ... and this was Ball State.

Articles:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/27/AR2006112701616.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/27/AR2006112701601.html

http://washingtontimes.com/sports/20061128-125201-8013r.htm

http://washingtontimes.com/sports/20061128-120348-6321r.htm

Update: The Post has a great video with scenes from the game and interviews with the three Thompsons.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2006/11/28/VI2006112800424.html

Update 2: Another Post video:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2006/11/28/VI2006112800640.html

Ball State

Great article from the Post over the weekend on the brothers Thompson meeting tomorrow. This has to be a wierd experience for all parties. I just hope we come out and kick some ass. I don't want this coming down to the wire. Anybody else nervous?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/25/AR2006112500585.html

Paging Mr. Green....

What the heck is going on??? We need Jeff in order to do anything this year. He turned in another lackluster performance against Fairfield. At least, Summers stepped up and carried the team. Rivers, Sapp, and J-Wal also played well. I assume they used the zone to neutralize Roy, though no one on Fairfield is taller than 6'7. Egerson and Ticket got extended PT and reportedly looked good. (Note: Summers got the start over Egerson. JTIII is using him as the zone buster.) I didn't see it but based on the box score here are my thoughts.

1. We need to twist the dagger when we build a lead. We let Fairfield back into the game at the end of the first half.

2. Summers and Ticket are going to live up to their billing sooner rather than later.

3. Rivers is better than we expected him to be.

4. J-Wall is shooting well over 50% from behind the arc. He should take the shot every time it is open. Period.

5. We are still out of sync and not clicking. Jeff needs to get out of his funk. We need to utilize Roy better and clearly our defense is not where it needs to be -- but the trajectory is correct.

Here are some articles:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/22/AR2006112202174.html

http://www.connpost.com/sports/ci_4708895

Thoughts on Marquette?

Does anyone have any thoughts on Marquette's victory over Duke?

I see this as bad on two fronts. First, it confirms what I've been saying for months. I think that Marquette is a very dangerous team. I would not be surprised if they finish at the top of the Big East.

Second, an early loss has to make Duke that much more hungry. That doesn't bode well for the Hoya's trip to Cameron.

The Post weighs in

Update on Crawford: Evidently, he is at home in Virginia in the care of his parents. Sounds like he is really sick. I sure hope he gets well soon!


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/21/AR2006112101458.html

Moving forward

Barker once again provides some excellent analysis. This is a lot of what we have been saying. There are three ways to attack the zone (shooting over it, driving through it, or flashing to the elbow). We have opted for doing only what we are worst at (shotting over it). I keep thinking back to how we shredding the Cuse zone last year. Why can't we do that against freakin' ODU?!?!

I also want to echo something that the IPB mentioned -- Jeff Green needs to step up. He is a pre-season All-American. He can control the game against nearly any opponent. No excuses.

http://www.washtimes.com/sports/20061121-115333-9704r.htm

The Backtracking Begins

CBS Sportsline's Gary Parrish has a humorous look at his earlier pronouncements about how good the Hoyas are in his Monday Look Back column.

While Oral Roberts was upsetting Kansas last week, I was in Nashville watching Georgetown totally dismantle Vanderbilt. So the next day when I spoke with ORU coach Scott Sutton, one of the things he asked was what I thought of Georgetown, because his Golden Eagles play the Hoyas next month.

My response?

I told him Georgetown was big and great, and that the Hoyas might be ranked too low at No. 8. I believed every word. I thought I sounded smart. And then Georgetown went out Sunday and lost to Old Dominion. At home. By double digits.

Note to Scott Sutton: Forget my scouting report.

The Hoyas clearly aren't any of those words I mumbled. Instead, they're merely the lead to the Monday Look Back.

Parrish went on to say this about the GU-ODU game:

Loss to hide from: Let's revisit that Georgetown defeat. The Hoyas were playing Old Dominion at McDonough Arena, a small on-campus facility that served as a comfort zone over the decades. Georgetown had won its past 23 games at McDonough, a streak that stretched back to 1982. Now, that streak is over, and the Hoyas probably can't wait to get back to the Verizon Center. .. or at least Vanderbilt's Memorial Gymnasium.

Ouch!

Today's edition of The Hoya carries the following letter to the editor. It stings, but I'm glad that the editorial board at The Hoya chose to run it. Rather than have you follow a link to read this scathing submission, I decided to post the entire thing. I hope The Hoya doesn't mind.

To the Editor:

As an Old Dominion University alumnus and basketball fan, I want to congratulate the Hoyas on their fine effort Sunday. Your team is really coming together nicely. I particularly commend the superior coaching of John Thompson III. To come within 13 points of the Monarchs, even in your poor excuse for a high school gym, is quite a feat. Your kids really “nutted up” under the intense pressure that the Monarchs brought to bear.

The first time ODU played at McDonough Gymnasium in 1977, Georgetown lost 80-58. So, as the student body leaves campus to celebrate Thanksgiving, keep your chins up. You were well represented on Sunday.

Obviously, the gap has narrowed, and the Big East has become a real competitive conference. Heck, that was illustrated last year when Connecticut took George Mason into overtime. It’s gotten to the point that I believe the Big East’s top teams, on any given night, could defeat the bottom half of the Colonial Athletic Association. This type of parity is good for the game.

Again, thanks for giving ODU your best. Even though the Hoyas would be no more than a “trial horse” in the CAA, they played closely with ODU for 30 minutes. That was just the type of challenge a top conference team needs early in the season to get ready for conference play. If you were in the CAA, you would know what I am talking about.

See you next year in Norfolk.

David Jones

Old Dominion University Class of 1979

Nov. 20, 2006

The Week 3 ESPN/USA Today Poll Is In...

...and the Hoyas' loss to ODU has them dropping 8 spots to number 16.

The new number 8 team is the Duke Blue Devils, which sets up a nice match up in a couple of weeks.

UPDATE: The AP poll came out not too long ago. Georgetown faired a bit better there, only dropping to 14.

Click HERE to see all the rankings.

Luke Does It Again

Though SI.com's Luke Winn leaped to the top of my list of favorite columnists for his praise of GU, he stays up there for good sports reporting.


Luke apparently traveled to McDounough for the GU-ODU game and provides an excellent insider's look at the game, as well as some great analysis. Though the game was awful, Winn's reorting is fantastic.

According to Winn, ODU's victory ranks as the second biggest upset of the young season (after Oral Roberts beating #3 Kansas). He also reports that ODU used JTIII's decision to schedule this game at McDounough as motivation. Apparently, the Monarch's showed up at McDounough and were in disbelief that this is where the 8th ranked team in the country, a member of the mighty Big East, played their games. Coach Taylor explained that this was GU's practice gym and that the only two games there this year were against ODU and Winston-Salem. ODU seemed to take this as a slight. Very interesting stuff.

For the rest of Luke Winn's thoughts, check out his College Basketball Blog on SI.com.

The Post Mortem

Here is The Post's take on the Hoyas' embarassing loss to ODU last night.

And while we're at it, here is "the Time Moretem" from The Washington Times.

We Suck

If we can't win a game like that at McDouough we don't deserve to be ranked. Period.

PS - Jeff Green sucks too. 5 PF and 2 pts. Green and Hibbert seemed to have switched brains. With about 4 minutes left in the game Hibbert did not have a single foul and Green had 4. He needs to reexamine his game.

Hoya wins Rhodes

This is good news, as it appears we've begun getting more of these, following what was an extraordinary draught from about 1997 until the early 2000s. (I believe we had 3 in1996.) GU generally gets one Rhodes per year and a Marshall every other year, on average. I would love to see those numbers go up. And I think that offering merit scholarships would go a long way to landing some of the very top students who obtain such honors. (Notice the number of Washington University students who have been winning recently.) I know there is major institutional resistence to such a program but I'd be interested to starting the debate and getting your thoughts on it.

http://explore.georgetown.edu/news/?ID=20779

Hoyas at home, for real

The IPB and I will attend this evening's game at McDonough. I'm looking forward to experiencing the atmosphere in a sold-out McDonough. This is a real game against a real opponent, not the Latvian select team or any such pushover. I pity ODU for having to come to McDonough. In, fact I'd be nervous about it if it were in Verizon. The IPB or I will post a full recap.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/18/AR2006111800916.html

Missed This Yesterday

Some how I missed this yesterday. Barker Davis wrote an article for The Washington Times Blogs about the GU-Vandy game. The focus of his post is JTIII's concern about the team's performance in that game. Despite the typos in the post's title ("Coache oncerned about Hoyas' high-scoring performance"), it gives a pretty good summary of all the Hoyas' positives from that contest.

Despite Thompson's take, 13 of Georgetown's 18 second-half field goals came on layups or dunks -- that's a pretty decent Princeton primer for the second game of the season, particularly given the team's relatively inexperienced backcourt. Juniors Jeff Green (19 points, eight rebounds, six assists) and Jon Wallace (16 points, three assists) both played spectacular on the offensive end, sprinkling in a series of two-man games (give-and-go, back cut, screen-curl-handoff) amid the team's overall attack.

But the ultimate positive from Georgetown's trip to Nashville was that Thompson was able to give extensive and invaluable playing time to youngsters Marc Egerson (33 minutes), DaJuan Summers (17), Patrick Ewing Jr. (15), Vernon Macklin (12) and Jeremiah Rivers (12).

And all of the above responded with flashes of brilliance.
Egerson did a nice defensive job on dangerous Vandy sniper Shan Foster (0-for-5 from the field), though Foster's poor night had less to do with Egerson than with Foster's gimpy right ankle.

Summers and Ewing showed their inside-outside games, as both finished in the paint for one score and buried a long jumper for another.

Macklin dropped in a nice hook shot early in the second half and showed the kind of outstanding athleticism for a 6-foot-10 player that made him a major blue-chipper.

And Rivers posted the first points of his GU career with serious panache, intercepting a pass and finishing his steal-and-score with a run-out jam.

For the rest of Davis's analysis click here.

The Next Zo?

CBSSportsline.com's college basketball section is running this as their top story:

Giant possibilities

Here's the thing about potential: It's another way to say you haven't done anything yet. So instead of hearing about it, Georgetown wants 7-foot-2 center Roy Hibbert to realize his right now, Gary Parrish says.


Can Roy Hibbert really be another Alonzo Mourning? (US PRESSWIRE)

Go ahead, read the whole article...you know you want to.

Something To Watch Out For

After the Hartford game a couple of us were discussing the Hoyas' pre-Big East schedule. Someone asked how good Oral Roberts was supposed to be this year (GU plays them on December 9). The answer, apparently, is they are pretty good. They took down #3 Kansas last night. For ESPN.com's report on the game, click here.

Hoyas thump Vandy.

Why don't all teams play zone against us? I just don't get it. Here are the reports from the Post and the Times.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/15/AR2006111501662.html

http://www.washtimes.com/sports/20061116-123948-5968r.htm

And the NYTimes has a great article on the rise of Roy Hibbert.



http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/16/sports/ncaabasketball/16hoyas.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin


Edit: SI weighs in on Hibbert's development. Evidently, JTIII was underwhelmed by Roy's performance last night. He is looking for bigger and better things.

http://cbs.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/story/9807812

The Jester's Take on the Vandy Game

Overall, I think that the game against Vandy was very good. Sure, things were very close for much of the game, and the team looked a bit sloppy at times, but I think most of that can be explained. JTIII admits that he is using these early games to test different combinations of players to see who gels, with whom. I think a lot of the miscues last night can be attributed to this--just different combinations of people who don't particularly fit well together. As the season progresses and Thompson learns who his best combinations are, expect things to go much smoother.

Highlight of the Game: By far my favorite moment last night was Pat Ewing Jr.'s drive down the lane, where he was fouled and had the opportunity for the three-point play. As Ewing walked down the baseline following his shot you could clearly hear him scream "and one." It was a perfect example of the kind of enthusiasm and intensity that Ewing brings to the court. Unlike the Hoyas' opener, I thought that Ewing did a nice job contributing. Not only did he have that great drive, but he also had a nice three pointer on the wing falling away from the basket. That being said, Ewing may be too emotional. At times he plays a bit out of control and it seems to lead to some dumb fouls.

The juniors led the way: Green, Hibbert, and Wallace all looked great. Green had some fantastic passes (as usual) and some great moves down the lane. He really looked like he wanted to be a leader out there; a great development. Hibbert was dominant during the first half. He actually threw some dunks down (which, of course, is what you're supposed to do if you're 7'2). I was a bit concerned about some of the dumb fouls he picked up early. It definitely limited his effectiveness. Plus, I thought he looked a bit sluggish down the stretch. Hopefully, his stamina improves as the season progresses. Wallace took more shots and they looked fantastic. Also, whenever Wallace as the ball in his hands at the point the entire team looks more controlled. The biggest thing I took away from the game tonight was that the Hoyas are a very good team when these three are on the court and they are a completely different team when they are not. Teams will target these three and try to get them in foul trouble (especially Jeff and Roy). It'll be really interesting to see how other players progress to pick up the slack.

The rest: Most players looked much better than they did last week. I though Sapp really stepped up. He did a good job taking the ball to the hoop and ended up getting to take a lot of shots from the charity stripe. I thought he generally looked good handling the ball and I was happy to see him get more opportunities to run the point. Still, I don't feel as "safe" when he has the ball as I do when Jonathan does...but the season's still young. Rivers looked much better. I actually saw some of the "poise" that Diamond suggested he saw in the Harford game. I definitely thing Egerson is a great asset. There was no one thing that stands out in my mind about his performance last night, but I remember thinking throughout the game that he just looked solid. Both Summers and Macklin looked like freshmen, talented freshmen, but still freshmen. They both picked up a lot of dumb fouls. Macklin actually looked a little old-school Roy-ish in the way that he seemed to have trouble controlling his long limbs at time. But you can tell both are going to be contributors real soon. Macklin barely missed a follow-up dunk that would have been huge. Look for both guys to quickly to improve.

The question: Will the Hoyas ever make an alley oop? They have tried to a bunch of times in the first two games and you would think they could be successful given all of the big bodies they have down low. Still, they have had zero luck so far. Maybe next game.

Bring on ODU!

Feature on Marc and other game day articles

JTIII and Marc's teammates seem to think Marc will be key to this season. Even the IPB has started to warm up to him after his performance against Hartford.

Hoyas Count on Egerson's Versatility

"He has that ability," Coach John Thompson III said after the game. "Marc can do a lot of things on the floor; he has a pretty good feel. A couple of times we got it in there, he was able to get to the basket, matched up with their big guy, he was able to make things happen. We're going to need that from him."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/14/AR2006111401322.html

There are a number of other pregame articles online. This will be a huge test for the Hoyas. They need to bounce back with authority from the Hartford debacle. Roy and Jeff in particular need to step it up. And J-Wal needs to shoot more. Those are our go-to guys.

Here's a good pre-game article from Nashville:

Hoya paranoia descends on Memorial Gym

As openers go, Vanderbilt’s home showdown tonight against Georgetown couldn’t be more challenging.The No. 8 Hoyas have been tabbed by USA Today as one of eight teams capable of winning the national championship next spring and return three starters from last season.

http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?section_id=7&screen=news&news_id=53271

Here's the take on the game from Rivals' Vandy writers:

http://vanderbilt.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=607531

Check out the picture of Ronny Thompson, misidentified as JTIII! Fortunately, there is no discussion of Jesse Sappy or Patrick Ewing Jar.

Roy Roy Roy

Let's hope that this hitting new stands pumps Roy up in advance of Vandy. We are going to need a big game from him -- no more missing chippies -- dunk the ball!

I'm seriously concerned about the Vandy game. Last year's was awful and Shan Foster will once again come out and punish the Hoyas for not offering him a scholarship. Between Shan and Noah, I felt like the ghost of Esherick was haunting the Hoyas last year.

Oh yeah, and J-Wall need to shoot more. I'd like to see him take 8 or 9 shots from the outside per game -- but no more of those NBA threes.

GUHoyas hosts official 100th year website

Check it out! http://www.guhoyas100.com/index.cfm

There is a cool video and great vintage photos like this one of Ralph Dalton speaking with another gentleman. I'm not sure who he is. Possibly the IPB can identify him for us....

Interesting how many ties there are between the Hoyas and Celtics. In addition to JT and his friendship with Russell and Red, a string of Celtics coaches have sent their sons to Georgetown. Granted, the children of Pitino and O'Brien did not play on the team, but I'm still optimistic about the future Rivers has in blue and gray.

Georgetown-Winston Salem

There is a Georgetown game at McDonough on Saturday, December 16 @ 7:30 p.m. versus Winston-Salem St.

Yes, I know, not the most stellar opponent, but it will allow us to experience to some extent what the games of old in McDonough were like.

Is anyone interested in attending (Stallion--perhaps you can come down to DC for some post-exam relief with the Mrs. and Jeff assuming Jeff can pry himself away from the printer)?

Let me know as we should aim to get our order in in the next few weeks.

Bracketology (It's Never Too Early)

In the opening edition of Joe Lundari's Bracketology on ESPN.com, the Hoyas are listed as a three seed. Let's hope they start plahying like it.

Seth Davis, Part II

Apparently Mr. Davis heard my criticsm. After the severe tounge-lashing I offered last week on this blog he decided to reexamine his position on the Hoya's potential for success.

In his Hoop Thoughts column on SI.com today, Davis presents a piece entitled, Postcard From Georgetown: Hoyas will use smarts to overcome youth on perimeter. In this piece he recants his earlier comments that Georgetown would be this season's biggeset bust. He now draws this conclusion:

Bottom line: I frankly went to Georgetown expecting to be under whelmed, but I came away believing this team has a real chance to finish in the top two of the Big East. With this system, the Hoyas don't need to have stellar guard play -- just very good guard play. As long as the Hoyas are able to take care of the ball, I see them finishing no worse than third in the conference behind Pittsburgh and Syracuse. They'll be a shoo-in for the NCAA tournament, but unless they really improve I think they'll be hard-pressed to reach the Sweet 16.

Nice start, Mr. Davis. That's much better. I'll recall the dogs. My legions of fans will stop sending you hate mail. Now, the newfound respect for the Hoyas is great. But this was the comment from Seth's article (we're friends again, I can call him by his first name) that really got me excited:

X-factor: Summers. One thing I didn't fully realize until I watched practice was just how good a shooter Summers is. He's athletic and long and repeatedly stroked in deep jump shots with ease. He only took one shot against Hartford in 10 minutes off the bench, but if he can progress to the point where he moves into the starting lineup, then you'll know this team is ready to take a major, major step forward.

Could the freakishly athletic Summers be the shooter we've been looking for?

Update: I wanted to post this earlier, but needed to get home to Mrs. Jester. Though I'm happy with Davis's decision to pull an about face on the Hoyas, his inability to spell player's names is inexcusable. Emerson? Sappy? Well, I kind of like Sappy. But, still.

It's Good To Be Ranked

The official Georgetown Hoyas' website is reporting that this Wednesday's game at Vanderbilt will be broadcast on MASN. What a change from the past, when you had to hope and pray to see the Blue & Gray on TV.

MASN to Air Wednesday Night's Georgetown vs. Vanderbilt Men's Basketball Contest

Nov. 13, 2006

Washington, D.C. - The Georgetown University men's basketball road opener on Wednesday, November 15 at Vanderbilt will be televised live by the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN). The Hoyas and the Commodores are scheduled to tip-off at 9 p.m. (ET) at Memorial Gymnasium.

Click HERE to see the rest of the press release.

Hartford

I must admit that I thought the game against Hartford was a pre-season game which is why I wasn't concerned about the score (I didn't see / listen to the game).

For those that went, did Hartford play that tough, or did GU just not play well? Or conversely, did GU just execute the Princeton offense which doesn't tend to blow other teams out of the water?

From the Associated Press

With a Thompson and a Ewing, it's like old times for No. 8 Hoyas
By HOWARD FENDRICH, AP Sports Writer
November 9, 2006
AP - Nov 9, 12:55 pm EST

WASHINGTON (AP) -- An elite Georgetown squad will once again be leaning on Thompson and Ewing.

No, it's not 1984. It's 2006.

And that's coach John Thompson III and Patrick Ewing Jr. ...

Read More...

Why I Hate Seth Davis

(a.k.a. "Why I Love Luke Winn")

SI.com's hoops experts have a piece on line where they gaze into the Crystal Ball and make predictions for the upcoming NCAA season. Luke Winn currently gets my vote for greatest basketball prognosticator ever with this bold pick:

Final Four teams
Davis: Kansas, North Carolina, Arizona, Pitt
Wahl: Kansas, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Arizona
Winn: North Carolina, Georgetown, Arizona, Wisconsin

Seth Davis, on the other hand, will feel my wrath for the rest of the season, as he has selected the Hoyas as his "Biggest Flop" of the season.

Davis: Georgetown
You've gotta love Roy Hibbert and Jeff Green up front, but college hoops is still a guard-oriented sport, and the Hoyas simply don't have the perimeter talent and depth to justify the lofty preseason expectations.

At least Mr. Davis is smart enough to give Green and Hibs some love.

JTIII!!!

Evidently, Monica is going through a second round of treatment. I'm sorry to hear that. Other than that, a very upbeat assessment of what he has accomplished.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/preview2006/columns/story?columnist=katz_andy&id=2654676

100 Years...And 2 Days Until The Season Starts!

This picture comes from an article in the November issue of Washington Life about 100 years of Georgetown basketball. Diamond posted a link to the article (see the post entitled "Great article"), but due to a technical snafu that post did not appear until today. Because I was worried people may not see Diamond's post burried in the recent flurry of blog postings, I decided to directly insert this fantastic graphic.

So, enjoy. And go check out the article, it's fantastic too.

Two of the Top 65 Reasons to Watch College Basketball

ESPN.com's Page 2 has an article today by Bomani Jones entitled Road to the Final Four has begun. This article lists the 65 reasons to watch college basketball during the 145 days between now and the start of the NCAA tournament. Our Hoyas give fans two of those 65 reasons.

35. Georgetown's version of the Princeton offense, which actually is fun to watch.

36. Georgetown's big men, Roy Hibbert and Jeff Green, who are also fun to watch.

Luke Winn on Hoyas' Recruiting Class

In honor of Signing Day for the class of 2007, SI.com's Luke Winn has worked with scout.com's Dave Telep to create a list of the top 10 classes. That list, which is posted on Luke's College Basketball Blog has the Hoyas at number 10.

10. Georgetown
Impact Players: Austin Freeman (No. 3 SG), Chris Wright (No. 6 PG)

The Hoyas' traditional recruiting strength has been in the frontcourt, securing stars such as Jeff Green, Roy Hibbert and Vernon Macklin in recent years. This year's class is unusual in that it features two big-time guards. Freeman, a 6-4 scorer from prep powerhouse DeMatha Catholic, and Wright, a tough, 6-1 point who had originally committed to N.C. State, will form Georgetown's backcourt of the future. "Freeman is a multi-year college basketball player," said Telep. "I wouldn't be surprised if we're looking at a kid who might be a future Big East Player of the Year."

A Pair of Articles from the Post

In the midst of all the fallout from the mid-term elections, our readers may have missed this series of articles from today's Washington Post. As such, I figured that it wwas my duty to help out. Without further ado...

Third Year's the Charm
Thompson III Is Still Building at Georgetown, but Expectations Are High

By Camille Powell
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 8, 2006; Page E01

Some college basketball coaches can approach the regular season confident their teams will be invited to the NCAA tournament. John Thompson Jr., who led Georgetown to 14 consecutive NCAA appearances from 1979 to 1992, was one of those coaches. His son, the current Georgetown coach, is not. At least not yet....

[Click here for more]


Resurgent Hoyas Again Attract Area's Top Recruits
Top Recruits Again Pick Georgetown

By Josh Barr
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 8, 2006; Page E01

Chris Wright was a Duke basketball fan when he was younger. Like most teenagers in the Washington area, the All-Met guard from St. John's was only vaguely familiar with the glory days of Georgetown basketball; he wasn't even born when the Hoyas won the national championship in 1984.

Today, however, on the first day that high school seniors can formally accept college basketball scholarships, Wright and fellow All-Met guard Austin Freeman of DeMatha are set to sign letters-of-intent to play for Georgetown. And with top juniors Jason Clark of O'Connell and Chris Braswell of DeMatha already pledged to the Hoyas, Georgetown has four of the top recruits from the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference, the region's premier basketball league....

[Click here for the rest of this article]

Great article

http://www.washingtonlife.com/issues/november-2006/georgetown-university-basketball/

AP Pre-Season Poll

Mirroring the choice of the coaches in the ESPN/USA Today poll, the AP Pre-season poll has the Hoyas listed at number 8.

However, Andy Katz argues that Georgetown is one of the teams that should be considered as a potential fourth Number 1 seed! That is definitely some big time props.

Tickets?

IBP, Diamond, any sign of the season tickets, yet?

Great article

http://www.nydailynews.com/11-05-2006/sports/story/468292p-394094c.html

Great update on LaSalle scrimmage from the Board

"A friend of mine attended today's scrimmage and Philly-MD all-star games last weekend. I was only able to talk to him for a few minutes, but this is what he told me about each event - LaSalle Scrimmage:

- the scrimmage consisted of 2 twenty minute and 1 ten minute game.
- He estimated that the Hoyas won the 1st scrimmage by 4 points, the 2nd one by 15, and the 3rd one by approx 20.
- Starting Lineup - Wallace, Sapp, Egerson, Green, Hibbert
- Hibbert dominated the first scrimmaged. He is in great shape and displayed great hands. The fed him the ball repeatedly and must have been something like 10-12 on FGs.
- Green was his usual all-around great player. Still needs to be more aggressive with his scoring.
- Egerson is in really good shape and probably was the best player on the court for the 2nd scrimmage.
- Summers was very impressive. Hit 3 3's. Staff expect hims to start sooner than later. He would push either Egerson or Sapp to the bench.
- Crawford was solid off the bench.
- Ewing added a lot of energy of the bench.
- Macklin did not play because of a bruise tailbone. The staff feels that he is already the best rebounder on the team. Also, they were raving about his passing ability - he is one of the best passing big men they have ever coached. The previous comment really took me by surprise.
- Rivers played pretty well. His biggest problem is that he plays too fast.
- No surprise here - Recruiting wise the staff is focused on the class of 2008.
- My friend was very impressed with the coaching staff. They do an excellent job teaching.

Philly-MD HS game- Chris Wright was terrific. Definite top 20 player in the country."

Must-read from the Hoya

Provides a recap of JTIII's recruiting success with great quotes from Dave Telep.

http://thehoya.com/sports/110306/sports2.cfm

Breaking News for the IBP

"With the eleventh pick in this year's draft, the Bakersfield Jam selects Brandon Bowman from Georgetown University."

Yes, you heard right. Brandon was picked up in the D-League's draft yesterday evening. I always knew that Brandon was a first-rounder.

Starting Line Up

There is a thread on the HoyaTalk boards reporting that this was the starting line up at last week's scrimmage:

C - Hibbert
PF - Green
SF - Egerson
SG - Crawford
PG - Wallace

Obviously, Egerson at small forward is quite a surprise. Who thinks that this will remain the starting line up when it's time for the actual games?