A Lot of Love From Jay Bilas

In today's edition of ESPN.com's "The Weekly Watch" Jay Bilas gives the Hoyas a lot of love. In short, he says Georgetown has a shot at making a run at the national championship. I don't know if I agree with Jay, but I would sure love to.

At this time last year, was anyone touting Florida as a national championship favorite? The Gators were ranked 11th when the tournament began, and all of the things we are currently saying about Kansas and some of the other teams out there, we were saying about Florida: inconsistent, inexperienced, no go-to guy, and all the rest.

UConn was the best team last year, but didn't win. This year, the best teams are Florida and North Carolina, and one of them may not win, either. One of the teams that could find its way to Atlanta, and is quietly getting better, is Georgetown. The Hoyas have improved steadily over the course of the season and have the chops to be really tough in March.

Before I decide if the Hoyas can make a deep run in the Tournament, I first want to see how they repond against some of the more talented teams in the Big East. This week's games should give us a good opportunity to gain some perspective on how good the Hoyas really are.

DA...JUAN

The Rivers-haters with the seats behind me have been trying to promote a new cheer at the games. Any times DaJuan Summers does anything they begin chanting: "DA...JUAN...DA...JUAN...DA...JUAN...." It hasn't caught on yet, but I think it will. Though I can't condone these fan's use of racial epithets, profanity, or nasally-sounding voices, I do agree with their accolades for Summers. He has been fantastic thus far. And we aren't the only ones to think so.

In Seth Davis's "Hoops Thoughts" column on SI.com he offers this thought:

If Georgetown could get 6-8 freshman forward DaJuan Summers to have an impact
every game, the Hoyas could take a major step forward. He may be the best pure
scorer they have.

I think Seth may be right. I said early on this season that DaJuan will be the best player on the team next year. With my regrest to our trio of outstanding juniors, I'm standing by my prediction.

An Interesting Game for the Hoyas

I have to say, I was worried. With about 4 minutes left in the first half of last-night's contest against St. John's the Hoyas looked horrible. We were lethargic, we were sloppy, we were down by seven. If not for Jeff Green scoring 11 of our first 19 points it wouldn't have been that close. Then our guys started playing. Summers hit a three, Jeff made two free throws, and Wallace and Sapp each hit threes to close the half on an 11-2 run.

In the second half we were a completely different team. We shot over 70 percent. We locked down on defense. We turned that 11-2 run into a 30-4 run. The Johnnies basically gave up, and it ended as a blow out.

But the story of the game was Jeff. He finally played agressive and he finally looked good. I guess he must have felt some pressure after Roy had a career night against Cincinnati. So he went out and did the same. Jeff had a career high 24 points. But in true Jeff Green fashion he really did everything. A quick glance at the stats for the game leaders in last night's contest tells the whole story:

	Georgetown	St. John's
Points	J. Green 24	A. Patterson 16
Rebounds	J. Green 8	A. Patterson 8
Assists	J. Green 4	A. Mason Jr. 4
Steals	J. Green 2	E. Lawrence 3
Blocks	R. Hibberts 3	A. Mason Jr. 1

On to Lousiville. This game will be our biggest challenge in quite awhile. The Cardinals are one of the hottest teams in the conference and are tied with the Hoyas for second place in the Big East. If we plan on making any real noise this season it starts with going into Lousiville and stealing one from them at home.

Ewing Jr. at MSG

In anticipation of tonight's showdown at the Garden, the Times has a piece on the Ewings Jr. & Sr. Jr. has been great this year; hopefully he keeps it up against the Johnies.

Ewing Jr. Follows Dad’s Path to Garden

He said his father never pressured him to play basketball and stressed education over sports. “He probably would have rather me not play,” Ewing Jr. said. “But watching him play, I couldn’t help but want to be just like him, good as he was.” When Patrick Ewing was finishing his N.B.A. career with Orlando in 2001-2, his son visited him on an off-day, and they played one-on-one, as they often had before. “I tried to get serious, and I ended up winning a game,” Ewing Jr. said. That was a first. “And we played another game after that,” he added. “I missed my first shot and never got the ball back. He beat me, 11-0. And then he told me, ‘That will be the first and only time you will ever beat me.’ And he won’t play me any more.” Patrick Ewing confirmed the story Saturday at the Verizon Center, where he watched from a courtside seat. “Yeah,” he said, smiling. “Once was enough.”
. . . .

Later, the intergenerational interaction continued when Thompson’s father, John Jr., spotted the younger Ewing in a dress suit in the hallway outside the locker room. The elder Thompson put his arm around the younger Ewing, pulled him toward him and put his mouth near his ear. As he spoke softly and intently, slight smiles grew on both men’s faces. Those standing nearby seemed to edge backward, away from them, in small steps. Although it was a crowded and public place, this chat seemed private, intimate and personal, like family.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/01/sports/ncaabasketball/01ewing.html?_r=2&ref=sports&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Jordan AA Team Announced

Nike has announced the 2007 Jordan All-Americans. Both Wright and Freeman made the team, which bodes well for the McD's AA game. It will be great to see how they match up against the likes of Derrick Rose, Eric Gordon, OJ Mayo, and Jerryd Bayless (great first name). Mike Beasley is also invited, but I thought he was already playing at K-State for Thuggins. Wierd. Even stranger, Jeffery Jordan, his Airness's son, is on the team. This level of nepotism is a little embarassing as Jordan is not even a major D1 recruit. Last I heard, he was considering Davidson.

http://www.nike.com/jumpman23/classic/event.html

Tributes to Father Drinan

There have been a number of tributes to Father Drinan published. I thought this one from a former Post columnist was quite good:

Father Drinan, Model Of Moral Tenacity

After my Tuesday afternoon class, I would often go by Bob Drinan's fourth-floor office to get energized. I saw him as a towering moral giant, a man of faith whose practice of Christianity put him in the company of all my Jesuit heroes--Daniel Berrigan, Horace McKenna, Teilhard de Chardin, John Dear, Francis Xavier, the martyred Jesuits of El Salvador and the priests who taught me in college. In his office, ferociously unkempt and as tight as a monk's cell, our conversation ranged from politics to law to the morning's front pages. He was as knowledgeable about the Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991 as he was about the many allegations of international lawbreaking by the current Bush administration. Bob Drinan had mastered the art of being professionally angry but personally gentle.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/29/AR2007012902015.html

I also enjoyed the many remembrances posted on the Georgetown Law website. In particular, I thought these from Professors Lubin, Cashin and Mezey, were touching.

My own favorite recollections of Bob Drinan come from my first years at Georgetown. My whole family came to the Law Center the day of my professorial inauguration, including my two children, ages 12 and 9, who sat through several hours of events that bored them silly. At lunch, Bob sat down next to Rachel, the squirmy nine-year-old, charmed her, and then occupied her for half an hour of deeply competitive tic-tac-toe. Needless to say, he earned her parents' heartfelt gratitude. A year later, when Rachel visited me at work, Bob invited her into his office and had a serious talk with her about politics and religion – then gave her an offprint of a law review article he had written on RFRA. Rachel (who had a keen sense of when adults were taking her seriously) was thrilled by the conversation and deeply proud that Bob had given her his article. For a couple of years afterward, Bob would stop me in the hallway and ask, with mock concern, "Are you still feeding Rachel enough?"
- Professor David Luban

I am distraught this morning, contemplating the loss not just of a great man but my next door neighbor at work. While I knew about the aspects of his life that made him an iconic figure for justice and human rights, I knew "Father Bob" mostly as the person who brightened my day when I came to work. I experienced first hand his pastoral care for ten years as we shared a wall at work. His door was always open, mine always partially closed. He never let me get away with that, always stepping in to see how I was, asking about my family, my father, husband, the book or article I was writing. My first year at GULC, he overheard me whining about being without a sweetheart yet again on Valentines Day, he produced a heartshaped box of chocolates for me, smiling devilishly he said, "Just don't tell the Pope." I will treasure his friendship the rest of my life, and try to emulate his goodness as best I can. More than anything I will remember that a few weeks before he died, he visited my newborn premature twins at the hospital, entreating God to watch over them, impressing the NICU nurses with my sons' good connections. He called me at home several times to be sure the family was doing well. A week before he died I came into the office, frenetic as usual. Little did I know that when Father Bob stepped in with his typical good cheer, gentle smile and query as to how I was, that this would be our last conversation. I am happy for him that he was able to live such a vital and giving life, on his terms, until God was ready to call him to rest. I will miss him terribly.
- Professor Sheryll Cashin

So many of us have stories about Father Drinan and our children. For a man without children of his own, he had an amazing and natural talent for talking with them, taking them seriously, remembering them. After my son Jake was born, along with the flood of cards and presents came a little note on Georgetown stationery from Father Drinan. All it said was, "I hope he is a liberal." For years afterward, every time he saw me in the hall, Father Drinan would boom, "I hope your son is still a liberal!" I always assured him that he still didn't have any choice. I had always intended to honor my son's own choices about political beliefs as he grew up, but now I don't think so. I owe it to Father Drinan. I owe him a lot as it turns out. Hearing his voice down the hall always made me happier. His passion for justice made me more hopeful. His integrity and kindness made me want to be a better person. But mostly I owe him gratitude for being with me and my family in the happiest and hardest times of our lives. Thankfully Father Drinan was as liberal with his blessings as he was with his politics. He blessed and welcomed my Jewish children when they were born, and he blessed and helped us say good-bye to my son Julien when he died. I loved his gentle presence, his feisty politics, his faith, his intellect, his humor and his enormous heart. I miss him terribly. Mostly I feel lucky that I got to share a little time and space on earth with him.
-Professor Naomi Mezey

http://www.law.georgetown.edu/news/drinan.html

Hibbs on NBADraft.net

A loyal reader of the blog tipped me off to this profile of Hibbert on NBADraft.net. It is generally pretty good, but it does contain one baffling error.

Roy Hibbert: Center of Attention

Roy Hibbert is a 7'2", 278 pound center on a pretty good Georgetown basketball team. Last season was Hibbert's coming out party, and now he's on a team with the sons of NBA stars Doc Rivers and Pat Ewing, which means even more ex-pros will be hanging around the Hoya program. That's saying a lot for a school where big men benefit from the Coach John Thompson tradition, in which trees such as Ewing, Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo, Othella Harrington and Michael Sweetney come back and school the current pivots during the summer. Saturday, Hibbert scored 26 points on 11 for 13 shooting vs. Cincinnati, collecting 11 rebounds in the process. The game before, I went to the Verizon Center to watch the Hoyas face DePaul.
Hibbert works hard in the post and elsewhere- getting up and down the court, flashing high for passes, working for position, and challenging shots. Against the Blue Demons, he displayed an old-school hook shot, complete with the determined footwork and windup. While this shot was not effective, it demonstrates he's been working out with the NBA vets.

http://www.nbadraft.net/bayne005.asp

It there any doubt that Roy's hook shot is his best weapon? I can't recall the last time I saw him miss it. The writer goes on to refer to it as "an experiment." That's just sloppy reporting, especially after the Cinci game when Roy drained these at will. As further evidence, see the montage below.


And in other Roy news, the Big Man was named Big East player of the Week (and another factual error):

Hibbert averaged 19.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and shot 71.4 percent from the floor, while leading the Hoyas to a pair of league victories. The senior from Adelphi, Md. was 11-of-13 from the floor en route to a career-high 26 points in an 82-67 win over Cincinnati. He also pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds. In a 66-52 victory over DePaul, Hibbert had 12 points and four boards. Hibbert leads the BIG EAST in field goal shooting, connecting at a 71.0 percent clip. In league games, he's even better, hitting 80.9 percent.

http://www.bigeast.org/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/012907aab.html

Gilbert, stick to what you know best

The Boston Herald is reporting that the following exchange occurred during the 3rd quarter of last night's Wizards-Celtics game:

Take a shot
Gilbert Arenas sidled over to Rivers in the third quarter and delivered a message.
“Hey, I watched your son,” Arenas said. “Tell him he’s got to shoot.”
The Wizards star was referring to Jeremiah Rivers, a freshman at Georgetown who, according to his dad as well, needs to put the ball up more. . . .

For those of you in need of further context, Arenas attended the Georgetown-DePaul matchup last week.


Now, anyone who has seen Rivers shoot this year can tell you that he needs to do a lot more shooting in practice before he even thinks about throwing up more outside jumpers during games.

Progress on the B-School

Georgetown is finishing up the excavation of the foundation for the new business school building. The $100 million facility will be a bold mixture of classical, stone and brick, and modern glass and steel. It will be completed by the fall 2008.













http://msb.georgetown.edu/newsroom/news/archive/2007/01/update_on_new_building/index.php



UPDATE: I wanted to add one more rendering of the new B-School, which shows some of the more modern elements of the design, as well as how the new building will provide greater access to the Leavey Esplanade. - Jester

Father Drinan Rest in Peace

Priest, scholar, congressman, professor, and alumnus Robert Drinan passed at the age of 86. He served 5 terms in Congress; was dean of Boston College's law school; and taught at Georgetown for over a quarter of a century. I wonder if Georgetown knew this might come when it founded the Drinan Chair in Human Rights last year.

http://www.law.georgetown.edu/news/releases/october.17.2006.html

Unfortunately, I never got to take a class from him. But I did get to speak with him on several occassions and he was a lovely person. I'm sure Georgetown will do something to honor him. This is a big loss for the community; following on the heels of Sam Dash passing away it feels like an era is ending.

http://explore.georgetown.edu/news/?ID=22251

Update: Georgetown has put up a website for students, alumni, friends and faculty to share their memories of Father Drinan. Nancy Pelosi also issued a statement honoring him. This also links to excellent pieces in the Post and Globe discussing his legacy.

http://www.law.georgetown.edu/news/drinan.html

Roy finally mans up.

I think we finally got a taste of what Roy can do. Granted, he was beasting against a much smaller team, but smaller, physical teams have given him problems in the past, see Villanova. There was also a marked improvement in our guard play -- they have clearly worked on getting Roy the ball in the post and were feeding him well. All in all, a good performance; but we need to work on perimeter defense -- Cinci was unconscious. That was the best shooting performance I've seen live since we played Duke last year.

I thought Jeff also played a great game. This was the first time this year that both he and Roy played that well. The best aspect of the game, though, was probably that the Hoyas only had 5 turnovers. This sets a school record. Our offense was incredibly efficient -- in the second half we went almost 15 minutes without failing to score on a possession.

On the downside, Summers was terrible, at least offensively. And, well, that's basically it. Pat Jr. was great again and Wallace and Sapp were solid. I even thought Rivers looked good; his shot is uglier than ugly though.)

Georgetown defrauded

According to a DOJ press release, former GU Professor Pedro dos Santos has defrauded the University of over $300,000.

Federal grand jury charges former Georgetown employee with defrauding the Universityand Riggs Bank, N.A., of more than $300,000

On July 19, 2006, a federal grand jury returned a 10-count indictment against dos Santos also known as Pedro dos Santos, 39, of Hyattsville, Maryland, for defrauding his former employer, Georgetown University as well as Riggs Bank, N.A., of more than $310,000 over a period of four years. Specifically, the indictment charges the defendant with five counts of bank fraud, two counts of mail fraud, two counts of money laundering, and one count of first degree theft. The indictment also contains a forfeiture of property count. If convicted of the charges, dos Santos faces a statutory maximum of 30 years of imprisonment under the federal sentencing guidelines and a $1,000,000 fine.

According to the indictment, dos Santos had worked from 1998 until March 2005 at Georgetown University (“Georgetown”). In his most recent position as Georgetown’s Associate Director and Program Coordinator for the Political Database and Brazilian Studies Program, he became familiar with the paperwork and authorizations required for vendors to obtain compensation for their services.

The indictment alleges that between September 2001 to February 2005, dos Santos developed and engaged in a scheme by which he would write, sign and issue, or cause to be written, signed and issued, checks to a fictitious lecturer purportedly for consulting services. Dos Santos created invoices in the name of a fictitious vendor for consulting and guest lecturing services purportedly performed on behalf of the Brazilian Studies Program. To further justify fraudulent payments from Georgetown, dos Santos completed forged expense vouchers that he submitted together with the fake invoices to the Georgetown accounts payable department. After processing these invoices and vouchers, the accounts payable department issued checks as payment for services purportedly performed on behalf of Georgetown. These checks were either picked up by dos Santos from the accounts payable department or sent via U.S. mail to an address dos Santos had designated on the vouchers.

Pedro dos Santos gained control of the funds by depositing the Georgetown checks, which had been written on its federally-insured Riggs Bank account, directly into one or more of his personal bank accounts. Pedro dos Santos also attempted to disguise the illegal source of the stolen money by having one or more individuals deposit some of the checks in other bank accounts. This individual or individuals subsequently withdrew the funds and disbursed these funds to dos Santos in the form of cash or checks. During the course of the scheme from September 2001 to February 2005, dos Santos stole in excess of $310,000 of Georgetown funds that were under the custody or control of Riggs Bank.

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/dc/Press_Releases/2006_Archives/Jul_2006/06271.html

The Washington Times reports that dos Santos has fled the country so with could become an extradition case.

Brazilian runs from U.S. theft charges

According to an FBI affidavit, dos Santos called a co-worker in March 2005 after he was confronted about irregularities in his handling of university funds. "I will be in Brazil by the time you get this message," the caller said. The FBI investigator found that dos Santos had been convicted in 1999 on a federal charge of unlawful re-entry after deportation, records show. Georgetown officials declined to comment on whether the conviction surfaced during dos Santos' employment screening. He worked at the university intermittently since 1998, records show. University spokeswoman Julie Green Bataille confirmed only that dos Santos no longer works at Georgetown. She declined to discuss the situation further because it was a "confidential personnel matter." Channing Phillips, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, said dos Santos is thought to be in Brazil and that the indictment against him remains outstanding. He said authorities could not comment further on efforts to bring dos Santos to trial in the United States because of Justice Department policy on extradition matters. It is not clear whether dos Santos can be returned to the U.S.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/metro/20070125-110728-9743r.htm

Anyone For Some Chicken?

I've been trying to wait for the perfect time to post this, but I just couldn't wait any longer. It's just too damn funny.

Hey Sweaty Gary, what's better than chicken and co-eds? That's right, nothing.

SAPP!

Great profile in the New York Post on Jessie Sapp.

HOYA AND HIGHER!

Back home in East Harlem, though, on the night before the Hoyas met Florida in the Sweet 16 in Minneapolis, Sapp's sister, Steveasia Perry, then 13, was shot in a playground, an innocent bystander to an unfathomable teen conflict near the Woodrow Wilson Houses. In the end, she was fortunate in an unfortunate situation. She suffered a fractured jaw and slowly began the recovery process, which, of course, included a call from a certain brother who eventually decided to stay with his teammates and play in the biggest game of his life.
"Once we knew everything was going to be OK," Sapp said, "I knew I had to go and be with my team."
.....

There's a comfort level aside from basketball, as well. In a 74-58 win over Seton Hall Friday at the Meadowlands, several family members, including Steveasia, watched Sapp go for 12 points, six rebounds and four assists. "Everything," he said slowly, "is good now."
On and off the court.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/01262007/sports/hoya_and_higher__sports_tim_sullivan.htm

Good news

The Hoya has a few tidbits of good University news. GU appears to be approaching two benchmarks that we've waiting a decade and day to hit. First, there is an article about the number of applications breaking 16,000 for approximately 1,600 spots in the freshman class. If our yield is good, it is possible that we will finally dip below the 20% mark for acceptance rate for the first time. Again, it feels like we've waited a decade to do this; but, as the IPB pointed out, the student body has grown by almost 200 students per year since we were there. That has kept the rate steady in the 21-23% range.

Here is the breakdown:
College - 9,910 (+4%)
SFS - 3,045 (+6%)
MSB - 2,400+ (+?)
Nursing - 820 (+35%)

http://www.thehoya.com/news/012607/news1.cfm

The second big piece of news is that the endowment is approaching $1 billion. Again, I thought we'd hit that around 2000 so this is not exactly cause for celebration. But it is important. In June, the endowment was listed at $834 and now it is at $951. That is a pretty significant 6 month growth; and, while it is possible that a few big gifts came in, it is likely that this is fruit borne by hiring a chief investment officer. My fervent hope is that this will grease the giving wheels for the new campaign by instilling in alumni a sense that endowment gifts will not be pissed away as in the past. At the end of the day, assuming we are about to embark on a 10 year $2 or $2.5 billion campaign, at least 80% of the funds raised should be directed to the endowment. Far too much of the last campaign went to current use and building projects (something like 60% or 65%).

http://www.thehoya.com/news/012607/news3.cfm

Finally, the Hoya has a great profile of Dikembe Mutombo who was lauded in the SOTU address.

Mutombo Still Doing Big Things
Former Hoya Leads by Example

Mutombo has made a living playing tenacious defense and swatting shots, but when he came to Georgetown in 1987, basketball wasn’t even in his plans. Mutombo received a USAID scholarship to become a doctor so that he could return to his native Congo and help his people. The only sport Mutombo had played in his native land was soccer, but things changed quickly when Head Coach John Thompson Jr. spied Mutombo in a pick-up game.

“He said, ‘Son, I want you on my team.’ I said, ‘Man, this big man is going to be my coach,’” Mutombo recalls. “I was kind of scared of him in the beginning.”

......

Mutombo says his strong emphasis on community service was inspired by the Jesuit ideals that drew him to the Hilltop.

“To get the opportunity to get to be on the same campus as Jesuit teachers, it kind of helped me a lot,” Mutombo says. “It helped me go out and do what I do, helping those that don’t have what I have.”
Mutombo still follows his alma mater’s basketball team as well as one could expect from an in-season basketball player with two young children and a hospital opening in Africa. He has even challenged current Hoyas to off-season pick-up games.

While Mutombo denies having a favorite player on the team, he does admit that he may have a slight preference for “the young man that is wearing my uniform.” That young man, junior center Roy Hibbert, is developing quite the reputation for his shot-blocking abilities. Mutombo believes that Hibbert’s opportunity to develop for four years gives him the chance “maybe to be better than me.”

“His ability to block shots, I think that will make his name and be known and take it to the next level.,” Mutombo says.

Mutombo stays connected to the Georgetown community so that his children can one day follow in their father’s footsteps at Georgetown.

“I try to take them to the Georgetown campus every year,” he says.

A legend at Georgetown for reputedly exclaiming, “Who wants to sex Mutombo?” the big man has kept his sense of humor over the years, and his teammates appreciate his jokes almost as much as his rebounds.

http://www.thehoya.com/sports/012607/sports4.cfm

Number 17 Program in the Country

Scout.com has an intriguing article today ranking the best programs (not teams) in the country. I was able to find a non-subscription version of it on a Washington State website. Though the article admits it is an exercise in subjectivity, it is still interesting. The authors rank Georgetown as number 17 in the nation.

17. Georgetown. The Hoyas would be a program you might want to buy stock in. John Thompson III is doing a good job, they’re playing well and recruiting well, and Georgetown sits on one of the best recruiting beds in the nation.

Onward and upward.

Test

IBP, this is why we switched to the new blogger. I'm sorry that it's been inconvenient. But these type of improved capabilities are just the beginning.

The Return of Jeff Green

Maybe it was Davis Barker's Crisco comment in the Washington Times. Maybe it was the slew of NBA scouts in the crowd. Maybe it was the simple realization that enough is enough. Whatever the reason, Jeff Green had his best game of the season last night in the Hoyas's 14-point win over DePaul.



Realizing that we were seeing Jeff return to form, I excitedly Blackberried the IBP during the game. He replied that he thought Jeff was having an "okay" game. I think most people saw it differently. Jeff didn't single-handedly dominate the Blue Demons, but he did pretty much everything right. He was aggressive when he needed be, making strong moves to the basket and finishing with some authority. When he had an open shot from down town he took it. When a pass was the best option, that's what he did.

Barker Davis (the same Barker Davis who blasted Green in yesterday's Times) agreed. In an article today he notes:

The victory keeps the Hoyas (14-5, 4-2 Big East) among the league's leaders just behind Pittsburgh (18-3, 6-1) as Georgetown prepares for the softest back-to-back games of its conference slate vs. Cincinnati on Saturday and at St. John's on Feb. 1. Frankly, if Green plays the rest of the season like he did last night, the level of competition might not matter much....

It's not as if Green put on a one-on-five clinic against DePaul. He simply struck the perfect balance of demanding and deferring within coach John Thompson III's system. He routinely stepped to the fore late in the shot clock when his teammates needed a play and led the Hoyas in shot attempts. He almost never forced his game, committing only one turnover to set the tone for a Georgetown bunch that made a season-low seven miscues despite relentless fullcourt pressure from the Blue Demons.

For the rest of the article, click here.

Very Sad News From The Hoya

Local Liquor Store to Shut Its Doors
Students No Longer Whistling Dixie
By James HilsonHoya Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Dixie Liquors on M Street, a popular supplier of alcohol among Georgetown students, will close its doors later this week after more than 50 years in business....

To read the sad news in its entirety click here.

Georgetown Recruiting

Another article on how JTIII is kicking Sweaty Gary's butt on the recruiting trail.

The Rise of Hoya Nation

As someone who watches up to three or four games a week, it’s not hard to notice the overwhelming presence of John Thompson III compared to Gary Williams. In fact, over the past two years I have seen Gary Williams once while the Thompson sightings cannot be counted on one hand. Williams was at the Gonzaga/O’Connell game a few weeks back but didn’t stay around for the entire game. Just to put it into perspective, I have seen Gary Williams as many times as I have seen Mike Krzyzewski. When March Madness begins in two months, it will also be the five-year anniversary of when the Terps defeated Indiana for the NCAA Championship. Lonnie Baxter, Juan Dixon, Steve Blake and Chris Wilcox are all long gone. Who will be the next big four to come through the area? It may just be Freeman, Wright, Braswell and Clark. Only time will tell.

http://www.dcsportsfan.com/default.aspx?ArticleID=1069

From Paris to the Hilltop?

The Hoyas are reportedly interested in 7'1 Frenchman Boubacar Sylla. He sounds like a project, although HoopScoop ranks him #58. This is what DraftExpress had to say:

Boubacar Sylla would be considered the sleeper of this group, but he is also the biggest at 7’1 and 260 lbs. He did a great job running the floor, and hit displayed a remarkably soft touch considering his size, evidenced on his 12 foot fade away jumper out of the post. His mammoth size and freakish wingspan immediately make him interesting as a prospect, even if he is still incredibly raw at the moment. The French big man has reportedly dropped nearly 75 pounds in the last year and a half, which is a testament to his work ethic and could give everyone a preview as to what is to come in terms of his development. He is reportedly considering USC, LSU, St. John’s, and Auburn at the moment, but he will likely have to sit a few years before we are able to see him contribute at that level.

http://www.draftexpress.com/viewarticle.php?a=1476

This raises some interesting schollarship questions. First, why are we going after him rather than the more polished Anthony McLain. Second, it has been reported that Omar Wattad would get the scholarship vacated by Marc; this puts that in doubt. Also, from a basketball standpoint, does this guy sound like he would work well in the Princeton offense? Roy handles the ball pretty well for his size but our offense runs much smoother when he is not on the floor--granted on defense he is vital. Finally, who is the last Parisian to suit up in blue & grey; have we ever had one? Can you imagine combining the IPB's love of 7-foot centers and Paris in one player? Heady stuff.

The Closer?

Barker Davis has an excellent piece in today's Washington Times about who the Hoyas should call upon as their closer. Davis explains that the Hoyas' 13 wins have all come by double digits and they are 0-4 in single digit games. Thus, Davis asks the legitimate question: In whose hands should the Hoyas put the ball at the end of the game when they are down by a possession or two. He interestingly decides that Jessie Sapp is Georgetown's best option.

Along the way, Davis makes one of the funniest comments I've read all year. When considering and eliminating Jeff Green as our "go to guy" he makes this remark:

Unfortunately, Green has a maddening passive streak and plays every third game or so like he's dipped his hands in Crisco.

I love Jeff, but it's damn funny.

Rumors, Rumors

Okay, so this is a little more than a rumor. A publication called "Sports Business Journal" is reporting that the Hoyas are receiving new architecural renderings of an on-campus practice facility. What this all entails is anybody's guess. Some are speculating that there will be something built separately from McDonough. My assumption is that McDonough will be raised. But what will everyone do while construction is ongoing? Interesting stuff. I wonder if JTIII got this in his new (again rumored) contract. It would certainly make sense for it to be part of the new capital campaign. Hopefully, this would also include an on-campus arena (see 2004 rendering below)--but it would make sense to bill it as a "practice facility" for community relations. And I think the best we could hope for would be 8 or 9k--so we would still play most of the Big East slate at Verizon.

Anyway, here is the link to the website. You can't read the article but the abstract says: "D.C. DIGS: Georgetown University in Washington has joined the rapidly expanding list of NCAA Division I schools developing practice facilities for their basketball programs, sources said. The new facility woul ..."

http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=search.perform_search&keyword=Georgetown

NJ Sweep

That was a nice win over a decent opponent. I think Seton Hall is much better than Rutgers and will win a few good games this year. Their guards are very quick and I was impressed at how they never really gave up. It forced us to leave our starters in for much of the game. Summers was clearly the star with his double-double but Wallace may have also played the best game of his carrer. Sapp looked great too and Hibbs rebounded well against a much much shorter team. He looks more agressive on defense but still had trouble on offense. I think that our guards just aren't good enough at feeding him. It looked to me like he was getting position pretty well but wasn't getting many touches. No real complaints beyond the obscene number of turnovers and the continuing disappearance of Jeff Green. At least he doesn't look like he will be ready to make the jump to the NBA any time soon..... Good effort by the Hoyas. Such a performance will likely be enough to top DePaul, Cinci, and St. John's before we get a tough one, but let's take one game at a time. DePaul beat Nova and Cinci beat West Virginia. There are no gimmes in the Big East....except for Rutgers. I know they actually have a decent football team but does any Big East school have a worse sports history than RU?! Just pathetic.

Evals of Austin and Chris

These are great write-ups from a recent All-Star game. (Also, click on the link and check out what he has to say about Hoya target Samardo Samuels. He is the #1 target for JTIII for the 2008 class.)

Austin Freeman, 6-4, Shooting Guard, Dematha Catholic – Freeman had a “quiet” 25 points in his matchup against the oft-out of control Antonio Jardine. While Jardine took control of the action for his team from tip-off, Freemen quietly picked his spots until the close of the game, where he began to be more aggressive. Freeman has a beautiful shot, its smooth and effortless. He is a much better shooter on the catch-and-shoot or spot up than he is on the pull up, but is effective on both. Freemen also has great strength for a 2 guard. He doesn’t get knocked off his stride easily by contact and is able to finish shots in the paint while in motion without losing his soft touch. Freeman seems to be pretty active on the glass as well. He followed his own misses on a number of occasions and was able to fight inside amongst taller players to secure the possession. Defensively, he’s got quick hands, but is more active when his opponent is in motion than he is playing him straight up. Freeman is a shooter for sure, but he recognizes when the shot is not there and has good peripheral vision to find the open man once he’s drawn defensive help. He and Chris Wright should make a nice tandem in Georgetown’s backcourt next season, especially with Roy Hibbert and Jeff Green inside.

Chris Wright, 6-1, PG/SG, St. Johns College – Wright had one of the best performances of anyone at the event. He shot well from outside, played smart basketball in transition and the half court, and set up teammates when he couldn’t finish himself. He's not a pure point by any means, but an excellent combo guard who showed good instincts for the game. Wright did do a lot of his scoring in transition, but it was his help defense that freed him up for many of those transition buckets. Wright has excellent body control and solid playing strength, which enables him to absorb contact and finish going strong toward the basket. His build is very similar to future teammate Austin Freeman as they are both compact players who shouldn’t have much difficulty adjusting to a more physical collegiate game. Wright has the court vision to play the point. He’s more of a scorer by nature but he doesn’t leave assists on the floor for the sake of his own shot like many other combo guards are prone to do. Wright shows instant recognition of who has the highest percentage shot and finds that man. Wright has very good athleticism for the collegiate level, he can elevate very nicely and finish with strength around the rim. When he absorbs contact he is still able to put a good touch on the ball and this helped him get to the line frequently for a few and-one’s. Wright is very smooth with his release and has good elevation on his jumper, which is important at his size. His dribble is tight and he uses it to create driving angles and pull-up shots nicely.

http://draftexpress.com/viewarticle.php?a=1518

And, as an added bonus (is not not the most redundant euphemism?), here is video of Freeman and 2008 Hoya Chris Braswell. Enjoy.

http://www.hssmtv.com/Players/Austin%20Freeman.htm

http://www.hssmtv.com/Players/Chirs%20Braswell.htm

The Fatigue Factor

The Washington Post has a good piece today about how grueling the Hoyas' schedule is. The basic gist of the article is that it is hard to play two games in three days, and that doing that a lot is a real concern for coaches. It notes JTIII's belief that it was a factor in the loss to Villanova and that it compelled his decision to sit our key players in the Rutgers win.

"I wanted to see, once we got the lead, if we could get those guys a rest," Thompson said of his three leading scorers. "The one-day turnaround definitely hurt us the last time."

Indeed, Georgetown lost at home to Villanova on Jan. 8, just two days after handily beating then-No. 17 Notre Dame. Thompson later said that fatigue was a factor in the 56-52 loss to the Wildcats. But it is something the Hoyas will have to handle; they face more of these quick turnarounds than any other team in the Big East. On four occasions, they will play two games in three days -- something that Thompson was quick to notice when the league schedule was released.

This tidbit about GU having the most one-day turnarounds in the Big East is both interesting and troubling. Hopefully JTIII can figure away to avoid the problems associated with those short turn arounds.

What I learned last night....

(1) Recruiting gurus sometimes know what they are talking about. Summers and Macklin looked fantastic. Both will be studs by the end of this year/early next year.

(2) Rutgers does not deserve to be in the Big East. They are a mockery of a sham of a basketball team. Just awful.

(3) We tend to play to the level of our opponents. A performance like we had against Notre Dame would have yielded a 30 or 40 point victory.

(4) Jeff has just not been Jeff this year. And he will mostly like not go pro as feared.

(5) Roy needs to be benched if he is not beasting. The sub in for V-Mack seemed to light a fire under him.




This was simply not an inspiring game, but it was nice for the frosh to get some burn and for our core to get some rest. Hopefully we come and and blitz the Hall. They are going to press us just like Nova did and we better be ready to punish them for it.

Go Hoyas!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/17/AR2007011702202.html

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)