Well if college basketball games were 31 minutes long, Georgetown would have played a heck of a game. Unfortunately for the Hoyas, games last 40 minutes and in those 9 extra minutes they were outscored 33-13. Interestingly, the critical moment of the game was a set of plays eerily similar to the plays I described in detail in the Wichita State posting. Amazingly enough, Georgetown made the same mistakes as they did previously and this, in my humble and often correct opinion (my modestly never ceases to amaze me), was the reason the Hoyas lost the game.
But first, let me give credit where credit is due.
- Omar Wattad - thank you for making me eat my words. You played a great game and and deserve to be the first off the bench.
- Chris Wright - way to bounce back. You had a good game at the point and kept the turnovers in check.
- DaJuan Summers - welcome back. You are slowly un-Bowmanizing yourself.
- We hit our free throws, again.
- Our three point shooting was finally decent.
- Henry Sims - I admire your perseverance. There are now three things that are certain in life. Death, taxes and you missing at least one three pointer a game.
Now on to the fun stuff! Let's revisit that turning point in the game. 9 minutes left in the game Georgetown up 8. Greg Monroe stupidly fouls Josh Tabb as he hits an open layup. Tabb misses the free throw and Emmanuel Negedu collects an offensive rebound. He misses the layup and collects another offensive rebound. He again misses the layup but is fouled by Omar Wattad. Negedu hits the first and misses the second and surprise surprise J.P. Prince gets the offensive rebound and Tennessee resets the offense. Pass around the perimeter for a little bit and Bobby Maze nails a three pointer from the corner. In 30 seconds Tennessee cuts a 8 point lead into a 2 point lead. Game was lost right there. I am a big believer in momentum and from that point on, Tennessee had all the confidence and swagger. Georgetown had the wind knocked out of them and never recovered. Tennessee collected six offensive rebounds in the first 30 minutes of the game, and six in the last ten.
What is the reason behind this, why are we giving up so many second chance points? Well against Wichita State it was poor fundamentals. It does not matter how high you can jump if there is someone closer to the ball. Against Tennessee it was stamina. We just played 70 minutes of hard-nosed basketball in 26 hours and our starting five were tired. Tennessee played a total of eleven players, Georgetown played nine. Tennessee played two players for more than 30 minutes, Georgetown played four. The Tennessee starting five averaged 24 minutes of playing time, the Georgetown starting five averaged 33 minutes. Nine players on Tennessee saw ten or more minutes of playing time, only six Georgetown players saw that much time on the court. I can keep going but I think the point has been made. And unfortunately, lack of depth on the bench is something we are stuck with until next season.
Last year we the Heart Attack Hoyas, winning six games by three points or less. Hate to say it but this year we will be the Heart Break Hoyas, losing games in the closing minutes of the game. It's not going to be our season, but we will be better for it come next year.
Something to keep an eye on: If Maryland loses to Gonzaga tonight, we play them on Sunday. Huge game for DC bragging rights. No love loss between the Twerps and Hoyas. We have been stealing headlines, recruits and the love of the locals from them for the past five years. More to come about the non-rival rivalry should it happen.
Good talk.
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2 comments:
B^2,
1) Great opportunity to incorporate 'Old Spice' when you used the word 'swagger'. The ball was teed up for you, man, so take out the driver.
2) I think the Nikita Meschiarakov experiment is over, with him not playing in the last 2 games.
3) JT3 apparently described Jason Clark as having "the biggest difference between height and wingspan on any player I've ever seen." Either a compliment or recognition that Clark is still in that awkward stage of puberty.
4) One point we haven't discussed: foul trouble. When Monroe and Summers get in trouble, takes away any inside strength we may have. And anyone see how Monroe does this "are you kidding me??!!?!?" shrug after every foul?
Once upon a time eeh24 (yes, I still like to refer to people by their net IDs) and I wondered what it would be like if there was a W-ESPN. That is, women-ESPN... a station which incorporated sports and some of the great gossip that would hold a woman's attention (other things of substance, too. I'll elaborate upon request.) Anyway, I'd like to throw in some commentary W-ESPN style:
1. Has anyone else noticed that it looks like JT3 has lost weight? He is looking downright skinny recently.
2. I was rather proud of how fiercely we started playing right after the half where we were down two points. Georgetown has a habit of sulking when we are down at the half and we managed to wake up a few minutes into the game and start playing for real. JT3 probably said something super inspirational and sports-movie worthy. Or, actually probably not. But I like to think he did.
3. Bruce Pearl had to keep sucking on cough drops? It makes his intense "I'm an angry coach" face a whole lot less scary when you know his voice was scraggly and he needed to coat his throat in sugar. I know coaches do this, but I still think it makes them a lot less intimidating.
4. Was anyone else facebook stalking Roy recently? Status update: "Roy is spending thanksgiving alone for the first time." How sad...!
This message added nothing to your knowledge of basketball or analysis of the game. But, well, that was never the point of it all.
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