Game 26 - Louisville

Before the game I half-jokingly mentioned that when we lost, I hoped it would be by a lot so I wouldn't have the nagging heart-broken feeling I have had after the past six losses. The same feeling where I get my hopes up after we amount an impressive comeback and end up losing due to lack of clutch shooting and poor ball control. Well we lost tonight, by a lot. And I still feel awful.

Granted we started fouling with 2 minutes to go in the game, tonight is still tied for our worst home defeat in JT3's career at Georgetown. How bad was it? Well after we lost of West Virginia by 17 points way back in January (that was only our 5th loss of the year) I outlined previous games in which we got destroyed. Below is the updated version.
- Largest margin of defeat since losing at UConn by 19 points on March 2, 2005, 136 games ago. This was JT3's first year.
- Tied for the largest margin of defeat at home since losing to Temple by 18 points on November 22, 2004, 77 home games ago. This was also in JT3's first year.
- Largest margin of defeat at home since losing to Duke by 19 points on January 24, 2004, 78 home games ago. This was in Craig Esherick's last year.
- Largest margin of defeat at home against a Big East opponent since losing to Notre Dame by 23 points on March 4, 2000, 65 home Big East games ago. This was in Craig Esherick's first full year as head coach.

That pretty much says it all but first a comment on DaJuan Summers. It is clear to everyone that has watched him play over the past month that there is only one thing on his mind; his professional career. He was the reason our momentum stopped in this game. He took incredibly selfish shots, firing up quick three pointers and jump shots every time we had a chance to cut the Louisville lead below double digits. He wasn't even square to the basketball on most of the shots and his momentum from running up the court was still carrying him forward. When you miss a fadeaway, you are most likely to hit the front of the rim or airball the shot. When you shoot while still moving, you are most likely to miss by hitting the side of the rim you are falling towards. Most of Summers' shots hit the back of the rim; means he was pretty much taking a running shot. He made one shot in the game, which cut the lead to 8 but then after a Louisville conversion he fired up a horrible three with over 25 still on the shot clock. Go pro DaJuan; it's obvious you don't want to be a team player anymore. Luckily you are still projected to be a first rounder, and possibly a lottery pick in a very weak draft class. Take the money and run.

More morbid thoughts:
- The officiating was horrific in this game, but can't really complain because it wouldn't have changed the outcome. And we wouldn't have hit our free throws.
- We couldn't hit our three pointers; we were 3-16 from beyond the arc which impressively is only our third worst three point shooting performance in Big East play this season. West Virginia and Seton Hall losses were worse.
- But not to be outdone, there is one stat from this game that makes it our worst of the season: We only converted 8 out of our 20 layup/dunk attempts. But this was just the worst percentage-wise; we missed 14 layup/dunks in the Notre Dame and West Virginia losses.
- Summers finished the game 1-8 from the field, and 0-4 from behind the arc.
- Wright was our leading scorer but total points don't define a good play. He was 3-12 from the field, 1-4 from three-point land, and 5-8 from foul line. He also missed all 6 of his layup/dunk attempts in the second half and turned the ball over 4 times while only accumulating 1 assist.
- Our worst night on the boards since the loss to West Virginia; Terrence Williams and Earl Clark had more rebounds than our starting team.
- Speaking of starting team, I think the Nikita experiment is officially over; Clark started the second half over him.
- Freeman didn't start the second half for the first time all season.
- Student attendance woefully pathetic, especially for an ESPN, Big Monday game. But the crowd was loud when he had to be.
- Louisville had an incredible shooting night, they hit more of their three point attempts than they did layup/dunk attempts.
- They hit their first 9 shots and first 7 three pointers of the game.
- Team looks dejected and burned out. Unfortunately we still need to win at least one out of the next three to guarantee a NIT spot.
- But the bright side: We are very young. And we are very talented. And we will be very good in the years to come. Remember, the same team that led us to the Sweet 16 as sophomores and Final Four as juniors lost their last 5 games of the season and blew a NCAA Tournament berth as freshman. A program wins a national championship, not a team.
- This season hurts, bad.


Good talk.