Date: February 13, 1980
Location: Syracuse, New York/Canada
Closest Landmark: Auburn Correctional Facility, a maximum security prison
Throngs of unattractive, uneducated and unbearably annoying Syracuse fans poured into Manley Field House on a cold winter night. It was a monumental occasion for the Cuse faithful; you see this was the very last home game ever to be played at this special arena. And it was on this court that their beloved Orangemen had defeated 57 consecutive opponents, which at the time represented the longest home winning streak in the nation. The team was scheduled to move to the newly constructed Carrier Dome the following season, and fans gathered at Manley Field House to remember the past, celebrate the present, and toast to the future.
And oh yeah, there was a game that night. The #3 ranked Syracuse Orangemen faced off against the visiting Georgetown Hoyas. This was the inaugural season of the Big East Conference, and the Orangemen sat atop the standings with a 20-1 record, 3-0 against conference opponents. Meanwhile Georgetown came into the game with a 17-5 record, 4-1 in conference play. Both teams were led by young coaches trying to establish themselves and their teams in the newly formed Big East.
The Hoyas were led by John Thompson Jr., a Washington D.C. native who took over the Georgetown program in 1972. Thompson was a former All-American center for Providence College and had a brief stint in the NBA where he was most known for being the backup to the legendary Bill Russell. After the NBA, Thompson returned to D.C. to coach St. Anthony's High School for seven years before being offered the Georgetown head spot. When Thompson took over, Georgetown was coming off of a 3-23 record and had only two NIT appearances and one NCAA Tournament berth in its history. He turned the program around and led the Hoyas to five winning seasons, two NIT appearances and three NCAA Tournament berths in seven short years. And he now faced one of his biggest challenges as a coach against an energized Syracuse team and crowd.
The Orangemen were led by Jim Boeheim, a former Syracuse player, graduate assistant and full-time assistant coach. Boeheim was a walk-on his freshman year and rose to team captain by his senior year. He played professionally with the Scranton Miners for two years and returned to Syracuse to serve as a graduate assistant. He was promoted to a full-time assistant a few years later and rather unglamorously took over the program in 1976 after head coach Roy Danforth departed for Tulane. Boeheim was not the leading candidate for the position but after a long search yielded nothing, he became the default choice. He took over a program that had made four straight NCAA Tournament appearances and was National Champion Runner Up in 1975.
Georgetown and Syracuse had met 17 times before, with Orangemen leading the series 11-6. Thompson was 2-0 against Syracuse in his short career, but both wins were at neutral sites. This was Thompson's first visit to the imposing Manley Field House. In the days leading up the game, local papers hypothesized on only the margin of victory for the heavily favored Orangemen, as the concept of anything but a win in the last game at the hallowed home arena was unfathomable. The halftime score validated this notion, as Thompson and his Georgetown team found themselves down by 14 points. Fans celebrated what seemed to be a certain victory. But Georgetown refused to give up and they cut into the Orangemen lead with a 15-5 run late in the second half. After a goaltending call on Syracuse, the score was left tied at 50 with seconds left on the clock. On the next play, Georgetown's Eric "Sleepy" Floyd was fouled after a poor pass by Syracuse. He was sent to the free throw line with 5 seconds left in the game. He sank both free throws and as time expired the stunned and silenced Syracuse crowd looked up to the scoreboard to see an unaccustomed sight. The scoreboard read Georgetown 52, Syracuse 50. Georgetown had done the unimaginable.
In the post game conference John Thompson Jr., fresh off the heels of the incredible victory on the closing night of an arena in which 57 consecutive visitors were defeated, proclaimed the famous statement that to this day still echos across the greater Northern New York region. He boldly declared, "Manley Field House is officially closed."
And with those words, one of the greatest rivalries in college basketball was born.
Cuse on Saturday. Get excited.
Good talk.
Showing posts with label Preview. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Preview. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Monday, February 2, 2009
Midseason Review Sponsored by Kleenex
Midway through the Big East season, Georgetown sits barely at number ten in their conference with an ugly 3-6 record, 12-8 overall. Many knew the troubles Georgetown would experience in January, facing three top teams in a week but few expected the colossal collapse of the Hoyas against the bottom feeders of the conference. Or did we?
Here was my prediction for the season after the first game against Jacksonville:
Much has been written about the Big East. Terms like best, deepest, toughest, hardest, and most competitive have been used often when describing the sixteen teams that make up this conference. Consider this: If an upset is defined as a nationally ranked team losing to a team of lower or no ranking, then as of February 1, 2009, there have been 13 upsets in the Big East. There have only been 70 Big East games played so far. So 1 in every 5.4 Big East games played results in an upset.
Side note, all the analysis by commentators on which is the best conference, Big East or ACC, is ridiculous. It is just used as a method for creating viewer interest in otherwise boring and meaningless ACC games. ESPN has a backlog of sappy ACC stories so if there was not an interest in conference games, all those unbearable pieces with Dick Vitale interviewing Duke fans that fell in love when their gazes crossed paths while observing their unskilled point guard slap the floor with two his hands would go to waste. There is no question that the Big East is the best conference. Yes, the ACC is 9-6 vs. the Big East in head-to-head matchups but 8 of those 9 victories are against teams in the bottom half of the conference. Applying the same upset analysis from above to the ACC, an upset only occurs once every 8.2 games. The ACC has 4 teams in the top 20 RPI, the Big East has 7. Okay, that was more than a side note, I can keep going on but this post is supposed to be about Georgetown sucking, not the media sucking the ACC....... gotta keep it kid-friendly otherwise my sponsors will run for the hills.
So what is the reason for Georgetown's poor play in January? There are six possible reasons. Shooting, defending, rebounding, passing, turnovers, and fouls. All six of these categories at some point have contributed to a Georgetown loss. But which is the overwhelming culprit? I suggest we take a look at the numbers. Sound good? Great. Let's split the nine Big East games into two types. There is good Georgetown, which represents games where we played reasonably well, even though we might have lost. Included in this set are the wins against UConn and Syracuse and the loss against Notre Dame. And then there's bad Georgetown, or games where the team played embarrassingly poor. Include in this set are the losses against Pitt, West Virginia, Seton Hall, Cincy and Marquette and the win against Providence. Startin' in reverse order cause I'm a rebel:
Fouls
Bad Georgetown on average committed 2.5 more fouls per game but opponents averaged roughly the same amount of free throws against both good and bad Georgetown. So fouls are not the reason for Georgetown's poor play.
Turnovers
Bad Georgetown averaged 15 turnovers per game which were converted into 19.5 points by opponents. Good Georgetown averaged 10.7 giveaways which were converted into 12 points by opponents. Additionally bad Georgetown averaged 4 more turnovers per game than their opponents, whereas good Georgetown averaged 3 less turnovers per game than opponents. Moral of the story, turnover ratio is a huge factor to success.
Passing
Hard to define passing by looking at a box score but the best indicator of a team's success in distributing the basketball is their assist to turnover ratio. For the most part, turnovers are due to errant passes, either poorly thrown perimeter passes or bad entry passes into the lane. Good Georgetown had an assist to turnover ratio of 1.44, reminiscent of the Hoyas of the old (old like last year, not old like the eighties). Bad Georgetown averages an assist to turnover ratio of 0.92, meaning they are more likely to turn the ball over than make a pass that leads to a basketball. Not a hugely meaningful statistic because assists are dependent on the player that receives the pass actually making the basketball, something to be discussed later.
Rebounding
I gripe about it a lot but good Georgetown and bad Georgetown are dead even on rebounding. Both average the same amount of offensive and defensive rebounds and both give up the same amount to the opposition. This by no means suggests that bad Georgetown is proficient at rebounding, it just means good Georgetown sucks at rebounding as well.
Defense
Ah, the fun stuff. Good Georgetown on average gives up 70 points a game while bad Georgetown surrenders 74 points. I think this is the perfect juncture to make something very clear to all columnists, announcers and ESPN idiots that talk about the vaunted Georgetown defense. It is no longer there. In their 9 Big East games this season, 6 opponents have scored 70 or more points against the Hoyas. In the two previous years, only 5 Big East opponents have put up that many points against Georgetown. To repeat, conference opponents scored 70 or more points in 6 out of 9 games this season. In the last two years, conference opponents scored 70 or more points in 5 out of 40 games. As for good Georgetown and bad Georgetown, both are equally as inept at preventing opponents from scoring. The opposition is shooting 46% from the field against both sets of Georgetown teams, which is nearly 10% higher than last year.
Offense
Last but certainly not least, it is time to discuss the offensive woes. Good Georgetown shoots a respectable 49% from the field, and 42% from behind the arc. Bad Georgetown shoots 43% from the field and a woeful 28% from beyond the arc. And that's where the game is lost. Both good and bad Georgetown take and make the same number of layups a game, but the standard deviation for bad Georgetown is significant, meaning there is no telling what bad Georgetown is going to do to screw up the game offensively. Good Georgetown averages 76 points a game, while bad Georgetown averages 66. And sadly, the average margin of victory for good Georgetown is 6, whereas opponents defeat bad Georgetown by 9 points on average.
Summary
So there you have it, the difference between two Georgetown teams. Bad Georgetown tends to take less shots because they turn the ball over more, and the shots they do take go into the basket at a much lower rate than good Georgetown. The unfortunate part is that bad Georgetown should really be called real Georgetown and good Georgetown should be called lucky Georgetown. Sad day for all.
Revised Prediction
We go 5-4 in our remaining 9 games to end up at 8-10 in conference and 17-12 overall.
vs. Rutgers - Stop the losing streak and win
vs. Cincy - Beat them at home
@ Cuse - Upset Special, Thompson gets his first win at the Carrier Dome
@ USF - Upset Special, Thompson continues his winless streak at the Sun Dome
vs. Marquette - Lose, but its close
vs. Louisville - Lose, badly
@ Nova - We could win this game, this will be the difference between a guaranteed tourney spot and a nervous Selection Sunday but I think we lose
@ St. Johns - Win
vs. Depaul - Win
The 8-10 conference record gets us the 9th spot in the Big East Tournament, meaning we have to play Tuesday. Win our first two games against 16th and 8th seeds. Then we face the #1 seed on Thursday and lose.
Somehow this gets us into the NCAA Tournament, with a 10-11 seed. Big East gets 8 teams again, but West Virginia gets in over ND. We lose in first round of Tourney.
** If my Upset Special doesn't happen, and we lose at Cuse and win at South Florida, then we don't get into NCAA Tournament.
I hope I'm wrong but I've learned not to hope.
Good talk.
Here was my prediction for the season after the first game against Jacksonville:
(18-11, 10-8) 8 Seed come MarchFirst time I have looked at that prediction since writing it and I suddenly don't feel that bad about the way we are playing. People saw this team's potential, or lack thereof, after the first game of the season and chose to ignore what they saw after surprising wins against Memphis and UConn. At the end of the day, we are not a very good team. We are still capable of ending up 10-8; I think 9-9 is more likely if we play like we did against Marquette on Saturday. But I'm not counting on it.
Key Wins: Syracuse (H), West Virginia, Marquette (H), Villanova
Key Losses: Memphis, Duke, 2nd Game of Old Spice, Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Marquette (A), Syracuse (A), Louisville
Strength of schedule/conference gets us in. We drop out of top 25 by end of January back in by end of season. Rough January BE schedule will put us below .500 in the league for the first time in JTIII's tenure (excluding 1-2 start to '06-'07 season)
Much has been written about the Big East. Terms like best, deepest, toughest, hardest, and most competitive have been used often when describing the sixteen teams that make up this conference. Consider this: If an upset is defined as a nationally ranked team losing to a team of lower or no ranking, then as of February 1, 2009, there have been 13 upsets in the Big East. There have only been 70 Big East games played so far. So 1 in every 5.4 Big East games played results in an upset.
Side note, all the analysis by commentators on which is the best conference, Big East or ACC, is ridiculous. It is just used as a method for creating viewer interest in otherwise boring and meaningless ACC games. ESPN has a backlog of sappy ACC stories so if there was not an interest in conference games, all those unbearable pieces with Dick Vitale interviewing Duke fans that fell in love when their gazes crossed paths while observing their unskilled point guard slap the floor with two his hands would go to waste. There is no question that the Big East is the best conference. Yes, the ACC is 9-6 vs. the Big East in head-to-head matchups but 8 of those 9 victories are against teams in the bottom half of the conference. Applying the same upset analysis from above to the ACC, an upset only occurs once every 8.2 games. The ACC has 4 teams in the top 20 RPI, the Big East has 7. Okay, that was more than a side note, I can keep going on but this post is supposed to be about Georgetown sucking, not the media sucking the ACC....... gotta keep it kid-friendly otherwise my sponsors will run for the hills.
So what is the reason for Georgetown's poor play in January? There are six possible reasons. Shooting, defending, rebounding, passing, turnovers, and fouls. All six of these categories at some point have contributed to a Georgetown loss. But which is the overwhelming culprit? I suggest we take a look at the numbers. Sound good? Great. Let's split the nine Big East games into two types. There is good Georgetown, which represents games where we played reasonably well, even though we might have lost. Included in this set are the wins against UConn and Syracuse and the loss against Notre Dame. And then there's bad Georgetown, or games where the team played embarrassingly poor. Include in this set are the losses against Pitt, West Virginia, Seton Hall, Cincy and Marquette and the win against Providence. Startin' in reverse order cause I'm a rebel:
Fouls
Bad Georgetown on average committed 2.5 more fouls per game but opponents averaged roughly the same amount of free throws against both good and bad Georgetown. So fouls are not the reason for Georgetown's poor play.
Turnovers
Bad Georgetown averaged 15 turnovers per game which were converted into 19.5 points by opponents. Good Georgetown averaged 10.7 giveaways which were converted into 12 points by opponents. Additionally bad Georgetown averaged 4 more turnovers per game than their opponents, whereas good Georgetown averaged 3 less turnovers per game than opponents. Moral of the story, turnover ratio is a huge factor to success.
Passing
Hard to define passing by looking at a box score but the best indicator of a team's success in distributing the basketball is their assist to turnover ratio. For the most part, turnovers are due to errant passes, either poorly thrown perimeter passes or bad entry passes into the lane. Good Georgetown had an assist to turnover ratio of 1.44, reminiscent of the Hoyas of the old (old like last year, not old like the eighties). Bad Georgetown averages an assist to turnover ratio of 0.92, meaning they are more likely to turn the ball over than make a pass that leads to a basketball. Not a hugely meaningful statistic because assists are dependent on the player that receives the pass actually making the basketball, something to be discussed later.
Rebounding
I gripe about it a lot but good Georgetown and bad Georgetown are dead even on rebounding. Both average the same amount of offensive and defensive rebounds and both give up the same amount to the opposition. This by no means suggests that bad Georgetown is proficient at rebounding, it just means good Georgetown sucks at rebounding as well.
Defense
Ah, the fun stuff. Good Georgetown on average gives up 70 points a game while bad Georgetown surrenders 74 points. I think this is the perfect juncture to make something very clear to all columnists, announcers and ESPN idiots that talk about the vaunted Georgetown defense. It is no longer there. In their 9 Big East games this season, 6 opponents have scored 70 or more points against the Hoyas. In the two previous years, only 5 Big East opponents have put up that many points against Georgetown. To repeat, conference opponents scored 70 or more points in 6 out of 9 games this season. In the last two years, conference opponents scored 70 or more points in 5 out of 40 games. As for good Georgetown and bad Georgetown, both are equally as inept at preventing opponents from scoring. The opposition is shooting 46% from the field against both sets of Georgetown teams, which is nearly 10% higher than last year.
Offense
Last but certainly not least, it is time to discuss the offensive woes. Good Georgetown shoots a respectable 49% from the field, and 42% from behind the arc. Bad Georgetown shoots 43% from the field and a woeful 28% from beyond the arc. And that's where the game is lost. Both good and bad Georgetown take and make the same number of layups a game, but the standard deviation for bad Georgetown is significant, meaning there is no telling what bad Georgetown is going to do to screw up the game offensively. Good Georgetown averages 76 points a game, while bad Georgetown averages 66. And sadly, the average margin of victory for good Georgetown is 6, whereas opponents defeat bad Georgetown by 9 points on average.
Summary
So there you have it, the difference between two Georgetown teams. Bad Georgetown tends to take less shots because they turn the ball over more, and the shots they do take go into the basket at a much lower rate than good Georgetown. The unfortunate part is that bad Georgetown should really be called real Georgetown and good Georgetown should be called lucky Georgetown. Sad day for all.
Revised Prediction
We go 5-4 in our remaining 9 games to end up at 8-10 in conference and 17-12 overall.
vs. Rutgers - Stop the losing streak and win
vs. Cincy - Beat them at home
@ Cuse - Upset Special, Thompson gets his first win at the Carrier Dome
@ USF - Upset Special, Thompson continues his winless streak at the Sun Dome
vs. Marquette - Lose, but its close
vs. Louisville - Lose, badly
@ Nova - We could win this game, this will be the difference between a guaranteed tourney spot and a nervous Selection Sunday but I think we lose
@ St. Johns - Win
vs. Depaul - Win
The 8-10 conference record gets us the 9th spot in the Big East Tournament, meaning we have to play Tuesday. Win our first two games against 16th and 8th seeds. Then we face the #1 seed on Thursday and lose.
Somehow this gets us into the NCAA Tournament, with a 10-11 seed. Big East gets 8 teams again, but West Virginia gets in over ND. We lose in first round of Tourney.
** If my Upset Special doesn't happen, and we lose at Cuse and win at South Florida, then we don't get into NCAA Tournament.
I hope I'm wrong but I've learned not to hope.
Good talk.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Cincinnati Preview
Hope everyone has recovered from Sunday's catastrophe. Don't want to talk much about tomorrow's game because thinking about Georgetown basketball makes me sad. And when I'm sad, I cry. And when I cry, I get made fun of at work. And when I get made fun of at work, I cry more. It is a vicious cycle.
Why does this game matter?
- We are currently tied for 9th place with the Bearcats
- We play them again in ten days
- We are a woeful 1-3 on the road
- Another loss would put us at 3-5 in conference play, with five games left against ranked opponents, three of them on the road
- Chances of finishing in top four of Big East and getting a double bye in the Big East Tournament are next to nothing
- We need to finish between # 5-8 in the conference in order to qualify for a first round bye
- Lunardi somehow has us at a #5-seed out West, he obviously hasn't been watching this team play
What to expect?
- Cincinnati is a young but deep team
- Eight players average over 15 minutes a game, compared to six on Georgetown
- Those eight consist of two juniors, three sophomores and three freshman
- Georgetown is 4-0 against common opponents so far, while Cincinnati is 0-4
- They rebound fairly well despite not having a height advantage over opponents
- They are not good from the free throw line, with four of their eight players shooting 60% or lower
- Deonta Vaughn, their leading scorer, accounts for one-third of Cincinnatti's three point attempts
- Sapp needs to shut down Vaughn and Monroe needs to stop fellow freshman Yancy Gates from getting easy putbacks
First time since '06-'07 season that one of our Big East games is not broadcast on TV. That game was also at Cincinnati. If we don't win tomorrow, chalk this season up as a waste and pray for no transfers. Time to blame the red puffy eyes on my allergies to snow.
Good talk.
Why does this game matter?
- We are currently tied for 9th place with the Bearcats
- We play them again in ten days
- We are a woeful 1-3 on the road
- Another loss would put us at 3-5 in conference play, with five games left against ranked opponents, three of them on the road
- Chances of finishing in top four of Big East and getting a double bye in the Big East Tournament are next to nothing
- We need to finish between # 5-8 in the conference in order to qualify for a first round bye
- Lunardi somehow has us at a #5-seed out West, he obviously hasn't been watching this team play
What to expect?
- Cincinnati is a young but deep team
- Eight players average over 15 minutes a game, compared to six on Georgetown
- Those eight consist of two juniors, three sophomores and three freshman
- Georgetown is 4-0 against common opponents so far, while Cincinnati is 0-4
- They rebound fairly well despite not having a height advantage over opponents
- They are not good from the free throw line, with four of their eight players shooting 60% or lower
- Deonta Vaughn, their leading scorer, accounts for one-third of Cincinnatti's three point attempts
- Sapp needs to shut down Vaughn and Monroe needs to stop fellow freshman Yancy Gates from getting easy putbacks
First time since '06-'07 season that one of our Big East games is not broadcast on TV. That game was also at Cincinnati. If we don't win tomorrow, chalk this season up as a waste and pray for no transfers. Time to blame the red puffy eyes on my allergies to snow.
Good talk.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
West Virginia Preview and Other Crap
We need to win this game. West Virginia is right about where people expected them to be. Picked to finish off the top half of the Big East by the conference coaches in October, the Mountaineers are 13-4 with an impressive thrashing of Ohio State and win over Cleveland State (something Cuse couldn't do). They are 2-2 in the conference, winning the games they should (Seton Hall and South Florida) and losing the games against ranked opponents (UConn and Marquette).
Their offense revolves around senior guard Alex Ruoff and junior forward Da'Sean Butler. They suck at shooting threes, shoot 65% from the free throw line but don't turn the ball over too much. And they are without guard Joe Mazzulla, one of the heroes from last season's upset of Duke in the NCAA Tournament.
Last time they played Georgetown they were handily defeated in the semifinals of the Big East Tournament. That game was particularly memorable because the Hoyas went 1-7 from the FT line. Last time the two teams squared off in the regular season Georgetown won in the final seconds on a Patrick Ewing Jr. block. Whether it was a block or a goaltend is up to the viewer (video below) but the West Virginia fans, fairy new to the internet, showed their displeasure with the no-call by changing the Wikipedia definition of Goaltending. Wow, they really showed us. Not Wikipedia!
In other news, this is highly disturbing. When I was in 7th grade, I was trying to decide whether wearing sweatpants to school was still acceptable, not where I wanted to play college basketball.
Good talk.
Their offense revolves around senior guard Alex Ruoff and junior forward Da'Sean Butler. They suck at shooting threes, shoot 65% from the free throw line but don't turn the ball over too much. And they are without guard Joe Mazzulla, one of the heroes from last season's upset of Duke in the NCAA Tournament.
Last time they played Georgetown they were handily defeated in the semifinals of the Big East Tournament. That game was particularly memorable because the Hoyas went 1-7 from the FT line. Last time the two teams squared off in the regular season Georgetown won in the final seconds on a Patrick Ewing Jr. block. Whether it was a block or a goaltend is up to the viewer (video below) but the West Virginia fans, fairy new to the internet, showed their displeasure with the no-call by changing the Wikipedia definition of Goaltending. Wow, they really showed us. Not Wikipedia!
In other news, this is highly disturbing. When I was in 7th grade, I was trying to decide whether wearing sweatpants to school was still acceptable, not where I wanted to play college basketball.
Good talk.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Duke Preview
There are a lot of significant numbers in American History. 13 colonies, 50 states, 49 meaningful states, 1492 Columbus discovers America, 1776 adoption of Declaration of Independence, 1984 birth year of greatest blogger of all-time, etc.
But there are only two sports scores that will forever be ingrained into American History. USA 4, USSR 3 and Georgetown 87, Duke 84. Both are beautiful and ageless stories of hope to pass to future generations. Both illustrate the underdog message and inspire one to never give up, regardless of the odds against. Messages akin to David vs. Goliath, Good vs. Evil, Democracy vs. Communism, the list is endless. Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, I call this story, The Rebirth of the Hoyas.
It was a chilly Friday night, as Georgetown Seniors lined up outside of Tom Tom's watering hole in Adams Morgan. It was nearing the end of January, which meant it was time for senior disorientation week. I was sporting a worn out baseball cap, which was the norm in my younger days. The hat had been through a lot. It had seen the heartbreaks and agony of the Esherick Era, a period so painful that the hat boasted the sweat and tears of passionate disgust as a badge. The hat also saw a season and half span of basketball under a new realm. A new dawn had begun but the low hanging clouds were still obstructing the rays of hope from shinning on the Hoya faithful. Bitterness was replaced by cautious intrigue. Anger replaced by guarded curiosity. Who was this John Thompson III? What was the deal with this funny offense? Why does our 7'2'' center play at the top of the key?
Thompson's first season at the helm was filled with ups and downs. We were destroyed at home in his first game by Temple, and later embarrassed by Oral Roberts. But in his first Big East game, he guided us to a victory at 16-ranked Pittsburgh, an arena where Georgetown had never won before. We won nail-biters at Villanova and against Notre Dame. Having "win" and "nail-biter" in the same sentence was foreign to Hoya fans, unless we were talking from opposing teams' perspectives. By February, Hoya fans started to believe in something they never thought they would see again, an NCAA Tournament berth. After a win over West Virginia the Hoyas were sitting at 16-6, 8-3 in conference play with five games left, three against teams they had already beaten. A small place inside of us all called hope started to peak its head out. And then in an ever so cruel twist, the collapse that everyone knew was coming, but just for once wanted to believe could be avoided, occurred. It was as if the ghost of disgraced coaches past (Craig Esherick) kicked the table that supported the house of cards we were building. And what hurt the most was that it wasn't a grandiose card sculpture, it wasn't something that drew the envy of neighbors. It was really just a few cards lined up against each other. A few decent wins here and there, combined with a few bad losses. But Esherick would have none of it. We lost our last five and any chance of an NCAA Tournament berth. And we all learned an important lesson. You see, hope is a dangerous thing. Drive a man insane.
Flash forward to that Friday night at Tom Tom's. The next morning Georgetown and Thompson faced its biggest challenge to date. The Duke Blue Devils were coming to town. Duke was the preseason #1 and hadn't left the top position for all nine weeks of the season. They were 17-0 going for a school record 18-0. They had absolutely destroyed opponents, with an average margin of victory of nearly 20 points. Meanwhile Georgetown was 11-4, with no key victories but no horrific losses. Some in line knew what was at stake the next day, although most did not. The last time Duke came to DC they absolutely humiliated the Hoyas 85-66. The ending score does not do the massacre justice; the score was 48-24 at halftime!
Thoughts of a sequel to that shame ran through my mind while in line for the bar. Thankfully, or so I thought, something interrupted my inner torment. A bouncer rudely and without cause accused me of cutting the line. I calmly responded that I had not and in fact was with the same group of friends I had arrived with. Although skeptical of my explanation, he regressed. As we approached the front entrance, I was ordered to remove my hat. I proposed that I put it in follower Furious Z's purse but was hastily denied. I reluctantly placed the headgear in what was my only option, a box so dark and deep it seemed bottomless. After having a reasonably miserable time at the bar, I left alongside follower blichman, a Dukie who had made the drive up from Durham to witness the contest the next day. As I reached into the box I knew something wasn't right. The accessory with which I had shared so many memories was not there. I did not need to dig through, I sensed its absence. I felt an emptiness in the air that could only occur when something so special and critical to your very existence vanishes, never to be seen again. I heard arguing in the background as follower blichman, a great friend and man of high moral stature, contended that the doorkeeps in fact purposely misplaced the hat as a form of cruel justice, since they were unable to convict me on their first accusation of cutting the line. To me it didn't matter, mere words or acknowledgment of foul play would not bring the hat back. It was gone, and for that I mourned.
I awoke the next morning to sounds of Cream's "Badge" playing through the house, as was our gameday ritual. But as I dressed I realized there was no song that could be more ill-fated for my morning routine. My badge was missing. Like a soldier without his medals, I felt as if I had lost the testament for my anguish. The lessons and pains endured had vanished. I reached for a new hat, which my mother had purchased for my birthday in hopes I would one day retire the old, dirty, sweaty and malformed cap. While I indeed expected the transition to a new hat to occur eventually, I didn't want it to happen like this, not under these circumstances, and not on this day out of all days. Like a knight without his shield, I marched into battle with my head down, expecting only to be wounded again, but without the proof that I had been scarred so many times before.
The atmosphere of the game was like nothing I had seen before. The fans, the players, the arena were trembling with anticipation. Nothing was as telling as when the students sang the national anthem faster than the lead singer. It was as if the students were saying to the person at halfcourt, this isn't your time to amaze us with your vocal abilities, this is our time to shock the world, so don't get fancy with the great anthem. The game started out slow with lots of missed layups by Duke and strong defensive stands by the Hoyas. Georgetown was able to jump out to an early lead but the game was close. The electricity still swarmed the arena as whispers of shock that Georgetown was playing even with the ranked Blue Devils buzzed across the stands. After the first official timeout Georgetown went on a 10-3 run, punctuated by the below video of the classic Princeton Offense play, a backdoor pass.
Again and again, plays like the above occurred. Consider the following: Before Duke decided to play zone at the 2:00 mark of the first half, Georgetown had converted 15 out of their 23 shot attempts, resulting in an incredible 65% shooting percentage. And this was not luck, of their 15 field goals, 12 were layups. Of those 12 layups, 7 came off of assists. The other 3 field goals were three pointers, 2 of which came off of assists. So 9 out of their 15 field goals were created by efficient passing. This was not the game Duke was used to. This was not isolation, not one on one basketball. This was fundamental team basketball, every single Georgetown player on the court had at least one field goal. And then Duke went to a zone defense, in hopes of tightening the inside passing lanes. Below is a video of the new defense, and how Georgetown reacted.
Best way to beat a zone is to hit outside shots. And that is exactly what Georgetown did. The half ended shortly thereafter with Georgetown going into the locker room with a 14 point lead.
In the second half Duke changed its offensive strategy and started driving to the basket. Big man Roy Hibbert sat most of the second half and Duke pushed Jeff Green to the perimeter. This created a gaping hole in the lane for the experienced Duke guards to penetrate. The drives led to fouls, and free throw shooting was something the Duke squad excelled at. The game went back and forth, with Georgetown maintaining its double digit lead until the 8:00 minute mark. Over the next four minutes, Duke went on a 16-8 run as Georgetown committed four fouls while only attempting four shots. The lead was now down to 2. Georgetown quickly responded with a layup and strong defensive stands as Duke went cold and missed their next three shots. With 1:15 left Georgetown had rebuilt the lead to an 8 point margin, but many in the stands were still weary. Weary of a veteran Duke team that had been in situations like this before. Two quick layups by Duke senior Sean Dockery closed the gap to 4 and Georgetown was forced to call a timeout with 47 second left on the clock.
The only thing stopping Georgetown from an improbable upset victory were free throws. By this point Georgetown had hit 12 out of 17 free throw attempts, but only 6 out of 10 in the second half. On the ensuing inbound, senior Ashanti Cook was immediately fouled. He missed the first but made the second. Georgetown had a 5 point lead with 44 seconds left. On the next possession, J.J. Redick had his three point attempt blocked and Georgetown was sent back to the free throw line, this time fellow senior Brandon Bowman was put on the spot. Bowman hit both and Georgetown pushed the lead to 7 with 28 seconds left. But Duke would not give up. A quick layup by Dockery cut the lead to 5 and then Greg Paulus picked up a loose ball for another layup to cut the lead to 3 with 18 seconds left. Bowman was immediately fouled on the inbound and hit 1 out of 2 three throws to make it a 4 point game. Dockery raced the ball upcourt and converted a long perimeter shot, just inches away from being a three. On the inbound Jonathan Wallace was fouled. As he toed the line the scoreboard read 86-84 with 6 seconds left.
Two free throws would seal the game. Wallace hit the first and there was a hush in the crowd. The silence across the arena was deafening. As the second shot went up the crowd's collective heart stopped. Most knew what was at stake. With that shot, a young, new coach would get his greatest victory. With that shot, a funny and complicated offense attributed to teams with lesser athletic talent would force the basketball community to take notice. With that shot, a group of misfits that were not highly recruited out of high school would become a team. And with that shot, the heartbreaks and disappointments of a fan base longing to believe in something would be washed away.
The shot went in, and then out. Hit the inside back rim, then the inside front rim, and then popped out. It was as if our old friend Craig Esherick had the ball on a string, toying with us as he mocked the hopes and faith of Hoya fans. Duke collected the rebound and raced upcourt. There was only one player allowed to shoot the ball in this instance, and it was All-American, senior guard J.J. Redick, who at this juncture had scored nearly half of Duke's points. As Paulus cut to the sideline to make room for a Redick three he lost control of the ball. The ball was loose and Bowman jumped on it. The horn sounded. The clock expired. The scoreboard was set. It read Georgetown 87, Duke 84. Georgetown had just done the unthinkable and the fans gathered at midcourt to celebrate.
The others raced by but I stood still. I blankly stared up at the scoreboard. I wasn't expecting it to change, I believed what I had just witnessed, but never thought I would see it happen. Not after all I had been through with this team, not after all the pain and hardship. But something was different, our past failures didn't weigh down on me. I wasn't stuck in the past, I was able to take joy in the present, and feel optimistic about the future. My shield, my medal, my badge, my hat was not with me. And it was then I realized that it is okay to let go of the past. It is okay to push the pain away. And it is okay to hope. You see, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.
Good talk.
But there are only two sports scores that will forever be ingrained into American History. USA 4, USSR 3 and Georgetown 87, Duke 84. Both are beautiful and ageless stories of hope to pass to future generations. Both illustrate the underdog message and inspire one to never give up, regardless of the odds against. Messages akin to David vs. Goliath, Good vs. Evil, Democracy vs. Communism, the list is endless. Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, I call this story, The Rebirth of the Hoyas.
It was a chilly Friday night, as Georgetown Seniors lined up outside of Tom Tom's watering hole in Adams Morgan. It was nearing the end of January, which meant it was time for senior disorientation week. I was sporting a worn out baseball cap, which was the norm in my younger days. The hat had been through a lot. It had seen the heartbreaks and agony of the Esherick Era, a period so painful that the hat boasted the sweat and tears of passionate disgust as a badge. The hat also saw a season and half span of basketball under a new realm. A new dawn had begun but the low hanging clouds were still obstructing the rays of hope from shinning on the Hoya faithful. Bitterness was replaced by cautious intrigue. Anger replaced by guarded curiosity. Who was this John Thompson III? What was the deal with this funny offense? Why does our 7'2'' center play at the top of the key?
Thompson's first season at the helm was filled with ups and downs. We were destroyed at home in his first game by Temple, and later embarrassed by Oral Roberts. But in his first Big East game, he guided us to a victory at 16-ranked Pittsburgh, an arena where Georgetown had never won before. We won nail-biters at Villanova and against Notre Dame. Having "win" and "nail-biter" in the same sentence was foreign to Hoya fans, unless we were talking from opposing teams' perspectives. By February, Hoya fans started to believe in something they never thought they would see again, an NCAA Tournament berth. After a win over West Virginia the Hoyas were sitting at 16-6, 8-3 in conference play with five games left, three against teams they had already beaten. A small place inside of us all called hope started to peak its head out. And then in an ever so cruel twist, the collapse that everyone knew was coming, but just for once wanted to believe could be avoided, occurred. It was as if the ghost of disgraced coaches past (Craig Esherick) kicked the table that supported the house of cards we were building. And what hurt the most was that it wasn't a grandiose card sculpture, it wasn't something that drew the envy of neighbors. It was really just a few cards lined up against each other. A few decent wins here and there, combined with a few bad losses. But Esherick would have none of it. We lost our last five and any chance of an NCAA Tournament berth. And we all learned an important lesson. You see, hope is a dangerous thing. Drive a man insane.
Flash forward to that Friday night at Tom Tom's. The next morning Georgetown and Thompson faced its biggest challenge to date. The Duke Blue Devils were coming to town. Duke was the preseason #1 and hadn't left the top position for all nine weeks of the season. They were 17-0 going for a school record 18-0. They had absolutely destroyed opponents, with an average margin of victory of nearly 20 points. Meanwhile Georgetown was 11-4, with no key victories but no horrific losses. Some in line knew what was at stake the next day, although most did not. The last time Duke came to DC they absolutely humiliated the Hoyas 85-66. The ending score does not do the massacre justice; the score was 48-24 at halftime!
Thoughts of a sequel to that shame ran through my mind while in line for the bar. Thankfully, or so I thought, something interrupted my inner torment. A bouncer rudely and without cause accused me of cutting the line. I calmly responded that I had not and in fact was with the same group of friends I had arrived with. Although skeptical of my explanation, he regressed. As we approached the front entrance, I was ordered to remove my hat. I proposed that I put it in follower Furious Z's purse but was hastily denied. I reluctantly placed the headgear in what was my only option, a box so dark and deep it seemed bottomless. After having a reasonably miserable time at the bar, I left alongside follower blichman, a Dukie who had made the drive up from Durham to witness the contest the next day. As I reached into the box I knew something wasn't right. The accessory with which I had shared so many memories was not there. I did not need to dig through, I sensed its absence. I felt an emptiness in the air that could only occur when something so special and critical to your very existence vanishes, never to be seen again. I heard arguing in the background as follower blichman, a great friend and man of high moral stature, contended that the doorkeeps in fact purposely misplaced the hat as a form of cruel justice, since they were unable to convict me on their first accusation of cutting the line. To me it didn't matter, mere words or acknowledgment of foul play would not bring the hat back. It was gone, and for that I mourned.
I awoke the next morning to sounds of Cream's "Badge" playing through the house, as was our gameday ritual. But as I dressed I realized there was no song that could be more ill-fated for my morning routine. My badge was missing. Like a soldier without his medals, I felt as if I had lost the testament for my anguish. The lessons and pains endured had vanished. I reached for a new hat, which my mother had purchased for my birthday in hopes I would one day retire the old, dirty, sweaty and malformed cap. While I indeed expected the transition to a new hat to occur eventually, I didn't want it to happen like this, not under these circumstances, and not on this day out of all days. Like a knight without his shield, I marched into battle with my head down, expecting only to be wounded again, but without the proof that I had been scarred so many times before.
The atmosphere of the game was like nothing I had seen before. The fans, the players, the arena were trembling with anticipation. Nothing was as telling as when the students sang the national anthem faster than the lead singer. It was as if the students were saying to the person at halfcourt, this isn't your time to amaze us with your vocal abilities, this is our time to shock the world, so don't get fancy with the great anthem. The game started out slow with lots of missed layups by Duke and strong defensive stands by the Hoyas. Georgetown was able to jump out to an early lead but the game was close. The electricity still swarmed the arena as whispers of shock that Georgetown was playing even with the ranked Blue Devils buzzed across the stands. After the first official timeout Georgetown went on a 10-3 run, punctuated by the below video of the classic Princeton Offense play, a backdoor pass.
Again and again, plays like the above occurred. Consider the following: Before Duke decided to play zone at the 2:00 mark of the first half, Georgetown had converted 15 out of their 23 shot attempts, resulting in an incredible 65% shooting percentage. And this was not luck, of their 15 field goals, 12 were layups. Of those 12 layups, 7 came off of assists. The other 3 field goals were three pointers, 2 of which came off of assists. So 9 out of their 15 field goals were created by efficient passing. This was not the game Duke was used to. This was not isolation, not one on one basketball. This was fundamental team basketball, every single Georgetown player on the court had at least one field goal. And then Duke went to a zone defense, in hopes of tightening the inside passing lanes. Below is a video of the new defense, and how Georgetown reacted.
Best way to beat a zone is to hit outside shots. And that is exactly what Georgetown did. The half ended shortly thereafter with Georgetown going into the locker room with a 14 point lead.
In the second half Duke changed its offensive strategy and started driving to the basket. Big man Roy Hibbert sat most of the second half and Duke pushed Jeff Green to the perimeter. This created a gaping hole in the lane for the experienced Duke guards to penetrate. The drives led to fouls, and free throw shooting was something the Duke squad excelled at. The game went back and forth, with Georgetown maintaining its double digit lead until the 8:00 minute mark. Over the next four minutes, Duke went on a 16-8 run as Georgetown committed four fouls while only attempting four shots. The lead was now down to 2. Georgetown quickly responded with a layup and strong defensive stands as Duke went cold and missed their next three shots. With 1:15 left Georgetown had rebuilt the lead to an 8 point margin, but many in the stands were still weary. Weary of a veteran Duke team that had been in situations like this before. Two quick layups by Duke senior Sean Dockery closed the gap to 4 and Georgetown was forced to call a timeout with 47 second left on the clock.
The only thing stopping Georgetown from an improbable upset victory were free throws. By this point Georgetown had hit 12 out of 17 free throw attempts, but only 6 out of 10 in the second half. On the ensuing inbound, senior Ashanti Cook was immediately fouled. He missed the first but made the second. Georgetown had a 5 point lead with 44 seconds left. On the next possession, J.J. Redick had his three point attempt blocked and Georgetown was sent back to the free throw line, this time fellow senior Brandon Bowman was put on the spot. Bowman hit both and Georgetown pushed the lead to 7 with 28 seconds left. But Duke would not give up. A quick layup by Dockery cut the lead to 5 and then Greg Paulus picked up a loose ball for another layup to cut the lead to 3 with 18 seconds left. Bowman was immediately fouled on the inbound and hit 1 out of 2 three throws to make it a 4 point game. Dockery raced the ball upcourt and converted a long perimeter shot, just inches away from being a three. On the inbound Jonathan Wallace was fouled. As he toed the line the scoreboard read 86-84 with 6 seconds left.
Two free throws would seal the game. Wallace hit the first and there was a hush in the crowd. The silence across the arena was deafening. As the second shot went up the crowd's collective heart stopped. Most knew what was at stake. With that shot, a young, new coach would get his greatest victory. With that shot, a funny and complicated offense attributed to teams with lesser athletic talent would force the basketball community to take notice. With that shot, a group of misfits that were not highly recruited out of high school would become a team. And with that shot, the heartbreaks and disappointments of a fan base longing to believe in something would be washed away.
The shot went in, and then out. Hit the inside back rim, then the inside front rim, and then popped out. It was as if our old friend Craig Esherick had the ball on a string, toying with us as he mocked the hopes and faith of Hoya fans. Duke collected the rebound and raced upcourt. There was only one player allowed to shoot the ball in this instance, and it was All-American, senior guard J.J. Redick, who at this juncture had scored nearly half of Duke's points. As Paulus cut to the sideline to make room for a Redick three he lost control of the ball. The ball was loose and Bowman jumped on it. The horn sounded. The clock expired. The scoreboard was set. It read Georgetown 87, Duke 84. Georgetown had just done the unthinkable and the fans gathered at midcourt to celebrate.
The others raced by but I stood still. I blankly stared up at the scoreboard. I wasn't expecting it to change, I believed what I had just witnessed, but never thought I would see it happen. Not after all I had been through with this team, not after all the pain and hardship. But something was different, our past failures didn't weigh down on me. I wasn't stuck in the past, I was able to take joy in the present, and feel optimistic about the future. My shield, my medal, my badge, my hat was not with me. And it was then I realized that it is okay to let go of the past. It is okay to push the pain away. And it is okay to hope. You see, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.Good talk.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Dad Stop, You're Embarrassing Me and Cuse Preview
Well apparently lack of boxing out has nothing to do with Georgetown's rebounding woes. According to Big John Thompson, the reason Georgetown cannot rebound is because they don't have enough thugs. I thought Summers was a thug, I mean he has illegible tattoos and facial hair designs that the majority of the male species will never be able to grow.
Notre Dame demonstrated yesterday why a deep bench is necessary in this league. Similar to G'town, they have only one bench player worthy of time on the court. Last night in a fast-paced game against Louisville, their legs gave out from under them, and they managed to convert only one field goal in the last twelve minutes of the game. And then they lost. And then I found five dollars.
Cuse tomorrow. Can't really ever say anything positive about them. They are all guard play with undersized, over-achieving forwards. Flynn is their only real threat to drive and they have a lot of "thugs" in the box that can rebound. They haven't been playing their 2-3 zone as much as they usually do but I expect they will play it a lot against us, considering our only consistent scoring threats so far in Big East play are Monroe and Summers. I have pretty much given up on Sapp so we need Wright to match Flynn and Monroe to dominate Onuaku. They are a very poor free throw shooting team (under 65%) which could give us an advantage later in the game. In the last three games we have consistently failed in one key fundamental. Rebounds against Pitt, free throws against ND and turnovers against Providence. Can't really afford to let any of those happen against Cuse. And since Boeheim really has no control over his players, expect a lot of trash talking with the fans. Don't get too involved with Cheddar Bob, he might punch the girls around you. Can't spell ASSAULT without SU.
Meanwhile, Mr. Magoo is already prepping for his annual Selection Sunday speech. The address, delivered in a nasal, whinny tone, contends that everyone hates his team and he gets no respect. He then claims that despite undeserving credentials, his team should be granted a free pass to the NCAA Tournament. Boeheim gave us a preview of this year's speech last month.
- Pittsburgh (avg. ranking #1)
Home Games: UConn, WVU, Cuse, Marquette, ND
Away Games: UConn, WVU, G'town, Louisville, Nova
- Connecticut (avg. ranking #4)
Home Games: Pitt, ND, G'town, Cuse, Nova
Away Games: Pitt, ND, Louisville, Marquette, WVU
- Syracuse (avg. ranking #8)
Home Games: G'town, Nova, WVU, ND, Louisville
Away Games: G'town, Nova, Pitt, UConn, Marquette
- Georgetown (avg. ranking #12.5)
Home Games: Cuse, Marquette, Pitt, WVU, Louisville
Away Games: Cuse, Marquette, UConn, ND, Nova
- Notre Dame (avg. ranking #12.5)
Home Games: UConn, Louisville, G'town, Marquette, Nova
Away Games: UConn, Louisville, Cuse, Pitt, WVU
- Marquette (avg. ranking #14)
Home Games: G'town, Nova, Cuse, UConn, WVU
Away Games: G'town, Nova, Pitt, Louisville, ND
- Louisville (avg. ranking #20)
Home Games: WVU, ND, Pitt, UConn, Marquette
Away Games:WVU, ND, G'town, Cuse, Nova
- Villanova (avg. ranking #22.5)
Home Games: Cuse, Marquette, G'town, Pitt, Louisville
Away Games:Cuse, Marquette, UConn, WVU, ND
- West Virginia (avg. ranking #37)
Home Games: Pitt, Louisville, UConn, Nova, ND
Away Games: Pitt, Louisville, G'town, Cuse, Marquette
I applied a simple formula:
Sum of opponents' rankings for home games x 1.5 + Sum of opponents' rankings for away games x 1.0.
The team with the lowest resulting figure has the hardest schedule, since they would play the most lower-seeded teams. Similar to RPI, I give more credit for a tougher road schedule than home schedule.
The results aren't very surprising given Boeheim's tendency to exaggerate, whine and complain without reason. Also, considering the fact that Boeheim himself is graduate of Syracuse, faulty and incorrect mental processing should be expected.
Toughest Big East Schedules as per January 12, 2009:
1 -West Virginia
2 - Villanova
3 - Connecticut
4 - Notre Dame
5 - Georgetown
6 - Marquette
7 - Louisville
8 - Pittsburgh
9 - Syracuse
Remarkable that Cuse comes out even below Pitt, which doesn't have the luxury of playing a #1 ranked team and lowering their schedule rating. You can't spell EXCUSE without CUSE.
Good talk.
Notre Dame demonstrated yesterday why a deep bench is necessary in this league. Similar to G'town, they have only one bench player worthy of time on the court. Last night in a fast-paced game against Louisville, their legs gave out from under them, and they managed to convert only one field goal in the last twelve minutes of the game. And then they lost. And then I found five dollars.
Cuse tomorrow. Can't really ever say anything positive about them. They are all guard play with undersized, over-achieving forwards. Flynn is their only real threat to drive and they have a lot of "thugs" in the box that can rebound. They haven't been playing their 2-3 zone as much as they usually do but I expect they will play it a lot against us, considering our only consistent scoring threats so far in Big East play are Monroe and Summers. I have pretty much given up on Sapp so we need Wright to match Flynn and Monroe to dominate Onuaku. They are a very poor free throw shooting team (under 65%) which could give us an advantage later in the game. In the last three games we have consistently failed in one key fundamental. Rebounds against Pitt, free throws against ND and turnovers against Providence. Can't really afford to let any of those happen against Cuse. And since Boeheim really has no control over his players, expect a lot of trash talking with the fans. Don't get too involved with Cheddar Bob, he might punch the girls around you. Can't spell ASSAULT without SU.
Meanwhile, Mr. Magoo is already prepping for his annual Selection Sunday speech. The address, delivered in a nasal, whinny tone, contends that everyone hates his team and he gets no respect. He then claims that despite undeserving credentials, his team should be granted a free pass to the NCAA Tournament. Boeheim gave us a preview of this year's speech last month.
Over 18 games, I’d say we play probably the toughest schedule in the Big East. We’ve got Georgetown twice, we’ve got Villanova twice, and last I looked they were both ranked in the top 15 in the country. Our double games are pretty hard. We have to go to Pittsburgh, Connecticut and Marquette, and last I looked they were 1, 5 and 15. So when you look at schedules, you look at the 18-game Big East schedule, I’d say we’ve got the toughest schedule.Well let's see about that Boeheim. Cause I'm a math nerd I built a little model to calculate the Big East Strength of Schedule for each of the top nine teams as per the average of the AP and Coaches' Polls. Listed below are the teams, rankings and opponents
- Pittsburgh (avg. ranking #1)
Home Games: UConn, WVU, Cuse, Marquette, ND
Away Games: UConn, WVU, G'town, Louisville, Nova
- Connecticut (avg. ranking #4)
Home Games: Pitt, ND, G'town, Cuse, Nova
Away Games: Pitt, ND, Louisville, Marquette, WVU
- Syracuse (avg. ranking #8)
Home Games: G'town, Nova, WVU, ND, Louisville
Away Games: G'town, Nova, Pitt, UConn, Marquette
- Georgetown (avg. ranking #12.5)
Home Games: Cuse, Marquette, Pitt, WVU, Louisville
Away Games: Cuse, Marquette, UConn, ND, Nova
- Notre Dame (avg. ranking #12.5)
Home Games: UConn, Louisville, G'town, Marquette, Nova
Away Games: UConn, Louisville, Cuse, Pitt, WVU
- Marquette (avg. ranking #14)
Home Games: G'town, Nova, Cuse, UConn, WVU
Away Games: G'town, Nova, Pitt, Louisville, ND
- Louisville (avg. ranking #20)
Home Games: WVU, ND, Pitt, UConn, Marquette
Away Games:WVU, ND, G'town, Cuse, Nova
- Villanova (avg. ranking #22.5)
Home Games: Cuse, Marquette, G'town, Pitt, Louisville
Away Games:Cuse, Marquette, UConn, WVU, ND
- West Virginia (avg. ranking #37)
Home Games: Pitt, Louisville, UConn, Nova, ND
Away Games: Pitt, Louisville, G'town, Cuse, Marquette
I applied a simple formula:
Sum of opponents' rankings for home games x 1.5 + Sum of opponents' rankings for away games x 1.0.
The team with the lowest resulting figure has the hardest schedule, since they would play the most lower-seeded teams. Similar to RPI, I give more credit for a tougher road schedule than home schedule.
The results aren't very surprising given Boeheim's tendency to exaggerate, whine and complain without reason. Also, considering the fact that Boeheim himself is graduate of Syracuse, faulty and incorrect mental processing should be expected.
Toughest Big East Schedules as per January 12, 2009:
1 -West Virginia
2 - Villanova
3 - Connecticut
4 - Notre Dame
5 - Georgetown
6 - Marquette
7 - Louisville
8 - Pittsburgh
9 - Syracuse
Remarkable that Cuse comes out even below Pitt, which doesn't have the luxury of playing a #1 ranked team and lowering their schedule rating. You can't spell EXCUSE without CUSE.
Good talk.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Schadenfreude and Providence Preview
Tough week for Hoya fans but perhaps we can all rejoice in the following score out of College Park:
Morgan State 66, Maryland 65
or perhaps the following score out of Chestnut Hill:
Harvard 82, Boston College 70
Nothing else to say other than:
-and-
There goes Gary's chance of breaking the Top 25 this season, time to take away the 1 vote they got in the Coaches' Poll.
Over / Under on days left for Gary at UMCP: 100
Right around the time they fail to make the NCAA Tournament for the 4th time in 5 years.
And as for BenedictArnold College, you should have never left the Big East, but we're a lot better off because of it. So thank you.
Be weary of Providence on Saturday, they are a very good and experienced team. Four senior starters and one junior. And last night against Cincy their guards finally broke out of their season-long 3pt shooting slump. Must win for Hoyas, we've never started Big East season 1-3 under JT3. Game is won or loss depending on whether our guards decide to show up.
Good talk.
Morgan State 66, Maryland 65
or perhaps the following score out of Chestnut Hill:
Harvard 82, Boston College 70
Nothing else to say other than:
-and-
There goes Gary's chance of breaking the Top 25 this season, time to take away the 1 vote they got in the Coaches' Poll.
Over / Under on days left for Gary at UMCP: 100
Right around the time they fail to make the NCAA Tournament for the 4th time in 5 years.
And as for BenedictArnold College, you should have never left the Big East, but we're a lot better off because of it. So thank you.
Be weary of Providence on Saturday, they are a very good and experienced team. Four senior starters and one junior. And last night against Cincy their guards finally broke out of their season-long 3pt shooting slump. Must win for Hoyas, we've never started Big East season 1-3 under JT3. Game is won or loss depending on whether our guards decide to show up.
Good talk.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
The Fallacy of a Top Ten Pitt
For the sixth year in a row, the Pittsburgh Panthers are ranked in the top ten in December/January. For the sixth year in a row, the Pittsburgh the Panthers have started off the season at least 10-0. And for the sixth year in a row, the Pittsburgh Panthers will disappoint their fans by flopping in the NCAA Tournament.
Let's go through the seasons:
2003-2004
Started the season 18-0
Ranked as high as #9 before losing to UConn
Didn't play a ranked team until Jan. 19th
Lost to Oklahoma State in Sweet Sixteen
2004-2005
Started the season 10-0
Ranked as high as #7 before losing to Bucknell
Didn't play a ranked team until Feb. 14th
Lost to Pacific in First Round
2005-2006
Started the season 14-0
Ranked as high as #9 before losing to St. Johns
Didn't play a ranked team until Jan. 15th
Lost to Bradley in Round of 32
2006-2007
Started the season 10-0
Ranked as high as #2 before losing to Oklahoma State
Didn't play a ranked team until Dec. 16th
Lost to UCLA in Sweet Sixteen
2007-2008
Started the season 11-0
Ranked as high as #6 before losing to Dayton
Didn't play a ranked team until Dec. 20th
Lost to Michigan State in Round of 32
2008-2009
Started the season 12-0
Ranked as high as #3 before losing to ???
Didn't play a ranked team until Jan. 3rd
Lost to ??? in ???
I thought this was our best chance of winning out of the three game span against UConn, Pitt and ND. Way to beat Pitt is to force them to take set shots. Their starting guards, Levance Fields and Jermaine Dixon, are shooting a dismal 20% and 35% from beyond the arc. Despite our big men having the height advantage, we will lose the rebound battle again but if we control tempo, we can control how many second chance opportunities they end up with. Keep playing the matchup zone we showcased against UConn. Should be another classic G'town vs. Pitt game, JT3 is 4-3 against the Panthers, and 2-0 at home.
Good talk.
Let's go through the seasons:
2003-2004
Started the season 18-0
Ranked as high as #9 before losing to UConn
Didn't play a ranked team until Jan. 19th
Lost to Oklahoma State in Sweet Sixteen
2004-2005
Started the season 10-0
Ranked as high as #7 before losing to Bucknell
Didn't play a ranked team until Feb. 14th
Lost to Pacific in First Round
2005-2006
Started the season 14-0
Ranked as high as #9 before losing to St. Johns
Didn't play a ranked team until Jan. 15th
Lost to Bradley in Round of 32
2006-2007
Started the season 10-0
Ranked as high as #2 before losing to Oklahoma State
Didn't play a ranked team until Dec. 16th
Lost to UCLA in Sweet Sixteen
2007-2008
Started the season 11-0
Ranked as high as #6 before losing to Dayton
Didn't play a ranked team until Dec. 20th
Lost to Michigan State in Round of 32
2008-2009
Started the season 12-0
Ranked as high as #3 before losing to ???
Didn't play a ranked team until Jan. 3rd
Lost to ??? in ???
I thought this was our best chance of winning out of the three game span against UConn, Pitt and ND. Way to beat Pitt is to force them to take set shots. Their starting guards, Levance Fields and Jermaine Dixon, are shooting a dismal 20% and 35% from beyond the arc. Despite our big men having the height advantage, we will lose the rebound battle again but if we control tempo, we can control how many second chance opportunities they end up with. Keep playing the matchup zone we showcased against UConn. Should be another classic G'town vs. Pitt game, JT3 is 4-3 against the Panthers, and 2-0 at home.
Good talk.
Friday, December 26, 2008
UConn(vict) Preview
Ladies, gentlemen and the creatures that are fans of Cuse, welcome to the Big East Season. Georgetown opens up against arguably one of the toughest stretches any team will face this season. At UConn (#2), vs. Pitt (#3) and at Notre Dame (#8). And those numbers in parenthesis aren't Big East standings, they are national rankings. So three games against top ten teams in eight days, two of which are on the road. JT3 has never opened the BE season 0-3, the worst was 1-2 in '06-'07, but it is a very real possibility this season. If we walk out of this stretch with one win, consider it a moral victory.
And now on to the fun stuff. I'm not going to tell you what to expect against UConn because I have talked about it enough the past few weeks. In sum, we are going to get absolutely destroyed on the boards. Only way to win is to stay out of foul trouble (i.e. limit use of our weak bench) and take smart shots (i.e. good ball movement). If we shoot under 40% from three point land we cannot win this game. All that said, I am going to focus my attention on something sent to me by follower jhags99.
First, read the heart warming story of UConn junior Stanley Robinson.
Wow, that Coach Jim Calhoun is a class act. Saw one of this student-athletes (emphasis on student because that is what Calhoun really cares about) heading for trouble and wanted to put the derailed train back on the tracks. Can't say enough about him, we need more good, earnest, hard working folk like Jim Calhoun not only in college basketball, but life in general. Three cheers for Jim!
But wait, something seems askew. This pathetic piece of journalism by Dana O'Neil is missing something. She provides the facts but forgets to the connect the dots. Let me step in where Dana failed.
Let's review the facts as presented. Coach/Savior Calhoun was worried about his starting forward after he was late for a few study halls. In order to teach him a valuable life lesson, he suspended Robinson for the first semester of the year. Robinson, so inspired by said punishment, works hard to get his life back in order and rejoins the team, having earned enough money to pay for his education, thereby not requiring a scholarship. Hmmmm...
Here is what really happened folks, and why Calhoun is a notorious dirtbag. At the end of last season, Calhoun was looking ahead to this year (and trying to forget about his embarrassing loss to #13-seed San Diego in the first round of the NCAA tournament). He had no seniors on the team and had eight definite returning scholarship players, since Hasheem Thabeet was leaning towards going pro. He had four incoming players: freshmen Scottie Haralson, Kemba Walker and Nate Miles and Juco transfer Charles Okwandu. He was also heavily recruiting Australian sensation Ater Majok and had extended him a scholarship offer. If Thabeet decided to postpone his NBA dreams and come back for his junior season and Majok accepted the offer, Calhoun would have fourteen scholarship players for the '08-'09 season. That is one over the thirteen maximum scholarships allowed under NCAA rules. Knowing this, Calhoun took a good hard look at his roster and saw that Stanley Robinson, a five-star recruit, wasn't really living up to his expectations. Although he was billed to be a superstar player, Robinson took a smaller role on the team, over-shadowed by fellow big men Jeff Adrien and Hasheem Thabeet. So Calhoun called Robinson into his office at the end of the season and told him that he no longer had a scholarship at UConn and had two options (1) transfer to another school or (2) become a walk-on. No idea why Robinson didn't choose option #1, but I think it might have something to do with the money thrown at him through a BS job with a former player of Calhoun.
A few things to note:
- Coach/Savior Calhoun rescinded a scholarship from a 19 year old father of two, who was notoriously shy and quiet, in order to extend it to someone else who Saint Calhoun deemed to be a better player
- Robinson was suspended a semester for being late to study hall. He was not allowed to attend class and had his scholarship taken away.
- In 2006 Marcus Williams of UConn was suspended eleven games after being arrested on four counts of third-degree felony larceny. Williams still went to class and kept his scholarship.
- As per the idiot author of the article: "Ruslan Inyatkin returned from vacation to find he had a new employee at Prime Materials" meaning Calhoun somehow had Robinson hired at the company without an interview with his supervisor
- Robinson receives somewhere around $25/hr to clean scrap metal ($700/wk working 9:30-3:30)
- The player that received Robinson's scholarship, has yet to play a minute of basketball for UConn because the NCAA has not cleared him to be eligible
Some more tidbits about the Grade A program Calhoun is running up in Storrs:
- Nate Miles, one of the recruits coming in this year, was expelled before playing a single minute after abusing a female student and violating a restraining order
- Jerome Dyson, current starting guard for UConn, was suspended last year after failing two drug tests
- Doug Wiggins, UConn guard that transferred to UMass, was suspended from UConn last year for alcohol possession and then suspended from UMass this year for breaking and entering
- A.J. Price, current starting guard for UConn, was suspended a full season after trying to sell stolen laptops
- Marcus Williams, former star player for UConn, was suspended for four months after stealing laptops with Price
- Antonio Kellogg, former starting guard for UConn, was suspended from the team for drugs and then attempted to assault a police officer
UConn and Calhoun represent all that is wrong with college athletics today. A scumbag coach running a dirty program with a University that looks the other way as long as the money keeps flowing. What Calhoun did with Robinson is not illegal but it certainly raises an eyebrow as to what coaches can get away with, and how secondary something as important as an education can be in collegiate athletics. And nothing is going to ever change as long as morons like Dana O'Neil write garbage pieces praising the perpetrators for doing something so obviously suspect.
Good talk.
And now on to the fun stuff. I'm not going to tell you what to expect against UConn because I have talked about it enough the past few weeks. In sum, we are going to get absolutely destroyed on the boards. Only way to win is to stay out of foul trouble (i.e. limit use of our weak bench) and take smart shots (i.e. good ball movement). If we shoot under 40% from three point land we cannot win this game. All that said, I am going to focus my attention on something sent to me by follower jhags99.
First, read the heart warming story of UConn junior Stanley Robinson.
Wow, that Coach Jim Calhoun is a class act. Saw one of this student-athletes (emphasis on student because that is what Calhoun really cares about) heading for trouble and wanted to put the derailed train back on the tracks. Can't say enough about him, we need more good, earnest, hard working folk like Jim Calhoun not only in college basketball, but life in general. Three cheers for Jim!
Let's review the facts as presented. Coach/Savior Calhoun was worried about his starting forward after he was late for a few study halls. In order to teach him a valuable life lesson, he suspended Robinson for the first semester of the year. Robinson, so inspired by said punishment, works hard to get his life back in order and rejoins the team, having earned enough money to pay for his education, thereby not requiring a scholarship. Hmmmm...
Here is what really happened folks, and why Calhoun is a notorious dirtbag. At the end of last season, Calhoun was looking ahead to this year (and trying to forget about his embarrassing loss to #13-seed San Diego in the first round of the NCAA tournament). He had no seniors on the team and had eight definite returning scholarship players, since Hasheem Thabeet was leaning towards going pro. He had four incoming players: freshmen Scottie Haralson, Kemba Walker and Nate Miles and Juco transfer Charles Okwandu. He was also heavily recruiting Australian sensation Ater Majok and had extended him a scholarship offer. If Thabeet decided to postpone his NBA dreams and come back for his junior season and Majok accepted the offer, Calhoun would have fourteen scholarship players for the '08-'09 season. That is one over the thirteen maximum scholarships allowed under NCAA rules. Knowing this, Calhoun took a good hard look at his roster and saw that Stanley Robinson, a five-star recruit, wasn't really living up to his expectations. Although he was billed to be a superstar player, Robinson took a smaller role on the team, over-shadowed by fellow big men Jeff Adrien and Hasheem Thabeet. So Calhoun called Robinson into his office at the end of the season and told him that he no longer had a scholarship at UConn and had two options (1) transfer to another school or (2) become a walk-on. No idea why Robinson didn't choose option #1, but I think it might have something to do with the money thrown at him through a BS job with a former player of Calhoun.
A few things to note:
- Coach/Savior Calhoun rescinded a scholarship from a 19 year old father of two, who was notoriously shy and quiet, in order to extend it to someone else who Saint Calhoun deemed to be a better player
- Robinson was suspended a semester for being late to study hall. He was not allowed to attend class and had his scholarship taken away.
- In 2006 Marcus Williams of UConn was suspended eleven games after being arrested on four counts of third-degree felony larceny. Williams still went to class and kept his scholarship.
- As per the idiot author of the article: "Ruslan Inyatkin returned from vacation to find he had a new employee at Prime Materials" meaning Calhoun somehow had Robinson hired at the company without an interview with his supervisor
- Robinson receives somewhere around $25/hr to clean scrap metal ($700/wk working 9:30-3:30)
- The player that received Robinson's scholarship, has yet to play a minute of basketball for UConn because the NCAA has not cleared him to be eligible
Some more tidbits about the Grade A program Calhoun is running up in Storrs:
- Nate Miles, one of the recruits coming in this year, was expelled before playing a single minute after abusing a female student and violating a restraining order
- Jerome Dyson, current starting guard for UConn, was suspended last year after failing two drug tests
- Doug Wiggins, UConn guard that transferred to UMass, was suspended from UConn last year for alcohol possession and then suspended from UMass this year for breaking and entering
- A.J. Price, current starting guard for UConn, was suspended a full season after trying to sell stolen laptops
- Marcus Williams, former star player for UConn, was suspended for four months after stealing laptops with Price
- Antonio Kellogg, former starting guard for UConn, was suspended from the team for drugs and then attempted to assault a police officer
UConn and Calhoun represent all that is wrong with college athletics today. A scumbag coach running a dirty program with a University that looks the other way as long as the money keeps flowing. What Calhoun did with Robinson is not illegal but it certainly raises an eyebrow as to what coaches can get away with, and how secondary something as important as an education can be in collegiate athletics. And nothing is going to ever change as long as morons like Dana O'Neil write garbage pieces praising the perpetrators for doing something so obviously suspect.
Good talk.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Why You Should Be Very Excited for Tomorrow
Never thought I would live to see it in the regular season. Well that is actually a drastic overstatement. Would have probably happened right after Sweaty Williams gets fired and Maryland
The last time
But that was not a planned game and
The last time
What makes the bitterness even stronger is smugness of Sweaty Williams in regards to playing
Good talk.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
"Where Your Job's Your Credit" Sounds Like a Stupid Idea in Hindsight
A new season of high hopes and big disappoints lie ahead of us as we enter the 2008-09 Georgetown Men's College Basketball season. The fate of the season lies on the broad shoulders of one Greg Monroe, who dropped precipitously in the rankings since being crowned the best high school basketball player in the country just over a year ago. Interestingly, the drop in the rankings coincided with his commitment to Georgetown and subsequent dismissal of Duke's valiant, and most certainly illegal, courtship of the young lad. And they say there is no media bias... The drop in rankings also has to do with Mr. Monroe having an atrocious senior season, but let's just overlook that fact.
This introductory posting will have the normal cynical, chicken-little rants as you have come to expect from anyone forced to endure the Esherick Era, so let me start off with some good news. Billy Packer is no longer employed by CBS. Hip Hip Hooray (or is it Hip Hop Hooray? Damn Naughty by Nature messing with my mind).
Now on to the fun stuff! The last time Georgetown played a game without Jonathan Wallace as a starter, the team, under the helms of the aforementioned Esherick, lost to Boston College by 11 points in the First Round of the Big East Tournament. That also happened to be the first time since 1974 that Georgetown was not invited to a post season tournament. Tis a shame those two sentences were never mentioned to Mr. D. Pierce Nixon before he penned this masterpiece.
So what does this mean for this young, inexperienced Georgetown team? Well folks, expect a lot of scratching your head, throwing your hands up in the air and violently yelling "Why the F is Jeremiah in the game," only to be reminded that young Jerry is no longer on the team. Speaking of which, Rivers went to the now completely irrelevant Indiana Hoosiers. That is the equivalent me going to working for the Treasury Department (oh snap what now Paulson?).
The last time I wrote to you all I ended with a warning to the 2007-08 Hoyas that if they did not rebound, take care of the ball and hit free throws, they could be looking at a very early exit from the NCAA Tournament. Tis a shame they did not listen. Not to be a downer but I am a firm believer that those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. So let's recap the highlights of that game. Senior captain Roy "How the Hell is he in the NBA" Hibbert scored 6 points, had 1 rebound, 1 assist, and attempted 1 free throw (which he missed). Doesn't sound like the line of a leader but hold your horses sports fans, he did lead the team in fouls and turnovers. Patrick "Soon to be on Dancing with the Stars" Ewing Jr. had an equally impressive game scoring 2 points, grabbing 2 rebounds and missing 2 free throws. Remarkably, the team was not out rebounded by the smaller and weaker Davidson squad (about even on the boards), but they did turn the ball over five times as much. And Davidson did get to the line nearly twice as much and made three times as many free throws. You know you are in trouble when Vernon "Return of the Mack" Macklin had the second highest free throw percentage on the team (by the way, Vernon shot an astonishing 25% from the line that year - have fun with that Billy Donovan). Just to clarify, they are called free throws because they are free points. If you were supposed to be any harder than that, they would be called "Take Your Best Shot" throws, or "You're a Winner as Long as you Play Hard" throws.
Enough of that, let's talk this season.
(1) We have the toughest OOC schedule we have ever had under JT3.
Home against Memphis, away at Cameron and neutral site games against Wichita State and two of the following: Tennessee, Siena, Maryland, Michigan State, Oklahoma State or Gonzaga. We also play Savannah State, coached by Georgetown alum and member of the 1984 championship team, Horace Broadnax. I threw that in there as a feel good story. We have a chance to play Maryland, something Hoya and Turd, I mean Terp fans have been whining about for 15 years. Special shout out to Gary Williams, the only coach to EVER increase his team's graduation rate by an indeterminable percentage. That's right; it is so high that it is mathematically impossible to calculate it! No men's basketball player on scholarship enrolled at Maryland between 1997 and 2000 graduated in six years. Between the years of 1998 and 2001, a whopping 10% graduated! Way to go Gary, maybe you can stop sweating so much now.
(2) We have the youngest team we have ever had under JT3.
1 senior on scholarship - Jesse "[I have a nickname but I think it is too mean]" Sapp (Bryon "Everyone Thinks My Name is Byron" Jansen does not count).
1 junior - Dajuan "No Ones Knows What You Did Last Summer" Summers.
1 sophomore who played in more than half the games last year - Austin "Arms of Oli, Height of Pardo" Freeman.
7 other sophomore and freshman players.
(3) We have the toughest stretch of games to start a Big East season we have ever had under JT3.
We start out the season against with UConn, Pitt, ND, Prov, Cuse and WV. All six of those teams can make the NCAA Tournament this year (yup, Providence has a shot). But don't worry; we have an OOC game scheduled in between Cuse and WV. It is just a small game against Duke, at Cameron.
There is a lot that can be said about these three things but general consensus is that when you have a hard OOC schedule, you should have a relatively light conference schedule (see Memphis). When you have a young team, you should have a challenging but not discouraging overall schedule. Looks like all things are working against us this season.
What to expect on the court: We are quick. Don't expect us to pass around the perimeter for 30 seconds and throw up a Hail Mary three pointer. That being said, also expect a LOT more turnovers, especially from the back court. I said the season depends on Monroe but in reality it depends on Chris Wright. He is the wild card in this equation; teams will put pressure on Sapp knowing he cannot create his own shot and double down on Summers. If JT3 spreads the offense and encourages penetration and kick outs we have a fighting chance. We know how to spread the court, but we don't know how to beat people off the dribble. A huge thing working against us is the fact that the three point line has been moved back this season. Creates more spacing inside for big bruiser teams (UConn and Pitt), a greater competitive advantage for sharp shooting teams (ND) but it just moves our "pass around the perimeter" offense even further away from the basket than in previous years.
The conference is just too big, too quick, too talented and too good to say we have a chance to finish better than what Big East coaches predicted us to finish, 7th. Just take a look at the preseason Coaches' Poll. Two Big East teams in top 5, four in top 10, seven in top 25 and a total of nine receiving votes. That is the most any conference has ever gotten.
On another note, now that I am here in DC, and shall be attending games, look for me to fight Doug Gottlieb.
It's alright if you disagree with anything I have said above. I will just laugh at you for being stupid.
Welcome back to the best time of year folks.
Good talk.
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