GEORGETOWN BASKETBALL THREAD- Recap

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lets put this one away, already
 
man i miss going to games on saturday afternoons...downyboy hook me up with one of kathryn's tickets
 
Is there any doubt this is gona be Jessie's team next season? And he's definitely are #2 guy right now.

Kinda feel bad for whatever is goin on with Wallace's game.....he's better than this.

but Jessie took over the point mid-season last year and hasn't looked back.
 
For tomorrow..

Payback from 06 is in oder...I wana put this one away quick, and see more of Vern

Gransberry can play, Jones is streaky.





It's been so long since we last met South Florida, but the two teams share little in common in the intervening years.

Nearly two seasons ago, South Florida snuck up on a tired Georgetown team to upset the #20 ranked Hoyas 63-56 in USF's season finale, finishing 6-22 in itsopening season in the league. Only three of today's Georgetown players were on the court that night, and none remain for the Bulls. Head coach Stan Heathhas a young and somewhat inexperienced team which has hit a wall entering into February. After an opening win over Rutgers, the Bulls have dropped eightstraight in conference play. Though a fundamentally stronger team than St. John's or Rutgers, the grind of the Big East schedule is taking its toll.

One need look no further than Saturday night, when after running out to a 25-9 lead on St. John's, the Bulls did not score a field goal for the final 8:48of the first half. In the end, the Redmen broke its own losing streak in a surprising 14 point road win.

South Florida does have one big weapon, though. Center Kentrell Gransberry is the Bulls' best hope for end of season honors, even if the Bulls don'tmake to Madison Square Garden in March. Ranked eighth in scoring in the league, Gransberry's 10.8 rebounds are the best in the Big East. Gransberry has ledhis team in scoring in six of the last nine games and in rebounding over eight of the last nine. The Bulls' upset hopes may not end with Gransberry, but itsure begins with him.

With Gransberry a senior, the future for USF lies in its backcourt, where DC area native Chris Howard (Friendly HS) has quietly put together some good gamesfor USF this season. He leads the Bulls with five assists a game and is a capable defender, but his shooting has dropped to 34 percent from the field in BigEast play and is shooting just 48 percent from the free throw line. Freshman Dominique Jones has stepped to the forefront as Howard has struggled, scoring 16points per game in Big East play and leading the Bulls in three pointers. That total, however, just 17 in nine games, speaks to a fundamental flaw in theBulls' game plan: an inability to contend from outside. The Bulls are shooting just 29 percent from three point range in conference play this season.

The starting lineup has seen a rotation of late among the forwards, none successful. 6-4 guard Jesus Verdejo returns to the starting lineup after having playedjust two minutes over the last two games due to injury. Verdejo is second on the team in threes and adds another weapon the outside game that it sorely lackedagainst St. John's. Getting Verdejo back in the lineup allows Heath to keep e Jones in the small forward slot. 6-9 junior college product Mobolaji Ajayi(1.9 ppg) will get a second consecutive start after his 12 point, nine rebound effort against St. John's. Prior to the game, Ajayi had scored just fourpoints in his prior eight league games. Orane Chin (5.1 ppg, 14 starts) also figures to see action up front.

Here's a look at some potential matchups:

Jonathan Wallace vs. Chris Howard. Howard is one of the team's poorest shooters of late, and USF struggled late with St. John's from outside. Thiscould be the matchup that frees Wallace from his mid-season slump.

Jessie Sapp vs. Jesus Verdejo. Another bad matchup for the Bulls. Sapp is peaking on both ends of the court, while Verdejo is coming off a back injury. TheBulls' backcourt gave up 17 points Saturday to St. John's reserve guard Larry Wright, and could suffer a similar fate with Sapp.

Austin Freeman vs. Dominique Jones. Jones' hot hand will be tested by Freeman's perimeter defense. USF may try to post Jones closer inside to feedGransberry--Jones is second on the team with assists with 67.

DaJuan Summers vs.Mobolaji Ajayi . A big step up for Ajayi, Summers should be able to be more effective defensively as well as swing to the baseline for openshots.

Roy Hibbert vs. Kentrell Gransberry. A tougher matchup for Hibbert than recent opponents, Hibbert must be mindful of Gransberry's rebounding efforts whilereducing Gransberry's looks inside. One of the big stats out of the St. John's loss was that Gransberry took four shots in the first eight minutes butnone the rest of the first half when St. John's made its big run. His last shot in the game came with 5:52 to play, down three. From there, SJU outscoredthe Bulls 24-13.
GU bench vs. SHU bench. Don't expect the Bulls' bench to go deeper than eight, as the scoring punch must come from the starters.

Keys to the game:
1. Gransberry. For the Bulls to challenge, Gransberry needs time on the court and lots of shots. Early foul trouble to either Gransberry or Hibbert couldchange the tempo of the game.
2. Free throws.. While Georgetown is an improving free throw team, South Florida is not. It ranks last in the league at the line, at just under 60 percent.
3. DaJuan Summers. If healthy, Summers could have a big game. Very big.

For USF to win, Georgetown reverts not just to that loss in March 2006, but a game earlier in the season where it let the Bulls own the boards, hold the Hoyasto 27 percent shooting from three point range, and keep the game close late. It took a pair of free throws with 2.6 seconds to seal a 50-47 squeaker in a gameotherwise ignored after a win over Duke four days later. This time around, such a performance would not be soon forgotten.

For the Hoyas, with a difficult stretch of games just around the corner, a convincing win over South Florida is essential to get the right pieces in place,including the rediscovery of the outside shot. Now is the time.
 
That was an awful start but got it together...

2 poor shooting games in a row, hopefully that's out of our system for Saturday.

Jon has got to get his #%%! together, its sad to have him playin like this his SR year.

Best thing about tonight...

Dajuan played his best game I've seen in a while, if not, ever. Was confident, put the ball on the floor and made his shot...he had the first 11 points,and if he didn't...we mighta never got in this game.

Jessie and Roy played well...that was about it.

PE JR didn't do anything, other than defending his team, I'd take him as a teammate anyday
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Onto Louisville in primetime
 
Originally Posted by allen3xis

Onto Louisville in primetime

let's get it Hoyas
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and Loserville is planning a "white out" for the game.

if i go to this game, look for the blue dot in the crowd.
 
Jon has got to play better. He picked a great time to play the worst ball of his career.

When him, Jessie and Rivers give us nothing like last night, we won't win.

- Get Roy the ball more, he has to demand it too

Louisvile played great D....teams that can, will press us, then fall back into a zone...Nova will tmrw


Disappointing, but I really didn't expect a W, it woulda bee nice though...that was a tough place to play


No time to sulk, got an important one tomorrow.
 
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