THE OFFICIAL GEORGETOWN BASKETBALL SEASON THREAD

So why did it seem like the Hoyas had just gotten runout of the gym? Minutes after the Hoyas' 91-84 victory over Syracuse,the Georgetown locker room had the celebratory feel of a funeral parlorand the noise level of a library.

No one talked, no one laughed. Heck, no one even smiled.

"Wedidn't come here just to beat Syracuse," Chris Wright said. "We camehere to win the whole thing. It's not time to get excited yet."
I love it.

USF
Cuse
Marquette

Redemption continues. Nothing like Friday night in the Garden
pimp.gif

 
espn's big east blogger dana o'neil on greg...

ncb_monroe2_300.jpg

(looks like dude going for greg's dilsnick)

NEW YORK -- John Thompson III played his college basketball for a man who thought there was nothing a big man couldn’t do.

Greg Monroe has proven he can do it all for the Hoyas. He had 23 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists and two blocks against Marquette.
In Pete Carril’s offense at Princeton, centers were expected to score down low, bounce a perfect backdoor pass and step out and sink a three. He called them point-centers, treating them as equal parts point guard and post player, and with such reverence his entire Princeton offense was predicated around their abilities.

Carril groomed some good ones in his day, but the hoops yoda never saw anything quite like Greg Monroe.

The Georgetown sophomore unleashed his stat-stuffing repertoire on a Marquette team that was helpless to contain him. Monroe racked up 23 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists and two blocks to take the Hoyas to an 80-57 win over the Golden Eagles, and into the Big East tournament championship for the third time in four years. With seven titles, Georgetown has won more Big East crowns than any other league member.

“We see it everyday,’’ Thompson said. “But what’s commonplace to us, the rest of the world gets to see every now and again.’’

Good big men are hard enough to find at this level. Exceptional ones are rarer than yellow diamonds.

A guy like Monroe might as well be preserved next to Walt Disney and Ted Williams.

He has the sound fundamentals of an Ivy Leaguer and the skill set of a McDonald’s All-American, a deadly combination of smarts, savvy and strength that is unlike anyone currently in the college game.

Monroe’s dad, Gregory Sr., insisted his son learn to pass the ball as a kid, reminding him that passing big men are harder to guard. The dribbling followed the passing and the rest just came thanks to the good graces of good genes.

In one two-minute span against Marquette, the nature/nurture benefits were on full display. Monroe drained a 3-pointer (taking a moment to strike a hand-flick pose like a guard), blocked a shot, took an outlet and dribbled the length of the floor like a gazelle, bouncing a perfect pass to Austin Freeman for an and-one play.

“It is unique because he can dominate in his own way, but like a point guard, he an also make everyone else better,’’ Thompson said. “That’s what he’s learned, when to turn it on and when to take a step back.’’

Which is exactly what he did against the Golden Eagles. Monroe was everywhere in the first half, taking 14 points, five boards and three assists into the locker room.

He stepped off the gas to start the second half, but instead of growing frustrated as Marquette packed in to contain him, he simply bided his time and fed picture-perfect passes to Chris Wright, Freeman or Jason Clark.

And then when the Golden Eagles threatened to make it interesting, there was Monroe again, scoring eight in the final 10 minutes when the game went from 56-51 to over.

“Sometimes in the huddle, the guys will tell me, ‘It’s time for you to take over,’’’ Monroe said. “If it’s there, it’s there. That’s how I play. My nature is to win. That’s all I care about.’’

Monroe is at a school, of course, that has produced its fair share of talented – and successful – centers.

He refuses to put himself anywhere near the pantheon of the best ones and isn’t terribly interested in comparing his successes, either.

“The history here with big men is very rich,’’ Monroe said. “I’m just trying to do what I can in my time here and make my mark.’’

Certainly a good first step would be a Big East tournament championship.
 
from dana o'neil, ESPN...

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NEW YORK –- A good friend pulled John Thompson III aside after Georgetown ousted Notre Dame in the Big East Tournament semifinals.

“He told me, ‘There’s nothing better than Friday night in New York City other than Saturday night in New York City,’’ Thompson said.

Bright lights, big city, two teams and only one trophy as West Virginia and Georgetown go head-to-head for the coveted Big East championship tonight at 9 p.m. on ESPN.

Here’s a championship rundown:

Numbers: West Virginia has only appeared in one Big East Conference Championship but has never taken home the hardware. The Mountaineers, in fact, haven’t won any conference tourney titles since 1984. Georgetown has played for the title 13 times and won a record seven crowns.

One or the other: Barring an unexpected 50-point barrage from someone else, either Greg Monroe or Da’Sean Butler will leave New York as the tournament’s most outstanding player. In two games, Monroe is averaging 19 points, 11.5 rebounds and seven assists while Butler chimes in with 19.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, three assists and one banked in, buzzer-beating, game-winning 3-pointer.

The last time: West Virginia thumped Georgetown, 81-68, in Morgantown but the result might as well come with asterisks for all the sub-plots that affected the game. The Mountaineers rode the high of an emotional senior night for Butler; the Hoyas endured the emotional low of playing without Austin Freeman, who was out with the flu (and a week later would be diagnosed with diabetes). Georgetown fell behind by as many as 27 before trying to mount a comeback, but WVU’s pressure led to 20 turnovers, which led to 27 points, which led to disaster.

New York State of mind: There aren’t a lot of similarities between Morgantown and New York City, which is what makes the Mountaineers’ roster so confounding. Six of WVU’s players, including all five starters, are from the New York-New Jersey area. What circuitous twists led them from the streets of Gotham to the country roads of West Virginia? Simple: the Big East and Bob Huggins. “It’s the Big East and with anybody from the Big East, people in New York are going to listen,’’ Huggins said. “If we weren’t in the conference, can’t recruit these guys.’’ Huggins’ track record helps, too. The coach has a reputation for developing players evidenced by the 15 NBA draft picks he’s coached, including four lottery picks.

Is that a yes? Syracuse 73, Georgetown 56. Syracuse 75, Georgetown 71. Marquette 62, Georgetown 59. West Virginia 81, Georgetown 68. The Hoyas came to New York City with one primary goal: to win another Big East championship. But they also packed a little extra motivation: revenge. Asked if beating teams that had topped them during the regular season put a little extra kick in their step, the Hoyas didn’t hesitate to answer.

“Yes,’’ said Chris Wright loudly and quickly into the microphone.

“Yes,’’ said Austin Freeman, almost simultaneously.

“For the record, that’s a yes,’’ Greg Monroe deadpanned.

For West Virginia: True to form, Bob Huggins didn’t mince words: "Quite frankly, people with size bother us,’’ the coach said. “We’re not that big.’’ That’s a short way of saying the Mountaineers will have to work hard to stop Monroe. Huggins seconded Jim Boeheim’s assessment that Monroe is the “best skilled big man in the country.’’ Even in the Mountaineers’ decisive victory, Monroe got his, finishing with 22 points nine rebounds.

The Mountaineers also need to overcome themselves a little bit. Against Notre Dame, WVU almost blew a 10-point lead. They nearly coughed up a late 9-point advantage against Cincinnati the night before and in the regular-season finale against Villanova had to dig out of a 13-point hole to win.

For Georgetown: Thompson didn’t want to entertain questions about his championship game opponent on Friday night. “Can I wait until we see who we’re playing?’’ the Georgetown coach said with a laugh. A little later Thompson expounded on what his Hoyas have to do: “We have to play the way we play,’’ he said.

It sounds simplistic but it’s really the right remedy for the Hoyas. They have been winning here in New York because they have been playing their brand of basketball: feeding the ball to Monroe and then letting him direct the offense.

That’s not to say Georgetown doesn’t have to do anything to stop the Mountaineers. They do. Despite its lack of size, West Virginia works the boards with a vengeance. They clobbered Notre Dame in rebounding, 35-18.
 
Decision tonight at Midnight.

Very proud of this group. We finally got the effort we wanted all year, and they sustained it 4 days. No reason that should go away now.

1 loose ball/rebound away all night it seemed.

If Chris Wright continues to play like this, we're gona be an extremely tough out.

Hoping for a favorable draw. Everyone seems to have us pegged as a 2 seed (who woulda thought that a week ago?)

Just not Kansas' region, please.
 
Just not Kansas' region, please.
palabra.

0-2 now for BE champ. games.

I just keep thinking back, what if we grabbed that board before the half? What if Freeman made that floater? What if JT3 didn't play Hollis and Benimon together?

Allen- What was the beef with Vaughn last night? Monroe, Freeman AND JT3 were all over him. I thought he had a great game and could have used more of hm, but they definitely looked unhappy at how he was playing.
 
downy, this is for you...

Quit, don't quit? Noodles, don't noodles? You are too concerned about what was and what will be. There is a saying: yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the "present."
 
I only saw III rip into Julian when he picked up that charge. Austin looked pissed at everyone for not getting rebounds.


I do think Julian needs to be on the floor more now, and if the match up favors Hollis at the 4, go with that....I just don't think Benimon can be playing 10+ minutes as we get further now...he's solid defensively but just offers little else right now.
 
yeah vaughn was getting ripped a new one during every timeout when he was on the court.
i cant believe how poorly we did on the glass in our own end. we're rarely perfect, but last night was just ridiculous.

i still like our chances to do work in the tourney this year tho...can't wait to see who get grouped with.
 
man...tough draw. but, you gotta get thru some roadblocks no matter where you're at. probably a bigger deal that a team like kansas got put in a bracket with more than a couple teams that could take them down. whatever. can't wait for thursday. already took it off from work between the ensuing st pattys day hangover and opening round game.
 
I thought the BET draw was terrible, they managed.

Time to do the same here. Won't be surprised if Tennessee isn't even there to see us in Round 2.

Play for 40 minutes, focused...we'll be fine.
 
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