DC Basektball Challenge

Kind of a misnomer since neither installment was a challenge for our Hoyas. Maryland was destroyed by our balanced, perfectly executed JTIII offense (improved version of the Pete Carril Princeton offense) and our stifling defense. Gervaise Vasquez went 1-7 with 4 turnovers and 0 assists. He was averaging 20 points a game before playing us and scored 20 against Michigan after playing us. Maryland looked overwhelmed and lost on the court. They were either completely unprepared for our offense or just incapable of stopping it. Either way it was the final proof needed for me that our program is on the rise and theirs is a mess. Had the Terps won against us, they would have at the very least been able to jump start their local recruiting - a battle they are losing against us every year. And if those fools try to act like they aren't after the guys we recruit locally, it is common knowledge that the Terps went hard after Freeman and Wright which must have made the beating we put on them hurt even more.

As for Part II of the DC Basketball Challenge, we were up 40-12 over American. I only started taping the game at 2:00, forgetting that we started playing at 1:00. Needless to say, when I saw that American outscored us by a few points in the second half, it was clear to me that we had to have taken our collective foot off the pedal. It didn't seem worth watching the second half of that game so I didn't. I would be promising to give you a more detailed review of tonight's game against Savannah State but it is not on TV at all. We can expect to beat this team pretty badly too and to get some minutes for our back-ups. These games would be pretty worthless for the development of our young team but since they are mixed in with some tough games, I think they do serve a purpose because we need all the experience playing together as a team that we can get.

Tennessee (L 90-78)

Game was much closer than the score indicates.

It was a punch/counter-punch game between two solid, athletic teams playing at a high level. 20 and 25 turnovers is a lot for both teams, but the turnovers were much more a function of good defense than sloppy play. Looking at the numbers from the box score, the game was evenly matched. Tennessee did not out-rebound us by that much; but they seemed to dominate the boards during that final run that erased our 6-8 point lead and gave them the lead they held onto for the win.

At the beginning of the game when we got early lead and were in zone defense we were limiting them one shot. They simply shot over the zone and kept themselves in the game. But we probably built a small rebounding edge at the beginning of the first half. In the end though, they out-rebounded us. It was their length at the guard and small forward position (something that was striking and immediately obvious at the beginning of the game) and their three-point shooting that got us. They hit a lot of threes off second opportunities. We shot the ball very well too, but really had trouble in-bounding the ball off their made shots coming out from under our basket. All of that, plus the freakish 17-point performance from Tatum (that freshman phucker!), who shot 5-6 from three-point land in sixteen minutes of play did us in. Just like Wattad's 9 points on 3-3 threes got us a lead, Tatum's 17-point performance caught us equally off guard. They got in the last punch.

Another number that jumps out is Monroe playing only 27 minutes despite being 5-6 from field. There was a stretch for Tennessee's final run when we had the lead and Monroe was on the bench. They had no answer for him. He should have been in. An extra push when we were up with Monroe in the game could have been the backbreaker for Tennessee. Maybe Tennessee's defense took Monroe away from us, but we got away from him too early and if Wattad is that hot, you have to have him shoot at least 6-8 threes or run more plays for him. It is clear now why Wattad is on the floor. He can shoot but he can't hang defensively or ball handle that well so if he is out there, you must go to him. Otherwise his possible contributions to the team are wasted and all you get is a guy who can't defend or ball handle that well on the floor.

Four out of five of the Tennessee starters are juniors and at least two if not three of them were significant contributors last year. They are a much more finished product than we are right now. At least we rose to the occasion and played our best game of the year against the best team we have played so far. I found myself thinking that each of our guys played good defense - - yet they scored 90 points and shot over 50% so that can't really be the case. We also had no blocked shots. I would love to catch them in March though.

Now we must beat Maryland. We are winning the recruiting battle locally and their program is on the ropes. A win for them over us can jumpstart things for them, even if it is just with local recruits.

Wichita State (W 58-50)

Yesterday's game against Wichita State was ugly. We did not look good at all. We played disjointed and out of rhythm and didn't shoot well. All of that can be fixed with time and experience and JTIII's coaching. What is of much greater concern for me and what may be a flaw in JTIII's system is our team's inability to defensive rebound. We got killed on the boards again by a smaller team. This was even happening last year. Whether it is a function of our personnel or the positioning of players on the court when we defend that makes rebounding more difficult is not clear to me, but that is our biggest problem and something that I don't know if we will be able to remedy.

Julian Vaughn needs to do nothing other than rebound when he is on the court. He needs to be like our Ben Wallace out there. If any other player on our team focused strictly on rebounding, it would take too much away from the rest of what he can bring to the team to the extent that it would be detrimental. We can't afford to have Summers or Freeman or Monroe score no points and get 12 boards but we can have Vaughn do it. If he does that, we wouldn't lose much else because he can't really do anything else that well on the floor anyway.

The game was the classic ugly game where a less talented opponent drags the more talented opponent down to its level of play and slows down the pace. We are too young and inexperienced at this time to deal with that adequately and it is unfortunate that we couldn't dictate the tempo more. In time, we might be able to but not yet.

That being said, it speaks volumes about the composure of the team that down the stretch we hit clutch free throws and sealed the game. The game was ugly and we looked rattled on offense but not so rattled that we couldn't close the door and hit our free throws. That to me says, hopefully, that we weren't so much rattled but are still learning how to play together and maybe Wichita State can actually play some good defense. We are also very talented and fast and when these guys get the system and the offense with the speed, strength, quickness and size we have, we are going to crush people. As we get more comfortable in the offense, the shots from outside will fall more because we won't be thinking so much and just reacting. That is important as it is also that we have a true leader on the floor. I think it is great that different guys can do it every night but I think we would be better off if one guy stepped up and just led the team. I don't know if it will Sapp or Wright or Monroe or Summers, but somebody has to be the true go to guy - the focus on the floor. If teams try to take away our leader on the court, then other guys can step up but with a young squad that is learning every game, I think it would be better to have one guy be the leader than have it be by committee.

Tennessee could just spank us but I don't think they will play the same kind of defense that Wichita State does. They are more athletic and more undisciplined and given the high scoring games they played in all last year, I don't think they are as defensively oriented. That will open things up for us and should be to our benefit. I expect we will score a lot more points in this game. We will be able to defend against them but they might just destroy us on the offensive glass. Either way, we couldn't have a bigger contrast in opponents from one day to the next. No matter what, this game will be a great learning experience for the team. I don't care if we lose today, we just cannot lose to the Terps. We just can't.

Jacksonville (W 71-62)

Hello Fellow Hoya Fans,

My apologies for not keeping you more informed of all things hoops from my perspective as to our Georgetown Basketball Hoyas from this summer but I will try to make up for it now. I don't think all of you got to see how we played against Jacksonville. The score was closer that I think any of us would have liked but I don't think it is an indication of how well we played and looked at times and definitely not an indication of how I think we are going to play for the year.

First the low points or moments, and there were some. Nikita Mescheriakov is a project to put it nicely. At time in the summer league he looked like he might be able to contribute because he is tall and has gotten bigger and stronger and can shoot. On Monday night though, he looked lost and committed two turnovers with 10-15 seconds of getting the ball and was put on the bench. Maybe he was nervous but if he is doing that against Jacksonville, the kid has lots of work to do because God help him against a good Big East defensive team.

Second low point, Omar Wattad . . . first kid off the bench. Scary. At least he didn't turn the ball over. He looked assertive in the offense and didn't get embarrassed defensively but for a guy who is supposed to come in to be a 3 point shooting specialist, 0-5 if not good. All 5 shots were three as well. He cannot handle the ball, rebound, defend or pass well enough to be on the floor if he can't shoot so he is kind of a waste. Hopefully, him being first off bench and looking like that can be chalked up to nerves or JTIII doing experimentation with line-ups (same goes for Nikita getting in there ahead of Jason Clark or Henry Sims).

Third low point, Austin Freeman. He really seemed to be forcing things and this is an unfortunate trend to see – a carry-over from how he played in the summer. In the summer, he was on a bad team, was doing most of the ball-handling, and was careening into the lane full-speed, spinning and throwing his fat/thick/muscular frame and enormous head into the mix. He looked like he was trying hard to work on being assertive and taking over the game in the Kenner league because he had nothing to work with around him. Unfortunately, he did the same thing on Monday. He can handle the ball but dribbled to much at times, especially in transition. He was getting inside but not finishing and getting kind of caught in no-man's land and pulling up for a short floater or jumper and missing it awkwardly. He was also, way way off from behind the arc. Clearly, this kid can play but I hope he learns that being more assertive has to be balanced with letting the game come to him and picking his spots properly.

That being said, Greg Monroe looked amazing. Anybody who might of thought that this guy wasn't going to try hard or had a lazy disposition on the court would have felt pretty damn foolish watching him play last night. He immediately established himself as a presence inside defensively. He blocked 3 or 4 shots, two in one possession, and intimidated inside. He also blocks with authority but keeps the ball in play when he does block a shot. He can rebound and run the floor. He blocked a shot and on the same play finished on the break that resulted from him blocking the shot to one of our guards that led the break. He had a sweet move from top of key where he faked a jumper, blew by his man took a dribble, two steps and dunked with authority. He also scored on nice post moves inside using either hand. He had at least one solid assist that was a classic back-door Princeton/Thompson offense play so he already has enough of a grasp on the offense to be doing that in his first game out of the blocks. Overall, the kid just looked really good. He is assertive and not scared and ready to take over a game which was one of the biggest raps against the guy.

Chris Wright looked great to, expect for some really bad free throw shooting. He was the only guy on our team hitting threes. He is the point guard of the team and he can lead us and lead us well. He has a good sense of when to take the ball to the hole himself and when to set up teammates. He has enough of an outside shot to make people come out and cover him which obviously makes him that much more of a threat to penetrate and get around people and into the lane where he can really create. He must shot better from the line because he can easily get inside and draw fouls. I can't imagine he will shoot that poorly from the line (was a little above 50%) all year because he is such a good shooter. He has quickness and speed and toughness and everything this year will hinge on him and Monroe.

On to Summers, he looks great. He is bigger and stronger and faster but does not yet give you the impression that he will take over a game even though he looks like he should. He had two nasty dunks which is good because he had a stretch last year where he was even missing those. The big three for us is Summers, Monroe and Wright but Summers seems to need to be set up by others. Hopefully I am wrong and he ends up dictating more himself during a game.

Sapp looked solid. He had a great fake pass move where he showed the ball Harlem/Compton style, got one defender to bite hard on the fake, and then laid the ball in easily. When Jacksonville got close, he was the one with the ball in his hands and I felt comfortable watching the team being settled by him when that happened. Nothing new to report about Jessie. Don't want to take away at all from how he played or what his contributions were on Monday or later in the year but really it is the Big Three that have the upside and will carry us this year.

Part of me doesn't want to get too optimistic about how we played on Monday. As good as the team looked, they still let Jacksonville back in the game. Part of that was a really off night from Freeman and Nikita and Wattad looking so bad, but that is our team and we obviously can't be having that against tougher competition later in the year.

That is where I think that Jason Clark, who played sparingly, and Henry Sims, who played even less, are going to have to step up. Given what I saw over the summer, I think both of them will but I wonder why JTIII didn't play them more. I hope that Nikita and Wattad aren't looking that much better than Jason and Henry in practice that they are getting the nod over the two freshman. If that is the case, let's hope that Nikita and Wattad were just way off or that JTIII is just trying to experiment out there. Gotta run. Will talk more about Clark and Sims in next update. I think we should be OK this year with the possibility of really being good depending on how much Summers, Wright and Monroe can do against better competition.