Over the Hilltop

Georgetown returns to action Thursday against Syracuse in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament.  The Hoyas seek revenge for two losses, both mostly embarrassing and one partly heart-wrenching. Tip is at 12 pm EST; you can watch on ESPN.

At this point, the Orange are a known, feared, and hated entity.  If you take out the Hoyas’ 14-0 run to start the first game and their 25-7 run in the second game, the Orange have outscored the Hoyas by about eleventy billion in two games this year.  Of course, if my dog purred it’d be a cat;  maybe inspired D followed by several-minute brain farts are just Syracuse’s m.o.

So what has plagued the Hoyas against the Orange?

• Finding open shots. Back cuts and dribble-drive distraction don’t do much against the Orange’s 2-3 zone; ball movement and moving to seams does.   Easier said than done, especially since the Orange’s collective wing-span, unofficially the longest since the 2003 Carmelo-Warrick championship run, makes finding clean looks even harder.  Georgetown’s inability to find open shots is reflected in their two-game field-goal percentages:  42.9% and 38.5%, a steep decline from their 49.8% season average.   Solution. The Hoyas have found some success working the ball into Greg Monroe (surprise, surprise) and others who flash to the free-throw line then distribute to open wings or other gaps in the zone.  Also, while the Hoyas aren’t a running team and the Orange get back on defense, every fast-break basket helps.
• Scoring by the supporting cast. Julian Vaughn, Henry Sims, Hollis Thompson, Jerrelle Benimon and Vee Sanford have averaged 2.5 points per game total in the two Syracuse contests.  They collectively average closer to double digits in Big East play normally.  Had they chipped in at that rate against the Orange, the Hoyas might have split the two games. Solution.  Thompson is the most likely candidate from this bunch to step up.  Vaughn has been had some trouble maneuvering within the Orange zone, while any scoring from Benimon, Sanford, and Sims will be a happy surprise.
• Free throws. The Orange have shot 10+ more free-throws per game more than the Hoyas, and the Hoyas have been strangely below par from the line.  Solution. The missed free throws are probably just a statistical aberration.  Andy Rautins in particular has earned his keep from the stripe, averaging over 10 free throws attempted per contest, and the Orange wings in general have gotten to the line way too often. Perhaps flashing the occasional zone will cut down on the Hoyas’ hacking.

Now, a few things they’ve done well:

• Rebounding. The Orange are a big team, but they play zone, which generally provides better opportunities for offensive rebounds.  The Hoyas, not a great rebounding team by any stretch, are +7 on the offensive glass over two games (and -6 overall, primarily due to a lot more misses by the Hoyas than the Orange).
  
• Forcing turnovers. Georgetown does not generally force a lot of turnovers, but they’ve forced Syracuse into an average of 16.5 per in the two games thus far.  The Hoyas will need as many extra possessions as they can get tomorrow.

Georgetown has largely recovered from a late-season slide, winning its last two in impressive fashion and cementing a place in the NCAA tournament.  Whichplace, though, is yet to be determined.  Recent projections have the Hoyas as a 5 seed, but that probably could still go either way, depending on Thursday’s result (as well as the results of about 20 other games, and whether the butterfly half way around the world flaps its wings).  More than seeding, though, Thursday’s game is about pride.

Prediction–Georgetown 70, Syracuse 67.

Jason Clark and Greg Monroe led Georgetown with 16 points apiece and a smothering Hoya defense held South Florida in check as the Hoyas pulled away for a 69-49 victory Wednesday.  The Hoyas earned some revenge points by probably ending the Bulls’ hope of an NCAA bid; they’ll have another chance for revenge tomorrow, when they face Syracuse at noon EST on ESPN.

A few keys to the game:

• Defense.  The Hoyas held the Bulls to just 19 points in the first half, and under 30% from the field for the game.  Dominique Jones looked less like Dwyane Wade and more like Jerry Stackhouse–6 of 18 from the field, 6 turnovers, 5 missed free throws.
• Chris Wright. With the Hoya bigs saddled with foul trouble and Austin Freeman (3 of 12) missing his shot, Wright led the Hoyas charge, scoring 15, 12 in the first half, grabbing 6 rebounds, and dropping 4 assists.
  
• Jason Clark. Those rainbow 3s were dropping in MSG — 4 of 6 from deep, 6 rebounds, and a couple of sweet plays inside the arc to boot.
• Rebounding. At the half, the Hoyas were up 12 points, but losing the battle of the boards.  After intermission, Georgetown was able to build on its lead largely because they hit the boards that much harder.
• Fouls. South Florida shot 25 free throws, Georgetown 9.  Julian Vaughn fouled out in just 16 minutes of action, Monroe had 4 fouls most of the second half, while Hollis Thompson and Wright both picked up 4.  Of course, the Bulls get to the line often, and the Hoyas don’t draw many fouls, but some of the calls in this game were just silly.  Without free throws, this would have been over at the half.
• Two-leafed clover.  Back-to-back Ryan Dougherty and Stephen Stepka sightings!
  

The Hoyas return to action tomorrow against Syracuse at 12 pm EST in search of back-to-back revenge wins.  A preview follows later this evening.

The Hoyas dominated the second half Saturday, hanging 45 on Cincinnati after the break.  Austin Freeman gave an inspiring performance, scoring 24 points and looking thoroughly energized.  Greg Monroe turned in an excellent day as well, notching 19 points and 15 rebounds.  You can read the live blog of the action here.  The win was an optimistic return to form for the Hoyas, who badly needed some good news and got it in emphatic fashion.

The Hoyas finish 10-8 after and up-and-down Big East season.  They’ll finish somewhere between sixth and eighth in the standings, depending on the outcomes of the Syracuse-Louisville and Notre Dame-Marquette games later today.  Hold your noses and root for Syracuse and Marquette, or at least against the other two.  In any case, their next game will be on Wednesday in the Big East tournament.

(picking up the action 8 minutes in, with the Hoyas up 12-9)

So far, the big news of the day is Austin Freeman starting, looking healthy, and playing the first six minutes, scoring 5 and making 2 of 3 from the field.  Freshman Lance Stephenson is looking strong for the Bearcats, scoring 8 of his team’s first 9 points, and grabbing 2 offensive rebounds.  The ESPN360 broadcasting crew sounds like they just graduated from the AHL–brutal.

11:35 — Freeman checked back in–keep an eye on his minutes the rest of the game.  Monroe, beautiful move in the post, but still can’t finish with the right.  Stay in school!

11:04–After an awful possession that vaguely resembled rugby, a Georgetown turnover.

9:40–Hollis Thompson launches an ill-advised long 2; the Hoyas are settling for far too many deep jumpers. Cincinnati 15, Georgetown 12.

8:10–Freeman drains another deep 3!  The crowd is clearly (and deservedly) pulling specifically for him, 17-15 Hoyas.  Truly inspiring.

7:40–Off of a Bearcat turnover, Freeman bulls down the lane, switching hands in mid-air, finishing a tough shot in the lane, and giving the Bearcat defender a bloody nose, 19-15 Hoyas.  John Celestand, the color guy and apparently a doctor, has determined that it’s not a broken nose.  Thanks, John.

7:20–Bad Cincinnati possession leading to a Monroe board–he already has six.  The Hoyas are showing a bit more fight on the boards today.

5:30–Stephenson scores off of an offensive board after roughly 217 pump fakes.  He’s a beast, and another long, athletic wing (Dominique Jones, Jonathan Mitchell) that the Hoyas can’t stop.

3:59–After a Chris Wright bucket, the Hoyas are up 21-19 at the TV timeout.  John Castleberry, John Celestand’s partner, calls this game a “shootout.”  I suppose if you’ve been calling minor league hockey, John, yes, yes it is.

3:40–Chris Wright makes a nice little stop-and-pop, but then gets too excited and launches a dumb 18-footer.  What Chris giveth, he taketh away.

2:00-1:00–After Monroe makes a silky step-back jumper, he makes a nice post-move that might have involved a triple dribble, giving the Hoyas a six-point lead, 27-21.

Half–29-26.  The Hoyas play lazy defense on the last two possessions, giving up a couple of open shots.  Not a terrible half for the Hoyas, but they can’t seem to shake the Bobcats, whose long, athletic defense is forcing Georgetown into some bad shots (just 40% on the half).  The good news is that the Hoyas are winning the boards, 21-14.  John Celestand (went to Villanova–figures) just complimented Freeman’s “big, strong body.”

2nd Half

19:30–After a long, meandering possession, Clark gets open off of a flash screen and hits a deep 3, 32-26.

19:15–Stephenson hits a pull-up, 32-28.  The kid is a man.

18:21–after two Freeman FTs, Yancy Gates just out-mans Julian Vaughn in the post, 34-30.  The teams follow up with three straight turnovers — beautiful.

17:53–Monroe dominates Ibrahima Thomas, who picks up two quick fouls, his third and fourth.  The Bearcats bring in a freshman, and Monroe drools.  Hoyas, 37-30.

17:05–after a pair of Cincy free-throws, Freeman is left all alone and hits a three, 40-32.  Wright steals the ball back, but then stupidly misses a lay-in on a 3-on-1, leaving his two trailers wide open.  Nice.

15:08–Vee Sanford gets a nice run-out and dishes to Wright, who makes a tough and-one, 44-35. Vee is looking better each game–he can shoot, dish, and handle the rock.  On the freshman scale of 1 to 10, Hollis is a 6, Vee is a 5 but rising fast, and Jerrelle Benimon is a ??.

14:18–Monroe gets the ball at the top of the key spins left, then right, and finishes with his right (!!), 46-35.  Just a beautiful move, Monroe has 12 and 11, and the biggest Hoya lead of the day.

11:45–After a couple of ugly minutes, Freeman finishes a nice drive, 48-35, then gets a steal, draws the foul, then hits both foul shots, 50-35.  19 for Free — just inspiring.

9:31–Monroe hits back-to-back sweet lay-ins, just abusing the Cincy defense, and after an and-one, 55-37.

8:08–Wright and Freeman trade lay-ups, Freeman on a tough left-hander, 59-39.  The Hoyas have outscored the Bearcats 25-9 over the past 10 minutes.  The Bearcats can’t get anything inside, and the Hoyas are having their way on offense.

5:40–A sweet block by Hollis!–his second in as many minutes–who then leads the break and dishes to Clark, 66-41.  Blowout.

4:09–Monroe gets a fast-break dunk, then Hollis makes two FTs, 70-41.  Hoyas up 41-15 in the second half alone.

1:12–Hoyas up 74-46, Ryan Dougherty sighting!

40.6–Stephen Stepka sighting!

21.9–Benimon rounds out your 2010 Yates all-stars–Dougherty, Stepka, Sims, Benimon, and Vee.

74-47, Final.  A great performance in the second half–dominance by Monroe (19 pts., 15 rebs.) inspiration by Freeman (24 pts.), nice supporting work by Wright (16 pts., 4 assts) and Clark (11 pts., 5 rebs.).