A Look At…Nate Lubick

This is the fifth in a series previewing the 2010-2011 Hoyas.  For a complete look at this year’s team, go here.

Of Georgetown’s five-member freshman class, Nate Lubick, a 6’8″, 238-lb. power forward, will be asked to assume the greatest immediate responsibility.  Walk-on John Caprio is not expected to contribute at all, Markel Starks and Aaron Bowen will have the benefit of an experienced back-court in front of them, and Moses Ayegba appears to be at least a year of polishing away from big-minute contributions.  Lubick, by contrast, steps into a front court depleted by Greg Monroe’s departure. While the front court is otherwise occupied by Julian Vaughn, Henry Sims, and Jerrelle Benimon, minutes are there for the taking: Benimon’s contributions in his freshman year did not seem to warrant his extended run, while Sims, when last we saw him, still had not yet developed sufficiently to earn significant minutes.  Ayegba is at least a year away, leaving Lubick with an opportunity to shine in his first year.

While Georgetown big men have developed well under JTIII–five, generously counting DaJuan Summers as a big, have been selected in the NBA draft–they have also been saddled with (which is not to say earned) a somewhat quieter reputation of being soft.  Whether because of the offense’s emphasis on multi-skilled bigs that are frequently positioned away from the basket, or the Hoyas’ occasional difficulty rebounding, the Georgetown faithful have joined in the chorus, wondering what happened to the days of bruising posts under the watchful eye of JT pere.

Lubick, from the scouting reports and the few available videos, appears to bridge that gap, providing muscular play down low with deft touch on the perimeter.  Consider the following video, in which Lubick attacks the rim ferociously, dominates the post, but also steps out for a deep two:

Lubick’s stat line — 21.7 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 4.5 apg, 2.7 bpg — and his two-time Massachusetts player of the year honors both suggest a big man who can control the interior while seamlessly integrating himself on offense.  Lubick is also a legitimate athlete, occasionally earning Dunk-of-the-Day honors on the Internets:

III has insisted that one does not simply replace Greg Monroe.  Be that as it may, Monroe’s production must be replaced, even if by committee, for the Hoyas to be successful.  This will be no small feat: Monroe was the team’s second-leading scorer, second-leading assist man, and the only player to average both a steal and a block per game.  But perhaps the most crucial aspect of Monroe’s game to replace may be his rebounding, which may be surprising to those who fully bought the soft tag.  Monroe averaged 9.6 rebounds per year, nearly 29% of the team’s total.  Monroe pulled down more boards than Vaughn and Jason Clark, the second- and third-best Hoya rebounders, combined, or, stated differently, more than the sum of the rebounds hauled in by Vaughn, Jerrelle Benimon, and Henry Sims, the three other Hoya posts.

Lubick may or may not reverse the perception of the limitations on Georgetown’s big men, but asking that much of him this early on is both unfair and pointless.  Unfair because Lubick will need time to develop, just like every young Hoya, not least Monroe.  Pointless because defensive and rebounding battles will be won or lost one at a time, over the span of this season and several more to come, making it impossible for Lubick to reverse perceptions in his first season.  Still, Lubick joins a Hoya squad that can benefit from — and indeed needs — his skills and effort immediately.