Georgetown this year

[mapei]

There are some folks on this board who follow the Hoyas closely and are better qualified than me to comment on the Hoyas but I’ll provide my two cents. Georgetown lost several starters and backups to graduation and transfer. Nevertheless, I expect them to have a good season. Young Thompson will have a thin bench but he plays a deliberate style offense so I don’t think that it will be a problem. I expect them to start Sapp, Freeman and Wright on the perimeter and Summers and Monroe inside. Based on their offensive sets and back door play, I don’t expect a lot of one-on-one play and I don’t worry about either Wright or freshman backup, Clark, scoring a bunch of points against Paulus. I expect Sapp, Freeman and Summers to be their leading scorers during the season until Monroe becomes acclimated to the college game.

gw67

I pretty much agree with gw67, and definitely on the 5 likely starters. Gtown will look vastly different this year without 4-year starter (and all-time 3-pt shooter) Wallace and 3+ year starter Hibbert. They will lose steadiness and leadership. But they will also be much quicker, and expect JT3 to adjust his offense to take advantage of that.

Unless Monroe is a very quick bloomer, and he did improve dramatically over the course of the summer league, the most dynamic players will be the highly athletic F DaJuan Summers and quick G Chris Wright, the steadiest swingman Austin Freeman. G Jason Clark and C Henry Sims will push for time, and so will F/C Julian Vaughan. Don't be surprised if sharpshooter F Nikita Mescheriakov gets some time, too; he was terrific in the summer league. The Hoyas are much less experienced than last year (3 of their top 6 players graduated), but not that thin on talent.

I will be shocked if they win the Big East regular season for the third straight year, but they will be better than a lot of people think. And the matchup with Duke could be very even.

[Indoor66]

And the matchup with Duke could be very even.

I think you are dreaming there!

[mapei]

I think you are dreaming there!

I don't think the Hoyas have anyone who can match up well with Henderson, which may be the key for Duke. The key for Georgetown will be which DaJuan shows up.

No matter what, that game is going to make me a nervous wreck. I'll probably pull for Duke but I hate for either of my favorite teams to lose.

[Coballs]

Just finished watching G'Town-Memphis. Monroe looked like the real deal. He showed great post moves, the ability to use both hands, he moved well without the ball, pulled down a bunch of rebounds, made foul shots, and dished out some great passes. I kept thinking to myself "What if...?", which is the same thing I think whenever I watch Patterson and Brockman.

[Kedsy]

Just finished watching G'Town-Memphis. Monroe looked like the real deal. He showed great post moves, the ability to use both hands, he moved well without the ball, pulled down a bunch of rebounds, made foul shots, and dished out some great passes. I kept thinking to myself "What if...?", which is the same thing I think whenever I watch Patterson and Brockman.

Yeah, but you never know. We might have snagged one of them but not gotten Singler...

[Bob Green]

I kept thinking to myself "What if...?", which is the same thing I think whenever I watch Patterson and Brockman.

I enjoy following the recruiting scene but once a target selects a school other than Duke I move on. Obsessing over the "What if...?" isn't productive. Duke has signed some talented players in the 2009 and 2010 classes and continues to pursue more talent.

[dukemsu]

I was a bit underwhelmed with Monroe till the last few minutes and overtime. Good rebounder, and a very good passer for a big guy.

I guess with all the hype I was expecting something closer to an Oden-type player, but he's much different. He also has room to grow, and doesn't (to me) have the look of a one-and-done.

He would have looked good at Duke, but oh well. Best of luck to him and we'll see who the next great Duke big man will be.

dukemsu

[wolfpackdevil]

I don't know about the rest of you, but I hope the Dukies take it to the Hoyas this year. Of course I want to win every game, but Greg Monroe really left a bad feeling with me after he stood us up in the recruiting process.

Who do you think can match up well with Greg Monroe from the Duke squad? Thomas or Singler? Maybe Miles?

I know this post may not be the most productive one here, it just registered that Monroe is coming to town with the Hoyas!

I don't really care about how the hoyas do this year.

But I saw Jessie Sapp (I think), shoot a 3 with less than a second to go, when they were already up by 6.

I thought this move was SOOOO unclassy, I wanted some of the memphis team to go over and start a fight with the Georgetown guys.

This was horrible, I was ashamed to watch a team with such a classy coach do something stupid like this

[Coballs]

Monroe did not extend any courtesy to all the Duke attempts to recruit him. I say let the Cameron Crazies have their day. They should not go out of bounds in crowd behavior. Many times that backfires. The Dodgers got payback from the Hawaiian Phillies outfielder.( his name escapes me)Don't give Monroe any extra edge in the game.

Both Monroe and Paterson disrespected the Duke Coaching staff in my opinion, but anything can happen in college basketball recruiting. We have to move on.

His name is Shane Victorino.

[Coballs]

I enjoy following the recruiting scene but once a target selects a school other than Duke I move on. Obsessing over the "What if...?" isn't productive. Duke has signed some talented players in the 2009 and 2010 classes and continues to pursue more talent.

BG,
I agree with your points. Obsessing over "What if...?" isn't productive. But when I see a stud player who once claimed that Duke was his "dream school" go on to star for a different program, it's my nature (and perhaps human nature) to wonder about what could have been. However, I am far from obsessing over it.
College basketball is cyclical, and I have no doubt that Duke will soon be a national title contender...just not this season. Every program has their ups and downs and I'm certainly glad that Duke's minor dip in tournament success over the last several years is far from the nosedives taken by other perennial powerhouses like Kentucky, Indiana, and Arizona.

[Coballs]

I don't really care about how the hoyas do this year.

But I saw Jessie Sapp (I think), shoot a 3 with less than a second to go, when they were already up by 6.

I thought this move was SOOOO unclassy, I wanted some of the memphis team to go over and start a fight with the Georgetown guys.

This was horrible, I was ashamed to watch a team with such a classy coach do something stupid like this

Not necessarily the right thing to do, but not that big of a deal IMO. The game was over, but far from a blowout and it really was a meaningless 35 foot fling and did not undermine the highly competitive nature of the game. I doubt that Calipari and his players really cared about that particular shot. They are more likely upset about losing an overtime game against a tough opponent...and nothing more than that. If the same thing happened against Duke, I personally wouldn't care.

[wolfpackdevil]

Not necessarily the right thing to do, but not that big of a deal IMO. The game was over, but far from a blowout and it really was a meaningless 35 foot fling and did not undermine the highly competitive nature of the game. I doubt that Calipari and his players really cared about that particular shot. They are more likely upset about losing an overtime game against a tough opponent...and nothing more than that. If the same thing happened against Duke, I personally wouldn't care.

It doesn't matter if was a 35 foot fling that didn't matter, or if Calipari didn't care. It unsportsmanlike. Why do you think that players dribble that last 30 seconds out standind next to the referee? Because to keep shooting is playing without class. Now I like showing off, but showing off and not respecting the other team, theres a huge line

[Wander]

You're being comically oversensitive.

Georgetown looks better than I thought they would. Our schedule is looking better and better each day.

[tommy]

As long as they don't make personal attacks, who cares if the Crazies give Greg Monroe some good-natured ribbing? That is part of the charm/fun of Cameron. I think I'd be more disappointed if the Crazies didn't make fun of Monroe IF Duke somehow pulled out a comfortable victory.

As for who matches up well with Greg...he is not a low post banger. From sheer size, he'll grab some boards, but he's not going to willingly back down anybody in the low post. We'll be fine putting Thomas/Plumlee/Czyz on him. Honestly, the guys who scare me the most on G'town are Chris Wright and Jason Clark. If we put Paulus on either of those guys...they will have a field day on offense.

Seems like some posters are not watching the games. In case you haven't noticed, against any kind of serious competition, Czyz DOES NOT PLAY. He is clearly NOT READY. And will not be ready this season to contribute meaningfully. What would make anyone believe differently?

Though Plumlee is ahead of Olek in his development, Miles is also seeing precious little meaningful time, and when he does get some, like in the second Michigan game, he is completely bewildered. To suggest that either one of these guys is ready to play in a bigtime matchup with Georgetown, and can be counted on to guard a player like Monroe, who is (no pun intended) miles ahead of either one of them, is kinda silly. Can we stop?

[Kedsy]

Seems like some posters are not watching the games. In case you haven't noticed, against any kind of serious competition, Czyz DOES NOT PLAY. He is clearly NOT READY. And will not be ready this season to contribute meaningfully. What would make anyone believe differently?

Though Plumlee is ahead of Olek in his development, Miles is also seeing precious little meaningful time, and when he does get some, like in the second Michigan game, he is completely bewildered. To suggest that either one of these guys is ready to play in a bigtime matchup with Georgetown, and can be counted on to guard a player like Monroe, who is (no pun intended) miles ahead of either one of them, is kinda silly. Can we stop?

Lighten up, man. You're responding to a post from October 16. And back in October, people were still hoping Czyz would contribute and thinking Plumlee might be a starter. Back then, there hadn't been any games to watch yet and such thinking was not crazy.

You ought to read the date on a post before you respond this way. S'all I'm sayin'.

[Bob Green]

Our schedule is looking better and better each day.

12/20: Xavier at the Meadowlands
1/7: Davidson
1/17: Georgetown

I see all three of those games as serious challenges which will make us better come March. I saw about the first eight or nine minutes of the Xavier game today and they will not be a pushover. The Atlantic 10 has developed into a strong basketball conference over the past few seasons. Stephen Curry scored 41 points in Davidson's 100-95 win over Chattanooga today. I watched Georgetown beat Memphis while throwing up three point brick after three point brick. On a different day, with a normal percentage of those three pointers going in, Georgetown runs Memphis out of the gym.

[Ders24]

12/20: Xavier at the Meadowlands
1/7: Davidson
1/17: Georgetown

I see all three of those games as serious challenges which will make us better come March. I saw about the first eight or nine minutes of the Xavier game today and they will not be a pushover. The Atlantic 10 has developed into a strong basketball conference over the past few seasons. Stephen Curry scored 41 points in Davidson's 100-95 win over Chattanooga today. I watched Georgetown beat Memphis while throwing up three point brick after three point brick. On a different day, with a normal percentage of those three pointers going in, Georgetown runs Memphis out of the gym.

I haven't seen either Xavier or Georgetown play, but from what I've read the verdict is still a bit out on Xavier, so it is still a very intriguing matchup. Georgetown – again not having seen them play, but from what I've read – seems to be much much better than people anticipated, and I'm nervous and excited for that match up already.

[dukemomLA]

And yes, I'd LOVE to see some CREATIVITY from the Crazies, but...anything boorish will annoy me. G. Monroe chose the school which he felt was right for him. So be it -- also have others. And the recruits that come to Duke are Dukies and bleed Duke blue. And goodness knows, there are so many guys lined up to join the Cameron/Duke legacy.

I (sorry) happen to like Georgetown and their coach and wish them well. I think that G'town, Davidson and Xavier are all Tourny bound teams. So it will be a fun month -- and of course, I expect Duke to whip all their butts. But a good test going into ACC play.

[-bdbd]

Living in the DC area, it has been interesting to see the local coverage of Monroe and GT this year. There certainly was a lot of crowing over beating out Duke for Monroe (nothing classless, GT fans generally aren't like that), but they seemed particularly happy with getting him b/c of Duke being the competition.

Greg has been having a great rookie season and seems to wind up several times on every local highlight reel from a GT game's coverage. He sure woulda looked good in Royal Blue!

As for who we have to match up with him, I think the style of Lance Thomas seems the closest to Greg's fluidity. BTW he's a great passer out of the post as teams sag down onto him with the ball down low, and he hits another Hoya quickly cutting to the hoop. No way do I see him staying 4 years, and 1-2 seems like a real possibility. Alternatively, we could think of this in a K way -- NOT how do we match up with him, but rather, how does HE match up with us (in someone like Zoobs, whose more of a power player than Monroe, or Singler who would draw him out from his comfort zone under the basket).

Yes, I think we have some answers for Mr Monroe and company. I also think that game will show off our depth, as GT doesn't have much of a bench from what I can see. GT-Duke should be a fun one...especially in Cameron!!

-BDBD

[Reisen]

I don't really care about how the hoyas do this year.

But I saw Jessie Sapp (I think), shoot a 3 with less than a second to go, when they were already up by 6.

I thought this move was SOOOO unclassy, I wanted some of the memphis team to go over and start a fight with the Georgetown guys.

This was horrible, I was ashamed to watch a team with such a classy coach do something stupid like this

I watched the game (I'm a duke undergrad, current Georgetown MBA with season tickets), and thought about this too, but I think that was as much celebrating the win as it was shooting (he flung the ball rather than shot it, and was close to half-court).

The funnier part to me was the fact that Georgetown couldn't buy a three all game, then, the hardest shot of the night, and the ONLY one that doesn't matter... goes in.