Georgetown Season Preview

It is only fitting that when the Big East moves back into the limelight of college basketball, the Georgetown Hoyas are in the thick of things, playing a prominent role once again. It has not been the best of times around the Georgetown campus as the Hoyas, who once dominated the conference in the beginning, have had just two winning conference seasons in the last eight years. However, it looks like another Thompson is ready to get the Hoyas back on track as the conference looks to start anew.

John Thompson III took over the reigns of the Hoya program last season and led them to a stunning turnaround, from a 4-12 mark in the conference the previous season to 8-8 last year, when, not much was expected. Of course, the name John Thompson is a very special one to Georgetown fans and one that strikes fear in the hearts of rival fans, it was John Thompson III's father who cultivated Hoya Paranoia in the 80's as the Hoyas had a 108-38 mark in the conference's initial decade, 13 games better than anyone else.

John Thompson III does bring a different approach to the floor than his Hall of Fame father. This version of the Hoyas found success last season utilizing the Princeton offense. However, they did pay attention to details on the defensive end and were much improved on that end, something I am sure made Big Poppa proud.

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The change in coaching philosophy did take some adjusting for the Hoyas last season. Early season losses by rather wide margins to Temple, Illinois and Oral Roberts left some questioning the level of success Georgetown would have in the Big East. However, an opening conference win at Pittsburgh and an 8-3 start in the conference quickly got the rest of the conference to take notice. At 16-6 overall, things were looking very good for a program with three freshmen starters, but, sometimes, freshmen hit the wall and the youth of Georgetown faded down the stretch as the Hoyas limped home with 5 straight losses in the conference, including a home loss to Providence and a road loss to St John's, virtually ending any NCAA tournament hopes.

This year, hope returns! Georgetown adds some key recruits for depth and also returns their top 7 scorers from last year's squad. They will be led by one of the better forward combinations in the country with senior Brandon Bowman and sophomore Jeff Green. Bowman led the Hoyas with 15 PPG and also managed to grab 6 boards a contest. He is a very versatile offensive player, capable of posting up smaller wings, driving on bigger players and demanding respect by nailing a 3-pt shot. He can be compared very favorably, in my opinion, to Curtis Sumpter as they both can be very difficult match-ups on the wing for any forward an opponent tries to use to defend them. Which makes him even better is the presence of Green. Last season, green shared freshmen of the year honors with Rudy Gay after producing at the rate of 13 PPG and leading the Hoyas with 6.6 rebounds and 1.6 blocks a game. At the BF spot, Green also managed 3 assists a game. Green found his way to the foul line at an excellent rate for a freshmen and is capable of hitting from beyond the arc when given room. In my opinion, Bowman is one of the most underrated players in the conference and Green is the best power forward at this stage, both have the versatility that is so key in the system that coach Thompson III likes to run and they can exploit different match-ups which is key in today's college game.

In the middle, Goergetown has 7'2 freshmen Roy Hibbert. He is definitely one of the early candidates for most improved player in the conference. Last season, in 16 minutes a night, he averaged 5 PPG and 3.5 rebounds with 1.3 blocks. It is not a stretch to believe he can double that production with 25 minutes a game this season. He is a project, but at 7'2, his presence alone on the defensive end is a big plus. Staying out of foul trouble is key for him and with more and more teams going with agile big men that like to shoot, match-ups will be key. Georgetown is flexible enough to slide down Green to the middle and Bowman to the BF slot if need be, they only other frontcourt depth is senior Sead Dizdarevic, who will not see much time.

The backcourt returns for Georgetown and gets some much needed infusion of depth. Last season's starters, sophomore walk-on Jon Wallace and senior Ashanti Cook, lead an interesting group that will probably have the most say in how much improvement the Hoyas make in 2005-2006. Wallace was originally set to join coach Thompson at Princeton and was a late, surprise addition to the Hoyas, and, even more surprising, became the starter at the point. As a freshmen, Wallace showed the ability to run the show in the Princeton offense and hit from deep when the opportunity presented itself. He averaged 6.5 PPG and hit on 37% from deep (as well as overall). At times, Georgetown did struggle scoring points last year, so, the backcourt might be called on to score some more. Cook definitely showed more aggressiveness on the offensive end, averaging nearly 11 PPG, but your usually left expecting a little more from Cook. He needs to find a way to become a more consistent offensive threat for the Hoyas and could really use more trips to the foul line for additional points. Darrell Owens is another returning senior that can be a source of instant offense. The 6'5 senior might have a bit of an awkward looking set shot from beyond the arc, but he definitely can find his spots and bury the 3-pt. He also has the athletic ability to attack the rim or finish in transition. Tyler Crawford is a promising looking guard that might also get some time after a year in the program, he will have to fight off some of the newcomers for a spot in the rotation.

Another key element for improvement of the Hoyas is with the incoming freshmen. Jesse Sapp is an athletic guard from NYC that excels in a wide open game. If he can learn to play in some more structure, he could add a different element for Georgetown. Josh Thornton is a combo guard that could factor in the mix immediately with his skill set. Small forwards Octavious Spann and Marc Egerson might find minutes limited behind seniors Brandon Bowman and Darrel Owens, but both have intriguing upside that leads you to beleive they could make an impact if called upon and will develop into solid players when thier chance arrives.

Of all the teams projected to be in the top half of the conference standings, Georgetown has the easiest path to get thier with their conference schedule. With mirror games with St John's, South Florida and West Virginia, Georgetown has to be thinking five wins as a possibility in those six games. They also do not have Louisville on their schedule and their is not a home game on their schedule that they can not win. The road is slightly tougher with Connecticut and Villanova being rather daunting tasks, but they have close to a 50/50 shot in most of the other contests. They have the schedule to be the team this year that comes from the second pack and makes their way among the top 3 or 4 teams in the conference.

So, with their schedule and returning talent, why are we rating them 5th? Fair question. I lost a little bit of faith Georgetown late last season when they limped home. I need to see better control of the ball, running the Princeton offense and having a rather high average of turnovers is a concern and I would like to see more offense, especially from the guards. Not having the perimeter player with the ability to create their own offense checks them down just a bit from the top four, in my opinion. Improvements from Hibbert and their backcourt will help this team finish higher and I think they will get it, but, until I see it, I will mark them down for 5th place in the conference.

Projected Big East Record: 10-6