2007-2008 BIG EAST PREVIEW: 1) GEORGETOWN

November 4, 2007


GEORGETOWN ESSENTIALS:

Official Website of Georgetown Basketball

2007-2008 Official Georgetown Roster & Bios

Meet Coach John Thompson III

Verizon Center

2007-2008 Georgetown Basketball Schedule


OVERVIEW:

The revival of Georgetown basketball has taken John Thompson III three years to complete. The son of legendary coach John Thomson Jr., JTIII, as he is known, took over for Craig Esherick and led the Hoyas back to the Final Four to cap off three years of quick and steady improvement. The 2007 NABC (National Association of Basketball Coaches) Coach of the Year saw his Hoyas win the BIG EAST Regular Season Championship, the BIG EAST Tournament Championship as well as the NCAA East Regional Championship while compiling a 30-7 record.

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Prior to coaching at Georgetown, Thompson guided Princeton to three Ivy League Championships, two NCAA tournaments and an NIT appearance over his four years as head coach. He amassed a 68-42 record as Princeton's head coach after serving as an assistant coach at Princeton from 1995- 2000. Thompson also played at Princeton under legendary Pete Carril and many of the basketball philosophies Carril is famous for are very evident in the style Georgetown plays the game. Being a son of one coaching legend and having another as his mentor gives coach Thompson such a unique perspective of the game. He is able to recruit high level players and work them into a system that many of these elite recruits tend to shy away from.

One of Thompson’s first initiatives as head coach was to get involved with the local recruiting scene. Too many talented players from the talent-saturated region of the Mid-Atlantic had been leaving the area, or ignoring Georgetown in recent years. Luckily, he had a good start inheriting local recruits Roy Hibbert and Jeff Green from Esherick and his staff, however, since then, JTIII has hit the local region hard and this season his roster will be stocked with players from the region including Vernon Macklin, DaJuan Summers, Chris Wright, Nikita Mescheriakov, Austin Freeman, Tyler Crawford and Hibbert. Also, a link the Georgetown’s rich tradition with Patrick Ewing Jr. on their roster. Could another Thompson-Ewing tandem bring the Hoyas another national title?




THE 2006-2007 SEASON:

Entering the 2006-2007 season, Georgetown and Pittsburgh were considered the pre-season favorites in the Big East. Led by Roy Hibbert and Jeff Green and incoming elite recruits in Vernon Macklin and DaJuan Summers, everyone was talking about the Hoya frontline and questioning their backcourt. Not expecting their backcourt to be weak, but questioning if that backcourt was good enough to be an elite team in college basketball.

After a slow start, which included the backcourt being victimized in a 56-52 home loss to Villanova and a subsequent loss on the road to Pittsburgh, Georgetown found themselves out of the top 25, 1-2 in the Big East conference and sitting at 11-5 with losses to Old Dominion (home), Oregon (home) and Duke out of conference. Not exactly the start many envisioned prior to the season.

However, Georgetown never lost focus of who they were. The continued to efficiently run their Princeton-style offensive attack and gradually worked their way back up the rankings by methodically winning their next 11 games, all Big east contests. Ten of those wins were by eight points or more, only a narrow road win over Villanova was much of a challenge (although a tough battle over Pittsburgh was also included). Their average margin of victory in that span was 15 points!

After a mis-step on the road against Syracuse, Georgetown closed out the regular season with a win over UConn and then stormed through the Big East Tournament, led by Big East Player of the Year Jeff Green, culminating the effort with a 65-42 dismantling of Pittsburgh in the Finals.

Georgetown went into the NCAA Tournament with a high seed and high hopes. After surviving a tough match-up with Boston College in round 2 and escaping Vanderbilt’s upset bid in the Sweet 16, Georgetown came up with the clutch baskets to upset North Carolina in the East Regional Finals to earn a trip to the Final Four. It was in this game where the Georgetown guards showed they were every bit of the reason the frontcourt was for their team’s success. Jonathan Wallace and Jesse Sapp completely outplayed the highly touted duo of Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington, outscoring them 34-10, and combining for 15 assists against just 3 turnovers compared to just six assists and six turnovers by the UNC duo.

In the offseason, Georgetown fans were at the edge of their seats as Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert went through the NBA draft process. Both players flirted with leaving and returning, in the end, Green entered the draft and was selected 5th overall and Hibbert opted to return to Georgetown, much to the delight of the Hoya faithful.





THE BACKCOURT:

Senior Jonathan Wallace and junior Jesse Sapp return to anchor the Georgetown backcourt. Wallace is the perfect fit to direct the Princeton-style attack. The Louisiana native was originally headed to Princeton to play for JTIII, but when Thompson accepted the Hoya coaching position, Wallace quickly followed. Wallace might not put up gaudy numbers, in the Georgetown system, it is the offensive scheme that sets up scoring opportunities, not one single player. Wallace knows the system inside and out and is one of the best spot-up 3-pt shooters in the country that now has a big-shot resume from last year’s tournament action.

Sapp is a NYC native that makes up the other half of the Georgetown ‘odd-couple’ backcourt. Nearly a polar opposite in style and resume, Sapp was a street ball and AAU staple from NYC that has more of the open floor ability. It is those differing styles and skills that made their roles fit perfectly together. Senior Tyler Crawford and junior Jeremiah Rivers also return to the mix. Rivers is the son of former NBA star and head coach Glenn ‘Doc’ Rivers. He plays like a coach’s son and is an important cog in the Hoya mix. Crawford is a good shooter, but has yet to find a spot in the regular rotation at Georgetown.

This year, the Hoyas’ backcourt is one of the hottest topics in the game with the addition of a pair of McDonald’s All-Americans, Austin Freeman and Chris Wright. Freeman is a 6’4 scorer deluxe from famed DeMatha High School. Freeman should be one of the freshmen ready to make his mark the quickest in the Big East as he has a varied offensive game that should fit very well on the wing in the Hoya attack. Wright will not make as big of an early impact, first, he will miss all of the preseason team practices due to a broken foot suffered playing pick-up ball this fall. Secondly, the Princeton-style offense is a very intricate system and with Jonathan Wallace firmly entrenched as the started and Rivers an experienced back-up, Wright might have to find most of his time off the ball. There Jesse Sapp and Austin Freeman are ahead of him on the wings as well. Georgetown certainly has the option of going to a smaller line-up this season, moving DaJuan Summers to a ‘4’ position and playing three guards, with this amount of depth and talent at the guard positions, it might be something done quite often.




THE FRONTCOURT:

Even with the loss of Jeff Green to the NBA draft, Georgetown still has a frontcourt that will be regarded among the best in the country. They are led by 7’2 senior center Roy Hibbert, who turned down the opportunity of being a lottery pick in last year’s June draft to return for his senior season. Hibbert is a true rarity in the college game today, he is 7’2 and through improvement each and every season, he comes back for his senior year and turns down the NBA. Hibbert will show more improvement this year after a summer of playing against excellent competition. He continues to get stronger and more fluid on the offensive end and being 7’2, his defensive presence is obvious.

Hibbert will be joined by the athletic Patrick Ewing Jr. and the extremely talented DaJuan Summers. Ewing Jr played his first year with Georgetown last season and the 6’8, 238 lb power forward was always a quick burst of energy off the bench for the Hoyas. Playing behind Hibbert and Green did not leave a lot of opportunity to play for Ewing, he got nearly 15 minutes a game and averaged about 4.5 PPG, similar numbers to what he had in two seasons at Indiana prior to transferring to Georgetown. Summers is a player that could take a large step forward this season. As a freshman he averaged 9.5 PPG in conference action and had a big game in their Eastern Regional Final win over North Carolina, scoring 20 points in the win. Look for Summers to step forward as one of the league’s better players this season.

Another sophomore who came to Georgetown very highly regarded was 6’9 Vernon Macklin. It was a tough first year with the Hoyas as Macklin’s skills were not always compatible to the offensive style of Georgetown. Players spend a lot f time moving and on the perimeter in Georgetown’s offense so ball-handling and passing, even for a big man is a must. Macklin is a physical talent and as his skills catch up to his raw abilities, he will get more chances to produce.

The Hoyas also have a couple later period recruiting additions, Omar Wattad and Nikita Mescheriakov that are on the roster and will provide depth. Do not expect much playing time from either as frosh.

2007-2008 PREDICTION:

Well, the Hoyas have been through this before and with how they are recruiting, do not expect them to fall too far from near the top of the league. The have loads of experience and an exciting new case of contributors, led by McDonald’s All-Americans Chris Wright and Austin Freeman. Seniors Roy Hibbert and Jonathan Wallace will lead the way and this team will be concistently good from start to finish. The play of DaJuan Summers might determine just how good this team can be as he has the potential to bust out and lead this team towards the heights they accomplished last season. It sure is good to be a Georgetown fan again!

BIG EAST PREDICTION: 15-3