BELLY OF THE BE-AST: MEET MR. MONROE

by Ray Mernagh

Georgetown served notice tonight that they fully intend to make a run at a third straight Big East regular season championship by straight dominating Connecticut on the road. The Hoyas won by eleven points, but were up 17 on the disinterested Huskies with a little over four minutes left after DaJuan Summers caught a Chris Wright miss at apex-level and punished the rim with a put-back-banger. If anyone was expecting a UConn run, Summers' dunk ended the anticipation. The second Summers concluded the dunk with a groan/scream, this game was over. John Thompson III has four really good players in his starting lineup -- Summers, Austin Freeman, Chris Wright and Jessie Sapp -- that are all capable of winning games for the Hoyas this season.

The big question is whether the Hoyas can develop a bench capable of contributing more than six points in spot minutes? Julian Vaughn, Jason Clark and Omar Wattad are the only bench guys in the rotation right now and it's imperative they find a role that lets them play in a comfort zone whenever called upon. Vaughn and Clark show some signs, while Wattad is a steadying influence on the floor. Reason number one the bench needs to mature is obvious -- the Hoyas will get into foul trouble and need extended, productive minutes off the pine in Big East play. The second reason the Hoyas will need a bench is because their fifth starter is Greg Monroe, and Greg Monroe folks, is a special player.


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The kind of player that can help the college basketball odds of a team with four really good players, plus a bench, go a long way in March. Monroe has a plethora of skills for a 6'10 big man, and all of them were on display in this match-up against the Big East's most intimidating defender, UConn's 7'3 Hasheem Thabeet. Allow me to provide some examples.

18:08 mark in the first half: Monroe catches a pass at the top of the key, starts to take Thabeet off the dribble when he notices Jerome Dyson coming to help off Austin Freeman. Freeman back-doors Dyson and Monroe hits him -- after one dribble -- with a pass over the top for a layup. That kind of recognition/decision-making done so quickly, is extremely rare for a big.

17:10 mark: Monroe catches at the elbow and his man crowds him. With his back to the basket Monroe stays calm, reverse pivots, takes a dribble and sees Freeman back-cutting his man again. Monroe hits him with a gorgeous left-handed bounce pass on the baseline that Freeman finishes on the other side of the rim. Again, recognition and decision making, but add to it the passing ability. Monroe made a pass that you either know how to execute or you don't. It's not something you really learn. In basketball, you're either a good passer or your not. Monroe is a very good, bordering on great, passing big man.

16:35 mark: Monroe tries to front Thabeet and Thabeet seals him and receives the lob over the top. Almost any big man, especially a young one, would instinctively foul Thabeet. Monroe doesn't and Thabeet misses the dunk. Monroe than runs the floor and makes a difficult catch, on an ill-advised pass ahead, with his right hand. He comes down, gathers himself and turns to dribble the ball out away from two defenders instead of charging, taking a bad shot, or getting stripped. On his second dribble he spots Summers spotting up at the arc and hits him for an in-rhythm three-pointer. Monroe's athletic ability shines through on this play as he runs, catches, stops, dribbles and facilitates in a matter of two or three seconds.

16:05 mark -- Very next possession: Monroe hedges out on the ball handler, gets away with a bump, the bump takes Monroe seemingly out of the play as he back away from AJ Price as Price heads towards the basket with his dribble intact. But Monroe sees Price's dribble is out away from his body and snatches the ball away from him from behind, just picks the kid clean at half-court. Pretty good for a 6'11 kid right (yeah, he's grown an inch since I started the column). He then out-runs Price to the other basket -- while dribbling -- and finishes despite the embarrassed guard grabbing him before he goes up for the bucket. Just to show he's human Monroe misses the free throw.

15:20 mark: Monroe gets the ball at the arc and faces up. He jab steps and then thinks about letting the three go but decides against it and does a dribble hand off to Summers while kind of screening his man. Summers hits the three.

14:45 mark: Monroe gets the ball in the same spot, faces up, and when Thabeet doesn't close out with any kind of initiative, drops a three-pointer right in his face.

I gave you six examples of why Greg Monroe is a special player. There were eight or nine but I got tired of rewinding the tape and I'm on a deadline. He did step in front of Thabeet twice to intercept post entries, and he also hit another three at the start of the second half. JTIII substituted him in on offense for most of the second half as he had some fouls and the kid never missed a beat, just always stayed in the flow.

He's special I tell you.

Now if they can just do something about that bench...

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Pre-Game Hype, High Expectations For Husky-Hoya Big East Opener

By Zach Smart

It’s been quite the wait, but the pulsating, gut-wrenching Big East action is finally here. Easily one of the biggest matchups of the season kicks off today, with No. 2 UConn hosting Georgetown at the XL Center in Hartford.

The highly-anticipated matchup between fabulous freshman Greg Monroe and UConn center Hasheem Thabeet, a 7-foot-3 behemoth and blocksmith, is likely to live up to its billing. But with the resurgence of once-exiled guard Jerome Dyson (who’s emerged into UConn’s go-to-guy and the key cog in the Huskies’ go-go, souped up offense), along with the play of Georgetown’s DuJuan Summers (14.3 ppg) and Chris Wright (13.2 ppg), the game is about as predictable as a Mike Tyson interview.

Anything can happen. It should be wild, down-to-the-wire basketball in its purist, most appreciable form that features the crowd as the sixth man and an X-factor that beat writers scribble in their notepads about all game.

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Hype surrounding the eyeball-to-eyeball battle between the two super-sized bigs has been hanging around Hartford all afternoon. The matchup brings some added juice and is one of many of the intriguing subplots for tonight as two teams with strong NCAA basketball odds to go deep in March Madness collide.

Thabeet, who was extremely raw and a work-in-progress his freshman year, has developed a toughness and unfaltering confidence that hasn’t relented since last year. The NBA prospect is beginning to flower, albeit UConn ate up the cupcakes of their nonconference slate in shark-size bites prior to the barometer game at Gonzaga.

Thabeet called out Notre Dame forward/center Luke Harangody for his lack of toughness during an interview with ESPN.com and was charged with a technical foul for taunting during the Huskies’ victory over Gonzaga. Trying to shoot over his towering head and longer than the nile river arms, you’re likely to get stuffed like a thanksgiving turkey.
With Monroe, however, Thabeet has apparently met his match.

Monroe registered his imprint immediately. Heading into the contest, the 6-foot-11 Monroe was averaging 12.5 points, 5.6 boards, and 2.1 blocks while staking his claim as a premier freshman in the Big East (see Samuels, Samuerdo or Theodore, Jordan or whoever else my lackadaisical self is missing for more details on that).

The aforementioned Wright, who’s blossomed into an area code shooter this year, has held his own. He has a great supplement in local product Austin Freeman (Bowie, Md.). Jessie Sapp, a Harlem native with plenty of big-game experience, provides augmented back court vigor.

The UConn guards have been just as tough, with A.J. Price netting the big three and finishing with 24 points and 10 dimes against Gonzaga. Kemba Walker has become a presence in the running game and passing lanes, while Craig Austrie has been rock-solid.
Remember, Austrie ran the show when professionals Marcus Williams, Hilton Armstrong, Josh Boone and Rudy Gay were all in uniform. He’s got that type of experience and has showed resolve and resilience throughout his career. Calhoun, a longtime Boston Red Sawx fan, refers to Austrie as the Huskies’ version of closer Jonathon Papelbon.

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BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: GEORGETOWN @ CONNECTICUT

December 29, 2008



The Big East regular season gets an early start this year, before the New Year, and begins with a bang with Georgetown visiting the XL Center in Hartford to battle Connecticut in a match-up of conference goliaths.

college basketball odds currently list Connecticut as 6 and a half point favorites in tonight's game.

Here are some of the pre-game stories and previews found on the internet this morning:

No. 12 Georgetown @ No. 2 UConn (Hartford Courant)
Big Challenge at the Start (Washington Times)
Huskies Host Hoyas to Start Big East Play (Norwich Bulletin)
Ready for Bog East Play (Courant)?
UConn Men's Gameday (Connecticut Post)
Ho-Hum, Here Come the Hoyas (New Haven Register)
Huskies Happy to Have Walker Back in the Mix (Norwich Bulletin)
They're Back in the High Life Again (TheDay.com)
Hoyas Set for a Big Challenge (Washington Post)

With Big East play getting underway, UConn Huskies Basketball Tickets are in demand and nothing is better than a match-up between the defending Big East regular season champion Georgetown Hoyas and the pre-season Big East favorite for this season Connecticut.

Connecticut comes into the contest undefeated with an 11-0 record. Non-conference victory highlights included wins over Miami and Wisconsin as the Huskies captured the Paradise Jam in November and a thrilling OT win over Gonzaga just nin days ago in Seattle.

Jerome Dyson leads the team in scoring with an average of 15.5 points a game, but the player separating UConn from others is 7-foot-3 center Hasheem Thabeet who averages 14.8 points, 11.1 rebounds and 3.7 blocks a game, teamming with Jeff Adrien (14.5 points, 9.5 rebounds) to form a menacing frontline.

AJ Price has been a little bit slow coming back from off-season ACL surgery (10 PPG, 37% shooting from the floor), but he showed he was still a clutch performer with 24 points and 10 assists in the win over the Zags, which included a game-tying three-pointer in the final moments of regulation.

The new-look Georgetown Hoyas made it through their pre-conference slate with a 9-1 record, highlighted by a 75-48 win over Maryland in the Old Spice Classic consolation and an overtime win over Memphis. Their lone blemish was a semifinal loss to Tennessee in the Old Spice Classic in Florida back in November.

Gone from the Hoyas back-to-back regular season championship clubs are Roy Hibbert, Jonathan Wallace, Pat Ewing Jr, Vernon Macklin and Jeremiah Rivers. The Hoyas only return four players with real Big East experience (and that includes Chris Wright who was limited as a frosh due to a broken foot), so this is a new experience for many on their roster.

Junior DaJuan Summers leads the balances Hoya attack with 14 points a game which sophomores Austin Freeman (13.7) and Wright (13.2) and highly touted freshman Greg Monroe (12.4) also average double figures in scoring. Monroe also leads the club in rebounding at 5.6/game.

The Hoyas will have five players on the floor that can handle the ball and pass away from the basket, hoping to draw Jeff Adrien and Hasheem Thabeet away from the basket and make them defend in space. That is an interesting match-up to watch and if they are successful it will cause some problems for UConn. However, if Thabeet is able to play a one-man zone inside, he could erase virtually all of the Hoyas game in the paint by himself.

UConn has the edge in depth and size and the new-look Hoyas will be put to the test from start to finish tonight. The opening of Big East play will bring some added pressures to the Huskies with a big target on their back as the conference favorite, but they will have too much firepower up and down the line-up and when teams need to go to tthe bench tonight, they have a decided edge and should come out with a win.


Georgetown tickets are always in demand, no matter where they are playing and tonight's game is no exception when the Hoyas and Huskies lock horns in what promises to be a highly watched event by college basketball fans around the league and nationally.


NBE Blogger Prediction:

Connecticut 71
Georgetown 63

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GEORGETOWN SIGNING REVIEW

November 20, 2008


In college football, there is always a good amount of drama on the first day of the signing period with announcements of commitments and some high-profile flip flops of commitments. In college basketball, the early period signing period is usually void of such drama.

Do not tell that to Georgetown head coach John Thompson III as the Hoyas were the victim of such drama in this year's early signing period.

As expected, long-time verbal Hollis Thompson honored his verbal commitment and signed with the Hoyas.

However, verbal commitment DaShonte Riley pulled a fast one and opted not to sign with the Hoyas and to look elsewhere. The decision seemed to come out of the blue and now Riley, a 6-foot-10 center, will be signing with another progeam yet to be determined come April.

The de-commitment leaves the Hoyas with three open scholarships as we head to the spring period. Ironically, Georgetown has already received two commitments from the class of 2010 with Nate Lubick and Markel Starks, but they definitely have a lot f of work for the 2009 class left, which is odd for a team at the forefront of March Madness betting in recent seasons.

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