Georgetown looks very good. I have a feeling they will be our

[79Warrior]

next loss. No shame mind you, the Hoyas are very, very good.

[lab_warrior]

The Hoyas concern me because they are the anti-MU, they're very patient/deliberate on offense, and have athletic bigs--Green will be a first round pick.  We will have to find some way to stop Green, since we seem to do okay vs. REALLY big guys (Gray, Hibbert, McRoberts) but not medium range big guys (Hill, McDermott, Nichols)
The key to that game will be to play OUR game, force missed shots and turnovers, and RUN, run, run.

[Pago Warrior]

Was at Freedom Hall last night and caught the UL v GU game live and up close.  Just a couple of observations:
* UL is really a bad team.  They have some talented players but can't seem to play well together and their shooting is absolutely atrocious.  There is no reason we should loose to them later this month at home.
* The Hoyas could very well be our next loss for the very reasons that lab and 79 warrior state.
* Their interior is very solid.  Green will be a problem again and Summers is very long, active and demonstrated some shooting range last night.  Together with Hibbert, they will pose many problems for us.
* That is no slight on Ooze & Co but the strength of GU is clearly inside and unlike Pitt they have other very athletic options beyond the 5.
* Someone posted a little while back re: GU's schedule and their quality wins vs ours and how based on that we should get the W.  It was a good analysis, but like they say "you don't play the games on paper".
* On the flip side, GU's guard play is average at best compared to ours.  They occassionally had trouble with pressure and are more game "managers" and not so much the playmakers.  A quick pace will clearly be in our favor.
* Up tempo and pressure defense will be critical for us this saturday.

[Sir Lawrence]

Interesting note on Georgetown from Ken Pomeroy today:

There's a perfect storm brewing in the tempo-free world. UNC, one of the 10 fastest teams in the land may well have the best defense in the game, and Georgetown one of the 10 slowest, might have the best offense in the country.

I've talked about the Tar Heels enough, but how about Georgetown? They provide a deadly combination of shooting (ranking 3rd) and offensive rebounding (10th). It's Princeton on steroids. Georgetown's offensive rebounding won't get the pub it deserves (except for the Friday a while back where they outrebounded Seton Hall 17-7 on the Hoyas' offensive end.) because they don't miss many shots and don't take as many as most teams. Offensive rebounding opportunities are probably rarer for Georgetown than any other team in the land, but they are a significant factor in their success. They can turn the ball over regularly (and do!) and still pummel opponents with points. Seriously, look at them.

Link:  http://kenpom.com/blog/

[spartan3186]

79warrior...

Just out of curiosity why do you have only negative things to say about this team. I think almost everyone of your ten posts have been negative. This is team is playing their best basketball of the season. They have won eight in the row and just beat Rutgers by 20 points. Yes Rutgers may not be the most talented team in the BEAST but they are still a Big East basketball team, we had trouble disposing of the Northwestern States and Idaho States of the world at the beginning of the season. Granted we may have some trouble against GTowns bigs and all good things must come to an end but please stop bashing this team at every turn, they are playing great basketball right now, enjoy it while its here.

[79Warrior]

spartan,
you must have thin skin. I am hardly "bashing the team".

[Marquette84]

spartan,
you must have thin skin. I am hardly "bashing the team".

This is not personal, because this is a widespread phenomenon, but there is a very strong tendancy among MU fans to talk down our own chances, and talk up our opponents.

So here we have a thread which starts out suggesting that Georgetown is simply too good for us and we'll likely lose.

Here's the amazing thing--when we've been healthy we've lost two gamse--neither one of which was a frontline-dominated team loaded with bigs.   ND State gete 90% of its scoring from guys 6'6 and below.  Wisconsin is led by a 6'6" WF who single-handedly dissected our defense.

At very least, it would be nice to see those who continually harp on what a tough matchup Georgetown is at least counter that with the fact that we are an equally (if not tougher) matchup for them.

Why isn't there more discusson on how much trouble Georgetown has with quick guard-oriented offenses?  Why is it always how much trouble we'll have?

[ozmetal71]

That's a good point.  There are a lot on this board who are virtually certain that we are going to lose to DePaul, let alone Georgetown.

Georgetown is a tough match-up, but we have been good on the road and have played up a notch in big games(minus Wisconsin).  For those who think that we will have trouble with their bigs, I wonder if anyone is thinking that they might have trouble with our guards.  Its two opposite teams, and is an interesting match-up.

I had this one penciled in as a loss at the beginning of the year simply because it is a tough road game, but the way we are playing now has convinced me that we have a great shot at winning this one.

[dwaderoy2004]

we know what we can do.  we use these boards to try and speculate on what the opponents can/will do against us.  in this case, if g'town can control the tempo and the boards, that would pose a problem for us.  regardless, i had this game pencilied in as a win since the beginning of the year.  they can;t feed the post if we take it from their guards every other time down the court...

[mu03eng]

I think that is the key to our game,dwaderoy.  We apply ball pressure to their guards trying to prevent the pass into the bigs.  Have our bigs front theirs with the ball pressure and the ball doesn't get there.  This is why the play the games, two teams of very different styles we will see who will win.  I have a feeling our quickness, especially with Fitz and Hayward will help negate some of the backdoor cuts.