Totals 4 U
Seton Hall at Georgetown
Seton Hall (14-6, 4-3 Big East, NR) opened its conference season at 0-3, but has rallied back with four consecutive wins over South Florida, Louisville, Providence, and an improving Cincinnati crew on Sunday by the score of 64-61 at the Prudential Center on the strength of 7 of 13 shooting from behind the arc and 43 combined points by senior captains 6'5" G/F Brain Laing (19.1p, 7.4r, 2.1a, 33 steals) and 6'2" G Jamar Nutter (10.5p, 2.5r, 1.8a, 22 steals, 42 of 103 from 3-point). Each Laing and Nutter have surpassed the 1000+ points scored mark for their careers and have stepped up their game since the loss of fellow captain 5'11" junior G Paul Gause (8.6p, 3.7r, 1.8a, 41 steals). Gause took Defensive Player of the Year honors for the Big East in 2006-2007 with 90 steals and was well on his way to capturing the back-to-back crown with 41 thefts through 13 games before being lost to a broken bone in his non-shooting hand. He may be cleared to play this week.
Pete Gillen disciple (5 years as assistant coach at Xavier, Providence, and Virginia) Coach Bobby Gonzalez (27-22 in 2nd season at South Orange) brings in a strong reputation from his seven years at the helm for the Manhattan Jaspers that included four 20+ win seasons and a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances (beat Florida in first round of 2004-2005 Big Dance), plus deep recruiting ties from his high school coaching days in New York City that have already paid dividends for the Pirates. Coach Gonzalez has brought in sophomores 6'4" G Larry Davis (6.9p, 3.6r, 21 steals), 6'0" Eugene Harvey (15.3p, 3.3r, 4.6a, 34 steals), and 6'9" 265 F/C John Garcia (7.4p, 7.9r, 32 blocks) in his first season, along with freshmen 6'5" G Jeremy Hazell (12.0p, 2.5r, 20 steals) and 6'11" 255 Mike Davis (27 blocks) in preparation for this campaign. Each of these five players hails from The Empire State and has started at least one game in 2007-2008, led by Harvey who has started all 20 contests. Against teams with size, Seton Hall has the ability to pound the blocks with their 3-headed center squad of Garcia, Davis, and 6'11" 240 junior F/C Augustine Okosun, but with the conference's highest scoring offense at 81.7 points per game, the Pirates prefer to run, led by the perimeter defense. Six different players have at least 20 steals this season, firing up the fast break that has produced ten 80+ point games, highlighted by the depth and balance of Coach Gonzalez's scheme. Seven of his Pirates are averaging at least 20 minutes per game, four players are averaging at least 12 points per contest, and in Seton Hall's 20 trips this season, at least three players have registered double digits 18 times. Pick your poison, prepare to work hard on defense, and keep your hands to yourself because this crew connects from the charity stripe at a fine 71.6% clip.
Overtime victories over Monmouth, Robert Morris, and James Madison in non-conference play weren't exactly impressive wins, but they did build up the momentum that brought on the latter quality home wins over Marquette and Louisville. This isn't a great team, but with a 199-125 steals edge leading to a 320-238 turnover margin, the Pirates can catch even a good team napping.
Georgetown (16-2, 6-1 Big East, #6 AP) moved up three spots in the National Rankings this week after posting a pair of heart-stopping conference victories. They first stopped Syracuse 64-62 in overtime at the Verizon Center last Monday, and then topped West Virginia 58-57 at the Morgantown Coliseum on Sunday with a clutch trey by 6'3" junior G Jessie Sapp (9.6p, 4.2r, 3.6a, 24 steals, 29 of 74 from 3-point) that left just 6 seconds on the clock - enough time for Mountaineers' G Darris Nicols to get to the rack, only to get his shot blocked by reserve defensive specialist 6'8" 238 senior F Patrick Ewing Jr. (6.2p, 4.2r) at the buzzer. Such is life in the rough and tumble Big East Conference where so many contests seem to be decided by razor-thin margins.
The more we watch Coach John Thompson III (88-32 in 4th seasons at Georgetown) in action, the more we appreciate his coach style learned from his mentor - not father John Thompson Jr. who led the Hoyas to their sole National Championship in 1984, but legendary Coach Pete Carril whom he played for and coached with at Princeton before taking over the head job following Carril's retirement. Defense, passing, and taking care of the ball were the hallmarks at Princeton where Thompson III dished out 358 career assists at the forward position, including 103 in his senior year with just 34 turnovers, and he has instilled this approach on "The Hilltop" to capture the 2006-2007 Big East Regular Season Championship, 2007 Big East Tournament Championship, and Georgetown's first Final 4 appearance since 1985 in last season's 30-7 campaign. In addition to Sapp, Hoya guards 6'4" freshman Austin Freeman (10.0p, 2.9r, 22 of 55 from 3-point) and 6'1" Jonathon Wallace (10.2p, 1.2r, 2.3a, 35 of 82 from 3-point) are strong ball-handlers (#7 nationally in team assists/turnover ratio at 1.42) as well as shooters, while crippling opposing offenses with stifling perimeter defense. Coach Thompson III's crew ranks #1 nationally in field goal percentage allowed at 35.8%, and #8 in scoring defense at 57.5 points per game.
Offensively, the Hoyas get plenty of players involved with seven guys averaging at least 6 points per game, including four averaging double digits, but there's no doubt that the big man in the middle is the focus in the half court. Preseason All-American 7'2" 278 senior C Roy Hibbert (13.1p, 6.8r, 34 blocks) has been a work in progress and is playing the best basketball of his career right now with 16.2 points, 8.5 boards, and 2.7 assists per game over his last six contests. The assists may surprise some, but handling the ball on this squad is essential. Eight players have racked up at least 20 dimes so far, including 6'8" 241 F DaJuan Summers (10.8p, 5.4r), who also has chipped in 24 steals while nailing 25 of his 74 attempts from behind the arc. Fundamental basketball is back in the nation's capitol, and the Verizon Center is a feared venue again where Georgetown holds a perfect 10-0 mark in 2007-2008.
Free winner from Totals 4 U: As much as we admire the work that Coach Gonzalez has done in South Orange, the Hoyas just take care of the ball too well for the Pirates. The Hoya defense can make the most efficient offenses look out of sync. At the Prudential Center and with a healthy Paul Gause on the court, we might be tempted to look for an upset, but as is, we must take Coach Thompson III's unit on Saturday. Take Georgetown and lay the points.
