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Mike’s Jacksonville Postgame Thoughts
By MikeTeams
Georgetown:
The Hoyas opened the season with a win, which is the most important thing. However, the team did not look stellar in their first performance of the season, as the offense appeared stagnant at times. The poor shooting did not help matters, as the team shot a dismal 21.7% from beyond the arc. One bright spot was the free throw shooting; Georgetown was 19-22 in the second half.
Jacksonville:
The Dolphins hung around to the very end against the Hoyas, and were the aggressors for most of the second half. They returned four of the starters from last year’s matchup, and were ready for a battle. Unfortunately, their aim from long distance was off, as the team only hit on three of 20 three-pointers(15%). Had they not shot such a dismal three-point percentage, the outcome could have been much different.
Players
Georgetown:
Chris Wright came to play in this one, leading the team in both points and assists, scoring 16 and dishing four. The only weak part of his game was free-throw shooting. He was one for six from the sin stripe, contributing more than half of the team’s missed free throws.
Jacksonville:
Ben Smith led all scorers with 17 points, with 15 of those coming after the break. He did a nice job of using his quickness and penetrating for good looks in the lane. His ability to get good looks close to the basket was especially helpful on a day where he was just 16.6% from downtown.
Coaches
Coach Thompson did a good job of using players in the first half as all scholarship players saw minutes. He also kept his cool during Jacksonville’s surge, letting some of the less experienced players deal with the pressure of close end-of-game situations, before he brought in his leaders to close the game out. On the other side, Cliff Warren had his team prepared for this one, as they kept the score close til the final horn.
Referees
Nothing much to comment about the refs, which is always a good thing. Perhaps the game was called a little close for my likings, especially in the second half, but I thought they were consistent.
Number of the Game
2: Number of injury scares in the Hoyas’ opener. Greg Monroe went up for a block in the first half and tumbled to the floor, causing him to limp to the bench to get medical attention. In the second half it was Austin Freeman who was having issues, as he left the game, returned, but left again, as he was clearly not 100%. Coach said in the postgame interview that both Austin and Chris were dealing with cramps, so hopefully all the players will be 100% ready to go on Saturday.
Nikita
Nikita Mescheriakov got his first minutes as a Hoya last night. The sophomore sat out the first 10 games of last season serving a suspension due to an incident involving a professional team he played for briefly in Europe. Once he was eligible to return, Coach Thompson decided to not play him in any games with the intention of red-shirting him. I am sure that Nikita was happy to finally get some minutes, although we will be less happy with his line: 0-1 from the field, one foul, and one turnover in four minutes of action. Hopefully he can turn that around in his second game as a Hoya.
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November 18th, 2008 at 10:44 am
The new guys: Monroe was awesome: fast, confident, slam dunks, explosive. Wright went 3 for 5 from the new 3-point line that is a foot deeper. Wright explodes to the basket like no one I’ve seen since Iverson. Wright’s also totally in control, telling people to pick up men and directing traffic. Awesome ball control through major traffic, at one point doing a figure eight through four guys to get to the basket. They all looked like they were in slow motion and barely moved by the time he had zigzagged through all of them, already scored, and was already running back on defense.
Is Omar Wattad to be the new Rivers? Clark had some good moves, including taking it almost cost-to-coast for a layup. I’d like to see more of what Sims and Vaughn can do. Why did Sims only play two minutes? Nikita ????? ??????.
November 18th, 2008 at 10:45 am
The new guys: Monroe was awesome: fast, confident, slam dunks, explosive. Wright went 3 for 5 from the new 3-point line that is a foot deeper. Wright explodes to the basket like no one I’ve seen since Iverson. Wright’s also totally in control, telling people to pick up men and directing traffic. Awesome ball control through major traffic, at one point doing a figure eight through four guys to get to the basket. They all looked like they were in slow motion and barely moved by the time he had zigzagged through all of them, already scored, and was already running back on defense.
Is Omar Wattad to be the new Rivers? Clark had some good moves, including taking it almost cost-to-coast for a layup. I’d like to see more of what Sims and Vaughn can do. Why did Sims only play two minutes? Nikita igral horosho (your blog won’t let me post in Cyrillic).
November 18th, 2008 at 10:47 am
You need to change the HTML to permit Cyrillic postings in support of the Belarusian Bear!
November 18th, 2008 at 10:52 am
Also, to comment on the scoreboard — the main one hanging above the court: who operates that thing? Half the time the players listed on the scoreboard were different than the ones playing on the court. They also has “Montoe” at one point listed. “Montoe”!?! And they had Nikita listed as “Mescheria” instead of “Mescheriakov”. Maybe they couldn’t fit it, but they ought to try to adjust something cause he’s coming back for more! Or they could list it as “Meschrkov” if they have a limited number of characters.
November 18th, 2008 at 11:44 am
I agree that Wright must improve his free throw shooting. The way he drives to the basket and fact that he often has the ball at the end of games will get hiim to the line a lot. Possitive sign was that at the end of the game he made 2 of three FTs making him 3-8 for the game.
November 18th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Ha! Jeremiah Wattad/Omar Rivers. That definitely came up in my circle as well. Are we cursed? Best surprises: Monroe and Wright. The biggest disappointment was Freeman (with Nikita a close second). That first half was one of the worst halves of basketball I’ve ever seen. Hopefully he was just banged up or jittery, but he shouldn’t start if he puts a couple more of those stinkers. I thought Clark added a lot more to the game, he’s one of the quickest players I’ve seen in a while. The tempo versus last year is night and day. Both Vaughn and Monroe were often the first ones up the court or back on D. Summers needs to work on his defending, there were three possessions in close succession where he fell for a fake on the left wing and got clearly blown by one on one for six points.
November 18th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
Dangerous to read too much into a first game in which JTIII clearly was giving his full team an opportunity to see what they could do. But the most important stat for me is the rebounding: 44-37 Jacksonville, and 19-8 in offensive rebounds. Rebounding was the Hoya’s big problem last year, in my opinion. Pitt (Dajuan Blair) and Notre Dame (Luke Harangody) have the potential to dominate in this department. Good news: good rebounding guards, particularly Sapp. But Georgetown has to find a way to become a good rebounding team, if they are to go far this year.