There is no way to salvage this season; it will forever be a disappointment. Even if the Hoyas win every game of the NIT 100-0, it won’t make up for the losses to Seton Hall, Cincinnati, or St. John’s. Nevertheless, as the old saying goes, “they turned the scoreboard on; might as well try to win.”

Georgetown in a lot of ways can start thinking about the 2009-10 season, and one thing that can help tomorrow today is finding something from this trying season to build on for next year. Right now there isn’t anything. Next year, all of the returning players will be one year stronger, one year wiser, and one year better. But the areas in which the players (individually and collectively) need the most improvement are not areas that typically improve much with age.

The talent level was never in doubt with this team. If you look at the roster from top to bottom, the Hoyas were probably marginally inferior talent-wise to Pittsburgh, Louisville, and Connecticut – in large part due to inexperience. But the Hoyas had enough ability to be a tournament team; at times, they lacked determination and passion. Those are not elements to be acquired simply with time.

There are two things that can help the Hoyas over the upcoming games. One, the Hoyas can find that thing to build on for next season – maybe Greg Monroe gets a triple double, maybe Austin Freeman scores 30 points, maybe DaJuan Summers makes a buzzer beater to win a game. The team needs to provide some concrete evidence for optimism during the upcoming off-season.

Two, Jessie Sapp can win his final game as a Hoya. There are only two Hoyas in modern times who have earned a victory in their final game – Gene Smith and Fred Brown in 1984. For a player who was a freshman for Georgetown’s first NCAA tournament appearance under John Thompson III, it would be a nice way to go out. It would not exactly be a saving grace, but for the lone contributing senior, it would make his final season much more palatable.