The assist-to-turnover ratio is one of the best methods we have for measuring the effectiveness of a point guard. In college, anything above 2:1 is considered good. I remember in the mid-90’s, the Heat’s Tim Hardaway would get a hefty bonus if he finished the season with a 3:1 ratio. During Steve Nash’s first MVP season, his assist-to-turnover ratio was 3.5:1. In Saturday’s game against Fairfield, Jeremiah Rivers assist-to-turnover ratio was infinity.

“What? Infinity? That’s impossible! What does that even mean?” Allow me to explain. Since a ratio is of the form x/y, sometimes y is zero. “Hey! In school, my teacher always told me never to divide by zero. It’s undefined.” Well, not exactly. When we have a positive number divided by zero, we sometimes call that infinity. Occasionally in baseball, you will see an ERA of infinity (ERA is another ratio - earned runs per 27 outs). The problem is, a pitcher who gives up one run and gets no outs has the same infinite ERA as a pitcher who gives up 20 runs and doesn’t get any one out. You run into the same problem with the assist-to-turnover ratio. So, we should look closer at River’s performance.

Rivers’ ratio was 5:0. Five assists is good for the Hoyas’ offensive system, and especially so for a backup point guard. Factor in the zero turnovers in 27 minutes, and that is a phenomenal performance, much more impressive than a one assist, zero turnover night in 5 minutes of garbage time. Further, Rivers has nine assists and only one turnover for the season. While it is unlikely that this trend will continue, if Rivers can even keep doing a third as well, he will provide immense support for this team. If Rivers can replace Wallace or Sapp without a noticeable drop-off in quality, and, with his defense already recognized as superior, Rivers will be a key bench performer for this team.

If he can keep it up, Georgetown’s win-to-loss ratio will stay at infinity for a while.

Teams

GU:
The Hoyas did not have their best game on Saturday, but they toughed it out and got the win. Playing without Jessie Sapp, who has been the team’s MVP so far this season, definitely hurt the Hoyas, and it took them a while to get into a rhythm.

The perimeter defense was shaky in the first half, but that got rectified at halftime, and the bigger concern is the team’s free throw shooting. While going 9-22 from the line on Saturday was pretty bad, the real problem is that the Hoyas are not doing much better on the season. In Georgetown’s first five games, they’ve gone 39 of 74 from the line - 52.7%.

FU:
Fairfield did what they could, and for the first 20 minutes, they executed. They went 7 for 11 from three point land, and it was no fluke. They were working Georgetown’s defense, and getting open shots. Georgetown’s increased intensity on defense in the 2nd half did not let the Stags have as many good opportunities at the basket, and as a result, the shots didn’t fall.

Players

GU:
Jeremiah Rivers had been the first man off of the bench for three out of the Hoyas’ first four games. On Saturday, he got to see action after just 23 seconds. I’ve been talking a lot about Rivers this year, as I am constantly impressed by the confidence he has been bringing to the court.

Against Fairfield, he put up great numbers and definitely made the most of his extra playing time. He ended up shooting 2-2 from three point range, grabbing five rebounds, and dishing out five assists to no turnovers. The only problem with his game? The free throws. He went 1-4 from the stripe, which includes that missed attempt which would have capped off a great three point play.

FU:
Jonathan Han was clearly the drive behind Fairfield’s offense, and his 11 points at the half came effortlessly as he shot 80% from the field, including three 3-pointers. In the second half, the Hoyas did their best to shut him down, and that is a large reason why the game ended the way it did. Nevertheless, he was still the best player for the Stags in the second stanza, as he scored 6 of the team’s 16 points and he made the only three in the second half.

Coaches

Fairfield’s coach Ed Cooley was pretty familiar with Georgetown after his ten year stint as an assistant at Boston College and after Fairfield’s meeting with the Hoyas last season. It seemed like he had a pretty good understanding of how the Hoyas were going to play because his team came out sharp and ready, and they played the home team dead even for the entire first half, at times looking like the better team.

On the other end, John Thompson made the adjustments that were needed to be made to win the game. He managed his bench well to make up for the loss of Sapp, and he got the team focused and prepared for the second half after the less than stellar first half.

Referees

As I mentioned during the game, John Cahill went a little whistle crazy on Saturday, as he made several absurd calls in favor of the Stags. Mike pointed out some, but one that particularly stood out to me was a play when Hibbert did a spin move to beat his defender and get to the basket, and he got called for an offensive foul.

The play was almost a carbon copy of the one we talked about in the Old Dominion game, and the issue is the same. If I were to try to guard Roy Hibbert and he began a post move, my only defense would be to fall down. The defender does not deserve to be rewarded for that, especially when Roy is spinning away from contact.

Fans

It was a nice showing by the fans again on Saturday, as they were plenty of people to watch this game despite the less than alluring opponent. As Mike already pointed out, it was nice to see the crowd get into the game down the stretch, but it was especially nice seeing the team urge the crowd on like that.

Number of the Game

1: The Hoyas made 1 more free throw than 3-pointers with the same number of attempts. And it was not one of their better days from beyond the arc. 8-22 from downtown and 9-22 from the free throw line are pretty low numbers. And that 1 extra made free throw? It was that lucky bounce coming from the Hoyas’ worst free throw shooter, #1 Vernon Macklin.

New Jersey

After the National Anthem and the moment of silence for the three DC athletes who passed away this week, the Georgetown starters surprised everybody present by taking off their warmups and revealing new white uniforms.

While this upset some people who equate white jerseys with the below average teams of the early 2000’s, the main problem I had with them is consistency. The Georgetown Athletic Department needs to make up their minds about what colors the team is going to wear. If they are going to wear gray, let them wear gray. If they are going to wear white, let them wear white. But don’t switch it up every game. Hoya Blue seems to be making a concerted effort to have as many fans as they can wear gray to the games to match the team. That doesn’t work if the Hoyas wear whatever color they feel like come game time.

Teams

GU:
A poor showing for Georgetown by their own high standards. Perhaps it was a result of the win earlier in the week against Old Dominion, or perhaps in anticipation for the mid week game against Alabama in the Big East/SEC Invitational, but the Hoyas looked sloppy. The first half was particularly poor, but they gritted it out in the second half for the victory. I think the injury of Jessie Sapp, who played limited minutes thanks to a knee to the head on the first possession of the game, may have had an impact on the game. But, a win is a win, and hopefully Georgetown can turn it around by this Wednesday.

FU:
The Stags came out ready, and despite an early five point deficit, stayed focused and fought for the full 40. They shot the lights out from long range in the first half, going 7-11, but the second half basket was not as kind, as they made only one of eight, and that ended up to be their undoing.

Players

GU:
Without Sapp, one of the other Hoyas would have to step up. This game it was DaJuan Summers, who scored a season high 16 points. To go along with his offense, Summers played good defense, getting one block that was questionably ruled a foul and another clean block near the end of the game that lead to a hoop at the other end. Freshmen Chris Wright and Austin Freeman continue to get good minutes, and their familiarity with the team and this offense is growing.

FU:
Jonathan Han was their leading scorer coming into the game, and he showed why, putting up 11 first half points on 3-4 shooting from downtown. The Hoyas did a good job on him defensively in the second half, limiting Han to just one basket. Han had some help from his teammates, but he was clearly the main threat from Fairfield.

Coaches

Fairfield coach Ed Cooley did a good job of preparing his team, and he kept the game close for 36 minutes. On the other side of the court, Coach Thompson did fine considering he was without one of his veteran starters. The only criticism I can think of is that he never used a time out, which might have helped expand the lead, since on a few occasions the Hoyas had the ball, up four, with a chance to push the game out of reach, and they let those chances slip.

Referees

A pretty poorly officiated game. The refs called too many fouls, which disrupted the flow of the game, but at the same time they allowed Hibbert to get murdered under the basket without any relief. The worst call in my opinion came with under two minutes to go in the game. Fairfield had just called a timeout, and to start play, they gave the ball to Han. Rivers was guarding him, them cleanly stripped the ball and started going the other way, when John Cahill whistled Rivers for the foul. Jeremiah would have had a clear path to the basket to put the Hoyas up eight, but instead, Han got the chance to cut into the lead.

Fans

A large but rather subdued crowd for this game. There was one play in the second half where the Hoyas forced a 35 second violation on Fairfield, and Chris Wright turned to the student section and gestured them to make noise. They obliged, and the entire Verizon Center got very loud for the next Hoya possession, which ended in a three by Freeman going halfway down before popping out.

Number of the Game

16: Number of second half points for the Stags, less than half of their first half total of 33 points.

Out of Town Scores

For the first time this season, the out-of-town scoreboard worked. However, it was only giving NHL and NBA scores, and since most were night games, we didn’t get much information. Hopefuly once the Hoyas enter the Big East season we will be able to get other college scores from around the country. The one down side of the scores: we no longer have the rotating G that transforms into Jack the Bulldog to look at during official timeouts. Well, that’s progress.

Georgetown had a bit of a scare after just 23 seconds, when junior guard Jessie Sapp was knocked to the floor after getting an incidental knee to the head. He returned briefly to start the second half, but only played six minutes due to the injury. DaJuan Summers picked up the slack, scoring a season-high 16 points on 6-10 shooting.

Georgetown started the game with a 3 point barrage, with their first four baskets coming from beyond the arc. But Fairfield was also hot from long range, shooting 7-11 in the first half, and keeping the game close. It was tied at 33 at halftime.

In the second half, both offenses slowed, and several calls from the referees disrupted the flow of the game. After briefly trailing in the second half, Georgetown pulled ahead by six and never trailed again. Jeremiah Rivers made a key layup while being fouled on an assist from Roy Hibbert with 4 minutes left. To end the game, Georgetown added back to back breakaway dunks to give some relief to the home fans.

Next up for the Hoyas, they travel to Birmingham, AL to take on the Alabama Crimson Tide for the Big East/SEC Tournament.

We’re just about 45 minutes fro tip-off and the stands here are mostly empty, save for the two student sections where the Hoya faithful keep piling in.

And here are your starting lineups:
For the Hoyas, it’s the usual 5 - Wallace, Summers, Sapp, Ewing, and Hibbert.
For the Stags, they’ll be going with Han, Hawkins, Edney, Anthony Johnson, and Nero.

Keep your in-game thoughts coming in the comments.

The Hoyas did not do so well from the free throw line in the past two games. And our opponent on Saturday is Fairfield University, one of the 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the US. So our question for this game, in the spirit of Jesuit brotherhood, is about fouls.

What will the Hoyas’ free throw percentage be and how many total free throws will the Boys in Gray shoot?

We have a suspicion that the Hoyas have been working a lot on that department, so we are gonna say the Hoyas will shoot 88% with 17 shots. (That’s 15 for 17 from the line).

Your guess? Post it.