Since that first William and Mary game, Freeman and Wright have been getting steadily more minutes, culminating in the last game, where they had 25 and 22 minutes, respectively. We are not far from the time when these two guys come in off the bench and there will be no drop-off in quality of play. In fact, in the most recent games, it has been the bench to jump-start the play for the Hoyas. Let’s look a little closer at the performance of the newest Hoyas.

One thing a team looks for from its bench is the ability to score points quickly. In five of the first seven games, Austin Freeman has come off the bench and made his first shot, four of those times being from downtown. Freeman has also showed a good understanding of the offense, getting some easy points on backdoor cuts and open layups. As the season continues, the Hoyas will begin to focus more on the motion offense, and if Freeman’s understanding continues to grow, he should have no problems fitting in.

Chris Wright’s maturation as a point guard is well underway. While in some aspects he has done well (five assists against Jacksonville), he still has some room for improvement (three turnovers). Fortunately, he has good role models on the team in Jonathan Wallace and Jessie Sapp. This also means that he doesn’t have to run the offense every time he is in the game, giving him a chance to put points up as well. Wright has been showing off his shooting ability recently, as he was 6-9 last outing, and in his past four games he is shooting 67% from downtown.

We should remember that Freeman and Wright aren’t the only freshman on the Hoyas. Omar Wattad got a few minutes against Jacksonville, and while his playing time was limited, he made some contributions - five points and two boards. It is good that Coach can get #31 into some games, since when January rolls around I don’t expect him to be on the floor too much. Unfortunately, Nikita Mescheriakov might not be able to get similar minutes for himself, since his suspension will end just one game before the Hoyas begin their Big East portion of the schedule.

When analyzing the progress of the freshmen, we should bear in mind the advice of Coach Thompson. Just like he preaches to his team, we should try not to get too high after a success or too low after a failure. There are certainly encouraging signs, but at the same time these guys are still freshmen, and mistakes are inevitable. The key will be seeing how well they learn from their mistakes, and if they grow from them. The Hoyas have a big game against Memphis next week, and not long after that, the Big East season begins. We will have to wait to see how the freshmen handle themselves in the upcoming month. And I think by then we will have a sense how good these freshmen, and this team, can really be.

GU:
The Hoyas put together a very efficient first half. If it hadn’t been for the long-range focus from Georgetown, this game could’ve ended very differently. Give full credit to the Hoyas for beating Michigan at their own game. Georgetown was sharp on offense and smothering on defense. It was the type of performance against a quality opponent that sends a message to the rest of the country.

MICH:
Michigan is a very young team, and it was their first road game of the year. They made a lot of bad decisions and executed very poorly. Maybe if they had been able to hit a few shots early they could’ve gained some confidence, but with few experienced players they were knocked out in this one faster than Carl “The Truth” Williams against Mike Tyson.

Players

GU:
Jeremiah Rivers is going to be a big contributor off the bench this year for the Hoyas. Against Michigan he came in only 3:02 into the first half. Michigan was struggling mightily in the first few moments, and since the Wolverines look to their back court for scoring, Rivers was inserted early for his defense. He was very active on D and helped the Hoyas build their early lead. He got a very clean look at a three and knocked it down. He seems much more confident with his jump shot this year, not hesitating as much as he did for most of last season.

MICH:
#44 Kelvin Grady was really the only player who did anything of note, and even his contributions were once Michigan was way behind. He seems like a pretty good shooter, but he didn’t have to make shots under any sort of pressure.

Coaches

Michigan Coach John Beilein came into the national spotlight with his excellent success at West Virginia over the past few seasons. Throughout his career, Beilein has been known for teams that show great ball movement, make a lot of three pointers, and play good team defense. It was those exact characteristics that the Hoyas used to win the game in the first 20 minutes. Maybe John Thompson III knew that this could’ve been a tricky game and made sure that the players were ready to go from the opening tip. The excellent start allowed Thompson the ability to give his younger and more inexperienced players a lot of run in the second half.

Referees

Thanks to the early onslaught from the Hoyas, the refs never had a chance to make a significant call. The worst call of the game came from Mike Kitts late in the first half when Ekpe Udoh elevated for an excellent one-handed follow dunk. Kitts disallowed the basket for offensive goaltending. He was the only player in the Verizon center who saw it that way.

Fans

The fans continue to come out in great numbers, which is excellent. One thing though - “We Are Georgetown” has been around forever, and after Coach Thompson told the media that he used to love that cheer when he was little, it has made a powerful resurgence. The problem is that it was initially intended to be a chant used near the end of a game when the Hoyas had wrapped up a difficult win against a good opponent, especially a rival. That cheer celebrates a victory and reminds opponents, “This is what you should expect; this is who we are.” It doesn’t really apply to random possessions throughout the game. That’s what “Let’s Go Hoyas” is for.

Number of the Game

6: That’s the number of 3-point Field Goals the Hoyas made in the first 7:44. The sixth one put the Hoyas up by 19 points.

Returning the Favor

Freshman Chris Wright made his first collegiate basket against Michigan, assisted from Freshman Austin Freeman. It was a nice combination from last year’s two best players in the WCAC. Also, Freeman scored his first basket as a Hoya on an assist from Wright in the William and Mary game. We’ll be seeing a lot more of those two collecting assists from each other.

For those of you hoping for a stand-out night from one of the Hoyas newcomers, you will have to wait. Austin Freeman was the first of the freshmen to get minutes, coming in at the 12:58 mark in the first half, and had a un-outstanding first appearance, going 1 for 4, 0 for 3 from beyond the arc, in 12 minutes of action. He was the only Hoya outside of the starters to get on the scoring sheet, though, making a nice 18 foot jumper midway through the second half. Freeman had a fine outing in other aspects, getting a few key rebounds, and playing nice defense. Chris Wright, the only other freshman to play in the season opener, played just eight minutes, and missed his only shot attempt.

It is too early to judge the freshmen, of course. Obviously, neither had a spectacular night. But, to put things in perspective, in last year’s season opener, first time Hoyas DaJuan Summers and Patrick Ewing Jr. had similar nights. Summers played 10 minutes, and went 0-1, whereas Ewing Jr. played eight minutes with only one rebound.

Despite the minimal impact, there was one play that gave Hoyas fans a glimpse of what is to come. Following a steal by Jeremiah Rivers, Wright found Freeman on the left baseline. Freeman pump-faked, took a dribble inside the three point line and nailed the jumper. As these players mature and get more comfortable in the offense, I get the feeling Freeman and Wright will be teaming up for a few more baskets. And that will be well worth the wait.