Jessie scored 23 points off of 7-12 shooting to go with 11 assists, 10 rebounds, and three steals in the game. You can read more about it on the team’s webpage.

So here’s wishing Jessie a “Happy birthday,” and a “Keep up the good work” too.

[GlasgowRocks.co.uk: Game Recap]
[GlasgowRocks.co.uk: BBL Honors]

Image via gr0don

Jessie follows in the footsteps of fellow Hoyas Jonathan Wallace, Brandon Bowman, Kevin Braswell and others to continue playing basketball professionally in Europe. Hopefully he can bring home a championship like Brandon did in Germany.

[ScottishRocks.co.uk]

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.

Teams

Georgetown:
There were some fans who thought that the Hoyas could make a little run in the Big East Tournament and crawl back into the discussion of being an at-large team. Unfortunately, the team did not think so. There was an amazing lack of intensity and energy for the Hoyas, which is an indication that they may have felt like they had nothing to play for.

St. John’s:
For the second time in a week, St. John’s took advantage of an uninspired effort from the Hoyas and did what was needed for an upset. In some ways, a season sweep of a team cannot be considered a pair of upsets. The Johnnies led by 9 points midway through the second half, then the Hoyas went on a 12-0 run to take the lead. At that point St. John’s willed their way to the win, making defensive stops and critical baskets down the stretch.

Players

Georgetown:
Jessie Sapp was the Hoyas’ leader. He made a three-pointer to cap the 12-0 run, and made another three-pointer in the final moments to keep the Hoyas alive by cutting the lead to two. In his final Big East game (and possibly his final game as a Hoya) he gave Hoya fans one more chance to see what kind of player he is. For whatever reasons – and there are many – Sapp’s leadership was not as consistent as it needed to be to help this team reach its potential.

St. John’s:
No one player stuck out for St. John’s, but it seemed like every player made key contributions at key times for the Red Storm. Free throws, offensive rebounds, baskets, free throws, loose balls, steals were all a part of a good team effort for St. John’s.

Referees

The officiating was average, and a little inconsistent. There were stretches were no fouls were called, and other stretches where the guards from both teams were whistled for fouls far from the basket. Both teams went to the line in the final minutes, and the foul trouble from the Hoyas was probably more a result of poor energy and not poor officiating.

Number of the Game

2: Number of times the Georgetown Hoyas have failed to make the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament. The first time was in 2004, the final year under Head Coach Craig Esherick when the Hoyas finished at 13-15. The second time is the current season.

As you know, Georgetown will play St. John’s in Game 2 of the opening session. DePaul and Cincinnati get things going at 12:00 and 20 minutes after the conclusion of that game, the Hoyas and Red Storm will tip off. There are a lot of “ifs” coming into the tournament for the Hoyas. I’m only going to use one “if” to get us started, and assume the other “ifs” as often as needed.

If everything goes according to plan, today will be the last time that Jessie Sapp ever wears the gray Hoya jersey. The Hoyas are the higher seed today against the Johnnies which means that they get to wear the home uniforms. Georgetown will not be the higher seed at any other point in the tournament, so it’s blue unis for as long as the Hoyas keep playing.

Even without winning the Big East Tournament, Georgetown can still submit their tournament resume with a final record of 19-14. 19 wins for a team that played the #1 toughest schedule in the country is definitely worthy of at-large consideration. Throw into the equation five quality wins – Connecticut, Memphis, Marquette, and Villanova twice, and all of a sudden you’re looking at a team that is a very reasonable selection. The Hoyas will garner a low seed in the NCAA tournament and will not need their gray uniforms in that tournament at all. Get a good look at the gray shirts, hopefully you won’t see them again.

The videos are embedded below in two parts.