I have thought a lot about the loss yesterday and I've read some things and heard some things about how the program has a trend of losing in the tournament and how there is clearly something fatally wrong with the program because of it. This upset me and I wrote a rambling, stream-of-consciousness rant reacting to that talk.
I am an unabashed Georgetown homer and an ardent supporter of John Thompson III. I think he is absolutely the right person to lead Georgetown’s program and 4 straight tournament exits to double-digit seeds has done nothing to change my mind on that. I’m saying that up front here to point out my obvious bias as I dig in against the wave of folks (both in the national media and among the Georgetown fan base) that are building narratives about Georgetown’s lack of success in recent NCAA tournaments and using that as an indictment of everything that JTIII has built at Georgetown.
Good evening fellow Hoyas. As a frequent reader who is a) mostly a lurker around here b) hasn't seen much live Hoya basketball in the last 6 years living in Cincinnati and c) needs therapy after sitting through today's game, I thought I'd share some observations from the game today. To preface this post, I haven't been home since the game until now, so I haven't read the gamethread, JGD's summary or any other post mortem - I'll do that right after typing this, but really wanted to through my as yet-unbiased opinions out there. This could be embarrassing if y'all saw this much differently than I did, but here goes nothing..
More quasi-incoherence after the jump...
Rules of gravity do not apply to me
Hold onto your butts, Day Two of our Columbian Exposition is around the corner, and this time we're taking it back to where much of the magic first started. So come nurse your St. Patty's hangover with yet another Guinness, go easy on the car bombs, and we'll see you soon.
Where: Irish Channel, 500 H St. NW
When: Tip-off is 12:15pm
Why: Don't pretend like you don't know why.
Preview of Sunday's Game: #3 Georgetown v. #11 N.C. State, 12:15pm, NCAA Tournament - (Don't Call it the) Third Round
For the first time in four years, the Georgetown University Fighting Bulldogs won a game in the NCAA Tournament. And now we can all breathe a sigh of relief.
There's no time to reflect on yesterday's win, but suffice it to say that our zone was effective, and it was refreshing to see our two seniors, especially Jason, step up and make plays. We shut down Kerron Johnson, and even though we allowed the Bruins to hit ten threes, nothing came easy for them. It was a satisfying and much-needed victory.
But in the immortal words of Hank Sims, "we didn't just come here to win one game."
More GTM after The Jump....
http://www.diddukewin.com/ SUCK IT DUKE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
This is a filler
SUCK IT DUKE! SUCK IT DUKE! SUCK IT DUKE! SUCK IT DUKE! SUCK IT DUKE! SUCK IT DUKE! SUCK IT DUKE! SUCK IT DUKE! SUCK IT DUKE! SUCK IT DUKE! SUCK IT DUKE! SUCK IT DUKE! SUCK IT DUKE! SUCK IT DUKE! SUCK IT DUKE! SUCK IT DUKE! SUCK IT DUKE! SUCK IT DUKE! SUCK IT DUKE! SUCK IT DUKE! SUCK IT DUKE! SUCK IT DUKE! SUCK IT DUKE! SUCK IT DUKE!
Rules of gravity do not apply to me
The tension around this lunch blog this week has been unbearable. In less than 24 hours, we will either be a national laughing stock AGAIN, or a very relieved bunch of Casualties looking forward to the next banana skin on Sunday. Either way, for those of you in DC and surrounding parts, you need to be among the Casual nation imbibing appropriate quantities of adult beverages.
The Iron Horse has kindly agreed to open an hour early for us tomorrow, and so the upstairs floor will be open for business and Hoya viewing from 3pm onward. So bug out of the office as quickly as you can, and let's make this agony a shared experience.
Where: Iron Horse Taproom, 507 7th St NW (Upstairs)
When: Doors open at 3pm; tip-off is scheduled for 3:10pm (unless the earlier game goes long)
Why: We've been building up to tomorrow for a year. Something has to give - either the Hoya first round hoo-doo, or our collective sanity. Come and find out!
Rankings:
The rankings are meaningless. Let's get right to it.
Preview of Friday's Game: #3 Georgetown v. #14 Belmont, 3:10pm, NCAA Tournament - (Don't Call it the) Second Round
Ever since we lost that terrible, terrible game to VCU last year, and that terrible, terrible game to Ohio the year before that, and that terrible, terrible game to Davidson two years earlier, we've all been waiting for this game. JTIII and your 2011-12 Hoyas deserve credit for exceeding expectations this season and finishing near the top of the conference, but let's be honest, this weekend is the one that will, rightly or wrongly, determine the legacy of this year's team.
In some respects, Belmont resembles last year's VCU team. The Bruins have a fair number of experienced juniors and seniors, they like to press and run, and they shoot a relatively high number of threes. Unlike VCU, which entered the 2011 Tourney with an "us against the world" mentality because no one thought they deserved an at-large bid, Belmont enters the 2012 Tourney as the darling of the sports-writing commentariat. Which leads me to my first observation.
More GTM / Six Observations after The Jump....
This post is sponsored by TiqIQ
Following an exciting season which resulted in an impressive 23-8 record, the Georgetown Hoyas earned the #3 seed in this year’s NCAA tournament. The Hoyas will take on the 14th seeded Belmont Bruins in Session 1 on Friday 3/16 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, OH. With a win, the Hoyas will play the winner of the #6 San Diego State/#11 North Carolina State in 3rd round action. For deals on Lower Level Tickets, check out inventory from Primesport, the NCAA’s Tournament’s official ticket exchange.
Preview of Thursday's Game:
Stop Two on Revenge Tour 2K12 is a nice little rematch against the Cincinnati Bearcats. These are the very same Bearcats that have defeated us three times in a row and gave us our lone home loss this season. As the #4 seed in the BET, Cincy has a great shot to make the NCAA Tourney, but is by no means a lock. Because of Cincy's woeful non-conference strength of schedule, the Bearcats need one more win to feel comfortable about their postseason prospects. The Hoyas will have to crank it up a notch.
More GTM after the Jump....
Georgetown 64, Pittsburgh 52 -- Quick Post-Game Observations; Likes/Dislikes
Like: Henry Sims and Otto Porter played like men. They combined for 40 points, 19 rebounds and six assists and exploited Pitt's undersized frontcourt. Otto had a career-high 20 points. The last time we played Pitt, we settled for jump shots, were manhandled on the glass, and rarely went to the free throw line. Henry and Otto made sure neither of those things happened again. Is Henry playing his way into the second round of the draft?
Dislike: How the hell did Otto not make the All-Freshmen Team? I know people have discussed this at length already, but it needs to be said again. Anthony Collins and Chane Behanan just aren't as good as Otto Porter.
Like: Jason Clark and Hollis Thompson combined for one field goal and the Hoyas still won convincingly. It's refreshing to know that we can win games when both of our star guards do very little. Jason and Hollis, together, haven't had this bad of a showing all season. It says a lot that we not only won this game, but ran away with it in the second half.
Dislike: Jason Clark and Hollis Thompson combined for one field goal. That can't happen again. Good teams usually find a way to shut down either Jason or Hollis, but not both of them. We need at least one guy to step up. They shot 1 of 10 from the floor.
