Is Georgetown an Elite Team?
The short answer is no.I know the Hoyas defeated Syracuse by two in overtime tonight to improve to 15-2 overall, and 5-1 in the Big East. However, I don't think they are an elite team, one that is on the short list of Final Four contenders. In fact, Georgetown might be the least impressive of any top-ten team right now.
Georgetown runs a very efficient and disciplined offense, getting easy shots off backdoor cuts and open lanes throughout the game. Defensively, the Hoyas are very solid. They contest nearly every shot and are not easy to penetrate against. As a result, Georgetown is never really out of a game and will be competitive against most teams.
However, I don't think the Hoyas are explosive enough to win those tough games. They have a lot of players offensively who can score the ball, but no go-to-guys outside of Roy Hibbert. Furthermore, Hibbert doesn't get enough touches down low. If they get down by a decent margin early in a game, it will be very difficult for the Hoyas to come back. On the other side, Georgetown is not a good rebounding team despite the presence of Hibbert, and it doesn't force turnovers very often.
For a comparison to elite teams, just look at Georgetown's schedule. The Hoyas have played just two games against the top-30 teams in the RPI, and are 0-2 in them. They lost by 14 to Memphis on the road, and by nine at Pittsburgh. Defensively, they weren't good at all, allowing too many open shots and second chances. Offensively, the Hoyas had two of their three least-efficient performances in those two games. They were terrible from behind the arc, and are at times inconsistent from there against top competition.
I do think the Hoyas have the system and discipline to hang with any team in the country, but I don't think Georgetown has the firepower to consistent beat an elite team. Beware before you advance the Hoyas to San Antonio this year.
posted by Jeff at 12:00 AM
3 Comments:
Georgetown's lack of rebounding is really striking. They miss Jeff Green, who was their best player last year, and a top 5 talent in college basketball in '07 - a player who could rebound and score and really control the game with total efficiancy....Other than Hibbert, who is less impressive this year and may regret coming back to school, they have no inside presence, and Hibbert just doesn't have very good hands, he bobbles and drops a lot of passes...I do like the freshman Freeman, but he's a 6'4 jump shooter, and doesn't seem to rebound at all....agree with you, Hoyas are a pretty good team, but probably are a sqad that should be and will be ranked no. 15-20, not in the top ten, and see them them being knocked out by a superior team in the sweet 16.
At the end of last season and the beginning of this season, they had a lot in common with Kansas. Both had solid seasons in 06-07, both had good Tourney runs (though Georgetown's was better), and both teams lost one of their best players to the draft. There is one big difference between the two teams right now: improvement. Kansas has gotten better performances out of Russell Robinson, Darrell Arthur, and especially Darnell Jackson to help Brandon Rush considerably - to the point that they are an even better team than they were last season. Georgetown's supporting cast, on the other hand, hasn't managed to provide Roy Hibbert with anywhere near the same level of support.
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