Hoya News

For much of the year we've heard grumblings that Greg Monroe was having a disappointing year, that the designation of top recruit was a stretch, or that he's part a very weak class of high school seniors. So many criticisms of Monroe performances this season have led many to question whether he'll be an impact player for the Hoyas next season.

Just so you know: Monroe really turned it on at the end of the year to win the state title and the Wootten award for best high school player in the country. His team that recovered from a 17-point deficit in one game of the tournament and he scored 39 points in another.

Here are highlights and interview footage from that postseason run. (This is a youtube playlist, so it is three videos in a row).

Certainly the disappointing loss to Davidson will take some time to get over. And much criticism will continue to be leveled at the officiating crew in Raleigh.

Yet one of the shortcomings the team experienced yesterday, was one which featured all season long: an inability to make entry passes into the post.

Far too often this season Hibbert would get great position down low only to be overlooked by the guards. Or they would see him posting, but did not have the confidence to make a safe entry pass.

Watching the other teams in the tournament, it was hard not to marvel at how often centers like Stanford's Brook Lopez received the ball in a position on the court where all they had to do was turn and shoot a gimme.

Our guards have not done this often enough for Hibbert during his time as a Hoya. But should this be surprising? JT3 played and coached in the Princeton system where there are no post players. In the Princeton, centers play on the perimeter to open up the lane for the cutters. There isn't a need for an entry pass. It's entirely possible that JT3 never had to learn that skill as a college guard and hasn't been able to pass it on to his players.

This year, in particular, Georgetown seemed uncomfortable in an offense that balanced post play with three point shooting. At some point in the season, our back door cutting almost evaporated. While the absence of back door cuts may be attributable to the zone defense we often faced against Big East teams, in our two NCAA games we faced man-to-man.

Against Davidson, the refs were calling fouls when their defense grabbed at our players making back cuts. This was an ideal officiating environment for our Princeton offense to flourish. Belmont and West Virginia ran more back cuts against Duke then we did in the whole tournament.

Look for the Princeton offense to return to prominence next year. JT3 never recruited Roy, and while the big guy has been a huge asset for the coach, he's an anomaly in the Princeton.

Macklin, Monroe and Sims are mobile front court players and may not spend much time in the post. Braswell is a guy that rebounds and can score off of putbacks.

With the roster now full of JT3 recruits, the coach no longer has to balance different styles of play. It may very well be that the Hoyas develop a consistent offense next year more fully committed to the Princeton offense.

This ran in New York and Washington on the local Fox affiliates. It's a short clip highlighting Monroe and his decision to attend Georgetown.

So we can watch this on a loop before the game airs on TV, here is the Georgetown intro video, We Are Georgetown.

During today's Fairfield game, for the first time I can remember, a JT3 coached team worked to push the ball up the court at every opportunity. There was a concerted effort to look for fast break opportunities and to get into the front court quickly on offense. This is a sharp departure from the Hoya offense that we are accustomed to watching and it may take some getting used to by the players as well.

Some noticeable results were early turnovers (Sapp dribbling out of bounds) and rushed shots (Ewing for 3). This aggressive pace also left Hibbert with even fewer touches as the team was slow to settle into their offensive sets.

It seems Hibbert featured even less in the offense because of the pace. He found himself in foul trouble which didn't help things, but the reduced minutes for Roy (as PT is spread more evenly) means that for the fewer offensive possessions he's in the game, the big man needs touches in the post. Speeding up the game today meant on a number of possessions the Hoya offense looked to shoot before finding him.

It looks as if Georgetown is still finding its way around JC3's offense and, if they decide to run more than last year, it may be in these early games where the team learns to integrate that tempo into the offense without losing focus of Princeton principles. These are the games to try out new wrinkles. Expect the Hoyas to settle into its established offense by the time conference play comes around.

Barker Davis has a great profile of Jessie Sapp in today's Washington Times.

You may not have caught this video on the Hoya board as it was buried in an old thread. Dashonte Riley is one of the top center prospects in the class of 2009. He goes to Detroit Country Day, same school that Chris Webber went to. With Hollis Thompson signed, the one area we will lack depth after this year will be at center. While we do have Sims coming in, he's light for a Big East five. As is Macklin, who will be a senior when the high school class of 2009 matriculates.

We have a really solid shot at Riley who seems to have considerable skills and mobility. The highlight for me was the turnaround 15 footer at the elbow, but his shotblocking would make an immediate impact in the Big East. He could be part of a dynasty at Georgetown with Monroe, Freeman, Thompson and Wright. Video below.