Not since David Robinson led the Middies to the Elite Eight in 1986 had a seven-footer so thoroughly dominated the court in Annapolis, Md. Last Friday, Georgetown sophomore 7’2” center Roy Hibbert did his best impression of “The Admiral” and showed how all his off-season work paid off in leading the visiting Hoyas to a comfortable 72-49 victory over Navy in the first game of the season for both teams.
With 20 points, seven rebounds and four blocks in only 25 minutes of action, Hibbert lived up to the off-season praise and prognostication of his teammates. In front of the 4,104 fans, including a large Georgetown contingent, that packed Alumni Hall to see the teams’ first meeting since 1978, Hibbert put together the most complete effort of his young career, far surpassing his modest averages of 5.1 points and 3.5 rebounds per game from a year ago.
“Roy’s confidence has improved, his strength has improved, his teammates’ confidence in him has improved,” Georgetown Head Coach John Thompson III said. “It’s one game. Obviously Roy played well today. Clearly we all have a higher comfort level than we did at this point last year or even at the end of last year, leaving Roy out there.”
Hibbert is also more confident in himself this year and was eager to play on the campus where the NBA’s No. 1 pick from the 1987 draft used to go about his business.
“My teammates know I’m going to catch the ball now. Last year, I fumbled it,” he said. “I am a David Robinson fan. We talked about that this morning.”
Hibbert started the Hoyas off early with an emphatic dunk on an assist from sophomore point guard Jonathan Wallace (six points, four assists) just 22 seconds after the tip. With a 14-2 run to start the game, the contest was never in doubt for a Georgetown team that shot 53.8 percent from the floor on the night.
Navy Head Coach Billy Lange worked with his players all week on trying to replicate Hibbert’s imposing presence. He had more than six inches on any Midshipmen on the floor???Lange said he even put his guys on chairs in practice to simulate Hibbert’s length.
“Their length was not going to allow us to run plays the way we wanted,” Lange said. “We had some lapses when we got it down to eight in the first half and 12 early in the second, but we weren’t ready to execute that next play to make the game tighter.”
The closest Navy would get was at the 7:24 mark in the first half when senior forward Matt Fannin picked Hoya senior forward Brandon Bowman’s pocket and converted the layup to make the score 16-8.
Georgetown dominated the rest of the way; also receiving double-digit scoring efforts from sophomore forward Jeff Green (13 points, seven rebounds), senior guard Ashanti Cook (12 points) and fifth-year senior guard Darrel Owens (10 points). The lead would swell to 28 about halfway through the second half on a jumper by Green before settling to the final 23-point margin of victory.
The hot-shooting night was also coupled with a strong defensive effort by the Hoyas, holding the Midshipmen to shooting 35 percent from the floor and tallying nine steals.
“Our guys were extremely attentive,” Thompson said. “They have a lot of motion and try to accomplish a lot of different things on offense. They put you in a position where you have to work as a cohesive unit. For us to have success this year our defense has to be good so we tried to do that.”
Despite the solid effort, the Hoyas were also upset in their rhythm by a relentless Navy defense, leading to 15 turnovers.
“We did some things that disrupted Georgetown. Anytime you force a John Thompson III team into 15 turnovers, you are doing things well,” Lange commented. “We took away the back cuts and we took away the threes.”
While Navy did a relatively good job of shutting down Georgetown’s backcourt, their young team, which includes six first years, had no answer for Hibbert down low.
“He’s obviously a big target,” Owens said. “He can cause a lot of mental problems. Today is just a little bit of what he has to offer.”
Navy was led with 14 points apiece from sophomore guards Greg Sprink and Corey Johnson.
Georgetown is back in action tonight, as they travel to Harrisonburg, Va. to face James Madison in their season opener. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
