The chants of “JTIII” rang louder than usual from the Georgetown men’s basketball student section on Monday night. The weekday match-up against Ball State didn’t exactly draw a sellout crowd to the Verizon Center, but those who were there joined the boisterous chants of the Hoya faithful. After all, this was more than just a game between two teams; it was a game between two brothers. As John Thompson III walked to half court to greet his brother Ronny, the new Ball State head coach, the Hoya fans made it clear which Thompson was nearer and dearer to their hearts.
The resemblance was obvious, almost scary, as each stalked his respective sideline. With the rest of the Thompson family sitting courtside opposite the dueling brothers and with the great John Jr. presiding over the baseline press table to the right of his sons, the Hoya court was surrounded by the family.
Despite the drama of a brotherly match-up, there was in fact a game to be played, and both coaches looked ready to play at tip-off. It’s hard to say who would come out on top if each donned his old jersey and played a little one-on-one, but the match-up between the two teams was a lot more one-sided and much easier to predict.
The Hoyas took it to Ball State early with some punishing, physical play down low from Roy Hibbert, Jeff Green and DaJuan Summers. Guard Jessie Sapp, who played his cleanest game of the year with eight assists and zero turnovers, was able to feed the ball inside and watch his big men go to work on the Cardinal defense.
“My brother has layers and layers of players at 6’9”, 6’10” and so on,” Ronny Thompson said after the game. “You can’t offset Mother Nature.”
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, who were playing their third game in a grueling four-day stretch, the overpowering physical advantage of the Hoyas was not exclusive to the offensive end of the court. Throughout the first half, Ball State players drove hard to the basket only to be rejected by Green or Hibbert and taunted with the chant of “Not in our house” by the Georgetown students. At the end of the half the Hoyas held a comfortable 40-28 lead.
The lead was extended to 15 early in the second half, and the Cardinals would not threaten beyond this margin for the rest of the game. This allowed John Thompson to showcase some of the freshman talent. Vernon Macklin awed the crowd with a pair of highflying two-handed dunks and a total of 10 points off the bench. Jeremiah Rivers also got some solid minutes and looked more and more comfortable carrying the ball throughout the game. Summers, who started the game after a strong 17-point performance at Fairfield, added 12 points. With the game comfortably in hand, Hibbert added his own personal exclamation point in an athletic spin move from the foul line into the lane, en route to a two-handed slam that seemed destined to pull the rim down. The final score of 69-54 reflected a dominating and very decisive victory for the Hoyas.
In a game where just about everyone had a solid performance, there was one particular standout whose continuing development will be very important to Georgetown’s success throughout the season. Sapp looked as comfortable as he has in any other game this season.
“He’s a great passer,” Green said of Sapp after the game. “He has that New York style basketball in him, you know, he can make a pass from anywhere, and that is a major plus for our team.”
“Jessie is a ballplayer,” John Thompson echoed Green’s praise. “He is going to continue to develop and play games like this one.”
With part one of the Battle of the Thompsons going to the older brother, there are no hard feelings from either side. When asked if he was looking forward to next year’s rematch, Ronny offered the same answer that any younger brother would give.
“No doubt. We are gonna be ready for them.”
Last night the Hoyas fell for the second time this season to an unranked opponent, Oregon, 57-50.
