As the post-season draws nearer, prospects are brighter with Georgetown riding a four-game win streak which has propelled them to 3rd in the Big East standings. Fresh off a win against Cincinnati, the Hoyas look as if they may finally be living up to the preseason hype.
Roy Hibbert, who had struggled against smaller teams, dominated the undersized Bearcats Saturday on the way to a career high 26 points. Green, who too has struggled to score of late, showed flashes of brilliance on Saturday, culminating in a coast-to-coast drive for a one handed dunk. Even after the win, Coach John Thompson III kept with the message about growth and team chemistry.
“I think a lot of big guys are like that—they play better against someone their size, as opposed to facing a lot of guys underneath them,” Thompson said of Hibbert. “We are better now than we were early in the year at trying to figure out how to get him the ball . . . as much as it’s been his maturation, it’s been our team as a whole, our growth.”
Georgetown hasn’t exactly lived up to all the hype this year, but perhaps the expectations were too high. Entering the season, Georgetown was ranked 8th in the country, their highest ranking in more than a decade. Returning players Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert, who were featured on the regional cover of Sports Illustrated, were supposed to have monster seasons, and Hoya fans were giddy with anticipation. Ticket sales more than doubled from last year and many fans had Final Four on their mind.
“I want our team to be the best team in the Big East,” junior forward Jeff Green said of his expectations. “We have a lot of goals, trying to be the best team in the nation, trying to get to the championship. We just have to continue to work and try to get to that point.”
But, after stumbling out of the blocks, dreams of a deep tournament run seemed to disappear, leaving many people to question whether or not Georgetown would even make the field of 64. Now into February and the heart of the Big East season, it is clear that yes, the Hoyas were over-hyped, but that they are most definitely a tournament team.
Early season losses to Oregon and Duke are more than respectable, given that both are in the top 15. Pitt, ranked in the national top 10, was a quality loss, especially on the road. At 5-2 in the conference and 15-5 overall, the Hoyas are beginning to play the steady team-oriented basketball that Coach Thompson has been preaching all year.
With the growth of freshman Dajuan Summers, Jeremiah Rivers and Vernon Macklin, and the added experience of sophomore Jessie Sapp, the Hoyas seem ready to make a statement that is long overdue. With big games against Marquette and Pitt, two ranked opponents, the team will have plenty of chances. On the verge of once again cracking the top 25, Georgetown has a high seeding and a subsequent Big East Tournament first round bye squarely in their sites.
