If a basketball game were a staring contest, the Hoyas would have blinked first everytime during their recent five-game losing streak.
Every basketball team expects to lose focus every once in a while, but the Hoyas have bungled and blundered with such consistency that it raises the question of what team the Hoyas actually are. Are they the confident bunch that started the season strong with convincing wins over Connecticut and Syracuse? Or are they the chokers we all saw in embarrassing losses to Seton Hall and Cincinatti?
The team’s mental lapses are painful to watch. Whether allowing an inept Cincinnati offense to shoot 45.8 percent (five percent better than their season average) against a supposedly stout Georgetown defense or committing so many fouls against Marquette that the end-game free throw differential was 38-13, the Hoyas’ apparent lack of focus has been killing them.
Most prominent among these mental lapses is the Hoyas’ inability to prevent their opponent from going on an unanswered scoring run. It seems as though, at a certain point in recent games, the team suffers a collective black-out and looks as clueless offensively as Michael Phelps doing a bong hit.
Against top-ranked programs Duke and Marquette, the Hoyas played enough good basketball to stay in the game for about 35 minutes. What they forgot, however, is that a college basketball game lasts for 40 minutes.
With 15:33 left in the second half against Duke, Georgetown had fought its way back from a 15-point deficit to bring the game within four points, 46-42. Over the next five minutes, the Hoyas committed four fouls, missed four free throws, and attempted a paltry four field goals. Duke, on the other hand, attempted nine field goals. The difference in this particular statistic highlights a glaring problem for the Hoyas: they do not make the most of their offensive possessions, turning the ball over too many times or committing too many offensive fouls. They paid the price for their lapse of focus. By the 10:43 mark, Duke had rebuilt its lead and put the game away, 61-45.
The same thing happened against Marquette. The Hoyas tied up the game at the 14:31 mark, only to watch their previous 25 minutes of strong play go to waste as Marquette went on a 12-2 tear over the next three and a half minutes, essentially putting the game away. The usual problems plagued the Hoyas over that span—they attempted only three field goals to Marquette’s eight.
If the Hoyas want to get themselves out of the glut they find themselves in, the first thing they have to do is use their offensive possessions more effectively. Lately, the Hoyas’ offensive approach has been swayed and manipulated by the opponent’s defense, instead of the proactive approach it took at the beginning of the year.
So instead of jacking up a slew of three pointers, Georgetown needs to slash to the hoop and utilize their traditional backdoor cuts that have been conspicuously missing the last few games. By moving the game inside, the Hoyas will collapse the defense and have more open looks on the outside as well, an opportunity for Jesse Sapp and Co. to improve on their putrid three point shooting stats.
The Hoyas need to sharpen up their focus if they want to redeem their already lackluster Big East record. That means fewer stupid fouls, a stronger commitment on defense against beatable opponents, and a more aggressive and efficient offensive attack. Unless the Hoyas learn to avoid such glaring mental lapses, they will be destined to compete for an NIT crown—not an NCAA title.
Right on, Tom. You hit the nail on the head.