Faced with what may be the nation’s toughest schedule, Georgetown had long been given the benefit of the doubt as it endured loss after loss. But after falling twice in three days earlier this week, the Hoyas may have finally run out of chances to redeem themselves.
The defeats, at the hands of Marquette and Louisville, likely eliminate Georgetown (14-12, 5-10 Big East) from consideration for an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament. The Hoyas won’t be able to quarrel with the selection committee either, because as this weekend showed, they cannot keep up with tourney caliber teams.
On Saturday, Georgetown made a good show of keeping pace with the Golden Eagles. But the young and rattled squad buckled down the stretch, surrendering a one-point lead with eight minutes to play by allowing a 9-2 Marquette run. The Hoyas could not bounce back.
Marquette, on the other hand, could. The veteran team, led by four senior starters, faced a 9-2 Georgetown run in the first half, but played through their difficulties. Head coach Buzz Williams did not even need to call a timeout.
“I just think that every game in a league such as this, every possession is so monumental that you have to be mentally tough enough to overcome team’s runs,” Williams said after the game. “If you’re not … you can call a timeout every single run and it’s not going to matter.”
The Hoyas lacked that requisite toughness against Louisville as well. The Cardinals kept Georgetown at a distance for most of the first half, but thanks to seven straight points from Jessie Sapp, the Hoyas cut the lead to 10 and held the momentum at halftime.
But faced with the opportunity to make it a close game, the Hoyas wilted. Louisville committed three consecutive turnovers to start the half, but Georgetown never took advantage, getting no closer than eight points.
“That’s where we have to continue to get better,” head coach John Thompson III said after the game. “We get the key points in key stretches where, okay now we got it to 6 or 8 or 10 or whatever, and we have to get a stop and we have to get a basket. And we haven’t been good … executing at either end of the floor in those key situations.”
The Cardinals, like Marquette, feature a number of upperclassmen in prominent roles. The experience disparity was evident, as Louisville remained unflustered in a hostile environment, exploiting the young Hoyas’ many mistakes.
“Outside of the Fab Five, I haven’t seen too many great teams with freshmen and sophomores,” Louisville head coach Rick Pitino said after Monday night’s game. “They’re talented, they’re good, they can get wins, but it’s just experience that counts in the last 10 minutes of games. Georgetown is going to be great … but they’re young, and young teams just don’t win consistently in the Big East.”
As bright as the future may be for Georgetown, it is hard to look past what has become a lost season. After a number of impressive early wins, capped by a decisive victory at UConn, the Hoyas looked ready to contend for a third consecutive Big East title. But this squad has been unable to harness the talent they demonstrated back in November and December.
“That’s what hurts the most, because we feel like we’re right there, and we just can’t turn the corner,” sophomore Chris Wright said. “That next step, we just haven’t made it yet. And we’re trying to.”
The Hoyas’ unexpected downfall has left fans and analysts scrambling for explanations: the schedule is too tough; chemistry issues plague the locker room; DaJuan Summers has regressed; Greg Monroe is too passive, not taking over in games like he should.
To varying degrees, all these factors may have contributed to Georgetown’s slide. But the fact remains that this is the same group from the beginning of the season. Perhaps that is why, when asked if this group did not have what it takes to succeed, Thompson responded unequivocally.
“No, not at all,” he said. “Maybe that’s what frustrating. If I didn’t think this group could do it, then it would just be ‘Okay, what the hell, no biggie.’ I said it [before], I believe it now, I have a lot of confidence not just in these two [Monroe and Wright], but in everyone else in that locker room.”
No matter how much faith Thompson has in his players, it means nothing if they cannot win. The effect of the most recent losses was clear from the sullen faces of both coach and players as they addressed the media. With just three regular season games to go, they know where they stand. And that is why even Thompson, always singular in his focus on the next game, is looking ahead to the last bastion of hope for his team: the Big East Tournament.
“The beauty of being in this conference—if there’s one good thing about being in this conference—is that you go to New York. You get a chance to fight, and you get the chance to win it,” he said. “We have to continue to improve, and we have to be better once we get to New York. It’s as simple as that.”
But first the Hoyas have to travel to Villanova on Saturday, where they will take on the nation’s 12th ranked Wildcats. Tip-off is at noon at the Wachovia Center.
