Random thoughts from the first 3 games:

I understand why people are freaking out about the offense (or lack thereof).  We’re all traumatized by last year’s performance, and it is in our collective psyche to go right back to that awful place where dreams went to die and 16-15 happened.  Yet, when thinking back, besides last year, JTIII teams tend to look terrible in November and get progressively better.  If we’re going to treat last year as an outlier, we should also remember that we looked awesome in November and got progressively worse.  This makes me feel better when I’m checking Henry Sims’ Facebook status at 1:00 am on a Wednesday night to try to get a grasp on his mental state.

As long as we’re going to compare last year’s team vs. this year’s, I’ll tell you something I liked.  I re-watched the last 5 minutes of both this year’s Temple game and last year’s OT loss to Syracuse and one thing stood out.  We were much more excited this year.  That may sound silly, but the amount of fistpumps and collective bench energy was so much better in the Temple game.  Considering how much time Hoya faithful spent dissecting chemistry during 2009, this has to be a good sign.  I wasn’t even sure Austin Freeman was alive by mid February last year, now he’s Mr. Fistpump.

Speaking of re-watching games, whenever I have a tough day I throw in my DVD from the UNC Georgetown Elite 8 game in 2007.  It takes me back to simpler times, being a junior in college, not working for the man, and not hating Georgetown basketball.  Anyway, there is a simple difference between that team and the current squad, and it’s not that we have more / less athletes, fire, etc.  Plain and simple, UNC respected Sapp and Wallace’s shooting abilities. Defenses don’t have the same respect for Wright, Clark and Freeman.  If defenses sag on our shooters, it won’t allow Greg to maneuver in the middle, and it surely won’t allow any backdoor cuts. 

That’s not to say Greg is getting off that easy.  He has all the passing ability that Chris Webber and Lamar Odom have (not sure about the athleticism).  He also has a personality akin to a gigantic lady part.  Dude, you’re arguably the most talented big man in the nation and you get less press than Cole Aldrich and Luke Harangody.  That’s embarrassing.  Start being physical, start demanding the ball, and stop deferring to Chris Wright because he’s more outspoken than you.  Even he said that this team will only go as far as you take them.  Please start playing like it.  If you’re reading this, you do seem like a legitimately good kid, which makes me proud that you represent Georgetown.  You know who is also, by all accounts, a good guy?  LeBron James.  At some point his male parts dropped, looking forward to that happening for you.

Greg being a good guy brings me to a larger issue with JT III’s recruiting.  When I was in school, I loved that Jeff, Pat, Roy, Tyler and JWall were friendly parts of the community, truly student athletes.  I bragged to any and every one that they showed up to McDonough when we camped out for Final Four tickets, that they volunteered during Georgetown’s inaugural Relay for Life, that I’d see them in the library staying as late as I was, etc.  Monroe, Austin, Hollis and the rest of the team seem to be of the same mold, which is great for current students and the university.  But as an alumnus, I want wins, not feel good crap like that.  I have placed an inordinate amount of pride and competitive spirit into this team winning.  As the lowest man on the totem pole in Corporate America, I need Georgetown to be good at basketball so that I feel like I have some value.  Does this paragraph make any sense?  Probably not.  My initial point was that nice guys don’t tend to correlate with tough basketball players, but then I just realized that is dispelled by Pat and JWall.  I HATE MY LIFE AND WANT TO GO BACK TO GEORGETOWN, LEAVE ME ALONE.

10 quick hit thoughts before I go:

1. I may be in the minority, but I actually think Chris Wright has played pretty good PG so far this year

2. Austin Freeman looks like JT III’s child

3. Count me as someone who doesn’t understand where the idea that Henry Sims is a good athlete comes from

4. I wish we had Vernon Macklin taking Henry Sims’ minutes

5. I think Julian Vaughn is much better at offense, defense and rebounding than Henry Sims is

6. It’s been almost 3 years, why can’t I get over Jeff Green taking 5 shots against Ohio State?

7. Do we have strength and conditioning coaches for the basketball team?  Monroe, Clark and Hollis all look like they haven’t eaten in weeks

8. I know it’s early, and I still think Hollis will be great, but what exactly was the edge he gained by coming to Georgetown last January?  He weighs roughly 120 pounds, got to watch the team completely fall apart, and looks a lot like every other freshman I’ve seen – scared to shoot and a year away from really contributing

9. Why does every single Georgetown student shown on TV look like he just got a wedgie from the cool kids like 5 minutes before?

10. I have a feeling JT III cannot wait until 2009 is over.  Our last game of 2008 was the win at UConn, not much good stuff since, eh?