The Casual Awards: We Shall Overcome

How many of you were somehow talking yourself into a miraculous comeback with three minutes left after Markel Starks cut the lead to 13? “Just two stops and two threes and it’s a game!”

For a while there I was fervently believing that Hollis would go Reggie Miller and get us back in the game.

Yeah, that didn’t happen.

With no disrespect intended, but is Moses Ayegba really expected to be a solid contributor next year? I feel like he got so little burn, even when the other 5s were… well… we’ll just say under-performing, but I’ve heard several references to him being a source of hope next year and I struggle to see why, at least at this point. But what do I know, I thought we had a chance to win a MF’ing postseason game, too.

All in all, excellent write up. Brings nice closure. Like a eulogy.

Might I suggest that comments be closed on the in game thread? It has precisely 666 comments, which seems apropos.

Was pretty wasted by the end (forgot, for instance, that we cut it to 9 or whatever) and made an ass of myself in public with a few other G’town grads at the neighborhood pub. Some thoughts:
1) We get hosed by the referees. I’m sorry, I hate to be that guy, and I realize that we still would have lost by 10, but I really think there is a hatred for G’town from back in the day when Jr. was the coach, and it’s taken out on us now. To have the foul trouble that we have EVERY GAME while we get hacked at nonstop and get no calls is infuriating. Is it possible that every block/strip is clean when they happen to us? Go back and watch a game from this season and see how disproportionate the calls are…it’s unreal.
2) Teams will just not miss from 3 against us. I don’t care if they are open or not, teams just can threes against us with alarming regularity. It’s insane.
3) JTIII is going nowhere until/unless he makes that decision. Not happy about that (not saying he should be fired, but there has to be a fire lit under him) but it is what it is. The school is too invested in the man, the name, etc.
4) We have very little talent, bottom line. We could have had any kid on that VCU team and we probably didn’t recruit any of them. Instead we go after soft kids who don’t do anything well. In all honesy, away from Hollis and his shooting, tell me something that we are good at doing? Horrendous with the ball, can’t shoot, can’t rebound, etc. I think I was delusional early in the year…we just don’t have a lot of talent, bottom line.

I love this team and always will, but to question what is going on is expected and fair, I think. I’m definitely not as pissed off this year vs the Ohio game last year…not sure why that is…year older, realize that it’s not the end of the world, expecting it to happen now? Regardless, it’s been a fun season on this board! I just hope JTIII figures something out because the appeal for this program right now is trending very low…and that’s not something he or the school should want to hear from an alum. Especially one that is/was as rabid as myself.

#rabidabouttheprogramidontactuallyhaverabies

But I knew this was going to happen within 5 minutes of the game starting. Almost like I expected it after watching VCU beat USC. Just sorry Chris, Austin, Julian and Ryan could have gone out on a better note.

I understand your point about clinging to the chemistry excuse – but there has been a godawful vibe that has clung like hooker perfume to this team for the past 3 seasons. These seniors are the biggest thing that links all those teams together.

So if it’s not chemistry, maybe it’s just attitude. I will NOT miss seeing Freeman lounging on the bench with his fucking mouthguard hanging out while the team warms up for the second half. Austin was the team’s most talented player – and too often he disappeared and looked uninterested while doing it. IMO that rubs off on the rest of the team. Great kid, great scorer in short bursts – but I’m very interested to see what this team is like without him.

Oh, and who’s Russ?

what a community. talk to you guys next year

This post is strictly propaganda. Ok I get it – the writers of this blog had to suffer through the Craig Esherick era, and for awhile JTIII represented the only hope Georgetown basketball had going. I am sorry for all of you. Going to college those years must have sucked, but give me a break. JTIII has been here for 7 years. That grace period is long over, and just because he’s a step up from the pathetic era of Georgetown basketball you all had to endure doesn’t mean the class of 2015 and beyond deserves this. Georgetown has a proud basketball tradition. Losing in round 1 of the NCAA tournament is unacceptable. Period. So is not even making the NCAA tournament. In the past 4 years we have lost to a 10 seed, lost in round 1 of the NIT, lost to a 14 seed, and lost to an 11 seed. Also, in each of those seasons we had been ranked top 10 in a national poll at some point. 4 straight top ten teams, 0 postseason victories. That points to 4 straight (4 straight!) collapses. And who does that fall on? Freshman and Sophomore year Wright and Freeman (“Maybe they’re just not winners!”)? No, that absolutely falls on our coach. And maybe you Craig Esherick hoyas prefer a top ten ranking in week 10 and a first round upset to Braswell running the point, but I don’t. As the voice of this blog you dictate the discourse. Dish out some accountability. “Oh hey but in 2007 he made the final four!” Yeah, with 5 NBA talents + Johnathon Wallace. I could have coached that team to a final four. That’s not even hyperbole. And to those of you out there who claim that this year’s team lost due to a lack of talent – that is a joke. Wright and Freeman were McDonald’s all-americans. Freeman has one of the best offensive games in the country (when he touches the ball). If you insist Georgetown has/had no talent then Notre Dame has zero. Syracuse graduated Onuaku, Rautins, and Johnson. Uconn had one player plus freshman. Louisville and Pitt completely lack NBA talent. Granted, some of these teams flamed out just as we did, but they still kicked our ass during the regular season. Next year we only return two starters, but you know what if our coach was Jim Calhoun, Jim Boeheim, Rick Pitino etc. our new recruits would come in and we would be fine. Down seasons don’t exist from those schools – only seasons where they are good and seasons where they exceed expectations. Georgetown has a better basketball tradition than all of those schools. Georgetown is an elite program. Elite programs don’t EXPECT to lose to schools like South Florida in midweek “trap” games. That is so sad, and it speaks to the losing culture currently enveloping our program. The one constant has been our coach. I don’t know if its the systems fault, or he is the worst pre-game/halftime speaker of all-time. Either way, it is time we wake up and acknowledge something that blatantly isn’t working. Georgetown will probably tank again next season, and many of you will cite the 4 seniors who graduated and call to extend the leash. For me, JTIII’s got one more chance, and that is perfectly fair. I hope he proves me wrong.

I think JTIII consistently underachieves compared to all of the coaches in the big east, not just the stalwarts. Think Jamie Dixon, Jay Wight, Mike Brey, Mitch Cronin, Buzz Williams……….

(Pitt at least wins a game every year).

My whole mission here is to start the conversation. Too many people have blind loyalty to JTIII just because of his father. That is stupid, and we don’t have to accept that. JR’s success doesn’t guarantee his son a lifelong career. We don’t owe JTIII THAT much credit for rebuilding this program. He won with Esherick’s recruits for one. Second, this is Georgetown, a storied big east school. Big Man U. We weren’t THAT irrelevant to begin with. That’s like giving Steve Lavin all the credit in the world for rebuilding St. Johns. Come on how hard is it to recruit guys to play in “the world’s most famous arena.” I’m sure the bags of money he had access too didn’t hurt either.

Also, using the Purdue game as a scapegoat is an easy way out. And again, I care about postseason success – not being ranked #11 at some point in January. Blame Jay Wright for last year, but this season they were a bad, talentless team who lost an #8/#9 game on a buzzer beater. Scottie Reynolds, the heart of their team, graduated. What did anyone expect.

being Esherick’s recruits is definitely a valid point and an important one if you base all of JTIII’s staying power off of their accomplishments.

But Georgetown has been the most up and down team in the nation these past four years, and I don’t know how that falls on anyone besides the coach. Even if you want to go out on a limb and justify our 3 very bad NCAA tournament losses (“they shot the lights out,” “Davidson and VCU were actually good,” etc.) our ups and downs during those seasons are still ridiculous. Can you name another team ranked in the top ten at some point four straight years who didn’t win a tourny game? How many teams were ranked in the top ten ever and have failed to win an NIT game. Again, how does that not fall on the coach?

4 YEARS ITS BEEN. 4 YEARS IN A ROW. No coach you named has experienced such dramatic meltdowns in four consecutive years. And I don’t hate JTIII personally at all, but when something doesn’t work you fix it.

I’m saying that yes if we reach the 5 year mark of horrific upsets in a row it will be time to throw his final four laurels out the window and seriously reevaluate.

And we haven’t even gotten to the eye test. I’m not an absolute hater on the offense we run, but when you watch games where we shoot below average we have no chance of winning. Is that OK? We most often throw the ball around the perimeter for 30 seconds then take a crappy three pointer. With only one guy in the paint we have no shot at the rebound. Could Wright just simply not run this offense? Is that our answer? It is definitely something to discuss. Also, the mere fact that we run a Princeton style offense disqualifies us from attracting the majority of elite recruits. Are we OK with (most often) not getting elite recruits? I think we should strive to be better, and a change at the top may be necessary to accomplish this.

should have been a legit contender anyways though. A #2 seed. And i agree Davidson was very good, but the being up by 11 at halftime deal really makes it sting that much more.