What is there to say about tonight? Everything that could have went wrong for Georgetown ended up happening in a soul-crushing demolition by Pittsburgh. The Hoyas came out in front of a capacity crowd, and save for five minutes in the second half, seemed to be the only 13 guys that didn't want to be in the building. Losing 72-57 at home on ESPN is demoralizing enough, but to do so in such a listless way is all the more disappointing. We didn't play offense, we didn't play defense, we didn't rebound, we didn't hit free throws, we just existed. In my six plus years as a Georgetown fan, I have never seen a game this depressing.
Chris Wright scored the most points for Georgetown tonight. Usually in a recap you'd say the leading scorer led the team, but in a game this bad, Chris just scored the most points. Austin Freeman scored 12 points on 5-13 shooting, and Julian Vaughn scored 13 points and grabbed 8 rebounds. The Hoyas shot 5-22 from three point range, 14-25 from the free throw line and had 5 assists in the entire game.
After The Jump, eh whatever.
I was really angry after the Depaul and St. John's games, when I believed that this team was underperforming my expectations of them. Many people are angry right now, I am not one of them. I am just sad. I am sad for Chris Wright, Austin Freeman and Julian Vaughn - three seniors who have worked extremely hard to improve their games in the offseason, and now have their senior year teetering on the brink of irrelevancy. They don't deserve to go out like this. I am sad for John Thompson III, who has brought this program back to relevancy, and has given so many Hoya fans great memories over the past six years. I am sad for Hoya fans, those who were at the stadium tonight trying everything in their power to will the team back into the game, and those in various bars and homes across the country.
That last paragraph felt like an obituary, yet that is how it feels right now. Watching the team play tonight was eerily similar to the way a group of friends get together on the court for the first time in the spring after a long winter. Everything is rusty, no one is individually sharp, and there is no chemistry on the floor. Unfortunately, Georgetown is in the middle of the BIg East season, and these kids have been playing together for years. Someone rightly asked in the gamethread, "When does a game go from season-defining to program-defining?" Right now, we are at a program-defining moment. This is now the third straight year in which Georgetown's on court product has been lacking in effort and consistency.
I can't point the finger at a specific player, class or even coach. All I know is that these next six games before we head to Syracuse to face the enemy up north will have repercussions that last for longer than this season. A few more games like tonight and we will have a hard time keeping underclassmen and current recruits, as well as signing future recruits. We've seen this team play extremely well this year, and hell, it's not inconceivable that they rip off next six games and sit at 7-4 heading up to the Carrier Dome. But right now, it's very hard to envision.
The first five games of this Big East season have been like the five stages of grief. Against Notre Dame, I was in denial. "Oh no, we just had a bad shooting night, we're fine, white people suck." Against Depaul, I was angry. Against St. John's, I was bargaining. "How could we possibly not box out on the last possession?" After the loss to West Virginia, I was depressed. Tonight, I am just accepting. Georgetown is at as low of a point it has been in a long time and it is on those guys in the locker room, from JT3 down to the managers, to dig themselves out. As fans, all we can do is continue to hope, continue to cheer, and continue to document our lunches. I'm choosing to keep believing.