View From Press Row: Well, That Sucked

There's nothing quite like that ‘Welcome back to the AP Top 25' that Xavier likes to roll out for your Georgetown Hoyas.  I guess that good news is that we can go a few days without arguing about proper court storming etiquette.  The other good news would be that the game was a 7 PM tip rather than the dreaded 9 PM made for Fox Sports 1 ‘classic'.  The immediate RPI repercussions seem to be a drop of about 10 spots in the RPI - from 13 down to 22.  That might shift a bit more as results keep coming in from around the country. Here are some of my post game observations before I check out of the Verizon Center and try and make a casual last call somewhere.

Four: Trawick, Peak, Bowen, and Copeland were the only Hoyas to make shots in the first half.  It might seem too simple but that's where this game was lost for me.

In one of the worst halves anybody can remember, Georgetown shot 4-of-16 from the field.  You can't hit four shots in a half and expect to beat anyone with a pulse.  And that's not even bringing up the fact that they only attempted 16 shots but I guess that's what happens when you fail to grab even one offensive rebound.  It's crazy to think that Copeland's jumper right near the first half buzzer had people feeling as if a first half deficit of 13 wasn't too bad, all things considered.  I guess I should admit that I was kind of thinking that way too.

Maybe I'm forgetting some other dismal first half performances but for me tonight's 16 point effort on 16 shots felt like one of the worst in the JT3 era.  Off the top of my head the other dumpster fires from an offensive standpoint would include at Boston College in 2005 and the home games in 2012 vs Towson and Tennessee.  Feel free to nominate others as it's entirely possible that I'm intentionally blocking them out.

Too Easy: If only making four shots and scoring 16 points weren't bad enough, Georgetown wasn't exactly making it hard for Xavier to score. The Musketeers scored 11 points off turnovers and held an 8-0 advantage in fast break points.  Talk about doubling down on your mistakes.   Did the Hoyas let errors on one end lead to errors on the other end?  It seemed like it and that just can't happen against teams desperate for a quality road win.  We might be able to chalk some of up to the lineup shifts and what not although JT3 was really against that line of thinking in the post game presser.

Glass half full: In a game where trailing by JUST 10 at home to Xavier in the second half felt like winning the lottery, I think it might be worthwhile to focus on some positives since this team is still pretty good.  Well, here we go.

It looks like L.J. Peak's ankle is going to be OK and even with the sore wheel he had his most efficient outing in weeks.  The freshman forward was instant offense off the bench in scoring 12 points on six shots and he hit multiple 3-pointers for the just the second time all season (Kansas).  In fact Peak had missed 11 straight from deep before hitting his first attempt of the game, finishing 2-of-4.

Now while I missed yesterday's media availability, noted Hoya expert Ben Standig was there on the scene.  Coach John Thompson III keeps things pretty close to the vest but Standig got the vibe that JT3 felt good about where his team is at the moment.  We revisited this thought after the game and even though I don't like to do so, I agreed.  JT3 - while obviously bothered by the loss - wasn't nearly as down as we've seen him in the past and perhaps even some wins.

Trawick just isn't Trawick right now because of the injury so we can most likely look at him matching his career-high of 6 turnovers as a blimp on the radar.  I was seated on the baseline near the Hoyas bench and nobody was more disappointed in what was going on than the senior leader.  In the post game JT3 wouldn't go as far as to say that Trawick was trying too hard but that might have been the case.  Even with those turnovers he still managed a team high six rebounds and matched Bowen with two steals.  He should be feeling better by Saturday's trip to Omaha.

While it's obviously filed under the ‘Too little, too late' category, Georgetown got things going in the second half but between missed foul shots and timely Xavier makes, it just wasn't meant to be for the good guys.  After going scoreless in the first half I really wanted to see D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera try and take over the game.  As the best offensive player on the court, that's what you need to see.  DSR went just 0-of-2 in the first half but followed it up with 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting in the second.  I was hoping for 15 shots but it's ok.  If Georgetown is going to go down, it needs to go down with the preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year swinging.

I wouldn't recommend anyone getting too down about this loss.  Now having a hiccup at Creighton would be another story.  Until next time.