View from Press Row: The Aftermath of Hoyas Win Over Creighton

Starting lineups:
I suggested in the pregame post that JT3 sit Hopkins in favor of Copeland.  There are a variety of reasons to sit Hopkins and one of them is the fact that both him and Joshua Smith can't get in foul trouble early on if one of them isn't playing.  Well I suppose you can pick up fouls while on the bench but that's more of a Greg Monroe at Cameron situation and very unlikely to happen on the regular.Well right on cue Hopkins promptly picked up two fouls while Smith quickly joined him on the bench.  Hopkins is starting to rack up Nate Lubick like offensive numbers right now.  He's in a funk but there's still time for him to get out of it which is why I'd bring him off the bench.  In 14 minutes today Hopkins didn't attempt a shot, going scoreless for the second consecutive game.  He hasn't taken more than three shots in a game since the Kansas loss but he can still rebound at a high rate and block shots.In Georgetown's last two wins they have been at their best with just one traditional big on the court and in both of those wins they have started just one of Smith or Hopkins in the second half.  Hopkins got the nod today as Smith had three first half fouls.

Subs - JT3 was forced to go 11 deep in the first half as ineffective play and foul troubles forced his hand.  Tre Campbell provided the biggest spark by matching his career high of seven points in ten minutes off the bench.  Campbell then finished off the job by hitting two second half 3-pointers in finishing with career bests of 13 points in 26 minutes.  Only DSR and Trawick played more than Campbell.  As is tradition at Georgetown the media haven't had a chance to speak with the freshman just yet.  Well that ended today and as Ben Standig pointed out to me just a few minutes ago, who would have guessed we'd see Campbell at the podium before Peak, White, or even Copeland. Both Campbell and Copeland earned second half starts for the way the finished the first.

Unselfish - Anytime you can hit 15 of 20 shots in a half, you are playing unselfish team basketball.  To his credit, Hopkins - who I highlighted above as struggling- had two assists in the second half.After the game Creighton coach Greg McDermott was very complimentary of the new look Hoyas.   

McDermott: "I thought Tre Campbell's play towards the end of the first half was really huge."

McDermott also talked about how DSR is still the Hoyas best player but when you have an unselfish guy like that it makes everybody else dangerous.  Oh, and then there's the Joshua Smith Experience that the Bluejays luckily avoided last season.

McDermott on this year's Hoyas: "They have more weapons now and Josh just creates a whole set of problems when he's in the game."As the game ended I was thinking how nice it was for the Hoyas to get a W while DSR had an off night. 

McDermott felt the same way."If you had told me we were going to hold Smith-Rivera to five and Josh was going to be bottled with some foul trouble at the beginning of the game, I would've liked our chances"

Good home win for the Hoyas after a nervy start.  They need to continue the strong play at home when they host Marquette on Tuesday.  If anybody needs me I'll be rummaging through the trash in the lower bowl looking for those White Jordan Brand T shirts with the Pink G logo.