The Mourning After: Rapid Reactions

A few Rapid Reactions after Georgetown’s stunning loss to Maryland:

- There still is no PG. If Tre Campbell is a 20 minute a game player, I'm skeptical this season ever gets off the ground.

- Mulmore looks like he might be a league average rotation player? That's fine, but I certainly was hoping for more. The fact that Mosely appears to the best option at lead guard is not great. He's a fine player, but a lead guard is not what he is.

- It's a fine line between blaming coaching malpractice or kids just making mistakes. Is III responsible for a Mulmore travel, Pryor slip, Campbell step-out or awful Peak foul? I don't know, perhaps it is coaching that leads to a culmination of those things. But if any of those turnovers don't occur, the game is over and we move on without much thought.

- If you cut the game off at 38 minutes, there were positives. Isaac Copeland appears to be thinking a lot less and is starting to let his instinct and athleticism guide him. You can see when he's over extended on offense trying to create, things go poorly. When he's an active rebounder, fills lanes, makes hard cuts..good things happen.

- LJ, so long as he's on the floor - is a difference maker. Far and away the best player on the floor in the 2nd half. Why he commits the fouls he does..it's hard to figure out.

- For as much as Kaleb Johnson was talked up this summer..three minutes? There is a logjam falling behind Peak/Pryor/Copeland but you would have thought for a longer look at Kaleb.

- Jessie Govan - he's perhaps gone from my favorite prospect in the program to the most maddening. He still looks the same physically and has the weakest grip on a basketball from someone his size. But the skill level on offense (namely, his touch) is still tantalizing. He put together a strong 2nd half after a dud of a 1H.

- Akoy Agau is active, focal and least has a physical presence on the floor. Seems like a guy you can lean on for 10 minutes a night and not have things fall apart.

- The half court offense was still stale. A good amount of Princeton and nobody to create. Brad Hayes' return will help just for solely having someone to dump the ball into and can get his own shot. There were moments when you saw a high ball screen for Mulmore, or a few for Peak late. An iso on the wing for Pryor. But not enough creativity to engineer good lucks. Of course, part of that problem is who is capable of making a play for someone else?

- The team does want to push. It created a few easy opportunities and a lot of trips to the line. One positive outlook on this game is it's a game they wouldn't have cracked 55 points in during past years.

- They can't stop a good, penetrating guard. When Maryland got desperate it was a spread floor for Trimble and it resulted in the Georgetown defense being a turnstile.

- I'll live with Rodney Pryor's mistakes. He wants to make plays and pushes the offense - it'll be frustrating at times, but I'd rather go down swinging than fumbling the ball around the 3pt line.

- I appreciated the extended look at Marcus Derrickson at the 5 spot even if it went poorly. Apparently he's battling a leg injury and he didn't play defensively. If he can't cover ground on defense, that experiment isn't worth trying. If he can - the added dimension on offense he can provide would really be a boost.

- Finish. Finish defensive possessions. Finish grabbing the ball off the glass. Finish around the rim (10-35 on 2PT attempts is remarkably poor against a team with little size).

- It's hard to come back to anything but not having a point guard who can close out a game like that, or can create for others. Unfortunately that is still a year away. For now, it's finding the best way you can to get Pryor and Peak downhill and getting out in the open floor.

- I was encouraged at how much they were willing to extend the defense, even here against Trimble and Cowan. They'll need the defense to generate points and pace as the year goes on. Finding a path to a successful season while playing in the half court will be difficult.

- It's now already an uphill climb. This was as much of a must-win in the first week of the season as you could have. Oregon on a neutral floor off a loss with their best player back? Lose that and it's a desperate Uconn team ( and maybe twice?) or a well coached, fresh Oklahoma State? In the Carrier Dome? Even LaSalle has the talent to push you on a neutral floor in December. This is difficult now and the cream-puffs that surround the more marquee games won't help if this gets rocky.