The Casual Awards: St John's is the Arby's of College Basketball Teams

Hey sports fans.  We're back.  While you were secretly rooting for a general election among OLD NEW YORK CITY WHITE GUYS (why hello there, Bernie, Donald, and Mike), we were watching our Hoyas, along with those other 25 people at the Verizon Center, run past the Johnnies and TOTALLY GIVE US A GLIMMER OF HOPE.  Before we turn the page to a revenge game against Providence, we celebrate and vilify those most deserving.  Away we go....

Chris Wright Heart of a Champion Award:

Jabril Trawick, Emeritus

Loveee ain't it.. Feels good to be back!!! #BrillClinton #Hoya4Life #NWF #SHP #YaKnow

A photo posted by Brill Clinton | #P TUS ش (@jt55ive) on Feb 8, 2016 at 8:31pm PST

Brill Clinton made his return to the Verizon Center, and we'd like to think our main man's presence inspired his former teammates to a resounding victory against the Johnnies.

The Randolph and Mortimer Duke Award for Being Back:

Isaac Copeland!

After pouring in 18 points and nine rebounds against Seton Hall, our guy Ike jumped all over St. John's for a career-high 23 points, eight rebounds and three assists.  As important as it was for him to get back on track and contribute meaningful minutes, what really set Monday night's performance apart from previous games was HOW he scored.  Mid-range jumper?  Check.  Wide-open three-pointer?  Check.  Hard drive to the basket?  Check?  Free throws?  Check (he made five of six).  Offensive rebound and putback layup?  Check.  The dude was absolutely everywhere against the Johnnies.

Now, before you get all "yeah, but it was only St. John's" on me, take a chill pill and recall that Ike didn't look this good against several inferior opponents, including Brown and Bryant.  As we all recognize, Georgetown's potential for greatness is rather limited when Cope isn't on his game.  But in the last two outings, Isaac seems to have returned to being the type of player we all knew he'd be.

Keep it up, dude.

The DSR Award for Just Bringing it Every Damn Night Award:

L.J. Peak.

In what is perhaps the most overlooked storyline of conference play, L.J. Peak is bringing it every damn night.  Since the Hoyas' loss to Villanova in early January, Peak has averaged double figures in every single game.  And he's doing all of this while coming off the bench (and not complaining one bit).  During this stretch, Peak has connected on 41 of 73 field goals for a surreal 56%, and that includes hitting 11 of 23 three-point attempts.  In short, he has been en fuego.

As the weeks roll by, Peak has added an effective jump shot to complement his penetration to the rim.  And as teams discover that they need to respect his outside shot, his chances of scoring off the dribble will only improve.  Love the way Peak is playing right now.  So much poise.  And yet still so much room for growth.

The David Wingate Award for Being the Sixth Leading Scorer in Georgetown History:

D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera.

The brand new sixth leading scorer in Georgetown history has been cruising through Big East play.  To say he has been putting this team on his back would be a huge understatement.  We would, quite frankly, be lost without DSR.  Against St. John's, he went off for 33 points in one game and then 24 points in the next.  I mean, the dude has scored in double digits in all but two games ALL SEASON (and we've played 25 games).  His points have gone up at the same time as his assist rate has gone up, so he's pretty much had a hand in like 40% of our total points.

And, oh yeah, he also gets the ball in late-game situations and every damn time we need a bucket.  He should make the first team all-Big East, and to be honest, if the rest of the team were playing better, he'd have a shot at the top prize.  But let's not overlook the type of year he's having in an otherwise dim season for the Hoyas.  DSR FTW.

The Run DPC Award for Scoring 20 Points in the Same Game:

DSR, Peak, and Copeland.

Prior to Monday's game, there had not been a contest in which three Hoyas scored 20 or more points in the same game since 2010 (during that clutch OT win against Missouri).  Against STJ, our sweet trio -- DSR, L.J. and Ike -- complemented each other pretty well en route to over 60+ combined points.  This is quite possibly the first time ALL SEASON that all three guys played well in the same game.  I love it, you love it, America loves it.

Even Chris Mullin loves it!  Look at him smiling in that cute Dub City picture.

The Rannulph Junuh Award for Finding his Shot:

Isaac Copeland.

For those scoring at home, Isaac scored zero points against Maryland Eastern Shore, one point at Creighton, zero points at Xavier, two points at UConn and two points versus Providence.  In other words, he hasn't been very good.

But in his last two games, he has made 14 of 23 field goals, including five of eight from beyond the arc.  In other words, our guy has found his shot.  Much like Matt Damon's character from "The Legend of Bagger Vance" lost his swing, ol' Cope seems to have lost his shot.  But now he FOUND IT, and that's all that matters.  Because when he's playing as well as he should be, this Hoyas team can actually be...really good?

And how did he all of a sudden flip the switch?  I'd imagine that Patrick Ewing Jr. took a page out of Bagger Vance's playbook and said something like this (plagiarized liberally from "Bagger Vance"):

Pat: You wanna quit Mr. [Copeland]? You know you can just go ahead and creep off somewhere I'll tell folk you took sick... Truth be told, ain't nobody gonna really object... In fact, they'd probably be happy as bugs in a bake shop to see you pack up and go home...

Ike: You know I can't quit

Pat: I know... Just makin sure you know it too...See, the trick is... to find your [shot]...

Ike: What'd you say?...

Pat: Well you lost your shot]... We got to go find it... Now it's somewhere... in the harmony... of all that is... All that was... All that will be...

[SwordOfBrunner note:  I'd have gone with Chubbs Peterson / it's all in the hips, bruv]

The Coldplay Halftime Show Award for Being a Complete Disaster:

St John's. Woof.

The 1996 FoxTrax "Glow Puck" Award for Bad In-Game Features for Viewers:

The FS1 Coaches' Live Look-In.

Some of you may recall that Fox promised a revolution in sports broadcasting only to introduce hockey fans to the "glow" puck on TV to make it easier for less sophisticated viewers to track the puck, as well as a comet tail when the puck traveled over a certain speed.  This idea proved to be fairly short-lived, as the blue light on the puck turned out to be a distraction, and the comet tail was just dumb.

Similarly, the cool new live look-in, in which fans are treated to the content of an in-game coaches' huddle during one or more timeouts, is actually a pretty terrible idea.  First, I don't actually want to know what a coach is saying to his team during timeouts.  It takes the fun out of guessing.  Second, the coaches never sound as impressive as you want them to. And third, couldn't this lead to competitive issues?  What's to prevent someone from revealing the content of these live look-ins to opposing coaches?  I WANT MY COACH TO THINK ABOUT COACHING, NOT ABOUT PUTTING ON A SHOW FOR THE CAMERAS.

And if your argument is that coaches KNOW when they are on-air, so these conversations are usually pretty scripted and not-so-revealing after all, then why do we even need to see them?  If they're fake, then this is just a waste of everyone's time.

Nice idea, but not really.  Think of something better, FS1.

[SwordOfBrunner note:  unless Gregg Popovich, America's greatest national treasure decides to coach in the Big East.]

The Tyler Adams Award for Looking Dapper as Hell on the Sidelines:

Paul White.

No East Coast bias here.  My guy Paul is straight-up dapper in his fresh threads and his (Warby Parker?) glasses.  Love his attitude on the bench, and just love his passion.  He looks like a SCHOLAR.  So go ahead and add that to his laundry list of absurd nicknames.

Second place: Pat Ewing the Second.  After a rocky start, his wardrobe has picked up tremendously.  He's now looking pretty smooth out there.  I mean, not as smooth as his behind-the-back 360 dunk, but still way better than before.

The Comrade Hopkins Award for Never Giving Up the Baseline:

Not Bradley Hayes.

Love you, Rutherford, but please stop jumping on defense and please stop giving up the baseline (which happened three times against the Johnnies).  And while we're at it, love your jump hook, but you can offer SO MUCH MORE.  If you're doubled, look for the open man; if they over-pursue, take it strong to the basket.  Everyone knows that the jump hook is coming, so sometimes look for Plan B.

Love your energy and your fire.  But for the love of Jennifer Love Hewitt, you don't need to jump on defense.  You are a seven-foot behemoth of a man.  People fear you.  But when you jump, they have no fear.  They just go under you or try to draw contact.

The Chris Christie Award for Bull-Rushing his Way into the Opposition:

Your Georgetown Hoyas.

Just like Christie did his best "fullback" impersonation when he ran straight into Marco Rubio during the recent New Hampshire debate, so too did your Hoyas plow into St. John's defenders en route to at least five offensive fouls.  No one sets an illegal screen better than our guys.  And no one charges straight into defenders better than this team.  Many people knock our inconsistency.  But let's be honest: when it comes to fouling, we're pretty consistent on both ends of the floor.

Rubio.  Rubio.  Ru-bi-ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhh.

The Animated Intestine / PuppyMonkeyBaby Award for Causing General Confusion:

Tre Campbell.

Tre, buddy, your 21 points against Xavier had us thinking you were going to be draining corner 3s for the rest of time, helping restore DC's dopeness and leading the Georgetown Hoyas to the Big Dance.

Since then, you've scored a total of 10 points in 6 games, including bagels in the last 4, while shooting 1 of 11 from deep.

Hopefully you can get it going down the home stretch here, as we're going to need contributions from everyone if we're going to dig out of this hole.  Now, you may have lost confidence in your shot, so here's some advice from Mrs. Rowengartner:

The Philadelphia Fan Base Award for Rooting for Injuries:

Some of us?

I'm not going to say that I hope Ben Bentil's ankle injury lingers a bit longer.  But I will say that Ben Bentil is the leading scorer in the Big East, that he torched us for a whole lot of points in our first meeting, and that Providence is significantly worse with him out of the lineup or hobbled.  I think it's fair to say that some of us will be following that injury very closely in the days leading up to Saturday.

Also, as usual, some of us will also be rooting for Tom Brady to get hit by a bus.  Not because he's got a big game coming up or anything.  Just because it's Wednesday.

The Syracuse University Award for Self-Imposing a Tourney Ban to Pre-empt NCAA Sanctions:

Louisville.

Nice work, Ricky P!  I mean that sincerely.  With you guys and SMU out of the picture, two more spots have opened up in the Tourney.  Our chances of making the Dance just increased by a few percentage points.  At this rate of attrition, we might be a 2 seed.  Which is good, because being a 2 seed always ends well for us.  [Smacks face into keyboard and stabs self in eye with dull plastic spoon.]

The People vs O.J. Simpson Award For Having the Potential to Turn Out Alright Despite Also Having the Potential to Be Completely Terrible:

The 2015-2016 Georgetown Hoyas.

Look at that dumb face.  Can you believe this man still lands acting work?  Why couldn't you just count your millions in royalties from "Friends" and leave us in peace?

David Schwimmer as Rob Kardashian is the losing at home to Radford of casting decisions.

And that's before we get into the fact that John Travolta looks laminated for Chrissakes.

Yet this O.J. Simpson show on FX is somehow compelling, and could be  really good despite appearing to only have the chance to be good in a Con Air  "holy shit this is so bad it's amazing" kind of way.

The 2015-2016 Georgetown Hoyas have a shot over the next 3 weeks to overcome casting David Schwimmer in a pivotal role to make the Big Dance and turn this season from the movie "Anaconda" to FX's "The People vs. O.J. Simpson".

...and if not, we can always look back and laugh.

Let's go Hoyas.  Beat Providence.