WASHINGTON – It can be easy to forget that Georgetown is a young team, although at this stage of the season their young players have some games under their belt. But from the outset, this team has played more like a veteran team than one would expect a team with 10 freshmen and sophomores, and the bottom line reflects a team that has learned a lot about how to win. It’s a team whose intangibles say a lot about their success.
The Hoyas have balance and are solid at both ends of the floor, and they have bought into the offensive system. In some ways, Saturday’s 71-61 win over St. John’s reflected it very well, because they were up against a defense that forced them to make basketball plays, as head coach John Thompson III noted.
“The way they play their zone, I said going into it you don’t know where your shots are going to come from,” said Thompson. “Our guys have to make basketball plays.”
The Hoyas don’t have a stud who puts up big numbers. Senior Jason Clark averages over 15 points per game, and two others average in double figures, but none of them carry this team. There are a lot of scoring threats, which was clear on Sunday as five players scored in double figures and none scored more than Greg Whittington’s 12 points. They moved the ball around well to get shots and made plays, which is what the idea is with the offense.
While the offense is well-known because of its origins, Thompson’s teams at Georgetown continue to make their living as much on defense. This year’s team is holding opponents below 39 percent shooting from the field and under 28 percent from long range. While it’s easy to see how they have bought into the offense, it’s not as easy to notice at the defensive end, but that is the case with this team.
“One thing we’ve stressed is that if we have times where we’re not scoring on offense, it can’t carry over to the defensive end,” said Thompson.
Nate Lubick was not one of the double-digit scorers on Sunday, but he was at least as valuable as they were with how he filled the stat sheet. The consummate glue guy had seven points on 3-3 shooting, eight rebounds, five assists (no turnovers) and a career-high four blocked shots. In the final four minutes, he had two of those blocks and two key rebounds, one at the offensive end.
“I thought he made hustle plays,” said Thompson. “His effort was very good, and we needed it.”
The Hoyas had 17 assists with just eight turnovers on the day, and that was the beginning of things. Whittington, a freshman, came in and played well on a day where Clark was 4-13 from the field but made a key shot late in the game. There are a lot of players who can make plays for this team, and on any given night if a player or two isn’t having a good night, someone else is capable of playing well in their place.
This is also a team with good poise, which isn’t what one would expect given the youth of the team. The Hoyas were pushed all game long by St. John’s, never leading by double digits until three seconds remained in the game. They led throughout, so they never lost the lead, and in the final minutes they had an answer every time St. John’s had a little momentum.
Georgetown is in a solid position entering the final weeks of the regular season. The Hoyas have fled a little under the radar, but they have several quality wins and no bad losses, although three of their Big East losses came to teams that are not locks for the NCAA Tournament. The only non-conference loss was a close one to Kansas in the Maui Invitational.
None of that sounds like a young team. The Hoyas may be young on paper, but this team’s intangibles are guiding them into a place where they’re as good as many of the veteran teams.
