Recap: Georgetown 56, Villanova 54

Just a numbers dump for now - hopefully some text added later tonight.


Let's run the numbers:

TEMPO-FREE BOX SCORE
 
.            Visitor                         Home      
.            GU                              Villanova 
.            1st Half  2nd Half   Total      1st Half  2nd Half   Total
Pace            33        31        65

Effic.         94.2      76.0      85.5        79.5      85.5      82.4 

eFG%           58.0      47.5      53.3        29.2      45.2      36.7 
TO%            35.3      41.2      38.1        29.4      31.7      30.5 
OR%            33.3      38.5      36.0        47.4      28.6      39.4 
FT Rate        16.0      30.0      22.2        66.7      52.4      60.0 

Assist Rate    57.1      87.5      68.2        57.1      62.5      60.0 
Block Rate     22.2      18.2      20.7         0.0      25.0      10.3 
Steal Rate      8.8      15.8      12.2        23.5      12.7      18.3 

2FG%           76.5      41.7      62.1        38.9      45.5      41.4 
3FG%           12.5      37.5      25.0         0.0      30.0      18.8 
FT%            75.0      83.3      80.0        81.2      72.7      77.8

GU                    Off    Poss           Individ     Def             Individ                
Player                Poss   Used    ORtg   Pts Prod    Poss    DRtg   Pts Allow   Net Pts
Summers, DaJuan        49    15.1    71.5    10.8        47     95.8      9.0       +1.8   
Mescheriakov, Nikita   34     6.0   180.2    10.8        34     84.9      5.8       +5.0   
Monroe, Greg           52     6.7   113.3     7.6        52     82.3      8.6       -0.9   
Wright, Chris          59    16.2    85.4    13.8        58     72.0      8.3       +5.5   
Freeman, Austin        27     4.0    51.1     2.0        25     80.3      4.0       -2.0   
Clark, Jason           43     6.2   107.6     6.6        44     84.7      7.5       -0.8   
Sapp, Jessie           25     5.8    26.2     1.5        27     53.3      2.9       -1.4   
Vaughn, Julian         16     1.2    41.2     0.5        16     65.6      2.1       -1.6   
Sims, Henry            25     3.3    17.7     0.6        27     78.5      4.2       -3.7   
TOTALS                 66    64.4    84.3    54.3        66     79.4     52.4       +1.9    

Villanova             Off    Poss           Individ     Def             Individ             
Player                Poss   Used    ORtg   Pts Prod    Poss    DRtg   Pts Allow   Net Pts
CLARK, Shane           29     1.6    93.3     1.5        31     83.5      5.2       -3.7   
CUNNINGHAM, Dante      62    12.0   103.1    12.4        61     84.4     10.3       +2.1   
REYNOLDS, Scottie      57    18.5    65.8    12.2        58     77.3      9.0       +3.2   
REDDING, Reggie        57     9.0    93.3     8.4        57     79.8      9.1       -0.7   
ANDERSON, Dwayne       45     9.7    80.8     7.9        46     71.9      6.6       +1.3   
PENA, Antonio           3     1.0     0.0     0.0         2     50.0      0.2       -0.2   
FISHER, Corey          40     8.6    55.0     4.8        37     91.7      6.8       -2.0   
STOKES, Corey          37     6.4    96.0     6.1        38     75.5      5.7       +0.4   
TOTALS                 66    66.8    79.5    53.2        66     80.1     52.9       +0.3

HD BOX SCORE

GU vs Villanova
02/28/09 Noon at Wachovia Center (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Final score: GU 56, Villanova 54

GU                      Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
Summers, DaJuan        28:26  + 2  16/45  2- 2  3- 6  3- 3  8/34  1/12  0/47  8/49  2/21  1/17  1/21   3
Mescheriakov, Nikita   21:44  + 5  11/37  3- 3  1- 2  2- 2  5/24  1/10  1/34  2/34  0/15  2/11  1/16   3
Monroe, Greg           31:16  - 2   8/44  4- 8  0- 0  0- 0  8/36  3/14  1/52  1/52  1/23  0/19  4/24   3
Wright, Chris          36:18  +10  13/54  5- 7  0- 3  3- 5 10/43  5/16  1/58  3/59  0/26  0/24  4/31   1
Freeman, Austin        16:10  + 0   2/20  1- 2  0- 1  0- 0  3/19  1/ 7  0/25  2/27  1/10  0/12  2/12   5
Clark, Jason           24:53  + 3   4/38  2- 3  0- 1  0- 0  4/28  3/14  0/44  2/43  0/19  3/13  1/21   2
Sapp, Jessie           16:21  - 5   2/14  1- 2  0- 1  0- 0  3/16  0/ 4  3/27  3/25  0/10  0/12  1/12   0
Vaughn, Julian         09:44  + 2   0/12  0- 2  0- 0  0- 0  2/10  0/ 4  1/16  1/16  1/ 8  1/ 7  0/12   0
Sims, Henry            15:08  - 5   0/16  0- 0  0- 2  0- 0  2/15  1/ 7  1/27  2/25  1/13  0/10  1/16   3
TOTALS                 40:00       56    18-29  4-16  8-10    45 15/22  8/66 26/66  6/29  9/25 20/33  20
.                                        0.621 0.250 0.800       0.682 0.121 0.394 0.207 0.360 0.606    

Villanova               Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
CLARK, Shane           19:34  - 3   2/25  1- 3  0- 1  0- 0  4/21  0/ 6  2/31  1/29  1/13  0/16  0/11   2
CUNNINGHAM, Dante      36:46  + 0  13/53  4- 7  0- 0  5- 6  7/41  0/11  1/61  2/62  2/27  4/29  5/24   2
REYNOLDS, Scottie      34:30  - 4  12/48  1- 4  1- 6  7- 9 10/37  4/11  4/58  6/57  0/26  0/27  1/23   2
REDDING, Reggie        34:29  + 7   8/51  3- 4  0- 0  2- 2  4/38  2/11  1/57  4/57  0/23  3/26  1/20   3
ANDERSON, Dwayne       29:49  - 4   7/35  2- 3  0- 2  3- 4  5/33  1/ 9  2/46  3/45  0/21  3/23  4/21   2
PENA, Antonio          01:48  + 0   0/ 1  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/ 3  0/ 0  0/ 2  1/ 3  0/ 0  0/ 3  0/ 0   2
FISHER, Corey          21:28  + 0   6/32  1- 5  1- 3  1- 2  8/28  0/ 6  0/37  3/40  0/15  1/23  1/11   2
STOKES, Corey          21:36  - 6   6/25  0- 3  1- 4  3- 4  7/24  2/ 6  2/38  1/37  0/20  1/18  2/15   0
TOTALS                 40:00       54    12-29  3-16 21-27    45  9/15 12/66 21/66  3/29 13/33 16/25  15
.                                        0.414 0.188 0.778       0.600 0.182 0.318 0.103 0.394 0.640    

Efficiency: GU 0.848, Villanova 0.818
eFG%: GU 0.533, Villanova 0.367
Substitutions: GU 28, Villanova 36

2-pt Shot Selection:
Dunks: GU 0-0, Villanova 0-1
Layups/Tips: GU 12-19, Villanova 7-14
Jumpers: GU 6-10, Villanova 5-14

Fast break pts: GU 4 (0.083), Villanova 6 (0.182)
Seconds per off. poss: GU 20.1, Villanova 16.2

More on luck

I noticed a discussion of luck and consistency on HoyaTalk tonight, and that thread pointed to an article by John Gasaway on Basketball Prospectus.

Gasaway provides a list of top lucky and unlucky teams, based on winning percentage compared to net efficiency. This is something that I set up to track a while ago, but just have been too busy to get around to posting. Now that I've been scooped, I thought I'd just dump what I've got.

First, to define terms:

• winning percentage is for conference play only, as are all following stats
  
• net efficiency is simply the difference between offensive efficiency (points scored / 100 possessions) and defensive efficiency (points allowed / 100 possessions)
• luck is the difference between actual winning percentage and expected winning percentage, based upon net efficiency

So how do we determine expected winning percentage? Well, there is a fairly strong correlation between net efficiency and actual winning percentage. Here are the actual winning percentage versus net efficiency numbers for the past five seasons (2005-2009) for the Big East:




I've colored the markers for this season (through 2/26) in blue, all previous seasons in red. The horizontal and vertical black lines represent the break-even points, either as net efficiency is zero or winning percentage is 50%.

The diagonal black line is the best linear fit to the data and the dashed blue lines are the 99% prediction bands - there is only a 1 in 100 chance that a team will lie outside of the prediction bands.

Teams that lay above and to the left of the fitted line are "lucky" in the sense that they have a better winning percentage than a team would expect to have based on net efficiency. And teams below and to the right of the fitted lines are unlucky.

The infamous 2006 Notre Dame team has been the unluckiest team in the five years I've run - they ended the year 6-11 (including a loss in the BET), but would have been expected to end up 10-7. Actually their expected won/loss record in the Big East was 9.7-7.3; I'm not a big fan of decimal wins and losses, but I'll use the extra significant digit to distinguish between teams (below).

That same year, the Syracuse Orangemen ran off four improbable wins in a row in the BET, which makes them the luckiest team in the last 5 years.

We can also glean a bit more from the graph:

• While the conference is normally thought of as the Big 5 (UConn, Pitt, Louiville, Marquette and Villanova), the net efficiency rankings indicate that 'Nova may be just a bit behind those other four, and at about the same level as West Virginia.
• It may not be apparant by winning percentage, but the efficiency stats indicate that there is a big jump between the top-12 teams in the conference and the bottom four (Rutgers, USF, St. John's, DePaul).
• While there are some lucky and unlucky teams, this year there are not gross outliers either way - at least not yet.
• It's always important to keep in mind that this analysis is for the conference season as a whole, and doesn't account well for injuries (D. James, J. Dyson, etc.).
  

Note: The actual method used by Ken Pomeroy (and probably John Gasaway) to calculate luck is based on Pythagorean winning percentage. The math is a bit more complicated, but the results are essentially the same as the graph presented above - the only big differences are for extremely good or bad teams, such as DePaul. For the table below, I'll use this more rigorous method.


Here's a table summarizing this year's teams, ranked by luck.

.                 Wins  Losses   Exp Win  Exp Loss   Luck
Cincinnati          8     7        5.6      9.4       2.4
Providence          9     7        7.1      8.9       1.9
St. John's          4    11        2.3     12.7       1.7
Villanova          11     4       10.4      4.6       0.6
South Florida       3    12        2.4     12.6       0.6
Louisville         13     2       12.7      2.3       0.3
Marquette          12     3       11.7      3.3       0.3
Seton Hall          6     9        5.7      9.3       0.3
Connecticut        14     2       14.1      1.9      -0.1
Pittsburgh         12     3       12.6      2.4      -0.6
Notre Dame          7     8        7.7      7.3      -0.7
DePaul              0    15        0.9     14.1      -0.9
Syracuse            8     7        9.1      5.9      -1.1
Georgetown          5    10        6.4      8.6      -1.4
Rutgers             1    14        2.5     12.5      -1.5
West Virginia       8     7       10.4      4.6      -2.4

As Gasaway says, Cincinnati, Providence and St. John's are the luckiest teams so far this season in the Big East, and Georgetown and West Virginia are amongst the unluckiest (for some reason, he left out Rutgers).

Updated conference stats, by half

If there's one thing you can count on around here, it's that we'll pander to special requests.

With prodding from a poster over at HoyaTalk, here's an updated tempo-free box score for conference games only, broken out by half:

.                     Offense                            Defense
.           1st Half  2nd Half   Total         1st Half  2nd Half   Total
Record                            5-10
Pace          31.6      33.3      64.9

Eff.         103.9     104.1     104.1           98.6     114.2     106.8
Eff. Margin    5.3     -10.1      -2.7

eFG%          53.2      50.2      51.7           50.0      53.5      51.8
TO%           23.0      20.5      21.7           23.0      17.6      20.2
OR%           36.7      34.1      35.4           33.8      40.5      37.2
FTA/FGA       24.1      45.8      35.0           24.8      51.0      38.2
FTM/FGA       15.9      32.7      24.3           17.0      34.2      25.8

Assist Rate   56.7      59.0      57.8           53.7      61.7      58.0
Block Rate    13.3       9.7      11.4            8.0       7.3       7.6
Steal Rate    10.8       9.9      10.3           12.7      10.1      11.3

2FG%          50.4      53.2      51.8           47.7      54.5      51.3
3FG%          39.1      29.6      34.4           36.3      34.1      35.2
FT%           66.0      71.4      69.5           68.7      67.1      67.6

Recap: Louisville 76, Georgetown 58

Well, this isn't much fun anymore. If you're looking for a meltdown, head on over to HoyaTalk.

I don't have too much to say about tonight's game, other than it was - statistically - the worst game of the year for the Hoyas. Worse than the Pitt game, where DeJuan Blair did whatever he wanted; worse than the Tennessee game, where Cameron Tatum likely had the game of his life, all in the last 6:00; and even worse than the West Virginia game, where the Mountaineers made sure to squeeze out the largest margin of victory possible.

Now a large reason for this being the worst game of the season is that Louisville was completely unconscious from deep, making 8 of their first 10 3FGA. That's gonna tend to skew Georgetown's defensive numbers. But the Hoyas also played poor offensively, even accounting for the customarily stellar Louisville defense.


All of this comes from the Performance Charts I update weekly (and now updated through tonight's game). If you have a look at the overall performance for the Hoyas this season (reproduced here), its clear that a sea change took place between the UConn and Pitt games.



After the UConn game, KenPom.com rated Georgetown the best team in the country. The Hoyas have been sliding down the ratings / rankings ever since, but that early season run is still skewing the overall computer numbers for the season, along with the expectations for Hoya fans going into each game.

If I look only at the 15 games played in 2009 (Pittsburgh forward), I can recalculate G'town's Pythagorean rating (per KenPom): Georgetown would rank 65th (with a rating = 0.814), just behind Siena (and 2 places ahead of Maryland), well off the NCAA bubble.


There's no cut-and-dry explanation for the free-fall - the defense has been mostly poor since the UConn game, with Georgetown defending better than expected only in the Rutgers and S. Florida games. But, if you'll forgive a fitted line, it looks like the defense has actually been trending worse all season:



For an eight game stretch between the Pitt and first Cincinnati games, the D was mediocre but never horrible. Since, there have been two strong performances (the aforementioned Rutgers and USF games), an average game (2nd game vs. Cinci) and four lousy efforts, including three of the last four. I don't see any common thread to account for the results from game-to-game, but would be happy to hear any suggestions. Pomeroy's analysis suggests all four factors contribute.


Offense, to me, is only slightly less troubling. Here, to my eye, there is a distinct declining trend since either the Maryland romp or soon afterward:



It looks like the offense declined strongly in December and January, and has now plateaued. For the middle part of the season, the offense was the great-unknown from game-to-game, leading to the blow-out win against Syracuse and the blow-out loss against West Virginia. Unfortunately, the defense has recently become even more unpredictable, making each game a crapshoot at best.


If you combine the two fitted lines and apply them to overall performance for this season since the Maryland game, you get this:



Not a pretty picture. If it's any consolation, it appears that the Hoyas may have finally hit bottom. We can only hope.


Well, that's all for tonight. I'll update the stats pages tomorrow.

As for tonight, let's run the numbers:

TEMPO-FREE BOX SCORE
 
.            Home                            Visitor   
.            GU                              Louisville 
.            1st Half  2nd Half   Total      1st Half  2nd Half   Total
Pace            33        34        67

Effic.         93.9      78.6      85.8       124.2     102.0     112.5

eFG%           57.9      32.8      42.2        85.0      45.8      63.6
TO%            27.3      17.5      22.2        27.3      20.4      23.7
OR%            15.4      37.5      29.7        28.6      35.3      33.3
FT Rate        78.9      25.0      45.1        55.0      87.5      72.7

Assist Rate    30.0      40.0      35.0        71.4      70.0      70.8
Block Rate      0.0       5.6       3.1         0.0      12.5       8.6
Steal Rate     21.2      11.7      16.3        18.2      11.7      14.8

2FG%           72.7      37.5      48.6        57.1      44.4      50.0
3FG%           25.0      12.5      18.8       100.0      33.3      66.7
FT%            60.0      75.0      65.2        63.6      61.9      62.5

INDIVIDUAL NET POINTS STATS

GU                    Off    Poss           Individ     Def             Individ             
Player                Poss   Used    ORtg   Pts Prod    Poss    DRtg   Pts Allow   Net Pts
Summers, DaJuan        49     6.5    53.5     3.5        50    113.2     11.3       -7.8
Wright, Chris          61    15.5    71.2    11.0        60    110.2     13.2       -2.2
Mescheriakov, Nikita   27     4.5    71.6     3.2        27    118.9      6.4       -3.2
Monroe, Greg           51    10.7    89.0     9.5        50     95.3      9.5       +0.0
Freeman, Austin        46     5.4   126.1     6.8        47    107.6     10.1       -3.3
Clark, Jason           35     7.6    71.1     5.4        36    105.3      7.6       -2.2
Sapp, Jessie           40     9.1   100.4     9.2        40     87.5      7.0       +2.2
Vaughn, Julian         11     1.8   257.7     4.7        11    156.3      3.4       +1.3
Sims, Henry             6     0.5   200.0     1.0         6    132.2      1.6       -0.6
Wattad, Omar            9     1.0     0.0     0.0         8     76.8      1.2       -1.2
TOTALS                 67    62.7    86.7    54.4        67    106.6     71.4      -17.1    

Louisville            Off    Poss           Individ     Def             Individ             
Player                Poss   Used    ORtg   Pts Prod    Poss    DRtg   Pts Allow   Net Pts
WILLIAMS, Terrence     64    14.4   109.7    15.8        64     76.5      9.8       +6.0
CLARK, Earl            63    17.0   115.2    19.6        62     71.1      8.8      +10.8
SAMUELS, Samardo       42    10.1   106.9    10.8        41     84.8      7.0       +3.8
McGEE, Andre           38     0.8   253.4     2.1        38     70.5      5.4       -3.3
SMITH, Jerry           35     6.2    93.7     5.8        36     81.9      5.9       -0.1
KNOWLES, Preston       31     5.9   116.3     6.9        29    101.2      5.9       +1.0
SOSA, Edgar            29     4.2   109.2     4.6        29    101.3      5.9       -1.2
SCOTT, Will             4     0.0     -       0.0         5    136.0      1.4       -1.4
SWOPSHIRE, Jared        4     1.0     0.0     0.0         5    100.0      1.0       -1.0
GOODE, George           7     1.4    47.6     0.7         8    131.6      2.1       -1.4
JENNINGS, Terrence     18     5.0   141.5     7.0        18     69.6      2.5       +4.5
TOTALS                 67    66.1   110.9    73.3        67     82.9     55.5      +17.8

HD BOX SCORE

Louisville vs GU
02/23/09 7:00 at Verizon Center
Final score: Louisville 76, GU 58

Louisville              Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
WILLIAMS, Terrence     38:36  +14  10/72  3- 7  0- 2  4- 9  9/42  7/19  2/64  2/64  1/35  2/24 10/36   2
CLARK, Earl            36:29  +19  22/72  2- 7  3- 3  9-13 10/42  3/18  4/62  4/63  0/31  1/23  7/35   1
SAMUELS, Samardo       21:39  +12  10/47  4- 5  0- 0  2- 4  5/22  2/11  1/41  4/42  1/18  1/11  3/21   3
McGEE, Andre           21:22  +17   3/45  0- 0  1- 1  0- 0  1/26  2/14  2/38  0/38  0/15  0/13  1/20   4
SMITH, Jerry           22:09  +14   8/40  1- 3  2- 3  0- 0  6/24  0/11  0/36  2/35  0/12  0/11  2/17   0
KNOWLES, Preston       17:15  + 9  10/35  2- 4  2- 3  0- 0  7/20  1/ 6  0/29  0/31  0/22  1/13  0/20   2
SOSA, Edgar            18:38  + 1   6/31  3- 3  0- 0  0- 0  3/18  2/ 6  0/29  2/29  0/20  0/11  0/17   3
SCOTT, Will            02:00  - 1   0/ 5  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/ 2  0/ 2  0/ 5  0/ 4  0/ 1  0/ 0  1/ 1   1
SWOPSHIRE, Jared       03:31  - 1   0/ 4  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/ 2  0/ 1  0/ 5  1/ 4  0/ 4  0/ 1  0/ 2   1
GOODE, George          05:57  - 4   0/ 5  0- 1  0- 0  0- 0  1/ 9  0/ 2  0/ 8  0/ 7  0/ 9  1/ 7  0/ 9   0
JENNINGS, Terrence     12:24  +10   7/24  1- 2  0- 0  5- 6  2/13  0/ 6  1/18  0/18  1/ 8  1/ 6  1/ 7   4
TOTALS                 40:00       76    16-32  8-12 20-32    44 17/24 10/67 16/67  3/35  8/24 26/37  21
.                                        0.500 0.667 0.625       0.708 0.149 0.239 0.086 0.333 0.703    

GU                      Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
Summers, DaJuan        28:21  -20   4/38  1- 4  0- 4  2- 4  8/42  1/13  2/50  0/49  1/18  0/32  4/13   3
Wright, Chris          36:02  -12  12/52  2- 8  1- 4  5- 8 12/47  1/15  0/60  4/61  0/30  1/35  3/23   4
Mescheriakov, Nikita   14:24  -14   5/21  0- 0  1- 1  2- 2  1/12  1/ 5  0/27  3/27  0/15  0/ 9  0/ 8   4
Monroe, Greg           29:52  - 7  10/45  4- 7  0- 0  2- 2  7/32  1/11  2/50  3/51  0/23  1/20  4/18   3
Freeman, Austin        27:02  -20   8/38  4- 5  0- 1  0- 1  6/34  0/ 9  2/47  0/46  0/22  1/27  2/18   3
Clark, Jason           22:37  -10   4/30  1- 3  0- 1  2- 2  4/26  1/ 9  1/36  2/35  0/18  2/18  0/13   2
Sapp, Jessie           25:02  - 3   9/41  2- 5  1- 5  2- 4 10/36  2/12  4/40  0/40  0/21  1/25  1/18   4
Vaughn, Julian         08:37  - 5   4/12  2- 2  0- 0  0- 0  2/16  0/ 3  0/11  0/11  0/ 8  3/13  0/ 6   1
Sims, Henry            03:12  - 3   2/ 4  1- 1  0- 0  0- 0  1/ 4  0/ 1  0/ 6  0/ 6  0/ 1  0/ 2  0/ 0   1
Wattad, Omar           04:51  + 4   0/ 9  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/ 6  0/ 2  0/ 8  1/ 9  0/ 4  0/ 4  0/ 3   0
TOTALS                 40:00       58    17-35  3-16 15-23    51  7/20 11/67 15/67  1/32 11/37 16/24  25
.                                        0.486 0.188 0.652       0.350 0.164 0.224 0.031 0.297 0.667    

Efficiency: Louisville 1.134, GU 0.866
eFG%: Louisville 0.636, GU 0.422
Substitutions: Louisville 32, GU 32

2-pt Shot Selection:
Dunks: Louisville 3-3, GU 4-5
Layups/Tips: Louisville 7-16, GU 8-16
Jumpers: Louisville 6-13, GU 5-14

Fast break pts: Louisville 11 (0.196), GU 4 (0.093)
Seconds per off. poss: Louisville 18.0, GU 17.8

Recap: Marquette 78, Georgetown 72

Sorry for the tardy post - it'll have to be a numbers dump for right now. I'll try to add some commentary tomorrow.

Edited to add:
- Doesn't look like I'll have time to add much, so I'll just round up some links and quotes from the blogosphere. As always, see HoyaTalk and HoyaSaxa for discussions and links from the traditional media.


HoyaHoops
The Hoyas missed shots from close range, failed to collect defensive rebounds, and turned the ball over at critical times. Marquette meanwhile continued their remarkably consistent play and pulled away in the final moments.


Cracked Sidewalks
The game was a see-saw battle through the first 32 minutes. The final 8, Marquette slowly outlasted Georgetown, playing tight defense, nurturing a 2 point lead into a 4 point lead, into a 6 point lead, outscoring GTown 17-10 over the final stretch, not counting an uncontested 3 as time expired and the game decided.

Georgetown sinks to 5-9 in the Big East, their NCAA chances slipping away, despite their schedule, which is the 3rd toughest in the country. One could see them winning the NIT with their talent, unless they go on a serious run in the BET.


Robert Churchwell's Revenge
Greg Monroe is an ultra-talented 6-foot-10 center for whom the Marquette Golden Eagles had no answer today. If the Georgetown Hoyas had wanted to, and if Monroe had been up for it, they could have run the entire second-half offense through him and won this game. He wasn't in foul trouble, the defense was working, and there were plenty of half-court sets, even some transition opportunities, that called for Monroe to forcefully take the ball to the basket and score.

But that doesn't work when all the guy wants to do is pass. It doesn't work when the offense works to get the big man the ball inside only to watch him dish it off at the last minute when the right play would be to shoot a hook shot, or even dunk the ball and scream the roof off the place like a real, monster big man does.

It doesn't work when there's nobody to get in Greg Monroe's ear and shout, "Okay! We get it! You're a great passer! But for God's sake, man! You're 6-foot-10! Freaking SCORE already!"


Yet Another Basketball Blog
I knew it was going to be a long day for Georgetown when a fan shouted “[obsenity] Marquette” during the national anthem. There’s just no good karma coming out of that one.


CasualHoya
We didn't play that poorly today.

If anyone wants to see me jump off the Key Bridge, I suggest you head to Georgetown immediately.


Hire Esherick
If I hear another person talk about how we can get into the Tourney by winning here and doing a backflip there, I am to throw my shoe at them.

Maybe even both shoes if the person is funny looking.


Let's run the numbers:

TEMPO-FREE BOX SCORE

.            Home                            Visitor
.            GU                              Marquette
.            1st Half  2nd Half   Total      1st Half  2nd Half   Total
Pace            31        30        62

Effic.        138.9      90.4     114.9       138.9     109.8     124.4

eFG%           64.1      50.0      58.2        70.0      40.0      55.0
TO%            12.6      25.8      19.1        15.8       3.2       9.6
OR%            43.8      15.4      31.0        30.8      42.1      37.5
FT Rate        12.5      30.4      20.0        10.0      50.0      30.0

Assist Rate    47.1      36.4      42.9        50.0      63.6      55.2
Block Rate     11.1      10.0      10.5         9.5       0.0       5.4
Steal Rate      9.5       0.0       4.8         6.3      16.2      11.2

2FG%           47.6      62.5      54.1        66.7      45.0      55.3
3FG%           63.6      14.3      44.4        50.0      20.0      36.4
FT%            75.0      71.4      72.7        66.7      66.7      66.7

INDIVIDUAL NET POINTS STATS

GU                    Off    Poss           Individ     Def             Individ        
Player                Poss   Used    ORtg   Pts Prod    Poss    DRtg   Pts Allow   Net Pts
Summers, DaJuan        48    15.3    66.7    10.2        47    115.0     10.8       -0.6
Wright, Chris          55    12.8   127.5    16.3        56    109.0     12.2       +4.1
Mescheriakov, Nikita   22     2.5    52.8     1.3        24    137.9      6.6       -5.3
Monroe, Greg           56    11.3   145.5    16.5        57    121.6     13.9       +2.6
Freeman, Austin        56     8.1   144.4    11.8        54    117.7     12.7       -1.0
Clark, Jason           22     5.3   130.6     6.9        20    127.5      5.1       +1.8
Sapp, Jessie           47     6.0    84.7     5.1        48    113.2     10.9       -5.8
Vaughn, Julian          7     0.8   200.0     1.5         6    100.0      1.2       +0.3
Sims, Henry             2     0.0     -       0.0         3    133.3      0.8       -0.8
TOTALS                 63    62.1   112.1    69.6        63    117.7     74.2       -4.6

Marquette             Off    Poss           Individ     Def             Individ        
Player                Poss   Used    ORtg   Pts Prod    Poss    DRtg   Pts Allow   Net Pts
JAMES, Dominic         63    10.2    64.7     6.6        63    101.1     12.7       -6.2
BURKE, Dwight          27     2.7   133.5     3.6        26    119.6      6.2       -2.6
MCNEAL, Jerel          63    18.5   115.7    21.4        63    107.6     13.6       +7.9
MATTHEWS, Wesley       61    11.1   157.7    17.5        60    106.1     12.7       +4.7
HAYWARD, Lazar         60    15.7   118.5    18.5        59    112.5     13.3       +5.3
CUBILLAN, David         3     0.0     -       0.0         5    149.3      1.5       -1.5
BUTLER, Jimmy          38     3.4   203.5     6.8        39    114.4      8.9       -2.1
TOTALS                 63    61.5   121.1    74.5        63    109.4     68.9       +5.5

HD BOX SCORE

Marquette vs GU
02/21/09 2:00 at Verizon Center
Final score: Marquette 78, GU 72

Marquette               Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
JAMES, Dominic         40:00  + 6   6/78  2- 7  0- 2  2- 4  9/60  3/27  4/63  2/63  0/37  0/34  1/30   4
BURKE, Dwight          18:09  - 4   2/29  1- 1  0- 0  0- 2  1/23  0/ 9  0/26  0/27  0/17  2/15  2/12   4
MCNEAL, Jerel          40:00  + 6  22/78  7-11  2- 6  2- 4 17/60  7/20  1/63  2/63  0/37  1/34  5/30   3
MATTHEWS, Wesley       38:34  + 9  23/76  4- 8  5- 8  0- 0 16/58  3/19  2/60  0/61  1/37  2/32  1/29   1
HAYWARD, Lazar         36:58  + 6  17/74  4- 7  1- 6  6- 6 13/56  2/22  0/59  2/60  0/34  4/32  7/29   2
CUBILLAN, David        02:49  - 3   0/ 4  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/ 4  0/ 2  0/ 5  0/ 3  0/ 1  0/ 2  0/ 0   0
BUTLER, Jimmy          23:30  +10   8/51  3- 4  0- 0  2- 2  4/39  1/17  0/39  0/38  1/22  1/21  4/20   3
TOTALS                 40:00       78    21-38  8-22 12-18    60 16/29  7/63  6/63  2/37 12/32 20/29  17
.                                        0.553 0.364 0.667       0.552 0.111 0.095 0.054 0.375 0.690

GU                      Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
Summers, DaJuan        30:42  + 2  12/59  3- 7  2- 4  0- 0 11/39  0/18  0/47  5/48  0/26  1/19  3/26   5
Wright, Chris          34:33  - 1  17/66  2- 6  2- 5  7- 7 11/50  4/21  1/56  1/55  0/33  0/28  2/32   1
Mescheriakov, Nikita   15:03  -10   3/23  0- 0  1- 1  0- 0  1/15  1/ 8  0/24  2/22  0/16  0/ 8  0/13   5
Monroe, Greg           35:26  - 4  13/68  6- 9  0- 0  1- 3  9/48  2/20  1/57  0/56  3/33  4/25  4/31   1
Freeman, Austin        34:53  + 5  16/70  5- 5  2- 5  0- 1 10/52  2/20  0/54  2/56  0/30  0/27  5/28   1
Clark, Jason           14:08  - 1   6/25  3- 5  0- 1  0- 0  6/19  1/ 7  0/20  1/22  1/15  2/11  1/10   3
Sapp, Jessie           28:50  -15   3/45  0- 3  1- 2  0- 0  5/44  2/17  1/48  1/47  0/28  2/26  4/25   1
Vaughn, Julian         04:34  - 2   2/ 4  1- 2  0- 0  0- 0  2/ 7  0/ 1  0/ 6  0/ 7  0/ 5  0/ 5  0/ 3   0
Sims, Henry            01:51  - 4   0/ 0  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/ 1  0/ 0  0/ 3  0/ 2  0/ 4  0/ 1  0/ 2   0
TOTALS                 40:00       72    20-37  8-18  8-11    55 12/28  3/63 12/63  4/38  9/29 20/32  17
.                                        0.541 0.444 0.727       0.429 0.048 0.190 0.105 0.310 0.625

Efficiency: Marquette 1.238, GU 1.143
eFG%: Marquette 0.550, GU 0.582
Substitutions: Marquette 18, GU 28

2-pt Shot Selection:
Dunks: Marquette 0-0, GU 3-3
Layups/Tips: Marquette 15-20, GU 11-20
Jumpers: Marquette 6-18, GU 6-14

Fast break pts: Marquette 4 (0.061), GU 4 (0.062)
Seconds per off. poss: Marquette 18.8, GU 19.3

Recap: Georgetown 65, So. Florida 40

It's a new Hoya Prospectus tradition - when Georgetown wins a game, I watch the replay on ESPN360.com and make pithy comments, grouped by TV timeout and aided by tempo-free stats generated from the box score and play-by-play.

Here we go:

1st half - 1st TV timeout [GU 6, USF 0]

• N. Mescheriakov starts over J. Sapp again; it's not clear to my why JTIII is doing this - I'd be interested to hear his rationale after the season is over (or sooner).
• The crowd is sparse - some contrast to Saturday's game in the Carrier Dome.
• Wentzel is pontificating on Georgetown's rebounding woes - only thing is that Georgetown has been rebounding respectfully since the Pitt game. In the 11 games since Pitt, the Hoyas have averaged 50.7% total rebounding.
  
• Georgetown has committed three offensive fouls (only two called) on two moving screens (Mescheriakov [not called] and C. Wright) and a chicken-wing by G. Monroe. I don't mind these if this is a sign of aggressiveness on offense.

1st half - 2nd TV timeout [GU 12, USF 8]

• J. Clark (6'2" with a 6'8" wingspan, we learn) is the 1st sub in, for A. Freeman.
• Mescheriakov's airball 3 is answered by a good 3FG by D. Jones. Ughh.
• The Bulls are missing a bunch of close-in shots; they seem to be rushed, although some credit to the Hoyas defense [USF shot 4/9 on dunks, layups and tip-ins in the half].
  
• Sapp in for Mescheriakov after a 3FG too early in the shot-clock - Wentzel correctly points it out.
• USF Bulls = Dominique Jones [29.0 % Poss. coming in], and a cast of thousands. Meanwhile, D. Summers commits his traditional 2nd foul early in the 1st half. H. Sims should see some extended minutes now.
  

1st half - 3rd TV timeout [GU 17, USF 13]

• Sapp with a nice drive and dish to Wright for 3FG - no chemistry issues here.
• Monroe picks G. Gilchrist clean under the Hoya basket - Monroe is 82nd in the nation in steal rate [3.87%], just below DeJuan Blair [3.94%]. It just reinforces what great hands he has for someone his size - and no, I won't check to see if anyone as tall as Monroe has as high a steal rate.

1st half - 4th TV timeout [GU 31, USF 13]

• Georgetown gets a 10-second call the 1st time USF shows full court pressure.
• Wright drives and dishes to Sapp for 3FG on the break - returning the favor.
• Sapp hits another 3FG on the break; Hoyas up 10. Why is Mescheriakov starting?
• Gilchrist picks up his 3rd PF. In spite of this, he looks impressive for a freshman; I wonder how the Hoyas would have fared if he would have ended up at Georgetown (and yes, I am aware of the baggage that made this impossible).
• Jessie Sapp with 8 points now, for a 16 point lead. The Bulls might want to consider going zone.
• Well, they went zone and Georgetown immediately runs a high-low play to Freeman for 2FG and the foul. Never mind.
  
• USF didn't score during that segment - two turnovers, three missed jumpers, a missed layup and a missed FT.

1st half - Halftime [GU 34, USF 17]

• Clark hits a 3FG - He's quietly shooting a high percentage from outside [9/21 3FG his last 10 games].
• J. Vaughn shot a little early at the end of the half, then compounded the mistake by committing an over-the-back foul trying to get an offensive rebound. Again, an aggressive mistake which is better than a passive one.
• C. Wright ends the half with a J. Rivers (he hit the side of the backboard).
• USF shot 5/16 2FG, 1/6 3FG, 4/10 FT in the half. Ugly.
• GU shot 8/16 2FG, 4/7 3FG, 6/7 FT in the half. Nice.
  

2nd half - 1st TV timeout [GU 41, USF 23]

• Wright opens the half with a drive for 2 FTs - Georgetown's FT rate has dropped off noticeably during the slump [FT Rate = 27.2% in the last 5 games]
  
• Another drive (this time for a layup) by Wright while I type.
• Stan Heath takes a timeout after GU opens the Vesper half 6-0.
• USF misses another couple of FTs trying to complete and-1s. Not a good shooting night for them.
  

2nd half - 2nd TV timeout [GU 46, USF 30]

• Summers finally gets on the board with a 3FG. Could mean less time for Sims this half (he actually came in soon after for Mescheriakov).
  
• Wright leads another successful fast break - I think he's doing this to spite CasualHoya.
• The Hoyas commit 3 consecutive turnovers in a row, as USF closes to 16 points.

2nd half - 3rd TV timeout [GU 53, USF 31]

• Another GU turnover (4 in a row).
• Mescheriakov pulled down a couple of defensive rebounds, sandwiching a missed wide-open 3FG. I wonder if he makes those in practice? - he'd be quite serviceable if he could just make the open 3FG.
• Freeman once again got hung out by getting the ball with about :03 left on the shot clock.
• Another Hoya fast break for a dunk by Summers. And another fast break - layup for Wright. USF won't score in transition all game. CasualHoya is getting punked right now.
  

2nd half - 4th TV timeout [GU 63 , USF 38]

• Having run the numbers, I know that USF won't make a 3FG this half (0/6), and only shot 5/13 on FT, which takes away all of the tension of watching this game. Yeah, normally I'd still be nervous watching Georgetown up 20+ with 7 minutes left - so what.
  
• Another fast break for G'town - just in case CasualHoya is still reading.
• Clark runs a nice backdoor cut with a pass from J. Vaughn, as garbage time has begun.
  
• D. Jones just led a fast break and finished by hitting the underside of the basket. Ughh again.
• Each team will score one layup the rest of the way (I peeked at the play-by-play).

2nd half - Final [GU 65 , USF 40]

• With the big lead in the 2nd half, Georgetown didn't shoot any 2-pt jumpers which shows excellent discipline.
• Sapp had the opportunity to shoot a 3FG with about :20 left and the shot clock off, but chooses to run out the clock instead. It's subtle, but that tells me he's not frustrated with his offense anymore. Good sign.
• Ballgame.

Great shooting night for Georgetown, terrible shooting night for South Florida. The Hoyas got careless with the basketball in the 2nd half, once the game's outcome was clear.

Player of the game is Chris Wright.


Let's run the numbers:

TEMPO-FREE BOX SCORE

.            Visitor                         Home     
.            GU                              USF
.            1st Half  2nd Half   Total      1st Half  2nd Half   Total
Pace            30        32        62

Effic.        111.8      94.9     103.3        55.9      70.4      63.5

eFG%           60.9      70.0      65.1        29.5      36.0      33.0
TO%            19.7      39.8      30.2        19.7      21.4      20.7
OR%             8.3      44.4      23.8        19.0      28.6      23.8
FT Rate        30.4      25.0      27.9        45.5      52.0      48.9

Assist Rate    66.7      69.2      68.0        33.3     100.0      73.3
Block Rate      6.2       5.3       5.7         6.2       0.0       3.4
Steal Rate     13.2      18.4      15.9         3.3      18.4      11.1

2FG%           50.0      84.6      65.5        31.2      47.4      40.0
3FG%           57.1      28.6      42.9        16.7       0.0       8.3
FT%            85.7      60.0      75.0        40.0      38.5      39.1

INDIVIDUAL NET POINTS STATS

GU                    Off    Poss           Individ     Def             Individ               
Player                Poss   Used    ORtg   Pts Prod    Poss    DRtg   Pts Allow   Net Pts
Summers, DaJuan        39     3.8   180.2     6.9        37     54.6      4.0       +2.8
Mescheriakov, Nikita   36     3.3    18.5     0.6        35     40.2      2.8       -2.2
Monroe, Greg           44    14.0    87.4    12.3        45     39.2      3.5       +8.7
Wright, Chris          47    14.4   126.6    18.2        44     60.6      5.3      +12.9
Freeman, Austin        43     4.6    95.1     4.4        43     66.6      5.7       -1.3
Clark, Jason           24     6.0   111.2     6.6        24     81.3      3.9       +2.7
Sapp, Jessie           28     6.9   138.1     9.5        30     79.6      4.8       +4.7
Vaughn, Julian         18     6.5    50.2     3.3        16     69.4      2.2       +1.0
Sims, Henry            31     0.4   233.3     0.9        31     58.6      3.6       -2.8
TOTALS                 62    59.8   104.6    62.6        61     59.0     36.0      +26.6   

USF                   Off    Poss           Individ     Def             Individ            
Player                Poss   Used    ORtg   Pts Prod    Poss    DRtg   Pts Allow   Net Pts
ESPINOSA, Eladio       15     3.9    43.5     1.7        17    134.6      4.6       -2.9
RIVAS, Alex            39     7.4    76.1     5.6        39     74.8      5.8       -0.2
HOWARD, Chris          57    10.6    64.7     6.8        60     99.0     11.9       -5.0
JONES, Dominique       57    16.7    69.4    11.6        59    101.3     12.0       -0.4
VERDEJO, Jesus         47     7.2    10.7     0.8        45    102.0      9.2       -8.4
BELARDO, Gaby           8     0.3   200.0     0.6         8     77.0      1.2       -0.6
DANIELS, B.J            5     3.0     0.0     0.0         6    133.3      1.6       -1.6
LEEMOW, Justin         15     0.0     -       0.0        17    105.0      3.6       -3.6
KARDOK, Ryan            3     0.5   200.0     1.0         2    100.0      0.4       +0.6
GILCHRIST, Augustus    39    11.2    81.6     9.1        37    113.2      8.4       +0.7
WILLIAMS, Aris         20     0.0     -       0.0        20    102.6      4.1       -4.1
TOTALS                 61    60.8    61.3    37.3        62    101.1     62.7      -25.5

HD BOX SCORE

GU vs USF
2/18/09 7 p.m. at The Sun Dome - Tampa, Fla.
Final score: GU 65, USF 40

GU                      Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
Summers, DaJuan        24:12  +14   8/41  1- 2  2- 4  0- 0  6/27  3/14  3/37  0/39  0/21  0/12  3/26   2
Mescheriakov, Nikita   24:22  +14   0/33  0- 0  0- 3  0- 0  3/27  1/14  1/35  0/36  0/22  0/15  5/26   3
Monroe, Greg           27:42  +26  12/53  4- 7  0- 0  4- 4  7/28  2/16  3/45  5/44  0/24  0/11 10/30   3
Wright, Chris          28:59  +31  17/57  5- 7  1- 2  4- 5  9/33  6/15  1/44  4/47  0/24  0/15  3/31   1
Freeman, Austin        28:17  +17   7/43  3- 3  0- 0  1- 3  3/27  1/12  0/43  2/43  0/23  0/15  2/27   1
Clark, Jason           15:57  + 1   9/22  3- 4  1- 1  0- 0  5/21  0/ 6  0/24  2/24  0/15  2/12  2/16   1
Sapp, Jessie           19:33  + 8  10/30  2- 3  2- 3  0- 0  6/19  1/ 7  0/30  3/28  0/19  2/ 8  1/20   3
Vaughn, Julian         12:18  - 1   2/12  1- 3  0- 1  0- 0  4/15  2/ 4  1/16  2/18  1/11  1/10  2/12   3
Sims, Henry            18:40  +15   0/34  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/18  1/12  1/31  0/31  1/16  0/ 7  3/22   1
TOTALS                 40:00       65    19-29  6-14  9-12    43 17/25 10/61 19/62  2/35  5/21 32/42  18
.                                        0.655 0.429 0.750       0.680 0.164 0.306 0.057 0.238 0.762   

USF                     Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
ESPINOSA, Eladio       11:47  -14   2/ 9  1- 2  0- 0  0- 0  2/13  0/ 2  0/17  2/15  0/ 5  1/12  0/ 4   2
RIVAS, Alex            24:09  -14   9/22  4- 5  0- 0  1- 5  5/31  0/ 5  3/39  1/39  1/19  1/28  5/12   1
HOWARD, Chris          37:36  -25   6/38  0- 3  0- 1  6- 8  4/46  4/14  2/60  3/57  0/27  1/42  3/19   2
JONES, Dominique       37:07  -25  12/36  4-11  1- 5  1- 5 16/46  4/ 9  1/59  2/57  0/27  2/42  2/19   2
VERDEJO, Jesus         29:44  -12   0/32  0- 3  0- 4  0- 1  7/36  2/12  0/45  0/47  0/20  0/33  0/13   0
BELARDO, Gaby          05:43  - 1   0/ 6  0- 1  0- 0  0- 0  1/ 7  0/ 2  0/ 8  0/ 8  0/ 3  1/ 5  1/ 4   0
DANIELS, B.J           03:28  - 6   0/ 2  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/ 1  0/ 1  0/ 6  3/ 5  0/ 5  0/ 0  0/ 4   1
LEEMOW, Justin         11:03  - 4   0/13  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/13  0/ 5  0/17  0/15  0/10  0/10  2/ 9   1
KARDOK, Ryan           02:06  + 0   0/ 2  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/ 1  1/ 1  0/ 2  0/ 3  0/ 2  0/ 0  0/ 2   0
GILCHRIST, Augustus    23:36  -13  11/28  5-10  0- 2  1- 4 12/27  0/ 5  0/37  2/39  0/17  2/25  1/12   3
WILLIAMS, Aris         13:41  -11   0/12  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/14  0/ 4  1/20  0/20  0/10  0/13  1/ 7   1
TOTALS                 40:00       40    14-35  1-12  9-23    47 11/15  7/62 13/61  1/29 10/42 16/21  13
.                                        0.400 0.083 0.391       0.733 0.113 0.213 0.034 0.238 0.762   

Efficiency: GU 1.048, USF 0.656
eFG%: GU 0.651, USF 0.330
Substitutions: GU 32, USF 32

2-pt Shot Selection:
Dunks: GU 1-1, USF 2-2
Layups/Tips: GU 17-23, USF 10-22
Jumpers: GU 1-5, USF 2-11

Fast break pts: GU 16 (0.286), USF 0 (0.000)
Seconds per off. poss: GU 19.4, USF 18.9

That's it for tonight. Not a pretty game, but at least it was no Penn State / Illinois clash (Hi! Dan Hanner).


Season stats will get updated tomorrow, hopefully.

Recap: Syracuse 98, Georgetown 94 [OT]

The Hoyas nearly stole one at the buzzer in Syracuse, but ended up losing for the 5th straight time in the frozen hinterlands to the Orangemen. This is the 2nd straight game lost in overtime for Georgetown, but tonight's overtime loss was preceded by a furious 16-point comeback in the last 8 minutes of regulation.

This was also the second straight G'town-Syracuse game in which K. Ongenaet has assaulted D. Summers - tonight with a swinging elbow to the back of the head which lead to Ongenaet's ejection. Is anyone aware of any sort of history between these two? I didn't see any evidence in either game that Summers did anything to provoke the attacks.

With the loss, Georgetown (13-10, 4-8) faces a monumental challenge to make the NCAA tournament, with three of the next four games against KenPom.com top-25 teams.


Let's run the numbers:

TEMPO-FREE BOX SCORE

.            Visitor                         Home    
.            GU                              Syracuse
.            1st Half  2nd Half   Total      1st Half  2nd Half   Total
Pace            31        34        66

Effic.        102.0     137.4     122.4       105.1     144.1     127.6

eFG%           48.4      64.3      57.5        45.0      72.6      59.0
TO%            31.9      13.3      20.8        22.3      13.3      16.9
OR%            61.1      45.0      52.6        50.0      31.2      41.2
FT Rate        19.4      26.2      23.3        23.3      87.1      55.7

Assist Rate    46.2      69.6      61.1        50.0      75.0      65.6
Block Rate      5.3       9.5       7.5        26.3       9.1      17.1
Steal Rate      6.4       6.7       6.5         9.6       4.4       6.5

2FG%           47.4      68.2      58.5        47.4      71.4      60.0
3FG%           33.3      40.0      37.5        27.3      50.0      38.1
FT%            33.3      72.7      58.8        85.7      74.1      76.5

It's getting late, so just a few quick thoughts:

• The Orangemen had a block party in the 1st half (more than 1 in 4 G'town 2FGA was blocked), which likely lead to the low 2FG% for the Hoyas in the half.

• Georgetown exploited seams in the 2-3 zone to rack up a ton of offensive rebounds

• The Hoyas' carelessness with the basketball in the first half was a big reason they trailed at the half.
  

• Syracuse came into the game 3rd best in the country at defensive FT Rate (3rd fewest FTA/FGA), and lived up to that billing.

• In any game that goes to overtime, it's easy to look at FT shooting as the difference between a win and a loss, but Syracuse shot well above their season average (63.8%), while Georgetown shot well below their season average (72.1%).
  

INDIVIDUAL NET POINTS STATS

GU                    Off    Poss           Individ     Def             Individ                
Player                Poss   Used    ORtg   Pts Prod    Poss    DRtg   Pts Allow   Net Pts
Summers, DaJuan        70    13.9   133.1    18.6        71    115.5     16.4       +2.2  
Mescheriakov, Nikita   40     5.0    46.8     2.4        40    120.7      9.7       -7.3  
Monroe, Greg           62    11.9   138.6    16.4        60    105.5     12.7       +3.8  
Wright, Chris          69    12.6   148.9    18.7        70    112.8     15.8       +3.0  
Freeman, Austin        69    11.8   137.2    16.2        68    120.2     16.4       -0.1  
Clark, Jason            9     5.1    42.6     2.2         9    176.2      3.2       -1.0  
Sapp, Jessie           45     7.4   132.3     9.8        45    134.1     12.1       -2.3  
Vaughn, Julian         16     4.4    91.1     4.0        18    150.8      5.4       -1.4  
Sims, Henry            10     4.3    39.3     1.7         9    147.1      2.6       -1.0  
TOTALS                 78    76.4   117.7    90.0        78    120.7     94.2       -4.2    

Syracuse              Off    Poss           Individ     Def             Individ             
Player                Poss   Used    ORtg   Pts Prod    Poss    DRtg   Pts Allow   Net Pts
JACKSON, Rick          54     8.6   121.9    10.4        54    129.8     14.0       -3.6  
HARRIS, Paul           63    12.2   108.6    13.2        63    115.9     14.6       -1.4  
ONUAKU, Arinze         65    15.6   117.3    18.3        65     92.3     12.0       +6.3  
FLYNN, Jonny           73    23.7   123.4    29.2        72    119.4     17.2      +12.1  
DEVENDORF, Eric        75    10.0   132.8    13.3        74    127.6     18.9       -5.6  
RAUTINS, Andy          37     5.2   202.5    10.5        38     95.1      7.2       +3.3  
ONGENAET, Kristof      13     1.1    61.1     0.7        13     88.8      2.3       -1.6  
JOSEPH, Kris           10     0.0     -       0.0        11    184.4      4.1       -4.1  
TOTALS                 78    76.3   125.3    95.7        78    115.7     90.3       +5.4

Georgetown got strong offensive games by the 5 normal starters (N. Mescheriakov started for J. Sapp today, hopefully in a one-time experiment).

Summers, C. Wright and G. Monroe were all positive contributors today, with A. Freeman just missing the cut. Monroe also tied for game-high in plus/minus, despite being on the losing side. Any chance we can clone him in the off-season?

HD BOX SCORE

GU vs Syracuse
2/14/09 12:02 p.m. at Carrier Dome, Syracuse, NY
Final score: Syracuse 98, GU 94

GU                      Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
Summers, DaJuan        40:34  - 2  17/87  3- 7  3-11  2- 2 18/68  4/27  1/71  2/70  0/37  5/35  3/31   3
Mescheriakov, Nikita   23:49  - 7   0/40  0- 0  0- 4  0- 0  4/36  3/17  0/40  2/40  1/23  1/19  0/20   4
Monroe, Greg           33:45  +12  16/82  8- 9  0- 0  0- 1  9/58  2/23  2/60  3/62  0/27  5/27  6/22   4
Wright, Chris          41:31  + 0  25/85  5- 7  5- 8  0- 0 15/67  6/22  1/70  2/69  1/38  0/35  5/32   5
Freeman, Austin        40:04  + 2  19/86  3- 6  3- 6  4- 8 12/64  6/27  1/68  3/69  0/35  1/31  1/29   3
Clark, Jason           04:00  - 9   2/ 6  1- 3  0- 0  0- 0  3/ 8  0/ 2  0/ 9  2/ 9  0/ 3  1/ 5  1/ 1   1
Sapp, Jessie           24:44  + 3   9/62  2- 4  1- 4  2- 2  8/46  1/19  0/45  0/45  0/20  2/24  1/20   2
Vaughn, Julian         11:15  -16   5/12  2- 4  0- 0  1- 2  4/16  0/ 3  0/18  0/16  1/13  1/11  1/12   2
Sims, Henry            05:18  - 3   1/10  0- 1  0- 0  1- 2  1/ 7  0/ 4  0/ 9  2/10  0/ 4  1/ 3  0/ 3   1
TOTALS                 45:00       94    24-41 12-33 10-17    74 22/36  5/78 17/78  3/40 19/38 20/34  25
.                                        0.585 0.364 0.588       0.611 0.064 0.218 0.075 0.500 0.588    

Syracuse                Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
JACKSON, Rick          32:44  + 2  13/71  6- 7  0- 0  1- 3  7/44  2/18  0/54  2/54  2/30  2/22  2/26   2
HARRIS, Paul           35:12  + 4   9/83  2- 7  0- 1  5- 6  8/47  3/25  2/63  2/63  0/28  3/25  2/24   3
ONUAKU, Arinze         39:49  +12  15/82  6-10  0- 0  3- 7 10/56  1/22  2/65  3/65  4/29  7/31  6/30   3
FLYNN, Jonny           41:57  + 9  25/93  5- 9  0- 3 15-16 12/56 13/25  0/72  4/73  1/38  0/31  4/38   1
DEVENDORF, Eric        43:17  - 1  23/93  3- 5  5- 9  2- 2 14/60  1/23  0/74  1/75  0/41  0/34  2/37   1
RAUTINS, Andy          21:59  + 3  13/45  2- 2  3- 7  0- 0  9/30  1/10  1/38  1/37  0/23  1/19  1/23   5
ONGENAET, Kristof      06:58  + 0   0/11  0- 0  0- 1  0- 0  1/10  0/ 3  0/13  0/13  0/10  1/ 7  0/ 9   1
JOSEPH, Kris           03:04  - 9   0/12  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/ 2  0/ 2  0/11  0/10  0/ 6  0/ 1  0/ 3   1
TOTALS                 45:00       98    24-40  8-21 26-34    61 21/32  5/78 14/78  7/41 14/34 19/38  17
.                                        0.600 0.381 0.765       0.656 0.064 0.179 0.171 0.412 0.500    

Efficiency: Syracuse 1.256, GU 1.205
eFG%: Syracuse 0.590, GU 0.568
Substitutions: Syracuse 20, GU 29

2-pt Shot Selection:
Dunks: Syracuse 5-6, GU 1-1
Layups/Tips: Syracuse 10-18, GU 14-21
Jumpers: Syracuse 9-16, GU 9-19

Fast break pts: Syracuse 23 (0.319), GU 13 (0.155)
Seconds per off. poss: Syracuse 16.4, GU 18.3

It's the (2nd half) defense, stupid

Following up on a point made by SFHoya99 over at Hoyatalk . . .


While I'm sure there is much gnashing of teeth in Hoya Nation, there is also quite a bit of casting about for who or what is to blame for the collapse of the team over the last 6 weeks.

One thing that I've noticed is that Georgetown seems to be losing the 2nd half in most games during this stretch. Taking the 12 games played from at UConn (29-Dec) through vs. Cinci (7-Feb), Georgetown has been outscored by their opponent by 41 points in the second half (or 3.4 points/game). In fact, the Hoyas have outscored their opponent by more than 5 points in only one 2nd half during this stretch - versus Providence.

So I thought I would generate a tempo-free box score for these last 12 games, broken out by half:

.                      Offense                            Defense
.           1st Half  2nd Half   Total         1st Half  2nd Half   Total
Pace          31.5      33.3      64.8

Eff.         100.7     104.9     102.9           98.6     115.0     107.1
Eff. Margin    2.1     -10.1      -4.2

eFG%          51.4      50.0      50.7           49.2      54.0      51.7
TO%           23.3      19.4      21.3           23.0      18.9      20.9
OR%           36.9      32.1      34.5           33.2      42.9      38.1
FTA/FGA       20.9      54.5      37.3           22.2      43.1      32.9
FTM/FGA       14.2      38.1      25.8           16.4      30.4      23.5

Assist Rate   60.5      58.6      59.6           55.7      54.3      54.9
Block Rate    13.5      10.4      11.9           9.0       7.8       8.4
Steal Rate    10.9      9.8       10.3           12.5      10.8      11.6

2FG%          49.8      51.9      50.8           47.9      54.5      51.4
3FG%          36.4      30.6      33.7           34.5      35.2      34.8
FT%           67.6      69.8      69.2           73.6      70.5      71.6

What can we learn? Well, it becomes clear that the problem for the Hoyas after halftime is the defense, not the offense. In fact, the offense actually becomes slightly more efficient in the 2nd half, largely through increased trips to the FT line and fewer turnovers.

However, the defense is much, much worse in the second half. The problems span the entire gamut - eFG% is worse (due to worse 2FG shooting defense), fewer turnovers are created, more offensive rebounds are allowed and more FTs are allowed (although that last stat may be due to giving fouls at the end of the game).

Interestingly, teams aren't shooting significantly better from outside or at the FT line in the 2nd half, so there is scant evidence to chalk this up to lucky shooting - opponents are simply getting more opportunities to score, and are making more interior shots. The Hoyas' block and steal rate also drop between halves, again indicating that it is G'town that is performing differently in the second half, rather than just their opponents.


What is especially frustrating as a Hoyas fan is that the team is better than their opponent, on average, in the first half. In fact, Georgetown has gone to the locker room down double-digits only twice during this stretch (-11 vs. Notre Dame & Duke); for whatever reason, Georgetown outscored each in the second half.

Recap: Cincinnati 64, Georgetown 62 [OT]

Another busy weekend for me, so another numbers dump for the Hoyas.

One point I will make is that, once again, Georgetown's defensive evaporated in the 2nd half. This is something that SFHoya99 discussed over at HoyaTalk, and probably is the biggest culprit in what is turning into a lost season.

Joseph Silverman / The Washington Times
Georgetown coach John Thompson III pulled all five of his starters early in Saturday's game against Cincinnati.

Let's run the numbers:

TEMPO-FREE BOX SCORE

.            Home                            Visitor
.            GU                              Cincinnati
.            1st Half  2nd Half   Total      1st Half  2nd Half   Total
Pace            28        29        58

Effic.         92.8      96.0      94.8        74.9     114.7      97.8

eFG%           52.5      43.1      46.9        38.6      68.0      54.3
TO%            25.0      16.0      19.9        25.0      26.7      26.0
OR%            16.7      27.8      23.3        21.4      33.3      27.6
FT Rate        30.0      55.2      44.9        22.7      56.0      40.4

Assist Rate    55.6      63.6      60.0        62.5      71.4      68.2
Block Rate     14.3       6.2      10.0         0.0      10.0       5.9
Steal Rate      7.1      10.7       9.2         7.1       2.7       4.6

2FG%           42.9      40.0      41.2        50.0      50.0      50.0
3FG%           50.0      33.3      40.0        12.5      66.7      41.2
FT%            83.3      68.8      72.7        80.0      64.3      68.4

INDIVIDUAL NET POINTS STATS

GU                    Off    Poss           Individ     Def             Individ             
Player                Poss   Used    ORtg   Pts Prod    Poss    DRtg   Pts Allow   Net Pts
Summers, DaJuan        53    10.4    69.1     7.2        50    106.3     10.6       -3.5
Wright, Chris          56    10.2    95.6     9.8        53     93.8      9.9       -0.2
Monroe, Greg           54    18.2    75.2    13.7        52     60.3      6.3       +7.4
Freeman, Austin        55     9.8    99.6     9.8        52    107.8     11.2       -1.4
Sapp, Jessie           10     1.0     0.0     0.0         9     92.3      1.7       -1.7
Mescheriakov, Nikita   42     2.9   156.6     4.5        39     74.6      5.8       -1.3
Clark, Jason           24     7.6   106.6     8.1        29    121.3      7.0       +1.0
Vaughn, Julian         12     0.9   200.0     1.9        13    142.1      3.7       -1.8
Sims, Henry             9     1.0     0.0     0.0        10    112.5      2.3       -2.3
Wattad, Omar           15     3.1   138.5     4.4        18    101.2      3.6       +0.7
TOTALS                 66    65.2    90.9    59.3        65     95.6     62.2       -2.9    

Cincinnati            Off    Poss           Individ     Def             Individ             
Player                Poss   Used    ORtg   Pts Prod    Poss    DRtg   Pts Allow   Net Pts
VAUGHN, Deonta         63    19.2    98.4    18.9        63     86.7     10.9       +8.0
DAVIS, Larry           46     6.7   109.6     7.4        50     96.1      9.6       -2.2
WILLIAMS, Mike         49    10.5    97.8    10.2        50     95.9      9.6       +0.7
BISHOP, Rashad         40     3.8    44.6     1.7        40     75.2      6.0       -4.3
TOYLOY, Steve          23     3.9    98.1     3.9        27     90.3      4.9       -1.0
DIXON, Dion            30     5.2    50.2     2.6        30    102.9      6.2       -3.6
MITCHELL, Alvin        32     4.0   138.3     5.5        31     85.5      5.3       +0.2
MCCLAIN, Anthony        4     2.0     0.0     0.0         3     66.7      0.4       -0.4
GATES, Yancy           38     8.3   119.5     9.9        36     94.9      6.8       +3.1
TOTALS                 65    63.6    94.5    60.1        66     90.5     59.7       +0.4 

HD BOX SCORE

Cincinnati vs GU
02/07/09 7:00 at Verizon Center
Final score: Cincinnati 64, GU 62

Cincinnati              Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
VAUGHN, Deonta         43:39  + 3  16/64  4- 8  1- 5  5- 5 13/45  6/17  1/63  6/63  0/33  1/27  8/31   2
DAVIS, Larry           32:59  + 1  11/48  1- 2  3- 5  0- 1  7/35  1/13  0/50  0/46  0/24  0/22  1/21   2
WILLIAMS, Mike         33:36  + 0  11/48  4- 7  0- 0  3- 4  7/35  0/13  0/50  2/49  0/28  3/21  4/28   1
BISHOP, Rashad         28:10  + 1   0/35  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/28  4/11  1/40  3/40  0/20  0/18  2/19   2
TOYLOY, Steve          16:23  - 1   4/22  1- 2  0- 0  2- 2  2/14  0/ 7  0/27  1/23  1/17  0/ 6  1/16   2
DIXON, Dion            19:41  -11   2/19  1- 1  0- 3  0- 0  4/21  2/ 6  0/30  3/30  0/15  0/15  1/13   4
MITCHELL, Alvin        21:55  +14   9/42  0- 1  3- 4  0- 0  5/24  2/11  1/31  1/32  0/16  0/13  1/16   2
MCCLAIN, Anthony       02:17  - 2   0/ 0  0- 1  0- 0  0- 0  1/ 2  0/ 0  0/ 3  1/ 4  0/ 2  0/ 2  0/ 2   1
GATES, Yancy           26:20  + 5  11/42  4- 8  0- 0  3- 7  8/31  0/10  0/36  0/38  1/15  2/21  5/14   4
TOTALS                 45:00       64    15-30  7-17 13-19    47 15/22  3/66 17/65  2/34  8/29 23/30  20
.                                        0.500 0.412 0.684       0.682 0.045 0.262 0.059 0.276 0.767    

GU                      Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
Summers, DaJuan        35:18  - 1   7/51  0- 3  2- 4  1- 2  7/42  1/14  0/50  3/53  1/21  2/29  5/17   4
Wright, Chris          36:56  + 0   9/51  2- 5  0- 2  5- 6  7/44  4/14  1/53  2/56  0/21  0/30  3/21   0
Monroe, Greg           35:54  + 4  13/49  4-12  0- 0  5- 8 12/42  2/11  5/52  3/54  1/23  2/29  4/23   2
Freeman, Austin        36:41  - 2  10/52  3- 7  0- 2  4- 4  9/42  1/14  0/52  1/55  0/24  1/27  1/23   1
Sapp, Jessie           06:29  - 4   0/ 4  0- 1  0- 0  0- 0  1/ 6  0/ 2  0/ 9  0/10  0/ 7  0/ 4  1/ 5   0
Mescheriakov, Nikita   26:00  +10   5/36  1- 1  1- 3  0- 0  4/29  2/ 8  0/39  0/42  0/16  1/21  0/19   4
Clark, Jason           19:53  - 9   9/27  3- 4  1- 1  0- 0  5/17  1/ 6  0/29  3/24  0/17  1/ 9  3/15   4
Vaughn, Julian         09:06  - 6   2/13  1- 1  0- 0  0- 0  1/ 7  0/ 4  0/13  0/12  1/ 7  0/ 3  2/ 6   0
Sims, Henry            06:38  - 2   0/ 9  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/ 5  0/ 3  0/10  1/ 9  0/ 5  0/ 2  0/ 6   1
Wattad, Omar           12:05  + 0   7/18  0- 0  2- 3  1- 2  3/11  1/ 4  0/18  0/15  0/ 9  0/ 6  0/10   1
TOTALS                 45:00       62    14-34  6-15 16-22    49 12/20  6/65 13/66  3/30  7/30 21/29  17
.                                        0.412 0.400 0.727       0.600 0.092 0.197 0.100 0.233 0.724    

Efficiency: Cincinnati 0.985, GU 0.939
eFG%: Cincinnati 0.543, GU 0.469
Substitutions: Cincinnati 34, GU 34

2-pt Shot Selection:
Dunks: Cincinnati 0-0, GU 0-0
Layups/Tips: Cincinnati 6-10, GU 12-24
Jumpers: Cincinnati 9-20, GU 2-10

Fast break pts: Cincinnati 2 (0.039), GU 4 (0.087)
Seconds per off. poss: Cincinnati 22.1, GU 19.2

Updating the Big East Aerial

I'm still in the throes of an amazingly hectic schedule, but I thought I'd post some non-recap content to prove I'm still a contributing member of society.

First, some housekeeping:

• Most of the stats on the upper right sidebar are now updated (all except individual net points, which isn't really conveying what I'd like, so I'll let that sit).

• The Big East HD box score project has obviously fallen by the wayside. I'll try to get it rolling again this weekend, but I can't make any promises as I don't know what my schedule will look like more than a couple of days ahead.

• I have promised some additional functionality in my play-by-play parsing program, but that will likely have to wait until the off-season due to my current amount of free time.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

About a month ago I trotted out an aerial for all Big East teams, to take a look at where everyone ranked as the conference schedule got underway. I thought I'd update that graph with stats through yesterday (Feb. 5th) [click on graph to enlarge].

This graph, like most I produce, will take some explanation.

• Adj. offensive and defensive efficiencies come from KenPom.com, and are through games played 5-Feb-09. These are the large circles that are also color coded. The old off. and def. efficiencies (from 31-Dec-08) are the small blue circles.

• The team labels are next to their current marker, while the thin black line connects the label to the previous position. This allows one to judge the change over the last 5 weeks - the Hoyas have taken a precipitous decline in both offense and defense, Marquette had improved its offense while maintaining its defense, West Virginia had fallen off defensively while its offense has shown only a slight decrease.

• A couple of teams have their old positions obscured: Syracuse from 12/31 is under G'town's current spot, and Rutgers from 12/31 is under S. Florida's current spot.
  

• Note that the ordinate axis (defensive efficiency) is scaled backwards, from high to low, so that better defensive teams are at the top of the graph

• I've color-coded the current team markers, from black to yellow, indicating the nominal Pythagorean Rating, using Rating = AOEff^11.5 / (AOEff^11.5 + ADEff^11.5)

• The solid grey line is a sort of 1:1 line, indicating where a team would be equally capable at offense and defense. Teams to the left or above the line are better defensively, while teams below or to the right are better offensively.
  

• The diagonal grey dotted lines are isopleths. Teams that are the approximately same distance from a line (e.g. Marquette and Villanova) should be equally good, although they may do so by different means (here, Marquette by offense, Villanova is equally good on both ends).

An important consideration here is that the isopleths can be a bit deceiving, since the scaling there is not linear - the difference in "goodness" of teams between the two upper right isopleths is much smaller than the difference between the two lower left isopleths. This is a result of the way the Pythagorean rankings are calculated. So, the most improved team over the last 5 weeks is S. Florida, rather than Marquette.

Here's a table for all teams' change in the ratings between 31-Dec and 5-Feb, in Pythagorean change (remember, Pomeroy's ratings scale 0-1):

Team            Rating    Change
South Florida    0.652     0.129
Marquette        0.935     0.030
Providence       0.793     0.007
Seton Hall       0.714     0.003
Villanova        0.941     0.003
Connecticut      0.977     0.002
Louisville       0.957    -0.008
Pittsburgh       0.969    -0.008
West Virginia    0.956    -0.029
Syracuse         0.905    -0.034
Rutgers          0.592    -0.044
St. John's       0.644    -0.054
Georgetown       0.936    -0.055
Notre Dame       0.860    -0.064
Cincinnati       0.798    -0.088
DePaul           0.430    -0.173

From the table, we can see that a number of teams have been holding steady the last 5 weeks (Providence, Louisville, etc.) with only S. Florida and Marquette making strong improvements. A number of teams have declined since December, and Georgetown's huge drop on the graph isn't nearly as severe in real terms (e.g. Notre Dame has declined more). DePaul is serving as a good example of a team where the bottom really has fallen out.

Recap: Georgetown 57, Rutgers 47

Hoyas win! Hoyas win! Hoyas win!

Sorry if that was too obvious, but Georgetown was able to turn the page on a woeful January with a ten-point win at the Verizon Center tonight.

Not to go all Sports Guy (or Ray Floriani) on you, but I'll be writing this recap while watching the replay on ESPN360 - I wasn't able to watch or listen live thanks to a crazy-insane schedule these days. And thanks to SFHoya99 for writing a couple of nice posts here while I struggle to keep up.


Thoughts after first TV timeout [GU 2, RU 2]:
- A. Freeman is drifting on his jump shot.
- C. Wright can get by his man at will, but then what?
- D. Summers is trying too hard (2 fouls).
- Rutgers turns the ball over frequently.

Thoughts after 2nd TV timeout [GU 11, RU 10]:
- Rutgers finds its outside shot [RU 2/5 3FG in the 1st half]
- N. Mescheriakov looks promising, with very good hustle
- A. Freeman creates offense by driving and passing (still misses a 3FG)
- Bob Wentzel tells us that JTIII has installed a precision offense at Georgetown that eschews offensive rebounds for outside shots (G'town was 8th nationally in Off. Reb % [40.2] in 2007). The Hoyas off. rebounding problems are personnel-driven, not scheme-driven.

Thoughts after 3rd TV timeout [GU 19, RU 14]:
- Mescheriakov misses a wide-open 3FG, which he has to take [G'town ended the 1st half 2/9 3FG].
- J. Vaughn commits a "venial sin" of fouling a 3FG shooter. Wentzel +1.
- Vaughn and Mescheriakov seem to play behind their man in the post on defense. Monroe fronts his man.
- Freeman generates more offense by driving then kicking to Clark for a 3FG [Freeman with 3 assists in the 1st half].
- The announcers point out that G'town has 3 freshmen and 2 sophomores on the court. With Summers sitting with 2 fouls, anytime Sapp needs a rest only frosh and sophs are available.
- Dare I say, free Henry Sims [Sims led the team in Net Pts. for the 1st half (+4.0)].

Thoughts after 4th TV timeout [GU 22, RU 16]:
- Georgetown had 3 shots blocked on one possession (2 on Wright, 1 on Sims) - I wonder how many the official scorer will record [three, it turns out].
- Rutgers with more turnovers (11 so far) [RU 38.8% TO Rate in the 1st half].
- Wright with another drive without a plan [Wright had only 1 TO in the 1st half].

Thoughts heading into the half [GU 27, RU 18]:
- Sims with a nice backdoor pass to Freeman, who is called for a charge. Was that the 1st backdoor pass of the game?
- Monroe ended the half with consecutive assists. He ended the half +13 (+/-), leading the Hoyas.
- I'd like to say that Georgetown played a great defensive half, but I think most of the credit comes from Rutgers [RU: 58.1 Off. Eff. in the 1st half].
- Georgetown ended the half with an off. eff. of 87.2 - not very good, but with Rutgers struggles it doesn't have to be.
- 30 possessions for the half, but it felt even slower.


2nd half, thoughts after 1st TV timeout [GU 35, RU 21]:
- J. Sapp bails out the offense with a 3FG with 1 sec left on the shot clock. A quiet 9 points so far for Sapp.
- Rutgers turns the ball over their first two possessions of this half.

2nd half, thoughts after 2nd TV timeout [GU 45, RU 26]:
- Clark and Mescheriakov hit back-to-back 3FGs, causing a Rutgers timeout. Georgetown has now shot 4/5 3FG to start the second half, and pulled ahead by 20. This kind of outside shooting cures many ills.
- This game is starting to put me to sleep.

2nd half, thought after 3rd TV timeout [GU 49, RU 36]:
- M. Rosario has decided to use most possessions now [38% Poss. Used this half].
- The losing streak may have left some scars. The Hoyas are up 49-29 and look depressed. Maybe they're just disinterested. Sparse crowd, too.
- Rosario with a 7-0 run by himself as Georgetown's offensive execution starts to get sloppy.

2nd half, thoughts after 4th TV timeout [GU 56, RU 42]:
- I realized during the break that G'town will score only 8 more points the rest of the way.
- Wright breakaway lay-up - six points left.
- Mescheriakov with a spin in the post - four points left.
- Freeman doesn't drift on a 3FG and it goes in. One point left.

End of the game thoughts [GU 57, RU 47]
- Last Hoya point by Wright at the FT line.
- Game over. Other than some hot outside shooting, the Hoyas looked listless in the 2nd half.
- Rutgers lost this game with tons of turnovers and poor shooting on 2FG (RU was 3/17 on 2FG jumpers).


Let's run the numbers:

TEMPO-FREE BOX SCORE
 
.            Home                            Visitor   
.            GU                              Rutgers 
.            1st Half  2nd Half   Total      1st Half  2nd Half   Total
Pace            30        30        61

Effic.         87.2      99.5      93.0        58.1      96.2      76.7

eFG%           37.9      67.5      50.0        36.8      52.0      45.5
TO%            16.2      29.8      22.8        38.8      29.8      34.3
OR%            38.1      16.7      30.3        14.3      35.7      25.0
FT Rate        31.0      30.0      30.6        26.3      12.0      18.2

Assist Rate    70.0      72.7      71.4        33.3      72.7      58.8
Block Rate      0.0       5.9       3.2        20.0       0.0      12.9
Steal Rate     22.6      13.3      17.9         3.2      16.6       9.8

2FG%           40.0      54.5      45.2        28.6      41.2      35.5
3FG%           22.2      55.6      38.9        40.0      50.0      46.2
FT%            55.6      50.0      53.3        80.0     100.0      87.5

INDIVIDUAL NET POINTS STATS

GU                    Off    Poss           Individ     Def             Individ             
Player                Poss   Used    ORtg   Pts Prod    Poss    DRtg   Pts Allow   Net Pts
Summers, DaJuan        25     7.9    59.0     4.7        25     88.0      4.4       +0.3  
Wright, Chris          47     7.6    88.7     6.7        49     75.1      7.4       -0.6  
Monroe, Greg           53    11.7   103.1    12.0        53     43.8      4.6       +7.4  
Freeman, Austin        49     8.0    86.6     6.9        48     74.8      7.2       -0.3  
Sapp, Jessie           33     5.3   130.1     7.0        35     89.9      6.3       +0.7  
Mescheriakov, Nikita   31     8.0    58.6     4.7        31     86.5      5.4       -0.7  
Clark, Jason           30     3.8   123.3     4.7        30     59.1      3.5       +1.1  
Vaughn, Julian          2     0.0     -       0.0         3    146.7      0.9       -0.9  
Sims, Henry            21     3.7   147.9     5.5        22     83.0      3.7       +1.8  
Wattad, Omar            9     2.0     0.0     0.0         9     34.3      0.6       -0.6  
TOTALS                 60    58.0    89.9    52.1        61     72.0     43.9       +8.2    

Rutgers               Off    Poss           Individ     Def             Individ             
Player                Poss   Used    ORtg   Pts Prod    Poss    DRtg   Pts Allow   Net Pts
Echenique,Gregory      37     4.0    49.1     2.0        37    102.1      7.6       -5.6  
Chandler, Corey        30    10.4     9.2     1.0        28     85.7      4.8       -3.8  
Farmer, Anthony        45     7.5   110.9     8.3        46     86.2      7.9       +0.4  
Rosario, Mike          54    19.3    80.5    15.5        53     92.3      9.8       +5.7  
Ndiaye, Hamady         43     4.8    93.1     4.4        41     83.2      6.8       -2.4  
Pettis,Earl            36     7.4   123.4     9.1        36     76.6      5.5       +3.6  
Inman, J.R             19     2.2    22.0     0.5        18    116.8      4.2       -3.7  
Kuhn, Mike              1     0.0     -       0.0         2      0.0      0.0       +0.0  
Jackson, Patrick        0     0.0     -       0.0         0     95.0      0.0       +0.0  
Coburn, Mike           17     2.6    49.7     1.3        15    104.7      3.1       -1.8  
Griffin, Jaron         23     1.6   116.0     1.9        24     88.0      4.2       -2.3  
TOTALS                 61    59.8    73.5    44.0        60     89.9     54.0      -10.0

HD BOX SCORE

Rutgers vs GU
02/03/09 7:00 at Verizon Center
Final score: GU 57, Rutgers 47

Rutgers                 Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
Echenique,Gregory      24:26  -19   2/19  1- 4  0- 0  0- 0  4/21  0/ 5  0/37  0/37  2/24  0/15  3/25   1
Chandler, Corey        19:27  - 8   0/18  0- 3  0- 0  0- 0  3/17  1/ 6  0/28  8/30  0/15  1/12  2/18   1
Farmer, Anthony        30:18  -11   7/32  2- 6  1- 2  0- 0  8/33  5/ 8  1/46  1/45  0/28  0/22  2/30   1
Rosario, Mike          34:25  -11  20/41  3- 9  4- 8  2- 2 17/40  1/ 8  2/53  5/54  1/29  1/25  2/29   2
Ndiaye, Hamady         28:17  + 4   7/38  2- 2  0- 0  3- 3  2/33  0/12  0/41  3/43  1/18  0/20  5/20   2
Pettis,Earl            23:46  - 3   8/33  3- 4  0- 0  2- 3  4/28  1/ 9  3/36  2/36  0/17  2/17  3/16   3
Inman, J.R             12:03  -11   0/11  0- 2  0- 0  0- 0  2/12  0/ 3  0/18  0/19  0/ 9  1/10  4/ 8   3
Kuhn, Mike             01:04  + 0   0/ 0  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/ 2  0/ 0  0/ 2  0/ 1  0/ 0  0/ 2  0/ 1   0
Jackson, Patrick       00:04  - 1   0/ 0  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/ 0  0/ 0  0/ 0  0/ 0  0/ 0  0/ 0  0/ 0   0
Coburn, Mike           11:00  + 3   0/17  0- 1  0- 0  0- 0  1/12  2/ 7  0/15  2/17  0/ 4  0/ 6  1/ 5   0
Griffin, Jaron         15:10  + 7   3/26  0- 0  1- 3  0- 0  3/22  0/10  0/24  0/23  0/11  0/11  1/13   2
TOTALS                 40:00       47    11-31  6-13  7- 8    44 10/17  6/60 21/61  4/31  7/28 23/33  15
.                                        0.355 0.462 0.875       0.588 0.100 0.344 0.129 0.250 0.697    

GU                      Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
Summers, DaJuan        16:41  - 3   5/22  1- 3  1- 3  0- 0  6/20  1/ 6  1/25  3/25  0/14  1/15  2/10   3
Wright, Chris          31:55  + 8   5/45  2- 7  0- 2  1- 2  9/38  3/14  2/49  1/47  0/27  1/26  0/21   1
Monroe, Greg           34:44  +20  10/53  4- 8  0- 0  2- 5  8/45  6/16  4/53  2/53  0/27  1/29  6/26   0
Freeman, Austin        32:21  + 7   7/45  1- 3  1- 3  2- 2  6/41  3/14  1/48  2/49  0/23  0/28  4/21   2
Sapp, Jessie           21:57  + 1  11/32  2- 3  2- 2  1- 2  5/30  0/ 9  0/35  1/33  0/17  1/19  3/15   1
Mescheriakov, Nikita   20:03  + 1   7/27  2- 2  1- 5  0- 0  7/23  0/ 7  1/31  2/31  0/17  0/14  0/15   5
Clark, Jason           20:22  + 6   6/29  0- 0  2- 3  0- 0  3/22  2/ 9  2/30  2/30  1/17  1/15  2/17   1
Vaughn, Julian         01:52  - 4   0/ 0  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/ 1  0/ 0  0/ 3  0/ 2  0/ 1  0/ 1  0/ 1   2
Sims, Henry            13:58  + 3   6/19  2- 4  0- 0  2- 4  4/17  0/ 4  0/22  0/21  0/ 8  2/13  1/ 8   1
Wattad, Omar           06:07  +11   0/13  0- 1  0- 0  0- 0  1/ 8  0/ 5  0/ 9  1/ 9  0/ 4  0/ 5  0/ 6   0
TOTALS                 40:00       57    14-31  7-18  8-15    49 15/21 11/61 14/60  1/31 10/33 21/28  16
.                                        0.452 0.389 0.533       0.714 0.180 0.233 0.032 0.303 0.750    

Efficiency: GU 0.950, Rutgers 0.770
eFG%: GU 0.500, Rutgers 0.455
Substitutions: GU 27, Rutgers 27

2-pt Shot Selection:
Dunks: GU 0-0, Rutgers 2-2
Layups/Tips: GU 11-21, Rutgers 6-12
Jumpers: GU 3-10, Rutgers 3-17

Fast break pts: GU 2 (0.041), Rutgers 4 (0.100)
Seconds per off. poss: GU 20.3, Rutgers 20.0