MUST HAVE DONE SOMETHING RIGHT HOYAS!
RELIENT K
First off, Happy Holidays to you Hoyanation and friends! Ever since our last nonconference road game against Memphis, I have been sitting around thinking about the brillant minds of the Hoyas Coach John Thompson III and his coaching staff on the scheduling of the nonconference games. These games were made to test the Hoyas especially with some of the toughest nonconference games (ODU, Charleston Classic Champs, Missouri, Temple and Memphis) being scheduled on the road with only a loss at Temple that could of been anybody's game. After that loss, the Hoyas refocused on their "Hoya Dream Season" and came out on top.
Sport Illustrated's Luke Winn on Georgetown's nonconference scheduling 10/5/10:
Will Georgetown, this year's No. 1-ranked team (nonconference games), use its schedule as a springboard for a deep NCAA tournament run ... or simply be exposed before it even hits the Big East? Well Luke, I think the Hoyas will use these tough nonconference games as springboard to "WIN" the National Championship. That's just my honest opinion Hoyanation, how about you? Hoya Saxa!
Georgetown could be a contender or toast before Big East play begins - Sports Illustrated's Luke Winn
I'll take CONTENDER Luke Winn!
Bold move by the Hoyas, building a schedule this difficult for their first season without big man Greg Monroe. Greg WHO? lol, no disrespect.
They're the lone potentially ranked, major-conference team with three true road games and a semi-road game. The trips are hardly easy, either -- visits to the best team in the CAA (Old Dominion), the best team in the A-10 (Temple), the best team in the C-USA (Memphis) and a Big 12 contender (Missouri in Kansas City). Georgetown's multi-team event, the Charleston Classic, isn't a blockbuster, but the bracket should set up a meeting with the best team in the Southern Conference (Wofford) and either the second-best CAA team (George Mason) or an improved N.C. State squad. A home game against WAC favorite Utah State completes a slate of non-BCS all-stars, most of them better than the Ohio team the Hoyas were upset by in the first round of last season's NCAA tournament. Well Luke Winn the Hoyas passed the tests!
I wanted to go back and take a few exerpts from previous quotes by Coach Thompson III on the scheduling of nonconference games. Check it out!
ESPN COLLEGE BASKETBALL ANALYST ANDY KATZ'S BLOG 11/21/09:
"I wanted to see who we were,'' JT3 said. "It's not the normal opening stretch. What we didn't do at Tulane is better ourselves. The game against Temple was ugly as both teams played good defense. We had to hold on to win. I wanted to see how this team would handle adversity, grow from these situations and how they'd deal with it. This schedule is by design to give us adversity since that's the way our league works.''
Washingtonpost sports article written by Tarik El-Bashir 11/29/10:
"Most people think I'm crazy," Thompson said with a laugh as he pored over video of Missouri early Monday. "And I might be. Most people don't put together a schedule like I did this year, or even last year. But I felt like this was the best way to prepare this group for Big East play." Coach, if you have the heart to do it, the Hoyas has the heart to accomplish this goal, and they did, so now, on to the Big East.
"In my opinion, you have to look at the personality and composition of your team," Thompson said. "Some years, you have to have a very difficult schedule and some years you don't. But with this group, I think we need a test every night. I want this team to get the mind-set of, 'Hey, we play 30, 40 or however many games this year, but every game is urgent. " I can say, that's some mastermind coaching there by Coach Thompson III and staff, awesome.
"We have the hardest non-conference schedule in the country," Thompson said. "There isn't a game that you can look at and say, 'Okay, we just walk in the door and we'll be fine."
Senior point guard Chris Wright said he and his teammates understand Thompson's reasons for challenging them.
"Last year, a lot of people noticed that when we played against top teams, we showed up," Wright said. "But when we played lesser-level teams, or lesser-name teams, we didn't have enough intensity or energy. So Coach did this for two reasons: to get us tuned up for Big East play and also to make sure we come out prepared and focused for "every" game." There's that coach on the court again, Chris Wright.
The upside is that Thompson will know where his Hoyas stand on Dec. 29, when they open their Big East schedule at Notre Dame.
"By that time," Thompson said, "we'll have a feel for what we need to do. So let's go get tested, see where we stand." They did! Overall, the Hoyas passed the test with flying colors playing the "toughest" nonconference schedule of 2010 of any NCAA Division 1 college basketball team in the USA!
I went to all of the home games and two of the away games ODU and Temple and believe me those two venues were very hostile environments. It felt like March Madness in November I kid you not. Totally crazy. In all the games the Hoyas played they played confident, mature, tearm oriented, poised, intensity, focus and with a sense of urgency in every last one of these games. Of course there were lulls at times, but very few as the Hoyas prevailed in all but one nonconference game which could of went either way (Temple).
The upside is that Thompson will know where his Hoyas stand on Dec. 29, when they open their Big East schedule at Notre Dame.
"Coach John Thompson III, now knows where his teams stands going into Big East play, but he also know it's a new season and is up for the challenge" - Glidehoyas
HOYAS VS. ODU IN NONCONFERENCE ROAD GAME WIN
COACHES JOHN THOMPSON III, COACHES KENYA HUNTER AND MIKE BRENNAN AND THE HOYA GANG
HOYAS WINNERS OF THE 4TH ANNUAL 2010 CHARLESTON CLASSIC
Coach Thompson III on Charleston Classic Champsionship win:
"When league play starts, you have to come prepared every night," Thompson continued. "We're going to play good teams every night and we have to mentally, physically, emotionally be honed in and focused like we were in the second half tonight."
Chris Wright on Charleston Classic Championship win:
"This just shows that any night we can fight adversity," said Wright, selected the tournament's MVP. Sounds like someone has got it all together. It must be nice to have a coach on the floor. After all, the point guard is an extension of the coach on the court. Sounds great Hoyanation and friends, we are very fortunate to have Coach Thompson III and Chris Wright's brains. Kudo's!
THE 2010 JOHN F. MCLENDON CLASSIC IN KANSAS CITY, MO
BASKETBALL LEGEND AND CIVIL RIGHTS PIONEER
According to ESPN, that during the month of November this Georgetown vs. Mizzou game was the favorite game to watch:
Georgetown 111, Missouri 102 (OT) -- We’ve seen a few close games this season, but none have featured two teams this good, or been as full of twists and turns, as Georgetown’s win Tuesday night. The Hoyas built a big lead early, saw it dwindle as Missouri made its run, looked dead in the water with less than a minute to play, tied the game on a Chris Wright 3, went into overtime, and pulled away from Missouri again. It was technically in Kansas City but should count as a big road win for Georgetown, a heartbreaking loss for Missouri, and an incredibly entertaining affair for everyone else.
Best moment: Chris Wright's last-second 3 -- The best moment of the season came in its best game. With 10 seconds left in regulation Tuesday, and Georgetown trailing by three, forward Hollis Thompson launched a 3 that caromed off the rim. In the ensuing scuffle, Missouri guard Kim English made a cardinal mistake. Instead of letting the ball fall out of bounds, English threw it back at the court, where it eventually landed in the undeterred hands of Georgetown guard Chris Wright. With the seconds ticking away, Wright took his wide-open 3 and cashed it, forcing the most unlikely of overtimes and sending his team to an OT win in hostile territory. It was as thrilling as buzzer-beaters get -- as thrilling as we’ll see all season -- and we didn’t even have to wait until March. - Eamonn Brennan (ESPN Hoops Blogger)
COACH JOHN THOMPSON III CALLING OUT SIGNALS IN THE 2010 JOHN F. MCLENDON CLASSIC
SENIOR CHRIS WRIGHT HIT'S BIG BASKET WITH O.4 SECS. TO PROPEL THE HOYAS TO OVERTIME VS. MIZZOU
SENIOR HOYA POINT GUARD CHRIS WRIGHT SHOWING MAD LEADERSHIP AFTER HE KNOCKS DOWN THE BIG THREE POINT TO PUT HIS TEAM INTO OVERTIME AGAINST THE MISSOURI TIGERS
SENIOR JASON CLARK HIT ONE OF HIS TWO THREE POINTERS IN OVERTIME TO SEND THE HOYAS HOME WITH A BIG "WIN" ON THE ROAD AGAINST THE MISSOURI TIGERS
JASON CLARK HIT THE SECOND THREE POINTER IN OVERTIME AS COACH JOHN THOMPSON III LOOKS ON WITH MUCH CONFIDENCE IN HIS DYNAMIC HOYA PLAYER
AMAZING!
GLIDEHOYAS BEFORE UTAH STATE VS. HOYAS AT THE VERIZON CENTER, IN WASHINTON, DC
HOYAS' FRESMAN NATE LUBICK AND JUNIOR HENRY SIMS GOING UP FOR THE REBOUND AGAINST UTAH STATE
SENIOR JULIAN VAUGHN AT THE TIP OFF OF GAME AGAINS THE UTAH STATE BLUE AGGIES
SENIOR CHRIS KNOCKS DOWN THREE POINTER WITH ME KNOWING THE SHOT WAS GOING IN BEFORE BALL WAS RELEASED (GLIDEHOYAS TO THE LEFT IN THE BACKGROUND HANDS UP LOL)
COACH JOHN THOMPSON III ON HOYAS WIN ON THE ROARD AGAINST THE MEMPHIS TIGERS:
“Hopefully, the schedule, and the venues that we’ve played, will help prepare us because it’s going to be like that every night on the road,” Thompson said. “Hopefully, this game (and other non-conference opponents) will help prepare us. Not just because of the opponents, the quality of the opponent and the quality of players we’ve gone against, but also the venues have been extremely difficult. So, we’re used to it.”
Senior Memphis Tiger player Willl Coleman on the Hoyas win:
"It definitely shows a lot maturity to be able to run that Princeton offense,” Coleman said. “It takes a lot of patience, control, concentration. So, you could definitely tell those are some veteran guys that have been playing together for awhile.” Correction Will, "GEORGETOWN OFFENSE" not Princeton offense!
WE ARE GEORGETOWN!
STRONGER HOYAS!
COLISEUM
HOYA SAXA!
Glidehoyas
No comments:
Post a Comment