2 Overtimes WOW!

We Taking Over Hoyas!

The game went into double overtime. For a moment there I thought - 6 OT's (Syracuse/UConn). Another Big East rough and ruggid game. Another home winning streak at a Big East Arena was shut down. Yes, "THE GAMPEL PAVILION IS CLOSED!!! The UConn Huskies were 5-0 in the Gampel Pavilion. The Huskies have made it known that the Hoyas would not come into their house and win.  Both the Huskies and the Hoyas played stellar defense tonight. But it was the Hoyas who came out on top. The game to me was like a boxing match slug fest. One jumper after another from both teams.

Huskie point guard Shabazz Napier made it known he was looking at this game as a championship game. “We have to try to win as many games as possible,” Napier said. “They’re in first place. It would sit well if we win this game knowing that we can keep moving up in the standing. It’s kind of, I guess, a championship game, in a sense.” Good effort Huskies. Good win Hoyas! Hoyasaxa!

This game was everything I thought it would it be. Some dubbed the game as the "Heart Attack Hoyas" amongst other names. I would dub this game as the "Hoya Thrilla Chilla" haha. I was trying to be calm and cool and for most of the time, I was believe it or not. I love these type of games. Remember the Indiana game earlier this year? That's what this game was like, except the future Big East and National Player of the Year super sophomore sensation forward Otto Porter Jr. wasn't having it this time. He guided his team on the road to a big double overtime 79-78 victory in Storrs, Connecticut. UConn guard had this to say before the game. "We definitely see it as a big game. "They're ranked top 10. They've been playing very well. And everybody thinks that they're going to make a deep run in the tournament, so we definitely see it as a challenge to prove ourselves, once again. Good thought Boatright, but WRONG! We making that run one game at a time right before your eyes and the world dude! Hoyasaxa!

The Hoyas heart, toughness, determination and will win is thing of beauty, and very exciting. "That was a hell of a basketball game right there," Georgetown coach John Thompson III said of his team's10th straight win. "They guys in the other locker room, they could have cashed it in. ... They fought and fought and fought. We had our chances to end it. We didn't. Then we could have cashed it in but we fought and fought and fought."

Coach JTIII, "Coming down at the end, it was, `Let's get a stop and then let's get it to Otto and go."
It's amazing watching these young men learn life's lessons through the game that they love. They've learned how to not give up. They learned how to keep fighting now matter how tough it gets. They learned how to keep calm and stay poised through the storm. All the Hoyas kept the faith and overcame adversity many times this season. This team is destined for greatness. The coaching staff is doing such a tremendous job with the young men. The "sense of urgency" and knowing what time of the year this is on behalf of the Hoyas is what's so awesome.  You could see the UConn fans wanted to storm the court. The Hoyas weren't having it. 

Note: Super no more a freshman, cold blooded killer shooter D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera is just that "cold blooded." I knew this season would be exciting, so in early November went as far as to write a song/rap/poem for the old blue and gray named Click on>"Hoyas Banner Year".

HOYASAXA!

 Both the Huskies and the Hoyas played stellar defense. But it was the Hoyas who came ou

Pre-game Huskie quotes

UConn Huskies are 5-0 in the Gampel Pavillion, but so what! Hopefully, the Hoyas can change that to 
5-1.

“We have to try to win as many games as possible,” Napier said. “They’re in first place. It would sit well if we win this game knowing that we can keep moving up in the standing. It’s kind of, I guess, a championship game, in a sense.”

"These last games are our playoffs," junior Niels Giffey said. "That's the way we're preparing for it."

"… If we rebound, we can get out on the break. But if we're not rebounding, it's going to be a tough game for us."  Rebound and slow them down Hoyas!

"We definitely see it as a big game. …," Boatright said. "They're ranked top 10. They've been playing very well. And everybody thinks that they're going to make a deep run in the tournament, so we definitely see it as a challenge to prove ourselves, once again." THINK we're going make a deep run in the tourney? Are you kidding me Boatright? At least we have a chance to make a deep run, and just for that the Hoyas will make a deep run for the NCAA Championship!!!

“I love Gampel,” junior Shabazz Napier said. “If I had a chance to pick our home games, they would all be at Gampel. The crowd is right on you. It can be devastating for the other team.” Oh yeah Shabazz, well so was the Carrier Dome 35,000 plus, which is offically closed as far as I'm concerned.

“My wrist still hurts me and bothers me a little bit,” Calhoun said. “But I’m still fighting through it.” Well, Calhoun the Hoyas DEFENSE is a tough task to HANDle soooooo...

Ollie wouldn’t tip his hand as to who’d guard Porter, noting only that it’ll be a "group effort".

“Just like our guards,” he pointed out. “They don’t put one guy on Shabazz or one guy on Ryan (Boatright) … Otto’s gonna be a concentrated effort by all five of our guys in the paint, loading up, making sure he’s not on his sweet spots, distorting his catches, and making sure he sees a lot of UConn players and not getting a lot of easy buckets in transition.” This is why Otto has teammates that can finish the task at hand.

UConn thanks for giving us the heads up! Hey, Hoyanation, it's time to raise uppppppp! Hoyasaxa!

Together, We are Georgetown!

Syracuse's 35,012 fans and team crushed and hushed by the Hoyas

AMAZING HOYAS! 

I think I did all my research and writing before the game so here are the end results of my last blog (photo's) 

Great to see Otto join the 33 point club! Who's next lol

WINNERS NEVER QUIT 

Hey, I know this dude (front) everytime I see him at Georgetown I call him the nickname 

Tom Cruise haha

 

Otto with the struggle and strength And 1111! He goes!

Look who's behind Otto ...he's the guy that said his team was better than ours 

 

Hoyas DEFENSE was so good it squoze the Orangemen out of energy

I don't know how many times I've told folks Moses "Vice Grip" Ayegba is the STRONGEST college basketball player right now, you're not getting the ball once he gets it! 

Nate Lubick going up it was good  inside play ran by the Hoyas

Look at him Moses takes EVERYTHING away. I tell him during the summer when I see him sometimes, "that's your paint" Moses. Don't let nobody come in your paint, it's your's"

 

Trawick getting doubled team but smartly found a way to get the pass off

  

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

And 1111111111111111111 4 point play by the super sophomore Porter

This photo says it all for the Syracuse 

Well...but Salute to the coach on the right! 

The Carrier Dome Is Now Closed !!!

Together, We Are Georgetown

HOYASAXA! 

Ways to beat Syracuse bits and pieces

Take Us Higher Hoyas! Let's Go! Beat Syracuse!

How did UConn beat Syracuse?

"We moved the ball against their 2-3 zone." Click here> UConn Beats Syracuse nice article to read and learn from for me.

What Went Right When UConn beat Syracuse

Two keys were enormous for UConn in this game: second half zone offense and defense. UConn's offense was very good against a very good Syracuse zone. UConn has been three-point happy, but only took 14 three point attempts today. Other than Boatright's buzzer beater to end the first half, UConn's long ball attempts were uncontested. Most attempts came from passes from the interior of the zone. When not taking the three pointers, UConn penetrated and passed through the zone for close range buckets. Even on the 18 turnovers, UConn only gave up four fast-break points, where Syracuse's best offense comes

Defensively, UConn really hounded Syracuse all night. Other than two miscommunications leaving James Southerland open, Syracuse was unable to take open shots. Syracuse does not have a dominant scorer and UConn forced them to work for points. In the second half, UConn forced CJ Fair to his right and weak hand; they did not allow Brandon Triche catch and shoot. Only one player for Syracuse shot over 50% and he was only 2/3 (Jerami Grant).

The Hoyas have to take care of the ball in Syracuse.

What Went Wrong for UConn vs. Syracuse

No matter how they happened or how many points were scored off of them, 18 turnovers is far too many. That is 18 shot attempts or free throws (or more) not being attempted. Boatright and Napier had three and four, respectively, and they need to be smarter with the ball.

UConn gave up 18 offensive rebounds to Syracuse. From these, Syracuse was able to attempt 20 more shots than UConn. This will continue to be the Achilles heal for UConn, but it still needs to get better. Olander was out positioned for rebounds constantly through the night. DeAndre Daniels, Niels Giffey and Phil Nolan were strong down low in their minutes.

Decisive Matchup UConn vs. Syracuse

UConn's guards outplayed Syracuse's backcourt. In points, assists, and tempo, UConn's guards won this game. Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatright continue to be a fearsome combo in the backcourt and were simply too fast, too smart, and too pesky for Triche and Carter-Williams. Defensively giving up a ton of height, they were pesky with their hands and really forced the two to work for their 24 combined points. UConn will win this battle against most teams, but against a team that scores easy buckets on open shots and easy passes from Carter-Williams, UConn made life very difficult.

UConn's Boatright talking about what his coach needs for them to do to break Syracuse's 2-3 zone.

"Coach has been preaching all week that we need to get in the middle, split the gaps, get in the gaps and create open shots or get your own shot off," Boatright said. "He said if we just stood around the perimeter and jack-bombed threes, we're going to lose. We took it to heart."

More data on UConn's big win against Syracuse

UConn's successful defensive strategy: Boatright played pressure defense on Michael Carter-Williams, who was averaging 8.5 assists a game, and held him to one assist. "And we did a lot of switching on James Southerland," said Shabazz Napier. "We had all five guys just pay attention to the ball, as well as pay attention to their man." Syracuse shot 35 percent. … UConn had 18 turnovers, seven more than their average, and Syracuse had 21 points off turnovers, and 16 second-chance points off 20 offensive rebounds. UConn offset that with the 8-for-14 shooting on three-pointers.

Just for reference because we play UConn very soon

Kevin Ollie:
“They can ban us from the postseason, they can ban us from the Big East tournament, but they can’t ban us from getting better and loving each other. That’s one thing I can say about this team: they really love being around each other. And it shows.”
"For as big as everyone is hyping this game against Syracuse to be the Hoyas know this is a regular game with true meaning." The Hoyas defense and ability to make smart decisions to know when to attack the 2-3 zone and not turn the ball over will be key." - Glidehoyas

My article I wrote on breaking the 2-3 zone

 Click here>Breaking the 2-3 zone

Together, We Are Georgetown

Hoyasaxa!

Hoyas steam roll the Blue Demons

Take Us Higher Hoyas

Looking ahead, trap game,  blah blah blah I heard it all. The thing about it I wasn't even thinking about those negative things. I guess when you're focused with your eyes on the prize one game at a time, you don't get all caught up in that negatvie thinking/hype. I was like where are these people coming from? I'm not thinking what you're thinking we have to play DePaul, so this is what I'm thinking. This is what the Hoyas did last night in Big East action. The Hoyas came out slow, but quickly picked up steam and routed the Blue Demons behind the hot hand of a no more freshman D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera (33 pts. 3 rebs. 1 asst. and 1 stl.)  most ever points put up by a freshman during Coach Thompson III's era. "What he did tonight, he can do -- he puts the ball in the basket," Georgetown coach John Thompson III said. "As the year has progressed, he's getting a little more comfortable." "Everyone wants to come in right from Day One blazing," Thompson said. "And it's taken him time to get settled in. He's getting comfortable out there with what we're doing." Thompson then turned to Smith-Rivera and asked: "Is that accurate?" "I guess," Smith-Rivera answered with a smile.

I totally agree and I know Hoyanation does too.

Love the way the Hoyas kept the ship churning full steam ahead and didn't look back. This was key. Score 90-66. This game performance definitely is a great sign of maturity especially this time of the year. It' Februarymadness! A preview of what's to come. The race for the Big East crown is as tight as it gets, but have no fear our Hoyas are here. One game at a time is all we're worried about, nothing else.

Hoyas shot 33-52 @63.5% from the field, 9-15 @60% 3's, 15-21 @71.4% free throws. I hope the Hoyas continue to work on their free throws vigorously on their own. Free throws win championships! The Hoyas were outrebounded 33-29, the assist, steals and blocks battle was won by the old blue and gray.

Super sophomore has gotten injured during the game, but should be fine and ready to go on Saturday. "I think he's going to be OK," Thompson said. "He banged knees, and he was sore, and I think it scared him more than anything else. I don't think it's anything big. We were able to get by without putting him back in. If things got tight, I could've put him back in."

Dunks Of The Night! Aaron Bowen! SMASH!

TOGETHER, WE ARE GEORGETOWN

HOYASAXA!

Hoyas are moving "Higher"

The Boss

Both teams started slow, but the Hoyas finished strong! The Hoyas did 62-55.  Both teams struggled to score early. I felt Georgetown had to settle down before the half, and they did.  Cincy's crowd did too. It was another stellar defensive performance by the old blue and gray. The boys stayed poised and prevailed on the road in a very hostile environment. Big rainbow 3 point shot made by point guard Markel Starks (17 pts.) with 5:36 left in the game. He always comes through in the clutch knocking jump shot after jump shot.. Starks has done this all season.

Forward sensation Otto Porter (16 pts.) another stellar performance. In my opinion Otto is the best player in college basketball period. D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera (14 pts. 4 rebs., 2 asst.,) I can't call him a freshman anymore especially this time of the year. He's grown up and still continuing to grow. 

The Hoyas shot 19-25 @ (76%) from the free throw line. Steady all year with this as a a team. Definitely something to keep working on. Free throws made are what dreams are made of. A championship. With a few of the Hoyas in foul trouble, there were no worries for me because I know the Hoyas have each other's back as they've done all along. The Hoyas are in first place in their conference and will not look back. It's about the home stretch. Keep climbing Hoyas! One game at a time.

Keep on taking us "High Hoyas!" 

It's all up for grabs

Together, We Are Georgetown!

Hoyasaxa! 

The Big Payback

I've been a little under the weather, since the Marquette game, so I'm a day behind in  blogging. Anyways, I just want to say what a game it was at the Verizon Center aka "phone booth" on he Hoyas win. Some college basketball writers were focused on revenge factor for the Hoyas, but this was not the case, it was about being focused. They were. Before the game I said "when" not "if" the Hoyas win, I can honestly say it was "payback," as a matter of fact I'll go as far to say it was "The Big Payback!"

 It definitely was a big win for old blue and gray. We've been doing lots winning lately, and it seems we're not looking back. "Don't look back, something might be gaining on you." - Satchel Paige 

The fight and will to win is amazing. The "sense of urgency" is off the charts. I was off the charts, Hoyanation was off the charts. Wow!!! We're seeing something special we'll remember for a lifetime "one game a time." 

One writer, College Basketball Talk's Rob Dauster, said he'd written the Hoyas off, and admitted he was wrong. I really respect Rob for coming back and not only admitting he was wrong, but writing a respectful story about the Hoyas. Thanks Rob!

There so much to say about this game, but I can't say it all, but I can show some of what happened during the game. Moments of the game.

The Legend, my favorite college hoops analyst

ESPN's Jay Bilas

I think Otto wanted to call a tech on Coach Williams, you think? lol 

I definitely wanted a technical foul called on Buzz he was having temper tantrums in front of his parents (wearing yellow front row) After our win his mom turned to me and poked me and said she was going to put some voodoo on me and hurried away ...I told her thank you lol 

Mardi Gras and free Gtown tee shirt time

 It's all about heart

Together, We Are Georgetown!