SU Hoops: Big East Finalists?!?
Can anyone explain how we won the game yesterday? I can't piece it together. In the first half, we were getting shredded. Georgetown looked like...
Wow. I just realized what happened. Georgetown pulled a Princeton.
Flashback to the late 90s. I'm watching an NIT game between Princeton and some random mediocre college program. For some reason, I want to say Xavier. Anyway, the Tigers absolutely dominate the first half. They go up by 10 or 15 points in the exact same way Georgetown did yesterday: pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, touch-pass, pass, pass, pass, extra pass, extra pass, wide open look, count-it. The halftime score was something like 30-15. Of course, I'm loving it. We all love to root for that kind of basketball. That's why Pete Carril is in the hall of fame with only one NCAA tournament win. (Actually, I think it's more than that. He's in because he designed a system that worked.) Last night, an average fan who had no allegiances to SU or Georgetown would have rooted for Georgetown in the first half. They were magnificent.
Back to the NIT game. So I'm going nuts because Princeton is dominating. Then the second half starts and it all falls apart. They can't stop Xavier on defense and they can't score on offense. The former is caused by Xavier's superior talent and athleticism finally exerting itself. The latter is caused partially by Xavier finally figuring out what Princeton is doing, and partially by Princeton trying to slow things down. In the end, Princeton lost by around 10.
That's the flaw with the Princeton offense. Once it stops working, it's hard to get it going again. It took SU a little longer last night, but eventually the zone started to close down the middle. And at the end of the game Georgetown hadn't scored a field goal in five minutes. Gerry got hot and we closed the gap. Now we're playing for a back-to-back Conference Tourney title.
And that's the explanation.
Wow. I just realized what happened. Georgetown pulled a Princeton.
Flashback to the late 90s. I'm watching an NIT game between Princeton and some random mediocre college program. For some reason, I want to say Xavier. Anyway, the Tigers absolutely dominate the first half. They go up by 10 or 15 points in the exact same way Georgetown did yesterday: pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, touch-pass, pass, pass, pass, extra pass, extra pass, wide open look, count-it. The halftime score was something like 30-15. Of course, I'm loving it. We all love to root for that kind of basketball. That's why Pete Carril is in the hall of fame with only one NCAA tournament win. (Actually, I think it's more than that. He's in because he designed a system that worked.) Last night, an average fan who had no allegiances to SU or Georgetown would have rooted for Georgetown in the first half. They were magnificent.
Back to the NIT game. So I'm going nuts because Princeton is dominating. Then the second half starts and it all falls apart. They can't stop Xavier on defense and they can't score on offense. The former is caused by Xavier's superior talent and athleticism finally exerting itself. The latter is caused partially by Xavier finally figuring out what Princeton is doing, and partially by Princeton trying to slow things down. In the end, Princeton lost by around 10.
That's the flaw with the Princeton offense. Once it stops working, it's hard to get it going again. It took SU a little longer last night, but eventually the zone started to close down the middle. And at the end of the game Georgetown hadn't scored a field goal in five minutes. Gerry got hot and we closed the gap. Now we're playing for a back-to-back Conference Tourney title.
And that's the explanation.
posted by Prof. A at 3:01 PM
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