Post by royski on Nov 6, 2007 13:59:17 GMT -5
From Bilas's Insider Blog, excerpt.
Ball friendly Hoyas: I had a chance to watch Georgetown practice last Friday and overall, the Hoyas are without a doubt the most "ball friendly" team I have seen over the past two seasons. Every Hoya is comfortable with the ball in his hands and participates fluidly in every skill development drill. The Hoyas do a good deal of individual skill work in practice that is tailored to John Thompson III's offensive system, and the benefit is evident. The one player that surprised me the most in that regard is sophomore forward Vernon Macklin, who has made marked improvement in his ball skills. (Don't go too far with that … Macklin is not ready to take over at the point, by any means! But his improvement since high school is impressive.)
Georgetown's offense is really fun to watch. The Princeton principles and options, matched with superior and skilled athletes, is just the way Pete Carril envisioned it. Carril wrote a book called "The Smart Take from the Strong". Well, JT III's Hoyas are smart AND strong. Cuts are hard and sharp, and when the offense gets the defense to chase, something good usually follows. I especially like to watch the wing action, where a wing cutter can snap back in the post while the corner man fills behind. That is really hard to guard.
Don't look for any lopsided scores from Georgetown in these goofy exhibition games. JT III doesn't like to play them. Instead, Thompson decided to play closed-door scrimmages against George Mason and Virginia Tech. That allows the coach to worry less about winning the game and more on combinations, defenses and experimentation. The coaches can stop the scrimmage to make a teaching point, and they can also ask the other coach to give them periods of zone or full-court pressure to get some work against it.
Ball friendly Hoyas: I had a chance to watch Georgetown practice last Friday and overall, the Hoyas are without a doubt the most "ball friendly" team I have seen over the past two seasons. Every Hoya is comfortable with the ball in his hands and participates fluidly in every skill development drill. The Hoyas do a good deal of individual skill work in practice that is tailored to John Thompson III's offensive system, and the benefit is evident. The one player that surprised me the most in that regard is sophomore forward Vernon Macklin, who has made marked improvement in his ball skills. (Don't go too far with that … Macklin is not ready to take over at the point, by any means! But his improvement since high school is impressive.)
Georgetown's offense is really fun to watch. The Princeton principles and options, matched with superior and skilled athletes, is just the way Pete Carril envisioned it. Carril wrote a book called "The Smart Take from the Strong". Well, JT III's Hoyas are smart AND strong. Cuts are hard and sharp, and when the offense gets the defense to chase, something good usually follows. I especially like to watch the wing action, where a wing cutter can snap back in the post while the corner man fills behind. That is really hard to guard.
Don't look for any lopsided scores from Georgetown in these goofy exhibition games. JT III doesn't like to play them. Instead, Thompson decided to play closed-door scrimmages against George Mason and Virginia Tech. That allows the coach to worry less about winning the game and more on combinations, defenses and experimentation. The coaches can stop the scrimmage to make a teaching point, and they can also ask the other coach to give them periods of zone or full-court pressure to get some work against it.
