CO_Hoya
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,109
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Post by CO_Hoya on Dec 10, 2009 13:54:57 GMT -5
I haven't seen it mentioned yet, and I'm not sure how many of you check the front page regularly. DFW is counting down the top 20 games of the 00's on the basketball page of HoyaSaxa.com ( link). So far: 20. Jan. 6, 2001: Georgetown 78, Seton Hall 66 19. Jan. 24, 2006: Georgetown 85, Notre Dame 82 (2 OT) 18. Nov. 30, 2004: Georgetown 76, Davidson 51 17. January 14, 2005: Georgetown 66, Villanova 64 16. Jan. 26, 2008: Georgetown 58, West Virginia 57 15. March 9, 2000: Georgetown 76, Syracuse 72 14. Jan. 5, 2005: Georgetown 67, Pittsburgh 64 13. Dec. 29, 2008: Georgetown 74, Connecticut 63 12. Mar. 23, 2007: Georgetown 66, Vanderbilt 65 11. Mar. 1, 2008: Georgetown 70, Marquette 68 (OT) 10. Mar. 9, 2007: Georgetown 84, Notre Dame 82 9. Feb. 9, 2002: Notre Dame 115, Georgetown 111 (4 OT) 8. Mar. 8, 2008: Georgetown 55, Louisville 52 7. Mar. 15, 2001: Georgetown 63, Arkansas 61 6. Mar. 15, 2000: Georgetown 115, Virginia 111 (3 OT) 5. Mar. 24, 2006: Florida 57, Georgetown 53 4. Mar. 19, 2006: Georgetown 70, Ohio St. 52 3. March 10, 2007: Georgetown 65, Pittsburgh 42 2. Jan. 21, 2006: Georgetown 87, Duke 84 Edited to add: List updated through Dec. 31
Will be interesting to compare to Casual Hoyas Top 5 games of the JTIII era.
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CAHoya07
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 3,598
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Post by CAHoya07 on Dec 10, 2009 14:22:33 GMT -5
This has been great, having a lot of fun reading these every day. Nice little trip down memory lane, although pre-2003 games are kind of lost on me, since that's when I arrived on the Hilltop.
#1 and #2 have to be Duke 2006 and UNC 2007, it will be interesting to see which one he chooses as top game. And although we haven't seen any losses yet, I woudn't be surprised if the 2002 4OT loss to ND shows up somewhere.
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blueandgray
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 6,756
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Post by blueandgray on Dec 10, 2009 14:29:54 GMT -5
My top four:
UNC Duke - 2006 UCON - Jan. 12th, 2008 ND - 2007 BET
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GUJook97
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 5,445
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Post by GUJook97 on Dec 10, 2009 14:33:14 GMT -5
For my money, the Vanderbilt Sweet 16 game in '07 was the best game of the decade.
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CAHoya07
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 3,598
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Post by CAHoya07 on Dec 10, 2009 15:03:13 GMT -5
For my money, the Vanderbilt Sweet 16 game in '07 was the best game of the decade. Possibly best finish, but not best overall game, in my opinion. I imagine it'd be in the top 5 though. I'd probably put it at 3rd.
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Post by jerseyhoya34 on Dec 10, 2009 15:18:37 GMT -5
My top 5: 1. UNC 2. Duke 3. Pitt BET 4. ND BET 5. Vandy
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rosslynhoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 2,595
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Post by rosslynhoya on Dec 10, 2009 15:18:48 GMT -5
DFW has a tougher task than Casual though, since it includes assigning relative values to the memorable pre-III games, which, contrary to popular belief among today's tykes, actually existed.
My nod would go to 3/15/00, the first round of the NIT, the underdog Hoyas surprise UVA in TRIPLE OT at their house. In terms of greatness, it's obviously well behind the Duke and UNC games, but probably nipping close at the 2007 BET run over ND and Pitt.
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chep3
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by chep3 on Dec 10, 2009 16:23:27 GMT -5
I think 1 and 1A are set. I would actually say at #3, our home win against Pitt in 2007. THey were celebrating on our court thinking they had the game won with 10 minutes to go. Just thinking about that Jeff steal and toss over his head to Jessie gives me goosebumps.
As for the pre-III games, why is everyone forgetting the Nat Burton "I'm not going to move until there's 2 seconds left on the clock" game against Arkansas?
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prhoya
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
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Post by prhoya on Dec 10, 2009 16:27:46 GMT -5
The four I've seen in person during the last decade. Hoping to start the next one with a trip to the BET in March...
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Post by reingd on Dec 10, 2009 16:50:55 GMT -5
Obviously, I almost never post, but I felt compelled to give some more love to that NIT game at UVA (much thanks to roslyn for reminding me of that). Admittedly not nearly as significant as many JTIII era games, it was still an incredible site. Among the amazing events of that game were: guys on both teams absolutely going off (Braswell with 40, Donald Hand not too far behind that); Gtown coming back from 15 down with about 10 minutes to play; both teams hitting clutch shots to extend the game (in stark contrast to the 4OT affair with ND a couple years later); Lee Scruggs fighting through numerous leg cramps, yet each time returning for a few more minutes; WR Gharun Hester hitting his only career three-point attempt (at least at that point in his career) to seal the game; finally capped off by the small but loud contingent of Georgetown students storming UVA's court at the final buzzer chanting "Gharun Hester (clap, clap, clap clap clap)!" One of those delirious court-rushers (not me) gave Scruggs a celebratory hug only to be pulled off by Ronnie Thompson because "we got to get this warrior into the locker room and hooked up to an IV man!"
Clearly there was very little on the line, but if looking at games in isolation the in-game drama and level of play on display that night is hard to match. Not to start a downward spiral, but I guess that is what was so frustrating about the Esherick Era, every so often you'd see flashes of high quality basketball, but they were way too few and far between.
No matter the rankings, lists like these are great because they bring back such great memories.
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CO_Hoya
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,109
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Post by CO_Hoya on Dec 10, 2009 17:09:05 GMT -5
My favorite moment from the UVA game was just during overtime. This is when G'town (Braswell) and UVA (Hand) start bombing 3's back-and-forth. I don't remember the announcers on ESPN (Nessler? & ), but the play-by-play guy, obviously caught up in the moment, asks the color analyst "Is this the greatest game you've ever seen?" Pause. Analyst, "Ahhh, no."
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kghoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
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Post by kghoya on Dec 10, 2009 18:31:31 GMT -5
I was at that UVA game. Thanks for bringing it up. We rushed the court. I hugged Scruggs and gave Esherick a high five.
Wow that is a long time ago.
I think Georgetown went down 61-49 or something like that and you just had that feeling that it was over. Big minutes by Rheese Gibson since RBB was out.
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Post by jerseyhoya34 on Dec 10, 2009 18:45:00 GMT -5
The UVA game sounds like something else, but I think it fails to hit the top 5 for the simple reason of meaning. See even the opinions of the former coaching staff as to the NIT. Now, I do think the Burton game fits somewhere within the top 10 and maybe UVA belongs somewhere there too, but to put it in a top 5 is rarified air. No way it touches Duke or UNC at 1 or 2 - don't think there's an argument there. Most #3-5's seem to be the Pitt BET, Vandy, a win over a BE rival, or something like that.
I think most would take a BET over the Virginia game in the first round of the NIT, in fairness, absent other considerations, like personal attendance at the game. I also think most would take a win in the Sweet 16 over an NIT win. When you hit #5, I think there's more of an argument to be had between the UVA game and something like the ND BET game, but the UVA game gets lost in the shuffle because it didn't lead anywhere, when something like the ND BET game, the BC game, etc. led to something and had a decent or more than decent quality of play.
On these kinds of lists and lists of top players, I don't think any affirmative action is due to give credit to the early part of the decade simply because it is there and happened. With some exceptions, I think most on this board view the better basketball as occurring 2004 onwards (and I was there before 2004), with some good parts overlapping the Esherick and JT3 years - notably Ashanti Cook - and some good things exclusively in the Esherick period - Mike Sweetney, Riley, etc. Naturally, a list of top games and top players will reflect this judgment.
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superan
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,900
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Post by superan on Dec 10, 2009 19:41:58 GMT -5
What about the Georgetown vs. Arkansas game from the 2001 NCAA tournament? I remember we beat them with a last second shot and eventually got to the Sweet Sixteen (only to lose to Maryland).
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blueandgray
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
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Post by blueandgray on Dec 10, 2009 20:26:17 GMT -5
I have to assume that the list only involves Hoya wins ....because there were some great battles where we fell short....namely Florida in 2006.
Another great game was our victory over Syracuse in the BET some years back where Braswell, Scruggs and others as a 9 seed took out the #1 seeded Orangemen. Probably not top 5, but likely in the top 10. Our total domination of #2 seeded Ohio St. in the 2006 tourney may be another top 10 performance.
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joey0403p
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by joey0403p on Dec 11, 2009 9:29:19 GMT -5
I remember the Arkansas game in 01. Memorable because it was on a Thursday night - a bunch of students went to chadwicks after the victory. Later that night on the news a reporting was doing a segment about everyone celebrating in G town. Many friends (other freshman) were watching the news at the bar. Behind the reporter they saw a stream of DC Cops pouring into the bar....all the people in the place sai, "wait, is that this bar???"
So began the SUDD program (stopping underaged drinking and driving) where you could no longer get into bars with notes from your roommate confirming you were 21.
This game also made us all think that esherick was going to be a good coach, and turn the program around after a few years of less than steller performances....
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rosslynhoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 2,595
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Post by rosslynhoya on Dec 11, 2009 9:32:01 GMT -5
On these kinds of lists and lists of top players, I don't think any affirmative action is due to give credit to the early part of the decade simply because it is there and happened. With some exceptions, I think most on this board view the better basketball as occurring 2004 onwards (and I was there before 2004), with some good parts overlapping the Esherick and JT3 years - notably Ashanti Cook - and some good things exclusively in the Esherick period - Mike Sweetney, Riley, etc. Naturally, a list of top games and top players will reflect this judgment. I don't think any affirmative action is needed either. What I would like to see (and have full confidence in DFW) is the bucking of the Goldfish Syndrome that plagues the Academy Awards, Grammies, VMAs, and virtually all end-of-year favorite lists. Ask the average person what the best movie they saw in 2009 was, and I suspect most will name something they saw within the past month. It's like we shouldn't even consider January through March part of the year, because nothing that debuts then ever makes these lists. I'm not attempting to mount a huge whitewashing of the Esherick years, but something that's apparently lost on most of the folks that grew up in the III/Jeff/Roy era is that there were good players and great games during those years. They just more often than not added up to Edited-poor seasons on the whole, but that's no reason to pretend that 2000-04 were a black hole in which the Hoyas didn't even take the court. I was at the Vandy game. It was a good game, but only two items of merit really stand out: Jeff's not-a-travel for the win, and the fact that it set up an Elite Eight game that will itself stand the test of time. Does it have any other intrinsic meaning in the mystical sense implied above? Georgetown's home finale versus Louisville that clinched the regular season championship would be one of the few seemingly eligible for top 5 consideration, and despite being a really great game, I don't see it cracking many people's top 5.
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gutuna
Bulldog (over 250 posts)
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Post by gutuna on Dec 11, 2009 10:27:21 GMT -5
!" One of those delirious court-rushers (not me) gave Scruggs a celebratory hug only to be pulled off by Ronnie Thompson because "we got to get this warrior into the locker room and hooked up to an IV man!" Uh, yeah, I'll cop to that one. Ronny used the term warrior because I had Lee in a death grip embrace screaming "You're a WARRIOR!!!" College - good times.
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Post by Coast2CoastHoya on Dec 11, 2009 10:54:29 GMT -5
Great ones from the Esh Era:
* NIT win over UVA in Triple OT (already aptly described by reingd)
* BET Quarters win over #12 Cuse 3/09/2000 (GU 76 CUSE 72). Cuse was the favorite to win the BET, the Hoyas were down (ended up in the NIT that year), but the combo of Braswell, Hunter, Scruggs, et al. led us to victory. The Garden was ALIVE that day.
* NCAA Rd. 1 win over Arkansas in Boise 3/15/2000 . I was at this game, about 15 feet from Nat when he "put them to sleep, and then exploded" (in his words, after the game). The place went nuts! Of course, it when nuts-ier when 15-seed Hampton upset 2-seed ISU, but still ... pretty special win.
* Win v. Cuse @ the Booth 1/28/02. For everything else that went wrong that year, beating #10 & Big East West (so glad they got rid of that) Division leader Cuse at home was truly cathartic. Sweets went 18 and 13, Bras 14 pts 6 stls 5 assts, Big Harv scored 14, and Bethel scored 14 and grabbed 9.
* Win @ Cuse 2/24/02 -- About a month after beating them at home---and 22 years and 11 days after closing Manley Field House---the Hoyas return to ruin the dedication of Boeheim Court.
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TBird41
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
"Roy! I Love All 7'2" of you Roy!"
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Post by TBird41 on Dec 11, 2009 11:09:14 GMT -5
Which was the game where the Hoyas beat Cuse and Preston Schumpert pulled a Tebow and started crying? Was that this decade?
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