Post by DanMcQ on Feb 24, 2007 10:04:41 GMT -5
Wash Times - Barker Davis: Alone in first
Wash Times - Tom Knott: For Hoyas, an ugly win never looked so good
Wash Times: Hoyas Report
Wash Post - Camille Powell: Georgetown's Eleven
Wash Post - Mike Wise: The Grass Gets Greener
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Ray Fittipaldo: Panthers' late collapse basically hands Hoyas regular-season title
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Bob Smizik: Pitt's season slip, slidin' away
...predictably, no credit given to the Hoyas, only:
GUHoyas.com Recap
...includes link to photo gallery
Official Box Score
GUHoyas.com Post-Game Quotes
GUHoyas.com: Hoya Players Post-Game Quotes
ESPN: Hoyas' Green is hard to label, harder to contain
Fox Sports: Hoyas seem primed for title run
ESPN Box Score
Photos: sports.espn.go.com/ncb/photos?gameId=270550046
AP Recap - Yahoo
Perhaps the ultimate measure of a team's greatness is whether it can show up with less than its best stuff against an elite opponent and still succeed.
No. 12 Georgetown did exactly that yesterday against 10th-ranked Pittsburgh, overcoming a turnover-ridden first half and an atrocious performance on the boards to clip the Panthers 61-53 and claim sole possession of the Big East's top slot.
No. 12 Georgetown did exactly that yesterday against 10th-ranked Pittsburgh, overcoming a turnover-ridden first half and an atrocious performance on the boards to clip the Panthers 61-53 and claim sole possession of the Big East's top slot.
Wash Times - Tom Knott: For Hoyas, an ugly win never looked so good
Thompson was not inclined to belabor the stunning ascent of his team, not with a game in Syracuse, N.Y., tomorrow night.
There is too much season left to get caught in the whimsical prospect of the Hoyas securing a No. 1 or 2 seed in the NCAA tournament next month.
There is too much film to study, too much tinkering to do. It all could go wrong in the Carrier Dome.
The Hoyas certainly flirted with disappointment on this chilly day in late February.
They endured the early foul trouble of Green and then the late foul trouble of Roy Hibbert.
The long rebound was their game-long curse, eased only because of the rim-clanging efforts of the Panthers' perimeter shooters.
"That just can't happen," Thompson said of the Panthers' offensive rebounding.
But it did happen. And it happened with the Hoyas in a funk much of the game.
And yet the Hoyas persevered, which possibly bodes well for them next month.
Finding a way to win, when your best stuff is not at your disposal, will be the challenge before all the nation's leading teams next month.
There is too much season left to get caught in the whimsical prospect of the Hoyas securing a No. 1 or 2 seed in the NCAA tournament next month.
There is too much film to study, too much tinkering to do. It all could go wrong in the Carrier Dome.
The Hoyas certainly flirted with disappointment on this chilly day in late February.
They endured the early foul trouble of Green and then the late foul trouble of Roy Hibbert.
The long rebound was their game-long curse, eased only because of the rim-clanging efforts of the Panthers' perimeter shooters.
"That just can't happen," Thompson said of the Panthers' offensive rebounding.
But it did happen. And it happened with the Hoyas in a funk much of the game.
And yet the Hoyas persevered, which possibly bodes well for them next month.
Finding a way to win, when your best stuff is not at your disposal, will be the challenge before all the nation's leading teams next month.
Wash Times: Hoyas Report
Should Georgetown and Pitt finish in a tie atop the league standings, the tiebreaker for the top seed in the Big East tournament (March 7-10) would go to the team with the better record against the next highest seed. The Hoyas, who are now guaranteed a bye in the tournament and will not play in New York until March 8, hold the tiebreaker over Pitt against three of the next four highest slotted teams in the league (Louisville, Marquette and Notre Dame). With a win at Syracuse tomorrow, the Hoyas can lock down the No. 1 seed regardless of the outcome of their regular season finale against Connecticut next Saturday.
Wash Post - Camille Powell: Georgetown's Eleven
Wash Post - Mike Wise: The Grass Gets Greener
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Ray Fittipaldo: Panthers' late collapse basically hands Hoyas regular-season title
The Big East championship was there for the taking.
Pitt had an eight-point lead at Georgetown with 11:56 remaining and celebrated during a timeout. The Panthers performed chest bumps at center court after a Ronald Ramon 3-pointer capped a 16-3 run and gave the Panthers a 44-36 lead and seemingly all the momentum in the world.
As it turned out, the celebration was a tad premature. Georgetown capitalized on a bundle of Pitt mistakes in the waning minutes and stormed back to beat the Panthers, 61-53, at the Verizon Center.
"We got excited there a little early," Kendall said. "We were trying to calm the guys down. There were still 11 or 12 minutes to go. Obviously, a team that good was going to make another run."
It was quite a run for Georgetown to close the game. The Hoyas outscored Pitt, 25-9, over those final 11-plus minutes. They made steals, tough shots and their free throws to claw back into the game and eventually take the lead.
Pitt had an eight-point lead at Georgetown with 11:56 remaining and celebrated during a timeout. The Panthers performed chest bumps at center court after a Ronald Ramon 3-pointer capped a 16-3 run and gave the Panthers a 44-36 lead and seemingly all the momentum in the world.
As it turned out, the celebration was a tad premature. Georgetown capitalized on a bundle of Pitt mistakes in the waning minutes and stormed back to beat the Panthers, 61-53, at the Verizon Center.
"We got excited there a little early," Kendall said. "We were trying to calm the guys down. There were still 11 or 12 minutes to go. Obviously, a team that good was going to make another run."
It was quite a run for Georgetown to close the game. The Hoyas outscored Pitt, 25-9, over those final 11-plus minutes. They made steals, tough shots and their free throws to claw back into the game and eventually take the lead.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Bob Smizik: Pitt's season slip, slidin' away
...predictably, no credit given to the Hoyas, only:
They lost because they have not been playing like the team that some thought was the best of the recent Pitt era. It has been five games now that the Panthers have played like an average team and not the one some thought had a chance to advance to the round of eight of the NCAA tournament, if not the Final Four.
GUHoyas.com Recap
...includes link to photo gallery
Official Box Score
GUHoyas.com Post-Game Quotes
GUHoyas.com: Hoya Players Post-Game Quotes
Georgetown Head Coach John Thompson III
On Jeff Green…
“Jeff Green is a basketball player and when you start trying to label him saying he’s a big guy or a small guy, all of a sudden he
does thing the opposite of what you are saying. He is a basketball player. I can put him on any spot on the floor and he can have success. He’s a basketball player and he is comfortable anywhere on the court.”
Jitters in the first half for the Hoyas…
“The whole first half I thought, even when we were up I thought we were very antsy and very anxious and that was part of the talk at half time, let’s just relax and play. That’s human nature, that’s natural. If you can’t get up and excited about this game there is something wrong with you, but we just had to settle down and do what we do.”
On Patrick Ewing Jr…
“Patrick helped us win games last year, sitting on the bench. And now that energy, that enthusiasm is out on the floor and when
he stays focused. he’s emotional. And you have to take the positive and negative that comes along with that, and as the year has progressed it’s been more positive. The energy, the hustle, the enthusiasm he brings is contagious to all of us.”
Jeff Green
On the rough start to the game…
We had a lot of energy and we let it out the wrong way. We had a lot of turnovers and at half time coach told us to calm down to
keep running our stuff and that’s what we did in the second half. We converted our energy and focused on the defensive end and
we got a lot of big stops and a lot of rebounds
On Jeff Green…
“Jeff Green is a basketball player and when you start trying to label him saying he’s a big guy or a small guy, all of a sudden he
does thing the opposite of what you are saying. He is a basketball player. I can put him on any spot on the floor and he can have success. He’s a basketball player and he is comfortable anywhere on the court.”
Jitters in the first half for the Hoyas…
“The whole first half I thought, even when we were up I thought we were very antsy and very anxious and that was part of the talk at half time, let’s just relax and play. That’s human nature, that’s natural. If you can’t get up and excited about this game there is something wrong with you, but we just had to settle down and do what we do.”
On Patrick Ewing Jr…
“Patrick helped us win games last year, sitting on the bench. And now that energy, that enthusiasm is out on the floor and when
he stays focused. he’s emotional. And you have to take the positive and negative that comes along with that, and as the year has progressed it’s been more positive. The energy, the hustle, the enthusiasm he brings is contagious to all of us.”
Jeff Green
On the rough start to the game…
We had a lot of energy and we let it out the wrong way. We had a lot of turnovers and at half time coach told us to calm down to
keep running our stuff and that’s what we did in the second half. We converted our energy and focused on the defensive end and
we got a lot of big stops and a lot of rebounds
ESPN: Hoyas' Green is hard to label, harder to contain
Going into Saturday's game, Green didn't rank among the Big East's top 15 scorers. He isn't among the league leaders in rebounds, assists or steals. But when the conference hands out its hardware in a couple of weeks, Green should be the Big East player of the year. There isn't a more valuable or versatile player in the college basketball's biggest league.
"Jeff Green is a basketball player and when you start trying to label him, saying he's a big guy or a small guy, all of a sudden he does something the opposite of what you are saying," Thompson III said. "He is a basketball player and he is comfortable anywhere on the court."
Green was all over the court when Georgetown needed him most against the Panthers. The Hoyas trailed by eight points with less than 12 minutes to go, but Green, who was hampered by foul trouble in the first half, started attacking the basket.
Green doesn't force shots and always looks to get his teammates involved in the game.
"It's just how I am," Green said. "I'm not the type of player who looks to take 30 shots. It's kind of like that Adidas commercial: 'It takes 5.' I need help from my teammates. I feel like I have a good group of guys who can put points on the board, and I don't have to score 30. I have trust in my teammates."
And with less than three weeks before the start of the NCAA Tournament, Thompson believes his son might have something special on his hands.
"My son's team had to get more aggressive," Thompson said. "The kids are maturing and you can see the confidence. It couldn't be happening at a better time."
"Jeff Green is a basketball player and when you start trying to label him, saying he's a big guy or a small guy, all of a sudden he does something the opposite of what you are saying," Thompson III said. "He is a basketball player and he is comfortable anywhere on the court."
Green was all over the court when Georgetown needed him most against the Panthers. The Hoyas trailed by eight points with less than 12 minutes to go, but Green, who was hampered by foul trouble in the first half, started attacking the basket.
Green doesn't force shots and always looks to get his teammates involved in the game.
"It's just how I am," Green said. "I'm not the type of player who looks to take 30 shots. It's kind of like that Adidas commercial: 'It takes 5.' I need help from my teammates. I feel like I have a good group of guys who can put points on the board, and I don't have to score 30. I have trust in my teammates."
And with less than three weeks before the start of the NCAA Tournament, Thompson believes his son might have something special on his hands.
"My son's team had to get more aggressive," Thompson said. "The kids are maturing and you can see the confidence. It couldn't be happening at a better time."
Fox Sports: Hoyas seem primed for title run
ESPN Box Score
Photos: sports.espn.go.com/ncb/photos?gameId=270550046
AP Recap - Yahoo
