Dematha-St.John's tonight

[Dhall]

Anybody know if this will sell out or if it's possible to walk up right before gametime (8pm) and get in based on past experience? It's at Gallaudet, which I think holds around 3000. Would love to see Austin and Chris.

[VictorSkyPage]

I wish I could see a bit of this game... I got chances to see OJ Mayo on tv a couple times... gimme some austin & chris baby

[hoya00]

Just called Gallaudet and they'll sell tickets one hour before the game, though they're not sure how many will remain because DeMatha and St. John's have distributed their own share. The person who picked up the phone at Gallaudet said she'd gotten a lot of calls and wasn't sure how many tix would remain. Email me at [e-mail] if you're interested in heading over; I'm on the fence.

[hoyaboy1]

The last game there didn't quite sell out - but being the championship, this one might.

[lichoya68]

HOPE FREEMAN AND WRIGHT BOTH SCORE FORTY EACH AND ITS END UP A TIE AFTER FOUR OVERTIMES AND THEY CALL THE GAME GO HOYAS FUTURE PAST AND PRESENT BEAT UCONN..

[JimmyHoya]

What happenned to the game being at Bender? Arrg

[Dhall]

hoya00: I assume the person at Gallaudet meant one hour before the girls' game, which is before the boys' game, right? If it were one hour before boys', that would be good.

[Oh My!]

jimmyhoya said:

What happenned to the game being at Bender? Arrg

With Mother Nature dumping snow on the region on Sunday, the semifinal & final rounds had to be postponed. AU was likely the preferred venue, but may not be available, as both their Men & Women are still in-season.

Gallaudet is definitely available, as both their teams' seasons have ended. Also, the Gallaudet Athletic Director/Men's Head Coach is Jim DeStefano, brother of Paul, the Boys' coach at St. John's.

[JimmyHoya]

Whatever, I'm going now.

Anyone else attending?

[hoyaLS05]

Just got back from the game. DeMatha won by 15 or so after jumping out to a huge early lead. Clearly, a much better team. Wright scored 23 of his teams 27 first half points and I'd estimate he finished with 36. Freeman had 12 in the first and probably about the same in the second.

Thoughts:
-- Wright got off to a slow start shooting but then showed us why someone (Dick Weiss?) called him the best shooter on the East Coast. Still, that may be a bit of a stretch.
-- Freeman can hit from just about anywhere on the floor. If his supporting cast hadn't been so good (Jerai Grant was AWESOME), he could have scored 50. Could get to the hoop at will. He's also a good rebounder for his size (against the competition, at least).
-- Wright is REALLY fast, but when he wants to, Freeman is too. Both have a LOT of speed in the open court.
-- Each took a few shots that really were unnecessary, but I don't get the sense either's team cared. Towards the end of the 1st half, it seemed like they were going back and forth seeing who could make the niftier shot. Awesome to watch.
-- Austin seemed a little disinterested at times, but I really got the sense that if the game had been close, you'd have seen a bit more fire from him.
-- Defensively, it was tough to gauge. Austin didn't seem like a bad defender, but he didnt stand out as an amazing one. Chris will pick your pocket if you aren't careful.
-- III was among what had to be a sold-out crowd. Didn't see any of the players there.
-- DeMatha has enthusiastic fans, but they were a little inappropriate at times. I wasn't feeling the USA chant with green 'cards' in the air when Vlad Moldanouv (sp, I know) shot freethrows.

On edit, one more thought: St. John's coach was really unimpressive. His offense was give the ball to Chris or, if you really have to, Vlad. Granted, Chris is great, but that was IT. Also, at the end of the first half, for example, down 13ish and with 35ish seconds left, DeMatha was just killing time dribbling out past the arc and there was literally no pressure. Come on, your down double figures to a great team, try to make SOMETHING happen. No other concrete examples come to mind, but he didn't seem to give his team the best chance to win.

Overall, very exciting and encouraging. Two stars on their way.

[heartofahoya]

None game observation: while their respective teams warmed up before the game, Austin and Chris sat at center court together to stretch/chat it up. 'Twas a magic moment.

[prhoya]

Awesome... Jeff, please stay!

[JimmyHoya]

Destefano doesn't exactly have anymore options besides Chris Wright scoring and throwing up bad shots....

[TBird41]

jimmyhoya said:

Destefano doesn't exactly have anymore options besides Chris Wright scoring and throwing up bad shots....

In the first quarter, Wright created three wide open shots for his teammates. They bricked all of them. He started focusing on creating his own shot after that.

Wright:Iverson::St. John's::76ers

If JT3 wasn't our coach, I'd be a little worried about Wright transitioning to a team where he has a 7'2 Experience (and others) to get involved. I understand his AAU team is talented, which coupled with the offensive maestro conducting the Hoyas offense dispels that possible drawback. And if you think Jessie is good at creating a shot as the shotclock winds down, just wait until Wright and Freeman are doing it. Wright doesn't have Jessie's half court range though (at least from what I saw ;D)

The other thing that stood out to me besides Freeman and Wright's general awesomenessocity was their time at the free throw line. Wright got there a lot, but he wasn't all that great from the line ~about 60% maybe? I seem to recall that's been something he's struggled with this year.

Freeman doesn't have that problem though--his first 3 trips to the line, the Dematha coach didn't feel it necessary for his players to be in the blocks--he talked to them instead. Freeman nailed them all--until Mike Jones sent his players to the blocks to get any possible rebound near the end of the game. Then, of course, Freeman missed.

[TigerHoya]

Can't find any box scores from the game looking so far this A.M., for anyone that went, how did Jerai Grant do?

[Dhall]

It appears Braswell didn't play again from the Post's boxscore. One has to assume that his scholarship is available if necessary.

[VictorSkyPage]

More encouraging news about our guys... I echo prhoya's sentiments as well...


I like this:

heartofahoya said:

None game observation: while their respective teams warmed up before the game, Austin and Chris sat at center court together to stretch/chat it up. 'Twas a magic moment.

[TBird41]

dhall said:

It appears Braswell didn't play again from the Post's boxscore. One has to assume that his scholarship is available if necessary.

Braswell wasn't in street clothes on the bench either.

[VictorSkyPage]

tbird41 said:

dhall said:

It appears Braswell didn't play again from the Post's boxscore. One has to assume that his scholarship is available if necessary.

Braswell wasn't in street clothes on the bench either.

I'd really like to know more about Braswell... I can't find much info / scouting info on him.. I'm assuming some folks on here could help with that

[SFHoya99]

I wouldn't assume that about Braswell at all. Jeff Green took a summer off of AAU (about as long as Braswell has been focusing on grades) and he's worked out fine.