Leading scorers tee off on Georgetown defense
After Georgetown lost to West Virginia last weekend — dropping the third of its first four Big East games for the first time in seven seasons under John Thompson III — nearly all of the questions asked were centered on the Hoyas’ struggles on offense and rebounding.
But despite Thompson’s declaration that, “It’s us, it’s about us,” there is an additional concern that is equally culpable for Georgetown’s poor start to conference play: an inability to shut down the opposition’s best player.
| Leading men score big vs. Hoyas | ||||
| Player | Avg. pts. | vs. Hoyas | ||
| Tim Abromaitis, Notre Dame | 15.8 | 20 | ||
| Cleveland Melvin, DePaul | 13.0 | 29* | ||
| Dwight Hardy, St. John’s | 16.0 | 20 | ||
| Casey Mitchell, West Virginia | 17.6 | 28 | ||
| Ashton Gibbs, Pittsburgh | 16.4 | ? | ||
| *career-high | ||||
In each of the Hoyas’ first four conference games, their opponent’s leading scorer has put up 20 points or more, all well above their season averages. DePaul’s Cleveland Melvin had a career-high 29 points against Georgetown (12-4, 1-3 Big East) on Jan. 1, and West Virginia’s Casey Mitchell came within three points of his career-best with 28 in last weekend’s upset.
“He’s a good shooter and knows how to get his shot off,” was all Austin Freeman could do to explain Mitchell’s scoring burst.
Pittsburgh guard Ashton Gibbs, who averages 16.4 points per game and is the second-best 3-point shooter in the Big East (45.9 percent) will present a similar challenge on Wednesday.
| Up next |
| No. 5 Pittsburgh at No. 22 Georgetown |
| Where » Verizon Center |
| When » Wednesday, 7 p.m. |
| TV » ESPN |
But when asked after the West Virginia game to name the two things that Georgetown needs to fix most, Thompson said “there’s been some slippage” with offensive decision-making and crashing the boards.
“You got through 20-30 seconds of good defense without the understanding that possession ends when you get the ball as opposed to when the shot is taken,” he said. “That is something that has to be addressed.”
Georgetown is still the best shooting team in the Big East (51.6 percent from the field) but it is ninth in rebounding margin (plus-4.7) and 12th out of 16 teams in defensive field goal percentage (.415).
The Hoyas know a heightened sense of urgency has been placed on Wednesday’s visit from the fifth-ranked Panthers (15-1, 3-0). Georgetown has started this poorly in conference play only four times in program history. In each of the first three, they ended with a losing record in the Big East, including a 4-12 finish that ultimately cost coach Craig Esherick his job in 2004.
