Shooting woes costly in a pair of road games
Georgetown expected the first part of its Big East Conference schedule to be as challenging as its nonconference slate, with three games in six nights — including two away from home against veteran teams Notre Dame and St. John’s.
But even if the Hoyas were able to predict they would lose both of those road contests and be left with their first mini-crisis of the season, they didn’t expect Austin Freeman to have his worst shooting night in two seasons in Monday’s loss to the Red Storm. The poor performance — Freeman missed eight of 10 shots from the field — was so rare that Freeman, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes last winter, got his insulin levels checked after the game.
The levels were fine, and heading into a Saturday morning showdown against West Virginia (9-4, 1-2 Big East), the Hoyas (12-3, 1-2) are convinced this early in conference play they’re still fine, too.
“I just come into the next day and keep working,” said Freeman (18.3 points per game), who is still Georgetown’s best shooter (55.4 percent) and was named to the John Wooden Award preseason watch list Thursday. “I’m not worried about me shooting 2-for-10. My teammates tell me all the time I’m not going to have too many games like that.”
| Up next |
| West Virginia at No. 13 Georgetown |
| Where » Verizon Center |
| When » Saturday, 11 a.m. |
| TV » ESPN2 |
But the Hoyas have struggled, and it isn’t just Freeman. Fellow senior guard Chris Wright (12.7 ppg, 6.2 assists a game) has been unable to establish his own offensive rhythm in an effort to be the consummate distributor, shooting 6-for-25 (24 percent) in Georgetown’s three losses. In addition, junior guard Jason Clark (13.3 ppg) is 2-for-16 from 3-point range in the last five games.
“I think I’m being a little passive on the offensive end and passing up some shots just trying to overemphasize getting people involved and trying to get people easy shots,” Wright said. “We’re letting them be the aggressor when we’re on offense and dictate our offense.”
To counter their opponents’ increasingly determined approach to trying to shutting down the perimeter, the Hoyas know they must work harder executing and getting to the basket.
“It’s natural sometimes that when you’re missing shots as a player, you say, ‘Okay, I’m going to step back and bang the next one,’?” Hoyas coach John Thompson III said. “We have to get rid of that mentality. Let’s get to the rim instead.”
