G’town-Nova: A tale of two halves?
March 8, 2007 3:03 pm by donaldThe first half of the game was a clinic, as evidenced by the clips below. But I was unable to catch the second half. So you can imagine how surprised I was when I tuned in with 1:13 left and the score was Georgetown 56-Villanova 49. What happened in the second half? Can any readers let me know if the points below contributed to Nova’s comeback? Was it Villanova’s press?
I know Coach O enjoyed watching the Hoya’s in the first half. Their offense was run almost perfectly. It was one of the best displays of the Princeton offense I’ve ever seen. Georgetown was patient and got one great shot after another. In the clip below, I love how Summers immediately cuts to the basket as soon as Reynolds goes for the double team. Even though they didn’t hit the three pointer, it’s a great example of that wonderful Princeton offense.
Although we usually see highlights of Jeff Green delivering those sexy bounce passes to cutters, you’ve gotta love how he delivers the perfect entry pass to Hibbert. What a wonderful display of basketball in the first half.
Roy Hibbert was a force on defense — I love the blocks with the left hand below. On offense, he was able to contribute not only by catching wonderful passes (as above by Jeff Green), but also by screening his man, thereby giving his teammates open lanes to the basket.
When the Hoyas are this on, they can run with anybody in the country. Given their hot streak in the latter half of the season, I think the NCAAs will award them with a 2 seed. But what happened to them in the second half? Anybody?
Categories: Commentary, Georgetown, donald, Villanova, Postseason
3 Responses to “G’town-Nova: A tale of two halves?”
You’re absolutely right about the offense. A joy to watch. In the second half, Nova turned up the defense and did create some havoc with the press. Most of the difference though came as G-Town couldn’t get open shots. Hibbert became a nonfactor in the 2nd. The Irish will give the Hoyas a game tomorrow but I still feel that Hibbert and Green will be too much for Harangody and Kurz.
There was no way Nova would continue for 2 halves like they did in the first. Nardi would have helped were he able to play. Scottie Reynolds is a real good one but Georgetown forced into some very bad possessions.
Should be a very exciting night tomorrow.
Coach is right: 1-2-2 press returned, and the service into Hibbert suffered as a result. Very surprising, however, that it ended so close. While the second half was a bit of a rollercoaster, G’town answered every threat, and had it back up to 17 quite late in the game.
The ironic thing about this game was it’s similarity to the January Georgetown-Notre Dame game in DC (early blow out, but ND clawed back in a bit). X-factor tomorrow will be the defense played on Falls–does he get good looks, or can Sapp prevent ala Reynolds today. Should be interesting.
[…] Will OSU press? This has been extremely effective against Georgetown. Case in point: Villanova played Georgetown three times this year (see here for our recap of one of the games), and they played them tough three times (even in their loss to G’town in the Big East Tournament, where the Hoyas dominated Villanova in the first half). It was their press that caused Georgetown fits. Even though their guards are effective in the half-court set, it seems that they are more used to throwing (and catching) short, precise passes than the longer passes that are necessary to beat a press. If Motta decides to press, this may cause the Hoyas fits. […]
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