As the Big East Tournament was getting ready to kickoff, I took my annual pilgrimage to Harlem offices of former President Bill Clinton (SFS '68).  My former boss was gracious enough to make time for me to answer a few Casual questions about Georgetown and college basketball.  As we finished and I was leaving, I heard the former President say in a near whisper and to no one in particular, "I don't often read the blogs, but when I do it's always Casual, Casual Hoya. Because I'm the most interesting and casual man in the world."

Well all of that is made up except for the gracious part of the former President making time to answer a few questions for the blog.  I can tell you from experience, the man knows a lot about college basketball.  My first real memory of working for him was standing in a holding room watching Georgetown get beaten by the cheating likes of Marcus Camby, John Calipari and UMass.  I got to see the power of the Presidency that day.  We held up half of a city because the two of us wanted to see how the game ended.  Many a Saturday afternoon was spent catching glimpses of games between the very real pressures of being President.

So below are my casual questions and some Presidential answers.

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This is the latest opus by Casual Wiseman sleepyhoya:

There is little in life more depressing than walking the streets of NYC surrounding by Big East fans knowing that you've been sent home.  Worse still is trudging over to Amtrak in the pouring rain, going downstairs to push and shove through a crowd, knowing that upstairs real live basketball is being played, history is being made and by tipoff of game 1, I'll be pulling into Trenton, New Jersey.  Hoya fans are fleeing NY because as Pete Seeger famously wrote, "we're stuck, with no place to go... we're waist deep in the Big Muddy"

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Tonight's game against Cincinnati is going to be a tough test for a Hoya team that found a way to win over the weekend despite a lackluster performance.  But, as much as I know how wrong it is,  I have to admit that I'm already looking ahead to Saturday's game.  I'm not looking ahead to just watching the Orange get crushed at Verizon. I'm looking ahead and looking forward to the Senior Day ceremony that will precede the Orange beatdown.

Senior Day Memories After The Jump:

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This is a special collaboration by Two Casual Wisemen: SleepyHoya and BashfulHoya.

John Thompson III is a good coach.  Nobody can dispute that, not with a Final Four appearance and three Big East Championship appearances in just his first six years as head coach.  But, as I've opined in various casual places on this blog, I've never thought JTIII was a great coach, someone who was destined for the Hall of Fame like several of his fellow Big East colleagues. 

The best part of the recent eight game winning streak is that I believe we may have seen JTIII take it to a new level and perhaps become an elite head coach.  In putting together this piece, I wondered whether perhaps his Dad had a seminal stretch of games that raised the level of his coaching, so naturally I asked Bashful Hoya, who knows him well, to opine on that question.

Like Father, Like Son after The Jump:

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I love the smell of a rotting orange in the morning...it smells like VICTORY!

It's that time of year again.  I woke up this morning without a thought of last night's excellent Super Bowl or without any anxiety about a big meeting I have later in the day.  I woke up this morning thinking only of Syracuse -- how much I hate them and much I desperately want to beat their ass this week.

So, given the week, it seems like the right time to look at the Georgetown-Syracuse over the years and to come up with the best five Hoyas-Orange clashes ever.

The Rivalry through the Ages after The Jump:

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Now that we've conquered the state of New Jersey, it seems like the right time to reflect on the best Hoya All-Star teams of all-time.  And since an 8-day layoff in the middle of the season feels like the middle of the summer, it was either this or a new feature of documenting my breakfast. 

Anyway, before getting the All Hoya teams, a note about selection and bias.  Clearly I am influenced by players I actually saw play live and in person.  So having been in school from '78-'82 I got to see Sleepy Floyd a lot more than say Kevin Braswell.  I trust Bashfulhoya and OldHoya that Derrick Jackson was a great player, but i never saw him play so may have him underranked.  I expect that recent graduates will think I underplay the talents of JTIII players.  This is your forum to refute me.  My other criteria are winning, (staying 4 years a big plus) and overall talent.  I've tried not to be influenced one way or the other by what happened to the players after leaving campus.  What follows are the three most talented teams of Hoyas, plus the hardest team to beat...

The Best of the Hoyas after The Jump:

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The comments on the blog over the last week have accurately tracked my bipolar feelings about the Hoyas.  On one hand, it's just a game, they're college kids, the games are still fun and it's early in the season and a turnaround is right around the corner.  On the other hand, I have to admit some of the harsher assessments, highlighted by called out comments like pathetic, suck and I hate [fill in the blank], have crossed my  mind.

How do you square these bipolar feelings?  Somewhere back in the recesses of Catholic grammer school in the 1960's I remember a Sister Mary something or other saying it's not Christian to criticize unless you offer a positive suggestion.

So today, I'll offer a few suggestions on the lineup, not because I think anyone will listen or even that they make sense.  I offer them so I can feel better about my occassional, occasional may be understating it, negative thoughts about this year's Hoyas.

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Former John Thompson Jr. player "Bashful" strikes again:

As many of you may have noticed, the Hoyas have not been their usually effective basketball selves the past few games and I’d like to explain why.  Much like trying to learn a new golf swing, the Hoyas had some lessons that they have recently learned on the basketball court and are trying to incorporate them into their game. 

(via Creative Commons License)

Shortly after the Memphis game, and thanks to Ted Leonsis’s latest investment in nanorobotics, he was able to transport the entire 1974-75 Hoya basketball team and staff to the present time to play a scrimmage against the current Hoyas in the Verizon Center. Well, the event was something special, as you might imagine. The '74-75 team, which was responsible for the first Hoya NCAA appearance since 1943 and started a run of 27 straight post season appearances for Georgetown, was stunned by the ability to be summoned to the future to play the 2010-11 Hoyas. 

The Scrimmage after The Jump:

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It seems like more than a week ago that I was heading to the airport to South Bend for the opening of the Big East season.  Georgetown's out of conference success proved that the preseason accolades and the praise of a deep bench were clearly earned.  But the Big East games have put quite a damper on the early season enthusiasm.  So what has happened?  Or, in other words, if JahidiLikesPie had a worried meter, what color would it, and should it, read this morning?

Georgetown is still a very good basketball team.  Put simply, the Hoyas rely on great shooters shooting well.  When Austin Freeman and Chris Wright are cold, we are in some trouble.  When Jason Clark has lost all confidence in his shot outside of three feet and the foul line, so much so that he no longer shoots, we are in deeper trouble.  But even with all three of them struggling we are deep enough and talented enough to be beating good basketball teams.

More State of the Hoyas after The Jump:

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Former John Thompson Jr. player "Bashful" strikes again with expert analysis on the Notre Dame loss:

(via Creative Commons License)

ND 69, GU 55

Well, that was disappointing for sure but the Big East road game is a tough animal. Nonetheless the major disappointment comes from the fact that we could have won the game last night.

(More with Bashful After the Jump)

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First, in recognition of an incredible preseason performance, some pre-conference Sleepy Awards for the Georgetown Hoyas.

MVP -- Chris Wright.  No contest in my mind.  Chris has fully taken over the team and moved from a talented, erratic player into a talented poised leader.  Without Chris we lose two or three more games in the preseason.  Another way of looking at it, is my pulse and blood pressure are always steady when Chris is in the game this year.  When he's on the bench, as much as i love the potential of Markel Starks, both pulse and blood pressure spike to dangerous heights.  Chris -- keep the Hoyas winning and one, not the, old Hoya alive.

(More Sleepy Awards Following the Jump)

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(Via Creative Commons License)

Masshoya and I find ourselves stuck in Paris due to the two inches of snow that has paralyzed the entire European community. I'll be brief this week because the French keyboard is backwards and driving me crazy and there is wine to drink...yes there are worse places to be stuck.

(Potpourri Edition of TSOTH After the Jump)

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To cupcake or to not cupcake - that is the question.  Or to be more precise – how often and where should we cupcake our preconference schedule.  For all those who say there are no cupcakes, let’s not waste a lot of time here, there are and we play many of them every year.

Everybody loves cupcakes  (via Creative Commons license) 

The real question is does it really matter who you play getting ready for the conference schedule.  Many argue that the preseason is a time to test your players against the toughest competition.  They say you need to take teams to hostile environments, make them play three days in a row to simulate the tournament.  They say the payoff comes with better NCAA seeds and a more tournament tough team.

More Cupcakeology after The Jump:

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This is a weekly special exclusive VIP guest column series entitled The State Of The Hoyas. Enjoy.

I woke up in a good mood this morning.  And once I thought about it, I realized that I was in a good mood yesterday and the day before.  In fact, it’s been about thirty days of feeling good about things – those who know me well can testify to how unusual this is.  So I thought about it for a while and it seems there’s ample reason for being positive.  Georgetown is on a great out of conference run beating three conference champions and an undefeated top ten team away in breath-taking fashion.  I’m still shaking my head (the old fashioned version) about Chris Wright’s buzzer beater and the Lion King Jason Clark in overtime.  Also during this time, Bruce Springsteen released The Promise, 21 previously unreleased songs as well as an excellent video on the making of the legendary album Darkness on the Edge of Town.  It’s an incredible Album that sounds even better re-mastered and the songs, some new and some old, are awesome.  And finally, Sleepyhoya got a new puppy that Masshoya says is much cuter than Teddy and a better prognosticator too.

So I called Tony Robbins, the self help guru, and asked him how to I hold on to this feeling?  Georgetown has to lose at some point.  Bruce will eventually appear on The View promoting his greatest hits volume 9, The Senior Citizen Years or I’ll really focus on his decision to send his daughter to Duke.  And when the puppy hits two years old and is still not housetrained, I think that might spoil the mood.

Tony told me to remember all the good things about Hoya basketball and all the good things about the Boss in my life.  And if i can figure out a way that they all fit together I can extend this positive outlook on life indefinately. 

So here’s what I came up with.

(Lists Galore After the Jump)

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Former John Thompson Jr. player "Bashful" strikes again with expert analysis on Tuesday's Missouri game:

(via Creative Commons License)

Okay, that game took a few years off the life of anybody watching it. But it was very instructive for Hoya fans because it displayed offensive and defensive tendencies that will show up in many games this season both for and against the Hoyas.

(More After the Jump)

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This is a weekly special exclusive VIP guest column series entitled The State Of The Hoyas.  Enjoy. 

via sportsillustrated.cnn.com

Georgetown’s second meeting versus Missouri tonight brings back some great memories from the first and only time they’ve met.  Last year we posted about the historic game that shut down Manley Field House – Hoyas v Tigers 1982 was the game that for all intent and purposes shut down McDonough Arena.

(More After the Jump)

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This is a weekly special exclusive VIP guest column series entitled The State Of The Hoyas.  Enjoy.  

Times are tough in America these days.  People are out of work, families are struggling, the planet is warming and Jessica Simpson had to buy her own engagement ring.  But on this Thanksgiving day we can all give thanks for one thing – Georgetown basketball.

Here’s what I’ll be giving thanks for tomorrow.

See The List after The Jump:

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A former player in the JT Jr. era reached out to me this morning reacting to yesterday's casual hoya post.  He doesn't want to use his name, so we'll call him "bashfulhoya".  If grumpyhoya is out there, want to hear from you too.

Sleepy—read your piece this morning it is excellent. I would describe it slightly differently but well within your analysis

1.       JTII was a defensive oriented coach while the son is offensive oriented. It doesn’t mean either ignores offense or defense, it is where they start the game attack.

2.       JTII—you’re right, he always looked to have teams that were taller, faster and better conditioned than any team we played. We practiced from 4:30-7:30pm every day (most teams practice 2 hours) and 70% of the practice were drills and running. No one ever out hustled Georgetown. His real breakthrough was his defensive scheme. He could change the defense every time down the court by yelling (or having the point guard yell a single number). That is also why the team always huddled at every foul shot. Numbers in the 50s were man to man, the 30s were zone. So 55 was full court pressure on the inbound, 54 was full court, 53 was three quarters court, 52, half and 51 fall back to pick up man. 35-31 with the zones. If you look at films from the seventies almost no one pressured so long so often. Now it is routine. Also, back then opposing coaches were used to dealing with defensive changes once every 8 minutes or so. When confronted with a team that changed every time down the court and could go from zone to man to man in the process, it blew up almost every offensive scheme.

JT II’s offense was a simple motion offense and the real offensive explosions came from defensive sparked runs and fast breaks. The offense benefitted from the general chaos that defense created. Because of that scheme it was always difficult for shooters to generate offensive rhythm and that’s why you saw few big scorers—the exceptions being Derrick Jackson, Sleepy, Charles Smith and Iverson.

Now when you think about a team that was going to be taller, quicker and never got tired that led to a lot of physical intimidation of the opponents. I’d also say there was some “chip on the shoulder” aspect to all those teams, but that would lead to a much longer discussion. I do remember one of the great things JT II said to me once during a scrimmage “basketball fights last 2 punches, make sure you throw both of them”.

3.       JT III attacks the game from the offensive end and it comes from Carill. He values ball handling, spacing and movement of both players and ball. He will use long possessions to wear down opponents. Playing D for 35 seconds takes a lot more out of you than playing offense. But, as you say, his kids are very athletic. While JT II teams usually had a rotation of 9-11 players and JT III has until now had to suffice with 7-8. This is the first year that he has the possibility of 10-11 players who deserve time. I’d love to see him start to integrate a full court press and apply some of his dad’s stuff which up to now he hasn’t had the luxury of doing. In any event, it will be a fun season. We are guard dominated and there will be some games where we live by and die by jump shots. Keep up the blog, you’ll have an avid reader here.  

This is the first in a weekly special exclusive VIP guest column series entitled The State Of The Hoyas.  Enjoy.  

Monday night’s home opener was fun to watch and generally encouraging that there is life after Monroe.   Of course, I was equally optimistic last year by fun to watch and encouraging games like Butler, Washington, UCONN and Duke, though, before  Old Dominion, USF, Rutgers added up to Ohio.  This begs the question - what needs to be different this year to translate promise into greatness?

Watching this team Monday reminds me this is really JT III’s program now.  His first big recruits are seniors and the entire look of the team reflects his philosophy, performance and personality. And no matter where his imposing Dad sits, this is not his father’s team.

In fact father and son could not be further apart in how they approach basketball philosophy – everything from offensive schemes to on the bench demeanor.  To be sure they both played by the rules, demanded excellence and graduated  kids from the program.  But that, and the same last name, is about where the comparison ends.

More Thompson v. Thompson After The Jump:

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After spending three weekend afternoons at McDonough watching Kenner league action I think there is a lot to be excited about, and some things to worry about for next season.  First, as lame as it sounds, spending a Saturday and Sunday inside in the summer, the games are a lot of fun to watch and very high quality.   The gym fills up for the tombs games, but there are a lot of other great players in the other games.  It really is a slice of DC basketball elites, both young and old, with JTII sitting in a chair in the corner watching quietly and receiving, like royalty, every player on the way to the locker room, or hallway I think, to dress for the game.  It is worth an afternoon to catch a piece of authentic DC basketball.

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According to the NY Times this morning, the NCAA is looking into  another player recruited and coached by John Calipari.  It continues to amaze me that Calipari can have two NCAA final four appearances vacated and still is seen as the standard for college basketball coaching.  Not only is his reputation intact, it is actually enhanced to the point that there is open speculation about packaging a pro deal with Lebron.  Makes Calhoun look like a petty thief in comparison.  The old standard in the NCAA was it's ok to cheat as long as you don't get caught.  Now it seems that getting caught means getting a raise. If a player committed three crimes, he'd be doing hard time for a very long time.  Not so much for the role models.

I have three extra tickets courtesy of the georgetown that i can't use for Thursday night's game.  Don't know if they are any good but the price is right....they are free to any georgetown fan.   If you can produce a casual hoya headband i might even throw in a beer.  After spending 4 days in ny sitting amongst the various creatures that makeup Big East fans, i'd rather give these tickets to hoya fans then sell them to some country bumpkin bobcat fan.  First come, first serve.

And if anyone has any good ideas on good bars in the providence are for the friday down day....those would be welcome also.

Through a confluence of events i've had Georgetown, Notre Dame and Catholicism on my mind in the last twenty four hours. I don't normally believe in signs from God, in fact i've only had one such event in my life...more on that later, but i can't ignore this any longer.  (it might help to have 5 large beers before reading this like i did this afternoon if you really want to follow this)

Let's start at last night.  I went to a Georgetown event in nyc last night.  I never go to these things, but they were honoring my roomate and he's a great guy.  I sat next to President DeGoia(he's very conversant on the basketball team btw.) and caught up for Father Donovan who was at the next table.  I even spent a few minutes with Father Hentz who taught me about the problem of God even though i had to remind him i was a student of his many years ago.

Then this morning on the train, i passed my idle time casually reading the best blog on the internet and rereading dave marsh's springsteen biography.  The casual subject today was obviously the shortcomings of the fighting Irish.  It forced me to confront a long ago past conflict with the most religious person i've ever known, my grandmother.  A daily church- goer, my grandmother never quite came to terms with the fact I didn't go to Notre Dame.  And i mean that literally.  Her health failing my first year at Georgetown, she aggresively told the doctors and nurses at the hospital two things about her only grandson -- he was a Notre Dame graduate and he was currently in Rome at the Vatican as the personal assistant to the Pope. (For fact checkers -- I was a sophomore at Georgetown during these months.)

Ok so where does God guaranteeing a Georgetown win come in....i'm getting to that.  When i was at Georgetown i was a pretty serious student.  How i got there had something to do with it.  I applied to Georgetown as a high school senior and was rejected.  I remember a nice note with the forwarding numbers to the admissions office at Villanova and St Johns as more acceptable schools for a student of my "capabilites." 

After working hard at an obscure college in SW Virginia for a year, I applied to Georgetown as a transfer student.  Again I was rejected with a nice note suggesting that i look at more "realistic" schools for me.  Not to be deterred, I found our that a guy name Deacon was the head of admissions.  So i sent him a letter explaining the obvious mistake the school had made and informing him that despite the "miscommunication" i was still willing to attend Georgetown in the fall.  Of course he agreed and the letter of acceptance came about two weeks before school started.

Why am I telling this part of the story?   To underline how serious a student i was.  Being a serious student i was determined to ace the first big test at school.  The problem...the night before the test Bruce Springsteen was playing at the Capitol Center.  I had never seen Bruce, nor had i ever taken a test at Georgetown.  After much soul searching I went to the concert....and it was unbelievable and it went 4 hours and it required nearly a keg of beer to get through and, much to my dismay i had nothing left for that first test at Georgetown.

Enter the divine spirit. I showed up for the test severely hungover and ready to go back to SW Virginia.  As the teacher was passsing out the exams a swarm of bees, seriously, attacked the classroom.  Before you knew it, everyone had to evacuate the classroom and the exam the postponed.  From that moment on i believed there was a God.

So what does that have to do with tomorrow.  Driving home tonight from the office I was thinking about he game, about Georgetown and Notre Dame.  i put my XM radio on the E Street Radio Channel and they were playing an excellent live concert. When i looked down at the dial i couldn't believe it...it was November 2nd, 1978 at the Capitol Center...the very concert i attented 32 years ago.

Mark it down.  God doesn't mess around with Bruce and Georgetown.  He's decided.  We win tomorrow.

The Washington Post this morning contains this little nugget that shows how little Rutger's head coach Fred Hill knows about Georgetown.

"That's what makes Greg Monroe special. As a 6-10 forward, post player, whatever you want to call him, he's an outstanding passer," Rutgers Coach Fred Hill said. "He might be the best passing big man that I've seen in a long, long time watching tape and film of them, and he's expanded his game where he can go out and knock down a three. He's obviously very good in the post, so he's a tremendous matchup problem."

I think i've seen all the games this year and it's hard to imagine anyone thinking of Monroe as a three point threat. It will be interesting to see how he gears this defense to shut down Greg from beyond the arc.  One more big reason for Greg to hang out in the low post for awhile today.

Anyone watching Georgetown play this year has to be a little frustrated by the play of Greg Monroe.  He's obviously got incredible talent and he seems like a great kid who blends in well with the team.  But the only thing we can be sure of is not being able to predict which Monroe will show up.  (before last night i thought he only got up for big games.  so much for that theory).  Hoya fans are looking for the emergence of a dominant player while Greg seems intent on being a complimentary one on many nights.

What to do?  I've seen Coach Thompson prod him to be more aggressive.  One can assume his teamates wouldn't mind being put on his shoulders.  Who can get through to  him that we want more, we need more from him.

That's where Patrick Ewing and Alonzo Mourning come in.  Monroe has the natural talent of both of them.  What he lacks is the drive and intensity , maybe the meaness, they both brought to the court night after night.  Wouldn't it be great if they show up between now and Saturday to pay Greg a little visit?

Since it's not likely to happen, here's how my twisted brain hopes it would go if it did.

Thursday morning, McDonough Arena,  Hoyas are halfway through a morning practice when Alonzo Mourning and Patrick Ewing walk into the gym.

Patrick:  "Coach, we need to borrow number 10 for a few minutes.
Alonzo: "we've got something we want to talk to him about"

Patrick looking around the gym and the banners says to Chris Wright and Austin Freeman "You guys  actually lost two straight to Old Dominion in here?  For real?

Chris and Austin go back to practicing free throws.

Editors Note (i'm well aware that the language of the following exchange bears little resemblence to reality unless by some chance all three of these guys grew up in the same white suburban northeastern town that i did.   It's my dream and they'll all talk like middle aged, frustrated suburban basketball fans.  You feel me?)

Greg:  "Mr Ewing, Mr. Mourning, what are you doing here?

Patrick:  "Don't call me Mr. Ewing, call me sir. 

Alonzo:  "We've been watching you closely and you've got to change up some things.  You show a lot of promise, but  you've got to step up your game if you're going anywhere this year.

Greg: "like what?  We"ve got great chemistry this year, the team is really working well together.

Patrick: "Whose team is it?

Greg: "all of ours...and coach of course"

Alonzo:  "Wrong answer.  Its your team.  Your the best player, start acting like it.  Nobody needs you to put up forty points a game or anything, but you can't have a game with only five shots and not raise hell with the rest of the guys.  Don't ask for the ball, demand it.  Two years from now, the rest of the guys are not going to obsess on how many points they scored, they want an NCAA championship and only you can deliver it."

Greg:  "But we get along because we share, no stars here.

Patrick:  "Wrong again.  This isn't about getting along.  It's about winning.  Be a leader, demand the ball, play hard for every minute your out there.  Trust me they'll like you just fine when you're raising one of those banners.

Greg:  "You guys don't understand.  Didn't you see ESPN called me the best passing center in the country.

Alonzo: "That may be true, but you're not even the best passer on the team.  Look at your assist turnover ratio.  And exactly how many offensive rebounds do you get off those passes?

Greg:  "i"m just working in the system"

Patrick:  "We get it, you like making the perfect pass, backdoor cut, easy layup.  Greg...imagine how much easier that will be if the defense actually thinks you're going to shoot?  That taking it hard to the rack isn't the last option.  Try attacking the basket and then you can be Magic Johnson.

Alonzo "Here's a formula that worked for both of us which is team first because it will make your teamates better.  First, intimidate...block shots, rebound, hard fouls..maybe even a few loud snarls.  Your teamates will benefit if the other team is afraid of you..trust me..just ask Patrick.  Being a constant scoring threat.  You've got the talent to think shot first and the option to pass second."

Greg:  "I just like to let the game come to me, like all the stars."

Patrick:  "You've just fallen for the biggest load of horse shit that cable tv and dumb basketball writers dish out.  Great players don't let the game come to them, they impose themselves on the game."

Alonzo:  "You think MJ was letting the game come to him when he savagely dunked on Patrick in the playoffs?"

Patrick gets the look...you know the look

Alonzo: "Everything feeds off you.  Big rebounds, blocks and strong inside moves will set the tone. It's great you can pass, that helps. But so can everyone else.  Think about it this way...on Saturday I'm going to concentrate on the things that only i can do...intimidate, take it strong to the rack, rebound...and let the perimter players do what they do.

Patrick:  "The offense works, your teamates are strong, but they need more from you...doing the things they CAN'T do.

Greg: "Nothing wrong with finesse players, right?

Alonzo:  "Where do  you think you are, Duke?

Patrick: "Your fouls kill me.  Have you noticed you commit the majority of your fouls 20 feet from the basket or on offensive fouls that start 20 feet out?  You've got five fouls,  If you're going to use them, use them to send a message.  I guarantee that if you knock somebody on his ass driving to your basket that will stay with him a lot longer than a reach in at the top of the key."

Alonzo: "listen to Patrick..he knows what he's talking about.

Greg:  "I've got to admit, sometimes when the ball's not coming my way, i get a little bored.

Patrick:  "Really, i never noticed that.  This is Georgetown basketball, you're not in the ACC.  You play hard for forty minutes.  We don't take possesions off to watch the offense.  Demand the ball and let everybody know how pissed you are when you don't get it where you want it and when you want it.

Alonzo:  "The team and the crowd will feed of you.  Cool doesn't translate well in the Big East.  Who did better, Patick or Pearl Washington?

Greg: "I hear you guys, but coach wants finesse team.

Alonzo:  "Your wrong on that. He wants a smart, but aggressive team

Patrick: "It's in his genes.  He likes it when people scream and yell, he grew up with it.

Greg: "I get it, you're right, I'm going to be a different player from now on."  Any last words of advice?"

Patrick:  "Make every minute count, it will end all too soon.  You'll be in the pros soon and being paid millions to loaf and be cool. 

Alonzo:  "Only in America do we ask for supreme effort for free and pay millions to slack off.

Greg:  "Let me ask you guys one other thing.  You know Mutombo, Is that story about him actually true?"

Alonzo and Patrick walk away while both simultaneously text each other....."smh"

Dream meeting over....Greg you're great and a credit to the univeristy but we want more, we need more.

Today's Post story reminded me once again of how big the last game at Manley Field House was and how it shaped Georgetown basketball for the next decade.

Old people, of which i count myself as one, are fond of saying "things were different back then."  But remembering that game things really were different.  First of all, you could not watch the game even though it was the biggest game of the year.  ESPN had just been launched but DC didn't get cable until all of eastern europe was wired first and Dick Vitale was still making a living coaching in Detroit.

Diehard fans were forced to gather around radios to listen to the game with some young  guy with a weird last name calling the play by play.  My friends gathered at a dive bar/restaurant called Nicky's.  Nicky's was a good place to catch games because the beer was cheap, the cockroaches friendly and they had one of these new projection screens that was at least 25 inches...and yes there was color tv by then.

But it was quite a scene at Nicky's, which by the way became Brusara for awhile and is now something called Blue Ridge or blue something.  About 50 rabid fans drinking beer and listening to the radio.  I remember nearly getting blown out in the first half, at least some things have not changed, and then very slowly and painfully getting back into the game in the second half.  We all conjured up the picture of Syracuse wilting under the withering Georgetown pressure, Shelton and Duren, intimidating the Orange and yound Sleepy Floyd announcing himself to the basketball world. Conjured images because i'm not sure i've ever actually seen an actual highlight from that game.  And then Thompson absolutely earning his arrogant son of a bitch reputation by announcing to everyone one in the hall that Manley Field House was officially closed.

If you chronicle Georgetown basketball, this really was the night things changed.  It wasn't when Ewing signed or we went to the Final Four.  It was the night we closed the Field House.

The biggest change for me was all about expectations.  Before that night, we didn't expect that much from the team except a good excuse to watch a game, drink some beer and blow off some steam.  Remeber, the games were rarely on TV, we played in a 3000 seat on campus gym and Craig Shelton, John Duren and Steve Martin were not the subject of cable tv profiles, blogs or radio talk shows.

But after that night we really did start expecting things.  And this team delivered.  Shelton, Floyd and Duren took us within one point of reaching the final four losing to a very good Iowa team at the Spectrum.  Just a couple days before, Georgetown had shocked the Albert King led Maryland team in the Sweet Sixteen.  Within a year Ewing was recruited and we all know what happened.

This isn't about I wish things were like the way the used to be, it was a simpler time, people got along.  Not a chance.  I wouldn't trade any great time at McDonough or rooting for the the underrated dangerous team which Georgetown pre 1979 always seemed to be( i can still see the look of shock on Holy Cross' Ronnie Perry at the Holiday Festival at MSG in '78 and don't get me going on the Missouri game at McDonough) for what they accomplished over the next three decades.  Plus the six days in New Orleans was the best week of college, at least what i remember of it. 

It is about a game and a rivalry that changed Georgetown basketball.  So it all goes back to the Orange.   i'm all for hating them, but after we win tonight we should also thank them for being the victim of a program changing ass whipping and changing things forever.  And, when we inevitably fall short of expectations for a year or two, or an entire esherickian era, we can also blame the Orange for raising our own expectations.  God, i really hate everything about Syracuse.

Note..if this sounds too much like something on hoyatalk, please feel free to ban me for life.

It's one thing to watch your opponent continually find open looks on three pointers.  It's frustrating when they hit almost fifty percent of those open looks.  But what's hard to take is hearing the coach and team say they designed their defense to take away the three point opportunities.

But if that was true, why did the Hoyas shift to zone, as they've done all season, on under the basket out of bounds plays.  by my count, more than half of the Marquette three's came against a zone that was implemented to defense the out of bounds play.  While they were not all off designed out of bounds plays, the sad fact is once this team sets the zone they don't yet know how to shift defense during a possession. To underline this and how important it was to the outcome, the hoyas actually played man to man off an out of bounds play.

So exactly how was the defense designed to stop the three when for 36 minutes the default defense in an out of bounds situation was to go to a zone?