GEORGETOWN HOYAS, 25-7 (14-4)
Losto Florida Gulf Coast in the NCAA 2nd Round
Head Coach: John Thompson III - JT3 has been the coach at Georgetown since 2004. He played at Princeton and was an assistant their before being the head man from 2000-2004. JT3 has one Final Four under his belt but his Hoyas have been eliminated from the NCAA tournament the last 5 seasons by double digit seeds.
NCAA History:
National Champion: 1984
Final 4: 1943, 1982, 1984, 1985, 2007
Elite 8's: 9, most recently 2007
Georgetown was national runner-up in 1982 & 1985, losing in two of the most famous games ever. In '82, they lost to the North Carolina Tar Heels and Michael Jordan's late shot followed by Freddie Brown's turnover and in 1985 to fellow Big East member, Villanova who played a near-flawless game to beat the heavily favored Hoyas. Last season, Georgetown became the latest 15-seed to lose as they were run off the court by Florida Gulf Coast.
2013-14 Glance: Georgetown wasn't expected to be as good as they were last season, so it may be a bit unfair to criticize them too much for their loss to FGCU. Still, five straight losses to double digit seeds leaves Hoya fans a bit antsy. Losing Otto Porter probably doesn't help. Porter was all-everything for Georgetwon last season but the cupboard is far from bare.
The Hoyas lost a lot of pieces from the 2011-2012 team and did just fine last season and should survive the loss of Porter. They'll have SR. PG, Markel Starks back and his running mate in the backcourt will be SOPH D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera who averaged 8.9 ppg. Smith-Rivera had a 33 point game against DePaul last season. Shouldn't surprise anyone one if Smith-Rivera is a breakout player in the Big East this season. JR Jabril Trawick will see plenty of time as well.
SR. F Nate Lubick retuns to lead the frontcourt. Lubick shot 59.1% from the field last year to go with about 5 boards per game. Lubick is known more for his defense but may get more looks inside this year sans Porter. He'll be joined by JR. Mikael Hopkins and Freshmen Reggie Cameron. Also expected to see time will be SOPH Stephen Domingo and JR. Moses Ayegba.
Georgetown has two wild cars in UCLA transfer big man Josh Smith and JR Greg Whittington. Smith was a productive player for UCLA as a freshmen but has battled weight issues the last two years. If he's in shape, he can be a key player for the Hoyas. Whittington was suspended at the beginning of Big East play and missed the rest of the season. To make matters worse, he tore an ACL and his availability is uncertain and one would guess, his effectiveness. Probably best case scenario would be rounding into form by the Big East tournamnet.
Most pundits are picking Georgetown in the top 3 of the conference. Sounds about right and a battle for the top spot wouldn't surprise. It'll be important for the conference moving forward that Georgetown is a factor and perennial contender.
Georgetown Basketball Blogs: casualhoya.com
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