Donte' Greene, Georgetown's guards, West Virginia
1. I spent all of yesterday's post talking about freshmen, and I didn't even get to my favorite, my freshman of the year so far: Syracuse's Donte' Greene. His stats aren't as gaudy as Michael Beasley's -- about 19 points and nine rebounds per game before tonight's 20 and 10 performance at Virginia -- but he's got the same smooth interior game and the same comfort from three-point range. He's quicker and a better leaper than Beasley, and listed at 6' 11", he's at least an inch taller than his counterpart at Kansas State. I say "at least" because on the Jimmy V broadcast, ESPN's Dan Shulman indicated that Beasley is closer to 6'8" than his listed 6'10".
Of course, his teammates are better, and that helps his cause. Still, NBADraft.net has Greene listed as the third overall pick in their 2008 mock draft, well ahead of O.J. Mayo and Indiana's Eric Gordon (someone I'm looking forward to seeing more of so I can post about him here).
2. During the Georgetown-Alabama broadcast tonight, ESPN's Jimmy Dykes said that with last year's top pick, Greg Oden, no longer around, Roy Hibbert might be the toughest player to guard in this year's NCAA Tournament. He added a caveat: "If he gets the ball."
I'll echo Dykes here, at the risk of repeating myself, because it's been my contention since last year that Georgetown's guards don't look for the 7'2" Hibbert enough. (Prior to that, my contention was that Hibbert wasn't good enough to deserve looks on offense -- the big guy's come a long way during his college career).
Last year, they could get away with it, because they had Jeff Green, a wonderful college player and the 5th overall pick in last year's draft. Green's now starting in the frontcourt of the NBA's Seattle Supersonics, so the Hoyas' focus really needs to be on Hibbert.
It's concerning, then, that Hibbert got just four shots against Alabama. It wasn't because of foul trouble, something that's been an Achilles heel for him in the past -- it's just that Georgetown's guards weren't looking for him. During one sequence, Hoya guard Jesse Sapp launched a three-pointer after a couple of passes without Hibbert getting a touch on the possession. After no doubt being hollered at from the sideline for taking a quick shot, Sapp caught the ball on the next Hoya offensive trip and missed another three-pointer, again before Hibbert had touched the ball.
Further compounding matters is that when 'bama was playing man-to-man, Richard Hendrix, a 22 point-per-game scorer and the Tide's best offensive player, was guarding Hibbert -- and giving up six inches and 20 pounds in doing so. Yet the guards wasted the opportunity to tire opposition's star out or get him in foul trouble.
What's most maddening about this is that Georgetown's guards are nothing special. They're decidedly average for a top-division team in a power conference. Most, perhaps all (I don't know enough about Pitt yet) teams in the top ten -- Georgetown is fourth in the coaches' poll and 5th in the writers' poll -- have a significantly better backcourt than the Hoyas, but none of them have anything approaching Hibbert in the post.
Ohio State had this problem at times last year with Oden, but at least the Buckeyes' had good guards (who had grown used to playing without the big freshman, since he sat out the non-conference schedule with a wrist injury).
Georgetown's guards refusal to pass the ball to Hibbert (and Green) last year nearly cost them their Sweet 16 matchup with Vanderbilt -- only Green's controversial bucket at the buzzer allowed them to be in the position to stun North Carolina with a stirring comeback to reach the Final Four. If coach John Thompson III can't get through to them that Hibbert needs to touch the ball on basically every possession, then the Hoyas won't even make it that far.
And I want it on record that from the beginning, I've thought this year's Georgetown team is overrated. Green's presence last year hid their deficiencies in the backcourt, which will be exposed this season.
3. Michigan coach John Beilein's unique offensive attack requires a certain type of player: one who is cerebral, a skilled and willing passer, and who has a good three-point shot. That requirement makes his job this year particularly tough, as he tries to coach a team full of guys recruited by former Wolverine boss Tommy Amaker.
I think his job is easier, however, than Bob Huggins' at West Virginia, the school Beilein left to take the Michigan job. It's always tough for someone disconnected from the previous coach to take over a program, but Beilein's "type" of player make it particularly difficult to take over from him unless you're going to run the same system. (Not to mention that Huggins is a just a touch more in-your-face with his players than Beilein). Huggins' options this year are to learn and coach an offense that fits his personnel but that he's unfamiliar with (and may or may not be philosophically opposed to); coach "his" style of ball with kids unsuited to play it; or adapt a hybrid of both styles.
He's chosen to adapt, and it looked good, at least, Wednesday night against an Auburn squad that had me impressed in a win over George Washington this weekend (though in retrospect, their performance on Sunday might have been inflated by a poor GW team). The West Virgina kids surely help some -- they already know the offense, are more athletic, and have more ability to create off the dribble than past Beilein teams -- but give credit to Huggins for having his alma mater playing well this early in his first season.
What will be interesting to see is what happens next year, when Huggins' first recruiting class at the school mix with the leftovers from the Beilein era. Huggins' typical recruit is more athletic and less fundamentally sound than the kids that Beilein brought to Morgantown. And without getting too nasty about it and knowing nothing specific about Huggins' highly regarded 2008 recruiting class, let me just say that I don't remember any of Beilein's recruits having the kind of attitude and background concerns that seemed to follow so many of Huggins' kids at Cincinnati.
As challenging as this year is for the coach, meshing that group next year may be an even tougher task.
Of course, his teammates are better, and that helps his cause. Still, NBADraft.net has Greene listed as the third overall pick in their 2008 mock draft, well ahead of O.J. Mayo and Indiana's Eric Gordon (someone I'm looking forward to seeing more of so I can post about him here).
2. During the Georgetown-Alabama broadcast tonight, ESPN's Jimmy Dykes said that with last year's top pick, Greg Oden, no longer around, Roy Hibbert might be the toughest player to guard in this year's NCAA Tournament. He added a caveat: "If he gets the ball."
I'll echo Dykes here, at the risk of repeating myself, because it's been my contention since last year that Georgetown's guards don't look for the 7'2" Hibbert enough. (Prior to that, my contention was that Hibbert wasn't good enough to deserve looks on offense -- the big guy's come a long way during his college career).
Last year, they could get away with it, because they had Jeff Green, a wonderful college player and the 5th overall pick in last year's draft. Green's now starting in the frontcourt of the NBA's Seattle Supersonics, so the Hoyas' focus really needs to be on Hibbert.
It's concerning, then, that Hibbert got just four shots against Alabama. It wasn't because of foul trouble, something that's been an Achilles heel for him in the past -- it's just that Georgetown's guards weren't looking for him. During one sequence, Hoya guard Jesse Sapp launched a three-pointer after a couple of passes without Hibbert getting a touch on the possession. After no doubt being hollered at from the sideline for taking a quick shot, Sapp caught the ball on the next Hoya offensive trip and missed another three-pointer, again before Hibbert had touched the ball.
Further compounding matters is that when 'bama was playing man-to-man, Richard Hendrix, a 22 point-per-game scorer and the Tide's best offensive player, was guarding Hibbert -- and giving up six inches and 20 pounds in doing so. Yet the guards wasted the opportunity to tire opposition's star out or get him in foul trouble.
What's most maddening about this is that Georgetown's guards are nothing special. They're decidedly average for a top-division team in a power conference. Most, perhaps all (I don't know enough about Pitt yet) teams in the top ten -- Georgetown is fourth in the coaches' poll and 5th in the writers' poll -- have a significantly better backcourt than the Hoyas, but none of them have anything approaching Hibbert in the post.
Ohio State had this problem at times last year with Oden, but at least the Buckeyes' had good guards (who had grown used to playing without the big freshman, since he sat out the non-conference schedule with a wrist injury).
Georgetown's guards refusal to pass the ball to Hibbert (and Green) last year nearly cost them their Sweet 16 matchup with Vanderbilt -- only Green's controversial bucket at the buzzer allowed them to be in the position to stun North Carolina with a stirring comeback to reach the Final Four. If coach John Thompson III can't get through to them that Hibbert needs to touch the ball on basically every possession, then the Hoyas won't even make it that far.
And I want it on record that from the beginning, I've thought this year's Georgetown team is overrated. Green's presence last year hid their deficiencies in the backcourt, which will be exposed this season.
3. Michigan coach John Beilein's unique offensive attack requires a certain type of player: one who is cerebral, a skilled and willing passer, and who has a good three-point shot. That requirement makes his job this year particularly tough, as he tries to coach a team full of guys recruited by former Wolverine boss Tommy Amaker.
I think his job is easier, however, than Bob Huggins' at West Virginia, the school Beilein left to take the Michigan job. It's always tough for someone disconnected from the previous coach to take over a program, but Beilein's "type" of player make it particularly difficult to take over from him unless you're going to run the same system. (Not to mention that Huggins is a just a touch more in-your-face with his players than Beilein). Huggins' options this year are to learn and coach an offense that fits his personnel but that he's unfamiliar with (and may or may not be philosophically opposed to); coach "his" style of ball with kids unsuited to play it; or adapt a hybrid of both styles.
He's chosen to adapt, and it looked good, at least, Wednesday night against an Auburn squad that had me impressed in a win over George Washington this weekend (though in retrospect, their performance on Sunday might have been inflated by a poor GW team). The West Virgina kids surely help some -- they already know the offense, are more athletic, and have more ability to create off the dribble than past Beilein teams -- but give credit to Huggins for having his alma mater playing well this early in his first season.
What will be interesting to see is what happens next year, when Huggins' first recruiting class at the school mix with the leftovers from the Beilein era. Huggins' typical recruit is more athletic and less fundamentally sound than the kids that Beilein brought to Morgantown. And without getting too nasty about it and knowing nothing specific about Huggins' highly regarded 2008 recruiting class, let me just say that I don't remember any of Beilein's recruits having the kind of attitude and background concerns that seemed to follow so many of Huggins' kids at Cincinnati.
As challenging as this year is for the coach, meshing that group next year may be an even tougher task.
posted by H.S. Slam, Ph.D at 2:15 AM
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