When Patrick Ewing took the Georgetown job, so much of the focus was put on the coaching differences between the NBA and College Basketball. And, just like anything else, some of those points were valid and others weren’t. As time goes on, the NBA looks more like FIBA and less like College Basketball. But, one of the similarities between the two is that the coaches need to be able to trust the guards to make good decision, especially late in games.
So, as many of the Georgetown faithful left the arena disappointed after blowing a 20 point lead in their overtime loss to Butler, the bigger worry going forward is how does Coach Patrick Ewing help his young guards manage the landscape of a game? This wasn’t a loss where Butler got hot and hit a bunch of three’s. The Bulldogs came back by attacking the Hoya guards on both ends of the floor.
Down 18 at halftime, Butler head coach, LaVall Jordan, employed a full court press in the second half that sped up the Hoyas guards. In speeding them up in the back court, it slowed the Hoyas down in the front court. When asked about whether he knew speeding up the Georgetown guards would be effective, Coach Jordan said “part of it was that, the other part was we wanted to change our energy.”
And that’s exactly what happened. The Bulldogs energy kept rising as Georgetown struggled to handle pressure. Hoya sophomore guard, Jagan Mosely, was the only rotation guard who didn’t have a turnover and he wasn’t in during crunch time. Coach Ewing stayed with senior guard Jonathan Mulmore (4 turnovers) and freshman Jahvon Blair (4 turnovers). Both struggled to get the Hoyas into their offense especially when Butler went to a 3-2 zone. As the turnovers mounted, so did the uncertainty.
“Turnovers. Turnovers. Turnovers hurt us. We turned it over 16 times (21 for the game). They got 22 points off our turnovers. They went zone and we started settling for jump shots” said Coach Ewing
An underrated part of playing the guard position, especially in college, is the ability to launch the offense. Under John Thompson III it was more noticeable when they struggled to get into their sets but one could argue that it is more impactful when trying to run the pro sets Coach Ewing has implemented. Those sets depend on guards being able to get downhill to force the defense to shift their responsibilities and get out of position.
Not only does this open up the perimeter players but also it allows Jessie Govan and Marcus Derrickson room to operate in the paint. With the Hoya guards struggling, Butler was able to go zone and pack the paint on any dump down which contributed to Govan’s 6-16 shooting struggles. “He needs to do a better job of being able to take the hit” said Coach Ewing. But, in the first half when the Hoyas went 4 out and 1 in with Derrickson inside, the guards were moving the ball confidently and Derrickson was getting single coverage in the paint. In the second half and the overtimes, the guards weren’t confident in their play and Govan paid the price.
All this impacted the Hoyas on defense where Butler guard, Kamir Baldwin, scored 31 points in 49 minutes of play. Most of the points were on simple screen and rolls where they Hoya guards couldn’t keep him out of the paint. Because the guards were working so hard on the offensive end, they dipped on the defense end and it showed as the key stat (besides the points) for Baldwin was 1 turnover for the game.
Even when the guards weren’t “on ball” they didn’t get into help on time. As Butler went more and more to their leading scorer, Kelan Martin, in the second overtime, Derrickson actually played good defense on the screen and roll. The difference was the Hoya guards never came down to dig on Martin allowing him to have the confidence to continuously drive the ball to the basket knowing it would be a one on one match up. Martin ended the game with 27 points including the game winner with 2.6 seconds left. If the guards get there and dig with the ability to recover they make that shot more difficult than what it was. As hot as Martin was, maybe he still makes it but the guards inability to execute on either side of the ball certainly made it easier.
With Georgetown heading on the road to Marquette, getting the guard play to improve will be key. In both of Georgetown’s losses, they have blown double digit leads because they’ve failed to execute on offense. Coach Ewing said with about six minutes to go it’s “winning time” and he’s right. In close conference games the last few minutes not only could decide the game but also could define your season. And for the Hoyas to have the season they’re looking for, they must keep their guard up in crunch time.
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