Opponent: Providence College Friars
Location: Dunkin’ Donuts Center
TV: 5pm on FS1
Line: Georgetown +10.5
Georgetown (6-8, 0-3) heads to Providence (14-2, 4-1) looking to break a four game losing streak.
The Hoyas should be completely healthy when they face the Friars.
“As far as I know, everybody is back, everybody is available,” said head coach Patrick Ewing.
Donald Carey hasn’t played since the TCU game. Kobe Clark is also expected to return. Even Ewing himself was sidelined for two games.
Providence is also having health issues. The Friars expect to only have the minimum of seven players for tonight’s game. The Friars haven’t played since January 8th when they defeated St. John’s, 83-73.
Ebb and Flow
Aminu Mohammed’s Georgetown career got off to a fast start. Early on, the five-star prospect showed why he was Preseason Big East Freshman of the Year in the Big East.
But, as of late, Mohammed has had some up-and-down performances, in part, because teams have film on him. When Mohammed drives, he tends to dip his head and opponents are starting to wall off his drives. Mohammed hasn’t shown that he’s willing to pull up and consistently hit the pull up jumper nor has he been able to be a high-level creator because his eye level isn’t where it should be.
Mohammed also hasn’t been efficient with ball beyond two dribbles. His ball security becomes inefficient in traffic and in space.
These are all correctable issues and is certainly not something uncommon to freshman. No matter how many stars are beside a player’s name, there is an adjustment period not only to the college game but to new teammates and new system.
What could help Mohammed is something as simple as Georgetown getting an explosive wing player, either through recruiting or the portal, to make defenses shift enough to open driving lanes. Of course, this isn’t something that can happen until next season at the soonest.
Inside Scoring
Staying on the freshman theme, Jalin Billingsley is the most creative scorer among Ewing’s bigs. Timothy Ighoefe is more of a put-back threat who can finish dump offs from a penetrator. Ryan Mutombo has shown he can make moves in the post and finish the short jumper. Something, as time goes on, could make him the next impactful Georgetown big man.
But Billingsley is the one who can put the ball on the floor from 10 feet and create at the front of the rim. He can also hit the mid-range jump shot. That’s something Georgetown doesn’t have a lot of. Like Muhammed, as a freshman, he’s going to have up-and-downs but the talent is there. Now he needs the opportunity, in way of minutes, to grow into that player.
