Georgetown and Creighton meet tonight for the second game of a home-and-home.
The Hoyas (6-17, 0-12) struggles are well chronicled. Their last win came on December 15th.
At times, Georgetown has been very impressive in losses. There have been games where the Hoyas have had impressive stretches followed by the lack of offensive continuity. Then there have been the stinkers. Such is life during a 13-game losing streak.
Last Saturday’s 80-66 loss to Creighton (15-8, 7-5) saw Georgetown have stretches of competitiveness but they closed the game bouts of inefficiency.
The most egregious mistake was the Hoyas inability to guard Ryan Hawkins. It wasn’t like Hawkins wasn’t on the scouting report but anytime penetrated to Hawkins’ side of the floor, the Hoyas would overhelp and leave Hawkins wide open.
Hawkins would finish the games with 30 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists.
When asked about Hawkins, Georgetown head coach, Patrick Ewing said “He made shots”. That he did but, as Ewing would further explain, Creighton was able to generate their spacing via pick and roll.
Georgetown also found a way to make Ryan Kalkbrenner a force. He finished Saturday’s game scoring 22 points and grabbing 15 rebounds (7 offensive). It was his first double-double since his 18 point-10 rebound performance against DePaul.
So the big question for tonight’s game is, what adjustments will Georgetown make?
Lets start out with defending the pick and roll. The problem truly lies with the player guarding the screener. Way too often, Georgetown’s defenders are too slow in recovering back to the player that rolls. What this causes the defense to do is pinch on the strong side. As long as the offensive player recognizes and relocates, he’s going to get a clean look because the close out is too long.
The problem with going into drop-coverage in Georgetown’s on-ball defense hasn’t been consistent enough to stop penetration and paint touches. That leads to kick out threes both strong and weak side along with lobs to the player rolling.
If Georgetown wants to defend better, Ewing will need to find a scheme that can help his big guys defend the screen and roll action better.
It will be interesting to see if Ewing starts Malcolm Wilson tonight.
On offense, the number of one-pass, no-pass possessions have to lessen. Georgetown have given up sizable runs because the offense tends to panic and force things that lead to long rebounds and run-outs.
The change needs to start with Dante Harris’ decision making and shooting. Harris was 5-16 from the field on Saturday. He hasn’t shot the ball well all season. In part because he seems to think he’s a shoot first point guard. Something he didn’t do last season and, up to this moment, it’s apparent that it’s something he isn’t.
The other thing Georgetown needs to look to happen is Aminu Mohammed’s ability to score. At some point in the season (or next), Mohammed has to expand the floor with his jump shot. One would think that’s something he’s working on before and after practice. If so, it needs to show itself in games. If it doesn’t, teams will continue to wall up at the basket when he puts the ball on the floor.
Georgetown-Creighton 9 pm on FS1
