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A battle of the 0-3’s take place in the packed house, known to some as “The Bank” and others as “wait Georgetown still plays here?”
Usually, I just insert a generic lead into a “let’s get into it” and get on with the keys to the game, but I grew up a Georgetown fan. Like a hugeeeeeee Georgetown fan. As a current Butler student and the Butler writer here at RTTG, this is probably my one chance to strike while the iron is sort of hot. So instead, of just getting right into this game, I want to take a chance to talk about my thoughts on the state of the program.
*If you’re a Butler fan, or generally just don’t care about what I have to say on Georgetown’s program, scroll until you see a really stupid gif and we’ll get started*
Obviously, growing up I loved sports. I’m from the DC area, so pretty much all my allegiances are the local teams. But, I never would’ve said I was a “diehard” Footballs fan (despite watching just about every game), just because of how much Georgetown Basketball meant to me growing up. My dad didn’t go to Georgetown, and my mom only did for grad school, but just about everyone else in my extended family did.
My dad had also been going to Georgetown games, with my grandfather, since he was a kid. My grandfather went to Georgetown all the way back in the old days and actually taught there for a little while, too. He lived right near the school and everything, he lives and breaths Georgetown. He was a season ticket holder for an incredibly long time, but just recently decided to give them up.
I’ve been going to Georgetown games for as long as I can remember. I went to the Colorado game in Hinkle, my dad actually drove all the way up to join me for that one. I’d even go to all those little meet-and-greet things they used to have. Here’s a picture of me, when I was a much younger lad, with Hoya legend Roy Hibbert. It's a picture of a picture I took like six years ago, from an assignment I did as a second-grader, but I didn't want to dig for the actual one.
If I made this the social image, it'd get some good clicks, right? Might have to do that instead of a photoshop.
So yeah, I've grown up with this program. All my first sports memories are Georgetown-related. My very first sports memory is Roy Hibbert hitting the shot to beat UConn (probably because it was told to me, but alas), I remember crying after they lost to Davidson, I remember exactly where I was during FGCU, I remember being at the Duke game when Obama was there, etc. I could go on, but I think I’ve proved my point.
man, Capital One Arena/Verizon Center used to be popping
But, once I finally became old enough to really be locked in as a fan, and like actually know what was going on, they started to stink. The first year I can point to, where I remember enough, was the DSR 4 seed year, where they beat Tyler Harvey, Venky Jois and Eastern Washington, before losing to a Utah team that had three future NBA players. That’s been the high point, and well, nothing has really come close.
Then came the end of the JT3 era, and onto the Ewing era. And to say this has been a failure of epic proportions is a massive understatement. My goodness, how the mighty have fallen. It’s one thing if the program cared, but they just don’t. Ewing, for whatever reason, somehow kept his job after going 0-20. He’s made one tournament in five years, and it was due to an incredibly lucky BET run all because Collin Gillespie got injured. That run was awesome, but it wasn’t sustainable. Ewing has never finished with an above .500 conference record. As of now, he’s 26-65 in the conference, for a 28.6% winning percentage. Somehow, in a sport where you get like six or seven free wins a year, he’s 20 games under .500 as a coach. It’s abysmal.
Around the Summer of 2018/2019, I got an internship with the Georgetown Athletic Department. They were tremendously understaffed in terms of operations people, and my dad made *wayyy* too many calls to get me this gig, of course without telling me. My boss during my time there, Jason, is the hardest-working person I have ever seen. He was handling the operations of the ENTIRE athletic department as one person. It was insane. He brought me in to try to help, and really the best I could do was carry some small things, move some files and stuff, and fill out contact sheets. Twice a week, for a good portion of the summer.
Nobody and I mean nobody, worked harder than Jason. I don’t think it was possible. He was always in a rush, always trying to balance seven different things, and yet always incredibly nice to me, a clueless high school student. I know what you're thinking, “ok, why the heck is he bringing this up,” well because I’ve got a story to tell. It’s small, but I think it really epitomizes the reasons this program has failed.
I was walking back from doing some incredibly minute task (probably like picking up papers off the printer or something) and walked past a couple of other employees. They were talking about how basketball season was ramping up and how they were dreading it. It’s work, but this wasn’t in the typical “ughhhh more work” kind of way. I was curious, so I asked why. I was brushed off the first time, but eventually, I got an answer from someone. Paraphrasing, the answer I got was “we don’t actually get to do our jobs, we just get yelled at and bossed around. We get told to do things that don’t really make sense, have to show up to a separate building early, just to get berated on what we’re to do.”
UHHHH WHAT?????? This was pretty early in the Ewing tenure, and I never thought about it again. Until a little while ago, when I finally realized, this was the culture around the program, the whole time. Not only was basketball so isolated from the athletic department (which it is, everyone else has offices around each other, but basketball, everyone deals with the same people, but basketball, etc.), they think they have the power to boss people around. When they can’t even win games. They built a culture of toxicity, which really shows in how many guys leave the team.
This is from former Hoya, Chris Wright, one of the basketball alumni who still care and someone I looked up to as a kid. Hell, I'm supposed to wear #4 for my intramural team coming up, and Wright's a reason why I picked that number.
So we fast forward to today, and this program I care so deeply about has been run straight into the ground. There’s no other way to put it. They’re a joke. They’re an insult to the Big East, they can’t win games and I can't pay attention to this team. I think I missed like two Georgetown games during my entire high school career and now I struggle to pay attention whenever I turn them on. I just get glued to my phone. This is the least attached to the Georgetown program I have ever been. I really try to care, but I just can’t. I didn’t think it was possible for me to care so little about a program that has defined so much of who I am, but here we are. There’s no shot I’m as much of a college basketball nerd as I am without Georgetown, there’s no shot I go to Butler without Georgetown basketball, there’s no shot I’m the person I am today without Georgetown basketball. Yet, I find myself caring so little about this program because the people involved don’t seem to give a damn.
I’m almost impressed with how Patrick Ewing isn't bothered by the impact this has on his legacy. He’s one of the 50 greatest basketball players of all time, yet to me, he will always be the failed basketball coach. I don’t remember him as an NBA legend, I wasn’t alive then. I’ve heard stories about how great he was as a player, and I’ve gone back and watched games/highlights. But that’s not the same as experiencing it, as living it. To me, he will always be the worst coach in Division One basketball, and maybe, just maybe, the guy who killed Georgetown Basketball, the program I once loved so much.
This is distracting enough, right? But also Wix, give me a jump-to-page button ffs. I wouldn't have to do this dumb stuff. I also searched 'STOPPPPPP" and this came up, I have no idea why. I was thinking I'd get a dude running headfirst into a stop sign or something, but instead, we have this.
Point Guard Play
Primo Spears has been Georgetown’s best player in so many of their games. He’s their leading scorer, he’s the guy they run all their offense through, he just about does it all. There’s nobody who hits that pull-up midrange jumper quite like Primo Spears. He almost used that jumper to single-handedly beat UConn. I have no idea how he always hits this shot, but he does.
But really, this key is here for Butler. Man, they’ve gotten nothing from the PG position in conference play. Eric Hunter Jr is struggling. Big time. He’s averaging 1.3PPG, 1APG and 2.7 turnovers per game, while averaging 30 minutes per contest, over the last three games. He’s shooting 2/16 from the field and 0/8 from three. Butler will have to look elsewhere at PG while Hunter looks to regain form.
The question is though, who do they look to? Chuck Harris took the reps at PG during the end of the Providence game. Granted, that game was well out of reach, but maybe they look to him. Simas Lukosius was brought in as a point guard, returned for his second season and has mostly had to play big out of necessity. He’s 6’7”, but he still leads the team in assists, and maybe can take over lead guard reps. Maybe Myles Tate, can step up and play some minutes at the lead guard spot, though he’s coming off of an illness and seemingly was the dreaded DNP-CD in a couple of games.
If it was me, Simas Lukosius and Chuck Harris would split the majority of reps at PG, while the team hopefully can find some offense. I don’t know how either deal with the speed and shiftiness of Primo Spears, and if this turns into an iso vs iso, like Providence did, I’d favor Spears.
Tempo
Generally, speaking Butler has struggled with teams that are vastly more athletic than them. They’ve struggled with everyone in the Big East, but with someone like Devin Carter, Providence’s most athletic player, looking like prime MJ, this feels like the perfect time to bring this up. Just about the only thing Georgetown does well is utilize their athleticism.
Primo Spears is one of the shiftiest guards in the country. He’s a blur on the break. Brandon Murray is an excellent athlete. When he’s on, he’s an incredible scorer who’s effective at all three levels. He finishes well through contact and is shooting over 40% from three. Georgetown is at its best when these games look like street ball games, when these guys can get out in transition and rely solely on their talent and athleticism.
Butler started off the season trying to run but has stepped back on the tempo front. It’s one thing to run with New Orleans, but it’s another to try to do it with Tennessee. They learned that pretty fast and decided to dial it back as far as tempo goes. In this game especially, slow it down. Georgetown under Patrick Ewing is generally terrible in these slower games. They don’t know how to defend for a good thirty seconds and you take away what they do best, get out and run. If you can control the tempo, Georgetown will make mistakes. If you let them run, Georgetown can actually look good.
The Three-Point Line
In the past four seasons, Georgetown has finished ranked 324, 193 (BET run), 330 and now 302 in three-point percentage defense. And I can assure you, before the run started, that three-point defense was also in the 300’s. They can’t defend the three. Funnily enough, Georgetown is also 348th in the country in most three-point attempts allowed and 346th in most made threes allowed per game. So, not only are they atrocious at defending the three-point line, they basically give those shots to you!
This tweet is from four years ago, and if I told you it was sent this season, you'd believe me
For Butler, they need to make threes to win games. Their three-point shooting splits, as I will continue to point out, are absolutely mind-boggling.
At this point, it’s undeniable. If Butler shoots well from three, they’ll probably win. If they don’t, they might not be competitive. So for this game, it comes down to this. Can Butler generate open three-point looks and knock them down, or will Georgetown’s three-point defense show up?
Prediction:
This game has a flat-out coaching mismatch. There’s no other way to put it. I think Georgetown has the more talented roster, even. I mean they have: The #2 ranked transfer in the country according to Stadium, a former five-star recruit, a center who started on a team that won the Big East Tournament, a guard who’s averaged double digits in both the ACC and Pac-12 on efficient shooting, multiple four stars off the bench (who don’t play for some reason), the MEAC freshman of the year, a grad transfer who scored 16PPG at his previous school, and I haven’t even mentioned their current leading scorer, or the Big East Tournament Most Oustanding Player who was on the roster at the beginning of the year (and somehow Georgetown hasn’t acknowledged his transfer cuz again I guess they think they can take a dump and it lights up a room).
But, Patrick Ewing, in my mind the worst coach in D1 basketball (and it’s not all that close) against Thad Matta, one of the better coaches of this generation, who has coached 18 seasons, never been under .500 in any season (better than PE’s overall winning percentage) and only finished below .500 in conference once. That’s a mismatch of epic proportions.
Didn't think I'd ever be able to relate hypothetical MMA matches to college basketball, but here we are
Georgetown might start out fast. They might come out lightning hot and push the pace. But eventually, coach Matta will adjust and find the holes in the Swiss Cheese-like Georgetown defense. Truly, I think you could give Coach Matta a team of the guys Georgetown doesn’t play (four stars Jordan Riley, Denver Anglin, Ryan Mutombo, and others) and Matta would beat a Ewing-led team.
I see how Butler could lose this game too. They try to get in a track meet with Georgetown, try to boat-race them, go iso-hero-ball mode at the end of the game and lose that way. That’s how Georgetown wins this game. They can out-athlete Butler, and if Butler plays selfishly, Primo Spears and Brandon Murray are the two best isolation scorers on the floor.
Ok, so I’ve mentioned here that I’m a Butler student but grew up a huge Hoyas fan. So what am I rooting for?
I want Butler to absolutely curb-stomp this Hoyas team. No mercy. Keep the foot on the gas and on their throats. Come out here ready to dominate and NEVER let up. I want DeGioia to have to watch every solitary second as Butler absolutely dismantles these Hoyas. I want DC native Chuck Harris to go for 30 40 points, and to just celebrate all over the Capital One Arena Floor. I want this game SOOOOO badly. It’s literally a win-win for me if Georgetown gets humiliated.
So has that factored into my prediction? Probably. But as long as Butler can play a smart game and knock down outside shots, this seems like a good bounce-back, buy-low spot. If they lose this one though… idk what I’m gonna do.
Start my year off right, Bulldogs. Curb stomp these Hoyas. Break them. Run up that score. Count it up.
Final Score: Butler 83, Georgetown 70
Damn, I squeezed two MMA references into this one. Somehow, I went full serious mode on my thoughts on the Hoya program, into moronic gifs, into a keys to the game style analysis, into more rants and more dumb gifs and references. My scatterbrain is out of this world.
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