Georgetown 2008 NCAA Tournament Capsule

Georgetown Hoyas - Big East (27-5, 15-3)

Seed: #2 - Midwest Region

RPI: 8

Big Wins: 1/12 Connecticut (72-69), 3/1 at Marquette (70-68), 3/8 Louisville (55-52)

Bad Losses: 1/14 at Pittsburgh (60-69), 2/9 at Louisville (51-59), 2/16 at Syracuse (70-77)

Last NCAA Appearance: 2007, Final Four loss to Ohio State

Coach: John Thompson III (6-4 in 4 NCAA appearances)

Probable Georgetown Starters:

• Jonathan Wallace, Senior, Guard, 10.6 ppg, 2.6 apg
• Austin Freeman, Freshman, Guard, 9.1 ppg, 3.0 rpg
• Jessie Sapp, Junior, Guard, 9.8 ppg, 3.2 apg, 4.2 rpg
• DaJuan Summers, Sophomore, Forward, 11.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg
• Roy Hibbert, Senior, Center, 13.6 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 2.3 bpg

Key Georgetown Roleplayers:

• Jeremiah Rivers, Sophomore, Guard, 2.6 ppg, 2.4 rpg
• Tyler Crawford, Senior, Guard, 1.1 ppg, 1.1 rpg
• Vernon Macklin, Sophomore, Forward, 3.3 ppg, 2.1 rpg
• Patrick Ewing Jr., Senior, Forward, 6.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg

Why They Can Surprise:
There might not be a better defensive team in the nation than Georgetown. Even if the opposition can get the ball in the paint, they have to deal with 7-2 center Roy Hibbert. The result for the Hoyas is the nation’s best defensive field-goal percentage and a team that yields just 58 points per game.

Hibbert does more than cause chaos on the defensive end; he is the team’s leading scorer and rebounder as well. As if it was not difficult enough to guard a guy who is 7-2, Hibbert has plenty of skill to go along with his size. The emergence of sophomore DaJuan Summers has taken some of the pressure off of Hibbert. Summers, at 6-8 and 241 pounds, has the body to battle in the paint, but he can also stretch out the defense with his outside shooting ability. The experience of Patrick Ewing, Jr. makes the unit even more dangerous.

Why They Can Disappoint:
Besides Macklin, nobody is that bad of a free-throw shooter, but nobody is that great either. The team shoots a bleak 67 percent from the charity stripe. It is not just the fact that they do not shoot well from the line, but they do not get there very often either. In Georgetown’s four regular season losses, they reached the line 57 times. The opposition went to the stripe 107 times. Part of that is the Princeton offense, but when you have a player like Hibbert on the floor, you have to stop taking three’s and feed the big man and at least get him fouled.

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Who To Watch:
Those three balls can get in the way at times, but Georgetown has developed a solid group of perimeter players to compliment Hibbert. Jonathan Wallace and Jessie Sapp will take a majority of the long balls and they both are quite successful at it, hitting over 40 percent of their attempts. It is not their scoring or shooting ability that can be a problem, it is their shot selection that can occasionally be troublesome. Freshman Austin Freeman has earned a part-time starting position this year, but that has forced Georgetown to play smaller and can create some trouble on the glass.

By the Numbers:

Scoring Offense: 69.8 (153rd in nation, 12th in conference)

Scoring Defense: 57.5 (5, 1)

Field-Goal Percentage: 48.5 (12, 1)

Field-Goal Defense: 36.3 (1, 1)

Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 7.9 (65, 2)

Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 38.1 (50, 2)

Free-Throw Percentage: 67.0 (234, 9)

Rebound Margin: 2.6 (91, 8)

Assists Per Game: 15.7 (42, 5)

Turnovers Per Game: 13.3 (88, 8)

Joel’s Bracket Says: Final Four loss to North Carolina

By Joel Welser
CollegeSports-fans.com Guest Writer

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