Patrick Ewing is proving his Georgetown skeptics wrong
By Zach Braziller
Patrick EwingPaul J. Bereswill
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The doubters were prevalent. The skeptics were many. Georgetown was supposedly making a mistake. Few believed Patrick Ewing was the right choice.
Some alluded to St. John’s hiring of Ewing’s good friend and old rival Chris Mullin, who had struggled in his first two seasons at his alma mater. Less than two seasons in, however, it appears the Hoyas were the smart ones by picking their former star and NBA Hall of Famer.
Ewing, if anything, has overachieved. He has Georgetown, at 16-11 overall and 6-8 in the Big East, approaching the NCAA Tournament bubble in a year in which reaching the NIT would’ve been a success, with three impressive freshmen — Mac McClung, James Akinjo and Josh LeBlanc — who appear poised to return this once-proud program to national relevance.
The Hoyas sit just a game in the loss column from third place in the Big East behind St. John’s and Mullin, who have figured things out themselves, looking like a near lock to return to March Madness. They overwhelmed struggling No. 17 Villanova last week, Ewing’s first victory over a ranked opponent, and also own quality road victories over Butler and St. John’s. Under Ewing, Georgetown is playing an exciting brand of basketball, leading the Big East in scoring (81.0 points per game) and assists (17.6 per game).
Typical of a young team, there have been ups and downs. Georgetown followed up the win over Villanova by losing by 13 at Creighton. It blew a chance for a big non-conference victory back in December by falling to Syracuse after leading by 15.
But this program is clearly on the way up. The freshmen have showed immense potential, with Akinjo leading the conference in assists (5.3), McClung second on the team in scoring (13.1 ppg) and the long-armed and versatile LeBlanc (9.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg) looking like a potential future pro prospect. Sophomores Jamorko Pickett and Jahvon Blair look like quality pieces. While leading scorer and rebounder Jessie Govan will graduate, Ewing has N.C. State impact sit-out transfer Omer Yurtseven ready to replace him next year, and Georgetown is among the final six for the nation’s top prep point guard, five-star Cole Anthony from the city.
So far, Ewing has proven he can coach and recruit. Winning big won’t be too far behind.
Nice consolation
We’ve seen players like RJ Barrett before, so considering what Zion Williamson has done, how unique his skill set is for someone his size, it has become somewhat easy to overlook Barrett. But that shouldn’t be the case. This week just emphasized what kind of player the Canadian is now, and will likely be at the next level.
In two games without Williamson, who suffered a Grade 1 right knee sprain in the opening minute of Wednesday’s loss to No. 8 North Carolina, the 6-foot-7 Barrett averaged 31.5 points, nine rebounds, six assists and made 25-of-42 shots from the field. He carried No. 1 Duke past Syracuse at the Carrier Dome on Saturday, making sure the Blue Devils wouldn’t lose consecutive games for the first time this season.
Whoever doesn’t land Williamson with the top pick in the draft is going to be thrilled to get a player like Barrett.
Tactical achievement
You won’t see a more impressive diagrammed play than the one that decided the CUNYAC championship Friday night. Baruch College was tied with the College of Staten Island with 4.7 seconds remaining.
Baruch lined up four players on the baseline to the right of the inbounder. Three Baruch players sprinted down court. The other player, Jack Sixsmith, stopped well shy of his teammates, to catch a short inbounds pass. Then he found one of those teammates, Benjamin Boateng, open inside the 3-point line. Boateng sank the game-winning shot for Baruch, sending the Bearcats to the Division II NCAA Tournament.
Take a bow, John Alesi. You may see a few Division I teams steal that play from the Baruch coach, the son of legendary former Xaverian high school coach Jack Alesi.
Game of the Week
No. 23 Kansas State at No. 12 Kansas
It’s last stand time for the Jayhawks and their regular-season dominance of the Big 12. With four games left, Kansas trails Kansas State by two games, and has already lost to the Wildcats. A defeat here would officially end Bill Self’s program’s run of 14 straight conference titles. The good news is the Jayhawks can’t possibly play worse than they did on Saturday in a 29-point road loss at No. 14 Texas Tech, their most lopsided Big 12 setback in 19 years.
Seedings
1: Duke, Virginia, Kentucky, Michigan State
2: North Carolina, Michigan, Gonzaga, Tennessee
3: Purdue, Marquette, Houston, Texas Tech
4: LSU, Kansas State, Maryland, Kansas
Stock Watch
Up: Keith Dambrot
LeBron James’ high school coach has already led Duquesne to its most wins in a season (18) in seven years in just his second season there. He has the young Dukes, who haven’t played in the NCAA Tournament since 1977, in a four-way tie for fourth place in the Atlantic 10 after winning three of their past four games. The 60-year-old coach, after 13 years at Akron and three NCAA Tournaments, is proving he deserved a shot at a job like this a long time ago.
Never count out the Gaels. Not as long as Tim Cluess is coaching. It looked bleak only three weeks ago. They had lost four in a row and five of six, and were nowhere near the top of the MAAC. But after six straight wins, Iona is back atop the mid-major conference. Remember, this team lost star Roland Brown back in October for an incident involving assistant coach Garfield Johns which led to Brown’s dismissal from the program. In his place, junior guard E.J. Crawford has emerged, taking a major leap as so many Iona players have under Cluess.
Down: Villanova
A rut was bound to come. Villanova was winning, but it wasn’t cruising, with five of its first 10 Big East victories by single digits. Still, this skid — the Wildcats have lost four of five after a 10-0 start in the conference — was not expected. They blew a 19-point lead to St. John’s, were hammered by Georgetown, and on Sunday were overwhelmed by mediocre Xavier. All the losses, it should be noted, have come on the road, but the absence of a consistent third scorer seems to be catching up to Jay Wright’s slumping team.
Down: West Coast Conference
Is Gonzaga that good or is the league that bad? The Bulldogs are 14-0 in the WCC and have yet to win by single digits. Their past two wins, over Pepperdine and BYU, are by a combined 62 points. Their closest victory is a 12-point win over San Diego, and that was a 15-point game with eight minutes left. Even the two contests against St. Mary’s, Gonzaga’s biggest rival, may not be too competitive. The Gaels already have four league losses. The Zags are clearly a title contender, the only team to beat No. 1 Duke at full strength, but it can’t help their high March hopes that every game from January on is a pseudo-scrimmage.
By Zach Braziller
Patrick EwingPaul J. Bereswill
MORE FROM:
ZACH BRAZILLER
Duke players: Zion Williamson wants to finish what he started
Boeheim coaches and grieves: 'This is never going away'
Zion Williamson-less Duke shuts up Syracuse record crowd
Syracuse community rallies behind Boeheim coaching after fatal accident
The doubters were prevalent. The skeptics were many. Georgetown was supposedly making a mistake. Few believed Patrick Ewing was the right choice.
Some alluded to St. John’s hiring of Ewing’s good friend and old rival Chris Mullin, who had struggled in his first two seasons at his alma mater. Less than two seasons in, however, it appears the Hoyas were the smart ones by picking their former star and NBA Hall of Famer.
Ewing, if anything, has overachieved. He has Georgetown, at 16-11 overall and 6-8 in the Big East, approaching the NCAA Tournament bubble in a year in which reaching the NIT would’ve been a success, with three impressive freshmen — Mac McClung, James Akinjo and Josh LeBlanc — who appear poised to return this once-proud program to national relevance.
The Hoyas sit just a game in the loss column from third place in the Big East behind St. John’s and Mullin, who have figured things out themselves, looking like a near lock to return to March Madness. They overwhelmed struggling No. 17 Villanova last week, Ewing’s first victory over a ranked opponent, and also own quality road victories over Butler and St. John’s. Under Ewing, Georgetown is playing an exciting brand of basketball, leading the Big East in scoring (81.0 points per game) and assists (17.6 per game).
Typical of a young team, there have been ups and downs. Georgetown followed up the win over Villanova by losing by 13 at Creighton. It blew a chance for a big non-conference victory back in December by falling to Syracuse after leading by 15.
But this program is clearly on the way up. The freshmen have showed immense potential, with Akinjo leading the conference in assists (5.3), McClung second on the team in scoring (13.1 ppg) and the long-armed and versatile LeBlanc (9.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg) looking like a potential future pro prospect. Sophomores Jamorko Pickett and Jahvon Blair look like quality pieces. While leading scorer and rebounder Jessie Govan will graduate, Ewing has N.C. State impact sit-out transfer Omer Yurtseven ready to replace him next year, and Georgetown is among the final six for the nation’s top prep point guard, five-star Cole Anthony from the city.
So far, Ewing has proven he can coach and recruit. Winning big won’t be too far behind.
Nice consolation
We’ve seen players like RJ Barrett before, so considering what Zion Williamson has done, how unique his skill set is for someone his size, it has become somewhat easy to overlook Barrett. But that shouldn’t be the case. This week just emphasized what kind of player the Canadian is now, and will likely be at the next level.
In two games without Williamson, who suffered a Grade 1 right knee sprain in the opening minute of Wednesday’s loss to No. 8 North Carolina, the 6-foot-7 Barrett averaged 31.5 points, nine rebounds, six assists and made 25-of-42 shots from the field. He carried No. 1 Duke past Syracuse at the Carrier Dome on Saturday, making sure the Blue Devils wouldn’t lose consecutive games for the first time this season.
Whoever doesn’t land Williamson with the top pick in the draft is going to be thrilled to get a player like Barrett.
Tactical achievement
You won’t see a more impressive diagrammed play than the one that decided the CUNYAC championship Friday night. Baruch College was tied with the College of Staten Island with 4.7 seconds remaining.
Baruch lined up four players on the baseline to the right of the inbounder. Three Baruch players sprinted down court. The other player, Jack Sixsmith, stopped well shy of his teammates, to catch a short inbounds pass. Then he found one of those teammates, Benjamin Boateng, open inside the 3-point line. Boateng sank the game-winning shot for Baruch, sending the Bearcats to the Division II NCAA Tournament.
Take a bow, John Alesi. You may see a few Division I teams steal that play from the Baruch coach, the son of legendary former Xaverian high school coach Jack Alesi.
Game of the Week
No. 23 Kansas State at No. 12 Kansas
It’s last stand time for the Jayhawks and their regular-season dominance of the Big 12. With four games left, Kansas trails Kansas State by two games, and has already lost to the Wildcats. A defeat here would officially end Bill Self’s program’s run of 14 straight conference titles. The good news is the Jayhawks can’t possibly play worse than they did on Saturday in a 29-point road loss at No. 14 Texas Tech, their most lopsided Big 12 setback in 19 years.
Seedings
1: Duke, Virginia, Kentucky, Michigan State
2: North Carolina, Michigan, Gonzaga, Tennessee
3: Purdue, Marquette, Houston, Texas Tech
4: LSU, Kansas State, Maryland, Kansas
Stock Watch
Up: Keith Dambrot
LeBron James’ high school coach has already led Duquesne to its most wins in a season (18) in seven years in just his second season there. He has the young Dukes, who haven’t played in the NCAA Tournament since 1977, in a four-way tie for fourth place in the Atlantic 10 after winning three of their past four games. The 60-year-old coach, after 13 years at Akron and three NCAA Tournaments, is proving he deserved a shot at a job like this a long time ago.
Never count out the Gaels. Not as long as Tim Cluess is coaching. It looked bleak only three weeks ago. They had lost four in a row and five of six, and were nowhere near the top of the MAAC. But after six straight wins, Iona is back atop the mid-major conference. Remember, this team lost star Roland Brown back in October for an incident involving assistant coach Garfield Johns which led to Brown’s dismissal from the program. In his place, junior guard E.J. Crawford has emerged, taking a major leap as so many Iona players have under Cluess.
Down: Villanova
A rut was bound to come. Villanova was winning, but it wasn’t cruising, with five of its first 10 Big East victories by single digits. Still, this skid — the Wildcats have lost four of five after a 10-0 start in the conference — was not expected. They blew a 19-point lead to St. John’s, were hammered by Georgetown, and on Sunday were overwhelmed by mediocre Xavier. All the losses, it should be noted, have come on the road, but the absence of a consistent third scorer seems to be catching up to Jay Wright’s slumping team.
Down: West Coast Conference
Is Gonzaga that good or is the league that bad? The Bulldogs are 14-0 in the WCC and have yet to win by single digits. Their past two wins, over Pepperdine and BYU, are by a combined 62 points. Their closest victory is a 12-point win over San Diego, and that was a 15-point game with eight minutes left. Even the two contests against St. Mary’s, Gonzaga’s biggest rival, may not be too competitive. The Gaels already have four league losses. The Zags are clearly a title contender, the only team to beat No. 1 Duke at full strength, but it can’t help their high March hopes that every game from January on is a pseudo-scrimmage.
