Preview Georgetown 2014-15

[TheHall]

I agree with both of you. There is no more important position on a college basketball team than PG. And no team this side of PC was more dependent on their PG than Georgetown where Starks played 37 mpg. So, it will be irritant for DSR to make a Cotton like transition to the point.

However, it is also true that no team is less dependent on the PG to run the offense than Georgetown where every player is expected to make passes and set up their teammates. The fact that Georgetown is bringing in a quality PG means that DSR can get some relief and will be able to spend some time off the ball to concentrate on scoring.

If you think back last year with the 2 teams being compared:

The hoyas biggest problem was consistent scoring from at least 3 players not more PG play. Even last year Starks was really the only PG on the team, so its not like that's been a position of need for this offensive, except for scoring like Chris Wright used to do. Even before Smith was suspended that was problematic for the hoyas. After Smith was suspended the hoyas usually featured at least 3 non-scorers on the court at a time, not to mention if Starks or DSR was off that night.

Everyone remembers that PC didn't have a true PG w/out Dunn, but I believe the short bench from the suspensions & Dunn's injury was as big if not a bigger issue. Georgetown will have 1 talented freshman as a true PG and a deep bench to mitigate the issue that hurt PC. Also let's not forget PC actually had a solid season even without a true PG & a short bench...great job by Cooley!

[Wizard of Westroads]

I expect a strong bounceback from GT. Two biggest question marks for me are (1) loss of Starks, who was great. It's easy enough to pass around the PG duties, but not the leadership. (2) Just not that high on Josh Smith. He can put up some numbers, but it's never seemed like the team (either GT or UCLA) really plays well when he's in.

[Vill]

I expect a strong bounceback from GT. Two biggest question marks for me are (1) loss of Starks, who was great. It's easy enough to pass around the PG duties, but not the leadership. (2) Just not that high on Josh Smith. He can put up some numbers, but it's never seemed like the team (either GT or UCLA) really plays well when he's in.

I agree on the bounceback. Hoyas should be good especially if Smith stays eligible.

[chicagojayfan]

I expect a strong bounceback from GT. Two biggest question marks for me are (1) loss of Starks, who was great. It's easy enough to pass around the PG duties, but not the leadership. (2) Just not that high on Josh Smith. He can put up some numbers, but it's never seemed like the team (either GT or UCLA) really plays well when he's in.

Agree on Smith. He's a great scorer and highly productive when in games, but he does disrupt the flow of this offense and on defense he's effective in the low post, but limited against opposing post players who have mobility. I'd keep an eye on his conditioning as he could be a BE POY type guy if he's in perfect shape, but when has he been in that shape in his career?

Overall, I expect them to bounce back, but the level of the bounce remains to be seen. The loss of Starks is big, and I wouldn't be surprised to see Smith-Rivera take on the role of a scoring 1 on this team. He's going to be their best player and they will need to get the ball early and often with opportunities to score. Outside of that, there will be a good amount of talent on that roster, but anytime you are depending on that many freshman to be game changers and reliable scorers, I think there is bound to be a lot of variance in the outcomes.

So, consistency-wise I don't think they can hang with Nova over the course of the season, but they will be a very fun team to watch and I would expect them to have a few runs during the season where they look unbeatable.