mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">COLUMBUS"Times New Roman""> — John Thompson did not want to talk about his team's
swarming, stifling defense or the double-digit assists his big guys had Friday
afternoon
He was relieved. Simply relieved.
Because for the first time in three years, the Georgetown Hoyas had won an NCAA
tournament game — and they did it by beating a scrappy Belmont team 74-59.
"I will be misleading if I were to say it was not a relief," Thompson
said. " We've had all ends of the spectrum from Final Four, Sweet 16 to
the last couple of years where we've had early exits.
"Because of that, naturally there's a lot of questions. Our guys turn on
the TV and it seems like most of the world was picking us to lose."
The two tournaments prior, No. 11 seed VCU (2011) and No. 14 seed Ohio (2010) knocked
off the mighty Hoyas in Georgetown’s tournament openers. Those schools provided
an uplifting story for underdog fans, but Georgetown was on the other end — the
big school that had been knocked down by Cinderella. Fourteenth-seeded Belmont,
a scrappy group that feasts on threes and had won 14 in a row, seemed another
likely upset possibility.
Until the No. 3 seed Hoyas unleashed their legendary defensive pressure — with
a twist. Belmont prepared for man-to-man; Georgetown played mostly two-three
zone. With the Hoyas' height, arm length and quickness, no shot came easy for
the Bruins. The most misleading statistic from the game was Georgetown's three
blocks. It seemed like the Hoyas had 33.
It was old style, especially at Georgetown.
"Our defense has been old-school Georgetown defense, I think, for large
chunks of this season," Thompson said.
The evidence was on the court. Belmont shot 38.9 percent and made just 10 of the
27 3-point shots they tried to shoot over the evergreens jumping at them.
"Their defensive numbers are exceptional," Belmont coach Rick Byrd
said.
Georgetown holds opponents to 59.2 points and 38.7 percent shooting per game.
With four starters 6-feet-8 or taller, all with quicks, the Hoyas' reach seems
to go from sideline to sideline. In the modern vernacular, the Hoyas are (raise
hands to signal quote marks) long.
But the Hoyas are not invincible. Byrd said in watching film he saw some games
that gave him belief his team would win.
"But I will say this: I think they're a better team than I thought they
were," Byrd said.
"We have several guys that are 6-8, 6-9 that can guard guards,"
Thompson said. "Guard little guys, guard medium guys, guard big guys. And
they're willing to do it. It's not just the gifts that God has given them.
"It's a desire. It's attention to detail. It's a caring about getting
stops."
Georgetown had years of success with Thompson's father as coach preaching a
certain kind of defensive nastiness. His son's approach seems to mirror that,
with a few more nuances.
"They're well taught and they've got great athletes," Byrd said.
"If Syracuse is better than that, I'm glad we didn't play Syracuse."
The Hoyas next play North Carolina State on Sunday, and the Tar Heels are
taller than Belmont and feature talented forward C.J. Leslie. He and Richard
Howell were the primary reasons 11th-seeded NC State upset sixth-seeded San
Diego State.
But Georgetown is seeded third for a reason, and the Hoyas have a good chance
to advance to the Sweet 16 — provided they don't feel like their job is done
with just one win.
"It was definitely a sense of urgency, not just for me but the whole
team," Hoyas senior guard Jason Clark said. "We've known what we've
done in the past. So it was a big thing for us to get this win.
"But we gotta keep pushing. We've got a lot more games to play."
