March 10, 2007
FINAL-LY!!!!
The saying goes that a picture is worth a thousand words; and that may hold true here, although excuse me if I add a few words of my own. In the Big East Championship game at Madison Square Garden, Georgetown played like a team of destiny, not just soaring over Pittsburgh, but catching them flatfooted and towering over them like giants. This is what I hastily typed at halftime to keep from chewing my fingernails off in appreciation of too-good-to-be-true fortune:
"One really can't ask for a much better half than Georgetown gave during the first 20 minutes of tonight's game. What the ESPN announcers don't realize is that it's not a question of one player going to sleep and the other player lighting up when talking about Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert. The two Junior frontcourt men are a tandem team. They're enablers of the court kind, opening up and occupying opposing teams inversely for maximum inflicted damage. If they were a comedy team they'd be Abbot and Costello, if thieves, Bonnie and Clyde, if dancers, Ginger and Rogers. Georgetown played its first half against Pitt like a consummate team. The Panthers, frankly, looked a little desperate, clunky, and stilted. Only a fool would count them out after 20 minutes though. They were down to Louisville's Cardinals by 14 points last night and wound up winning by by six. This isn't the Big East Championship for nothing."
Roy Hibbert wound up being the man. Jeff Green scored 21 points to Hibbert's 18, but this lopsided rout was not won with offense: Georgetown only scored 65 points. Pitt's problems was that they were being completely killed at their end of the court on rebounds. Any shot that Pitt missed was as good as a wasted posession. Georgetown outrebounded Pitt by a wide margin at the Panthers' end of the court [stats have not yet been posted at ESPN]. Hibbert had 12 rebounds, nine of them defensive.
With Jesse Sapp on the foul line and under two minutes to play, Hibbert left the floor to a round of applause at the Garden (I'd like to say "thunderous applause", but the Hoyas have never been well liked at MSG), with a 24-point lead. Jeff Green followed Hibbert on the sideline a free throw later when Georgetown was up by 25 points. Green was awarded the Big East Tournament MVP trophy following the game.
It's been 18 years since Georgetown hoisted a trophy at The Garden, so I think a few historic and contextual points are in order. This was Georgetown's 7th Big East Tournament Championship, breaking a six-win tie with UConn and making Georgetown the tournament-championest team in conference history. As extraordinary as the Hoyas' 23-point margin of victory was tonight (65-42), what is more extraordinary is the fact that 42 points is the lowest point total a team has been held to in a championship game in conference history, by a margin of 12. And that includes the era when college basketball was ruled by no shot clock and lacked a 3-point shot line.
The NCAA tournament selection can do whatever they want. The Hoyas may or may not merit a #1 seed come Sunday. I, for one, am thrilled at what this group of men have achieved over a long season. That Big East Championship was a long time coming. Hang the banner in McDonough Arena. Just save some space for the next one.
For the record:
SUPER-DUPER ULTRA MONEY QUOTE:
"I feel grateful that I get to be a part of that, and that I get to wear 'Georgetown' across my chest," Hibbert said.
Posted by Lexiphane at March 10, 2007 9:57 PM
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