March 10, 2007
THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE
In a game that will probably be talked about for as long as their triple-overtime regular season marathon a few years ago, Notre Dame and Georgetown's Big East Tournament semi-final matchup was some basektball both teams could be proud of.
If one looks at the Game Flow graphic from ESPN.com to the left, one can see that ND dominated the first half, primarily by dropping 3s at will. The Hoyas closed the half with a run though, narrowing the gap to two points. The second half is when things got interesting. Over 20 minutes, the two teams were tied 9 times and the lead changed hands 13 times. The outcome was not certain until the last seconds of the game, when a three-point shot for the win taken by Russell Carter of ND missed its mark and the Hoyas escaped with a two-point victory.
Junior Jeff Green showed the crowd on hand in NYC and probably the whole nation some of the reasons he was named Big East Player of the Year. The forward played 40 minutes, never once coming off the court for a rest in an effort that yielded 30 points and 12 rebounds. To give one a sense of how great a team player Green is and what a catalyst he is in getting Georgetown wins, swallow this: Leading Georgetown to its first regular season title in 18 years and the first Hoya to win Player of the Year since Alonzo Mourning in 1992, Jeff Green never scored a double double (double-digit points and rebounds or assists in a single game) during the regular 2006-2007 season and did not do so until last night. To be named Player of the Year without ever achieving a double double over an entire season is extraordinary and Jeff Green may have been the first to do so. Also contributing significantly––and emotionally––was Patrick Ewing, Jr. Wearing his father's number on his jersey and using the same locker at The Garden that the old man used as a New York Knick, Jr. was electric, coming off the bench to score 15 points. He humbly deflected praise, however, to freshman teammate DaJuan Summers, who scored 18 with four rebounds.
Notre Dame shot out to its early lead thanks to shooting 8 for 14 from 3-point range in the first half. Georgetown muscled its way back into the game thanks to the play of Ewing Jr. and the freshman DaJuan Summers (18 points), who Ewing Jr. called “the next Jeff Green.”
High praise indeed. In a bit of news that will be troubling to all the other Big East teams, it should be noted that Georgetown only has two seniors on its team, both of them four-year bench warmers who I'm embarassed to say I'd never heard of. The Hoyas starting five is comprised of three Juniors (Green, Hibbert, Wallace) a Sophomore (Sapp) and the Freshman Summers. The New York Times has a decent article on last night's game.
In the second of last night's games, Pitt battled back to defeat the Louisville Cardinals 65-59. Georgetown and Pitt have met twice already this season, Pitt winning the first game and Georgetown the second. Both events were closely contested. This will be Pitt's sixth appearance in the Big East Tournament Final in the last seven years. In their prior five appearances, they've only managed to win once, in 2003 against UConn. This will be Georgetown's first appearance in the final since 1996. I was at that game and it may have been the worst thing I've ever seen as a championship slipped through their fingers to UConn in a comedy of errors. The last time Georgetown won the BE Championship was in 1989.
Tagged: basketball, big east, college basketball, georgetown, hoyas, irish, notre dame, pittPosted by Lexiphane at March 10, 2007 8:51 AM
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