NEW YORK – Here is a look at what we learned at the Jimmy V Classic.
Scores:
Georgetown 72 Butler 65
Indiana 74 Pitt 64
1. Greg Monroe has to see the ball, frequently if possible. The opening minutes of the meeting with Butler saw Monroe get the ball around the neighborhood of the three-point arc. There’s little the 6-10 sophomore can do from that vantage point. As the half progressed he started to get looks on the low blocks. In the second half, and especially in the stretch, the ball went through Monroe. Coach John Thompson III said, “We are not concerned how many shots someone gets. We want to play the game the right way.” Agreed, but in a game as this its best to utilize your talent in the post. Monroe shot 9-of-20. Maybe one or two were ill-advised. Other than that, the shots were in the framework of the offense. He led the Hoyas with 24 points and also opened things up for Austin Freeman, who had 18 points (including four treys). Forcing the ball inside is one thing. Including Monroe on the blocks as a focal point of the offense is another – and more desired.
2. Indiana will play hard. No surprise in that given the man on the bench. Tom Crean is still cleaning up the mess Kelvin Sampson left in Bloomington. There are many nights this Big Ten season where Indiana will be on the short side talent-wise, but not in the area of work ethic. The Hoosiers will defend, expend the effort and come extremely well prepared. That’s no surprise given what Crean did with Tom Izzo at Michigan State and as head coach at Marquette.
3. Georgetown’s defense is their strong point. They came into the game allowing opponents .83 points per possession. On this night Butler “rang up” a .90, indicative of another strong effort on D. As Thompson III said, “Against a team like Butler you can try to stop what they do a good part of the game, but you can’t do it all game.”
Matt Howard, a 6-9 junior, projected as Horizon League pre-season Player of the Year, can attest to the Hoyas’ defensive emphasis. Howard scored nine points but was 1-of-9 from the floor. He didn’t get a decent uncontested look all night.
4. There will be nights like this for Pitt. The Panthers entered the game 7-1 with only a loss to highly-ranked Texas as a blemish. They struggled offensively against Indiana in going down to defeat. Jamie Dixon lost a great deal from last year’s Elite Eight team so there will be nights when they surprise, or disappoint. Ashson Gibbs, a sophomore guard, had a solid night with 25 points. Again 6-9 freshman Dante Taylor came off the bench for a nice 12-point, five-rebound effort. Pitt will fall back a bit on the Big East order. “Caveat emptor” – let the buyer beware, the Panthers should not be considered an easy or guaranteed win by anybody.
5. We can’t say or praise enough the outstanding work of the V foundation in supporting cancer research. As Dick Vitale says, “Lets make cancer a disease for the history books.”
