Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Gray Matter
[Note: I have no ftp service today, so there will be no updates to the stats/ratings pages.]
Q: How much is a star player actually worth to his team?
A: To be revealed later this week. But based on the data I have, I found it interesting when Jamie Dixon went to the coaches playbook and pulled Aaron Gray after he picked up his 4th foul against Louisville last night. Sure, Pitt was down by 15 to Louisville, and the game was slipping away anyway. But there was just over 14 minutes remaining, and at that moment, Jamie Dixon conceded a loss.
Subject: Georgetown
Ken,
This team is on a run…..just watched them embarrass WVU…..what’s your take on these boys running the table in the Big East? They host Pittsburgh on the 24th I believe to avenge an earlier loss….I just don’t see anyone in the nation stopping their offense, could this team be a contender to not just win the Big East but make a Final Four run in the tourney?
Ryan
I’m not a big fan of the .... style of writing, but you are on the money. And I’m actually pretty convinced that people will understand the greatness of the Hoya offense at some point. Perhaps because we have Jonah Keri already on the case. And I believe Roy Hibbert will eventually get his due. For fun, compare his tempo-free line to that of one Greg Oden.
I actually figured the G-Men for having some offensive troubles against WVU, what with the Mountaineers ability to force turnovers and that being the best chance a team has against Georgetown. Force lots and lots of turnovers. Their only three games below 1 PPP, their TO% was north of 25.
The Mountaineers didn’t do bad, benefiting from 16 in a 57 possession game, but it didn’t matter. Georgetown obliterated the point per possession barrier for the ninth consecutive game by hanging 71 on the Mounties, in part by outrebounding WVU 12-9 on its own end. That and shooting 80+ eFG% in the first half. But these kinds of things are becoming routine.
The 24th will be a great test, but whether or not they run the table (and they almost surely won’t) this team is certainly worthy of Final Four consideration.