Average possessions per game (2004-05) (Ranked by slowest)

1) Air Force (53.2)
2) Princeton (54.1)
3) Samford (58.4)
4) Georgetown (58.7)
5) Utah State (59.6)

When Georgetown hired John Thompson III last spring, I guess I didn’t really think things through. Sure, it made sense for him to succeed Craig Esherick. The Hoyas had fallen on hard times. So JT3 was the obvious choice as someone whose name conjures up the glory years of Hoya basketball and as a bonus had established himself as a capable head coach.

But for whatever reason, I assumed the Princeton phase of Thompson’s career was over. On some levels it makes sense that Thompson wouldn’t change – he played in the Princeton system for four years and coached in it for nine. But he grew up watching daddy’s teams, that played a more conventional style, that went to Final Fours. So I just assumed that by inheriting a cast of characters more suited to regular basketball, Thompson would immerse himself in the mainstream. And granted I am going only from box scores here, and sometimes the numbers do lie, but I don’t think it’s any coincidence that four games into the season, Georgetown sits right behind three Princeton systems in terms of tempo, decidely outside of the mainstream.

When Air Force coach Joe Scott went job hunting after last season, their was an unsubstantiated report in the Colorado Springs Gazette that St. John’s was interested in his services. I, without any sources anywhere, concluded that this report was pure folly. There was no way that New York City’s team would sign up to play the slow-down game. Sure enough, this rumor was never heard from again. The same thoughts, although I didn’t think them at the time, apply to what used to be D.C.’s team.

There’s only so far you can go with this system. For a program that has won national championships, it’s a curious move. But there have been rumblings from the fans that the current athletic administration at Georgetown fancies itself more as Ivy League school, so maybe this fits into the master plan.

I have to point out though that this style is ideal for an underdog, which Georgetown will be on Thursday against #1 Illinois. If you think of a game as being timed in possessions, the game Thursday night will probably be about 10-15% shorter that what Illinois is used to playing. So with some hot three point shooting, the Hoyas will be able to hang with the Illini longer than most teams of Georgetown’s quality.