HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel will spend the upcoming months covering several Georgetown basketball home games, with a very special reward coming in March. 5 down, 3 to go:
Part 1: Central Connecticut State (https://hoopshd.com/2018/11/11/hanging-with-the-hoyas-part-1)
Part 2: Richmond (https://hoopshd.com/2018/11/30/hanging-with-the-hoyas-part-2)
Part 3: Liberty (https://hoopshd.com/2018/12/04/hanging-with-the-hoyas-part-3)
Part 4: SMU (https://hoopshd.com/2018/12/15/hanging-with-the-hoyas-part-4)
Part 5: Appalachian State (https://hoopshd.com/2018/12/19/hanging-with-the-hoyas-part-5)
Part 6 was Saturday afternoon when Little Rock visited DC for the schools’ 1st meeting all-time.
‘Twas 3 days before Christmas, when all through the gym
Many Hoyas were stirring, including Jessie (Govan), Mac (McClung), & “Jim”
(aka James Akinjo);
The pregame meal was prepared in the media room with care,
In hopes that my cholesterol test would not take place there
(bacon/egg/cheese croissant, breakfast potatoes, blueberry muffin, and a chocolate glazed doughnut!);
Each Johnson was ready after a restful night in bed:
Georgetown’s Kaleb dressed in gray while Little Rock’s Kamani wore red
(I know it is technically maroon: work with me!);
And I in my winter cap had joyful feelings in my heart,
Having finally seen Josh LeBlanc make his 1st career start
(in place of Trey Mourning, who missed his 1st game of the year due to a head injury),
Akinjo’s 3 turnovers in the 1st 3 minutes caused such a clatter,
That Coach Patrick Ewing called a timeout to see what was the matter
(The Trojans started strong in getting out to an 11-5 lead).
Right to the rim Little Rock flew like a flash,
As the home team’s porous defense they did easily gash
(much like the Trojans’ entertaining pregame layup line,
There were portions of the 1st half that resembled a dunk contest).
Coach Darrell Walker picked up a T for some conduct rather low,
(despite actually leading 20-18 at the time!)
The resulting FT would be huge but at the time there was no foreshadow
(have I mentioned how much I hate picking up technical fouls in tight games?!),
When what to my wondering eyes did appear,
But 3 freshmen stealing the show while too young to drink beer
(Georgetown’s starting backcourt of Akinjo/McClung combined for 33 PTS in 31 1st half minutes, while Little Rock PF Nikola Maric made 6-7 FG including a pair of threes en route to 16 PTS in only 13 minutes and change),
With a Hall of Fame coach who knows how to roll-and-pick,
I knew a passionate halftime speech was coming from Coach Patrick
(the most PTS the Hoyas’ had allowed in the 1st half all year had been 42 to Appalachian State last Tuesday…until Little Rock finished the 1st 20 minutes with a 52-51 lead).
More rapid than (Marquette’s Golden) Eagles from the locker room they came,
As Rich Chvotkin whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:
(shout-out to the legendary radio play-by-play man,
Who worked his 1400th game as the Voice of the Hoyas)
“Now, Jamorko! Now, Josh! Now Jessie and Jahvon!
On, Mac! On, James! On, Jagan and Grayson!
Turnovers you should force! Try hard to steal the ball!
Now to the FT line! FT line! FT line all!”
(3 key statistical advantages for the Hoyas on Saturday:
They forced 24 TO, recorded 10 STL, and ended up with a whopping 45 FT attempts)
Kris Bankston’s 1st-half dunks showed how high he can fly,
When he picked up his 5th foul he descended from the sky
(his 3-3 FG shooting means he is now #1 in the nation with 85.3 FG%,
But fouling out with 2 minutes left means he was not around to make any baskets at crunch time);
So up to the rafters everyone’s temper flew
With the players full of testosterone, and the 3 refs too
(the refs called a double technical foul with 2 minutes left in the 1st half,
Followed by yet another double technical foul 2 minutes into the 2nd half)-
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
Karma laughing at me for making a streak go poof
(I asked Greg Malinowski after the Appalachian State game how he enjoyed being the best FT shooter in the nation [17-17], so of course I ended up jinxing him and he missed his very 1st FT this season midway through the 2nd half while his team had a 64-61 lead).
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Rayjon Tucker kept filling the stat sheet, be it point/assist/rebound
(he ended up fouling out with 46 seconds left in regulation but still put up 16 PTS/14 REB/4 AST/2 BLK).
McClung stands 6’2”, from his head to his foot,
With filthy moves all tarnished with ashes and soot
(he made a layup/foul/&1 to set a new career-high of 20 PTS while tying the game at 61-all, missed a FT with 6 seconds left in regulation that would have given his team a 3-PT lead, but somehow rebounded his own miss/got fouled/converted another FT to make it 84-81);
A bundle of young teammates Govan has carried on his back,
But for the 2nd time this week he needed freshmen to pick up the slack
(after scoring a season-low 8 PTS and not attempting a single FT vs. Appalachian State,
He had a season-low 2 REB vs. Little Rock before fouling out for the 1st time all season).
Maric’s eyes—how they twinkled! His dimples, how merry!
Atop a Saturday sundae he’s the Bosnian cherry
(he eventually fouled out with a career-high 27 PTS on 8-10 FG in addition to 8 REB)!
The Trojans had 1 final chance to put up a throw,
And Ryan Pippins’ prayer was as pure as the driven snow
(his only basket of the game came at the right time,
As his 30-footer at the buzzer banked in to tie the game at 84 and send it into OT:
Kudos to 12up.com for getting the video that I was unable to procure myself:
https://www.12up.com/posts/6254060-video-ryan-pippins-banks-in-deep-3-to-shockingly-send-arkansas-little-rock-to-ot-at-georgetown);
Akinjo has fangs, not just baby freshman teeth,
And when he gets hot the basket looks as big as a wreath
(he made his 1st 6 shots in a row on a series of jumpers/threes,
Set a new career-high in scoring late in the 2nd half,
And fouled out in OT with 25 PTS/7 AST/3 STL);
Kaleb has neither a broad face nor a little round belly
But his scoring/rebounding go together like peanut butter and jelly
(Johnson has not had a chance to shine all season with only 19 PTS/13 REB through his 1st 10 games, but with most of his teammates not bringing their “A” game he really helped save the day: season-highs of 12 PTS/9 REB in 26 big minutes off the bench).
Markquis Nowell is 5’8”/165, not much bigger than an elf,
And I was in awe when I saw him, in spite of myself;
(he only made 5-13 FG and committed a career-high 7 TO but still got it done on offense/defense: 24 PTS [including 3 FTs after being fouled by Akinjo while down by 5 with 16 seconds left in regulation], 6 AST, 5 STL while playing more than 40 minutes in a 102-94 OT loss, the 1st time that Georgetown has scored 100 PTS since November 2017);
A wink of Coach Walker’s eye and a twist of his head
Gave me comfort in the press conference with nothing to dread
(I reminded him that the last time he was a head coach in DC the arena was called the MCI Center and his best player was Chamique Holdsclaw: he admitted that DC was a “special place” and that it is always great to be back in town, he said that he was going to dinner with some friends that night and that he will make sure his old New York Knicks teammate Patrick picks up the check!);
Akinjo spoke a few words, coming straight from his work,
As the SID finally let the freshmen speak: what a nice holiday perk
(I praised him for cutting down his turnovers during his previous 2 games before committing 3 in the 1st 3 minutes against the Trojans that led to a Ewing timeout: the freshman said that his coach just told him to “settle down a bit” because everyone was too anxious due to a little miscommunication),
Mac’s 4-PT play in the final minute left him striking a pose,
And giving a smile, up the ranks he rose
(McClung had a near-perfect 1st half with 17 PTS/3 AST/0 TO, then a key offensive REB with 5 seconds left in regulation, then a 3/foul/&1 with 46 seconds left to make it 98-90 as he celebrated while lying flat on his back: I inquired what had changed over the past month since he went scoreless in a loss to LMU in November and he said he knew that it would be a learning process so he just continues “working as hard as I can”);
Ewing sprang to his feet, to his team gave a whistle,
And they all flew to the huddle like they were shot out of a missile
(I asked Ewing if his young backcourt was exceeding his expectations after only a dozen games: he is pleased that they are playing very well and that they are “growing every game”, although they still have a lot to learn).
But I heard him exclaim, ere he walked out of sight—
“my freshmen need to hit the showers”, and to all a good night!
(it was the 1st time that the Hoyas allowed freshmen to attend a postgame press conference, and instead of showering/suiting up like their elders they showed up while still in uniform)
Hope you enjoyed the holiday poem, check back in 2019 for our continuing coverage.