Hoyas are well aware of the Cameron Crazies
Greg Monroe knows they’re waiting for him.
The Georgetown freshman center, who spurned a recruiting visit to Duke last fall when he was still a high school senior — instead committing to the Hoyas while in Georgetown the weekend before — knew that there would be repercussions if he faced the notorious Cameron Crazies.
“I’m positive they’ll have something special in store for me,” said Monroe, who faces his stiffest mental challenge of season as No. 13 Georgetown (12-3, 3-2 Big East) takes a difficult detour from its grueling conference schedule to visit the third-ranked Blue Devils (15-1, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference).
It may be the only situation that Hoyas head coach John Thompson III can’t duplicate in practice for his young corps of reserves. In the last two games, both victories, Georgetown’s bench has produced a combined 44 points on 61 percent shooting (17-for-28) from the field. Perhaps more importantly, they’ve played aggressively yet turned the ball over a combined three times, showing uncommon poise for a group of freshmen and sophomores in helping turn the Hoyas around after a 1-2 start to league play.
“They’ve learned that quicker than I did,” said Hoyas senior guard Jessie Sapp. “I guess it comes with Coach believing in those guys and putting them in the game in different situations early in the season so by the time it got to this point, they don’t feel like it’s something new.”
While Monroe gets most of the headlines — and his matchup with Duke seven-footer Brian Zoubek will be key to Saturday’s contest — freshman guard Jason Clark posted a career-high 26 minutes and 12 points in Georgetown’s midweek win over Syracuse, with his usual brand of blue collar work, not to mention a helpful knack for the lost art of the short and midrange jump shot.
“I’ve been working on that a lot,” said Clark. “I know I can get past the [perimeter] defender. … A lot of defenders like to fly out on the three.”
Thompson also singled out sophomore forward Julian Vaughn for his play against the Orange, when he dished out a career-best four assists. Freshman forward Henry Sims had two helpers himself, along with a block and a steal.
Early in the season, Thompson said his reserves had to get better. With the Hoyas approaching the midway point of the season, there’s no doubt that they have.
“We have confidence in everybody,” said Thompson. “That discussion about a gap [between the first team and the reserves] was for a month ago.”
