Freshman center will need to work the passing lanes
Just as there’s nothing secret about the high intensity of the long-standing rivalry between Georgetown and Syracuse, there’s no hiding who this year’s Hoyas will rely on when they face the Orange’s trademark zone defense tonight.
Freshman center Greg Monroe.
“He can score. He can pass. He can shoot. He can do whatever you want him to do,” said Hoyas senior guard Jessie Sapp. “I think last game you got a glimpse — not even, you didn’t really see what he can do, a sneak peek — of what he can do to a zone if you let him, if you get him the ball. That’s what we’re going to try to do.”
Monroe picked apart Providence last weekend with 13 points and eight assists that could’ve been 15, helping garner his third Big East rookie of the week award of the season. The young big man knows exactly where traditional weaknesses are expected against the eighth-ranked Orange (16-1, 4-0 Big East), whose only loss came via a buzzer-beating 60-foot shot by Cleveland State on Dec. 15.
But just as the zone uses five players to bottle up an offense, so too must five players move in concert to successfully find ways to break it down.
“It’s never just me,” said Monroe. “It’s about anybody finding the right hole so you can get the ball and make good passes and easy decisions to get baskets.”
Syracuse forced the Hoyas (11-3, 2-2) into a combined 50 attempts from 3-point range in two games last season. This year Georgetown has averaged less than 19 shots from beyond the arc.
“Guys are doing a good job of trying to get to the basket and get into the paint in different ways, off penetration, off just throwing it down to different people, not just to our center.” said Hoyas head coach John Thompson III, leaving room for a warning. “Now they do a good job of negating all of that.”
Thompson has won his last two home games against the Orange. But he remains 2-4 overall versus Syracuse since taking over Georgetown five years ago. The last 11 games between the two schools have been decided by an average of 6.8 points, with three overtime contests, including a Hoyas victory last year at Verizon Center.
“I didn’t even know how big this rivalry was before I got here,” said Sapp. “But I get these feelings, like it’s just in me … It’s crazy how big this rivalry is. It’s a great feeling, and l think everybody’s prepared for it.”
