Hoyas point guard holds key to making Princeton offense work
Chris Wright can’t seem to dodge the question of whether he’s really just a square peg in a round hole.
Entering just his second full year at point guard — after his first was cut short by a foot injury — Wright is one of Georgetown’s most experienced players. His individual playmaking ability will have a large role in determining if the Hoyas can bounce back from finishing 16-15 and missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time in three seasons.
It might also be a referendum on the adaptability of head coach John Thompson III’s Princeton-style offense. Can the complex system of reads, cuts and ball-sharing prove suitable to unleash its most dynamic player? Or was the most disappointing season of Thompson’s five-year tenure a sign that its novelty and viability have started to wear off?
“Well, I’m going to leave that [alone],” said Wright (12.5 points, 3.7 assists per game) when asked if he felt held back last year. “That system and everything — I have nothing to do with that. The players make the system. And we have to make plays. And if we don’t make plays then you can blame it on whatever you want.”
Earlier this year during a summer league game at Georgetown, Jonathan Wallace, part of Thompson’s first four-year class, said it takes time for players to learn how to trigger different and more advanced parts of the offense.
“The one thing is the guys have to grow up,” said Wallace. “Look at me and Jeff [Green] and our class when we came in. Our freshman year wasn’t the greatest, either.”
That group went 19-13 in Thompson’s first season and two seasons later advanced to the Final Four.
It will be up to both Wright and Thompson to figure out how best to make a similar leap.
“It’s adaptable but the players and the coaches have to be on the same page on the court,” said Wallace. “It takes a great sense of attention to make that happen. But if they’re willing to do that, it’ll make a huge difference.”
“If we had won games [last year] then the system would have had nothing to do with it,” said Wright, who was released from his initial commitment in high school to North Carolina State after a coaching change. “So because we lost games it becomes ‘The system is stifling us and stifling me.’ But if it was because of the system I wouldn’t have came here in the first place.”
