Hopefully these Game Grades are a wake up call
Yikes! Your Georgetown Hoyas were absolutely run out of the arena by a No. 15 St. John’s team, which is now officially rolling. The Red Storm only needed one half to put away the Hoyas, as their 47-21 lead at the break was sufficient to bury a reeling Hoyas team.
Was this just one bad game? Was it a hangover from the amped-up AMP atmosphere at Providence? Was it a “told you so” declaration of the guy they should have hired? The answer is a resounding yes. But equally, no. Everything is true, and nothing is. Georgetown was beaten by a better team and lacked any coherent form of offense to put up a viable fight.
The grades are all bad. Nobody was good, but nevertheless, let’s do this. A reminder that I prefer not to give out individual “F” grades. It just seems mean. That rule was … challenged in this one.
Malik Mack – D
13pts, 4-9 44% FG, 3-5 60% 3PT, 2-3 FT, 5 REB, 3 AST, 1 STL, 6 TO, 34 MIN
The guard play for the Hoyas was rough in this game. That really was just the first half. Malik ended up as the Hoyas’ leading scorer, but nearly all of his points came to start the second half after SJU led by 26. He did come out of the half with intensity and was able to hit shots, but the game was over by that point. Like the rest of his team, he was overmatched in the first half. His turnovers were all a combination of St. John’s superior length and intensity and lax and sloppy play. I have not loved the Epps+Mack backcourt overall, and it got absolutely hammered in this game. If neither are making shots, as was the case in the first half, it’s borderline unplayable. In the second half, Cooley started with the same backcourt but quickly switched to either Epps or Mack on the floor, not both. To his credit, Malik raised his level and shot-making in the second half, but he desperately needs a spot on the floor to get an easy shot. Everything is just really challenging right now.
Jayden Epps – D-
2pts, 1-8 12% FG, 0-3 3PT, 2 REB, 0 AST, 2 TO, 22 MIN
If you told me Jayden was 100%, I would call you a damn liar. I have no inside information, but he just doesn’t look healthy. That said, he played, so it’s fair to judge him on the performance. The performance was bad. He just doesn’t look stable – which I attribute to his injury. He reminds me of Jay Heath last year, who was playing through injury and was stumbling and falling a lot. Jayden just doesn’t look like he’s able to do what he wants to. That sucks, and I am sure it is very frustrating as a player. He needs to simplify his game a lot. And I think the Hoyas may need to help him with that, which may include bringing him off the bench. I remain skeptical of the Epps/Mack backcourt, and it’s a disaster when they both struggle to make shots. It also doesn’t help that they are both looking for largely the same type of shots (with some nuance). Splitting them up will help defensively and give each more defined role offensively. I think it would help Jayden in particular, as he could come on and just shoot. I have been on record as being against Jayden as a volume shooter, but I’m more willing to accept it on this team off the bench and if he’s off-ball. A lot of ifs, I know, but I think shrinking his focus on offense, even if that focus is on something he hasn’t done well consistently (shoot high volume effectively), is necessary.
Micah Peavy – D+
6pts, 3-14 21% FG, 0-5 3PT, 6 REB, 1 AST, 3 STL, 1 TO, 40 MIN
Micah was the one guy who I thought mostly just had bad shooting luck. Though, luck or no luck, 21% and 0-5 from three is not good enough. He did have a number of shots hit the back rim or pop out after being halfway down. This type of shooting performance is always going to be on the table for him (it’s his biggest area of improvement to move to the next level). It’s why he can’t be the primary scoring or shooting option. But I am less worried about this becoming a prolonged streak for him. He’s a true team guy. That is, when the team is in rhythm, he is. When the team looks like they had never seen each other before, as they did against St. John’s, he’s just not going to be as effective offensively. He still managed some great individual plays defensively in this game, which was impressive.
Drew Fielder – D
6pts, 2-5 40% FG, 2-4 50% 3PT, 2 REB, 0 AST, 2 TO, 22 MIN
He shot confidently in the second half and knocked down a couple of threes. They desperately need him to be a reliable shooter. That seems unlikely to happen this season, though I hope he can improve slightly and significantly to raise their offensive ceiling. It needs to be his primary focus this offseason.
Thomas Sorber – D+
8pts, 3-9 33% FG, 0-2 3PT, 2-4 FT, 9 REB, 2 AST, 4 STL, 4 TO, 35 MIN
He was a plus defender and a plus rebounder. He makes some outstanding defensive plays in the zone and helps defense, which shows off his IQ and feel for positioning. He was not good on the offensive end and was taken entirely out of the game by St. John’s physicality and activity. It was a game where he just looked like a Freshman. It’s a credit to his play this year that a true Freshman performance was a surprise. Hopefully, he washes it off and comes back strong against Butler.
Caleb Williams – D+
6pts, 1-6 16% FG, 1-3 33% 3PT, 3-7 FT, 4 REB, 1 TO, 21 MIN
I am actively repressing my urge to give Caleb a much higher grade. I thought he came in and once again did everything the team needed. Ultimately, no Hoya was “good” in this game, so I will keep him in line with his teammates, He also shot 1-6, though I think, like Micah, he had a number of just bad luck shots. I’m officially on the “start Caleb” train.
As mentioned above, I’d like to see Jayden coming off the bench, and I think Caleb is the right option for the starting lineup. I just have so much confidence in him to do what the team needs and not get out-hustled. He was the only Hoya who could effectively get to the rim against SJU. He was not able to finish (something he needs to definitely work on) but drew fouls and generally forced good things to happen. He just possesses a lot of fundamentally sound skills. His shot is good (as is his shot selection). He showed that he can put the ball on the ground in traffic a bit and get to the rim. He was first off the bench for Drew, which is a lineup I would like to see more of. I would just get to it differently – have Jayden come off the bench for Drew with Caleb starting.
Curtis Williams – D
0pts, 0-5 FG, 0-4 3PT, 1 REB, 1 TO 16 MIN
Curtis has not shot well in the past few games and continued to struggle in this one. He was not able to get any clean looks and tried to create too much for himself. He was looking to spark the offense, which I understand, but he just isn’t a shot-creator at this point.
Offense – F- Currently ranked 186th in Off. efficiency per KenPom (previously 159th)
59 Off. Rating, 29% eFG, 23% 3PT (6-26), 42.9 AST Rate
There isn’t a grade low enough for the offense in this game. It was atrocious. I imagine that everyone is going to diagnose the problem differently. If you think the offensive scheme is terrible, you saw this game as a prime example. If you think it’s a personnel issue, this game demonstrated the lack of shotmakers and viable offensive options. If you think it’s an effort and execution issue, St. Johns’s suffocating defense and Georgetown’s lack of resistance is exhibit A. In reality, all those things, and probably others we don’t know about, are factors in their poor offensive performances.
For me, it starts with shot-making. This game spiraled because Georgetown was just unable to hit shots. I don’t think they generated great shots, but they had makeable shots, and they just didn’t. They are a team of very inconsistent shooters. Jayden and Malik are both high-volume, low-efficiency shooters who can get hot. Micah is a secondary option shooter, meaning he’s great as a second or third option offensively but is not a guy who will consistently score 20 on 50% shooting. Your best offense option is a Freshman who will have ups and downs.
Beyond that are rotation guys that can just as easily go for 0 pts as 12. When the Georgetown offense has been at its best this year, they have used scheme to compensate for the lack of offensive talent (see Creighton game), but there’s a limit to how far that can take you. At a certain point, guys just need to make shots. They didn’t make any in this game, and you see the result. There are things the staff can and needs to do to help the offense, but I think it starts (and maybe ends) with execution.
Even when the team is moving the ball or trying to reverse it, there are far too many times when a pass is just a half step behind a guy. Instead of the pass leading a guy into a shot or drive, he has to wait, take a step back, catch it, and then reset. That is a small detail that ends up making a big difference. I saw a lot of this against St. John’s. SJU created a ton of turnovers, for sure. But when you saw Georgetown with seven seconds on the shot clock and having to rely on one guy to go find a shot, a lot of those started with a pass that was just a little off that made a guy reset rather than step into an opening.
I’ll be looking for these details against Butler. If they can clean those up, I think the offense will be better, at least better than it has been.
Defense – D Currently ranked 28th in Def. efficiency per KenPom (previously 32nd)
95 Def. Rating, 53% eFG, 17.3 TO Rate, 79% DRB Rate
F minus defense in the first half. C+ defense in the second half, aided by SJU’s coasting with a 20-plus point lead. I didn’t like coming out in the zone to start the game, though I understand the thinking. SJU’s is a bad (really bad) shooting team. Taking away driving lanes and forcing jump shots is a decent approach. And the zone worked well in their first matchup. In reality, I don’t like starting the game in the zone – I think it disrupts players’ feel for the game and makes it hard to find rhythm. I also think it would be a safe bet that Pitino and SJU would have prepared for the zone. Showing it to them right off the bat, I think, helps offensive players because they are focused on their preparation and are not trying to adjust midgame.
Still, those are not dealbreakers if the zone is operating well, and it wasn’t. This brings me to the prime reason I don’t like the zone to start the game – I don’t like playing zone with Epps and Mack at the guard spots. As I’ve noted, I have been very impressed with Malik’s defensive evolution. He’s turned himself into a plus defender for his size. He’s been good in the zone. Jayden is never going to be a good defender, but he has given a good effort this year. The two of them are too small at the top of the zone, and Jayden struggles to make the necessary reads, particularly given the 2-3, 1-3-1 hybrid they are trying to play. In that setup, the two guards at the top of the zone are critical in taking away the free throw line soft spot.
As the ball swings along the perimeter, they want the closest player to initially show to the ball and then make a read, depending on how the offense is set up. If there is a shooter in the corner, the wing defender shows to the ball and then quickly passes off to the guard so the wing can rotate to the corner shooter. That read needs to happen quickly, or they will give away a wide-open corner three. If the ball is in the center of the floor, one guard shows initial pressure, and the other has to make a read to either stay high (basically shifting them into a 2-3 zone) or drop to the free throw line. Again, that read has to happen quickly as the offense is cutting (either to the perimeter or free throw line).
In a couple of instances, Jayden made the right read, but just too slowly. And a few others, he just looked a little lost. I don’t put all of the blame on him. I think it’s a lot to ask of him, particularly as he has not done it much at game speed. I would play man-to-man when he is to simplify the defensive end. Anyway…the defense is still good. They gave up 19 in the second half.
Next Up
Georgetown hosts a beatable Butler team (ranked 82nd on KenPom). This starts off a streak of five (conceivably) winnable games. Butler-home, Xavier-road, Seton Hall-home, Butler-road, Providence-home. If you are a different team than you’ve been the last few years, you would expect to go at least 3-2 if not 4-1. Anything less, you are pretty much the same as you’ve been. It starts with a get-right game against a two-win Butler team. They are the 17th oldest team in the country. They have a lot of guys who you’ll say, “Oh yeah, I remember him.”
That’s pretty much it. Go get a win.