From: xjam@cork.CS.Berkeley.EDU (The Crossjammer)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.basketball.college
Subject: Asleep at the wheel, vacations, and crow.
Date: 9 Jan 93 01:39:31
Organization: University of California, Berserkeley
NNTP-Posting-Host: cork.cs.berkeley.edu

Okay, so I go on vacation for three weeks, come back and look 900+ articles
in r.s.bb.c in the face and a Georgetown loss to *Miami* to boot. I'm just
waiting to get an earful from all the Hoya haters. The result?

Zip, nada, nil, nothing. And I was all ready to eat crow.

You little weasels are cretinous cowards who can pick on a lumbering
carcass only when it's at a dead standstill (i.e. early season) much less a
slow trot.

And the Georgetown program is indeed at a slow trot. Othella Harrington is
for real but he's not gonna dominate for ala Pat and Alonzo. At least not
yet. Duane Spencer is pretty solid and in fact is the Hoyas most versatile
player at this point being able to score inside, dribble, and score from
outside, occasionally all at the same time. This combination is unseen in
any other Hoya. Robert Churchwell seems to be coming alive but he's
basically a more seasoned Spencer.

The real downside is that nobody, and I mean nobody, has any confidence
from the outside. Against the Orangemen, (a game I saw live in person) the
Hoya guards were passing up shots even I would have taken given my anemic
outside shot. I can't tell you how many times I yelled "Take that shot!".

r.s.bb.c aside: all right I'll eat crow on the paint drying crack. Man that
game was U-gly. 46 turnovers, Gtown under 50% from the foul line, Syracuse
confused about the concept of "set play", Jim Boeheim picking boogers (okay
I made that one up). The only real excitement was watching Lawrence Moten
go off. This guy is gonna be a great pro.

The Hoyas are a passable team. Lord knows if they were in the Pac-10 they
would have a shot at winning the thing, but even in a mediocre Big East
(top to bottom), the Hoyas will be on the second tier. Seton Hall and UConn
obviously are ahead of them, while BC, the Orange and maybe Nova with the
Hoyas in a second pack. St. Johns, Providence, and Miami will be lucky to
make the NIT.

Meanwhile, I don't know what to make of Maryland. They beat up on pretty
much the same scrubs as Gtown (Howard, UMES, etc.) and handed Lousiville
their hat. But frankly, L'ville looked like a shitty team. "Hey, ma watch
me hold the ball at the top of the key for 30 seconds!". And obviously, one
game does not a team make. The Terps have to run and get fired up for their
freshman to be effective, because the outside shooting is embodied in a
*very* streaky Johnny Rhodes. He just faced L'ville but clanged it up
against the Yellowjackets. Also, premier point guards are going to eat the
Terps alive. Travis Best went berserk. The Terps will probably catch one of
Duke, North Carolina or Georgia Tech napping as they always seem to do and
sneak in a big win. Virginia, Wake, and FSU have more experienced talent
but I think the Terps can play with them. Clemson and NC State are so bad
now that the Terps will definitely finish ahead of them. It'll be a close
call come march since the Terps fattened up early, especially the L'ville
win. They can go .500 in the ACC, pick up a freebie against Notre Dame, and
be at 16 wins or so.

As for Cal! Well, you know the refrain: Campanelli stinks. 'Nuff said.
--
xjam@cork.Berkeley.EDU  	Fiiiive Thousand Boomin Watts...... -The JBeez

They can't come on and play me in prime time, 	    | Free Millipede coin op
Cause I know the time, cause I'm gettin' mine.	    | and House music at my
I get on the mix late in the night... -Public Enemy | place! Drop by sometime.