Jan. 8, 2010
Better Bang the Boards, Boys!!
With the first of a series of Saturday High Noon Big East shootouts set against Connecticut, the key for the Hoyas will be who wins the "Beast of the Big East" battle on the boards. Even without Hasheem Thabeet, UCONN, now led upfront by Stanley Robinson, remains a big strong, powerful squad and the Hoyas will need to pound the boards hard, box out and contest each missed shot. At the same time, the Hoyas won't be able to send everyone to the boards as the UCONN guards, especially Kimba Walker and Jerome Dyson, love to run out and play fast break basketball. I am confident that our guards, Jason Clark, Chris Wright, and Austin Freeman, will be up to the challenge posed by the Husky backcourt. Thus, the key remains who wins the inside game!
Sophomore Greg Monroe will need to assert himself offensively and defensively. Julian Vaughn, who continues to pound away and improve with each passing game, must bring his "A" game, thereby facilitating Monroe's effort. For me, the key players for the Hoyas may well be sophomore Henry Sims and freshman Jerrelle Benimon. At 6'10", Sims will need to "be mean" in the words of the good Doctor Bill Licamele, C'68, M'72 and play as if he were back in the Kenner League going up against Miami Heat forward Michael Beasley. This brings us to Benimon, who, at 6'07" and 242 pounds, could be a wild card in this contest. When he has played, Benimon has shown no hesitation to mix it up both defensively and on the boards. While he has not yet garnered that much playing time, the size and strength of the Huskies may provide Benimon with his opportunity to show his stuff and further lengthen the Hoyas bench for the remainder of the Big East season!
With the teams ranked Nos. 12 (Hoyas) and 13 (Huskies) overall and evenly matched in conference play with 2-1 records, the game should be tight, and the team that wins the inside game will prevail. My hunch is that the Hoyas will give Coach John Thompson III a five-point victory in this his 100th Big East Conference game! So come to the game early, wear your blue and gray, and BEAT UCONN!!
Before the game, all Hoya Hoop Club members are invited to join the D.C. Club for a free pre-game brunch and faculty presentation at Gordon Biersch, 900 F Streets, N.W, two blocks from the Verizon Center. The brunch will begin at 10:30 and Professor Cha, who chairs the School of Foreign Service's Asian Studies Program and has written extensively on Asian affairs and sports, will speak at 11:00 a.m.
WE ARE GEORGETOWN!!
Respectfully submitted,
Michael E. Karam, F'72, L'76, L'82
Proud Member of Generation Laughna
