Disclaimer for this and all future Villanova Wildcats posts: I am a Villanova alum. These posts will be written from my point of view. Therefore, if the Cats lose, it will undoubtedly be because of a combination of of referee corruption/incompetence combined with their opponent's low admissions standards. That is not a joke. If you're looking for impartial analysis, look elsewhere.
I don't like Georgetown. I never have. This most likely stems back to the 1985 title game ( long before my time) and the general lack of class Georgetown showed in losing one of the greatest games in college basketball history. That game had no bearing on my college decision; I don't think I knew what basketball was at the time.
At the centerpiece of this strong dislike of Georgetown are Coach John Thompson and Patrick Ewing (Note Ewing falling on his butt in the above picture). We'll tackle them one at a time.
Patrick Ewing was known in college as the "Hoya Destroya," which just goes to show that intentionally misspelling words has been cool for a long time. The Hoyas had won the title over the University of Houston in 1984, and were the number one team in the nation in 1985 headed into the NCAA tournament. Villanova, as we now know, won the title game by shooting over 78% from the field.
Ewing showed an amazing lack of class after the title game. He complained for years that "the best team didn't win the game," and refused give Villanova any credit for winning the game. Ewing refused to answer questions about the game for years. Providing further evidence that karma is real, he never won an NBA championship despite being named as one of the Top 50 NBA players of all time, and played on Knicks teams that were perpetual title contenders.
John Thompson Jr (whose son, John Thompson III, currently coaches Georgetown-huzzah for nepotism!) was lauded during his career for his ability to recruit players from inner cities. I think we can all agree that giving impoverished kids a way out of their circumstances is a worthwhile goal of any institution of higher education. Shocker! There's more to the story!
Dubbed the "Idi Amin of college basketball," Thompson was one of the first modern totalitarian-style coaches. Practices were closed. Players were off-limits to the media. Thomspon's players, such as Alonzo Mourning, associated with known drug dealers (a practice which, to his credit, Thompson allegedly put an end to.) John Thompson wore a white towel thrown over his shoulder to constantly remind his players to play with a chip on their shoulder, and convinced them that the rest of the world held them in contempt. "Thompson's greatest success as a coach was his ability to create an "us against them" mentality among his players. Whether he specifically used race as the binding force in this belief is debatable although what certainly is not is the media's perception and perpetuation of the belief that he did. " Thompson resigned in 1999 in a profanity laced tirade. Classy.
At least John Thompson, despite some racially charged motivation tacts, made his players go to class. Patrick Ewing was a professional athlete given millions of dollars, and all he could be was a sourpuss.
What does that have to do with today's game? Very little. Georgetown has superior inside presence, with Hibbert. However, Hibbert continually angers the basketball gods by wearing a Tshirt under his jersey. Georgetown will play a slow, deliberate style of basketball, which will reduce 'Nova's chances for easy baskets in transition. 'Nova has the superior outside shooting. I am concerned that yesterday's strong 3 point shooting will result in 'Nova's players taking too many threes. If they make them, they'll win. If they don't, they won't.
Go Shiz! Go Cats!
Prediction: Nova 59, Gtown 62
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