Presidents' Day Special

By Mark Buckets

Today marks Presidents' Day on the Calender. This is a day to reflect on past Commander in Chiefs. A day to pay hommage to those who have served us well.

No mail? No problem.

What better way to fill in your afternoon duties than some early afternoon College Basketball?

ESPN2 has served up a dandy in the form of Georgetown and Providence.

The atmosphere? As stale as a rack of donuts near midnight at a local Dunkin' Donuts. How ironic, since this game is taking place in the Dunkin' Donuts Center. Hi-yo.

The teams? Georgetown and Providence. Georgetown has been skating on thin ice all year to remain on top in the Big East - D&D would also like to point out that the Providence Bruins play hockey in the Dunkin' Donuts Center too. Okay, I'll stop now. ESPN really picked a winner by showing Georgetown and Providence. Providence's basketball team has lost 7 of its last 8 games.

This game has been as exciting as a George W. Bush State of the Union Address.

Both teams are doing what they do best: Georgetown is taking care of the basketball, and Providence is chucking up threes and missing them.

Hail to the Chief! (Pipe down Illinois fans)

Georgetown: Early Favorite for Final Four

In tonight's Big East v. SEC showdown, Georgetown beat Alabama and West Virginia (in their first year under new coach Bob Huggins) annihilated Auburn.

The West Virginia v. Auburn game was never in doubt. West Virginia blew the Tigers out from the opening tip off.

Alabama gave Georgetown trouble for most of the game, but couldn't hang at the end.

Why are these games relevant? Two reasons:

1.) - Because three players looked like sure fire NBA prospects.

Georgetown center Roy Hibbert, Alabama power forward Richard Hendrix and West Virginia forward Joe Alexander will all be NBA players.

Roy Hibbert returned to Georgetown after toying with the NBA draft over the summer. He made the right decision by going back to school. Hibbert is a giant: he's 7'2," with a very wide body, despite the fact that he's dropped a significant amount of weight in the last two years. The weight loss has allowed Hibbert to show surprising mobility and agility for a guy who is - even with the weight loss - such a mountain of a man. Despite his mass, Hibbert plays a finesse game: in order to maximize his effectiveness at the next level, he'll need to learn how to better utilize his size (not just his height) to his advantage. Hibbert needs to power up to the rim when he has the ball. He needs to be more aggressive on offense. But he has good hands, and has outstanding basketball instincts.

Roy Hibbert looks like an NBA lottery pick. His game isn't pretty, and he's not exactly a force under the basket. But Roy Hibbert will be a nice center at the next level. And he's only 20 years old. This kid has come a long way in a short time (the massive weight loss, the improved athleticism, the improved court sense, etc.). He's still only starting to scratch the surface of what he can be. While I don't expect him to be a perennial NBA all star, I think he'll be a good NBA center (especially if he goes to a team that has a lot of other pieces). Ultimately, I see him being similar to Brendan Haywood at the next level.

Alabama's Richard Hendrix is a big, strong, athletic power forward with a great feel for the game. He has the build and the skills of the prototypical NBA power forward. He's not a new school Kevin Garnett/Dirk Nowitzki type slashing and perimeter shooting power forward. He's an old school, back to the basket, rebounding tough power forward. And he's for real.

Hendrix's game is very polished. He defends and rebounds well. He uses his body and his athleticism well. And he's got all the requisite offensive skills - he scores in the low post, he has a nice 10-15 foot jump shot, he has a good understanding of the game, he passes well and he makes his free throws. This guy is no project. He should be able to contribute the minute he sets foot on an NBA floor.

Finally, West Virginia's Joe Alexander has, seemingly, come from nowhere to establish himself as one of the best college players in the country -- and as a legitimate NBA prospect. This guy was a tall, skinny, frail forward last year. Bob Huggins has made him gain weight and get tougher. He has.

Alexander is an extremely explosive leaper (on one alley oop dunk, his head was parallel with the rim). He has nice lateral quickness and down court speed. This guy is just an effortless athlete (although he doesn't look like he's really playing hard, he goes past you or jumps over you).

Joe Alexander plays power forward, but he's a totally finesse player. He's no back to the basket guy -- he catches the ball and faces up to the basket. Alexander is most comfortable taking his man off the dribble. He either gets to the rim, or (more often) takes a couple dribbles and stops for a mid range jumper or a turnaround. This guy plays like a smaller, more athletic Dirk Nowitzki (I'm not saying that he's in the same stratosphere as Dirk, but he plays with a similar style). He'll probably never be a true power forward, but he'll - no doubt - get his run at the next level. Expect him to be compared to former NBA great Tom Chambers - athletic, high flying white big guys almost always are (probably because they come along so infrequently).

As for the second reason tonight's games were relevant:

2.) - Georgetown.

After watching Georgetown, I'm convinced that they're good enough to make a return trip to the Final Four. They lost forward Jeff Green to the NBA, but they don't look like they've skipped a beat. Their guards are all solid: they make smart plays, handle pressure defense well, they don't turn the ball over, they have the ability penetrate and get into the lane and they nail their perimeter shots. Georgetown's front line, led by Hibbert, is also top notch.

This team has all the pieces. I still don't think they'll win the national championship, but they have the look of a Final Four team for sure. And yeah, it's early ... but Georgetown looks like they're for real.

See You In The ATL: Florida, Georgetown Set Final Four Field

Florida handled Oregon and Georgetown shut down North Carolina, in overtime, to advance to the Final Four. Ohio State and UCLA earned Final Four spots yesterday.

This year's field consists of two one seeds and two two seeds from four BCS conferences: the Big Ten, the Pac 10, the Southeast, and the Big East. Florida, the reigning National Champion, and UCLA are making return appearances. They will meet for a rematch of last year's Championship game. Also, for the second straight year, no team from the ACC will be in the Final Four.

The staff here at Drive and Dish wish to congratulate all four teams. But we offer this reminder to Georgetown: you shouldn't be here. Jeff Green's game winning shot, in Friday's game against Vanderbilt, should not have counted. He traveled before he shot the ball. The officials blew the call. Vanderbilt should have advanced to play North Carolina in the Elite Eight. Georgetown should have been watching today's Vanderbilt vs. North Carolina game from home.

Instead, Georgetown is headed to Atlanta. Jeff Green (as pictured above, with Roy Hibbert) gets to play on the big stage.

Make no mistake: the Hoyas' were convincing in their overtime win over the Tar Heels. They absolutely shut North Carolina down in the second half. Georgetown then outscored North Carolina 15 to 3 in overtime. North Carolina looked outclassed. That was impressive, to say the least. Georgetown proved that they belong in the Final Four. But they still shouldn't be there.


Edit:


This past Tuesday, we ran another installment of our, ever popular, "Separated at Birth ?" posts. Tuesday's "Separated at Birth?" featured a side by side of North Carolina forward Tyler Hansbrough and Canadian psycho chainsaw massacre-er Gregory Despres. Hansbrough and the chainsaw-wielding freak sported similar facial expressions (same crazy look in the eyes) in their respective pictures. Today's loss to Georgetown featured several great television shots of the crazy-eyed Hansbrough. One such shot is pictured below, with the chainsaw wielding freak's mugshot underneath.


North Carolina forward Tyler Hansbrough


Chainsaw wielding psycho killer Gregory Despres.



It has also been brought to our attention that there are more Hansbrough look alike pieces circulating on the world wide web (like the Hansbrough-Beeker comparison below).



We'll continue to highlight some of them, as circumstances warrant.

Missed Layups Cost Southern Illinois, Texas A&M and Tennesseee

Missed layups proved costly in Thursday night's NCAA Regional games. In three games that saw teams lose by one basket (or one point-Texas A&M and Tennessee) Southern Illinois' Bryan Mullins, Texas A&M's Acie Law IV, and Tennessee's Ramar Smith all missed easy transition layups that, ultimately, may have prevented their respective teams from winning. Mullins and Law IV were pressured by defenders. Smith got caught showing off-he turned what should have been an easy layup into an around the back "hot sauce" finger roll. But he missed. Ouch. As one of my high school coaches once screamed, "can somebody please make a friggin' layup?"



Update:

In the opening line of his 1991 classic, "Mama Said Knock You Out," L.L. Cool J announced: "(d)on't call it a comeback; I've been here for years." In the last two days, Ohio State and North Carolina have made amazing second half comebacks en route to knocking their opponents out. Last night Ohio State overcame a seventeen point second half lead by Tennessee. Tonight, North Carolina came back from trailing USC by sixteen in the second half.

That's hard to do. Especially this late in the Tournament (every team in the Sweet Sixteen is legit).

North Carolina and Ohio State are such talented teams that they've been able to overcome their own poor play. Tennessee and USC outplayed their opponents for much of their respective games, but, in the end, just weren't in the same league as the Buckeyes and Tar Heels. Ultimately, however, both teams will have to play much better as they will face opponents who are nearly as talented as they are - if they make it to the Final Four.



Georgetown is really, really lucky. In the final seconds of their game against Vanderbilt, with Vanderbilt up by one point, Georgetown's Jeff Green hit a basket that won the game for the Hoyas. Unfortunately, Green probably traveled on the play. The picture above shows Green going up for the shot in question.

Green was tied up by two Vandy defenders. He pivoted and pivoted and pivoted. Then he pivoted, spun and threw up an off balance bank shot, which went in. But in the process of pivoting and pivoting some more, Green appears to have picked up his pivot foot. If so, Green traveled. Vanderbilt should be in the Elite Eight. Oh well.