So, let’s see. Pittsburgh papers seem a little distracted by the Superbowl. Apparently the Steelers are involved. Georgetown just isn’t getting much coverage in the Post. Not a lot out there.
On a neutral court, this game would probably be a pick ’em. Since it is at Georgetown, the Hoyas are 2.5 point favorite. Pitt is 5-2 overall on the road this season.
It is expected that more than 12,000 will attend the game. Georgetown hasn’t sold out the 20,000 MCI Center except when they have played Duke. They are learning, though, that (surprise) winning tends to increase attendance. Especially when a team is playing at an off-campus facility.
Coach Dixon feels that the team has had a good week of practice and responded well following the UConn loss.
For Pitt, playing Georgetown means facing yet another different style of play.
Thompson III runs a version of the Princeton offense, and it provides some challenges for opponents. Against Pitt last season, the Hoyas shot 50 percent from the field and won, 67-64, at the Petersen Events Center.
It is a hard offense for Pitt to defend against because the Panthers don’t see it too often, and the backdoor cuts can be difficult to simulate in practice.
“You have to have the right personnel to run that offense, and they do,” Dixon said. “They have good skill guys.”
Georgetown, however, is a different team from last season. Hibbert averaged 5.1 points and 3.8 rebounds in 16 minutes a game last season. He is playing more and scoring and rebounding at a much higher rate this season.
When Hibbert is on the floor, Georgetown is so imposing inside that the Hoyas can overwhelm opponents. When he is on the bench, Thompson goes to a smaller lineup that can be just as dangerous.
“They’re like two different teams,” Dixon said. “They can go big with Hibbert and they can go small with [Darrel] Owens. They have some interesting matchups, kind of like we do. They change drastically when different guys are in the game. They’re a completely different team when Hibbert is in there and when he is not.”
The Hoyas, though, haven’t face anyone like Pitt this season — though their fans might see something from the past.
Pittsburgh is a team built around the rugged penetration skills of senior point man Carl Krauser (16.4 points, 4.5 assists), the pivot prowess of 7-foot wide body Aaron Gray (13.6 points, 10.9 rebounds) and a host of relentless athletic defenders who tend to turn the game into 40 minutes of basketbrawl.
Sound familiar?
OK, so Gray isn’t going to be confused for Ewing or Mourning. But the Panthers (17-2, 6-2 Big East) are still pure Papa John. They hound. They pound. They bump, poke, grab, bang and generally force officials either to interpret the rules loosely or wear out their whistles.
“Toughness is definitely one of the first things we look at when we’re recruiting,” said Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon, whose team commits the third-most fouls a game in the league (17.6) behind only South Florida (18.6) and Syracuse (18.5).
Like the scrappy blue and gray squads of old, Pitt shoots poorly from outside, averaging just 35.1 percent from beyond the 3-point arc. And they might notch more victories with their will than with their skill. But success trumps style points, and there isn’t a coach in the conference who doesn’t respect the Panthers.
“Nobody comes at you and competes any harder,” Connecticut’s Jim Calhoun said after his top-ranked Huskies survived against the Panthers 80-76 in Storrs earlier this week. “They are physically relentless.”
The Hoyas (15-4, 6-2) haven’t seen a team this season that truly fits that profile. Both Duke and Illinois play hard but not rough. Connecticut dwarfs every team in the nation in terms of talent and depth, but the Huskies haven’t featured a member of the league’s All-Want-To squad since Kevin Freeman left Storrs. West Virginia is the Big East’s most polished squad, not its most punishing.
Who would have thought we’d see the day when people covering Georgetown basketball seem worried about tough physical play?
Hibbert has been hot inside, lately, but…
Roy Hibbert, Georgetown’s 7-2 sophomore, says that he remembers Gray from last season, but Gray — like Hibbert — is not the same player he was a year ago. Gray has more than tripled his production from a year ago and is averaging 13.6 points and a Big East-best 10.9 rebounds per game. Hibbert is shooting 70.3 percent from the floor in his past three games, but hasn’t faced a player with Gray’s size.
Gray, on the otherhand, has faced several teams that could throw size against him. That will be an interesting thing to see what Gray does.
