Thompson is a man of contradictions, and you can pack a lot of them into a 6'10", 300-pound package. Thompson is quite sincere about separating his team from gamblers, reporters and other "possible influences," though the most insidious influence in Provo seemed to be Osmondism. No, but Delaware isn't out of the question. With the Big East tournament moving to New York City next year, the coaches around the conference have already jokingly asked Thompson if he's planning to stay in Canada. Therefore, to beat Georgetown on Saturday, all Louisville has to do is block the major routes into the city. Georgetown's headquarters for the Final Four will put the team closer to Baton Rouge than to New Orleans. They remained there the following week and made the 90-mile round trip to Provo for practices and games. During the first two rounds, played in Logan, Utah, Coach John Thompson housed his team at the Salt Lake City Hilton, 85 miles from the playing site. So, what's to stop the Hoyas? Well, like Hannibal, they must travel great distances to get to war. By comparison, the Beavers shot 54.0% from the floor in their 60-42 rout of Idaho in the semifinals. And their defense was just as good: Fresno State shot 41.0% and Oregon State finished at 38.5%. They made their first 10 shots of the second half against the Beavers. They shot 63.6% against Fresno State and an all-time NCAA tournament record 74.4% against Oregon State. The Hoyas can run and gun to get a lead, as they did when they shot to a 24-9 advantage over Oregon State in the first 10 minutes, and they can turn on the air conditioner to protect it, as they did by going nearly eight minutes of the second half without attempting a field goal. Georgetown also has a style conducive to winning a national title. In New Orleans the Hoyas will have the Final Four's best guard, the best bench, the best athletes and the best momentum, the latter reminiscent of Indiana's in 1981. As Georgetown's small contingent of fans chanted before the win over Oregon State, "The Beast of the East is the Best of the West."Īnd perhaps the Best in America. Including their 51-43 victory over Wyoming on March 13, their two-week blitzkrieg in Utah gave them an average victory margin of 16.7 points. The Hoyas handled Fresno State 58-40 on Thursday and Oregon State 69-45 on Saturday as though they were pickup teams on a D.C.
0 kommentar(er)
