Tourney File: Georgetown

Here is the first of a periodic breakdown of teams expected to be in the NCAA Tournament

Georgetown

What to Like: Georgetown has one of the few true centers in college basketball in Roy Hibbert. At 7'2", he is tall and heavy enough to matchup favorably against Greg Oden and Ohio State, a team that most teams have to be worried as hell about when they get their assignments in March. His improvement over the years been steady (scoring up one point per, rebounds down nearly one per, and blocks up by eight-tenths) but his true asset has been his health-- he has not missed a game this season.

What to be Pleasantly Surprised By: Sticking with Hibbert, he has managed to avoid fouling out of any games this season. In the two non-blowout games he has played with fourfouls, Hibbert was on the court for 33 and 35 minutes against Oral Roberts and Louisville, respectively. Having a big man who can avoid the stupid, crippling fouls will take you far in March.

What Will Keep Them From Winning: Guard play. While Jeff Green is the Hoyas' second leading scorer, he has been clamped down when the competition moves from the Hartford/Navy/James Madison category to the Old Dominion/Duke/Oregon/Villanova category. Green has fouled out twice this season (ODU and Oregon) and had four fouls against the Blue Devils. It's exponentially more difficult to win when your premier perimeter threat is saddled with foul problems.

What We Don't Know: Which big-game Georgetown team is going to show up? Will it be the team that masterfully took down Duke at the Verizon Center last season? Or will it be the team who comically handed the game-- and eventually the Big East tournament-- to Syracuse last year at Madison Square Garden? The Hoyas advanced to the Sweet Sixteen, only to run into the buzzsaw that was the Florida Gators. Has JT III gained some semblence of late game coaching? Or should we start pencilling in the Hoyas for an early exit?

Who Do They Want to Play?: Memphis. Georgetown is athletic enough to run with the Tigers, and to boot, they have an NBA caliber center who can deter the slashers on Calipari's squad from getting too far into the lane.

Who Don't They Want to Play?: UCLA, Texas A&M and Florida are huge matchup problems for them. UCLA and the Aggies play extremely physical perimeter defense which will bottle up Green and make their entry passes to Hibbert less effective, and Florida's versatile big men will draw Hibbert away from his comfort zone.

Prediction: Sixth seed in an unfavorable region. Georgetown had lofty pre-season expectations, and will likely be punished for not fulfilling them when the committee meets after the conference tourneys conclude.

(posted by JH)