19 Georgetown The Hoyas now know that in the end their season had better be spelled NCAA, not NIT
Much of the optimism at Georgetown this fall can be traced to
the eve of the Big East tournament last March, when Hoyas coach
Craig Esherick summoned Kevin Braswell to his hotel room to
remind him how to play point guard. The pair had previously
engaged in similar chats several times during Braswell's two
years, with negligible results, but it's amazing how receptive a
player can be when his season is one loss away from being over.
"Kevin had never really played the point before college, and
because he was our best shooter, his first inclination was to
shoot," Esherick says. "I told him again how a point guard must
make sacrifices to keep his teammates involved, and finally
something clicked."
The following night Braswell produced 19 points and six assists
in Georgetown's 70-67 victory over West Virginia, and the Hoyas,
error-prone all season, committed just six turnovers. Braswell
now admits that the reason he launched 151 more shots than any
other Hoya last year was a loss of faith in his teammates. "I got
frustrated when I'd make a good pass and somebody missed an open
shot, so I started shooting too much," he says. "This season I
understand we need better balance to win."
The Hoyas ranked last in the Big East in field goal percentage
(39.4%) last season, but Esherick is convinced that the problem
is not bad shooters but bad shots. Georgetown also hasn't
reached the NCAAs since 1997, and the Hoya seniors face the
infamy of becoming the first class since 1974 to not go to the
tournament. As a reminder of recent mediocrity, Esherick took
the team's banner from the 2000 NIT (they lost in the second
round) and, instead of hanging it from the rafters at McDonough
Gym, placed it above the urinals in the locker room. "We hate
that banner, because it represents the disappointment of a
program with such great tradition," center Ruben Boumtje Boumtje
says. "We can't wait to earn our way back into the NCAAs and
tear that thing down."
--T.C.
STARTING LINEUP
POS. PLAYER HT. CL. KEY STAT
SF Gerald Riley 6'6" Fr. 28.0 ppg*
PF Mike Sweetney 6'8" Fr. 13.0 rpg*
C [**]Ruben Boumtje Boumtje 7'0" Sr. 7.7 rpg
SG Demetrius Hunter 6'2" So. 6.0 ppg
PG [**]Kevin Braswell 6'2" Jr. 5.3 apg
1999-2000 record: 19-15 Final rank (coaches' poll): unranked
[**]Returning starter *As a high school senior