GAME GRADES: Hoyas Improved Marks Marginally Against UMBC

Nov 30, 2022 - 4:00 PM

#7 - Hoyas vs. UMBC - 11/26/22 - I mean, I don’t know! How do we feel about this one? Yes, it’s a win. And winning remains > losing. My diagnosis in this one is UMBC is UMBC. Frankly, they were coming on late. And if they had started that push a bit earlier or just made a single shot in the first 6 minutes of the second half, I think Georgetown would have probably been on the wrong side of this one.

I am not sure it’s totally fair to hold that against them because… well, it didn’t happen, but I also didn’t see anything that made me feel drastically better about where this team is.

Accountability Check: I called a 76-72 bad win for the Georgetown Hoyas. I feel like I basically nailed it at 79-70.
No homework continues, mainly because there are only so many ways to say play better against better competition.

Let’s dive in!

Primo Spears - B+/A-
20 PTS, 8-16 (50%), 3-4 3PT (75%), 1-2 FT, 6 REB, 6 AST, 2 STL, 0 TO, 36 MIN
0 turnovers is great. He had a team-high 135 offensive rating and the best defensive rating at 98. Aside from the 34% assist percentage, his highest of the year by far, the biggest difference in his game was shooting 75% from three. That’s great! But also probably not something he can duplicate. 25% of his shots came from three in this one. That’s compared to 14% on the season. It would be one thing if that bump in attempts came in place of two-point jumpers (in other words, he was taking threes instead of long two’s), but his extra threes came at the expense of shots at the rim. His season average is 31%; against UMBC, only 18% of his shots came at the rim. Still a good game.

Jay Heath - B+/A-
25 PTS, 9-18 (50%), 5-6 3PT (83%), 2-2 FT, 4 REB, 3 AST, 1 TO, 37 MIN
Probably his best game of the year, at least on the offensive end. He shot it extremely well in this one. You’ll take it but don’t expect him to shoot 83% from three going forward, obviously. I don’t like the defense, but that’s not specific to him. However, his 109 defensive rating was the worst among the starters.

Wayne Bristol - B
6 PTS, 1-5 (20%), 0-2 3PT (0%), 6 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 2 BLK, 1 TO, 23 MIN
Murray missed his second straight game with a back injury, and Bristol got the starting nod ahead of Mozone in this one. That was the right call, particularly after Mozone’s performance against American. He has a tendency to float a bit at times, but I think he’s a good connector and is consistently solid on defense.

Akok Akok - B
8 PTS, 3-8 (37%), 2-5 3PT (40%), 7 REB, 1 AST, 3 BLK, 1 TO, 32 MIN
Another solid performance from Akok. It’s UMBC, so I am not going to go too crazy, but he continues to be very solid and once again erases a lot of defensive mistakes.

Qudus Wahab - B-
10 PTS, 3-7 (42%), 4-4 FT, 8 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 2 TO, 29 MIN
Q was fine.

Bryson Mozone - C+
8 PTS, 3-7 (42%), 1-3 3PT (33%), 1-3 FT, 6 REB, 2 AST, 0 TO, 24 MIN
He was better in more limited minutes, but I would still be splitting his minutes with Jordan.

Bradley Ezewiro - INC
2 PTS, 1-4 (25%), 2 REB, 8 MIN
I don’t know how to evaluate him. He looks pretty out of sync on both ends. I find his minutes baffling. I don’t know if he’s rusty or if this is his game.

Jordan Riley - INC
0 PTS, 0-1 (0%), 1 REB, 4 MIN
He could have been better in limited minutes. Coming off a not great performance against American, that’s concerning. I think he’s shown enough so far to warrant more consistent minutes, but I get it based on how other guys played in this one.

Denver Anglin - INC
0 PTS, 0-2 (0%), 0-2 3PT (0%), 1 REB,0 1 AST, 1 TO, 7 MIN
I like that he got in the game. He needs to get more regular minutes. If he does, he will find a way to fit in a bit more. When he’s in, his mind is set on shooting threes. At least someone’s is. That’s a tough assignment for a Freshman playing fewer than 10 minutes. I think you could play him in some three-guard lineups with Spears and Heath/Murray. But what do I know?

Offense - B-
I would call this an average offensive game. 15 assists is better. It’s fine. It’s enough to give you a chance to win. 22 threes is also fine. The way the offense is set up, you’re probably looking at between 20-25 threes maximum. Shooting 50% from three is unlikely. I didn’t see much difference in this one in terms of scheme or approach. Maybe some more ball movement. Definitely some better shot-making. The one difference was 6 turnovers. That is very good. But this was UMBC, I am just not sure how much we can really take from this.

Defense - B
I am not particularly sure how much UMBC’s shooting woes in the second half resulted from Georgetown’s defense or just…you know…UMBC gonna UMBC. The defense early in this one was defintely bad. Early on, I counted wide-open threes given up to a 42% shooter and a 56% shooter. Not good. Most, if not all, come off overhelping on drives. So what else is new? They continue to do this weird thing where the corner defender helps on a driver even if there’s inside help. It’s pretty baffling. I guess there is a way to do that effectively (Georgetown does not), but it requires helping early (Georgetown is almost always late) and pre-rotating off the corner. Otherwise, you’re just leaving a corner shooter to either make the highest percentage three-point shot or start a ball reversal to get an even better shot on the other side. I guess the defense in the middle of this game was a bit better, but again, it’s UMBC. Also, their transition defense was very bad again.

Next Up
Ho boy! Georgetown travels to Lubbock to play 29th-ranked Texas Tech in the Mac McClung bowl (too soon?). Georgetown is a 16-point underdog. KenPom has this as a 15-point win for Tech. The Red Raiders (what a dumb name) are good. They have beaten similarly ranked opponents Louisville by like 40 points and Lousiana Tech (Yes, we are similarly ranked to Louisiana Tech) by 9. I feel like that pretty accurately represents the range of options. Hopefully, we’re closer to LATech than Louisville (what a wild sentence in 2022).

Score? Loss! 75 - 63