I don't think it's unfair to rank our backcourt middle to bottom of the BE, because it is so unproven. When you have freshman, you hope they work hard over the summer and improve. Branch isn't a freshman, but he has zero conference play experience. There is no upperclassman in this backcourt because Nurideen Lindsey doesn't like being yelled at.
We're counting on:
- Harrison tightening up his defense.
- Greene working on his jump shooting, and passing.
- Branch stepping in and running the offense like a natural point guard. He missed most of last season, however, he did have the benefit of practicing
with the team for most of the season.
- Balamou is a mystery to me. He'll see time immediately, because we're thin until Branch arrives.
No matter how you shake it they scored 25 points a game combined last year. They proved they can perform. Efficiency will improve with more bodies, more options to draw attention, plus a full year of experience.
Why do I feel like talking to a wall sometimes where points like that are drastically overlooked?
Maybe because stats alone don't tell the entire story. If you were dead on about Harrison and Greene, then every college basketball analyst would write up a BE Preview that rated SJ favorably. Few are. There is a lot of talent. That we know, but there are also a lot of questions.
If 25 ppg was all we needed for our backcourt to be strong, then Hill and Jackson would have been strong.
Stats lie.
Do you expect their ppg to drop. Regardless of more ppl on board I don't see their ppg dropping. I see better shot selection, better defense, better energy to play the at better defense and not hoist up jumpers with 2 seconds on the clock. I mean I'm not a pie in the sky fan. I am on record on what is successful this year in my mind. But they are no doubt a top half backcourt in the BE. And anyone who thinks Harrison is overrated (not you) is blind.
No, I expect Harrison and Greene to score more. And yes, I agree, Harrison is very, very good. But he was a freshman. We'll learn everything there is
to know about our 4 returning Sophs in November.
So by scoring more how are they not in the top half of BE backcourts.
Just because the BE is so deep at guard this year and your backcourt is still very inexperienced in comparison. Right now St. John's back court is 1 proven player in Harrison, a complete unknown Branch, and a sophomore who was unimpressive in his freshman campaign. When in doubt you go with experienced proven back courts. How would you rank the BE backcourts?
Lol... I'd rank Georgetown near last. You are touting Markel Starks who averaged a non-existent 1.5 and 0.7 per game. You then go to a guy in Smith-Rivera who hasn't played a game yet and then hang your hat on Whittington, a 6'8 220lb forward who has zero shot in hell at playing the SG spot. Oh BTW, Trawick isn't near a SG either. Georgetown returns exactly 1.5 and 0.7 En totale' in the backcourt yet you have the nerve to call Phil Greene unimpressive. Effing joke. If you had mentioned Domingo, maybe I'd have taken you seriously as he's a real talent with a shot at backcourt play, but if Georgetown surprises, it certainly will be with new players as there is nobody returning In the backcourt that was "impressive".
Well I guess you missed all the time Whittington spent at SG last year then? DSR is a higher rated recruit than Branch who you guys are touting as being an impact player. I assume you're saying Trawick isn't near a SG because he doesn't have a consistent outside shot, but He's definitely a back court player he's a great slasher and has actually improved his handle and distribution and could see spot minutes at PG. I assume the 1.5 and 0.7 are in reference to assists and steals but Starks alone has 1.6 and 0.6 but if you add in Whittington and Trawick it's 3 and 1.6. Which sure is not great. But you have to also realize that Georgetown's system is different with a lot of assists coming from the front court: Sims 3.5 assists, Porter 1.5assists, Thompson 1.5assists, Lubick 2 assists. Also our defensive system is focused on solid positional defense and not gambling and going for steals like st. john's system is. It also ignores points. Because the system gets assists from all positions on the court the back courts assist numbers are not as important. They'll also be doing the a large portion of the scoring this year. That being said Starks will definitely pick up his assist numbers. He has been working on that a lot this summer. Starks is going to be a big time scorer. He's going to double his PPG.
Domingo Will play SF and could see some times at SG but will most likely see most of his time at SF backing up Porter. Whittington will play some SF too, but he'll start at SG unless DSR is too good to keep off the court.
I can easily see people ranking Georgetown's back court in the bottom of the BE preseason. But at the end of the year they'll be near the top. I'm fine with people not being high on Georgetown's back court, I understand they have a lot to prove, but being familiar with the team I know that a lot of those questions have already been answered. I never said Georgetown had one of the top back courts in the BE. I said they'd surprise people. Which means they won't be at the bottom of the BE which is how they're currently perceived.
Being proven and being overrated are not contradictions. You have to be rated to be overrated. Harrison has proven he's a high volume scorer. I think his numbers are a result of lack of other scoring options on your team last year. He's like Jeremy Hazell from Seton Hall. Good player, will put up a lot of points on a lot of shots, but I'm not a fan. And I said Greene was unimpressive in a subjective stats. His stats were decent, but I take all of St. John's stats from last year with a grain of salt due to the unusual situation of having no depth last year. Your starting 5 played pretty much all the minutes. Stats will be good as a result, but subjectively he has a poor outside shot a poor ORtg 88.8. He had a good assist rate but it was equal to his turnover rate.