January 15th, 2012: Georgetown at St. John's

For kvetching, potential, a lack of senior leadership, and jackassery, join your intrepid blogger after the jump.
I will be brutally honest. I am not interested in men's basketball- at least, not to the extent that I'm interested in women's basketball. The Madison Square Garden doubleheader is my least favorite game on the women's schedule. I'm paying more money for worse seats, the stink of beer wafts over the whole scene, I'm crammed in with way too many people, and inevitably, the largest and most vocal fan base in the building belongs to the men's opponents, with whom I have nothing in common.

Today, it really doesn't help that I'm in the wedge behind the Georgetown bench, which means that the Hoyas have two rows of students behind us, so the call and response of “HOYA!” “SAXA!” has already rung out behind me once. It also doesn't help that the Georgetown fans have had a lot more to cheer about. I have to grit my teeth and wait through the Hoyas' cheers and all these people everywhere for the game that I paid a ridiculous amount of money to see.

It's hard to imagine what benefit St. John's thinks the Garden has for them these days. What kind of draw can it be to go into your “home” arena and have the opponents' cheers roaring out? Does playing at the Garden mean that much to a player that it doesn't matter that the crowd's not behind them? Honest curiosity.

Show up on time and sit down. Don't hang out on the concourse during play, and don't get irked that people are asking you to sit down during play. This is not rocket science.

Georgetown killed the Red Storm with depth. Not that they're insanely deep like the Stanford women are, where there are legitimately three separate lines like a hockey team, but eight players put up double-digit minutes, which is more players than St. John's put on the floor. I'm working under the assumption that Otto Porter either had the game of his life, that he doesn't usually come off the bench, or that he's their strike-fear-into-the-hearts-of-men reserve that I've always coveted for any of my teams. He's a baller. I was very impressed with him. Since I didn't buy the scorecard, I don't know what year he is, so I don't know if this is the culmination of four years of polishing or if he's a top-notch underclassman. They also got some quality minutes out of Greg Whittington.

It's very wrong to be going to a game at the Garden and seeing a Starks on the floor who, 1) is not wearing #3, 2) is not someone I'm supposed to be cheering for. Henry Sims had surprisingly nice touch for a center. Hollis Thompson killed the Red Storm from beyond the arc- any time they tried to mount a defense of their dignity, he hit one, and the Georgetown fans roared, and the St. John's fans went silent. (Honestly, people. I'm not even all that much a fan of the men and I was louder than half of you. Shame, shame, shame, shame on you.) Since I didn't buy the scorecard, and since I was trying to drown out the Georgetown fans behind us, I don't have much better detail than that, other than the fact that their rebounding was damn good. They stayed hard on the boards, especially as the game wore on and St. John's got tired.

Amir Garrett has potential, but it's pretty clear that he's still shaking off the rust, and that he's got a lot of rust to shake off. Given time to be fully incorporated into the team's plays and to gain familiarity with his teammates, he'll be a valuable part of the team (if he doesn't leave for one reason or another; sorry, guys, but at this point this is almost a required disclaimer). Malik Stith was not making good decisions with the ball, which is never a good sign from a senior. He should know this by now, whatever 'this' is.

D'Angelo Harrison should not be a top option for this team. He's streaky, he doesn't make smart plays, he takes shots he shouldn't take- for a team that had a full range of personnel, he'd be a situational shooter, but he's in a position where either he has to gun or he's allowed to gun, and neither of those is good for St. John's. Phil Greene, do not be scared of the ball. It isn't going to bite you. I've never seen a guard pass up an open lane. A shot from an open lane, yes, but backing away from an open lane until you're at the arc, and then passing off, in a shot clock situation? Seriously? God'sgift Achiuwa looked like a guy who can play, but one who was outmatched by the Georgetown front line (I hear the Hoyas are known for centers). He wasn't awful, which is more than I can say about a couple of his teammates. Sir'Dominic Pointer impressed me on the defensive end of the floor, and hey, at least he got to the line and hit his free throws. Definitely a keeper, and hey, we know he'll probably stick around. Last, but most definitely not least, wow, Moe Harkless. He's only a freshman? Seriously? Can we get the birthers on this? Guy's got to be at least a junior, the way he plays. Granted, he commits stupid freshman fouls, like his fifth (which hurts even more because he backed off the play the first time so he wouldn't get it, then went back in on the offensive rebound by G'town). If he stays, and if St. John's can get him a good solid second option so he doesn't have to do everything around here, and if his teammates can be allowed to play the complementary roles they're more suited for... this team can be for real.

I do wish Dunlap had given the walk-ons and the guys who are there just to make muster a little time at the end of the game, when it was 20 points. It's MSG. It might not be the only Garden game they get, but don't run your guys into the ground in a game that's already dead and buried. Is margin really that important?

To whatever idiot set off a firecracker in the men's room: may you step on Legos in the dark every night for the rest of your life, and may you be afflicted with explosive diarrhea in a traffic jam.

Can't say much about the officials in this one- it's hard to see the finer points of play from the 300s. That's one of the things I miss when I'm in the higher seats. Seems like St. John's wasn't getting the calls, but the Red Storm didn't do as much to draw the fouls as the Hoyas did.

If I got into men's basketball, I could get into this team next year.