Saturday’s thrilling Georgetown (8-2) road win at Syracuse (5-5) was one to remember for Hoyadom – for the first time in well, forever, the Hoyas prevailed in a close matchup vs. a similarly situated/platformed program. Taking down a historical rival you played for the 100th time added luster to the win.
Access GUHoyas.com’s game report, here.
Below are aspects of the game, interrogated.
Clck here for contest coveraage, n tweets, here to enjoy our chat thread.
Around the second half’s 7:42 mark, HC Ed Cooley made the game’s most impactful strategy move, he opted to deploy the Hoyas’ tandem 2-3 zone. It turned the game.
How?
After starting second half action tied, generating an eight point, 13:45 to go, only to find itself ti3d with just under 10 and a half minutes in regulation, and down six close to three minutes later, something had to happen. After deploying it several possessions in the first half, Cooley pulled the trigger in the back stanza as well.
“Changing defenses was something we definitely wanted to do. Ironically, to zone…here at the ‘Cuse. Interesting. I know Coach (Jim) Boeheim is either clapping or cussing me out” shared Cooley, referencing how Boeheim, a Hall of Famer, rested on zone defense for much of his career.
“it was something that we worked on” continued Cooley. “And it’s something that we have in our bag, so to speak. As the kids say ‘Facts Coach. Facts”, with the zone.”.
Game planning was not the only reason Cooley opted to ride his 2-3 scheme in the back stanza, as Cooley acknowledged “Foul trouble a little bit” contributed to his decision. So did efficacy, which improved greatly during the back half compared to first 20 minute play.
Cooley on why: “Attention to detail and an adjustment at halftime. I thought our coaches did a really good job taking some things away. So again, when you’re playing in these zones, it’s ‘Ok, what are they trying to do’?’. So there’s designated players who get the ball in certain spots. So we wanted to make sure we had high demand on those spots”.
Did this dramatic success with that 2-3 tandem scheme increase the possibility we will see it more?
Simply yes, as the sees the deployment as “something I feel could be effective for us, especially at our three, four and five positions with out length; it’s not like (Malik) Mack or (Jayden) Epps are 6’5, 6’6,”, the size guards we’d like to have, they’re just a little undersized. So you have to use your length to try and limit some of their post touches’.
Cooley, who started coaching the Hoyas last year with the program finishing 9-18 overall 2-18 in the BIG EAST, positioned this game on a special pedestal.
“it’s by far the best win we’ve had since I’ve been the coach here” revealed Cooley. “A rivalry game, a heated game, an exciting game”. Though Syracuse moved on to the ACC around a decade ago, this Hoya-Orange tjilt “fell like a BIG EAST game”, per Cooley. “Exactly like a BIG EAST game…backyard, shit talking, everybody gets mad. That’s exactly what it’s about”.
Man of the Game has to be Jauyden Epps, he of 27 points on 11-15/4-5 shooting. Epps, the same guy who also logged four assists and a pair of rebounds, authored a sublime performance.
Nine of his game tops point production came in the first half, including one three ball. His opening, second half bucket was also from long distance, with 15:33 to play, followed by another trey shot better than a minute and a half, later. His fastbreak layup as the clock stood 13:45 signified the end of a one man, eight straight point deluge.
Expect BIG EAST honors for him this week.
