We are so back: Recapping Georgetown - Lehigh

The Georgetown Hoyas opened Year 2 of the Ed Cooley era at McDonough Arena on Wednesday night and several members of Section 104 were in the building to assess how correct and infallible our preseason takes were. The rest of the crew had plenty of thoughts to add via the WhatsApp thread.

Walking to the arena, we took on a quick debate on the line. The Hoyas were favored by 14.5 points. Hainesy predicted an easy cover (ever the optimist and often, as was the case this night, wrong), Niv predicted a "comfortable 8 point win," and Uncle Dad, while shouting that there was no such thing as a "comfortable 8 point win," predicted the Hoyas would probably backdoor cover, but he'd leave the arena irritated at their play. His bar was "high level play for most of the game and an easy cover." Needless to say, the gang was NOT on the same page about what to expect.

First impressions on entering the arena were that the atmosphere was excellent and the arena was LOUD. This was not going to be a game where the refs were going to really feel us specifically because the environment was so concentrated, but they'd feel the crowd for sure. Well done by the athletic department to build the atmosphere.

The Hoyas started out with Malik Mack and Jayden Epps in the backcourt (as expected) and Thomas Sorber, Drew Fielder, and Micah Peavy up front. First impressions were that Sorber and Peavy are much bigger than expected and both were substantial upgrades over previous years. First half action was choppy at times and execution was not especially sharp on either end, but two things stuck out:

1) Micah Peavy is a legit wing. He's big and a really talented defender (as expected), but it was his first half offense that really stuck out. He attacked the rim, and hit some nice midrange shots, and brought a really dynamic athleticism to the offense. It legitimately looked like he practices that "step back, one-legged" shot that Ewing was so fond of in Marcus Derrickson's game. (Seriously, look at the tape here. It's the same shot!) On defense, he's long and active and has the ability to be disruptive. He calls out switches well and can cover just about anyone with his size. He should be a player.

2) The defense looked a lot more organized despite some really hot shooting from Lehigh. There were breakdowns and there were moments of deja vu as a mid-major got hot and shot 60%+ from the floor against the Hoyas, but on the whole, Lehigh made a bunch of tough shots and most of the first half looks weren't wide open. Towards the end of the half, Coach Cooley inserted a lineup of Jayden Epps, Micah Peavy, Curtis Williams Jr., Jordan Burks, and Thomas Sorber and this lineup had three or four absolutely ferocious defensive possessions to close the half and put the halftime deficit at 5. They even forced a shot clock violation coming out of a Lehigh timeout.

The second half started a little more choppy, particularly on the offensive end. The offense had less flow and looks were harder. After a relatively strong first half, Peavy, seemed to disappear for a stretch after the break. Jordan Burks started the second half over Drew Fielder (who did not get a lot of run in the second, but injected some life in his stint) and he was outstanding defensively, but he struggled a bit offensively with an early turnover and a missed three. Niv pointed out that on the turnover (and throughout the early part of the second half) it looked like the team was executing recently-learned plays and playing less on feel, which makes some amount of sense in the early part of the season. Running sets because those are the play calls, but not having the experience within the offense yet to see the flexibility.

The two Hoyas who stood out most in the second half were Thomas Sorber and Jayden Epps. Epps had a very quiet first half, but really did a nice job putting his mark on the game in a stagnant part of the second half. There was some grumbling from the group post game (Uncle Dad and Dustin) that he looked a little like the version of himself from last season that got a little ballhog-y and hunted his shot a little too much. But, he also hit that note at a point in the game when the offense had bogged down and Lehigh was doing a nice job keeping it close.

Sorber had some really wonderful post possessions and was a force on the boards. His finishing, especially late, needs a little improvement, but overall he really established himself in the second half. Early on in the half, getting the ball to him in the post was the only thing the Hoyas could really get cooking offensively (prompting a call from Matty on the WhatsApp to get the ball to the big men more, our version of "run the damn ball"). This offense looks like it will have to play inside-out to generate clean looks in the half court set. The big guys will need to get a touch down low on every possession if we're going to be efficient. And a touch at the top of the key on a high pick and roll DOES NOT count (though the pick and roll is something Matty is a big fan of).

The Hoyas dominated the glass (as they should have) and a big part of that was Sorber, who (as Niv pointed out a couple of times) really does a nice job rebounding the ball with his whole body rather than just his arms. It was only one game against a fairly weak opponent, but Sorber absolutely looks the part and has the chance to be the best big man to come through in recent memory. Really promising start for the young guy.

Other second half notes include:

• Picking up our first "Ball Don't Lie" of the season when Micah Peavy had a nasty chase down block of Lehigh's Tyler Whitney-Sidney who proceeded to miss the first free throw (Matty chimed in on the thread, Hainesy did not miss the chance to let Whitney-Sidney know).
• Some new lineup combos, including our first glimpse of Kayvaun Mulready (who acquitted himself nicely), Caleb Williams (who did get some first half run, but a bigger chunk in the second), and a twin towers lineup with Sorber and Julius Halaifonua (a combo that I suspect we won't see much of moving forward for defensive reasons, but Halaifonua is a good piece).
• Lehigh coming back to Earth a bit shooting-wise, but very good stretches of defensive intensity by the Hoyas.
• A particularly strong stretch of play from the Hoyas prior to the under 4 timeout and just after that put the game out of reach.
• Followed by a frantic last 3-4 minutes where the Hoyas really missed some easy ones. Closing games has NEVER been something that Georgetown has ever been good at for as long as we all care to remember. Fatigue seemed to play a role in that on Wednesday.
• A legitimate cover sweat with about 90 seconds to go followed by some garbage time makes from Lehigh and two missed free throws by Jayden Epps to give the Hoyas...a comfortable 8 point win. This last point was (surprisingly given the pregame bar he set) the only thing that left Uncle Dad particularly upset for the evening, a marked success for the Hoyas.

Overall, it was one win against a fairly weak opponent, but we've seen many of these go wrong over the course of the past several years, that getting a win and seeing some promising play from new pieces was a really good start to the season. It won't always fly against Big East competition (particularly if Ryan Kalkbrenner is going to be Bill Walton this season sheesh), but it was a good start to build on.

Other assorted notes:

• Malik Mack had an up and down game and was kind of choppy in the first half especially, but made some really nice floaters in the second half and played solid defense. If and when his shot starts falling with regularity, he's going to be good.
• Julius Halaifonua was the first man off the bench and looked like a very good backup big. This late-cycle reclassification guys have never really landed for the Hoyas in the past, but he looks like a good piece.
• We'll see plenty of Jordan Burks and Curtis Williams Jr. in crunch time this season because both are tenacious defenders. Really impressed with their defensive play in this game. If either can establish an offensive role, this team can be pretty good.
• Caleb Williams had a tough stretch of play in the second half, especially on defense, but he's got good size and we'd like to see him get plenty of run in the early going.
• No action for Drew McKenna was somewhat surprising given that he was with the team last season so something to monitor in the early part of the season.
• Burks finished with 7 rebounds (good for second on the team behind Sorber) but Niv noticed that he appears to have beef (not real beef) when teammates swipe boards from him. There were a few times where he shouted at or side-eyed a teammate for "stealing" a board from him. Reminds you a little of Elvis Andrus always fake stealing pop-ups from Adrian Beltre. It's a bit we hope continues.
• Villanova lost to Columbia and it was mostly nice to not be the Big East team with an early season loss to a Patriot or Ivy League squad.