Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown’s Unsung Backcourt Heroes Are Key

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., March 25 – Before the season began, pundits and fans alike questioned Georgetown’s backcourt.

Basketball analysts like Jay Bilas, Seth Davis and Doug Gottlieb wrote in season previews that Georgetown’s success this year would depend “upon point guard play specifically, and guard play overall” and that the Hoyas’ “guards are a question, not an answer.”

With the departures of swingman Darrel Owens (COL ’05) and guard Ashanti Cook (COL ’06), it was understandable that people had doubts. Owens and Cook were Georgetown’s best weapons from the perimeter and Cook had had primary ball handling responsibilities since before Head Coach John Thompson III arrived on the Hilltop.

The guards remaining on the roster were untested and unknown. Junior guard Jonathan Wallace, despite having started every game in his Georgetown career, had never been the go-to guy. And who would even take the other spot in the backcourt – either junior Tyler Crawford or sophomore Jessie Sapp – was still up in the air.

Yet now, as Georgetown prepares to take on Ohio State in the Final Four on Saturday, there is no doubt about the strength of the Hoya guards. Georgetown’s backcourt, if not as intimidating as the frontcourt trio of forwards Jeff Green and DaJuan Summers and center Roy Hibbert, is just as reliable and effective.

“I never thought our backcourt was weak in any way,” Wallace said after the Hoyas defeated the Tar Heels on Sunday. “Roy and Jeff call so much attention that people tend to overlook [us] because we don’t put up the numbers that other guards do. But we control the offense. Jeremiah [Rivers], Jessie, Tyler – those guys are all capable players.”

Over the course of the season, Wallace has developed into one of the premier guards in the Big East and one of the best in Georgetown history. He led the conference in free throw percentage, hitting 88.7 percent of his shots on the season. He is currently third all-time in three-pointers as a Hoya with 164 in his career – just one behind Gerald Riley (COL ’04). He has the best career three-point shooting percentage, connecting on 42.2 percent of his treys in three years, besting Owens’ 37.8 percent mark.

And in case all that did not make it clear that the former walk-on – who was told by Thompson that if he followed him from Princeton he would not be guaranteed minutes – belongs in the Blue and Gray, Wallace made it obvious to the entire country just how clutch he is when he calmly sank a three-pointer with 31 seconds left to send Georgetown’s game against North Carolina into overtime.

“That’s Jon,” Crawford said of his roommate after his game-tying shot. “I call Jon `Buckets’ because Jon doesn’t miss. Out of anybody, I have as much faith in Jon taking the last shot as anyone.”

Patrick Ewing Jr. echoed Crawford’s sentiments.

“Jon is the most underrated player in the world,” he said on Sunday. “I don’t care what anybody else says, Jon gets it done day in and day out. And that’s one of the things that we have, like, we have confidence in everybody and we knew when Jon hit that three that we weren’t going to lose and it was a wrap after that.”

Wallace is not the only one who flies under the radar. Sapp, who has started all but one game this season, also often does not get the recognition he deserves. The 6-foot-3 guard from New York is the team leader in both steals and assists and is a solid defender. On Sunday, with the job of containing the speedy Ty Lawson, Sapp held him to just five points.

Sapp’s shot can be inconsistent, but he is arguably the best Hoya at penetrating and he likes to run the floor, which is not necessarily a key part of the Princeton offense. But as a solid rebounder, he often gets the chance to grab a missed shot and then push tempo up the floor. This is not to say he cannot play within the system; with the Princeton offense in full effect against UNC, Sapp dished out a game-high eight assists to go with his 15 points.

“Jessie can really shoot the ball,” Wallace said as the Hoyas prepared for the Tar Heels. “In high school he was a big-time scorer and it’s just being comfortable and just falling back into that and that’s going to be important for him. And I think he’s become more comfortable with the offense throughout the season and it’s really showing up.”

And just as Wallace has proved he can hit the game-changing shots, Sapp has proven he can hit the big shots as well. At Villanova in February, for example, Sapp capped off the Hoyas’ 9-0 run with a halfcourt basket at the buzzer to cut the Wildcats’ lead to just two at halftime.

“I have confidence in him and so do his teammates,” Thompson said of Sapp after Georgetown defeated Belmont in the first round of the NCAA tournament. “The same is true of Jessie, as with any number of the people on our team, on any given day. Guys are ready, willing and able and their teammates have enough confidence in them that if they get going, they give them the ball.”

Coming off the bench in support of Wallace and Sapp is usually Rivers, the freshman who has grown into his role on the Hoyas as well. Averaging over 11 minutes per game, Rivers is probably the lead defender for Georgetown, often charged with shutting down the best player in the opposing team. Against UNC at the end of regulation, Thompson switched out Rivers and Wallace on the offensive and defensive ends, looking to Rivers to get stops, and while some freshmen may feel uncomfortable with such a duty, Rivers embraces the role.

“I don’t get nervous – I get excited,” he said after the win over the Tar Heels. “I know I can play defense and coach has me in there for that extra speed, quickness, athleticism, my height, and I know what I can do on defense. I don’t get nervous; I look at it as competition.”

Aside from playing defense, Rivers can do a little bit of everything. He had a career-high seven assists against Belmont and hit back-to-back threes at Cincinnati to give the Hoyas a lead at halftime.

“I don’t have a certain roll in this. When I get out there, I just do something,” Rivers said between the Hoyas’ first- and second-round tournament games. “Sometimes it’s seven or eight rebounds, sometimes it’s five or six assists, sometimes it’s just defensive stops, sometimes it’s hitting open shots. It’s not really a role. . I just try and get in there and play with different aspects of my game.”

And while their diverse contributions to the Hoyas’ Final Four run may go unappreciated by the media, their teammates certainly know how important each of them is to the team’s success.

“They do a lot of things that people don’t notice,” Green said. “Those guys, Jessie and Jon, they control the team with their style of play and bringing the ball up the floor.”

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