Forget Mike Brey...How in the hell does JTIII keep his job?

[Lawrinson14]

I cannot think of a single team that under-performs year-in and year-out like Georgetown.

I understand the dude's dad had some good teams, but something has to give.

 

[BuffOrange]

Dad helps, but so does following Craig Esherick. That's someone you want to succeed in any job.

 

[raf4488]

I'm no Georgetown apologist, but the guy won a share of the BE regular season LAST YEAR. The NCAA exits have masked the fact that JT3 has had many high performing teams in recent years.

 

[BuffOrange]

I'm no Georgetown apologist, but the guy won a share of the BE regular season LAST YEAR. The NCAA exits have masked the fact that JT3 has had many high performing teams in recent years.

In all seriousness I agree w/ this, being a "tournament is mostly a crapshoot" guy.
But there's "give up fluke 3's, lose in OT" and then there's "look like you don't belong on the floor w/ Ohio U & Gulf Coast".
It is a bit...puzzling.
Plus I always thought it was weird to try and recruit elite athletes to play Princeton ball.

 

[orange79]

As Bill Orange stated in another thread, "As long as Big John is calling the shots on The Hilltop-and make no mistake, he does-III isn't going anywhere."

 

[Waltdods]

I'm no Georgetown apologist, but the guy won a share of the BE regular season LAST YEAR. The NCAA exits have masked the fact that JT3 has had many high performing teams in recent years.

And, until last year, he had been to a Final 4 more recently than Syracuse. The tourney flame-outs are baffling, though in part that's because the team has been very good in the regular season for most of the decade Thompson has been there. And, as others have pointed out, the last coach was a disaster who, for good measure, sometimes looked like Adolph Hitler.

This year's team - once it lost Greg Whittington and Joshua, /k/a Josh, Smith - just wasn't very good and had a very low ceiling. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say Georgetown didn't have a single frontcourt player who would have started on any post-Celuck Syracuse team. (Trawick and even Bowen are fine players who have played at the forward spots, but they're really guards.) Is it Thompson's fault? I mean, sure, in part. But Georgetown had a lot of bad luck this year, and the program is never going to be one that has a big margin for error.

(The bad luck, all frontcourt guys: Porter leaving, which was not a surprise by midway through last year but was unexpected when he enrolled; Whittington getting hurt and then expelled; Tyler Adams never playing a game; Josh Smith getting suspended, although he was certaintly a gamble.)

 

[Jasoncuse]

He won't get fired unless there is some sort of scandal

 

[Shermthegeneral]

Maybe if his teams play like this for the next two years. How do you justify firing a guy who's won 70% of his games and has made a final four. He's had a couple bad years in 10. I don't know who you could bring in that will do better.

 

[Cheriehoop]

And, until last year, he had been to a Final 4 more recently than Syracuse. The tourney flame-outs are baffling, though in part that's because the team has been very good in the regular season for most of the decade Thompson has been there. And, as others have pointed out, the last coach was a disaster who, for good measure, sometimes looked like Adolph Hitler.

This year's team - once it lost Greg Whittington and Joshua, /k/a Josh, Smith - just wasn't very good and had a very low ceiling. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say Georgetown didn't have a single frontcourt player who would have started on any post-Celuck Syracuse team. (Trawick and even Bowen are fine players who have played at the forward spots, but they're really guards.) Is it Thompson's fault? I mean, sure, in part. But Georgetown had a lot of bad luck this year, and the program is never going to be one that has a big margin for error.

(The bad luck, all frontcourt guys: Porter leaving, which was not a surprise by midway through last year but was unexpected when he enrolled; Whittington getting hurt and then expelled; Tyler Adams never playing a game; Josh Smith getting suspended, although he was certaintly a gamble.)

JTIII seemed to stay away from players with issues , was there a change in his recruiting standards that blew up quickly with Whittington and Smith? Just wondering. Whittington was supposedly heading to Rutgers after his dismissal yet that didn't happen and I haven't heard any destination for him despite his talent - something seems strange. JTIII recruited 6'10' Brandon Bolden then didn't play him and he transferred to Kansas St before the year started. The lack of development from the highly recruited 6'9" junior Mikael Hopkins is a big issue. (6'9" senior Moses Ayegba who had a redshirt year also didn't show much progress in his career) On the surface, the only bad luck issue (to me) seems to be Tyler Adams with his heart condition from 2011, and Whittington's initial injury. However Whittington and Smith's dismissal, Bolden's transfer, Hopkins(and Ayegba's) lack of development plus not being prepared for Porter's draft potential seem to point to recruiting, evaluation,development, planning issues not just bad luck. I could be way off but just how it appears to me from what's been made public.

 

[Waltdods]

JTIII seemed to stay away from players with issues , was there a change in his recruiting standards that blew up quickly with Whittington and Smith? Just wondering. Whittington was supposedly heading to Rutgers after his dismissal yet that didn't happen and I haven't heard any destination for him despite his talent - something seems strange. JTIII recruited 6'10' Brandon Bolden then didn't play him and he transferred to Kansas St before the year started. The lack of development from the highly recruited 6'9" junior Mikael Hopkins is a big issue. (6'9" senior Moses Ayegba who had a redshirt year also didn't show much progress in his career) On the surface, the only bad luck issue (to me) seems to be Tyler Adams with his heart condition from 2011, and Whittington's initial injury. However Whittington and Smith's dismissal, Bolden's transfer, Hopkins(and Ayegba's) lack of development plus not being prepared for Porter's draft potential seem to point to recruiting, evaluation,development, planning issues not just bad luck. I could be way off but just how it appears to me from what's been made public.

On the first question, I think the Smith signing was a bit of a panic move that Thompson had to have recognized had a chance of not working. The talent level was just so depleted that my guess is Thompson thought he had to take the gamble.

Whittington is a serious talent but I will be kind of surprised if he ever plays big time college basketball again - he had troubles keeping engaged with school while he was playing, it just seems unlikely he'll be able to get or stay engaged having taken a year-and-a-half off. I don't think he was seen as such a gamble when he signed.

The other bigs are a mixed bag. Ayegba and Bolden (and also Bradley Hayes) are tall people without much basketball talent. I don't think anyone ever really expected much from Bolden. I think Ayegba actually has developed some - from completely lost to occasionally functional. Hopkins too has improved some, especially defensively and on the boards. He remains a very much below average offensive player who not infrequently thinks he is Tim Duncan. That said, Hopkins was the backup plan when Christmas committed to Syracuse - Christmas is definitely better, but I don't know that their development curves to date have been that different (although XMas is a far smarter offensive player). One big you didn't mention, Lubick, would be my pick for the prime example of a guy who hasn't developed: he's started for four years, not improved in any appreciable way, and commits a shocking number of bonehead plays for a guy who's had the experience he's had.

You're probably right to take issue with calling a lot of this luck. Maybe a better way to say this is just that things have not gone according to plan. This happens everywhere, obviously, but Georgetown is just going to have a smaller margin for error. (Syracuse can lose a McD AA center for the year but have another on the roster; Georgetown just doesn't have that luxury.)

On paper, the recruiting class next year is the best in several years. So this could just be a blip. A couple years ago, Nova looked to have these same sorts of problems, and really so did Syracuse in the middle part of the last decade.