We apologize in advance for having zero Patrick Ewing quotes in this article on Georgetown’s NCAA Tournament chances. Ewing, one of the top college basketball picks of all time, appeared, very promptly, after his side lost 74-68 at DePaul Saturday night, and he accidentally knocked the table off the podium in the press conference room.
His entire session was only about 1:45 in duration and it consisted of just three Q&As. For what it’s worth, we have the full audio embedded for you below. As Bill Simmons wrote on page 413 of the Book of Basketball, “Ewing lacked charisma and may have been the most uncomfortable post merger interview other than Moses Malone.” That sentence seems fair.
Once again, a Chicago team is the thorn the side of Patrick Ewing, as the loss at DePaul really puts a big blemish on the Hoyas’ tournament profile.
They entered the weekend contest at Wintrust Arena squarely on the bubble, among the “last four in” according to two leading bracket projections, in the “first four out” zone according to two other bracketologies. With the DPU loss, they now have plenty of work to do, in order to head to the Big East Tournament feeling comfortable.
The Hoyas were lucky that Purdue suffered a crushing loss earlier in the day, as that’s a team squarely on the bubble with them. It also helps Patrick Ewing and company that the bubble itself is pretty weak this season. Although be careful of that, as you always have bid-stealers during championship week. Anyway, here’s where we stand now, and what GU needs to do.
https://twitter.com/PaulMBanks/status/1231436116823363584
They’re now 15-12 overall, 4-5 on the road, 1-1 on neutral courts. Georgetown is #59 in Net, #54 in KenPom and 5-9 in the Big East.
In short, Patrick Ewing and company must win at least three of their last four, in order to not have to do work in the conference tournament, and then not sweat on Selection Sunday.
If they split their last four, then they’ll need to win at least a couple games at the Garden next month. It’s not an easy slate either. The Hoyas are at Marquette (Net 26) Wed, have Xavier (Net 44) at home on March 1, at Creighton (Net 9) March 4 and then host conference blue bloods, the beasts of the Big East, Villanova (Net 11) on March 7.
At least, they will have their chances to get some more signature wins!
In his third season at this alma mater, Patrick Ewing is 49-41, 19-31 with a NIT first round exit last season.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
You can follow Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com on Twitter here and his cat on Instagram at this link.