Premium Court is also the spot to discuss this contest.
In Georgetown's season opener that doubled as a new start opportunity, one in which the entire coaching staff and eight of 11players that competed were also not at the school last season, the Hoyas never trailed, led by as much as 37 points before crushing visiting Le Moyne 94-67 before several thousand 9,305, Captial One Arena attendees.
Further conspiring to seal Le Moyne's fate was this contest standing as that program's first ever NCAA Division I, tilt.
A quintet of Hoyas provided Cooley double figure scoring: Junior F/C Supreme Cook paced all scorers via 19p, Senior guard Jay Heath came of the bench for 15p, 10r, both marks equaled by junior wing Dontrez Styles. Sophomore point guard Rowan Brumbaugh logged 13 points, while freshman forward Drew Fielder contributed 11p, rounding out Cooley's double figure scoring.
Cook pulled down a contest best 13 boards. The Hoyas writ large won that battle 52-29.
Assists were another Georgetown win; 23-12. Sophomore guard Jayden Epps paced all dimers with 11.
Other grossly unequal Hoya advantages: Paint points (50-22), fast breaks (24-10, bench points (31-18), Time leading (39:15 to zero). Shooting numbers tell a similar tale, as Cooley's crew went 57.8% overall, 37% behind the arc. Compare that to Le Moyne HC Nate Champion receiving 32.3% and 22.6%, respectively.
Le Moyne, now 0-1, got 11 points from Keiyem Clearly, a grad transfer forward. He also was top Dolphin cleaning the glass (seven). They next travel to Villanova, (1-0), Friday at 630p EST.
G'Town (1-0} next laces 'em up Saturday, when Holy Cross (0-1} arrives in DC for a Capital One Arena game. Tip-off is scheduled for 8p est.
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Supreme Cook was a load. (ron bailey)
Yappage
Direct quotes from Cooley and players Cook and Styles:
Cooley's thanking fans
"First and foremost i want to thank our students, our community for coming out supporting our young men for the first game we've played here. Hopefully that continues to grow as we continue to grow...Felt there energy was definitely needed."
More from Cooley on fan support
"Anytime you have that kind of energy in the building, anything is possible."
Cooley describing his emotional state prior to this contest
"Once i got to the game, I was ok. What was different was leaving the Thompson Center, the traffic to get here, the anxiety. Yeah that traffic was a monster. Damn!
"But the anxiety leading up to it; how would our men perform? it was very emotional to be honest with you. Very emotional.
"How to walk into the building...It was definitely in my head like alright, I'm here. Grateful to be here.
"But it wasn't easy until the ball actually went up."
Does the victory register?
Cooley called it "a great win for Georgetown, a great win for our staff, a great win for our athletic department bringing all that energy from the District to Capital One.
"And obviously a great win, great win for the BIG EAST: Anytime you welcome another Jesuit school into another institution...It's a great welcome into Division 1 basketball."
Later, Cooley added "This is more about the players...than our first game together"
Are roles defined?
"Ah for sure" responded Styles. "Coach went over that in film one day, and told the guys what they have to do."
Cook followed "Just to add to that, I think Coach puts an emphasis on everyone knowing their role, and doing that to the best of their abilities."
Does Cook believe he can replicate this?
"Moving forward, I think I'll really be able to help the team. There's obviously things i have to get better at, but I bring physicality to the team. I want to be that guy...who rebounds and does the dirty work.
"So I'm willing to do that. Sacrifice, just play my role to ensure that we win."
Cooley on expanding rotations and juggling lineups
"What we tried to get out of today, is look for our chemistry. Obviously foul trouble with Drew put us in a rotation we hadn't seen in practice, so we had some lineups we hadn't seen much in practice. So it's something we will have to work on.'
Switching Mania
From the beginning and constantly throughout, Cooley's charges switched all screens and actions on defense. it was a relatively aggressive scheme that didn't seem to shy away from possible mismatches.
How did the Hoyas do? As noted earlier, the Dolphins managed to shoot sub 33% from the field and below 23% beyond the arc. Though Le Moyne did miss open shots, particularly early, G'Town's defense clearly made them uncomfortable.
Cooley was pleased.
"I think our players did an excellent job of executing the game plan" he stated, which was "they took 78 or 79 threes in two scrimmages/exhibition games. They took 31 today. We wanted to try and take the three away and make it a tough two game". He also expressed pride in how the coaches and players prepared.
What about his Le Moyne counterpart, Champion? What was his take?
After first admitting "We did anticipate it a little bit. Obviously didn't know they would switch everything", Champion identified a point of contention, as "what i was a little disappointed in is we switch everything. So in practice everyday we're switching.
"I just don't think we executed well on the offensive side of the ball, exploiting some of those switches" was his ultimate diagnosis.
Ed Cooley and the Hoyas were locked int. (ron bailey)
1-3-1 Eventually Solved
Champion played man to man and zone defense, the latter consisting of a 1-3-1 in which a player ranged the baseline. At times it seemed to stymie the Hoyas, other moments not so much.
"In the first half we put out our 1-3-1, and they made some shots. So we kinda went away from it" revealed Champion, a point Cooley ratified with "Against their 1-3-1 i think we made four threes. For the most part, that made them go 'Should we go to it, should we not''".
Champion didn't ditch the scheme, returning to it in the second half. Of that, "I thought when we came back to it, it kind of got them out of rhythm. For a few possessions in the first half too, so it's definitely something we'll look at moving forward, to see if that's the type of defense we want to go to".
Cooley summed "I think we did a pretty good job" versus that 1-3-1. "We prepared for it, for sure. It was a short preparation, right guys?". One thing aiding Cooley's team was "I think we're a really good shooting team. A damn good perimeter shooting team". Consequently "And when we're able to get 10 toe shots, that's what we practice, we made enough to get them off balance".
The First
Initially published by HoyaReport.com, the following postgame presser is re-provided. It stands as the first time Cooley addressed media after a game, as Hoya HC. Players Supreme Cook and Dontrez Styles are similarly situated.
The link above also provides Le Moyne's postgame presser.
