WASHINGTON -- Georgetown's scouting report on Belmont will
have to start with rudimentary questions.
Like, does anyone know where Belmont is?
"I really don't," Big East player of the year Jeff Green said.
"It's probably in Pennsylvania somewhere?"
Nope. Try Tennessee.
"Oh," Green said. "Wasn't close."
The lessons on the Hoyas' NCAA tournament first-round opponent
began in earnest Monday at practice. Georgetown (26-6), a No. 2
seed, will play 15th-seeded Belmont (23-9) on Thursday in
Winston-Salem, N.C.
For the record, Belmont is a small university in Nashville, best
known for a music program whose students have included country
stars Brad Paisley, Trisha Yearwood and Lee Ann Womack. Singer
Vince Gill and basketball coach Rick Byrd are longtime friends, and
Gill was on hand when the Bruins beat East Tennessee State this
month to win the Atlantic Sun tournament for the second straight
year.
Georgetown coach John Thompson III saw part of that game on
television, at least enough to realize that Belmont can be a
serious threat when the 3-pointers start to fall. The Bruins hit 12
in the first half against ETSU.
"They can put five shooters on the floor," Thompson said.
"They can spread you out and make shots. They are a balanced
team."
Still, very few brackets outside of Music City will have
Georgetown leaving the tournament after the first round, and many
will have the Hoyas going far. During Sunday's selection show, CBS'
analysts were predicting an easy road for Thompson's team, the last
thing the coach wanted to hear as he watched with his players.
Thompson quickly called such speculation "irrelevant," and his
players soon echoed the coach's message. Green, who didn't know
where Belmont was, nevertheless said the first game was going to be
tough because the Bruins "have a pretty good team."
"We've got to be ready to play on Thursday and not worry what
CBS has to say," Green said.
The Hoyas hope to draw from the experience of last year's
tournament, when they advanced to the final 16 and lost to eventual
champion Florida. Thompson also likes the fact that the Hoyas'
first games will be in Winston-Salem, where the spotlight will be
focused on top-seeded North Carolina.
"I don't mind not getting attention," Thompson said.
Thompson received plenty last week, when Georgetown won the Big
East tournament for the first time in 18 years. Several players
were still wearing their conference championship hats during the
selection show, but the team's two biggest stars -- Green and Roy
Hibbert -- were not.
"My dad has it," Green said. "My dad gets all that stuff. I
don't wear all that. That's the past. That stuff is over with and
we have to move on now."
Green does allow for one exception -- the ring that comes with
the Big East title.
"He's not getting that," Green said. "That's something I
worked hard for. He can have all that other stuff, the hats and the
watch. But the ring, I'll probably get a chain and put it around my
neck. I don't like wearing jewelry that much -- but that, I'll
wear."