Hoyas Enjoy This Gamble

Touomou, Aw and Ya-Ya Dia, to name a few of the basketball players John Thompson coaches, stood hugging, mugging and chest-bumping near center court, in celebration of Georgetown’s 98-90 success against Texas Tech in an NCAA East Regional game Thursday night. And, for one fleeting moment, Thompson almost joined them.

What a sight that would have been, all 6 feet 10 and 300-plus pounds of Big Bad John, jiggling and gyrating while the Georgia Dome shook. Asked after the game how he felt, Thompson said, “Pretty damn good! I started to dance, to do my little dance I’ve invented called the ‘Uncle John.’ I was almost acting as crazy as those kids.

“The way I feel is, when things go well, you can’t be afraid to act foolish.” So, the often stodgy coach had no objection this time when Joseph Touomou, Boubacar Aw, Cheikh Ya-Ya Dia and the other Georgetown Hoyas overdid it a little, in their enjoyment of advancing to Saturday’s game against Massachusetts for the regional championship. Thompson said he normally screams at his players to settle down, but for once, he understood how they felt.

Because, one day earlier, things hadn’t gone so well.

The coach had just agreed, under duress, to abandon a bid to obtain a Nevada gaming license, one that would enable him to purchase a 10% interest in an operation that controls the Las Vegas airport’s slot machines. Georgetown’s president, the Rev. Leo J. O’Donovan, personally asked him to call it off.

Slot machines are a favorite form of recreation for Thompson, who hardly has a reputation as a happy-go-lucky guy. The new job would have affiliated him with Coast Resorts Inc., whose chairman of the board is the father of Brendan Gaughan, a player on the Georgetown team.

Thompson, who in the past has been so obstinate about keeping his team far, far away from distractions, had, himself, become the distraction.

“It’s over,” he said before Thursday’s game. “I dropped it because [the Rev. O’Donovan] asked me to drop it.”

The coach said he was also dropping the subject, turning his full attention to the Texas Tech game. He counted on his team to do the same.

Shortly before halftime, with Georgetown behind by 10 points, it began to look like Mr. Vegas’ luck had run out.

But even though his star center, Othella Harrington, fouled out with 7:52 remaining in the game, and his star guard, Allen Iverson, personally missed 19 shots and seven free throws on a night when spectators went home praising his play, the Hoyas overcame their distractions, so Thompson let them cut loose.

“Our team is crazy,” Thompson said. “You see them out there, moaning and groaning at the officials. I don’t know what’s going on out there sometimes in their heads.

“Boubacar, for instance, I have to scream at him sometimes to settle down. We have some excitable guys on this team, what can I tell you? They’re a different breed. We’re in the locker room, going crazy, until you guys [reporters] come in. Then we stand there, acting very professional.”

Decked out in traditional smog-gray uniforms and new sneakers that look like the vulcanized shoes worn by firefighters, the Hoyas swarmed all over Texas Tech with a furious, full-court trap defense that caused many a turnover. Throughout the game, the Red Raiders rarely got off a shot without being harassed, and gave as good as they got.

There were 59 fouls by the two squads, in a dragged-out game that Thompson said “felt like it would never end.”

The starting lineup alone committed 23 fouls for Texas Tech, which had four players foul out.

One of those was Darvin Ham, the noted backboard-breaker whose 15 minutes of fame are up. The closest Ham came in this game to shattering a backboard was with the way he shot free throws.

Georgetown gives up few dunks. The school that brought you Patrick Ewing and Alonzo Mourning still has plenty of shot-stoppers, including Touomou, Aw, Ya-Ya Dia and a 270-pounder named Jahidi White who could use the Washington Monument for a toothpick.

Their play isn’t pretty, but it’s strong. That might be enough to get John Thompson and Georgetown back to the big dance.