The elder John Thompson, the one they just call "Pops" at Georgetown, tries to hide as much as he can these days.
During the Hoyas' home games, the Hall of Fame coach hides in the highest suite seats of MCI Center. He sits alone, listening to play-by-play on the radio as he watches his son, John III, coach his former team. He knows the only "John" on the Hilltop now is his 38-year-old son. So, he tries to make his famous 6-foot-10 frame disappear in the most remote arena seat.
"I sit in the rooftop in the dark, nobody anywhere near me," Thompson said yesterday, breaking silence for one of the few times since his son became coach last April. "During the game, I talk to myself. I talk to John as if he were sitting there next to me. I curse the air. I listen to Rich [Chvotkin] on the radio. I curse him, too. I don't even realize I can just switch the radio off."
As this surprising January has unfolded, Thompson has had to hide not only his huge physical and symbolic presence at Georgetown, but also his swelling pride in what his son is accomplishing with a team that lost 15 of its last 18 games last season and was picked by Big East coaches to finish 11th in the league this season.
"Anybody who says they predicted before the season that Georgetown would do this is lying," Thompson said of the 13-5 Hoyas. "They've already won more games than I thought they'd win all year. John's a far better coach than I was as this point in my career."
In particular, Georgetown has stunned the Big East with a 5-2 conference record, including a competitive loss to defending national champion Connecticut, an overtime loss to then No. 7 Syracuse, an upset of then 16th-ranked Pittsburgh and amazing wins -- both in the final second -- over Notre Dame (55-54) and Villanova (66-64).
Tomorrow, in what may be its most implausible challenge to date, Georgetown visits undefeated Boston College.
"They have some talented players," says the older Thompson, now 62, "but they are shallow on the bench. They're young. They start three freshmen. They've even got three walk-on players. I don't think I ever had as little talent as he does now.
"The brilliance of what John's doing is that he's adapting to the talent that he does have."
The radical improvement of the Hoyas has not been lost on Pops's former adversaries.
"Georgetown is back, I can tell you that," Connecticut Coach Jim Calhoun said after the Hoyas outscored his Huskies 40-27 in the second half. "This team can beat anybody in the league. They're young, but they're getting better . . . It's remarkable to me what John's done."
Thompson's rival at Syracuse, Jim Boeheim, escaped defeat by just one inch: Junior Brandon Bowman's toe was barely on the three-point line or his jump shot would have beaten the Orangemen in regulation instead of merely forcing overtime, during which Syracuse won.
"I was sorry Coach Thompson's back at Georgetown," Boeheim said. "That's a tremendous performance."
Such words find their way back to Pops.
