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Freeman, Hoyas Off to Healthy Start
"He's a heady player, and he's very smart," Georgetown's Jonathan Wallace said of teammate Austin Freeman, above.
(By Nick Wass -- Associated Press)
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With Freeman, who is shooting 59.1 percent from the field and 44.8 percent from beyond the three-point arc, in the starting lineup, the Hoyas have the best-shooting starting five in the Big East. All five starters -- as well as reserves Jeremiah Rivers and Chris Wright -- are shooting better than 45 percent from the field and have made at least 40 percent of their three-point attempts. Even 7-foot-2 center Roy Hibbert falls into that category; he has made the one three-pointer he has attempted this season.
"That's by design," said Thompson, whose team leads the nation in field goal percentage (52.6 percent). "With the emphasis and a lot of attention going to Roy, if we put good shooters around him, we should have success. . . . You've seen up until this point, defenses have made a conscious effort just to pack it in and sit two, three, four guys around Roy. So we have to have a balance."
They also have to be an unselfish group. Thompson constantly stresses to his players that "there's no need for guys to take slightly contested shots, because if you pass it to the next guy he's going to make it." The Hoyas' top nine players each have at least 12 assists, and 64 percent of their field goals have come off assists.
Freeman, who is averaging 9.3 points, has meshed well with that philosophy. He was the best player on the area's best high school team last season, as well as a McDonald's all-American, but he is willing to do whatever the Hoyas need.
"I just want to contribute to the team," Freeman said. "If I have to give up shots to give it to my teammates, that's what I'm going to do to help my team win."
He's very calm on the court, showing little emotion, and he rarely makes mistakes, whether it's taking a bad shot or making an ill-advised pass or pushing the ball at the wrong time. Thompson says Freeman is the type of player who never makes the same mistake twice.
"He's not out there trying to force and make plays all by himself," senior guard Jonathan Wallace said. "He really has an understanding of the concepts of how to play the game, and that helps us out a lot. . . . He fits really well into the system, being unselfish and not forcing anything. He's a heady player, and he's very smart."
