Hoyas see toughness and intensity as the keys to a rebound

It wasn't a lack of talent, nor one of athleticism or skill.

But when Georgetown's starting lineup of three young McDonald's all-Americans, complemented by a junior and senior, took the floor last year, the result was far less than the sum of its parts.

Halfhearted rebounding was a chronic weakness. Lackluster defense cost the squad dearly. And poor shooting compounded the woes as a once-promising season concluded at 16-15, 7-11 -- the worst record of any team coached by John Thompson III, whether at Princeton or on the Hilltop.

Yet none of these factors explains why Georgetown, which bolted to a 10-1 start, was bounced in the first round of the Big East tournament, failed to earn an NCAA tournament berth and was sent packing by Baylor in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament.

The main reason was a lack of toughness -- particularly after a midseason loss at Duke triggered a downward spiral in which the Hoyas won just four of their final 16 games.

"People think toughness means physical toughness, but it's more of a mental toughness," says ESPN analyst Jay Bilas, who played at Duke. Georgetown "was very, very close to being very good. But they didn't finish plays, they didn't finish halves and they didn't finish games. Once they got hit in the mouth a couple times, they didn't respond as well as a lot of teams."

So how does a coach fix an abstraction -- something that can't be drilled in an athlete's muscle memory by countless repetitions or endless hours of practice?

On this matter, Thompson hopes that experience proves the best teacher.

"This program has a foundation set, so you can go through a year like last year and say, 'The sky is not falling in!' " Thompson said. "That said, this group was affected by last year; we all were. Hopefully we have learned the lessons, and the steps that were taken last year will put us in a position so this group won't have that same ending."

Thompson's peers in the Big East apparently put great stock in experience, as well, projecting Georgetown to finish fifth this season. The Hoyas also are ranked 20th in the preseason Associated Press poll.

"They had an aberration last year," Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim said. "They were a very good team; they just got into a bad stretch in our league. But they have really good players coming back."

Chief among them is center Greg Monroe, who likely would have been an NBA lottery pick had he left after collecting Big East rookie of the year honors.