Georgetown Basketball: 3 keys for Hoyas against Duke in 2K Empire Classic
By Brian Rauf
3) James Akinjo needs to play like a star
As important as Yurtseven is, particularly in Ewing’s offense, James Akinjo remains Georgetown’s best and most important player.
The 6-1 point guard runs the show and controls everything for the Hoyas offensively. He excels are creating shots for himself off the bounce, and he’s just as great at creating open shots for his teammates.
Texas was able to limit Akinjo’s offense as 10 of his 14 points came from the free throw line (most of which came later in the second half), but he still found a way to make a significant impact with six assists – no one else on the team had more than two.
A number of players, particularly Mac McClung and Jamorko Pickett, made up the difference against Texas with 19 and 15 points, respectively. But, as we mentioned, Georgetown will have virtually no margin for error against Duke – they need to be able to count on their star.
Getting a strong performance from Akinjo is even more important for the Hoyas because of Tre Jones. Duke’s point guard is a phenomenal on-ball defender and really sets the table for the rest of their fantastic defense. They count on him to stall the opponent at the point of attack which, in Georgetown’s case, is almost always Akinjo.
Should Akinjo put up the kind of performance we’ve come to expect from him and best Jones, that will give the Hoyas a major leg up.
Next. Key storylines for non-conference tournaments. dark
If that happens, Yurtseven contributes at a high level, and they force Duke to beat them from the perimeter, Georgetown has a good chance to knock off the No. 1 team in the country.