AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2007 > March > 25 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USElder Thompson excited for son
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
East Rutherford, N.J. — When overtime started, the NCAA radio analyst said he “went numb.”
With five seconds left, he started clapping and looked across the court to Georgetown’s bench. As time elapsed, he smiled and pointed at his son.
You want objectivity on a broadcast? Don’t pick a coach’s father. Don’t pick John Thompson. Not when the program he built and the son he raised are trying to make it to the Final Four. Not when Georgetown is playing North Carolina. Not when the Hoyas are trying to exorcise some ghosts from 25 years earlier.
“Everybody kept asking me whether I should be announcing my son’s game,” Thompson said later. “Well, I shouldn’t be. I couldn’t say anything in the overtime. I went numb.”
If Thompson wondered whether something could make him happier than winning a Final Four as Georgetown’s coach, he got his answer Sunday.
He watched as the Hoyas, down by as many as 11 points to a deeper and more talented team from North Carolina, wore down and broke down the Tar Heels. A shot with 31 seconds left in regulation tied it. A blitz in overtime clinched it. Georgetown won 96-84 to reach its first Final Four since 1985.
The “impartial broadcast journalist” for the weekend hugged players, school officials, then his son. He wiped his brow with a commemorative Final Four T-shirt. (That was fast.)
The only lingering reminder of the 1982 finals loss to North Carolina was the silhouette of Michael Jordan on Georgetown’s shoes and warm-ups. It was Jordan who hit the shot that ultimately defeated the Hoyas in the ‘82 championship game, Thompson’s first of three Final Fours. (He would win it two years later.)
“The hell with objectivity,” Thompson said.
Thompson was asked what was more satisfying — coaching a team to a Final Four or watching his son do the same. Easy answer.
“This is,” he said. “I feel very lucky to be able to see this happen in my child’s life. I didn’t need to coach anymore. I don’t need about another spittoon or another trophy.
“People said, ‘You’re gonna miss coaching.’ I don’t miss coaching. This is the greatest thing that could happen to me.”
A rest, maybe. This wasn’t expected. Georgetown has now won eight straight and 19 of 20 as it prepares to come to Atlanta. But it struggled and needed some cross-eyed officiating down the stretch of the East Regional semis to get past Vanderbilt. The team looked terribly outmanned for most of Sunday’s game.
The Tar Heels, who sleep-walked for portions of Friday’s win over Southern Cal before closing with a fury (runs of 18-0 and 41-15), were driving the lane, drawing fouls, hitting free throws. The better team also was the smarter team.
But late in the second half, Carolina went cold. During one stretch, it went 2-for-19. The Heels stopped taking the ball to the basket and started firing up (and missing) long jumpers. The collapse continued in the overtime when they missed their first 12 shots. Only an otherwise meaningless 3-pointer by Ty Lawson in the final seconds prevented an overtime shutout.
Conversely, the Hoyas were disciplined and tough, traits of Thompson’s old teams and of Pete Carrill’s, the mentor of the younger Thompson at Princeton.
“I’m his dad, but that’s his teacher,” Big John said later, after he and Carrill embraced.
Thompson, the son and pupil, learned from both. It looked like the tournament would end here, and again with North Carolina as the winner. But when the Heels began to wilt, the Hoyas began to attack, winning one-on-one battles.
“We were able to slow down their transition a little bit and make them take tough, contested shots,” the younger Thompson said. “Then, with our offense in the half-court, there’s room for one-on-one. We’re not as restrictive on offense as people think.”
He laughed when told of his father’s alleged speechlessness during the broadcast. But when told that his father said he drew more satisfaction from Sunday’s win than any in his own coaching career, the son wasn’t surprised.
“That makes sense,” he said. “It’s much easier for him. I’m already worried about the Ohio State game. He’s sitting over there cheering.”
As it should be with a father watching his son. But the headphones and microphone made him look a little out of place.
Permalink | Comments (9) | Post your comment | Categories: Final Four, Jeff Schultz
Comments
By JSS
March 25, 2007 10:52 PM | Link to this
You’re a no talent HACK, please pull a “Tubby” and go take a job in Nome or Fairbanks or something!!! Another total waste of column space, please just stop!!!
FIRE JEFF SCHULTZ NOW!!!
By Orlando Rivera
March 25, 2007 11:37 PM | Link to this
Great article Jeff, it’s pssant pckers like JSS who have no idea how to respond to a blog. It was awesome to see coach Thompson rooting for his son to make it. We fans here in DC are looking to come down to Atlanta and root for the Hoyas to win the National Championship over Florida.
By JSS
March 25, 2007 11:55 PM | Link to this
Rivera, I picked your team to win the game by the way… Schultz is still a NO TALENT HACK who can’t put six legiable paragraphs together in order to make readers more knowledgeable and better informed.
Enjoy your visit to Atlanta and GA, avoid the normal tourist traps, go to your hotel at a reasonable hour and goodness sake maybe try reading some Sporting News and Hoopville for some concise well written online content… Schultz couldn’t accomplish that with 25 years of Temple or Penn journalism school affford to him…
Overpaid HACK!!!
By James Adams
March 26, 2007 2:13 AM | Link to this
Georgetown’s mascot should be an Old Man At the Mall, because they sure know how to walk.
By acb
March 26, 2007 7:20 AM | Link to this
Jeff, I really do not understand how you continue to talk about the officials in the Vanderbilt game. Obviously we were watching different games, because I was seeing Jeff Green getting called for fouls on the perimeter for no apparent reason, Green getting fouled repeatedly while attempting the last shot that some called a walk (though those of us who watched the play carefully in slow motion, didn’t listen to silly commentary, and applied the rules realize it wasn’t). The Sapp play I cannot comment on. I didn’t see it in slow motion. However, the fact that you are obviously bias and ignorant of basic basketball rules leads me to believe it was probably a good play.
You continue your disdain on the Hoyas in this article, commenting on how Carolina “stopped taking the ball to the basket” etc., like it was some stupid thing Carolina started doing without cause. It’s called a zone defense! A pretty good one too, that allowed the perimeter defenders to still contest the shooter. Williams and his players never solved it. Georgetown continued making high percentage shots like they had the entire game. Game over.
Actually I liked your article on the whole. Please dump the bias, get the facts straight, and do a little research on the basic rules of basketball. Learn how to identify offensive and defensive positioning. For the time being, keep writing the feel good articles and stay away from the technical stuff.
By MART
March 26, 2007 8:05 AM | Link to this
North Carolina got a taste of the Roy Williams we all remember so well from Kansas.
By SlimG
March 26, 2007 8:58 AM | Link to this
Fantastic Final Four. No Kentucky or Carolina blue, wooohoo. Gtown is back.
By Mike K.
March 26, 2007 9:50 AM | Link to this
Good thing the refs realized in the OT that the game wasn’t being played in the Dean Dome.
By Rowndman
March 26, 2007 10:16 AM | Link to this
Jeff Schultz is the best thing to happen to the ajc sports page since Furman Bisher. Please keep the blog to constructive comments about the article.