Georgetown's Conundrum at Center
Is Patrick Ewing starting the wrong man at center?
At one point during last night’s 83-75 loss to #21 Providence, Bill Raftery gently highlighted Georgetown’s lack of options at the center position this year, saying, “There’s no Alonzo Mourning in there, let’s put it that way.”
That’s one way to put it.
Georgetown, predictably, has struggled to find consistent production at the center position this year. This isn’t very surprising considering how the position was decimated this summer. The Hoyas lost their promising starting center, Qudus Wahab, to Maryland, and then saw the man they brought in to replace him, Tre King, be dismissed from the team for a student conduct code violation.
That left Patrick Ewing with a depth chart at center of junior big men Timothy Ighoefe and Malcolm Wilson, and freshman center Ryan Mutombo. And it hasn’t been the easiest start to the season, with Ighoefe, the starter to open the season, missing 7 games due to a broken hand. This led to Wilson stepping into the starter role, and Mutombo playing important minutes off the bench.
In the three games since Ighoefe returned, he is struggling, averaging 4 points and 8 rebounds per game, and only blocking one total shot in that stretch.
For a player who is supposed to be on the floor for his physical play down low on defense, as well as his rebounding ability, Ighoefe has looked tentative out there, especially last night against the Friars, scoring just 2 points on 1-of-6 shooting and pulling down 7 rebounds, along with zero blocks.
Now, Ighoefe may still be working his way back into game condition after suffering the broken hand, and could still be recovering from lingering effects of COVID-19. Both are legitimate reasons to explain his struggles. But that doesn’t mean the team has to continue to start him while he works his way back into shape.
Malcolm Wilson has been productive this season when called upon, and while he has his own limitations, he deserves more opportunity, even with Ighoefe back. In 12.6 minutes per game this year, Wilson is averaging 3.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks per game. Those numbers aren’t any better than Ighoefe’s, but his advanced stats paint a different picture.
The 7-foot Wilson may not be the burly big man that Big Tim is, weighing at least 45 pounds less than the 250-pound Ighoefe, but his advanced defensive statistics are better than Ighoefe’s, and while he’s not the same rebounder, Wilson makes up for it in other areas that Ighoefe can’t.
Wilson’s PER of 19.0 is second-highest on the team, behind Mutombo. His block rate (8.6%) is higher than Ighoefe’s (5.7%), surprisingly, and Wilson is also second on the team in both effective field goal percentage (76.9%) and true shooting percentage (72.1%).
Wilson also impacts winning (who’s going to make the joke about Georgetown not winning lately?) better than Ighoefe. His win shares/40 minutes of .140 is third on the team, while Ighoefe clocks in at seventh, with a WS/40 of .103.
Defensively, Wilson has the best Defensive Box Plus/Minus on the team, at 1.0. DBPM is defined as a box score estimate of the defensive points per 100 possessions a player contributed above a league average player. Ighoefe is ranked fourth, at 0.2.
Wilson provides an element of athleticism, verticality, and higher basketball IQ that Ighoefe does not. This blend of traits makes up for the rebounding that the Hoyas would miss out on by playing Wilson more than Ighoefe.
After a performance like last night by Ighoefe, Patrick Ewing has to at least consider making a change, but it doesn’t sound like he is close to doing so. When asked about Ighoefe last night, Ewing had this to say about his junior center from Nigeria.
“It’s coming. It’s coming. I thought he did a pretty good job of bodying him [Nate Watson], being physical with him,” said Ewing.
“He got some fouls on him, but some of those you can live with. We do have to get him the ball when he’s wide open. A couple of times he was wide open and we didn’t hit him, but I thought for the most part he did a pretty good job.”
(Reminder: Ighoefe was 1-of-6 shooting last night, in 28 minutes. Why exactly is there a desire to give him the ball in the post?)
As for the other center behind Ighoefe, Ryan Mutombo, there is an argument to be made that you should start the freshman big man over both of the junior centers. With Georgetown’s season looking more lost by the game, a priority should be placed on getting the young players more minutes to help accelerate their development heading into their sophomore seasons. Mutombo is one such player who should see more minutes, but should he start?
In Mutombo’s case, he is averaging 5.2 points and 3.5 rebounds per game, but the real story is his advanced numbers, some of which lead the team. He leads the team in PER (25.2), block rate (9.7%), and WS/40 (.167).
He has shown some offensive ability, but he has been a defensive liability for the team so far, where his lack of strength and quickness on that end of floor cause real problems for not only him, but the entire Georgetown defense. His DBPM of -1.4 is 11th on the team and among the centers on the roster, he has the worst defensive rating (103.2).
Until Mutombo shows he can compete on the defensive end, it’s hard to envision him starting at center, even for this team. He would be much better served developing behind the scenes this year, coming off the bench when needed, and seeing what he can do next year with over a year in the weight room under his belt. He has potential, but there is still a lot to work on with his game.
Patrick Ewing has shown he’s willing to tinker with his starting lineup, as evidenced by his benching of Kaiden Rice last night in favor of Collin Holloway. With the lack of production from Timothy Ighoefe, Ewing should consider making a change at the center position too. What does he have to lose?