Georgetown Needs to Start Dante Harris
With Jalen Harris turning the ball over at an alarming rate, the Hoyas need to look towards the future, and start the freshman guard from Tennessee.
Georgetown has a point guard problem.
In the last three games, Georgetown’s starting point guard, Jalen Harris, has led the team in turnovers, totaling 14 turnovers in the last three contests. For the season, Harris has a turnover rate of 34.5%, which is tops on the team by a mile, with the next closest player being Don Carey, at 24.5%.
On Friday night against Villanova, Harris had a line of 2 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 4 turnovers…in 27 minutes. He finished with a plus/minus of -10.
Jalen Harris was supposed to be a bridge at point guard to next year, when Dante Harris could take the reins as a sophomore.
But that plan already looks like it may need to be adjusted, or scrapped altogether.
Starting point guards should not have as many turnovers as they do combined points and assists. But yet, Jalen Harris accomplished that feat last night, with 4 turnovers and 4 combined points and assists. And despite that, it was Jalen Harris who saw 27 minutes last night, while Dante Harris, who had a -3 plus/minus, played only 13 minutes.
Jalen Harris was brought in to be a veteran player who could run the offense at point guard and be a reliable, experienced option for this young Georgetown team. Instead, he is the main culprit for this team’s turnover issues, and is showing no signs of improvement.
This isn’t exactly a new trend with Jalen, who had a turnover rate of 26.4% last year, which would have been tops on last year’s Georgetown team. He has been sloppy with the ball throughout his career, which is concerning for any point guard.
With Jalen Harris struggling, it’s time for Patrick Ewing to make a change, and start Dante Harris.
After looking tentative and unsure of himself in his first few games to start the season, the younger Harris has started to look more comfortable out on the court in his last couple of games, scoring 14 points in his last two games, on 60% shooting from the field, including shooting 50% from the three-point line.
Not only is Dante Harris the better option for Georgetown today, he’s the better option for Georgetown as they rebuild and prepare for future seasons.
Jalen Harris is not the long-term answer for Georgetown at the point guard position, no matter how well he plays. Dante Harris could be the long-term answer, and Patrick Ewing needs to give Dante the chance to show if he can be this team’s starting point guard for next year and beyond.
While you would hope Jalen would run with the position and do well for a bigger portion of the season, that hasn’t been the case, and with 20 games left in the season, Ewing can’t sit around and wait to make a change.
Compared to Jalen, Dante has a lower turnover rate (19.6%), higher PER in fewer minutes (5.0), and a higher eFG% (40%).
While Jalen does have a higher assist rate (30.9%), Dante should be given the chance to show what he can do both as a passer and a scorer when given more minutes. Against Villanova, Dante scored 9 points on 4-of-7 shooting, and provided some life to an otherwise-anemic Georgetown offense.
The two players are trending in opposite directions, and with Dante being the freshman, he deserves a chance to show what he can do with greater opportunity, as this team evaluates its roster needs in 2021 and beyond.
This isn’t to say that Jalen Harris can’t still be a good player for this team this season. He has shown an aggressive, attacking mindset in getting to the hoop, and his vision in the open court is top-notch. He fits the mold of guards that Ewing has taken a liking to at Georgetown, ones who love to get up-and-down the floor, and his 30.9% assist rate is a very good number for a point guard.
But the turnovers are this team’s Achilles heel right now, and if the source of those issues is your point guard, a change needs to be made, until Jalen Harris can cure himself of the turnover bug.
Playing Dante Harris puts the better player on the floor for Georgetown right now, and also helps the coaching staff see what they have in Dante for the years to come. The development of the young players on this team was imperative heading into the season, and handing the reins over to Dante Harris now will do wonders for his development moving forward.