Word: thompson
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...That whole line of questioning is baffling," insists Thompson III, 41, whose Hoyas mounted a bracket-saving comeback against North Carolina in the East Regional tourney to send Georgetown to its first Final Four in 22 years. "The perception - and it's an unfortunate perception - is that you go to the Big East and these guys can't, or won't, share the ball...
...Thompson, more than anyone else, knows what drives the doubters: a hoops stereotype that says black guys play with their bodies and white guys with their brains. And even if the 2007 Hoyas fail to win the national title on April 2 in Atlanta, Thompson's team has done more to smash that perception than any other in recent memory. "If you think of the Princeton Offense, you wouldn't think a team of African-American guys can run it," notes Georgetown star Jeff Green, whose last-second bank shot against Vanderbilt in the regional semifinals kept the Hoyas...
...Thompson figured that if the system could help Ivy Leaguers win - Pete Carril, who devised the offense, won 13 Ivy titles during his 29-year tenure (including 1996, when I was on the team), and Thompson clinched three more as Princeton coach from 2000 to '04 - imagine if the most talented players in the country could augment backdoor passes with individual skills. A trip to the Final Four perhaps? Georgetown's offense has clicked, with Thompson expertly mixing finesse with freedom. For example, before Green's game winner against Vandy, Thompson gave the NBA-bound Big East MVP spare instructions...
...rabid Hoya fans affectionately call Thompson, struggled with his decision to take the Georgetown job in 2004. He loved his alma mater, and most members of the '04 Tigers, fresh off a league title, were returning. It wasn't certain that Georgetown could compete against the bulked-up budgets of the Big East. Even today Georgetown's hoop team fights the volleyball squad for practice time at the school's campus...
...even sweeter bit of irony that Thompson runs, as Ewing Jr. calls it, the "quote-unquote white-guy offense" at Georgetown, whose aggressive, all-black teams under John Jr. discomforted many white fans. Papa John Jr., a 6-ft. 10-in. intimidator, in turn scared his players. These days, he attends practices and isn't shy about sharing. "A father has a license to meddle any time he wants," John Jr. says in his booming voice, adding a broad smile. The son embraces the presence of "Pops" but says, "Like most kids, I'm pretty good at ignoring my parents...