EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The son made the slow trek forward, stopping to hug his players, to thank a mentor, to shake the hands of his assistant coaches while moving across the arena floor. It was an encumbered walk because everyone always wants a piece of a winner.
He had finally reached his father. Pops was finishing up a radio broadcast when he saw John Thompson III approach. The headset was ripped off so swiftly it is no wonder an ear was not caught along with it.
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| Little John makes Big John proud as the Hoyas return to the Final Four. (AP) |
Georgetown 96, North Carolina 84. Hollywood ending: 1.
"I'm happy as hell," dad said. "I feel very lucky. This is the greatest thing that could ever happen to me. He let me share in his life, wasn't threatened at all, made me comfortable."
The younger Thompson has reached the Final Four -- just as his father did. The son commands an impressive player arsenal packed with muscle and high basketball IQs. Just like dad did. In Atlanta, site of the Final Four, this Georgetown team will be formidable and frightening, just as the old Hoyas were. But that is only part of the new Hoya story, this tale worthy of song and scriptwriter.
The Thompsons are the first father-son team to reach the Final Four. Yet JTIII did it his way. There was no copying of dad or puppy dog syndrome. While their genome is similar, their coaching methodology, and to some degree their personalities, could not be more different.
Pops Thompson was a screamer, an intimidator, who verbally battered his players. He was also a bully with the media, using his seven foot frame and fiery lungs to steamroll the press, leading to the "Hoya Paranoia" nickname.
The younger Thompson is calmer, more studied, less bombastic (for the most part). His Princeton background has created a more egghead-type franchise where athleticism and brains combine to create a superpower.
"It was a different style of play when Big John was coaching than it is now," Tar Heels coach Roy Williams said. "Coach Thompson, his size, his mannerisms, his person, he was able to intimidate people. I love him to death. He could probably intimidate me but I know what's underneath that shell. But Young John is not his dad and I think that's something that's really strong for him. Young John coaches the way that he feels is best for him."
Williams, who knows the elder Thompson well, later said in part: "I've never asked this but I would bet his dad is extremely proud because he's coaching it the way he wants to coach it. He's not trying to be Big John. Knowing him as I do, I would think that as a father he is really proud and doesn't feel that his son has got to be a clone of himself."
The one similarity is their stone cold resilience. It was evident in the son against North Carolina during the East Regional finals. The Tar Heels led 69-58 with about 12 minutes left. It looked like the game was North Carolina's.
It is not so much that Thompson diagrammed his way past the Tar Heels (though Thompson's out-maneuvering of Williams might one day appear in an instructional DVD on how a young coach can embarrass a veteran one). What Thompson did was keep his players calm and stick with what works so well for Georgetown: the backdoor layups and dunks as well as a stiff defense. The 31-9 run was all about Georgetown sticking to its plan and never panicking.
