Georgetown Coach Craig Esherick needed time to retrieve theanecdote that would properly illuminate his relationship with pointguard Kevin Braswell, which for four years has been rather like abouncing basketball, down one moment and quickly back up.
Esherick has immense affection for Braswell, who has started to gothrough a series of ends to a career as distinctive as anyone hasever had at Georgetown. In his final home game Saturday, Braswelltied the school record for assists with 16. That clearly wasn'ttypical, but it shows how creative he can be when under control.
'That was the happiest I've ever been for Kevin,' Esherick said asGeorgetown continued preparations for Wednesday's game againstProvidence here in the first round of the Big East Conferencetournament. 'It was his best game as a college player.'
A moment later, Esherick was recalling another game, more than twoyears earlier, when Braswell was neither so brilliant nor so mature.He'd taken the weekend to rummage through his memory bank.
More than two years earlier, Braswell had a poor practice beforethe Hoyas left for a league game against West Virginia in Charleston.Then he forgot to pack his game shoes, which required going to asporting goods store and buying a pair. Worst of all, Braswell fouledout on what Esherick thought was a monumentally dumb play and hisabsence helped the Mountaineers to a five-point upset.
'I was ready to kill him,' Esherick said.
Now he's more than ready to praise Braswell.
'He's as resilient and dependable as almost anyone we've everhad,' Esherick said. 'He has been hurt, but doesn't think about notplaying, doesn't think about not practicing. Nobody ever plays wellevery single game. But I've never thought the entire time Kevin hasbeen here that he wasn't ready to compete every single game.
'He's intelligent, interesting and charismatic. But he also hasfound a way to drive me crazy at times, and that makes me like andrespect him even more because things have not been one way all thetime. He's handled my idiosyncrasies very well, and I've handled hisvery well.'
As many gifted high school players do, the 6-foot-2 native ofBaltimore thought his college career would be a series of him sinkingshot after glorious shot and his team at least close to if notwinning the national championship each year.
Braswell has been brilliant lots of times, scoring 40 points as asophomore in a triple overtime NIT victory over Virginia and makingseveral game-winning baskets in the final seconds when everybody inthe gym knew he'd be taking them.
'At the end of games, when the score's close, that's when hethrives,' said front court reserve Courtland Freeman. 'That Virginiagame was amazing to watch. He was so strong-willed.'
Braswell has started every game at Georgetown, 31 as a freshman,34 as a sophomore, 33 last year and 27 so far this season. His 686assists are the most in school history. His career scoring average,13.5 points, is second among Georgetown guards, behind Allen Iverson(23.0) and Eric (Sleepy) Floyd (17.7). His rebounding average, 3.9,is the best ever for a Georgetown guard; his average for steals (2.8)is just behind Iverson's school-leading 3.2.
Much of the friction between Esherick and Braswell has been overhis role: Braswell's scoring guard instincts vs. his assignment ofsetting up the offense. Braswell has accepted Esherick's quick hookafter a too-clever pass has gone out of bounds, and Esherick hasacknowledged Braswell's clear leadership qualities.
'There's been a lot of pressure on Kevin this season,' forwardGerald Riley said, 'because he's the only senior.'
Particularly in his sophomore year, Braswell was more than willingto pass up a difficult shot. But he was smart enough to realize thatno teammate at the time was able to catch a hard pass or make a shotbeyond 12 feet. Had Georgetown had today's players two years ago,Braswell might have 50 more assists.
'Coach has been there for me, time after time, on and off thecourt,' Braswell said. 'He's probably given me a chance to play atthe next level.'
Esherick said that barring 'a major earthquake or apoplexy'Braswell would get his degree in May. His major is sociology, with aminor in English and theology.
Individual records are close to meaningless for Braswell. Whatgalls him is Georgetown having to settle for the NIT his first twoseason and having to win at least two and probably three games inthis week's conference tournament to earn a bid to the NCAAtournament. He still figures the Hoyas have enough talent to go asfar in the NCAAs as they did last season, to the round of 16.
'We're playing our best ball now,' he said, referring to a three-game winning streak he hopes the Hoyas will build on, postponing aslong as possible one more last experience.
Big East Notes: In a vote of conference coaches, Connecticutforward Caron Butler and Pittsburgh guard Brandin Knight were chosenco-players of the year. Pittsburgh's Ben Howland was coach of theyear and Notre Dame point guard Chis Thomas freshman of the year.
