Hoyas 89 - Appalachian State 60 Game Discussion

Every single Hoya who saw action -- THIRTEEN PLAYERS!!! -- scored. When was the last time that happened? When was the last time we even played 13 in a game?

Nice bounce back. Great to hear that coach focused on D in practice the past two days.

MOSES IS FREE!!

Every now and then it's nice to have something other than a nail-biter.

It was great to see Moses finally see some minutes. I was getting worried that he wouldn't as the minutes ticked away in the second. And great job by the students giving him all of that support.

I loved how excited Bowen was getting his first flush as well. I am curious as to why Bowen isn't seeing more run. Not questioning. Just curious.

Chris was phenomenal for most of the game. He looked like he tried to get to cute toward the end but, man, was that fun to watch or what? Loved Austin's hammer too.

My biggest question is about Vaughn. I really like the kid and you can tell he's really putting in the work. I just wonder why he gets winded so quickly. For a guy that looks as in shape as he looks, I have a hard time understanding why he's breathing so hard after one run up the floor. In any case, I love his effort. He seems to be focusing on moving his feet more to get in better defensive position but isn't there just yet. Keep it up JuJu! I'm also really excited that Julian can be more aggressive due to the progression of Sims. If ever there seemed to be a really good-natured kid with talent that you want to see excel, it's that kid. Fun to watch.

As far as Hollis, I have a boatload of respect for that kid. As one of the commentators mentioned during the in-game, he's probably sacrificing the most in terms of the role he's playing and his natural game and HT is giving it his all. Hopefully, we become well-rounded enough that his minutes can be split at some point between the 3 and 4.

Nice job by Nate today as well. Good to see him get to slam a couple home. So many reasons to feel good today. Especially for the young guys. Vee is as smooth as can be and really looks confident. He and Markel are, as far as I can tell, our most committed, best defenders. I really admire their energy on the defensive end and I think Markel is going to be a really good distributer of the ball. It has to be a huge plus for him to watch Chris do what he's doing.

Jason Clark=assassin. Period. Early on, any mini run App St. started was quickly answered by Jason. He's a really, really good shooter. My only concern with him is that he becomes too enamored with his beyond the arc game and forgets about his midrange acumen.

All in all, a really fun, low stress game to watch today. I think I'm cheering harder for pretty much every guy on this team than I have for any single player since Pat. Hard to believe but I think it's true. Just a great group of guys. Hoya Saxa!

Point taken. And, in thinking about that, I guess other guys like Nate get more of a pass due to a greater need for him to progress quicker. I've wondered at times why Vee hasn't gotten more minutes and, in my mind, have understood why Markel has gotten the minutes he has gotten as he's going to be an important piece next year (this year as well but you get my meaning). I think it's pretty clear that Markel is the point moving forward so he will get some more room to make freshman mistakes. Same with Nate. He's had some freshman moments with his passing mostly that we can overlook because we need him as the starting 4 next year (Hollis at the 3!!). I guess we have a little time to allow Bowen to come along but when the game is basically over, I was just wondering why he wasn't getting time. In any case, it was great to see him get fired up after his dunk. I love the energy from the guys that aren't getting a lot of minutes like Henry the past 2 years and Vee in a coupla games earlier this year. I like it to be blatantly obvious that the guys that don't get a lot of time really feel like they're involved and integral to the team and spot minutes in opportune moments tends to help that. I really enjoyed seeing the young guys on the floor together toward the end of the game tonight. Here's to hoping we have more games like this one to get them some run!

markel is being groomed. At some point we could see Hollis at his natural 3 spot in some games now that Moses's depth has been added to the frontcourt. We'll see how quickly Moses adapts, but based on the 2 mins today, he'll be fine soon.

Also, if you go to the hospital for the flu, it usually has done a number on your lungs. Takes months to get back.

But the reason I wanted to post on this thread is Chris Wright. For years, I have not liked him - he seemed to be a shooting guard who was annoyed to play the point. Last year, he improved - he was still a key scorer (the "10 points or more and GU wins" theory), but wasn't taking shot after shot.

This year, he has markedly fewer points, but it doesn't matter - he's a wizard passing the ball, making the pinpoint passes that the Princeton offense requires (from my seat, I see him passing into a mass of bodies and then backdoor layups resulting) or making jaw-dropping passes on the fast break. He can score and scores occasionally, but he's so much more impressive with his passing - and he seems like a better player than he ever would have been before.

How about the in bounds pass to Nate for the easy put in. Usually we only run the one in bounds play from the baseline where Chris wheels around and comes behind for a layup. Nice to see us score a quick one off a nice pass.

I agree. He wasn't looking for his shot at all. He knew he was close to breaking his assist record. His play yesterday reminded me of Greg against Providence last year.

One of the things that was surprising to me was the commentary of the former Terp, Adrian Branch. He either did his home work on the team well, or he has been paying attention to them for awhile. He was right on about the play of Chris. he said that he had matured from a scoring guard coming out of high school now to a leader in assists for this team, making his teammates better. He mentioned the chemistry and trust Chris and Freeman have with each other after playing together for 4 years. He mentioned Chris attendance of Chris Paul's camp and how he has a different mindset now, i.e., that a true point guard can lead his team to victory by doing other things than score. Finaly he said the sky is the limit for this Hoya team because of its senior leadership of Wright and Freeman, the maturity of Clark and the development of Sims as a legitimate big man, and the Hoya depth this year. One comment that was particularly interesting was his comment about Monroe and his affect on the team. He said Monroe was a geat player, but was passive and being that he was the leader of the team the team took on his personality and became or was viewed as passive and not strong. He said this shortly after Nate gave a hard foul to a guy going in for a layup; sending the message "you may score at my basket, but it will cost you some pain".He said the Hoyas needed to reestablish that toughness persona. Sounding like a DC high school grad who admired JT2's teams of the 70's and 80's. Overall very good commentary. Speaking of Chris Paul's camp, I don't know if only upper classmen point guards are invited, but JT3 should do what it takes to get Starks on that invitation list as soon as possible.

Branch said last season that his mom has/had GU season tickets. He's always been a fan and had repect for the program.