Georgetown-Duke Pre-Game Discussion

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[HoyaSC]

Average amount of getting screwed by the refs in Cameron = Hoyas Win.

Slightly above-average amount of getting screwed by the refs in Cameron = Hoyas Still Win.

Stroke-inducing amount of getting screwed by the refs in Cameron = Hoyas lose.

[hoyas big supporter]

We will = victory

Go Hoyas!

[ColumbiaHeightsHoya]

We match up better in this game then against Cuse I think. If we can get contributions from our bench the way we did last night, we win. You figure Chris or Greg will have a better scoring game which will make up for some of what we got from the bench this past game. Hoyas in a nail biter.

[daytonahoya31]

I think we're the better team by 10-12 points on a neutral court. But at Cameron, this is going to be a really tough go.

We're quicker, more athletic and Greg presents a nightmare matchup for them because zoubek flat out can't guard him and lance thomas is way too small, as is mcClure.

The one variable, other than the officials, is duke's shooting. They can always have one of those 12-16 shooting games from three-point land. If that happens, it will be difficult to win. Short of that, we have a good shot.

I just want a fair whistle, but that may be too much to ask

[idhoya]

Let's hope the frosh don't nut up in Cameron. It can be intimidating. I don't think Clark has a nervous bone in is his body! The kid plays pace, tempo and only takes shots when he's comfortable; witness the foul line jumper that is money! He's so consistent. His consistency reminds me of Daymond Jackson consistently missing lay ups.

[Jack]

The good news- they couldn't possibly give GU Karl Hess two games in a row, right?

The bad news- Teddy Valentine is almost certainly available.

[TBird41]

Duke is #1 in the KenPom ratings currently. They're 18th in offensive efficiency and 2nd in defensive efficiency. They're not a great defensive rebounding team, ranking 77th, but they're very good at getting offensive boards, grabbing 41%, the 12th highest in the nation.

[idhoya]

If the ref's allow it, G Money will each Zoubek alive.

[FewFAC]

We're gonna need a better, more consistent defensive effort than we've gotten in a few games, unless we're subscribing to the ND philosophy of BEast basketball.

[vcjack]

This is going to be a lot like the ND game. Lets play some actual D and hit our shots this time around.

And it would be nice if DaJuan doesn't get flustered when inevitably he gets into early foul trouble

[TBird41]

Who does everyone think is going to "get" their second foul first--Greg or DaJuan?

[hoyabinx]

I agree that a lot depends on how the refs let the game be called. We are on the finesse end of Big East basketball, but its still Big East. If they call all that ticky tack crap that was rampant in the Wake-UNC game, we are in trouble.

Outside of that, we have better players at every position, at least defensively.

Chris - Nolan Smith
Austin - Gerald Henderson
Jessie - Jon Scheyer
Dajuan - Kyle Singler
Greg - Zoubek (hahahha)

Jason - Greg Paulus
Henry - Lance Thomas
Julian - David McClure

The only two that make me nervous even a little bit are the Singler and Henderson matchups. If we can play physical then Jessie is going to hound Scheyer and I'd take Wright over Smith any day. Jason's inexperience might be a problem in the matchup with Paulus.

I agree though, in Cameron anything is possible but we would beat them on a neutral court, I'd bet.

[dailey247]

I'd be willing to give up 15 apiece to Singler and Henderson if it means we are also getting out and guarding the three. Also, it is quite fortuitous that we've shown the ability to go to a big lineup right before this game. They would have to go zone to keep us from pounding them inside, and then the game comes down to making open jumpers. I like our chances.

[lichoya68]

OK THIS GAME DONT MEAN NOTHING NEEDED TO BEAT CUSE BIG EAST 3-2 NOT 2-3 NEED TO BEST WEST VA. THAT SAID THE WAY THE YOUNGINS ADN BENCH PLAYED WE NOW HAVE FOUR BIGS THAT CAN PLAY NOT JUST DAJUANN AND GREGORY SOSOOOOOO EVEN THO TOUGH THERE THIS MIGHT BE DOABLE BUT JUST A GAME NOT REAAALY COUNT CAUSE IT AINT THE BIG EASY GOTTA GET IN THAT TOP FOUR GO HOYAS BEAT DUKE SORTA BUT REALLY BEAT WEST VA. YUP ONE MANS OPINIOIN.. PS GLAD I DONT KNOW HOW TO BET I WAS WRONG WRONG WRONG ;D ;D

[dense]

the match-ups im worried about is Nolan vs Chris, cause of the history with them. Chris is 3time all met if Nolan doesn't leave St. Johns.
Scheyer is a tough guard cause he can play off the dribble really well. As long as DaJuan doesnt get into too bad a foul trouble guarding Singler we should be alright. Watching them play Georgia Tech. They still overplay on man and extend it out, which G.T was beating early but the guards eventually always wear down and get sloppy. If we stay focused i thinkwe can win cause this Duke team tends to go thru stretches where defensively they dont work hard, and their 3pt shooting isnt dead eye knock down this year.

[RockawayHoya]

A couple thoughts:

I think Duke is much better defensively than a lot of people give them credit for. Two things especially that I want our team to avoid: the stupid 5 second calls that Duke ALWAYS draws by midcourt, and allowing Duke to dominate the loose balls (they are never afraid to get on the floor).

As for the officiating itself, III should tell the young guys going in to basically expect zero calls. The toughest thing about beating Duke is that you have to legitimately beat them 4-5 times just to get the W. But I feel we're good enough to do that.

I think it's foolish to expect a similar performance from the bench on Saturday compared to the one we got last night. But that doesn't mean that they can't contribute; we need Henry to continue his strong play and stay active on both ends of the floor, and we need Julian to build off of his first true good game of the year and stay aggressive. As for Jason, he's someone I don't worry about anymore. We rave about Greg, but how about being able to pencil ANOTHER freshman for solid contributions every game?

Lastly... one concern I have that has popped up over the past few games: free throw shooting. We are going to need to shoot at a high percentage (75%+) if we are going to pull out this game. What few attempts we might be lucky enough to get, we're going to have to knock down. An absolute must on the road.

[rosslynhoya]

Jan 15, 2009 10:32:08 GMT -5 idhoya said:

Let's hope the frosh don't nut up in Cameron. It can be intimidating. I don't think Clark has a nervous bone in is his body! The kid plays pace, tempo and only takes shots when he's comfortable; witness the foul line jumper that is money! He's so consistent. His consistency reminds me of Daymond Jackson consistently missing lay ups.

www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=nut+up

I've only ever heard it used in the positive sense (def 3 or 5) and yes, the entire team needs to nut up on Saturday.

[hoyabinx]

I should have clarified, our players match up defensively very well with all of their players I think. I just don't see anyone going nuts on points for them. Singler-Summers is essentially a wash, both are future lottery-pick players. I see our guards harassing theirs pretty well and as long as the switches on picks work as they normally do, we should have a hand in their face everytime they crank.

[Hoya50]

Jan 15, 2009 12:01:13 GMT -5 RockawayHoya said:

A couple thoughts:

I think Duke is much better defensively than a lot of people give them credit for. Two things especially that I want our team to avoid: the stupid 5 second calls that Duke ALWAYS draws by midcourt, and allowing Duke to dominate the loose balls (they are never afraid to get on the floor).

As for the officiating itself, III should tell the young guys going in to basically expect zero calls. The toughest thing about beating Duke is that you have to legitimately beat them 4-5 times just to get the W. But I feel we're good enough to do that.

I think it's foolish to expect a similar performance from the bench on Saturday compared to the one we got last night. But that doesn't mean that they can't contribute; we need Henry to continue his strong play and stay active on both ends of the floor, and we need Julian to build off of his first true good game of the year and stay aggressive. As for Jason, he's someone I don't worry about anymore. We rave about Greg, but how about being able to pencil ANOTHER freshman for solid contributions every game?

Lastly... one concern I have that has popped up over the past few games: free throw shooting. We are going to need to shoot at a high percentage (75%+) if we are going to pull out this game. What few attempts we might be lucky enough to get, we're going to have to knock down. An absolute must on the road.

good call about the 5 second calls that duke gets. the guards will need to keep the ball moving - but that's something the hoyas excel at .

one thing about cameron is that the rims are usually pretty soft which may help continue the recent hot shooting.

i agree with the above poster that the only guys that really scare me are henderson and singler. henderson is crazy athletic and will try to dunk on anyone. singler is crafty - he loves to slip picks and can play on the post or perimeter. that being said, i think the hoyas have the matchup advantage particularly with greg in the middle. duke's not going to play zone unless absoltulely necessary, so greg should be able to operate with space on saturday.