SirSaxa
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
Posts: 747
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Post by SirSaxa on Feb 19, 2009 13:14:27 GMT -5
Despite being slow-footed and inconsistent offensively, Nikita bangs - I like the fact that he goes after every loose ball, every rebound, with fire. That is something this team needs. The key to this game is CWright. He has been playing inspired ball the past two games and I think JTIII just needs to let him do his thing. I only ask that he doesn't leave his feet on drives b/c then he gets stuck having to dish the ball while in the air and it often leads to a turnover. Jason Clark needs to PROTECT THE BALL. If we do a good (not great) job staying in front of their guards on Saturday, we win. Absolutely right on Jason protecting the ball. That is essential. He's been quite shaky lately. And... Chris has been better on his drives lately. He hasn't been trying to go for the "Highest degree of difficulty Finish".... no extra points for that. personally, I think his improved play lately is due primarily to confidence - his own, and augmented by the confidence the staff has in him. Someone above mentioned Jessie is unhappy coming off the bench. I don't know what they saw to make them believe that, but Jessie's play looks more like that of a very happy guy who knows his role and just wants to win. My guess is Pat Jr. had something to do with helping Jessie make the mental adjustment, as well as coach, Chris an the team. IMHO, Jessie is playing his best ball of the season right now and doesn't look unhappy at all. GO HOYAS! BIG GAME!! BEAT MARQUETTE!!!
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Nevada Hoya
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
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Post by Nevada Hoya on Feb 19, 2009 13:22:13 GMT -5
Jessie has to get his minutes. Marquette is essentially a guard oriented team, so Jessie has to be in there to keep up with them. I think Jessie is regaining his confidence (or whatever he lost). I like the thought of Nikita coming off the bench and nailing a couple of threes too (because he is REALLY due).
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swhoya
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,137
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Post by swhoya on Feb 19, 2009 13:39:22 GMT -5
Oh no! Someone thinks Jessie is unhappy?! Can we get a report from campus, has he been seen smiling?!? When's the last time he laughed?!
It cracks me up--would Jessie prefer to be starting? Probably, who wouldn't? But unless you know him, how can you know if he's unhappy with his role?
Frankly, I don't care if he starts or not (although as a senior who has done a lot for this program, I think he deserves it, even if he has been cold). But I'd rather see him play like he did last night, hitting big shots. If he can do that off the bench and both coach and Jessie are okay with that, who cares whether he starts or comes off the bench. Either way, we need the Jessie that we had last night and the last three seasons.
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Hoya50
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
Posts: 805
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Post by Hoya50 on Feb 19, 2009 13:42:26 GMT -5
Jessie will and needs to continue to come off the bench. Hoya50, I wonder if you've been watching us play since the switch was made. 1. We're a better rebounding team with Nikita in the game because we're much more structurally sound. 2. Austin, instead of being a mismatch at the three, is a matchup problem for other teams when he's playing the two. Dajuan and Greg aren't fighting alone for rebounds because Nikita husltes on every play. 3. Nikita adds spacing, whether he's making shots or not, because he's a THREAT to make shots. 4. Jessie is a much, much, much needed veteran influence off the bench. That can't be stressed enough. He's been leading the second unit, which is what we've been craving. 5. Jessie has the ball in his hands leading the second unit much more often, which makes him a much more effective player. He's not the kind of guy that's effective in a catch and shoot role. 6. and maybe most importantly, this is Chris's team now. He's our point guard. Period. End of story. That clarification has done wonders for us, and wonders for chris, who is now just playing and not trying to create plays when they aren't there because he's pressing. 7. Jessie will play 20-25 minutes whether he starts or not. So who cares if he starts? 8. The people who are panning this move and turning this into a debate, IMO, just need something to fight about. i have seen the hoyas play since nikita has started. loss vs su and loss vs cincy (now i dont remember if he started vs cincy). a win at usf is nice, but certainly not noteworthy. i don't need anything to fight about - not my thing. this game is really the biggest of the season so far and should be treated as such. i won't debate this anymore and if nikita starts, obviously i hope he plays well. i'll just sit on my hands and mumble if he gets lit by matthews and the hoyas never recover.
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bmartin
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 2,459
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Post by bmartin on Feb 19, 2009 18:07:00 GMT -5
Nikita didn't start vs. Cincinnati. He is not in there to score or pad the stat sheet. He runs the offense. He is the only guy on the team who looks first for the pass to Monroe before any other option. We rebound better even though he doesn't get that many rebounds, because he blocks out somebody and tips the ball out when he can't grab it. He defends about as well as anyone else on this team, but he improves the matchups against some teams because he gives us more size so Austin isn't being posted up by opposing threes.
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royski
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 2,296
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Post by royski on Feb 19, 2009 18:57:20 GMT -5
Honestly, if Nikita is so critical, start him over AF. I think Freeman is the one guy on the team that needs a fire lit under him more than any other. And Jessie has to be starting. He's our captain, and the only one here who won't have the chance to try again next year. He's been a critical player during the revival of the Hoyas for 4 years. If he wants to be the first Hoya in ages to dance 4 times, I want him to have the chance to make it happen. Plus, this team NEEDS ONIONS!
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GIGAFAN99
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 4,487
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Post by GIGAFAN99 on Feb 19, 2009 19:44:41 GMT -5
I don't think it's hyperbole - 29% from the field with no D is pretty much epically bad. I'm also not going to put too much stock into a comeback against Cuse that largely happened without him and a win over a garbage USF team. I like Nikita, I think he'll be a good player here, and I'd rather see him playing than Wattad. But a guy who is in there for offense can't shoot this horribly. Again, I don't really care if he starts, but his minutes should be cut a lot. Basically since he's started getting big minutes he's had three good games (combined 7-14 shooting) and three lousy games (1-13 combined) so he's inconsistent shooting but he's not laying a 1-4 every night. He's hot and cold. And in every lousy shooting game, he's made up for it elsewhere (7rebs, 5rebs, 3 assists respectively). So to just say "We can't play a 29% shooter" is a little misleading because 1/2 games he's 40-60%.
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Buckets
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,656
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Post by Buckets on Feb 19, 2009 20:24:36 GMT -5
Honestly, if Nikita is so critical, start him over AF. I think Freeman is the one guy on the team that needs a fire lit under him more than any other. And Jessie has to be starting. He's our captain, and the only one here who won't have the chance to try again next year. He's been a critical player during the revival of the Hoyas for 4 years. If he wants to be the first Hoya in ages to dance 4 times, I want him to have the chance to make it happen. Plus, this team NEEDS ONIONS! I suppose you could do that if you wanted to completely ignore the fact that Freeman is better than or comparable to Sapp in pretty much every major statistical category. Starting Nikita isn't critical. In addition to what everyone else has said (Nikita's length is disruptive on D, subjectively it looks like we rebound better as a team, he gets it in to Greg, etc.), the fifth starter going to start the game as the least capable offensive player on the floor. And I feel like Nikita understands this role better than Sapp does. Sapp is better off leading the second unit as was said above. I also think the "Sapp is the leader" talk need to stop. Simply repeating it several times on a message board does not make it true. Just because he is the only senior does not make him the leader.
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Big Dog
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 3,912
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Post by Big Dog on Feb 19, 2009 20:34:57 GMT -5
It doesn't make any difference who starts this game. The key, as it was last time, will be whether we can deal with MU's guards both with respect to the penetration-and-dish/penetration-and-get-fouled offense, and to the fierce pick-them-up-when-they-cross-half-court defense they used to make us just uncomfortable enough to slow our offense down when weren't making it rain with 3s in the second half of the first game.
If there are loose whistles on Saturday, we're going to have real problems unless MU goes all USF from the free throw line.
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Post by bigtymehoya on Feb 19, 2009 20:51:01 GMT -5
Honestly, if Nikita is so critical, start him over AF. I think Freeman is the one guy on the team that needs a fire lit under him more than any other. And Jessie has to be starting. He's our captain, and the only one here who won't have the chance to try again next year. He's been a critical player during the revival of the Hoyas for 4 years. If he wants to be the first Hoya in ages to dance 4 times, I want him to have the chance to make it happen. Plus, this team NEEDS ONIONS! I agree for the most part. Except, I don't think Nikita offers much in a starting role besides helping to add-on team fouls. He should never play more minutes to Sapp. Period. Sapp should close out the games. Period. As for the team playing well these last two games: did anyone notice that we played Syracuse and USF??? Helloooooooo. We always get up and play well against Syracuse. We are talking about SYRACUSE here. As for playing well against USF: of course we played well against them. USF usually plays like USF. Enough said. So no, this line-up change was not a passing of the torch to Wright or anyone else. We just played like we were supposed to play against these teams. We would have likely played well against those teams without the line-up change. No need to sing praises to JT3 for the change. But to my earlier point: any time Nikita gets 25 mins and Sapp gets 20 minutes--especially when he scores 8pts in a half--then that is just plain crazy.
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Post by detmut on Feb 19, 2009 21:10:51 GMT -5
nikita is shooting 24.2% from 3. the dude is 6'8". let's see him dunk one to prove his worth. he needs to stop shooting 3's.
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sleepy
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 6,079
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Post by sleepy on Feb 19, 2009 21:26:34 GMT -5
Honestly, if Nikita is so critical, start him over AF. I think Freeman is the one guy on the team that needs a fire lit under him more than any other. And Jessie has to be starting. He's our captain, and the only one here who won't have the chance to try again next year. He's been a critical player during the revival of the Hoyas for 4 years. If he wants to be the first Hoya in ages to dance 4 times, I want him to have the chance to make it happen. Plus, this team NEEDS ONIONS! I agree for the most part. Except, I don't think Nikita offers much in a starting role besides helping to add-on team fouls. He should never play more minutes to Sapp. Period. Sapp should close out the games. Period. As for the team playing well these last two games: did anyone notice that we played Syracuse and USF??? Helloooooooo. We always get up and play well against Syracuse. We are talking about SYRACUSE here. As for playing well against USF: of course we played well against them. USF usually plays like USF. Enough said. So no, this line-up change was not a passing of the torch to Wright or anyone else. We just played like we were supposed to play against these teams. We would have likely played well against those teams without the line-up change. No need to sing praises to JT3 for the change. But to my earlier point: any time Nikita gets 25 mins and Sapp gets 20 minutes--especially when he scores 8pts in a half--then that is just plain crazy. Have you been watching this team the past month? We played how we were supposed play against these teams? That, in and of itself is a MAJOR improvement. If we played how we were supposed to play against other teams we would not be in this position. Also Georgetown always getting up for Syracuse? Tell that too that last years Georgetown team and the one from the year before that. Apparently they didn't get that memo, and got blown out in the dome. To simply dismiss any improvement this team has shown the past too games because we were playing a rival and bad Big East team is simply unfair.
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vcjack
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 3,875
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Post by vcjack on Feb 19, 2009 22:17:41 GMT -5
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FewFAC
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,032
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Post by FewFAC on Feb 19, 2009 22:29:07 GMT -5
Jessie will and needs to continue to come off the bench... 4. Jessie is a much, much, much needed veteran influence off the bench. That can't be stressed enough. He's been leading the second unit, which is what we've been craving. 5. Jessie has the ball in his hands leading the second unit much more often, which makes him a much more effective player. He's not the kind of guy that's effective in a catch and shoot role. ... 7. Jessie will play 20-25 minutes whether he starts or not. So who cares if he starts? 8. The people who are panning this move and turning this into a debate, IMO, just need something to fight about. Sometimes I wonder if our on-court low basketball IQ is just a reflection of our fanbase's agitation and frustration. I think the world of Sapp as much as any fan, but I think daytonahoya31 is dead right. The problems with Jesse starting were 1) the bench was abysmal, and 2) Jesse didn't have the ball in his hands because Chris did. While not an ideal situation to have a starter coming off the bench his senior year, it solves two critical issues that were damaging our offense.
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kghoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 4,998
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Post by kghoya on Feb 19, 2009 22:47:00 GMT -5
luckily i will only be subjected to his voice when im putting the game on dvd sometime over the summer i'll be able to see his bald spot from my seat in 111 though
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mapei
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 2,088
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Post by mapei on Feb 19, 2009 23:03:20 GMT -5
I expect III to do a lot of mixing and matching against MU. Nik will probably start but the chess game will begin early, and that's fine with me. Nik strikes me as the consummate role player and glue guy. He's not a creator but his shooting touch will return at some point and meanwhile he does the right things and hustles well. His D is much better now than earlier in the season, although I agree that he fouls too much.
Jessie has returned to being Jessie. I am quite sure that III has noticed that and will use him accordingly. I wish we had Omar healthy, because I think he hustles, too, and gives us more options, even if it's only for 10 minutes of actual time on the floor. He is also a fearless shooter. But it sounds like he's just not healthy.
Julian has improved, not sure about Henry. Clark is playing well but has too many TOs and can't handle the press, which we will probably see a lot on Saturday. Austin needs to step it up. Why can't he make free throws anymore? He still has decent stats at the end of games, but I don't sense that he is a force at key moments in games like Chris, DaJuan, Jessie and even Clark are.
I think Jessie will get major minutes against Marquette. No need to worry about that. This game is winnable, but it will take a really good performance.
Does anyone know what happened to Jansen? Is he even on the team anymore?
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hoya73
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,222
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Post by hoya73 on Feb 19, 2009 23:12:11 GMT -5
For me, the key is is Marquette doesn't have a center, We need Greg Monroe to dominate Burke.
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hoyaboy1
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,346
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Post by hoyaboy1 on Feb 19, 2009 23:36:22 GMT -5
I don't think it's hyperbole - 29% from the field with no D is pretty much epically bad. I'm also not going to put too much stock into a comeback against Cuse that largely happened without him and a win over a garbage USF team. I like Nikita, I think he'll be a good player here, and I'd rather see him playing than Wattad. But a guy who is in there for offense can't shoot this horribly. Again, I don't really care if he starts, but his minutes should be cut a lot. Basically since he's started getting big minutes he's had three good games (combined 7-14 shooting) and three lousy games (1-13 combined) so he's inconsistent shooting but he's not laying a 1-4 every night. He's hot and cold. And in every lousy shooting game, he's made up for it elsewhere (7rebs, 5rebs, 3 assists respectively). So to just say "We can't play a 29% shooter" is a little misleading because 1/2 games he's 40-60%. If your bad games combined are 1/13, you have to be better than 7/14 in your good games. It isn't hot and cold - it's lukewarm and frozen. I don't like bashing our players, so I won't keep at this. I just hope Sapp plays more going forward and that Nikita starts hitting some shots.
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NCHoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 2,927
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Post by NCHoya on Feb 20, 2009 9:21:23 GMT -5
I was one of the hardest pressing for Sapp's role to be increased, but I really like the new line-up. Fundamentally, it makes our line-up more natural - a true 3 and 2. Freeman at the 3 produced a mismatch both way but Freeman certainly was not taking advantage of his. Also, Nikita competes and gets the ball to Monroe.
However, more than anything else - each player now understands his role in this line-up. That alone I think is the lightbulb that has been switched on. This is esepcially true for Wright who is playing with much more confidence as the primary ballhandler and the true floor leader.
I think Sapp has accepted the role of coming off the bench. This transition took some time, but he basically realized it was this role or no role going forward. He also likely got to the point where he wanted to win, period. The move simplifies things in his mind a little too. He gets to be a point guard again and he is counted on to take shots (which means he is not questioning whether he should or not). The tenativeness and thinking has been taken away.
As for those who question the competition the team has played against, well Cuse is a tourney team and I would rather have their resume than ours so not sure about that one. Two, if we played the way this new line-up has allowed us to play (where everyone knows what they are doing) we likely beat SHU and Cincy once. That would put us in a totally different position right now.
Again, credit JT3 for finding something that has a decent chance of working even if it is hard to bench a senior.
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kellycpcm
Bulldog (over 250 posts)
Posts: 318
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Post by kellycpcm on Feb 20, 2009 9:40:35 GMT -5
Jessie- I guess his next start is senior day. Anyone know what game that will be? DePaul? It appears that the only player that gets the message is Nikita. He does what the coach tells him to do- feed Greg. I've noticed that sometimes Greg is at a lost from in-experience to do something positive with the ball in his hands. But, Greg is only a frshman.
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