Monroe is afterall still a freshman

[OldHoyafan]

This young man is a special talent that the Hoyas are very lucky to have, but today's game summed up for me why the young Hoyas have struggled so much in the close losses.
Now, please don't think for a minute that I place the blame all on Monroe but his play in the 2nd half is an example of the Hoyas problems. While we who have not seen the majority of games oftened wondered why the team especially Sapp and Wright did not get the ball to him down low, this game showed why. He does not aggresively pen his man and ask for the ball like Roy did for the past 2 years. I often caught myself screaming at the TV last year begging the Hoya guards to get Roy the ball after he had come aggressively across the lane ,penned his man and demanded the ball and the guards would give a token look then reverse ball back to other side. It took Roy 2 years to get that aggressiveness, I suspect it will take at least until next year before Greg does the same. He is afterall a freshman who is just not ready to take this team on his shoulders and carry them to the chagrin of many of us. Roy had Jeff to lean on for 2 years before he had to show that aggressiveness. Summers had Jeff and Roy to lean on before he was expected to dominate(though he still has not). I vow to just try to enjoy the progression of this team for the rest of this season. Today I saw a lot of improvement on both ends of the court, just too many breakdowns at crunch time in the end to overcome.
I will also stop yelling for Monroe to get the ball in the end(the other players tried today), because right now he just does not have the experience to deal with it right now. Its not being unselfish, when he does not beg for the ball or gives it up once he gets it, its just a freshman who is not ready yet ,but will be hopefully by next year.

[kghoya]

hes also not that great

i know he might go pro and thats awesome for him

but lets not remember him as an all time hoya great

he really never seems to come through in the stretch....esp with free throws

feel free to bash me...i dont mind

[tashoya]

He needs some more muscle and some more mass. He has a high center of gravity and lacks the strength to muscle for position against smaller, stronger guys. That's all. He's doing all he can to compensate but there's not much that he can do until he gets a little older and a little bigger. I thought he had a pretty nice game. Roy couldn't be moved due to his size not his ability to position (until later on in his career when his footwork improved dramatically). When Greg gets the ball low, he's working his tail off for it. That is gonna be a process.

3 straight Summers turnovers when the game is knotted or nearly so is not, so far, a process. It's the norm and has been for some time. I love watching him play for the most part but there's always a point late in games when it's close when DS tries to carry the team and just gets caught trying to do more than he is currently capable of doing. When this team doesn't play within itself (CW out of control drives and getting caught in the air, Jason Clark pushing the ball too hard, Julian putting the ball on the floor, DS trying to drive the lane against smaller guys) is when we put ourselves in a world of hurt.

[chep3]

DS has a tendency to kill runs with bad shots. He did it once in the 1st half and once in the 2nd. He can score, but he can't really do much else right now.

Greg's real issue is size. I agree that he has a high center of gravity. Once he gets stronger in the lower body, he'll do a better job at pinning his guy and making those catches look easy. He's young and that's something that happens with most young players.

[professorhoya]

His confidence isn't as high as it was up till the end of the Duke game. I think the problems with the team have started to hurt him as well. Also teams have found his weaknesses and how to play him having seen him more.

[NCHoya]

Greg may be the freshman, but Summers plays like one down the stretch of games. Two turnovers (both unforced - a charge and a lost ball out of bounds) combined with that missed lay-up killed us today.

Greg needs time, he is a freshman and he will develop the post presence. I expect more from my junior forward.

[youngjeezy]

gotta agree with kg. the kid's obviously special, but in no way should he be mentioned in the same breath as the ewings, mutombos, even the jeff greens of hoya history. maybe if he sticks around 3-4 years, but right now, he's just an extremely skilled big man with great passing and terrible clutch free throw shooting (if he misses the front end of another crucial 1 and 1 this year, i might charge the court)

[dchoyafan]

Monroe is young- he plays well, but tends to overthink it in the clutch. Example A: the 3 missed FTs in OT against Syracuse and the missed front end of the 1+1 in crunch time today.
He is a freshman, and that is what happens to freshmen. He plays a great game; but isn't clutch at the end of games.

BTW- about Summers, yes he can sometimes score. But he is a huge eyesore on defense, which some people tend to overlook when he is scoring and not turning it over. SO many of Marquette's open 3s came from Summers' man. It was so ugly to watch, because I (and the people with me at the game) saw the same thing over and over. Too much drifting in on help D, leaving his man WIDE open from the 3. He has all the athleticism in the world, but just doesn't GET defense.

Monroe, on the other hand, will be a great player. KGHoya, it is unfair to compare him unfavorably to G'town's great big men. Damn, he is FRESHMAN. Give him time to develop; he is way ahead of where Hibbert was at this point in his career.

[tashoya]

I'm with NCHoya. I can live with a true freshman in a big game at home with the season on the line wilting to the pressure a bit. The Summers stuff is inexcusable. I think Greg has had a great freshman season so far. As far as Hoya greats, I wouldn't have put Alonzo with the Ewings of the world his freshman year either. That's just moronic. The kid hasn't even played a full season. How is expecting him to be an "all time great" even remotely realistic? He is, bar none, our best freshman since Allen Iverson.

[dchoyafan]

Feb 21, 2009 17:38:39 GMT -5 tashoya said:

I'm with NCHoya. I can live with a true freshman in a big game at home with the season on the line wilting to the pressure a bit. The Summers stuff is inexcusable. I think Greg has had a great freshman season so far. As far as Hoya greats, I wouldn't have put Alonzo with the Ewings of the world his freshman year either. That's just moronic. The kid hasn't even played a full season. How is expecting him to be an "all time great" even remotely realistic? He is, bar none, our best freshman since Allen Iverson.

exactly, although Jeff Green might give him a run for his money

[dehoya]

I don't understand how you can criticize greg when he has to carry our team,is a finalist for freshman of the year, is playing out of position, has no help down low, and could still be a lottery pick. You think we have problems now wait till Vaughn and Sims are our big men if Greg goes. PS we have no centers coming in next year.

[lurkerhoya]

Feb 21, 2009 17:38:39 GMT -5 tashoya said:

How is expecting him to be an "all time great" even remotely realistic? He is, bar none, our best freshman since Allen Iverson.

DELETED

[kellycpcm]

Agree dehoya. Summers is playing like a 2 guard, no banging, can't dribble and Greg is stuck trying to do things that he hasn't developed the skill set for. Let next year's team play now.

[detmut]

Feb 21, 2009 17:31:28 GMT -5 youngjeezy said:

gotta agree with kg. the kid's obviously special, but in no way should he be mentioned in the same breath as the ewings, mutombos, even the jeff greens of hoya history. maybe if he sticks around 3-4 years, but right now, he's just an extremely skilled big man with great passing and terrible clutch free throw shooting (if he misses the front end of another crucial 1 and 1 this year, i might charge the court)

unbelievable. do you even know who mutombo is? his freshman year he didn't even play and here are his sophomore stats:

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx MIN FG% 3P% FT R/G A/G T/G B/G S/G P/G
87-88 Georgetown Did Not Play
88-89 Georgetown 11.3 70.7 0.0 47.9 3.3 0.2 0.9 2.3 0.3 3.9

[williambraskyiii]

Most of the posts in this thread are absolutely pathetic. You will miss GM more than you could possibly fathom after he goes Top 5 in the 2009 NBA Draft. I hope against hope that he decides to stay -- he seems like the type of kid that truly is a student of the game and might appreciate college more than most top players -- but at this point, he is without a doubt a Top 10 pick, probably higher. We desperately, desperately need him to come back next year.

[hoopsmccan]

Correct. And I think it would be to his benefit to come back...there are definitely things he can work on. But as a top 10 pick, can't blame him if he goes.

hm

[strummer8526]

I want him to come back because: (1) we would be infinitely better with him, and (2) if he goes to the NBA now, he will be a bust. He can be an outstanding player. He's done great things for us. But there's a lot he can work on to prepare for the next level. I would hate to see him turn into a bust because he rushed into the NBA before he was best prepared.

[blueandgray]

agree william...I don't get half these posts. GM as a freshman has had a much bigger impact and is further along than Roy or Mutombo were as freshman or sophmores. if this kid were to ever stay four years, we'd be saying his name in the same breath with Othella, Roy, Sweetney, Mutombo and possibly even Zo. (There will never be another Patrick.) We can only hope we get to enjoy watching Greg as a Hoya next year and watch him further develop his game.

[dehoya]

he is too skilled to be a bust if they play him at the 4. A little weight room work and he would be an NBA contributor.

[strummer8526]

Feb 22, 2009 7:53:29 GMT -5 dehoya said:

he is too skilled to be a bust if they play him at the 4. A little weight room work and he would be an NBA contributor.

I don't know. I just think that rather than rush into higher competition, he should develop a right hand, work on his jumper, and get stronger for another 1–2 years of college. I wouldn't want him to look bad his first year, get benched, and then develop skills but have it be too late to ever be really respected because of a bad first season or two.