richfame
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 3,266
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Post by richfame on Feb 28, 2009 15:30:34 GMT -5
Great win today, Nice to have a close game and Win it!! I totally agree with THE WAY, especially about this point about FREEMAN. I really think we can get our next 2 games, i rally wish we won either the louisville or marquette game but whatever.. One game at a time now good win guys
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Post by hoyaheaven on Feb 28, 2009 15:32:48 GMT -5
Want to say I was very happy for III...the TV closeup look of concern all during this dry spell was agonizing...and it says a great deal for the way he has handled the toughest BB patch of a young career.
JT III may have gone to P...but he has Hoya written all over that style and grace under pressure.
With this hard, struggling, desperate, oft not so pretty win away from home when all appears(ed) lost is the mettle of the Hoya/JT III seasons to come.
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RBHoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 4,134
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Post by RBHoya on Feb 28, 2009 15:35:20 GMT -5
I'd actually most like to see Cincy in round 2 of the BET, because I think it's one of the hardest things in college bball to beat the same team 3 times. But we're getting ahead of ourselves, we have a just as critical game at MSG THIS week. Also, we're better than them and should have beat them the first 2 times*. (*They're actually a legitimate team and have earned where they are, I just think we're better and should have beaten them each of the previous 2 meetings.) ETA: But NOBODY should be thinking about anything other than SJU on Tuesday right now.
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SirSaxa
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
Posts: 747
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Post by SirSaxa on Feb 28, 2009 15:37:18 GMT -5
Playing SJU at the GARDEN is no sure thing. Look at our history there. And SJU has some surprising big wins this year.
GO HOYAS! Build on this. Now that you remember what a WIN feels like. Come out with INTENSITY!
CLose out the season strong!
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Post by bosoxfan3 on Feb 28, 2009 15:39:20 GMT -5
Lets not be so quick to throw Freeman under the bus... his midrange game is really solid, and we really could have used that when we were stuck on 52 points for an eternity. I think he really suffered today because we weren't getting *ANY* fouls called sending us to the line, and with a big physical guy like that, that really helps open up the rest of his game, especially when his jumper isn't falling. As much as I like watching Nikita play, having Freeman and Sapp out there is a much better alternative (defensively) than having Sapp and Nikita out there, especially against a small team.
It is nice to see Nikita asserting himself a bit more- hopefully he is getting more comfortable in the offense, and will actually start looking for his shot. He is, and probably always will be, primarily a long-range threat, but if he can at least plant a seed in opponents minds that he can and will either drive or take a step in and shoot, then it should give him more space for those threes. On the point of the bubble teams, I think the issue for us (provided we take care of business against St Johns and DePaul, which is not a given, given how we've been playing) is not the RPI or SoS, its the perception. If you quite literally flipped the first and second half of our schedules, we'd be practically in already. Our RPI (and SoS) will only get better if we can win a round or two in the Big East tournament and get to play a Louisville, Pitt, or UConn.
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RBHoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 4,134
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Post by RBHoya on Feb 28, 2009 15:51:38 GMT -5
Oh my God, was that ugly. Poor execution, poor coaching from both sides. Disagree about the coaching, thought III did a great job scheming against Villanova's offense. He went a little taller which worked well and we denied a lot more than usual. Even with a boatload of turnovers we still held them to 54 points when they average way more than that. Offensively, I thought everything was good as well save except the turnovers. For us to win this on the road, definitely satisfying. Thought III did a nice job today.
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swhoya
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,137
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Post by swhoya on Feb 28, 2009 15:58:22 GMT -5
One play I thought was very telling and makes me hopeful for next year: Wright's layup with under a minute left.
Not only was that not an easy finger roll in traffic, not only was it great recognition, and not only did he not settle for a 3 pointer (which they gave him), but most telling about the type of player he's becoming is what happened just a minute before.
A beautiful pick of Reynolds only to have his shot blocked on what seemed like a gimmie layup. And yet he came right back at them, didn't think twice about attacking the basket and got the bucket that basically sealed it.
I think Wright and Greg both showed a lot today that they are NOT one-dimensional players. They both played great defense, made good passes, and got some buckets. That's not saying that they don't have a lot left to learn, but one-dimensional players they are not. And Nikita showed the same thing--yes, he can shoot, but he's also willing to attack the basket when they give it to him.
Summers though...guy needs to get out of his head and RELAX.
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hoyainspirit
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
When life puts that voodoo on me, music is my gris-gris.
Posts: 8,394
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Post by hoyainspirit on Feb 28, 2009 16:31:37 GMT -5
Where has that D been all year? We are sooooo much better when Summers is effective offensively. Wright plays HARD! I love that. Jason is my man! That kid will have terrific career for us. Ugly, but nice win.
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NCHoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 2,927
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Post by NCHoya on Feb 28, 2009 16:42:25 GMT -5
Great game for our boys to build on! They played hard the entire game and finally won down the stretch against a more experienced team on their own homecourt. The guys seemed to be playing with less pressure on themselves than the precious two in front of the home crowd. I think a road game was a welcomed relief for them. They could come to play as the clear underdog with no great fan expectations. Much looser team today.
I also loved the defense. This is a Nova team that put 100+ on Cuse and MU and had lost only once all year at home. Nice win. If we come with the same intensity for SJU, we should win.
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Just Cos
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Eat 'em up Hoyas
Posts: 1,506
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Post by Just Cos on Feb 28, 2009 17:01:34 GMT -5
win is a win. haven't seen wins lately so i'm a happy hoya, but....
our defense is awful...
especially last ten minutes
they hit shots, which were open looks, we lose by 10+
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Nevada Hoya
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 18,483
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Post by Nevada Hoya on Feb 28, 2009 17:03:11 GMT -5
We have a good resume with wins vs #1, #5, and now #12. If only we had a few more wins.
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Hoya50
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
Posts: 805
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Post by Hoya50 on Feb 28, 2009 17:04:43 GMT -5
chris wright > scotty reynolds
all day.
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Just Cos
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Eat 'em up Hoyas
Posts: 1,506
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Post by Just Cos on Feb 28, 2009 17:06:11 GMT -5
Let's be honest, we're still the same young team. Love it or hate it, but Villanova gave us a gift.
EDIT: Wright > Reynolds
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Just Cos
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Eat 'em up Hoyas
Posts: 1,506
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Post by Just Cos on Feb 28, 2009 17:09:05 GMT -5
chris wright > scotty reynolds all day. damn you hoya50 for jumping my edit
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bmartin
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 2,459
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Post by bmartin on Feb 28, 2009 17:34:31 GMT -5
I liked the man to man with the bigger lineup. Our big guys guarded their forwards very well and we kept pressure on their guards and they rushed shots, tried to drive out of control, and threw some aweful passes.
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Just Cos
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Eat 'em up Hoyas
Posts: 1,506
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Post by Just Cos on Feb 28, 2009 17:50:02 GMT -5
It's a win but don't go all circa December.
Our defense is still bad. Nova having a bad day shooting does not equate to good defense.
Love the effort the past two games though. Wish we had that all BE season.
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dchoyafan
Century (over 100 posts)
Posts: 132
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Post by dchoyafan on Feb 28, 2009 18:02:17 GMT -5
win is a win. haven't seen wins lately so i'm a happy hoya, but.... our defense is awful... especially last ten minutes they hit shots, which were open looks, we lose by 10+ I don't know what game you were watching... I saw a MUCH more aggressive defensive team. A team that reminded me more of our teams of the last few years. Sims was a presence, despite not providing much on Offense. The last ten minutes? Seriously? We pulled our traditional late-game scoring slump, but this time forced our opponent to go through the same. We didn't allow them to go on a game-clinching run. Didn't the announcers say that at one point (in the last 5 mins) that neither team had scored in more than 3 minutes? I loved what I saw on D. Even Summers wasn't quite as much of a liability as normal...
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Post by hbone13 on Feb 28, 2009 18:07:42 GMT -5
Could someone provide a link to the VU Talkboard?
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The Stig
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 2,844
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Post by The Stig on Feb 28, 2009 18:21:44 GMT -5
I thought our defense was pretty effective. The ugly parts were on the offensive end. Those two missed fast breaks in a row hurt badly because they would have blown the game open, and lots of stupid turnovers like passes out of bounds.
Something strange happened at the end of the game. When neither team could score and we had to get a stop on every defensive possession, I actually started to expect our defense to stop them. It's been a long time since I felt that. During this lousy streak our defense has constantly wilted on big possessions. That didn't happen today, which is why we won the game.
This game reminded me a lot of the game at Wachovia two years ago. Just like today, we played miserably, but our defense toughed up when it had to and we came out with a win. Let's hope this is a sign of things to come.
That said, Nova really didn't look like a Top 25 team today, much less the #12 team in the country.
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RDF
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 8,835
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Post by RDF on Feb 28, 2009 18:45:19 GMT -5
To echo what a lot have said--happy the guys got a win! Deserved and loved the support each guy showed no matter if they were in/out of the game and that is how you find a way to win games like this--everyone supports each other and while Austin had a tough day--he was up clapping/cheering his teammates on and Sapp was leading the bench--along with Hollis having to be restrained after a crappy call--which automatically made him my favorite RS Hoya of all time. As for the game itself--sometimes it's something ugly that has a pretty ending that gets you to relax. I saw guys playing together and while they struggled in various areas--they were together and competed as a group. Nobody got their head down and they all contributed in various ways. I thought this was Jessie Sapp's best game of year--and I know he didn't score well--but he was great on defensive end and leadership on court. Very high on this team when we have 3 FR on court at same time--with Wright and Summers. Love that group together with Chris and you can pick anyone--but they have energy and seem to get some momentum going for the team. Nikita was great and his 11 were huge--but he's also scrappy. He might be skinny and not the quickest guy out there- but he's tall, skilled, and not afraid--which are 3 things I really like in a player. His weaknesses you can improve--a lot of his turnovers are just not being used to competition level--but he has game. Chris Wright has taken over the leadership on this team--he has been rallying everyone and really shown what a PG does and what a winner does. It's easy to "lead" when you win--it's times like we've seen that a TRUE LEADER emerges and with his play on court--he's showing maturity in his game and way for his teammates. Fitting he came up with last 4 points and ran clock out. Greg made the type of passes he should--and didn't overpass. I thought he was a nice defensive presence too--and thought he had a few more boards then credited--but will take it. Can't say enough for the program sticking together and finding a way. Not going to do anything but enjoy this one--because it was NEEDED!
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