hoyarooter
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 10,212
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Post by hoyarooter on Mar 12, 2009 20:44:12 GMT -5
In my opinion our downfall began when other teams realized that Monroe was a pass first big man and did not want to / could not carry us offensively. Prior to the Duke game etc. Monroe was guarded very tightly and double consistantly in the paint. This allowed him to use his tremendous passing ability to hit open shooters and cutters creaing an offense with flow and balance. At some point, be it Pitt, Duke or WVU, teams realized that Monroe was not going to beat us on his own. The sagged off, stoped doubling and took away his passing lanes. They also started to do a better job of denying him the ball. Without a serious threat in the post (Hibbert or Green) this team started to get stagnant. Other defenses adjusted and our guys got frustrated. We were never able to snap out of it and the tough and physical opponents we faced this year didnt help. Just my thoughts. I wouldnt be surprised if something happened in the locker room as well. Not like III to bench our senior leader like that if there wernt some other issues. At the end of the day, we may never know. Lets just hope Monroe and Julian beef up this summer and get some help from Hibbs, Zo, Pat, Dik etc. on their post game. Sky is the limit for Monroe but we could certainly use some help from another big man with post game (crossing my fingers for a good recruit) I had not focused on this, but that is a very perceptive observation. As noted everywhere, there are lots of things that contributed to the team's deterioration, but this is clearly a major factor in terms of the problems with the offense. Of course, it doesn't entirely explain our poor defense or rebounding.
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Post by professorhoya on Mar 12, 2009 23:33:12 GMT -5
In my opinion our downfall began when other teams realized that Monroe was a pass first big man and did not want to / could not carry us offensively. Prior to the Duke game etc. Monroe was guarded very tightly and double consistantly in the paint. This allowed him to use his tremendous passing ability to hit open shooters and cutters creaing an offense with flow and balance. At some point, be it Pitt, Duke or WVU, teams realized that Monroe was not going to beat us on his own. The sagged off, stoped doubling and took away his passing lanes. They also started to do a better job of denying him the ball. Without a serious threat in the post (Hibbert or Green) this team started to get stagnant. Other defenses adjusted and our guys got frustrated. We were never able to snap out of it and the tough and physical opponents we faced this year didnt help. Just my thoughts. I wouldnt be surprised if something happened in the locker room as well. Not like III to bench our senior leader like that if there wernt some other issues. At the end of the day, we may never know. Lets just hope Monroe and Julian beef up this summer and get some help from Hibbs, Zo, Pat, Dik etc. on their post game. Sky is the limit for Monroe but we could certainly use some help from another big man with post game (crossing my fingers for a good recruit) I had not focused on this, but that is a very perceptive observation. As noted everywhere, there are lots of things that contributed to the team's deterioration, but this is clearly a major factor in terms of the problems with the offense. Of course, it doesn't entirely exp lain our poor defense or rebounding. Only thing I noticed was Monroe stopped coming out to the High Post where he received the initial entry pass to start the offense post Dook. This made it much more difficult to get it in to him so he started getting less touches. Also his confidence stated to slowly erode, he was less aggressive driving to the basket after the Dook foul calls, and then his free throw shooting went south. Most of it was probably also mental from the where and tear do to the Situation.
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NCHoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 2,926
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Post by NCHoya on Mar 13, 2009 10:44:59 GMT -5
The point about the locker room was documented by Barker in the Times so I beleive something happened, whether it got physical who cares? The problem was how destructive it can be for the whole TEAM. All of a sudden people are choosing sides, trust between players is questioned, etc. Remember this team is young and to say it had no effect is being naive.
This team went from very good to underachieving in the span of a week. Something happened, and it was all mental. I think the Duke game was the spark but like many said it just kept piling on and the BE allows no breaks to regroup. That is why I am so confident next season will be much improved. This team just got caught in a downward spiral and sports fans have seen it all before. For some to act like this season is unprecedented or crazy is not true. It may be unprecedented for GU, but it happens often in team sports. The psyche of a team is a fragile thing and if it is lost things can get out of control in a hurry, especially for a team that lacks veteran leadership!
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Post by centercourt400s on Mar 13, 2009 11:39:56 GMT -5
I went back and read a number of Barker's recent articles and didn't see the documentation you mention. Do you know when it was written or do you have a link?
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Post by bicentennial on Mar 14, 2009 12:28:23 GMT -5
I liked the first few pages of this alot when posters were trying to use data analysis to figure out what happened to the team. I agree that the doubling up on Monroe stopped and in many games he did not take advantage and he did not dribble in from the high post as he had been doing before the Duke game. I also found GU got fewer favorable calls at the end of games than before Duke so I wonder if Cahill talked to other refs... It is also interesting from the Ken Pom database that Georgetown was among the least "lucky" and least " consistent" teams in the entire nation this year which to me suggests that psyche was important to why Georgetown lost. I don't think we need to over read the benching of Sapp. In several mid season games, including SH he could not score a layup on a fast break. He was in a shooting slump and no matter how much he shot did not show signs of climbing out of it. I wonder if CO Hoya has a way to see if consistency before Duke/after Duke was more average? Hopefully the team gets to play a few more games against middling competition in the NIT or one of the other middle pack conferences. I personally think the NIT which is now owned by the NCAA would be foolish not to include 6 Big East teams from major cities(TV markedt) although St. John's overall record may not allow that...
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