hoyarooter
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 10,224
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Post by hoyarooter on Apr 15, 2009 19:32:22 GMT -5
Too many rose-colored glasses. Did any of you actually watch this year's team? Thank you, Ed. I honestly couldn't believe what I was reading from about the first ten posts on this thread. It's like everyone was suffering from selective amnesia. Could we be really good next year? It's possible, but we have to improve in a lot of areas to get there. SF has it right. I would have hoped that last year's performance would have caused us to not repeat the pattern of unreasonable expectations that appeared before last season. I suggest we just urge the kids to work hard, and hope for the best. One thing I do agree with - we would have killed Wisconsin in the sweet 16 game in 2008. Kansas? Well, that would have been a tough one.
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Boz
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
123 Fireballs!
Posts: 10,355
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Post by Boz on Apr 15, 2009 19:46:30 GMT -5
Oh relax, you two. Sure, it may be Pollyanna time around here, but can you blame everyone? Besides, it's frakkin' April.
Might as well be ridiculously optimistic. Why the hell not??
Besides, gotta' generate some energy for the fans to show up in the fall.
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Post by strummer8526 on Apr 15, 2009 19:47:24 GMT -5
Too many rose-colored glasses. Did any of you actually watch this year's team? I think that we got rid of a huge problem for the '08-'09 team, and that it will do wonders in terms of team chemistry. With better chemistry, we might see some actual TEAM play, which gets the confidence up, and the shots fall. I also think the heart will be there for better rebounding. Ball handling may be the one thing we still lack. But who were our ball-handlers in '07? Jesse? Jeff? Jon? I think we're BETTER with Wright, Monroe, and...Clark? Freeman?
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lichoya68
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
OK YOUNGINS ARE HERE AND ARE VERY VERY GOOD cant wait GO HOYAS
Posts: 17,440
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Post by lichoya68 on Apr 15, 2009 19:54:22 GMT -5
TO BE GOOD WE NEED TO practice harD, play hard, and yes ,,strummer ...CHEMISTRY ... YUP teamwork... will be the key to this teams success... TEAMWORK.... and .....the more i practice the luckier i get .( john wooden) GO HOYAS.. IS IT NOVEMBER YET? TEMPUS FUGIT. ETC ET C
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1427hoya
Bulldog (over 250 posts)
Posts: 351
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Post by 1427hoya on Apr 15, 2009 19:57:54 GMT -5
I agree with Ed
We have some serious holes. Who is going to hit the outside shots? There isn't one player that is dependable in that department.
Rebounding? We were terrible last year. This year we could be better because of a weaker Big East but let's get serious. This is a team that was 0-5 against St. Johns, Seton Hall, and Cincy. We barely would have made the Big East tournament if didn't switch to letting all teams participate.
Losing Sapp and Summers while adding only Hollis and another years experience to some other guys isn't going to make us a top 10 team.
Getting another player or two could be very important. But people need to go back and watch a couple of Big East games this year. We regularly lost to teams we shouldn't have and were badly outplayed at home by Pitt, West Va, and Louisville.
I think we'll be better than last year but unless we get some real good recruits in the coming weeks who can play next year, I think we'll be a 6-9 seed in the NCAAs.
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SFHoya99
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 17,791
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Post by SFHoya99 on Apr 15, 2009 20:44:30 GMT -5
Too many rose-colored glasses. Did any of you actually watch this year's team? I think that we got rid of a huge problem for the '08-'09 team, and that it will do wonders in terms of team chemistry. With better chemistry, we might see some actual TEAM play, which gets the confidence up, and the shots fall. I also think the heart will be there for better rebounding. Ball handling may be the one thing we still lack. But who were our ball-handlers in '07? Jesse? Jeff? Jon? I think we're BETTER with Wright, Monroe, and...Clark? Freeman? Here's the dreader addition by subtraction argument. Addition by Subtraction as a concept is almost NEVER right, and then factor in that you're assigning all the issues from this year on just a couple of players -- which you have really no way of knowing. I'm not as pessimistic as others -- just because we had a rough doesn't mean we ignore the four before it -- but this above is wishful thinking and a bit unfair as well.
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sleepy
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 6,079
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Post by sleepy on Apr 15, 2009 21:11:51 GMT -5
Well I think that going into next year no one has any idea how this team will do, so any prediction is just as ridiculous as the next. I personally have no predictions or expectations for the team next year. I don't think anyone here said they expected anything out of this team next year, but there is obviously potential there. I think you have to consider every single side of every single arguement. You can say this team plays with no heart, but the two players that showed the most heart on the team, Chris and Greg, are both expected to return at this time, while a guy that recieved the most heat for no heart is leaving. You can say this team has no shooters, but shooting is easily improved upon in an offseason. You can say we barely made this BET, but the Big East is going to be no where as strong this year as it was last year. So all in all, who the heck knows what we will do, where we will end up, or how we plan to get there.
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dreamhoya
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 2,259
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Post by dreamhoya on Apr 15, 2009 21:16:33 GMT -5
not so sure "no heart" is accurate either. it's more of inexperience and chemistry it seems. but i think they want to win more than lose. they'll be fine. especially with those recruits.
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hoya73
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,222
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Post by hoya73 on Apr 15, 2009 21:25:07 GMT -5
It's all about Chris and Greg. Greg HAS TO become an ambidextrous player, to have a shot at a good pro career,(not another Walter Berry) and to be a great college player. Chris has to finish a better percentage of his drives to the basket, plus hit a better percentage of clutch threes, maybe not a Wallace percentage, but a better percentage. No matter who else we add as freshmen (and L. Williams is our most important get), next year will be the Chris and Greg show.
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hoyabinx
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,043
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Post by hoyabinx on Apr 15, 2009 22:21:46 GMT -5
The way I look at it is this, and you can call it rose-colored glasses if you want--this was a team of freshmen and the biggest jump is from freshman to sophomore year.
"System" Freshmen Monroe Clark Sims Vaughn
Effective "PT" Freshmen Wright Nikita
The fact that those players should all make jumps in growth and play together is what has me excited. That is 6/8 of our team (thin much?) and the 7th is Hollis who will have a little more time than your average rook. Take that how you want it. I go with optimism, because, well if you can't be excited in Spring Training then what is the point?
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robbyt
Bulldog (over 250 posts)
Posts: 334
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Post by robbyt on Apr 15, 2009 23:02:57 GMT -5
Should be a lot smoother out there next year, but still we need post help, some bangers.
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Post by professorhoya on Apr 16, 2009 0:38:16 GMT -5
All I have to say is the Duke Incident the ruined our season is now officially behind us.
And nobody's mentioned it but: Conneticut = No Thabeet Pittsburg = No Blair Syracuse = No Flynn, Devendor, etc Dunno about the rest of the Big East but that's not a bad start.
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blueandgray
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 6,762
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Post by blueandgray on Apr 16, 2009 5:00:36 GMT -5
Getting greg back is the single best thing that could have happened to us. While I have no clue of what will come of next season, at least we can all hope that Greg continues to get stronger with the ball, that he looks to shoot just as frequently as he looks to pass, that Sims furthers his development and gets more comfortable playing down low, that Hollis makes better decisions and is better with the ball than DS ever was, that Freeman takes advantage of the fact that he is our primary three point threat and his shot returns to form, that Wright recognizes he is the man and plays more like he did when he abused CT, that we hit the boards hard and get a body on a guy each and every time the ball goes up, and finally that everybody on the team is happy to be a hoya and understands that there is no "i" in team.
Can't wait for the Duke game now!!
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GIGAFAN99
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 4,487
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Post by GIGAFAN99 on Apr 16, 2009 6:16:14 GMT -5
Rebounding and defense. We'll shoot better and be fine on offense because of the talent we have.
But "special"? III can't call an "offensive rebound play" from the bench. We need a couple of player additions this offseason to have a chance to be special. Currently this is an 8-man team with one player (Clark) who has the chance to be above average defensively this year. So a defensive guard and a big man are still on the list of needs. Otherwise, we're OK. We're still shooting our way in and out of games, but more ins in the coming year than this past year.
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Post by strummer8526 on Apr 16, 2009 7:23:46 GMT -5
All I have to say is the Duke Incident the ruined our season is now officially behind us. And nobody's mentioned it but: Conneticut = No Thabeet Pittsburg = No Blair Syracuse = No Flynn, Devendor, etc Dunno about the rest of the Big East but that's not a bad start. Louisville = No Clark
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Post by lancasterhoyafan on Apr 16, 2009 7:24:18 GMT -5
I really think we can be special. Unlike this year, next year we will have a ton of length, not only with Greg and Henry up front, but with Hollis on the wing at a long 6-8. I think Chris will be the very best point guard in the conference and I think Austin will have a much better season now that he's not fluctuating between the two and the three. Right now, our bench is thin. BUT. Jason has the potential to be the best sixth man in the league, and Nikita has experience, and Julian has experience up front. Much, in terms of next season's depth, will depend on who and what we may add. But the first eight we have is a pretty solid eight. I think, if we make the commitment to defense, that we have potential to really make it a special year. And this will be our best chance since Jeff and co, to go back to a final four. Not many teams will be able to match up with Greg and Henry's length on the interior. The sun is out, Monroe is back, and I'm loving your optimism!
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sleepy
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 6,079
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Post by sleepy on Apr 16, 2009 7:33:59 GMT -5
All I have to say is the Duke Incident the ruined our season is now officially behind us. And nobody's mentioned it but: Conneticut = No Thabeet Pittsburg = No Blair Syracuse = No Flynn, Devendor, etc Dunno about the rest of the Big East but that's not a bad start. Louisville = No Clark Uconn= no price or adrien either, who I think are severly underrated losses, and they will miss almost as much if not as much as Thabeet. Pittsburgh= No Fields or Young either Lousiville= No Mcgee or Williams The top three Big East teams lose their top three players. Nova loses their enitre froncourt. Marquette loses their whole backcourt. Cuse loses their starting backcourt. WVU loses their best on only three point threat. Those are some major losses for the top 7 teams.
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the_way
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
The Illest
Posts: 5,422
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Post by the_way on Apr 16, 2009 8:03:00 GMT -5
Here is a question?
Where will the leadership come from on this team next year?
*silence*
Because, ultimately, that will make or break us.
that broke us this year.
You see, in this day and age of fantasy leagues, we are a fantasy league team. We look great on paper. We looked great on paper this year. We will look great on paper next year.
But the intangibles? Can't measure with a calculator. Can't run to Pomeroy and do an assessement with that.
And as some of you have finally learned this year, just because guys become upperclassman or supposedly have great talents, that doesn't automatically make them leaders.
the running theme in this past years Final Four was not only the upperclassman on the rosters, but also the leadership those upperlassmen provided.
I think that will be the key for next year: leadership, intangibles like mental toughness, etc. Moreso than and in addition to Austin losing the weight for the hoyatalk fashion walk, Greg hitting the weight room so hard that it would make Alonzo Morning ( circa 1991) blink, Henry doing a 180 with his skill-set, Jason learning how to dribble, Hollis showing what he is made of, and Chris' needed development as a floor-general. Not to mention guys finally acknowledging their is a concept called defense when playing the game of basketball, and chucking up 3's all day long isn't what the Princeton or any sound and fundamental offense is designed for.
we got our work cut out for us next year.
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hoyabinx
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,043
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Post by hoyabinx on Apr 16, 2009 8:12:20 GMT -5
Here is a question? Where will the leadership come from on this team next year? *silence* Chris Wright See Syracuse game AT Cuse after he fouled out. That is when this became his team.
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the_way
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
The Illest
Posts: 5,422
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Post by the_way on Apr 16, 2009 8:17:40 GMT -5
Here is a question? Where will the leadership come from on this team next year? *silence* Chris Wright See Syracuse game AT Cuse after he fouled out. That is when this became his team. wrong. one game. chris had a great game. doesn't make him a leader. leadership involves consistency, and isn't affected by external factors. and where was this against St. John's? against Baylor? exactly. nobody has ownership of this team yet. who will emerge next year is the question. a vital question for our team's success next year. nobody knows. not even JTIII.
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