FLHoya
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Post by FLHoya on Feb 13, 2005 0:52:23 GMT -5
First team to 60 won.
In a game where Georgetown had one of its most efficient offensive shooting percentages of the year (55.6%) but still couldn't shake the pesky Mountaineers or completely solve their 1-3-1 trap, it seemed most appropriate that Georgetown got to 60 first with a defensive flourish that fueled a 7-0 run.
Until that point the Hoyas had all they could handle from the Mountaineers, from pressure defense to strong shooting under pressure.
A good deal of conversation in the line as we waited to get into the MCI Center revolved around John Beilein's reputation as a good coach. Some of us wondered what Beilein exactly does to deserve the reputation that precedes him.
Any questions were answered early in the first half, as West Virginia quickly introduced a 1-3-1 halfcourt trapping defense that gave the Hoyas fits until the final moments of the game. A quick glance at the jumbotron revealed the extent of the problem--at the 8 minute timeout, Georgetown had already committed 9 turnovers, while West Virginia had yet to commit a single one. Small wonder that the Mountaineers held a 23-18 lead at that juncture.
By the end of the half, Georgetown had finally broken the ice on defense, stripping WVU 6 times, though Ashanti Cook's desperation three pointer at the buzzer narrowly missed and still left GU with a 3 point gap.
The FG tally at the half provided further evidence of the problem: while Georgetown was hitting on 11-20 shots at the intermission, WVU's shooting percentage hovered around 40%. Their 8 extra field goal attempts were key. Clearly, the Hoyas were having no troubles with FG efficiency...the trouble was getting the FG in the first place.
Early in the game, the 1-3-1 trap appeared to rattle Jonathan Wallace and Ashanti Cook. On too many possession, Georgetown was forced to spend precious seconds making emergency passes through double team pressure. While this didn't directly lead to many steals--the Mountaineers were far too eager to leave their feet on fakes--it caused a number of possessions to appear hurried and unorganized.
A look at the individual turnover numbers for the Hoyas reveals it was a shared problem--six players had at least two. The trouble zone seemed to be the interior. If Georgetown found the man on the baseline, his followup pass got lost in a maze of collapsing defenders. If Roy Hibbert or Jeff Green looked for cutters, the ball bounced off their hands or again found a sea of yellow. If Darrell Owens or one of GU's ball handlers penetrated through the lane, they found the way blocked and the outlets taken away.
It was clearly hard work for WVU to maintain the intensity, but their work paid dividends as they surged to leads as high as 8 in the first half.
Georgetown did themselves few favors at the line in the first half, going 2 for 6 from the stripe.
Worse still for the Hoyas, the coaching staff was forced to go with several improvisational lineups after Brandon Bowman and then Jeff Green picked up their second fouls (ESPN Game Log isn't doing me any favors on the time of Green's fouls, I only see 1 of his 3 recorded). Both Amadou Kilkenny-Diaw and Tyler Crawford, the super subs of the Rutgers game, saw minutes in the first half. Roy Hibbert, benched ostensibly b/c of a defensive mismatch (witness Kevin Pittsnogle's early scoring), was brought back into the game. Each performed admirably in their emergency roles, highlighted by Roy's strong dunk in the final minutes of the half.
Roy's interior play highlighted one of a number of strategies GU began to employ in the final minutes of the first half in an attempt to break WVU's hold on the defensive tempo:
1. Penetration--a 1-3-1 trap, if you can break on the ball pressure, does give you a number of penetration opportunities. And WVU certainly does not qualify as one of our stronger opponents in defending penetration. A look at the GUHoyas.com highlights from the first half will show you one of Ashanti Cook's first half efforts in this area, although full credit should also go to Jonathan Wallace and Brandon Bowman for discovering this avenue.
2. Play over it--Another approach saw GU take their passing game over the top. Jeff Green narrowly missed a reverse lay-in on an alley oop, and both Green and Hibbert found lobbed interior passes to their liking at the close of the first half.
3. Give it to the 7 foot 2 guy they forgot to cover--Seems like once or twice a game, in all the hubbub and pressing, someone forgets about Roy Hibbert. Well, at the end of the first half Tyler Crawford looked up and found his only assist standing alone in the paint. Two steps later Roy Hibbert had an easy jam and WVU suddenly had something to worry about.
(COMING UP: You think Roy Hibbert barrelling down on an open basket is something to worry about? Just wait until Jeff Green goes off all over the court...in the SECOND HALF...)
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FLHoya
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Post by FLHoya on Feb 13, 2005 0:52:49 GMT -5
The opening of the second half saw Georgetown up the pace of the game, converting its first lead of the game on Brandon Bowman's 3-pointer at the 17:27 mark (35-34). For the remainder of the half, both teams took turns counter-punching, with the margin settling at under 5 points between Joe Herber's opening bucket and Ray Reed's dunk at the 2:04 mark.
Georgetown continued to hold down WVU's field goal percentage, though in this half the Hoyas cut the deficit in the number of FGs taken to 27-25. Georgetown's steals numbers grew and by the end of the game, WVU's shot selection grew increasingly questionable until Kevin Pittsnogle's desperation heave over two GU defenders misfired with 8 seconds to go.
Leading the way in the second half for the Hoyas were Brandon Bowman (10 of his 15 points) and Jeff Green (17 of his 21), both of whom drew rave reviews to a man from every Hoya observer who spoke to me after the game. With Kevin Pittsnogle disappearing for long stretches of the half, and foul trouble mounting on Tyrone Sally and shot-blocking specialist D'Or Fischer, Green feasted at will, again using an impressive array of long-range shooting, polished interior moves (more on this later), and some old-fashioned workmanship on the offensive glass.
In truth, everyone should be credited with a solid effort on the glass. After being tied at halftime, GU won the rebounding edge for the game 34-25. While GU may never develop into the butt-in-your-chest boxing out style team many would like to see, hard work and teamwork clearly pay off. Though these stats will never appear in the box score, on a number of occassions Ray Reed, Ashanti Cook, or Jonathan Wallace made strong weak side efforts to tip the ball away from far larger WVU players and into the arms of GU big men. And if you want to see someone go get a board, check out the clip of Green on the GUHoyas.com highlights.
While WVU struggled with foul trouble in the second half, much to the chagrin of their faithful who have complained to no end about Frank Scagliotta, Mike Roberts, and Tom Lopes, Georgetown lasted until the 9:15 mark without picking up a personal (and until the 5:50 mark for a non-Ray Reed personal). In the end, Georgetown's 19-9 edge in FT's attempted gave them a crucial advantage, especially given that they improved to 10-13 from the line in the second half.
At the most important juncture of the game, the Hoyas were at their best on both ends. With 2:52 to go in a 54-54 game and the shot clock heading towards single digits, JT3 called a timeout to set up GU's most important possesion of the game.
I saw the play that followed live and on the GUHoyas highlights before I read the Washington Post game article. In the article, JT3 remarks that on this play, where Jonathan Wallace was closed down on penetration as he hit the FT line, only to turn and find Darrell Owens spotting at the top of the key, what GU wanted didn't happen, and the players instead had to rely on each other to be in the right position.
Take a look at the play on the highlights. When Wallace begins his penetration and starts to draw defenders, you can see not only Owens but also Ashanti Cook in position and spotting for open 3-point attempts. Wallace found Owens, who made no mistake, with the ball falling through the net as the shot clock expired.
On West Virginia's following possession, tough perimeter defense by Georgetown led to a steal that landed in the arms of Ray Reed, who went the distance for an easy dunk and a 5 point lead.
In yet another tight situation, Georgetown managed to raise the level of its play to where contributions could come from anyone on the floor. It is signficant to note that in this 5 point spurt from which GU never looked back, both Darrell Owens and Ray Reed scored their only baskets of the game.
JT3 continued his streak of solid and competent game management, expertly substituting in for offense and defense. Further, Georgetown's skill at breaking full court pressure showed, though it won't be long until teams start to pick up on the fact that Brandon Bowman and Ashanti Cook like to exchange the ball along the baseline. GU beat the press by long ball, by dribbling through, and by over the top pass. By contrast, WVU experience a mental breakdown, opting out of fouling Ray Reed in a 2 point game. When Reed threw over the WVU double team and found Jeff Green, a breakout was already in progress that Brandon Bowman finished with an easy lay-in.
As WVU finally fell, though not without a silly foul with 3 seconds to go that--yes, WVU message board fans from last night, it's true!!!--cause you to lose your bets if you took WVU at +5.5.
A sigh of relief is perhaps the most appropriate reaction after today's game, for we learned that nothing in the Big East conference is easy, and that we'll have to continue taking one game at a time to pave our road to the NCAA Tournament. Though one can't also help but be giddy that today's win assures GU of no worse than a .500 record in the Big East this year.
(COMING UP: So which Jonathan Wallace WAS it anyhow? So how does Jeff Green do it anyway? So how close was AKD from pulling off the most shocking basket in, I don't know, a couple games or so? Here come the Player Evaluations...)
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FLHoya
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Post by FLHoya on Feb 13, 2005 1:28:39 GMT -5
PLAYER EVALUATIONS
Ashanti Cook--(4-5) One of the things it's neat to look at in this game is the breakdown of 3-point FGs vs. 2-point FGs. Just for fun, what do you think GU shot from 2-point range today?
20 for 29--68.9 percent. There's not a single person on this team that had a bad day from 2-point range. For every player I recap, the first thing I'm putting down is their 2-point FG line.
What made Ashanti Cook's 4-5 so fun was that he seems so much more confident in himself that even earlier this year. I've pointed out in some other recaps that he seems to be gaining confidence in his ability to create shots by the game. One sign of this is that he's starting to make those fallaway shots he creates off of penetration at a much higher rate now. And he's so much more assertive when it comes to recognizing an open lane to the basket. And speaking of confidence, how much more confident knowing he's running the show some of the time than you were at, let's say, the time of LAST YEAR'S WVU game?
Brandon Bowman--(3-5) Boy let me tell you, it's getting kind of scary if Bowman can put together the 3-point game and FT game with his normal repertoire. I've seen big improvements in both over the last several games--we talked on here to the effect that he'd received some instruction on FT technique recently. A big strong second half after being sent to the bench with foul trouble in the first. Very nice to see him appearing in a big way in the RB (6), ST (2), and AST (3) categories, because that shows he's doing the little things well also.
Jonathan Wallace-- (1-1) He's difficult to evaluate for me tonight. I confess I might have fallen into the trap of fixating on one thing too much early in the game and having it blind me to the other contributions a guy makes. I fixed in on Wallace and Cook early on as they struggle to deal with halfcourt trapping pressure, and I was noticing some shaky play in terms of the kind of moves they used to get out of pressure and the types of passes they threw. So I was all prepared to write a "wow, Jon looked shaky out there today" evaluation.
But he had 6 assists to 3 TOs, and 6 assists is quite a few. True he was 0-5 from three, but six assists means he created at least 12 points with his play. And his work on Darrell's shot was spot-on clutch. He drove the lane to draw defenders but had the presence to know he'd have help at the perimeter. A solid play all around there.
Jeff Green--(7-12) One of my favorite clips they used to show, and sometimes still do, in the opening HOYAS video pre-game at MCI is the one of Mike Sweetney's offensive rebound and dunk against Seton Hall. It reminds me how hard-nosed he was and how much he worked for all of his buckets down low.
The most impressive thing about Jeff today were those buckets on putbacks (5 off. boards), where he shed defenders left and right, on multiple occassions leaving Mountaineers sprawled on the floor in his wake. The one "knock" I had on Jeff was that I thought he could develop over time a more physical presence down low and get himself better angles at the hoop. I'd say he's found a way to get some nice looks now, thank you very much.
And he did everything as I said before--a 3, long range jumpers, offensive putbacks, and post moves.
Where Green is so dangerous and unique is that he's extremely skilled at using tough angles on the glass. This means that even if he's bodying a much bigger center, he doesn't need to stick the shoulder in like Mike used to and get right to the glass. Jeff loves using his wingspan and stretching that right arm out as he leans in, giving him extra space. And the long angle gives him the distance to hit over taller and stronger opponents, and it's darn near impossible to contest.
And when he steps out to the 3 point line with under 5 minutes to go, forget about it, it's over for you.
But he's got to give himself a chance at more minutes by keeping the fouls down, again like at Rutgers he picked up two on plays he should have let go.
Roy Hibbert-- (3-4) The defensive mismatches you get when you're seven foot two and playing against a team of bigger guys who play the perimeter kept Roy out a lot of this game. Which is too bad, b/c he had 8 points in 19 minutes and honestly looked to have been on his way to something special. From one of the very first series when Roy hit the deck to dive for a loose ball, he was playing with a confident yet controlled passion. When was the last time we played a game where Roy didn't put up a single shot that made you shake your head? Seeing 3 steals along with 3 blocks for a big guy tells you he really went to work today.
Roy benefitted as I said before from GU finally solving the pressure component of WVU's 1-3-1 at the end of the half. Once the guards broke containment, Roy could be found in mismatches for easy buckets. Of course, even when you're covered at the perimeter, who's to say a big man can't drive the lane? Roy's bucket at the start of the second half was a tour de force worthy of some of Cook or Wallace's finer drives.
Ray Reed (1-1)--Oh, Ray, it WOULD be you that ended up with the biggest dunk of the game, wouldn't it? He was actually quite competent today in both of his capacities (offense/defense), though perhaps his smartest decision was with us up only 2 and being pressed to get the heck rid of the ball so he couldn't be sent to the line.
Darrell Owens-- (0-0) I'm starting to think maybe we should always feed Owens with under 5 seconds on the shot clock. He's quickly growing into defensive specialist #2 off the bench with Reed. There were two puzzlers with DO today. Once in the first half he passed up a wide open three on a skip pass, only to pump fake and fire when far less open. Then in the later stage of the second half, he took a backdoor feed but stopped about 10 feet from the hoop when I honestly think he had a layup. He backed out and the possession missed.
Just so tantalizing b/c we've seen the flashes...and we're still waiting for them to come back. As great as his killer 3 was, I'd love to see more where that came from.
Tyler Crawford-- (0-0) Unfortunately, he didn't have much of a a chance to duplicate his Rutgers and BC performances, given he only played 7 minutes and recorded one assist on Roy's dunk in the first half. Of course, given his recent history, I bet I'm not the only one expecting him to somehow go off for 15 at the Joyce Center on Wednesday.
AKD-- (1-1) And he was sooooooo close on a 3-pointer (don't go nuts, it was a shot clock thing) that rattled in and out. Otherwise one rebound in 2 minutes, the offensive one on which he earned his putback tap-in. Personally, I like seeing him contribute at the level he did at Rutgers, and I think he's one of the people we don't talk about who clearly benefitted a good deal from the coaching change.
(COMING UP: If Samuel Huntington ever writes a sequel, I have a feeling there'll be a chapter on Kurt and the guy in the trenchcoat...Why CAHoya07 might have been the best substitute of the day...plus the most deceptive Google ad on Hoyasaxa.com...and I say something nice about the band again...NON GAME OBSERVATIONS BELOW)
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Post by jerseyhoya34 on Feb 13, 2005 1:33:58 GMT -5
Nice incorporation of "containment" in the player evals. It had to happen sometime with a SFS grad writing. One gripe I have with Reed in this one was that stupid charge that he picked up. That was the Bad Reed who drives me nuts sometimes, but I was pleased, in general, with his play today.
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FLHoya
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Post by FLHoya on Feb 13, 2005 1:50:36 GMT -5
NONGAME OBSERVATIONS
--Seeing the attendance figure makes you smile, doesn't it? Sure, it was helped by Senior Parents weekend and a decent showing by WVU fans (though their effect was neutralized by the lack of any large section of them in one place). But methinks there's a buzz going around DC...which of course will be buried under a big Maryland headline tomorrow.
--CLASSIC NONGAME OBSERVATIONS: I remember back when we played West Virginia at MCI in my freshman year, it wasn't exactly the most filled up student section ever. So two enterprising student decided to spice things up a little bit and have some fun at the expense of the West Virginia fans (imagine that...). Unforunately, their execution was waaaaaay off. They ran up the aisle trying to get one side of the aisle to yell "IN" and the other "BRED", but somehow they screwed that up so my friend next to me said: "Are they trying to get people to yell "BREAD-IN"? And the attempt to get a "SHEEP" chant--that one didn't get off the ground either. But I still found the effort extremely funny for some strange reason, to the point that it's the only thing I remember about that game.
--So today, amongst all of the indoor plumbing jokes and funny country songs people tried to sing, the band managed to get its trumpet players to learn "Dueling Banjos" to play during WVU's lineup introductions. So there was something creative from the "hardest working, most dedicated and loyal fans in the GU Student Section who get to go to the NCAA Tournament while I sit in Florida and watch on TV". P.S. Let's Dance is one of those songs that sounds better from a Pep Band than the artist himself.
--A MUCH better job with the cheering today. Sometimes the tempo got screwed up between sections, but I noticed a lot more of an effort by the band and the students to watch each other and help out in the cheering department. It was also nice to turn around and see almost all of the student section doing the "airball" hand motion together.
--And this, might I add, without the benefit of pre-rehearsed lame cheers. At this point, the Cheer Sheets Hoya Blue hands out to students (and, I saw, WVU fans for some reason) don't have a single mention of a cheer on them. Two celeb lookalikes, two chances to make fun of a dopey white guy (Bonner, Pittsnogle), a GU roster and some stats, the SFOG who didn't show up in time, and a thanks to all the Senior Parents.
--So as CAHoya told us in a different thread, the Student Fan of the Game listed on the Hoya Blue Cheer Sheet failed to show up in time for the pregame announcement, so they sent old Matt out there to do the honors. Two "complaints": I wish they still gave basketballs, because Matt deserves one, and when the guy told Matt about the couch and gave the mic back to him, I was hoping Matt would say something to make fun of the couch, which I guess he didn't sit in b/c...well, he stands two feet from it as it is. We (meaning a bunch of people in line) actually joked before the game about finding something flammable so we could light that stupid space-wasting couch on fire.
--I was realllllllly confused by the guy who showed up in the front during the game with the painted chest, and the GUSA endorsement on his back. Especially when he kept showing off the pink shirt with the candidates on it during timeouts while standing on a chair. Unfortunately, I can't remember either candidate's name, so I guess I wasn't paying too close attention.
--What we had in the line waiting to get in today was the greatest culture clash I have ever seen at the MCI Center. Georgetown and West Virginia--together at last!! North Face jackets and popped collars against trenchcoats (no joke, and not just one!!) and the "Pittsnogle look"--it's not just for the guys anymore!!
--On that note, I am continually amused by the MountaineerSingles.com Google ad popping up all around the threads lately. Although come on, seriously, you find me two people who look like that in West Virginia.
--Per special request, I'm supposed to mention that YB appeared on Bubble Vision. I'll also add as was mentioned elsewhere that JahidiHoya won FOTG.
--I never understand how WVU gets the little hype machine going for them every year. Seems like annually in December they're a "sleeper", Beilein's a genius coach (I saw a preview mag last year that rated BE coaches on a 1-5 star system, three got 5--Boeheim, Calhoun, Beilein), and they're a tourney threat. And every year it seems they go right back to being 6-10 in the conference. They're what I call the GREATEST MEDIOCRE TEAM IN THE HISTORY OF COLLEGE BASKETBALL!!! They were in the Top 25 seven weeks ago according to the article I read tonight, after a week featuring wins over Top 25 opponents...GW and NC State. Oops.
--Finally, that UNLV-SDSU game was just depressing to have to see. I don't normally "feel" for student fans at other schools, but man that's got to be brutal. Beyond giving up the 10 point lead, including the buzzer beater to tie, even LOSING outright would be bad enough. But to have that airballed FT? I think sometimes nothing could ever get me to stop coming to games--perhaps a game like that would have sent me on sabbatical.
SHEEP!! SHEEP!! SHEEP!! SHEEP!!
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Joe Hoya
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
You're watching Sports Night on CSC, so stick around.
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Post by Joe Hoya on Feb 13, 2005 2:04:40 GMT -5
The students may have been united on the hand motions, but the execution of "air-ball" was hideous. I thought we were chanting for the Fresh Prince.
Of "Ball-Air"? Get it?
Yikes.
Anyway, when the hand is back, yell "Air", and when it goes forward, yell "Ball". I only mention this because we managed to be quite united on the "B-S" chant later in the game.
And I remember Joe Herber (pronounced Joe HERR-bur) back when he was "Johannes Herber" (YO-han-iss AIR-bear). Two short years and he's gone Hollywood on us.
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Post by jerseyhoya34 on Feb 13, 2005 2:09:27 GMT -5
The students may have been united on the hand motions, but the execution of "air-ball" was hideous. I thought we were chanting for the Fresh Prince. Of "Ball-Air"? Get it? Yikes. Anyway, when the hand is back, yell "Air", and when it goes forward, yell "Ball". I only mention this because we managed to be quite united on the "B-S" chant later in the game. The real problem may not fall on the students here, as a lot of it comes down to acoustics. The folks in the top half of the section can't here what is said down below and vice versa simply as a function of how the thing is constructed. That's my take on it anyway. 007 and others were able to pick up on some cheers generated from up top (which was great, btw), so there was some better coordination in spots. I'd rather have the top folks shouting something than talking on cell phones. I think improving coordination is going to be a topic of offseason discussion/strategery.
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lichoya68
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
OK YOUNGINS ARE HERE AND ARE VERY VERY GOOD cant wait GO HOYAS
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Post by lichoya68 on Feb 13, 2005 8:00:48 GMT -5
great summaries and analysis by you fl hoya great and your right about the crowd very much into it very much now just think what happens when the cheerleaders get around the arena and .......cheer hope they do that in the last home games hope someone encourages them to do that go hoyas beat nd ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Post by Fan Of The Game on Feb 13, 2005 10:21:14 GMT -5
PLAYER EVALUATIONS Darrell Owens-- (0-0) I'm starting to think maybe we should always feed Owens with under 5 seconds on the shot clock. He's quickly growing into defensive specialist #2 off the bench with Reed. There were two puzzlers with DO today. Once in the first half he passed up a wide open three on a skip pass, only to pump fake and fire when far less open. Then in the later stage of the second half, he took a backdoor feed but stopped about 10 feet from the hoop when I honestly think he had a layup. He backed out and the possession missed. Just so tantalizing b/c we've seen the flashes...and we're still waiting for them to come back. As great as his killer 3 was, I'd love to see more where that came from. Great recap FL. One other note on Owens: he has the highlight blocked shot of the game on a play where West Virginia should have has an easy break away lay-up.
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SirSaxa
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Post by SirSaxa on Feb 13, 2005 10:47:57 GMT -5
Great recap FL. One other note on Owens: he has the highlight blocked shot of the game on a play where West Virginia should have has an easy break away lay-up. Good point! That was a GREAT move!
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FLHoya
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Post by FLHoya on Feb 13, 2005 12:11:50 GMT -5
Great recap FL. One other note on Owens: he has the highlight blocked shot of the game on a play where West Virginia should have has an easy break away lay-up. That's true! It's in the GUHoyas highlights I think. Don't you just love plays like that? That's the second home game in a row where one of our players has run down the court to block a fast break layup.
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Post by ][-][ 0 `/ /-\ 5 on Feb 13, 2005 12:16:39 GMT -5
I think Jeff by himself has got to have done that 3 or 4 times. Great effort and hustle by owens though. Plays like that really help if the game goes down to the wire
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EasyEd
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Post by EasyEd on Feb 13, 2005 12:40:02 GMT -5
FLHoya - another great summary of the game. I really look forward to it for every game you cover. Thanks.
My two cents: I think this game showed the progress the team has made on defense. To me, that has advanced the most of any part of our game over the year. By this I don't mean, necessarily, making steals but, rather, continually making it more and more difficult for the opponent to get off good shots.
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Post by ][-][ 0 `/ /-\ 5 on Feb 13, 2005 13:17:48 GMT -5
the crazy thing is that wv had 4 turnovers in their entire game with pitt. We did a grat job of making them lose their rythym.
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Post by WilsonBlvdHoya on Feb 13, 2005 14:56:23 GMT -5
As usual, great and comprehensive recap by FL. Just to dovetail a couple of his comments:
1) One cannot understate how pesky/aggressive the WVU 1-3-1 trap was. It was the best defense seen by a BE opponent at MCI this season and perhaps the best of any BE rival with the possible exception of BC (non-BE opponents Temple and Illinois probably played better d, though). Unfortunately, the guards didn't grab the penetration oppys. early and were far too easily flustered by the pressure. This became less of a factor in the second half but it was still too disruptive at times.
2) Bowman came up big, both in that left-side pull-up j which you can see in the GUhoyas.com highlights (that's all that's missing from a complete NBA repertoire for him and clearly he's working on developing a mid-range game), and, more importantly, in causing a huge steal after DJ hit the biggest 3 of the game (arguably his career) by poking a pass away on the right perimeter which Ray-Ray jumped on for the breakaway flush. There are fewer and fewer appearances by Bad Brandon lately and he's doing a lot of the little things (some which appear in the stat sheets, some which don't) to demonstrate leadership on the court in securing the W.
3) At one point, Ashanti threw up what I thought was going to be a total garbage fadeaway j and it found "nothing but cotton" (to borrow a Richism). I had the privilege of sitting with Frank Black and a friend of his at the game and FB and I screamed as he threw it up, "Bad shot, Ashanti." After it went through, the two of us just looked at each other and laughed. Last year, that shot would have clanged away.
4) I loved the late, sky-rising rebound by Jeff Green and JG played a monster of a game to put a slow streak behind him.....BUT....the rebound, while highlight-worthy and I daresay, Jordanesquely evocative, is demonstrative of something else. No one blocks out anymore!! If the WVU guys had planted their bodies in the lane, JG wouldn't have been able to sky-walk from the right side to swoop in and grab it. The flip side of that is that GU on the defensive end still swings/shifts to a shooter in the lane to block a shot while leaving itself totally open/vulnerable to offensive put-backs/bunnies/tip-ins. This happened at least twice for WVU. What I wouldn't give for some old-school Wes Unseld-style block-outs from Roy (JG and BB are less guilty of this than others but still can use some work on spreading bows and putting butts into stomachs)......
Non-game items; I had a great time with dTRAIN, JohnnyJones, FHillsNYHoya and others at RFD before the game. And, of course, as mentioned earlier, I got to sit with Marianist theologian and national security analyst Frank Black!
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FLHoya
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Post by FLHoya on Feb 13, 2005 18:43:40 GMT -5
As usual, great and comprehensive recap by FL. Just to dovetail a couple of his comments: 1) One cannot understate how pesky/aggressive the WVU 1-3-1 trap was. It was the best defense seen by a BE opponent at MCI this season and perhaps the best of any BE rival with the possible exception of BC (non-BE opponents Temple and Illinois probably played better d, though). Unfortunately, the guards didn't grab the penetration oppys. early and were far too easily flustered by the pressure. This became less of a factor in the second half but it was still too disruptive at times. 2) Bowman came up big, both in that left-side pull-up j which you can see in the GUhoyas.com highlights (that's all that's missing from a complete NBA repertoire for him and clearly he's working on developing a mid-range game), and, more importantly, in causing a huge steal after DJ hit the biggest 3 of the game (arguably his career) by poking a pass away on the right perimeter which Ray-Ray jumped on for the breakaway flush. There are fewer and fewer appearances by Bad Brandon lately and he's doing a lot of the little things (some which appear in the stat sheets, some which don't) to demonstrate leadership on the court in securing the W. 3) At one point, Ashanti threw up what I thought was going to be a total garbage fadeaway j and it found "nothing but cotton" (to borrow a Richism). I had the privilege of sitting with Frank Black and a friend of his at the game and FB and I screamed as he threw it up, "Bad shot, Ashanti." After it went through, the two of us just looked at each other and laughed. Last year, that shot would have clanged away. 4) I loved the late, sky-rising rebound by Jeff Green and JG played a monster of a game to put a slow streak behind him.....BUT....the rebound, while highlight-worthy and I daresay, Jordanesquely evocative, is demonstrative of something else. No one blocks out anymore!! If the WVU guys had planted their bodies in the lane, JG wouldn't have been able to sky-walk from the right side to swoop in and grab it. The flip side of that is that GU on the defensive end still swings/shifts to a shooter in the lane to block a shot while leaving itself totally open/vulnerable to offensive put-backs/bunnies/tip-ins. This happened at least twice for WVU. What I wouldn't give for some old-school Wes Unseld-style block-outs from Roy (JG and BB are less guilty of this than others but still can use some work on spreading bows and putting butts into stomachs)...... Non-game items; I had a great time with dTRAIN, JohnnyJones, FHillsNYHoya and others at RFD before the game. And, of course, as mentioned earlier, I got to sit with Marianist theologian and national security analyst Frank Black! Thank you WBH and everyone else for the compliments, I always appreciate them. 1. WVU's defense was a gigantic pain in the first half. AC and JW were picking up their dribble too often I thought and having to make high degree of difficulty pass. Even normal passes on the perimeter sometimes had to go high. Two things WVU did do that let us off the hook were when the second trapping man would get in the air, and when WVU was unable to stop normal penetrations. 2. What's good about Brandon is that he's harnessing the superior individual talent he has--there's so many mismatches he creates with his size/style. Where last year he tended to go head-down into traffic, he's become much more controlled in tight situations. I should have mentioned BB causing the steal prior to Ray's dunk, but I wasn't positive when I got home that it was him that caused it. Only when I saw the highlights and Brandon was the next closest person to Ray on the drive did I figure it was him. 3. Ashanti started making those kinds of shots all of a sudden in the past few games. He's also getting better at picking up some garbage shots late in possessions--I think of the opening three against BC. 4. You're right--it seems like I write every week about how no one on our team blocks out in a traditional way. Of course, not many other teams have been doing it either. Green and Bowman love to leap, but for every nice snare like that, there's some times when they miss or when they try to block a shot and leave 2 opponents wide open on the weak side. The hidden strength we have on the boards is the strong efforts we get from the guards, both in tipping shots away from larger players and actually grabbing long and short boards. I just saw a commercial as I was writing this for the new season of ESPN's "Dream Job," which has an "ex-jock trying to become analyst" theme. And guess who's one of the contestants--Dana Barros.
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SFHoya99
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Post by SFHoya99 on Feb 13, 2005 19:49:51 GMT -5
Re: blocking out, one of the announcers in one of these games commented that one of the reasons you no longer see a lot of blocking out is that it doesn't work as much anymore because officials allow the "over the back" as long as they don't hold anyone down. I don't know if that is the reason, but no one ever blocks out anymore.
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Nevada Hoya
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Post by Nevada Hoya on Feb 13, 2005 20:38:26 GMT -5
Great recap FL. One other note on Owens: he has the highlight blocked shot of the game on a play where West Virginia should have has an easy break away lay-up. Brings my Georgetown intramurals memories back. I was the best on our team at causing breakaways to go south on both sides of the ball - being able to run down the breakaway and block the shot at one end, and kicking the ball away, when I had the breakaway. I also want to extend my thanks, FL, for the recap; it was like I was at the game (although my surrogate, the fan of the game filled in admirably as usual). ;D
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CAHoya07
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Post by CAHoya07 on Feb 13, 2005 20:51:52 GMT -5
I'll add in one of FLHoya's omissions, although he definitely doesn't miss much. At one point during the game, in the 1st half I believe, something happened, I don't really remember what. But during the stoppage of play, Roy turned around and gestured to the crowd to get it going, and Ashanti went so far as to lift both of his hands up in the air, as if to say, "Let's Go!"
Also I remember Green holding his hands up in the air after he made a three in the 2nd half. It's on the GUHoyas.com highlights, and looked to me as if he was playing to the crowd. Now, I'm not a big fan of playing to the crowd, but the fact that the Hoyas now have a crowd to play to just feels very good. Fan-player relations, and especially student-player relations, are a key to a good home crowd and student section, so I hope this kind of stuff continues... sparingly.
A few regrets about my Student Fan of the Game experience: One, I did not get a signed ball. Two, when the guy asked me what my major was, I should have said, "Hoya Basketball," but instead, I sheepishly replied, "Government." Oh, the things you think of after the fact. But at least I was able to get in a "Go Hoyas!" yell at the end of it.
That said, I liked it for a little bit, but the couch has gotta go for next season. We need more seats in the front row! ;D
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FLHoya
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Post by FLHoya on Feb 13, 2005 21:57:15 GMT -5
I'll add in one of FLHoya's omissions, although he definitely doesn't miss much. At one point during the game, in the 1st half I believe, something happened, I don't really remember what. But during the stoppage of play, Roy turned around and gestured to the crowd to get it going, and Ashanti went so far as to lift both of his hands up in the air, as if to say, "Let's Go!" That said, I liked it for a little bit, but the couch has gotta go for next season. We need more seats in the front row! ;D Roy Hibbert talks trash ALL THE TIME during games. Jonathan had to step in one time in the first half and pull Roy away from someone. It's that very confident/cocky "yeah, what's up?" kind of taunting, except it's somehow less threatening looking from Roy because he's always got a goofy grin on his face while doing it. He only does it after big plays (like blocks) or when someone messes with him, so it's not like he's showboating or anything. Lots of the players play to the crowd, but I think Ashanti and Roy are the best at it. And the less said about the awful awful couch the better. Best thing you DID do with SFOG, CA, was decline the chance to sit in that stupid space waster. Although I laughed at the utter sense of lameness with which you answered: (sigh) "government" when that guy asked you what your major was.
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