JTIII's adjustment

[daytonahoya31]

Putting greg at the four this year has given this team next level potential. It wouldn't be possible if Julian hadn't improved so much on both ends of the floor, but Greg at the four makes him nearly impossible to deal with. 6-11, long arms, reminds me so much of Tim Duncan on both ends of the floor.

We have so much more length than we did last season. Jason's arms, Greg, it really makes up for starting three guards.

[dikembe]

I agree. Jason Clark's long arms are gonna give other big east points fits.

[lurkerhoya]

Watching us pound the ball inside for 20 straight minutes in the 2nd half was the most welcome thing I've seen from JT3 in a long time.

[tashoya]

Where does Jason buy shirts I wonder? I love that kid!

[FewFAC]

Yeah the 2d half offensive adjustment looks extremely brilliant thanks to U-Dub aggressive overplaying defense. Would have been a great blueprint for beating Duke in any other year but this one.

[gutuna]

Dead on Daytona. JTIII just took Romar's lunch money today. After the early turnovers we clearly worked at exploiting UW's overplaying the passing lanes and gambling for steals by concentrating on working the backdoor and earning plenty of layups and dunks.

[the_way]

I don't think it is as much about JTIII adjusting as it is our team is adjusting and learning how to play together.

I think this is the best this team has looked from a cohesion standpoint this season and last.

I think the pieces now fit together or are starting to fit together and guys are evolving into their roles.

We have the scorers: Monroe, Wright,and Freeman.

We have the complimentary role players who can chip on points, but do most of the dirty work: Vaughn and Clark

And we have the young guys off the bench who make small but significant contributions nonetheless: Thompson and Sanford.

Most of our guys are long and lean (kinda guys JTIII likes) and that helps on the defensive end.

i starting to like this group. i saw some form of an identity out there today on the court. We've been in somewhat of a indentity crisis this season and last season.

things are starting to come together. i'm anxious to see our team in big east competition. it will be interesting to see.

[cnyhoya]

Dec 12, 2009 16:30:36 GMT -5 daytonahoya31 said:

Putting greg at the four this year has given this team next level potential. It wouldn't be possible if Julian hadn't improved so much on both ends of the floor, but Greg at the four makes him nearly impossible to deal with. 6-11, long arms, reminds me so much of Tim Duncan on both ends of the floor.

We have so much more length than we did last season. Jason's arms, Greg, it really makes up for starting three guards.

Couldn't agree more! We have needed an inside banger.

[GIGAFAN99]

Agreed on all counts. I do think this was an adjustment (we didn't figure out how to play together over haltime).

But what a welcome sight. Aggressive defense, big men scoring down low, and the key was we dropped the cliche of "5 basketball players."

Julian Vaughn was not playing "guard centward" in the second half. He was a big man and played like it. Good. This team needs to know their roles and it looks like they're defining some right now.

[westendhoya]

Dec 12, 2009 16:59:45 GMT -5 the_way said:

I don't think it is as much about JTIII adjusting as it is our team is adjusting and learning how to play together.

I think this is the best this team has looked from a cohesion standpoint this season and last.

I think the pieces now fit together or are starting to fit together and guys are evolving into their roles.

We have the scorers: Monroe, Wright,and Freeman.

We have the complimentary role players who can chip on points, but do most of the dirty work: Vaughn and Clark

And we have the young guys off the bench who make small but significant contributions nonetheless: Thompson and Sanford.

Most of our guys are long and lean (kinda guys JTIII likes) and that helps on the defensive end.

i starting to like this group. i saw some form of an identity out there today on the court. We've been in somewhat of a indentity crisis this season and last season.

things are starting to come together. i'm anxious to see our team in big east competition. it will be interesting to see.

The way...I, like you, have been a pretty big critic of III's coaching the last few years but you have to admit he did an absolutely tremendous job coaching and making adjustments today. One small play sticks out....middle of the 2nd half and Wash had made a run to get cut it to 12 or 14 and we had a little trouble on the offensive possession, III calls timeout, draws up a great play that feeds the ball down to Monroe who converted and we never looked back...it sounds simple but its the kind of thing that has been missing for the past 1-2 years

[SirSaxa]

Dec 12, 2009 17:10:32 GMT -5 GIGAFAN99 said:

Agreed on all counts. I do think this was an adjustment (we didn't figure out how to play together over haltime).

But what a welcome sight. Aggressive defense, big men scoring down low, and the key was we dropped the cliche of "5 basketball players."

Julian Vaughn was not playing "guard centward" in the second half. He was a big man and played like it. Good. This team needs to know their roles and it looks like they're defining some right now.

I agree with you Giga. It appears to me that JT3 has added another dimension to the "Princeton" by emphasizing inside play and rebounding and positioning more.

We still have lots of spacing, passing, options for the guys to go choose from based on what the D is giving us.

I asked Dan, but he thinks it is just running the "P. O." better. I think it is that, plus greater emphasis on the big guys and going inside.

Today was also a great day for the D.... team D.

JT3 is one heckuva smart and capable coach. You just knew he would work and work to overcome last year -- not just chemistry issues. Everything.

[royski]

Dec 12, 2009 17:56:40 GMT -5 SirSaxa said:

Dec 12, 2009 17:10:32 GMT -5 GIGAFAN99 said:

Agreed on all counts. I do think this was an adjustment (we didn't figure out how to play together over haltime).

But what a welcome sight. Aggressive defense, big men scoring down low, and the key was we dropped the cliche of "5 basketball players."

Julian Vaughn was not playing "guard centward" in the second half. He was a big man and played like it. Good. This team needs to know their roles and it looks like they're defining some right now.

I agree with you Giga. It appears to me that JT3 has added another dimension to the "Princeton" by emphasizing inside play and rebounding and positioning more.

We still have lots of spacing, passing, options for the guys to go choose from based on what the D is giving us.

I asked Dan, but he thinks it is just running the "P. O." better. I think it is that, plus greater emphasis on the big guys and going inside.

Today was also a great day for the D.... team D.

JT3 is one heckuva smart and capable coach. You just new he would work and work to overcome last year -- not just chemistry issues. Everything.

What, no credit to the coaching of the board?! We've been saying to get it inside forever! :-p

[GIGAFAN99]

Dec 12, 2009 17:56:40 GMT -5 SirSaxa said:

Dec 12, 2009 17:10:32 GMT -5 GIGAFAN99 said:

Agreed on all counts. I do think this was an adjustment (we didn't figure out how to play together over haltime).

But what a welcome sight. Aggressive defense, big men scoring down low, and the key was we dropped the cliche of "5 basketball players."

Julian Vaughn was not playing "guard centward" in the second half. He was a big man and played like it. Good. This team needs to know their roles and it looks like they're defining some right now.

I agree with you Giga. It appears to me that JT3 has added another dimension to the "Princeton" by emphasizing inside play and rebounding and positioning more.

We still have lots of spacing, passing, options for the guys to go choose from based on what the D is giving us.

I asked Dan, but he thinks it is just running the "P. O." better. I think it is that, plus greater emphasis on the big guys and going inside.

Today was also a great day for the D.... team D.

JT3 is one heckuva smart and capable coach. You just new he would work and work to overcome last year -- not just chemistry issues. Everything.

I honestly think there was a sequence where Hollis got destroyed on a rebound (he was playing 4) followed by Greg shooting a three against a team with nobody taller than 6'7 where III just said "Alright this s*** isn't working." It was great. And then 28 of the first 34 points in the second half were in the paint.

I think we turned the corner today. No more chucking from these Hoyas. All our victories go through the big guys, as it always should be for a Georgetown team.

[RDF]

Nice observations. Also want to commend Wright for understanding his role more--he's going to have his 20pt nights--but it's more important to get rest of team going and know WHEN to score/shoot and when to control the game--and he was outstanding on defensive end/scraping down, grabbing boards, and also controlling the tempo when UW made their run.

Team just seems more together and ready to play when they take the court--from starters to bench--which comes with experience/growth-but also accepting roles and playing as a TEAM which was mentioned above. Key is for bench trio of Henry, Vee, and Benimon to understand that their time is coming-you will have guys in foul trouble in Big East games, need to rest some more, so they need to keep coming in ready to go!!

[TBird41]

Here's the average 3PA's per game for the JT3 era:

04-05: 20.6 3PA/game
05-06: 19.0 3PA/game
06-07: 17.2 3PA/game
07-08: 20.6 3PA/game
08-09: 18.5 3PA/game
09-10: 15.6 3PA/game

Obviously, this year's average doesn't include Big East play like the others, but this team is well on track to shoot the fewest 3PA per game of any of JT3's team.

[TBird41]

Additionally, the Hoyas shot 18 three pointers against Temple, but only 12 today and 13 against Butler.

[blueandgray]

Love the fact that we are pounding the ball inside. Bigs have done a nice job presenting a nice wide target and Hollis and gang have been making great entry passes.

Clark at times looks like the best player on the court and I can't remember a player since Shenard Long improving as much as Vaughn has from one year to the next.

[paranoia2]

Agreed about the "identity". Austin lost the ball on a drive in the 1st half then chased the guy down, stole the ball back and drove right back at the basket. Great effort play. The way Hollis, Clark, Julian and Austin crash the boards is reminiscent of vintage Hoya teams. If Freeman's shot was on yesterday it would have gotten ugly for Washington a lot earlier than it did.
Overall team "fire" was great for the Hoyas and seeing them with that trophy was cool.

[prhoya]

Keep feeding it inside. It will open up the perimeter shots and allow Austin, Jason and Chris to set their feet for their shots.

[lichoya68]

yes on julian being the indside CENTER greg at power forward now if henry just gets a little more meaner that two headed monster center could be around the corner THEN watch out folks watch out for the two headed monster center go hoyas