SFHoya99
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 17,791
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Post by SFHoya99 on Jan 4, 2010 11:24:32 GMT -5
Good post, big elephant.
Only thing I'd comment on is that I'm not really sure how good this team can be yet -- in season improvement is not unheard of. That goes for both Greg and the bench, where if Hollis, Henry or others improve as the season moves on, begins to shore up a lot of weaknesses.
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Big Dog
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 3,912
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Post by Big Dog on Jan 4, 2010 12:11:09 GMT -5
bigelephant-
I actually was surprised at the crowd's energy under the circumstances. Sure, other than the band there were about 15 students in the building, and there was a sizable Hoyas contingent. But considering this is a team that hasn't won a Big East game since 2007, it was frigid outside, and the arena is nowhere near campus, I have to credit the true diehards who showed up to root on DePaul. I'd never been to a game at the Horizon before, but you realize while you're there what a proud program this has been. I feel sorry for them. DePaul under Wainwright reminds me of the Hoyas under Esherick--each year more and more of a disaster. But DePaul either doesn't have the cash or the interest to make a move, and it is sad.
I don't think it would take much for this program to turn around though if they made the right hire. Think how good they looked a few years ago with Leitao at the helm.
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hoya9797
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 4,207
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Post by hoya9797 on Jan 4, 2010 12:29:21 GMT -5
I was really impressed by the GU turnout but the game was so boring and never really in doubt so the crowd never got into it. As a Chicago kid who grew up going to every single DePaul home game with my dad, yesterday was really depressing. It wasn't that long ago that DePaul/GU would have been the single biggest event in town with a packed Horizon going nuts. I'll never be that DePaul fan that I was as a kid but I'm really rooting for them to turn it around. It can be done with the right coaching hire and support from the administration. I think they should take a shot at Billy Gillispie and give him a shot at redemption.
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Big Dog
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 3,912
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Post by Big Dog on Jan 4, 2010 12:41:40 GMT -5
I was really impressed by the GU turnout but the game was so boring and never really in doubt so the crowd never got into it. As a Chicago kid who grew up going to every single DePaul home game with my dad, yesterday was really depressing. It wasn't that long ago that DePaul/GU would have been the single biggest event in town with a packed Horizon going nuts. I'll never be that DePaul fan that I was as a kid but I'm really rooting for them to turn it around. It can be done with the right coaching hire and support from the administration. I think they should take a shot at Billy Gillispie and give him a shot at redemption. I can't imagine that yesterday was any more depressing than any other home game in the last two years. Really?
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vcjack
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 3,875
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Post by vcjack on Jan 4, 2010 13:18:20 GMT -5
bigelephant- I actually was surprised at the crowd's energy under the circumstances. Sure, other than the band there were about 15 students in the building, and there was a sizable Hoyas contingent. But considering this is a team that hasn't won a Big East game since 2007, it was frigid outside, and the arena is nowhere near campus, I have to credit the true diehards who showed up to root on DePaul. I'd never been to a game at the Horizon before, but you realize while you're there what a proud program this has been. I feel sorry for them. DePaul under Wainwright reminds me of the Hoyas under Esherick--each year more and more of a disaster. But DePaul either doesn't have the cash or the interest to make a move, and it is sad. I don't think it would take much for this program to turn around though if they made the right hire. Think how good they looked a few years ago with Leitao at the helm. I was also impressed with the crowd, not only for the reasons you point out but also the fact that the game conflicted with a Bears game. Some of that was a good Hoya fan turnout but not the majority by any means. A lot of people seemed to be there just to see good college basketball and while it wasn't really an exciting game the first comment I overheard going into the parking lot was "Now that's a good way to spend a Sunday" (said by a guy with an Iowa sweatshirt to a guy with a Illinois hat) Now that said, I did see a significant drop in enthusiasm since the last time the Hoyas visited Rosemont in the 07-08 season. They don't do a "stand until we score" kind of thing anymore, the student section had several hundred kids in it back then (despite being around the same time of year) and most importantly you got the feeling that people back then thought they could win. I really hope that something happens to that program soon to make them a viable part of this conference. I don't envy that job
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Big Dog
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 3,912
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Post by Big Dog on Jan 4, 2010 13:45:10 GMT -5
not only for the reasons you point out but also the fact that the game conflicted with a Bears game. Of course, it was Bears-Lions. The low point was during the pregame introductions when the student section was announced "doing the demon dance!." Um, guy? There wasn't any student section. What followed was painfully awkward, as the camera honed in on a couple of confused dance team members. Still, I witnessed dead-er [indulge my grammer] crowds at Verizon back in the late 90s and in 2003-04, and the Hoyas didn't have 20 straight conference losses as an excuse.
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hoya9797
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 4,207
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Post by hoya9797 on Jan 4, 2010 14:06:36 GMT -5
I was really impressed by the GU turnout but the game was so boring and never really in doubt so the crowd never got into it. As a Chicago kid who grew up going to every single DePaul home game with my dad, yesterday was really depressing. It wasn't that long ago that DePaul/GU would have been the single biggest event in town with a packed Horizon going nuts. I'll never be that DePaul fan that I was as a kid but I'm really rooting for them to turn it around. It can be done with the right coaching hire and support from the administration. I think they should take a shot at Billy Gillispie and give him a shot at redemption. I can't imagine that yesterday was any more depressing than any other home game in the last two years. Really? I don't go to DePaul games anymore so I don't have any reference point. I'm sure there have been plenty of worse games. It was just a bummer to me that a game that was once a huge event has turned into a total zero.
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ahoya2
Century (over 100 posts)
Posts: 135
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Post by ahoya2 on Jan 4, 2010 15:03:02 GMT -5
I also hope that DePaul returns as a basketball power. Would help the BE in recruiting in the MidWest. Chicago is such a great city it is sad to see that the only good ticket is to the Black Hawks.
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seaweed
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 4,672
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Post by seaweed on Jan 5, 2010 0:41:41 GMT -5
just had my first chance to take a closer look at the tape, couple of quick observations:
some of Koshwall's most effective work came in the first half during a stretch when we actually had Greg, Jules AND Benimon on the court - surprising but he had at least two hoops against that lineup, maybe next year we can run a lineup of GM, JV, JB and Nate and Koshwall will have a triple double (yeah, I said it - GM, next year, wearing blue and grey)
our work against their zone was not as bad as I first thought with two exceptions: missed open jumpers, esp. frustrating in light of... passing up open looks early in the clock. we all know this phenomenon all too well
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