The Play We Should Be Talking About

[HoyaChris]

We have grown so blase about Greg's passing skills that sometimes great passes go unremarked. A case in point was the perfect 35 foot lob pass from a moving Greg for a Julian jam.

That pass is a guard play and there are very few NBA bigs who can make it, let alone College players.

The biggest positive evolution in our style of play is that we will now attack the basket once we break pressure. Greg's passing is an enormous part of that.

[SirSaxa]

Insightful post as usual HoyaChris. Often times, Greg's contributions are more apparent when he goes out of the game.

An addendum, our significantly improved rebounding is another aspect in speeding up our game, as is the athleticism of guys like Chris who are "finishing" despite increasingly higher "levels of difficulty".

The guys looked great last night. There was that sequence of passes that led to a wide open Jason for a Three... he seems to have gotten his mojo -- and his shot -- back last night.

[Coast2CoastHoya]

+1

[CAHoya07]

Yes, Greg to Julian for the alley-oop was fantastic. Even though I still think he needs to be more aggressive around the basket and finish, he is an excellent passer. He has point guard-like vision. He has also improved his rebounding considerably.

[MCIGuy]

I for one didn't overlook that play. Just as impressive though was his drive into the paint a short time later and his no-look pass to Julian for another slam. No one on this team makes others better as much as Greg. He's a legit jumpshot away and consistency at finishing around the basket from being a great player at the next level. Improve those two key areas and he is going to be a load.

But the move of the night may have been Austin's second half drive to the lane and beautiful finish with the left hand.

[SirSaxa]

I, for one, am enjoying this thread and seeing again in my mind the great plays each of you have described!
Wish I had a TIVO for that game!

[GUJook97]

Something that was good for Greg last night, too, was Len Elmore. It's probably been mentioned but Elmore stayed away from the typical give the ball to Greg down low tripe, and publicized his complimentary skills. Elmore has always been good at seeing our offense for what it is.

[Giannicolus Jones]

I thought the biggest play was Greg's block / cross court assist to Wright for a layup. It was the Hoyas' first field goal in over six minutes, and Greg made the block with shortly after coming back in with 4 fouls.

[cdnhoya]

Jan 15, 2010 10:20:50 GMT -5 GUJook97 said:

Something that was good for Greg last night, too, was Len Elmore. It's probably been mentioned but Elmore stayed away from the typical give the ball to Greg down low tripe, and publicized his complimentary skills. Elmore has always been good at seeing our offense for what it is.

I still remember watching the syracuse game last year and elmore saying that ongenaet's forearm shiver to the back of summers' head was a "good, clean swim move". The refs, correctly, tossed ongenaet...

[strummer8526]

I think last night was absolutely 100% the clearest indication of how important Greg is for the team. I get INCREDIBLY frustrated when he misses layups or little 2 ft. shots, but when he went out w/ 4 fouls, it was like the wheels came off our offense for a few minutes. Granted, that may have also been b/c that was the stretch during which SH played a tough full court press and really clamped down the ball pressure. But still, we obviously had a much much better flow with Greg. It may be an instance where I/we take a lot of what he does for granted.

[tjm62]

He can improve on those little layup shots, and I expect him too. We can complain all we want about aggressiveness, but is there any doubt he's our best and most important player?

[RDF]

Monroe can dominate a game without scoring--and it was shown last night. With him on the floor--Hoyas dominated the game.

What I loved about the game--Greg and other Hoyas PUNISHED Seton Hall for pressing. Add to what MCI said about Austin--it was nice to see both Austin and Chris finish on left side of hoop with their lefthand and Julian's beautiful drop step left hand hook off the glass. For those who think that is simple--well take a look how many elite players at college/NBA level still cannot do this.

[SirSaxa]

Jan 15, 2010 11:51:04 GMT -5 RDF said:

What I loved about the game--Greg and other Hoyas PUNISHED Seton Hall for pressing.

I could not agree with you more RDF.

And it is something that I and others have been calling for. We need to make teams PAY for pressing us. If you want to press to create TOs, or to reduce the shot clock time we have to run our offense, either way we need to take advantage and make other teams PAY.

That is what we have been doing lately.

You know, we have one of the absolute BEST coaches in America. Not just continuing the Thompson tradition and connection -- which he is. JT3 is a born coach, who was nurtured by TWO Hall of Famers.

If we can somehow keep the pipeline open to getting really top kids, GU will stay among the nations elite programs. This year will prove the concept. Since JT3 has been at GU, it has been a mostly upward trajectory -- until the Davidson game. Last year was a disaster -- and an anomaly.

This year -- we are back in business and back on track. LET's Go HOYAS!!

[lichoya68]

ginnaiaculous your WRIGHT i thought the key play was that block at a critical time with the four fouls which at the time i was yelling of course no no thats stupid welll IT WERENT STUPID IT WAS GREAT AND HE PLAYEd I THINK FOR LIKE TEN PLUS MINUTES LIKE TEN PLUS ...WITHOUT FOULING OUT ....BUT REBOUNDING AND PLAYING D LIKE HE HAD NO FOULS .... that was my speical play..... especially cause it made me eat my words !!! he aint bad... and then all the passing... etc etc stuff... GO HOYAS GO GREG IF YOURE AGGRESSIVE... WOWOWOWWOWOWOOWWOOWOWWOW GREAT CHANCE FOR AN UPSEt YUP WRIGHT IN PHILLY... oh yes

[GIGAFAN99]

The best play is when we pretended to run our offense and slipped Austin. If we run our offense well, we can call 7 plays your high school coach called and they all will work. The beauty of motion is not its predictability but the predictabilty of the defense's response.

Watch for it. More called plays and more easy baskets.