OPEN PRACTICE REPORT

[lichoya68]

ok props to ALL who tried to get thru horrible dc traffic alot of roads adn bridges sshut down for mulitple events coach said it took him about one hour 45 minutes to come cross the river and he thanked all for coming.. great questions and answers went over the new players... want the practice facility buildt ...open practice was long he let people watch i left after about an hour to go watch mens soccer who were beating marquette near the end of the first hal 2-1 hope they keep it up.. any way practice all thought vee and julian and hollis beefed up austin the tight end slimmed down.. markel even looked a little more beefed up and lightenint quick.. moses very tough and getting the footwork he worked alone for awhile just back to the basket much improved from the beggining of the summer nate tough.. jason shot like crazy chris quick great moves to the hoop still practice alot the princeton and julian some GREAT passes off thehigh post alittlle greg like..any way it was fun coachwas open.... even came over to ASK which press and i asked for the 1-3-1 he said ok but of course didnt do it while i was there but you neverknow can imagin hollis on the front of the one three one with jason.. austin.. and chris and then julian moses at the end of the year adn henry some at the back you never know old big john d we may see some g hoyas very nice event congrats to the staff great qandq by jt3 GLAD TO BE A HOYA TODAY GO HOYAS PS moses and nate and julian will get a few boards this year as will henry adn jerrelle toooo go hoyas

[zxhoya]

Thanks for the great update lic!

[DanMcQ]

Nice title lic.

Report even almost understandable.

[Coast2CoastHoya]

Open practice, the brunch before hand, getting the guys' sigs, and Coach's speech were fun.

Like lic said, Coach asked him which kind of press he wanted! 1-3-1, eh lic?

Jason looked lightning-quick and was really taking it to the hoop. It also looks like he lifted a lot in the offseason; his shoulders were huge.

Chris looked like his normal capable, fast self, and was showing even better floor leadership, especially to the young guys.

Austin looked lean and was really smooth.

Julian seemed to have the strongest presence of the bigs. Moses is huge. Henry seems to have made some improvement, but there's still work to be done. He seems to get the offense a little better. Nate definitely had a nose for the ball on rebounds. His skills need work, but the inclination to board seems there. Jerrelle looked pretty good.

Markel is FAST. So is Vee, but we knew that. I think Aaron's going to develop into a good defender. Hollis looked really good. John hustles. Ryan was hitting some nice shots and clearly knows the system.

There were, of course, some flubs and such, but as Coach said "remember, they've only been practicing for a week."

Thanks to Hoyas Unlimited, HHC, and the Coaches and players for putting it all together!!!

[Locker]

Glad to hear that Julian, Hollis, and Jason look stronger. That certainly helps our small lineup get bigger.

[jerseyhoya34]

What was said about the practice facility? Anything more than we want it built?

[HoyaSinceBirth]

Some one asked something along the lines of is the fundraising campaign for the practice facility starting soon and coach responded more or less with "It better"

The best moment I saw in open practice was Julian coaching up Henry and really trying to help him be better and henry listening and putting it into practice. It was great to see Julian taking on a leadership role and Henry actively working to get better.

[HoyaSinceBirth]

Oh yeah series with Duke will probably start up again in 2012-2013 season since we both play in Maui next year.

[jerseyhoya34]

Oct 23, 2010 19:15:10 GMT -5 HoyaSinceBirth said:

Some one asked something along the lines of is the fundraising campaign for the practice facility starting soon and coach responded more or less with "It better"

The best moment I saw in open practice was Julian coaching up Henry and really trying to help him be better and henry listening and putting it into practice. It was great to see Julian taking on a leadership role and Henry actively working to get better.

Thanks, HSB.

[mapei]

Sounds terrific - I had to make a hard choice between the practice and a long bike ride on a picture-perfect fall day, hated to choose but went with the latter. Based on what I saw in Kenner, I think Markel has 'future star' written all over him. We'll see but I'm really glad he still looks good. Moses seems to have tremendous upside (which, BTW, is what Mike Brey told a friend of mine and fellow Hoya fan). Great report on Jason and Julian, too.

[lichoya68]

great point about julian coaching up henry and henry listening go hoyas MEAN TEAM MACHINE ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[mfrekko]

Reading these reports starts to get the juices flowing. Can't wait for the games to begin next month.

As I've stated elsewhere on this board, the league has a lack of quality big men. Julian, Nate, Moses, and Henry will have real opportunities to step up and make an impact this year. I don't think our guard-oriented offense will be a detriment in too many conference games this year.

[HoyasAreHungry]

practice was..as coach warned "one week in" quality. You could tell that the crispness wasn't there yet. Austins shot was off today saw some good things from the frosh....everyone besides moses seems to have a pretty good grasp of the system. Bowen is not afraid to take his shot...he will be a good one hopefully in spot minutes this year and going forward. Markel is gona be great. He's fast, takes it to the hole and undercontrol the whole time. Contrary to lic i need to see more out of Chris...was not making great decisions today and threw the ball away too much. I have full confidence he will turn it around come the open of the season. Hate to say it but Jerelle looked the most comfortable running the system and playing hard. Again this was just one practice one week in and was to be expected.

It was great to be able to watch how JTIII runs a practice. He really emphased ballhandling shooting and game situations running the offense today.

Overall a really good event. Props to the HHC for putting it on as usual!

Practice Facility

....JTIII's comment about the practice facility was less than encouraging. As HSB mentioned someone asked if the campaign was kicking off. Coach looked around and said "i am looking to see if someone's here (administrator i assumed) that could answer that question." After not seeing someone he was searching out he simply said "it better". That was NOT a good response. Seemed like a sensitive subject.

I think we as a bball community need to all do our part to write to the AD write to DeGeoia and really make it clear there is support for this thing. Does NOT sound like a done deal at all. Maybe i was interpreting wrong but coach's comment left me feeling less than optimistic. We need this thing to stay competitive in recruiting/the national scene and to retain JTIII...

[kghoya]

Other interesting comments from the Q&A:

**Hoyas would play in the BB&T if it made sense. Georgetown isn't going to play in it just to play in it. The opponent would have to quality. He made sure to include that he has coached in the BB&T while at Princeton.

**He has no interest in giving Maryland a 2-1 to start the series. He said he's been answering that question since his initial press conference and nothing has changed. Maryland feels that they are owed a game and he obviously doesn't see it that way.

**Said that when a recruit comes on an official visit they try and make the weekend feel as much like a typical weekend as possible. He said he knows other schools do things differently but he wants the kid and his parents to have a realistic view of what things will be like. The recruit goes to Verizon, takes a tour of campus, can play pick-up before practice but not during practice, a few dinners are involved, hanging out with current players, and a talk with JT3 about life, their role in the program, goals, etc.

**He said that the Verizon Center offers lots of scheduling difficulties. The example he used was that he can't just call up Tom Izzo and schedule a game. He said numerous potential games have never materialized because of the VC factor.

I really enjoyed the Open Practice/Meet the Team Day last year. This year's version was much better. Mainly the practice portion of the event. I could have sat there all day watching them practice.

[lichoya68]

kg good summary of the coaches answer to what the recruits get on their 48 hour visit basically to REALLY see what the bball student athletes get for real a class pick up game watch a practice hang out.. then when they come after some schools give them fairyland then they would arrive at that school and be REALLY disappointed with the reality GREAT ANSWER TO A GREAT QUESTION BY A GREAT COACH go hoyas

[lichoya68]

also coach did let fans stay and watch a real workout... somebody pointed out that last year or one year he dismissed us cause he needed to yell at them and he didnt want to do it pulblically to emabarass them.. howeve im STILL waiting to see that 1-3-1- zone press he promised i knew THAT wasnt gonna happen yup GO HOYAS

[gtowndynasty]

Can someone talk about the sets? III always lets the starters and big minute players run through the scrimmages and system sets together. Was this true at this open practice? In other words, if he employed the same schedule and sets he usually does, it should provide a glimpse into who may be starting or playing heavy minutes..

[lichoya68]

dont think so he had all mixed up as i could see in fact i was looking for that but really looked like he mixed it up which may mean something OR NOT who knows im STILL waiting to see that 1-3-1- he promised NOT go hoyas think coach knows what hes a doing except that ooc schedule WOWOWO even he said it was tough but what was needed go hoyas go coach even without the 1-3-1- but you never know ;D ;D

[hsb]

Agree the practice was entertaining but raw. Alot of energy from the fresh plus Julian, jason and Jerelle.

As for the fresh:

Bowen is going to be a real player on offense. On defense, he needs some work (going for every pump fake, gettin beat back door, not moving his feet, etc. . .). Noonetheless, he brings the WOW athletic factor with a nice stroke and super quick first step. Nate will be a good junk man this year (think Kurt Rambis w/ the Lakers, not Tyler Hansborough at UNC). However, offensively, very limited for now, except around the bucket where he has good aggressiveness and serious ups for . . .I'm not going to say it. Markel is the real deal. If Chris gets crazy with the ball (like he did multiple times in the scrimmage) look to see more and more Markel as the season moves on. Moses is a project but with an apparent good attitude and unbelievable NBA body. However, I don't see him being ready to contribute in a meaningful way this year.

As for the rest:

No doubt Chris, Austin and Jason will be ready. However, the surprise for me was Julian who looked bigger and moved better than he did last year (full speed reverse dunks on drills w/ ease, good footwork in both the high and low post, great passing, all around quicker and more confident to the ball and with the ball).

I could say all of the same things about Jerelle who is like a mini Vaughn.

Hollis is like a bigger Bowen. Impressive athleticim, handle and stroke. Needs work defensively and w/ a little more banging. We will need him to hit the boards this year as we play w/o a true center (unfortunately, I think folks are going to realize what a good rebounder Monroe was).

Gotta love Henry. Great attitude. Hard worker. He needs to keep working and playing hard. Hopefully, he will eventually be able to contribute like the big kid at Duke last year if he keeps working. He has more talent and better talent around him than Zoubek did last year. Just needs to figure out how to use his size like Zoubek learned to do (after 3 1/2 years). Henry has 2 years left to figure it out.

When asked which upperclassman improved the most since last year, Coach T said w/o hesitation, "Doherty". He really looked good but I can't see him cracking a very competitive back court for any serious time. But you never know.

All in all, an impressive start. Let's hope for a very impressive finish.

[prhoya]

Oct 24, 2010 12:04:01 GMT -5 kghoya said:

**Said that when a recruit comes on an official visit they try and make the weekend feel as much like a typical weekend as possible. He said he knows other schools do things differently but he wants the kid and his parents to have a realistic view of what things will be like. The recruit goes to Verizon, takes a tour of campus, can play pick-up before practice but not during practice, a few dinners are involved, hanging out with current players, and a talk with JT3 about life, their role in the program, goals, etc.

Excellent work, JT3 and staff! This is why we have to trust the staff. It's the best way to find out who's the best recruit for GU.

As to the VC factor, I'm guessing the new owner could help if asked. A game vs. MSU would be a sell-out and a no-brainer.

Thanks to everyone for the great reports! Good job, hsb.