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Post by wahoohoya on Dec 11, 2012 11:55:42 GMT -5
The only starter I can see III removing minutes from is Hopkins, and that is simply because he is screwing up the offense by being a mix of selfish and clueless about his own abilities. If you cannot dominate or even stay on the floor against Longwood, what are you going to do in the Big East? Moses is not ready either, but I think he has a better understanding of his own ability right now and therefore can make positive plays. If Hopkins continues at his current level then he needs to lose minutes to Moses. What are you going to do against the Big East? I dunno - maybe play like he did against IU or UCLA? Look - I hate to seem like a Hopkins apologist. I admit he needs to play much smarter and finish better. But it seems to me that he has been playing more aggressively against lesser teams (which he should be doing) while attempting to play more within himself against better teams. The efficiency stats probably won't confirm that theory but I'm going with it anyway. Regardless, I do look for Hopkins to take a lesser role when the Big East season comes around and for his efficiency to improve somewhat. But of course even if that happens, he will still get slammed on this board for every missed shot or turnover, while failing to get credit for any decent play (i.e. the nice shot he made late in the second half against Towson).
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sead43
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
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Post by sead43 on Dec 11, 2012 11:59:29 GMT -5
I realize this is Longwood and not the highest-interest game of the year, but this is a good illustration of why being connected to a football conference helps. Is there any chance these games would be on TV in an A-10 type basketball conference? No chance. For the last few years SNY has basically adopted Georgetown as one of the "New York" teams. They carry just about all games that are not on national broadcast. They even snag games that are on ESPN3, blacking them out on that service. i have always been curious about exactly how/why that happens, because it is such a luxury for a fan here in NYC. as best i understand it, it happens because SNY is the "flagship station" of the Big East Network, which itself is an entity of ESPN. so SNY picks up everything they can that's on the Big East Network. MASN doesn't really directly produce any of our games themselves, they pick these games up from the Big East Network as well. needless to say, one of the most practical effects of the new TV deal from a fan's perspective will be how much this changes. can a non-ESPN player set up something similar? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ESPN_Plus
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rosslynhoya
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Post by rosslynhoya on Dec 11, 2012 12:01:41 GMT -5
I strongly suspect that Hopkins not only has a green light from JT3 and the team to shoot, but that he's actually being encouraged to take these shots. Long-term success depends upon these little bunnies and hookers in the lane falling more often than not. Shying away from the GU big man's tools of the trade this early in the season would be disastrous; he's got to keep practicing these in a real game situation if he's forced to try them against Louisville and cuse.
As noted above, he can always throttle back later.
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MCIGuy
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Anyone here? What am I supposed to update?
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Post by MCIGuy on Dec 11, 2012 12:02:21 GMT -5
Others would point out how pressuring a team and increasing the pace of the game increases your chances to score and it's a blueprint for scoring overall. Amazing isn't it? That is all we have been asking, begging for awhile now. Doesn't have to be all game or even most of the game. Just a commitment to doing it for much of each game. Most teams won't be as bad as handling the press as Longwood, and it is doubtful any team the Hoyas will face for the remainder of the season would turn over the ball 30 times in a similar situation. Nonetheless a valuable weapon for the Hoyas, if they work on it, is pressing fullcourt. It won't lead to turnovers in most possessions (and when it doesn't the Hoyas can fall back on their terrific halfcourt defense), but the turnovers that the Hoyas do create can still be a boon for the offense. I tend to get frustrated when the Hoyas struggle on offense and the coaches and players respond with the "shots weren't falling line". It suggests that the fate of a game or a margin of victory/loss is up to the Basketball Gods. If a shot doesn't fall, oh well, what can one do? Ridiculous. If your shots in the halfcourt aren't falling you have to compensate by driving and taking the ball to the hoop, by picking up the defensive pressure and getting baskets off of the opponents' miscues. Unfortunately too often the Hoyas "settle" for a halfcourt game of long jumpers. This is why I tend to not be overly pleased even when the Hoyas are scorching the nets from beyond the arc because it can be looked at as fool's gold. Jumpshots will eventually, and often, fail you in games so you don't want to rely too much on them. I prefer when the Hoyas mix it up by posting up, driving, pressuring AND taking jumpshots. Obviously the team has a lot to work on. The guys have regressed on offense since the Indiana game (unless if even that far-from-spectacular performance was a fluke). The rebounding sucks still. The interior game is lacking. I still have hopes for Hopkins and won't abandon my expectations of him just yet, but clearly he requires areas of improvement. Then again everyone needs improvement. Still I was happy to see III have the team press like that. I've never seen any of his Hoya teams be that defensively aggressive for so much of a game regardless of the competition. More of that please. And continued more time for Moses and Bowen. There's nothing passive by either of them. On a shallow note Bowen has had two dunks in the past few games that have had me rushing for the replay function.
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rockhoya
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Post by rockhoya on Dec 11, 2012 12:14:59 GMT -5
If we can put up 89 points while JT3 allowing one of our starters to be "a black hole on offense" I say keep it up. Aaron is the best leaper on this team, I think comparable to PEjr because he's smoother. It's definitely between Bowen and Pat for best leapers of the JT3 era. Jabril is right behind, but he hasn't shown as much in games. As for overall athletes, Whitt is up there, as are Jason, Chris, Dajuan, Jeff now, and believe it or not Mikael. He's at least the most athletic big under JT3. I, for one, do not believe it. Mikael has not done one thing all season that I would call "athletic." I am not as panicked about him as some people are, and I think he will be fine as our starting center for the rest of the year. But ranking him as one of the eight best athletes and the most athletic big in III's tenure? Absurd. Absurd? Athleticism isn't only sportscenter top plays. I'm talking about coordination, fluidity, body control, balance, nimble feet and other attributes. Watch him run the floor. It's effortless. Which big has been more athletic in JT3's tenure? I'd love to hear it.
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DallasHoya
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Post by DallasHoya on Dec 11, 2012 12:15:10 GMT -5
Watched the game at a bar without the sound.
Clearly the most entertaining part of the game was reading the closed captioning of Mark Tillmon's comments.
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Boz
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Post by Boz on Dec 11, 2012 12:17:08 GMT -5
So much angst around here.
Week until the next game, week until the game after that, two weeks more for the Big East to start.
Ye gods, I shudder to think how bad we are going to be, how much more we're going to have to work on, or how much we have to change our game over that time.
I'm pretty sure this board could make Matthieu Ricard cry and want to kill himself.
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rockhoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
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Post by rockhoya on Dec 11, 2012 12:23:00 GMT -5
If we can put up 89 points while JT3 allowing one of our starters to be "a black hole on offense" I say keep it up. Aaron is the best leaper on this team, I think comparable to PEjr because he's smoother. It's definitely between Bowen and Pat for best leapers of the JT3 era. Jabril is right behind, but he hasn't shown as much in games. As for overall athletes, Whitt is up there, as are Jason, Chris, Dajuan, Jeff now, and believe it or not Mikael. He's at least the most athletic big under JT3. Since this is about athleticism-the most athletic big that III's ever had is Brandon Bolden. Yeah that's what I was hoping, we'll see next year
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ephoya04
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Post by ephoya04 on Dec 11, 2012 12:23:29 GMT -5
I, for one, do not believe it. Mikael has not done one thing all season that I would call "athletic." I am not as panicked about him as some people are, and I think he will be fine as our starting center for the rest of the year. But ranking him as one of the eight best athletes and the most athletic big in III's tenure? Absurd. Absurd? Athleticism isn't only sportscenter top plays. I'm talking about coordination, fluidity, body control, balance, nimble feet and other attributes. Watch him run the floor. It's effortless. Which big has been more athletic in JT3's tenure? I'd love to hear it. I would have to chime in with Ewing Jr. Arguably the best athlete (in the NBA sense: explosive, leeping, long etc) of the III era.
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dense
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Post by dense on Dec 11, 2012 12:33:44 GMT -5
Just watching Bolden and Hayes move, I have high hopes for their future. When/if the light comes on they will be dominate in whatever the BE looks like.
As for the future, we have to get another big going. Our 1st game is @marquette and they for once have really good bigs this time around. Otule and Gardner along with Jamil Wilson will get Hopkins in foul trouble. Someone needs to get those minutes cause Lubick can't face that all by himself in the box. I shudder at the prospect of Whitt or Porter is guarding Gardner.
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nychoya3
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Post by nychoya3 on Dec 11, 2012 12:48:40 GMT -5
Well, we can definitively say that if basketball were a contest of whose bigs can run the floor gracefully, we would be the best team in the nation. I get goosebumps just thinking their regal stride, more floating than running, as they glide towards the hoop.
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SFHoya99
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Post by SFHoya99 on Dec 11, 2012 13:09:34 GMT -5
Well, we can definitively say that if basketball were a contest of whose bigs can run the floor gracefully, we would be the best team in the nation. I get goosebumps just thinking their regal stride, more floating than running, as they glide towards the hoop. It's almost too bad you have to handle a basketball.
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Nevada Hoya
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Post by Nevada Hoya on Dec 11, 2012 13:18:57 GMT -5
I too agree that Hopkins should practice his moves and try to be aggressive and try to score. It is better than passing it around on the perimeter and chucking up a three, which we haven't been making (2-15 for other than Starks). He must learn to control his fouling tendencies, and I hope this game against Longwood has taught him, what is a foul, and I also hope he can remedy this. But I don't think he has been taking awful shots; it is just that they haven't been going in.
I also liked Moses' play. It was mentioned that he has learned the system and did not seem to force his play. It was good that he was able to play for an extended period of time vs Longwood.
And a shout to Caprio and Bowen. Definitely did not play like subs.
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Post by wahoohoya on Dec 11, 2012 13:45:11 GMT -5
I strongly suspect that Hopkins not only has a green light from JT3 and the team to shoot, but that he's actually being encouraged to take these shots. Long-term success depends upon these little bunnies and hookers in the lane falling more often than not. Shying away from the GU big man's tools of the trade this early in the season would be disastrous; he's got to keep practicing these in a real game situation if he's forced to try them against Louisville and cuse. As noted above, he can always throttle back later. That's crazy talk. Why would a coach sacrifice efficiency stats in November/December for the hope of having a more dynamic team in February/March?
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Post by daytonahoya31 on Dec 11, 2012 13:54:15 GMT -5
I, for one, do not believe it. Mikael has not done one thing all season that I would call "athletic." I am not as panicked about him as some people are, and I think he will be fine as our starting center for the rest of the year. But ranking him as one of the eight best athletes and the most athletic big in III's tenure? Absurd. Absurd? Athleticism isn't only sportscenter top plays. I'm talking about coordination, fluidity, body control, balance, nimble feet and other attributes. Watch him run the floor. It's effortless. Which big has been more athletic in JT3's tenure? I'd love to hear it. You must have not been a Hoya fan when Greg Monroe was on our team. He's easily more athletic than Mikael...
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SFHoya99
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Post by SFHoya99 on Dec 11, 2012 14:16:56 GMT -5
Absurd? Athleticism isn't only sportscenter top plays. I'm talking about coordination, fluidity, body control, balance, nimble feet and other attributes. Watch him run the floor. It's effortless. Which big has been more athletic in JT3's tenure? I'd love to hear it. You must have not been a Hoya fan when Greg Monroe was on our team. He's easily more athletic than Mikael... Jeff, Greg, Pat, DaJuan (if you consider him a big(ger) man) were all clearly more athletic. Running up and down the court isn't the end-all, be-all of athleticism.
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Boz
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Post by Boz on Dec 11, 2012 14:41:41 GMT -5
I propose a round of Ninja Warrior for the Hoyas to settle this question.
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CO_Hoya
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Post by CO_Hoya on Dec 11, 2012 14:41:51 GMT -5
One of my main takeaways from last night was from watching the bench play defense.
Bowen and Ayegba show good effort but both tend to get lost in the scheme. I wonder if they would be okay playing with the other four starters, getting lots of help to know where to go.
Domingo looks like he can become a plus-defender by watching and emulating Whittington/Porter. Seems to have the desire and skill, just plays defense like a freshman.
Watching DSR on defense makes me sad.
And on Hopkins, in the early games the team had its biggest drop-off in def. efficiency when he wasn't on the floor. So Coach may be willing to live with the offensive hit for the defensive gain. He was a net plus before the weekend games.
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Post by HometownHoya on Dec 11, 2012 15:55:14 GMT -5
Pat Ewing Jr. had some pretty sick bounce (he won the college dunk contest I think?) There is never a bad reason to post a link to this: Thank you ;D
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Post by HometownHoya on Dec 11, 2012 16:06:16 GMT -5
The only starter I can see III removing minutes from is Hopkins, and that is simply because he is screwing up the offense by being a mix of selfish and clueless about his own abilities. If you cannot dominate or even stay on the floor against Longwood, what are you going to do in the Big East? Moses is not ready either, but I think he has a better understanding of his own ability right now and therefore can make positive plays. If Hopkins continues at his current level then he needs to lose minutes to Moses. What are you going to do against the Big East? I dunno - maybe play like he did against IU or UCLA? Look - I hate to seem like a Hopkins apologist. I admit he needs to play much smarter and finish better. But it seems to me that he has been playing more aggressively against lesser teams (which he should be doing) while attempting to play more within himself against better teams. The efficiency stats probably won't confirm that theory but I'm going with it anyway. Regardless, I do look for Hopkins to take a lesser role when the Big East season comes around and for his efficiency to improve somewhat. But of course even if that happens, he will still get slammed on this board for every missed shot or turnover, while failing to get credit for any decent play (i.e. the nice shot he made late in the second half against Towson). Interesting point, he did have the reputation in HS of playing down, didnt he? Either way, any lack of minutes leads to an increase in Moses and the rest of the bench until BE play, so I don't mind. He will play better but I'm glad that we are developing another big to actually play rather then seeing Nate at the 5. Other then that, as usual, FL made all the points.
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