sleepy
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Post by sleepy on Feb 18, 2015 12:28:56 GMT -5
I want to revel in this game a bit more. - One of the most interesting things about this team to me has been how it's the anti-III team. Or at least, how it differs from his early successful teams. Those teams got better shots than the opponents, made more shots and defended the rim well, winning more on simply shooting better than turning the ball over less or winning the rebounding battle (though his best teams did both). That's not a bad way to win -- shooting is the most important of the so-called four factors. But it can be inconsistent. This team doesn't always shoot well, partially because of who we were playing and partially because, well, a lot of the team can't shoot. But it has won the rebounding and turnover battles more often than not -- meaning we are getting more shots than our opponents. When we do shoot well on top of it... that's where 20 point blowouts come from.
- Our shooting wasn't hot shooting yesterday. We got a ton of easy shots -- maybe for the first time this year I felt like the offense was generating shots I'm used to seeing Georgetown get. Lots of dunk and layup opportunities off the dribble or movement. Some cuts (even though we still tend to miss a lot of them).
- A large part of that was DSR. He didn't shoot well, but the guy who many painted as one dimensional ... wow. Ten boards, but more importantly, 6 assists + at least 2 "assists" on plays that ended in fouls plus a hockey assist on that great play that Hopkins couldn't finish. No, he's not a point guard that controls the offense, and yes, he played most of the game, but he's far from a 2 guard anymore. And he took his shots, too.
- Plays that portend well: Josh passing out for a Trawick 3; Peak's 3; every offensive board; Ike's dunk, of course.
- It's worth noting that Peak would be having a pretty good rookie season if he could hit a 3. I'll take 1-3. Making 33% of his threes would make a huge difference for him across the board.
- I'm going to go back to winning the "shots" battle. People have talked about how III's teams are always bad at rebounding; this team is not. It's not III's best offensive rebounding team (not by far), BUT it is one of his best defensive rebounding teams. Especially now that Ike is rebounding so well.
- We still give up too many threes, but the defense against SJU (and yes, I know, Lavin, etc) was legitimately strong. The freshmen seem much more up to speed. That week did us good on offense AND defense.
- Gotta save the last bullet for Ike. Some of our recent win streak is SHU and SJU, no doubt, but it's amazing how much he opens up the offense with his ability to stretch the D, create shots, offense rebound, and he cuts well. Now that's rebounding well and not getting lost of D, it's like trading for your second best player mid-season. That's what it feels like anyway. I think the Butler game will be a good test to see if he's feasting on weaker defenses.
I'm not sure how it can be argued that Peak ISN'T having a pretty good rookie season. His defense has improved ten fold, he is the third leading scorer, and he has started every game he hasn't been injured in. He clearly has some areas to improve, but as far as freshman go, I'd say he has had a pretty good season.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2015 12:29:50 GMT -5
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njhoya78
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Post by njhoya78 on Feb 18, 2015 12:31:14 GMT -5
That's beautiful! Even offered up the tie in SJU colors!
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mfk24
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Post by mfk24 on Feb 18, 2015 12:32:30 GMT -5
It's still not a fair comparison. I'd imagine that Marquette typically draws most of its students locally, they stay local when they graduate, and really the list of things to do in Milwaukee is probably a quarter of the list of things to do in DC. Its the same reason Creighton will always draw big numbers no matter how good or bad they are. Since you are bringing up additional non-campus issues contributing to attendance (i.e., fewer things to do in Milwaukee and a more localized and active alumni base), let's take a look at some more numbers. The City of Milwaukee is the 31st largest city in the United States, with a population of 594,833 in the most recent census. When you factor in the Milwaukee metropolitan area, the population expands to 2,040,048 as of 2013 (29th in the nation). The City of Washington is the 29th largest city in the United States, with a population of 646,449 in the most recent census. When you factor in the metropolitan area, the population expands to 5,860,342 (7th in the nation). Yes, there are more things to do in Washington; whether it's two times, four times or forty times more is really unprovable. The fact is that metro DC has many, many more people as well. No, they are not all GU grads, and not even GU fans, necessarily. We should be drawing better attendance numbers generally, and the numbers for prior seasons (which are also available on the website whose link was posted by Big Dog) show that our attendance numbers have dropped in recent seasons, and that GU's rank in attendance has really plummeted. This is a new phenomenon, and I don't believe that it has anything to do with there suddenly being other entertainment options available to Hoya students and Washingtonians. Bottom line, to draw your average, everyday bandwagon fan, in this area, we have to be consistently good, ranked, and win in the post season. Following our sweet 16 and final 4 years, attendance was thru the roof. They had to move students to the 400s to fit them all. We sustained that for a few seasons and then when our recent success diminished so did the attendance. Maybe it's the city itself. Even when the old Washington Bullets were coming of an NBA championship they still had empty seats all around the Cap Centre. There aren't a multitude of supporters for this iteration of Wizards either. They couldn't fill the arena for a game 6 against the Pacers in the playoffs.
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jwp91
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Post by jwp91 on Feb 18, 2015 12:34:36 GMT -5
Big Dog clearly speaks with more experience, but from my one visit to the Bradley Center, the MU game felt much more like the strongly supported, home town team that did any Hoya games I attended.
Count me in the camp that is bewildered at the level of student interest.
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jwp91
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Post by jwp91 on Feb 18, 2015 12:36:55 GMT -5
I want to revel in this game a bit more. - One of the most interesting things about this team to me has been how it's the anti-III team. Or at least, how it differs from his early successful teams. Those teams got better shots than the opponents, made more shots and defended the rim well, winning more on simply shooting better than turning the ball over less or winning the rebounding battle (though his best teams did both). That's not a bad way to win -- shooting is the most important of the so-called four factors. But it can be inconsistent. This team doesn't always shoot well, partially because of who we were playing and partially because, well, a lot of the team can't shoot. But it has won the rebounding and turnover battles more often than not -- meaning we are getting more shots than our opponents. When we do shoot well on top of it... that's where 20 point blowouts come from.
- Our shooting wasn't hot shooting yesterday. We got a ton of easy shots -- maybe for the first time this year I felt like the offense was generating shots I'm used to seeing Georgetown get. Lots of dunk and layup opportunities off the dribble or movement. Some cuts (even though we still tend to miss a lot of them).
- A large part of that was DSR. He didn't shoot well, but the guy who many painted as one dimensional ... wow. Ten boards, but more importantly, 6 assists + at least 2 "assists" on plays that ended in fouls plus a hockey assist on that great play that Hopkins couldn't finish. No, he's not a point guard that controls the offense, and yes, he played most of the game, but he's far from a 2 guard anymore. And he took his shots, too.
- Plays that portend well: Josh passing out for a Trawick 3; Peak's 3; every offensive board; Ike's dunk, of course.
- It's worth noting that Peak would be having a pretty good rookie season if he could hit a 3. I'll take 1-3. Making 33% of his threes would make a huge difference for him across the board.
- I'm going to go back to winning the "shots" battle. People have talked about how III's teams are always bad at rebounding; this team is not. It's not III's best offensive rebounding team (not by far), BUT it is one of his best defensive rebounding teams. Especially now that Ike is rebounding so well.
- We still give up too many threes, but the defense against SJU (and yes, I know, Lavin, etc) was legitimately strong. The freshmen seem much more up to speed. That week did us good on offense AND defense.
- Gotta save the last bullet for Ike. Some of our recent win streak is SHU and SJU, no doubt, but it's amazing how much he opens up the offense with his ability to stretch the D, create shots, offense rebound, and he cuts well. Now that's rebounding well and not getting lost of D, it's like trading for your second best player mid-season. That's what it feels like anyway. I think the Butler game will be a good test to see if he's feasting on weaker defenses.
I'm not sure how it can be argued that Peak ISN'T having a pretty good rookie season. His defense has improved ten fold, he is the third leading scorer, and he has started every game he hasn't been injured in. He clearly has some areas to improve, but as far as freshman go, I'd say he has had a pretty good season. He has....but he contributed to our setting ridiculously high expectations of him after his first game. It is almost as if he doesn't score 15 while shooting 80% from the field on those floaters, it is a let down.
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sleepy
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Post by sleepy on Feb 18, 2015 12:40:10 GMT -5
Since you are bringing up additional non-campus issues contributing to attendance (i.e., fewer things to do in Milwaukee and a more localized and active alumni base), let's take a look at some more numbers. The City of Milwaukee is the 31st largest city in the United States, with a population of 594,833 in the most recent census. When you factor in the Milwaukee metropolitan area, the population expands to 2,040,048 as of 2013 (29th in the nation). The City of Washington is the 29th largest city in the United States, with a population of 646,449 in the most recent census. When you factor in the metropolitan area, the population expands to 5,860,342 (7th in the nation). Yes, there are more things to do in Washington; whether it's two times, four times or forty times more is really unprovable. The fact is that metro DC has many, many more people as well. No, they are not all GU grads, and not even GU fans, necessarily. We should be drawing better attendance numbers generally, and the numbers for prior seasons (which are also available on the website whose link was posted by Big Dog) show that our attendance numbers have dropped in recent seasons, and that GU's rank in attendance has really plummeted. This is a new phenomenon, and I don't believe that it has anything to do with there suddenly being other entertainment options available to Hoya students and Washingtonians. Bottom line, to draw your average, everyday bandwagon fan, in this area, we have to be consistently good, ranked, and win in the post season. Following our sweet 16 and final 4 years, attendance was thru the roof. They had to move students to the 400s to fit them all. We sustained that for a few seasons and then when our recent success diminished so did the attendance. Maybe it's the city itself. Even when the old Washington Bullets were coming of an NBA championship they still had empty seats all around the Cap Centre. There are 't a multitude of supporters for this iteration of Wizards either. They couldn't fill the arena for a game 6 against the Pacers in the playoffs. Yea, I mean, there is a pretty "easy" solution for the attendance issues and it is winning a couple of games in a tournament in March. It's unfortunate that that is the case and that this team is reaping the seeds sewn by past teams but I don't think there is any great mystery for attendance issues, especially considering the conference change. Either win your big games early in the season (we didn't do) or win big in March, otherwise you are going to have the attendance issue we currently have. I think there are other things that the school and AD can do to fix the student attendance, but until they figure that out those are the two options.
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SFHoya99
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Post by SFHoya99 on Feb 18, 2015 12:41:46 GMT -5
Semantics of what a pretty good season is aside, Peak is the only non-Hopkins normal rotation player under 100 in offensive efficiency over the course of the season. I agree his defense has been pretty good and improving, but in terms of offense, he's performed pretty well across the board except... he's shot 23% from three. Getting that up would also open up his drives more.
It wasn't a criticism.
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njhoya78
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Post by njhoya78 on Feb 18, 2015 12:44:34 GMT -5
I think mfk24 is onto something here. The devotion of sports fans in metro DC is not as unwavering as in other cities. The Bullets never drew well at Capital Centre, and until this season, the Wizards didn't do great at the gate either. The Capitals almost closed up shop years ago due to attendance issues, and needed a "Save Our Caps" campaign plus Alexander Ovechkin to get over the top; I wonder what it will be like when Ovie retires. The Nationals draw well now, but again, let's see what happens when this small window of opportunity overt the next two seasons expires.
I suppose that DC is a sports city of front runners. When you view GU attendance in that context, what have the Hoyas given the average fan over the past few seasons? Hoya attendance may well reflect the impact of early March failures, and the sense that doom is again impending. Perhaps this will be the team that changes the dynamics.
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sleepy
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Post by sleepy on Feb 18, 2015 12:55:49 GMT -5
Semantics of what a pretty good season is aside, Peak is the only non-Hopkins normal rotation player under 100 in offensive efficiency over the course of the season. I agree his defense has been pretty good and improving, but in terms of offense, he's performed pretty well across the board except... he's shot 23% from three. Getting that up would also open up his drives more. It wasn't a criticism. I agree. What is interesting is that, to me, he seems to be a more talented Trawick with many of the same flaws that he had his freshman and sophomore year. Namely, shooting finishing and forcing. They are all issues that are easily improved upon with some effective gym time and just age and experience. Luckily Peak doesn't have any serious form issues on his shot that need to be fixed, I just think he needs to use his legs more to make it more consistent.
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EtomicB
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Post by EtomicB on Feb 18, 2015 12:56:27 GMT -5
Was that the best game Hopkins has ever played? 5/5 shooting, no really stupid fouls (the charge was an abominable call by the refs and the kind of flop that usually get ignored). Only two turnovers, which I feel like were semi-reasonable turnovers (ie passes to cutters that didn't quite connect, rather than losing control of his dribble while trying to drive into a crowded lane). 8 rebounds, 3 assists. He missed 2 layups when he was fouled, and his free throw shooting was subpar, but aside from that, he had a really good all-around performance. If we get that Hopkins going forward, that'd be huge+100 If Hopkins continues to play the role of defender/rebounder/ball mover/bunny maker this team will have a great chance to reach its potential in the coming weeks.. I'll add if Paul can continue to settle into his role off the bench, it'll be a big help as well.. 6pts, 4 boards & 2 assts in 15 minutes of PT works in my book..
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hoyainspirit
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Post by hoyainspirit on Feb 18, 2015 13:01:17 GMT -5
I really hope our strong defensive play continues. Quietly, we are up to #20 in Adjusted Efficiency.
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Post by flyoverhoya on Feb 18, 2015 13:09:24 GMT -5
Big Dog clearly speaks with more experience, but from my one visit to the Bradley Center, the MU game felt much more like the strongly supported, home town team that did any Hoya games I attended. Count me in the camp that is bewildered at the level of student interest. The Bradley Center is much closer to Marquette than Verizon is to Georgetown. It's maybe a 15 minute walk from the middle of campus. Marquette also draws from a pretty wide area - I'm 100 miles north of MKE and know a bunch of locals with season tickets.
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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Feb 18, 2015 13:09:27 GMT -5
Not to mention that the states of Nebraska and Wisconsin have these huge, fiercely loyal sports fan populations. DC is like the opposite of that, unless you are talking about the Redskins. In particular SO MANY people living within 5 miles of Verizon who have the kind of discretionary income to go to these games are not DC natives and have no connection to Gtown. By contrast, people in Omaha or Milwaukee think it is really, really weird if you live in those cities without having grown up or gone to school there (and they're right!) Sure there are things about what Creighton and Marquette are doing that Georgetown I suppose could try to do more of, but I think the real takeaway should be that under the circumstances, attendance actually isn't all that horrible--it is just made to look really bad because of the massive venue in which we play. This is a good point and it is why you cannot simply say that the DC metro area has a lot more people, therefore, it should be easier to draw bigger crowds. That's simply not the case. First, as noted above, the midwest is a basketball hotbed in the country, and thus, overall interest is significantly higher. Second, when you get to smaller cities, the entertainment options tend to be fewer. For example, just because New York City alone has 8 million people (not even counting suburbs) doesn't mean that St. John's will draw great (and they don't). In fact, I think a larger population can often have the reverse effect - the area is so huge and there are so many different things to do that it is hard to build a sports culture (especially when the metro area has 2 football teams, 2 baseball teams, 2 minor league baseball teams, 3 hockey teams, and 2 NBA teams).
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Post by williambraskyiii on Feb 18, 2015 13:25:07 GMT -5
I want to revel in this game a bit more. - One of the most interesting things about this team to me has been how it's the anti-III team. Or at least, how it differs from his early successful teams. Those teams got better shots than the opponents, made more shots and defended the rim well, winning more on simply shooting better than turning the ball over less or winning the rebounding battle (though his best teams did both). That's not a bad way to win -- shooting is the most important of the so-called four factors. But it can be inconsistent. This team doesn't always shoot well, partially because of who we were playing and partially because, well, a lot of the team can't shoot. But it has won the rebounding and turnover battles more often than not -- meaning we are getting more shots than our opponents. When we do shoot well on top of it... that's where 20 point blowouts come from.
- Our shooting wasn't hot shooting yesterday. We got a ton of easy shots -- maybe for the first time this year I felt like the offense was generating shots I'm used to seeing Georgetown get. Lots of dunk and layup opportunities off the dribble or movement. Some cuts (even though we still tend to miss a lot of them).
- A large part of that was DSR. He didn't shoot well, but the guy who many painted as one dimensional ... wow. Ten boards, but more importantly, 6 assists + at least 2 "assists" on plays that ended in fouls plus a hockey assist on that great play that Hopkins couldn't finish. No, he's not a point guard that controls the offense, and yes, he played most of the game, but he's far from a 2 guard anymore. And he took his shots, too.
- Plays that portend well: Josh passing out for a Trawick 3; Peak's 3; every offensive board; Ike's dunk, of course.
- It's worth noting that Peak would be having a pretty good rookie season if he could hit a 3. I'll take 1-3. Making 33% of his threes would make a huge difference for him across the board.
- I'm going to go back to winning the "shots" battle. People have talked about how III's teams are always bad at rebounding; this team is not. It's not III's best offensive rebounding team (not by far), BUT it is one of his best defensive rebounding teams. Especially now that Ike is rebounding so well.
- We still give up too many threes, but the defense against SJU (and yes, I know, Lavin, etc) was legitimately strong. The freshmen seem much more up to speed. That week did us good on offense AND defense.
- Gotta save the last bullet for Ike. Some of our recent win streak is SHU and SJU, no doubt, but it's amazing how much he opens up the offense with his ability to stretch the D, create shots, offense rebound, and he cuts well. Now that's rebounding well and not getting lost of D, it's like trading for your second best player mid-season. That's what it feels like anyway. I think the Butler game will be a good test to see if he's feasting on weaker defenses.
I'm not sure how it can be argued that Peak ISN'T having a pretty good rookie season. His defense has improved ten fold, he is the third leading scorer, and he has started every game he hasn't been injured in. He clearly has some areas to improve, but as far as freshman go, I'd say he has had a pretty good season. After that Joshua kick-out to Trawick for the triple, Trawick pointed to the bench - I think at JT3 - and JT3 smiled. He really seems to gesticulate on the sidelines when the guys miss a good entry pass to Joshua. To me, that is so important - reward him when he establishes a good position, especially when he has a serious mismatch or is facing an Everly Brother. Refs called the game loosely last night. It is so hard to face inconsistent whistles night-to-night because I can assure you that a first round game against a double-digit seed won't be called loosely. Joshua need to keep getting better on the defensive end and playing smart when it comes to challenging folks on the perimeter. I swear the ref was about to whistle him for a foul when he caused that tie-up in the second half until it was so clearly all-ball that he was forced to deviate from his preconceived plan.
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EasyEd
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Post by EasyEd on Feb 18, 2015 13:28:02 GMT -5
Attendance is also strongly influenced by the publicity, or lack thereof, in the local media. This time of year Hoya basketball is a very poor cousin to the Redskins, Wizards, Caps, Nationals and Terps. Here in SC I get a daily sports update from the Washington Post and there has never been an item on the Hoyas. Any ideas on how to improve the local TV, newspaper and online presence of the Hoyas?
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DanMcQ
Moderator
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Post by DanMcQ on Feb 18, 2015 13:42:49 GMT -5
As another who grew up in Milwaukee, Big Dog and flyoverhoya both make valid points. Marquette/Milwaukee/Bradley Center is at best an apples and orange comparison to Georgetown/DC/Verizon.
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Big Dog
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Post by Big Dog on Feb 18, 2015 13:49:23 GMT -5
Attendance is also strongly influenced by the publicity, or lack thereof, in the local media. This time of year Hoya basketball is a very poor cousin to the Redskins, Wizards, Caps, Nationals and Terps. Here in SC I get a daily sports update from the Washington Post and there has never been an item on the Hoyas. Any ideas on how to improve the local TV, newspaper and online presence of the Hoyas? Yep. Win. Games. In. The. NCAA. Tournament.
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Cambridge
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Post by Cambridge on Feb 18, 2015 13:59:29 GMT -5
I think mfk24 is onto something here. The devotion of sports fans in metro DC is not as unwavering as in other cities. The Bullets never drew well at Capital Centre, and until this season, the Wizards didn't do great at the gate either. The Capitals almost closed up shop years ago due to attendance issues, and needed a "Save Our Caps" campaign plus Alexander Ovechkin to get over the top; I wonder what it will be like when Ovie retires. The Nationals draw well now, but again, let's see what happens when this small window of opportunity overt the next two seasons expires. I suppose that DC is a sports city of front runners. When you view GU attendance in that context, what have the Hoyas given the average fan over the past few seasons? Hoya attendance may well reflect the impact of early March failures, and the sense that doom is again impending. Perhaps this will be the team that changes the dynamics. As a native of the region and a DC sports fan I think this has a lot to do with it. DC is a pretty crap sports town. Too many who would love to live with a winner but very few who are willing to die with a team that's struggling.
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Cambridge
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Post by Cambridge on Feb 18, 2015 14:04:19 GMT -5
Attendance is also strongly influenced by the publicity, or lack thereof, in the local media. This time of year Hoya basketball is a very poor cousin to the Redskins, Wizards, Caps, Nationals and Terps. Here in SC I get a daily sports update from the Washington Post and there has never been an item on the Hoyas. Any ideas on how to improve the local TV, newspaper and online presence of the Hoyas? Even the Wizards have a tough time getting any traction from the local press...
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