Post season thoughts 2015-16

[MCIGuy]

I’ll probably keep adding on to this over the next week.

-First off….DSR, Peak and Copeland were the three leading scorers this season and the only guys to average double figures. But I’m having a hard time remembering all three of them having a good game (at least offensively) all at once. That inconsistency may have been one of the key problems this past season. (I think all three played well against Duke but I’m not sure).


-Going into that final BE regular season game against Villanova Hoya Ron shared this info regarding DSR:

DSR ranks third in the BIG EAST in scoring, sixth in assists (4.6 apg), eighth in free throw percentage (81.3%), tied for third in steals (1.5 spg), fifth in 3-point field goals made (2.3/game), fifth in assist/turnover ratio (2.1 – 137 assists, 65 turnovers) and leads the league in minutes played (35.7 mpg). He is the only BIG EAST player who ranks among the top 10 in seven different statistical categories.

In BIG EAST Conference games, Smith-Rivera is third in the league with 18.0 points and fourth in assists, averaging 5.1 per game.

Wow. Those are impressive numbers. And yet it feels as if DSR had a disappointing season to an extent. Maybe it was too many moments of letting the game come to him instead of going out and taking it to the competition with more aggression. THE FS1 announcers surely made that an issue virtually every game the past two seasons it seemed.

-The times the Hoyas fell behind by ten or more points with over ten minutes left in the game? Seems too many to keep track of. The times the Hoyas were up by ten or more with ten minutes left in the game? Didn’t appear to happen much. Especially not in BE play.

-Piggy-backing off that a bit….I can’t recall a Hoya team that could go from being up by a couple, tied or down by a couple only to fall behind by ten plus in a span of a couple of minutes. There has to be a dozen games in which that appeared to happen. This was simply III’s worse defensive team. As a result of that the team could never get timely stops via their defense.

-Only five players on the roster shot a good overall FG percentage.

Peak at 49%
Hayes at 54%
Govan at 48%
Kaleb Johnson at 58% (!!!!!!)
And Mourning at 52%


Everyone else? Not so impressive.

DSR at 41%
Copeland at roughly 43%
Derrickson at 40%
Cameron at 40%
Campbell at 30%

-Taking too many three pointers negatively affected the overall fg% of a number of guys. DSR shot 33% from deep. Copeland shot only 27% and took too many threes to boot. Derrickson shot a respectable 37% but too many of those shots dropped his overall percentage. Cameron showed life and then fell back to Earth. Still 35% isn’t that bad for a guy who was really struggling last year. Campbell shot 27%. Mourning was the worse at 16% although in his defense he only attempted 7 three-pointers, making one. Peak improved greatly from the three (and virtually every category) by shooting just under 41% from the three-point line. That number becomes more impressive considering he didn’t shoot it well until BE play started. Govan shot 50% from the three-point line. Goodness. He hit a better percentage from beyond the line than he did from two-point range. Not so sure that’s a good thing but the kid is a legit long range shooter. But his 3-point percentage wasn’t even the best. That honor went to Kaleb Johnson who shot nearly 54% from downtown. He went 7 from 13 out there which is also a small sample size but impressive nonetheless. Bradley Hayes did not take one three, bless his heart.

-With those numbers I would have loved to have seen Johnson and Mourning play more. Especially Mourning who is such a good shooter from 15 feet and in but only averaged 6 minutes a game. In the meantime Copeland got too much playing time. He averaged 32 minutes a game this season, second only to DSR. I hate having too many players playing 30 or more minutes but I could have accepted it when it came to Ike if he had played great defense, crashed the boards much better or shot efficiently from the field. He didn’t do any of those things to justify his time. I wish III would have given Mourning five or six of Copeland’s minutes considering Cope spent a lot of time playing the four. Mourning’s aggression, his passion for defense and the fact that he would have taken higher percentage shots rather than settle for so many threes could have made a major difference considering all the closes losses for the Hoyas. But that’s a counter factual and therefore I can’t prove a thing.

[tashoya]

Mar 12, 2016 23:17:33 GMT -5 MCIGuy said:

I’ll probably keep adding on to this over the next week.

-First off….DSR, Peak and Copeland were the three leading scorers this season and the only guys to average double figures. But I’m having a hard time remembering all three of them having a good game (at least offensively) all at once. That inconsistency may have been one of the key problems this past season. (I think all three played well against Duke but I’m not sure).


-Going into that final BE regular season game against Villanova Hoya Ron shared this info regarding DSR:

DSR ranks third in the BIG EAST in scoring, sixth in assists (4.6 apg), eighth in free throw percentage (81.3%), tied for third in steals (1.5 spg), fifth in 3-point field goals made (2.3/game), fifth in assist/turnover ratio (2.1 – 137 assists, 65 turnovers) and leads the league in minutes played (35.7 mpg). He is the only BIG EAST player who ranks among the top 10 in seven different statistical categories.

In BIG EAST Conference games, Smith-Rivera is third in the league with 18.0 points and fourth in assists, averaging 5.1 per game.

Wow. Those are impressive numbers. And yet it feels as if DSR had a disappointing season to an extent. Maybe it was too many moments of letting the game come to him instead of going out and taking it to the competition with more aggression. THE FS1 announcers surely made that an issue virtually every game the past two seasons it seemed.

-The times the Hoyas fell behind by ten or more points with over ten minutes left in the game? Seems too many to keep track of. The times the Hoyas were up by ten or more with ten minutes left in the game? Didn’t appear to happen much. Especially not in BE play.

-Piggy-backing off that a bit….I can’t recall a Hoya team that could go from being up by a couple, tied or down by a couple only to fall behind by ten plus in a span of a couple of minutes. There has to be a dozen games in which that appeared to happen. This was simply III’s worse defensive team. As a result of that the team could never get timely stops via their defense.

-Only five players on the roster shot a good overall FG percentage.

Peak at 49%
Hayes at 54%
Govan at 48%
Kaleb Johnson at 58% (!!!!!!)
And Mourning at 52%


Everyone else? Not so impressive.

DSR at 41%
Copeland at roughly 43%
Derrickson at 40%
Cameron at 40%
Campbell at 30%

-Taking too many three pointers negatively affected the overall fg% of a number of guys. DSR shot 33% from deep. Copeland shot only 27% and took too many threes to boot. Derrickson shot a respectable 37% but too many of those shots dropped his overall percentage. Cameron showed life and then fell back to Earth. Still 35% isn’t that bad for a guy who was really struggling last year. Campbell shot 27%. Mourning was the worse at 16% although in his defense he only too 7 three-pointers, making one. Peak improved greatly from the three 9and virtually every category) by shooting just under 41% from the three-point line. That number becomes more impressive considering he didn’t shoot it well until BE play started. Govan shot 50% from the three-point line. Goodness. He hit a better percentage from beyond the line than he did from two-point range. Not so sure that’s a good thing but the kid is a legit long range shooter. But his 3-point percentage wasn’t even the best. That honor went to Kaleb Johnson who shot nearly 54% from downtown. He went 7 from 13 out there which is also a small sample size but impressive nonetheless. Bradley Hayes did not take one three, bless his heart.

-With those numbers I would have loved to have seen Johnson and Mourning play more. Especially Mourning who is such a good shooter from 15 feet and in but only averaged 6 minutes a game. In the meantime Copeland got too much playing time. He averaged 32 minutes a game this season, second only to DSR. I hate having too many players playing 30 or more minutes but I could have accepted it when it came to Ike if he had played great defense, crashed the boards much better or shot efficiently from the field. He didn’t do any of those things to justify his time. I wish III would have given Mourning five or six of Copeland’s minutes considering Cope spent a lot of time playing the four. Mourning’s aggression, his passion for defense and the fact that he would have taken higher percentage shots rather than settle for so many threes could have made a major difference considering all the closes losses for the Hoyas. But that’s a counter factual and therefore I can’t prove a thing.

Well considered and well stated post as always. The end is still too new for me to get into re-watching games or looking at stats but I agree with a lot of what you wrote. As for DSR, you made similarly good points about how it seemed watching him outside of stats. To me, for most games, it seemed that he reverted to his freshman level of defensive effort. It's a catch-22 though. Because, as you stated, the top 3 guys rarely seemed to show up on offense at the same time and because DSR played almost every minute, something had to suffer, I guess. Not that DSR is an elite defender but, because he's not, that extra effort shows up more. When he's option 1 on offense and is playing almost the entire game, every game, that little let up is glaring because the team, as a whole, was bad defensively. As JT3 said, DSR is a scorer. That's his thing. He's not a great, or even a plus, defender. You have to pair that scorer with guys that can cover that deficiency. Our guys this year were bad on D. Having your lead guard not being able to contain better than 50% of the lead guards he faced is problematic when your interior defense is suspect. I would have loved to have seen this team with all hands on deck and available to play for DSR and Bradley's senior season. I think a healthy PW and a a healthy Agau would have made a difference not just in what they, possibly, could have added but also in terms of the lineup options when those top three guys don't have it going at the same time. Cameron's biggest contribution, as far as I could tell, was communication and passing. Outside of a couple of games, I didn't feel like he was a knock down shooter at all. But he communicated well and delivered some great passes. I feel like PW could have filled that role better if available with the added bonus of being a plus defender and a better passer/facilitator. It's difficult to say what Agau would bring but he's, likely, a better defender at the 4 than the other options. Even if he's not, the added depth, considering our fouling issues, would have been very helpful.

It's in the rearview and it sucked. I hope all of the seniors find success within or without basketball. I still can't believe it's been nearly 3 1/2 years since DSR dropped 19 on Duquesne. Apparently, time flies whether you're either having fun or nearly having a heart attack during each game.

[hoyainspirit]

Mar 12, 2016 23:17:33 GMT -5 MCIGuy said:

I’ll probably keep adding on to this over the next week.

-First off….DSR, Peak and Copeland were the three leading scorers this season...

Nice post, MCI. One thing I'd like to emphasize that you state is that Peak shot the ball really well this year, and got better as the year went on. The stat eFG% adjusts for the 3 being a lower percentage shot by giving makes 50% more credit, since it's worth 50% more, while TS% also incorporates FT%. Peak was the only Hoya who was dangerous by those measures. A couple of our guys were ok, but others as you point out did not have they type of season either we or they expected. Peak shot 57% from 2 and 43% from 3 in BE play, impressive numbers indeed. His eFG% and TS% on the year were 56% and 60%, again, quite impressive stats. Finally, he got to the line a ton and, as you point out, buried his attempts.

[FLHoya]

Mar 12, 2016 23:17:33 GMT -5 MCIGuy said:

-Going into that final BE regular season game against Villanova Hoya Ron shared this info regarding DSR:

DSR ranks third in the BIG EAST in scoring, sixth in assists (4.6 apg), eighth in free throw percentage (81.3%), tied for third in steals (1.5 spg), fifth in 3-point field goals made (2.3/game), fifth in assist/turnover ratio (2.1 – 137 assists, 65 turnovers) and leads the league in minutes played (35.7 mpg). He is the only BIG EAST player who ranks among the top 10 in seven different statistical categories.

In BIG EAST Conference games, Smith-Rivera is third in the league with 18.0 points and fourth in assists, averaging 5.1 per game.

Wow. Those are impressive numbers. And yet it feels as if DSR had a disappointing season to an extent. Maybe it was too many moments of letting the game come to him instead of going out and taking it to the competition with more aggression.

I'm not exactly breaking new ground with this comment, but it bears repeating: it is quite strange to be presented with those stat lines and have the conclusion be "and yet it feels as if DSR had a disappointing season to an extent". Or put another way: you want the only Big East player who ranks (at that time anyway) in the Top 10 in seven categories to do more for his team? He's fourth now in scoring and still sixth in assists, and if he's still fifth in A/TO ratio, that'd cover doing it himself, creating opportunities for others, and doing it without a ton of mistakes.

He doesn't defend well, no question there, but that's not really the side of the ball we're usually talking about when we have these discussions. Besides, nobody on the team defends well.

He's sort of Georgetown's Joe Johnson isn't he? The legitimately good, talented offensive player who's best as the third fiddle on a really good team (Suns/2013 Hoyas), ends up as the go-to option on a good-but-never-gonna-be-great team (the Hawks/2015 Hoyas), and ehhhhhhh please stop before we have to compare our current team to the Nets. Believe me, I'm a Hawks fan, our relationship with Joe Johnson was the same kind of awkward as Hoya fans' can be with DSR at times.

To get back to MCI's comments though, my takeaway from this season re: DSR isn't so much "too many moments of letting the game come to him instead of going out and taking it to the competition with more aggression" as it is "I wish it we didn't have to rely on him and him alone so much to provide the aggression". I don't know that we needed Isaiah Whitehead or anything, but shoot even Markel Starks would have done wonders.

[MCIGuy]

Good points you made in regards to DSR, FLHoya. Am I setting the bar too high? Frankly where DSR disappointed me was in what I would say a good chunk of matchups against the elite BE teams, when the team needed him more than ever, he would come up with those 1 for 11 from the floor type of days (or somewhere around those numbers). Not in all those games certainly, but in a couple too many for my tastes. I'm a huge fan of DSR and wanted him to go out on a high so I'm probably just demonstrating my disappointment for him more than anything. Also his three-point fg% never got to the level in which I thought it could be. He never got to that elite 40% level like Hollis or Jon Wallace (although he is easily a better all-around player than Wallace). Who would have thought Peak would have gotten to such a level in his second season while DSR never managed over four.

By the way just like last season I feel III played DSR about a couple minutes too long per game.

[aleutianhoya]

Mar 13, 2016 10:04:19 GMT -5 MCIGuy said:

Good points you made in regards to DSR, FLHoya. Am I setting the bar too high? Frankly where DSR disappointed me was in what I would say a good chunk of matchups against the elite BE teams, when the team needed him more than ever, he would come up with those 1 for 11 from the floor type of days (or somewhere around those numbers). Not in all those games certainly, but in a couple too many for my tastes. I'm a huge fan of DSR and wanted him to go out on a high so I'm probably just demonstrating my disappointment for him more than anyone. Also his three-point fg% never got to the level in which I thought it could be. He never got to that elite 40% level like Hollis or Jon Wallace (although he is easily a better all-around player than Wallace). Who would have thought Peak would have gotten to such a level in his second season while DSR never managed over four.

By the way just like last season I feel III played DSR about a couple minutes too long per game.

At least for me, aside from the D, the area I thought he disappointed in was in knocking down wide-open threes. It seemed like in many of our losses (including the final loss with Nova) he had the opportunity to hit one or more daggers. He made his share of tough ones. But he never seemed to shoot the wide-ones at even a nominally higher percentage this year. Maybe that's just my incorrect perception. And maybe literally every shooter knocks down contested threes at a roughly similar rate as open ones. I dont know. But it did feel like in the early to mid stages of our bigger losses, he missed a lot of open onez. Of course, the whole team did!

I don't really blame him for bad shooting against the best teams. Those teams have the best perimeter defenders. And he struggles with that unless he is having one of his "make everything" days. He doesn't have the quickness or size to create enough separation consistently. We really needed other guys to step up and create open looks for him in those games.

[EtomicB]

Mar 13, 2016 10:31:10 GMT -5 aleutianhoya said:

Mar 13, 2016 10:04:19 GMT -5 MCIGuy said:

Good points you made in regards to DSR, FLHoya. Am I setting the bar too high? Frankly where DSR disappointed me was in what I would say a good chunk of matchups against the elite BE teams, when the team needed him more than ever, he would come up with those 1 for 11 from the floor type of days (or somewhere around those numbers). Not in all those games certainly, but in a couple too many for my tastes. I'm a huge fan of DSR and wanted him to go out on a high so I'm probably just demonstrating my disappointment for him more than anyone. Also his three-point fg% never got to the level in which I thought it could be. He never got to that elite 40% level like Hollis or Jon Wallace (although he is easily a better all-around player than Wallace). Who would have thought Peak would have gotten to such a level in his second season while DSR never managed over four.

By the way just like last season I feel III played DSR about a couple minutes too long per game.

At least for me, aside from the D, the area I thought he disappointed in was in knocking down wide-open threes. It seemed like in many of our losses (including the final loss with Nova) he had the opportunity to hit one or more daggers. He made his share of tough ones. But he never seemed to shoot the wide-ones at even a nominally higher percentage this year. Maybe that's just my incorrect perception. And maybe literally every shooter knocks down contested threes at a roughly similar rate as open ones. I dont know. But it did feel like in the early to mid stages of our bigger losses, he missed a lot of open onez. Of course, the whole team did!

I don't really blame him for bad shooting against the best teams. Those teams have the best perimeter defenders. And he struggles with that unless he is having one of his "make everything" days. He doesn't have the quickness or size to create enough separation consistently. We really needed other guys to step up and create open looks for him in those games.

Which is why playing a more screen based system may have worked better for him.. like I whined about with Hollis coaches have to get their best shooters shots if they're struggling to get them on their own..

Teams move on I know but sitting here today I'm not sure where the team makes up for what DSR did provide..

He was far & away the top assist man and ball handler.. He was the team's volume shooter also, who'll make up for those shots next season?

A lot of open questions for the off-season..

[bmartin]

I think of DSR the way I think of Austin Freeman. Outstanding offensive players who limited the defense and style of play options. Great when they score 20+ but trouble when their shots didn't fall.

MCI's point about DSR, Peak, and Copeland not being on in the same game is a good one. I would say it is because they really never played off each other. When one had the ball the other two usually stood on the perimeter and watched, but when they did flash or cut or rotate they rarely got a pass anyway. DSR and Ike occasionally had good assist numbers but usually from driving into a dead end and then giving up the ball, not from an intentional draw and dish/kick move.

[aleutianhoya]

Mar 13, 2016 11:03:32 GMT -5 EtomicB said:

Mar 13, 2016 10:31:10 GMT -5 aleutianhoya said:

At least for me, aside from the D, the area I thought he disappointed in was in knocking down wide-open threes. It seemed like in many of our losses (including the final loss with Nova) he had the opportunity to hit one or more daggers. He made his share of tough ones. But he never seemed to shoot the wide-ones at even a nominally higher percentage this year. Maybe that's just my incorrect perception. And maybe literally every shooter knocks down contested threes at a roughly similar rate as open ones. I dont know. But it did feel like in the early to mid stages of our bigger losses, he missed a lot of open onez. Of course, the whole team did!

I don't really blame him for bad shooting against the best teams. Those teams have the best perimeter defenders. And he struggles with that unless he is having one of his "make everything" days. He doesn't have the quickness or size to create enough separation consistently. We really needed other guys to step up and create open looks for him in those games.

Which is why playing a more screen based system may have worked better for him.. like I whined about with Hollis coaches have to get their best shooters shots if they're struggling to get them on their own..

Teams move on I know but sitting here today I'm not sure where the team makes up for what DSR did provide..

He was far & away the top assist man and ball handler.. He was the team's volume shooter also, who'll make up for those shots next season?

A lot of open questions for the off-season..

I agree. Having a set or two for DSR would have made good sense. We know III isn't opposed to it because he basically did that for LJ as the season went on. So, it's a bit odd that he never did for DSR. In any event, if DSR didn't shoot the open ones any better, getting him open looks may ultimately have not helped!

If LJ stays, and if we replace DSR's minutes with minutes from a competent defender/penetrator/shooter (not even a "plus" in those areas...just competent in all three), I don't think it's an enormous problem. We'd make up the offensive difference by greatly improving the defense.

But those are huge ifs. They don't exist on the current roster, that's for sure.

[DFW HOYA]

Mar 13, 2016 11:10:02 GMT -5 bmartin said:

I think of DSR the way I think of Austin Freeman. Outstanding offensive players who limited the defense and style of play options. Great when they score 20+ but trouble when their shots didn't fall.

DSR is this generation's Kevin Braswell. All of the stats but none of the post-season glory of a Duren, Floyd, C. Smith or Iverson. Braswell never saw the NBA but had a 13 year career in Australia and NZ.

[MCIGuy]

Mar 13, 2016 11:03:32 GMT -5 EtomicB said:

Which is why playing a more screen based system may have worked better for him.. like I whined about with Hollis coaches have to get their best shooters shots if they're struggling to get them on their own..

Teams move on I know but sitting here today I'm not sure where the team makes up for what DSR did provide..

He was far & away the top assist man and ball handler.. He was the team's volume shooter also, who'll make up for those shots next season?

A lot of open questions for the off-season..

Depending on everyone coming back that we expect and a new addition at guard I think the Hoyas will be more than capable of making up for DSR's departure. The problem is whether the coaching will allow for tweaks to accomplish that. As you pointed out above the staff doesn't always adjust to the talent that it has on the roster (or at least don't go as far as it should or get t that revelation as quick as it should). This will continue to worry me. I don't fret over the players the staff brings in. I take issue in how they use and develop those players from time to time. And I hate that too often that it seems the staff doesn't realize how good the players they have until these guys are seniors (ex: Sims, Hayes) or have left the program. Granted part of that blame goes to the player who may need time to develop or to gain the maturity to understand how serious he must be to be effective. But I stand by that the coaches have to be capable and willing to push these guys in order to quicken the pace/process of their development. The junior season Hayes should have been playing like the senior season Hayes actually ended up doing (which would have made the eventual senior season Hayes of that alternate universe even more effective). The same goes for Sims. What? Did they just gain the tools out of nowhere over the period of a summer before their final year? Of course not. They thereby were physically ready to make their leap one year earlier.

[MCIGuy]

Mar 13, 2016 11:10:02 GMT -5 bmartin said:

MCI's point about DSR, Peak, and Copeland not being on in the same game is a good one. I would say it is because they really never played off each other. When one had the ball the other two usually stood on the perimeter and watched, but when they did flash or cut or rotate they rarely got a pass anyway. DSR and Ike occasionally had good assist numbers but usually from driving into a dead end and then giving up the ball, not from an intentional draw and dish/kick move.

I also wonder if part of the problem may be a system in which there isn't some design to get the ball into the hands of your so-called go-to guys but instead to share the ball to a point that on any given night anyone can benefit from having the hot hand and no player (or two or three) is allowed to dominate the ball. That is probably the purest form of basketball. But the more regular offenses we see in the game today may lend to players feeling a certain sense of responsibility and accountability to put up numbers. By that I mean if you are the top two players on Providence or the top five guys on Maryland, going after your "allotted" points more or less is not merely an act of selfishness but perhaps a belief on your part that, particular in big games, your team is at a disadvantage if you are not pulling your regular weight by scoring roughly your typical average points. And the team as a whole understands that. Meanwhile at GU if DSR or Copeland or Peak are having say a quiet first half and not too involved offensively they may chalk it up to merely being the flow of the game not going their way this time around and therefore decide they don't need to force anything (until it becomes too late).

Mar 13, 2016 11:12:50 GMT -5 aleutianhoya said:

I agree. Having a set or two for DSR would have made good sense. We know III isn't opposed to it because he basically did that for LJ as the season went on. So, it's a bit odd that he never did for DSR. In any event, if DSR didn't shoot the open ones any better, getting him open looks may ultimately have not helped!

If LJ stays, and if we replace DSR's minutes with minutes from a competent defender/penetrator/shooter (not even a "plus" in those areas...just competent in all three), I don't think it's an enormous problem. We'd make up the offensive difference by greatly improving the defense.

But those are huge ifs. They don't exist on the current roster, that's for sure.

I would consider allowing a healthy Paul White take over the ballhandling reigns. I think he has the skill, ability and temperament to do so.

Mar 13, 2016 11:18:54 GMT -5 DFW HOYA said:

DSR is this generation's Kevin Braswell. All of the stats but none of the post-season glory of a Duren, Floyd, C. Smith or Iverson. Braswell never saw the NBA but had a 13 year career in Australia and NZ.

I was thinking that too the other day but then I asked myself if Braswell ever had to be The Man for two to three seasons? Also Braswell didn't go to the NCAA tourney I believe until his final year and was never part of a BE team that won the BE regular season. So that puts DSR over him by a good deal in my eyes.

[DFW HOYA]

Braswell went to the NCAAs as a junior (2001). He had two NCAA wins and one NIT win over his four years. He did not go to the post-season as a senior.

DSR went to the NCAAs as a freshman and a junior. He had one NCAA win and one NIT win over his four years.

Neither are in an "all time" discussion.

[jwp91]

The Braswell comparison occurred to me recently too, but DSR had a lot more talent on his teams. As I recall, Braswell was about it at the time.

[Deleted]

Part of the problem is while those numbers are pretty good, 40% overall, 33% from 3, and taking 55% of your total shots behind the arc is not exactly efficient and not really putting a lot of pressure on the opposing defense....

Still our season comes down to fouling and defense mostly

[EtomicB]

Mar 13, 2016 11:12:50 GMT -5 aleutianhoya said:

Mar 13, 2016 11:03:32 GMT -5 EtomicB said:

Which is why playing a more screen based system may have worked better for him.. like I whined about with Hollis coaches have to get their best shooters shots if they're struggling to get them on their own..

Teams move on I know but sitting here today I'm not sure where the team makes up for what DSR did provide..

He was far & away the top assist man and ball handler.. He was the team's volume shooter also, who'll make up for those shots next season?

A lot of open questions for the off-season..

I agree. Having a set or two for DSR would have made good sense. We know III isn't opposed to it because he basically did that for LJ as the season went on. So, it's a bit odd that he never did for DSR. In any event, if DSR didn't shoot the open ones any better, getting him open looks may ultimately have not helped!

If LJ stays, and if we replace DSR's minutes with minutes from a competent defender/penetrator/shooter (not even a "plus" in those areas...just competent in all three), I don't think it's an enormous problem. We'd make up the offensive difference by greatly improving the defense.

But those are huge ifs. They don't exist on the current roster, that's for sure.

Sometimes there's a big difference in mind set when it comes to shooting when you're open as opposed to shooting when the play is run for you..

There seemed to be a lot of hesitation on open shots with DSR this season, it was like he was thinking is this the best shot we can get..

It was what it was now, the DSR era is over.. Who grabs the reigns now? Does the team have any natural leaders?

My hope is PW & Agua are very very hungry this off-season to prove they would have been difference makers..

Maybe they can spark the team..

I also hope that the staff/administration really takes a hard look at the program and not chalk this season up to bad luck..

[GIGAFAN99]

DSR is awesome. The fact that he played on woeful defensive teams should not diminish him as a Hoya. He's an average defender forced to be our #1 defender this year because he was the valedictorian of the summer school that was the Hoya defense. If we had 5 DSRs, we're still playing.

The rest isn't rocket science. The Hoyas give away free points and free possessions and never get them back. Some of it is execution but some of it is technique and strategy.

We literally were the worst defense in the nation for fouling without forcing turnovers. The Hoyas have to pick a lane. Do they attack or do they set up a wall? The answer can either set a recruiting strategy or react to the personnel on the roster. But straddling the fence gets you a lot of what we saw this year.

[hoyalove4ever]

They can play physical defense without trying to force a lot of turnovers, but they have to be much tougher and cut down on a few silly fouls.

We are not going to play the ticky-tack foul-flopping game, and I (for one) am proud of that and am willing to live OR DIE by that philosophy.

[glidehoyas (Inactive)]

Here you go. glidehoyas.wordpress.com/2016/02/20/understanding-what-the-hoyas-have-been-missing-a-true-point-guard/

[Deleted]

BE message board on the Hoyas

holylandofhoops.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=5263