Georgetown @ St John’s 1/27/19 Discussion

[DanMcQ]

Actual cohesive team defense will beat a SJU team whose wheels are getting loose. Hope the Hoyas can bring it.

[FrazierFanatic]

I have less hope for this game than any other game we have played this season. We can't defend, and can't finsh out close games.

[daveg023]

Sad thing is there’s going to be a lot more of these. Our easiest games are behind us....

At Villanova, At Marquette, At Seton Hall, At Creighton all feel pretty daunting.

[mdtd]

Not one I expect to win by any means. Just can't see it at all. Johnnies need this one and are fully capable of taking it.

[Ranch Dressing]

It’s going to be an extremely rough next few weeks if we don’t improve defensively and stabilize our end-of-game play in final 3-4 minutes.

[bostonfan]

Jan 22, 2019 4:54:12 GMT -5 Ranch Dressing said:

It’s going to be an extremely rough next few weeks if we don’t improve defensively and stabilize our end-of-game play in final 3-4 minutes.

Agree that these last few games have been frustrating, but the team has not been really outplayed in any of these conference games. They absolutely need to find a way to close games and playing on the road is not normally going to make that any easier, but they are very competitive in every game. You don't get anything for moral victories, but hopefully they can build some more mental toughness and learn how to execute at the end of games. They may just steal a few games no one expects.

On the bright side, last year there were games you knew they had no chance of winning before the game even started and I don't feel that way now

[RockawayHoya]

Jan 22, 2019 8:29:43 GMT -5 bostonfan said:

Jan 22, 2019 4:54:12 GMT -5 Ranch Dressing said:

It’s going to be an extremely rough next few weeks if we don’t improve defensively and stabilize our end-of-game play in final 3-4 minutes.

Agree that these last few games have been frustrating, but the team has not been really outplayed in any of these conference games. They absolutely need to find a way to close games and playing on the road is not normally going to make that any easier, but they are very competitive in every game. You don't get anything for moral victories, but hopefully they can build some more mental toughness and learn how to execute at the end of games. They may just steal a few games no one expects.

On the bright side, last year there were games you knew they had no chance of winning before the game even started and I don't feel that way now

Agree with your last sentence but I think that has more to do with the league regressing in general vs. us actually improving year over year.

We need a healthy Mac to pull out the win on Sunday. His absence in the 2nd half due to reaggravating the ankle injury really hurt us, and Pat compounded the problem by not knowing who to put on the floor in crunch time.

There seems like there needs to be a lot that has to go right for this team to win right now, and I'm just not convinced all of those things can happen.

[HometownHoya]

Where is this league regressing discussion coming from? Yeah it's not as strong at the top as it was the past two seasons but the BE is still a very strong league and is probably #3 of the P6. We're not talking about the Pac12 here.

[RockawayHoya]

Jan 22, 2019 10:55:12 GMT -5 HometownHoya said:

Where is this league regressing discussion coming from? Yeah it's not as strong at the top as it was the past two seasons but the BE is still a very strong league and is probably #3 of the P6. We're not talking about the Pac12 here.

Conference RPI rank, BE 2018: #2
Conference RPI rank, BE 2019: #5

warrennolan.com/basketball/2019/conferencerpi

[HometownHoya]

Jan 22, 2019 10:57:36 GMT -5 RockawayHoya said:

Jan 22, 2019 10:55:12 GMT -5 HometownHoya said:

Where is this league regressing discussion coming from? Yeah it's not as strong at the top as it was the past two seasons but the BE is still a very strong league and is probably #3 of the P6. We're not talking about the Pac12 here.

Conference RPI rank, BE 2018: #2
Conference RPI rank, BE 2019: #5

warrennolan.com/basketball/2019/conferencerpi

Yeah we may be #5 but an RPI of .5701 is not that far from .5838 or even the Big10 at .5901. CBB is pretty even this year outside of the Big 12's dominance. Like I said in my OP, it's mostly due to the top of the league being weaker, not a weaker overall conference.

[hoyasaxa2003]

Jan 22, 2019 10:57:36 GMT -5 RockawayHoya said:

Jan 22, 2019 10:55:12 GMT -5 HometownHoya said:

Where is this league regressing discussion coming from? Yeah it's not as strong at the top as it was the past two seasons but the BE is still a very strong league and is probably #3 of the P6. We're not talking about the Pac12 here.

Conference RPI rank, BE 2018: #2
Conference RPI rank, BE 2019: #5

warrennolan.com/basketball/2019/conferencerpi

This year's teams ranked on KenPom: 27, 35, 40, 48, 53, 58, 60, 73, 101, 136.
Last year's teams ranked on KenPom: 1, 15, 20, 26, 30, 53, 63, 74, 94, 99.

The regression is pretty obvious if you just look at the numbers. Last year was a much stronger league.

[Nevada Hoya]

No expectations. I think I can just "enjoy" the game, not expecting to win. If we do manage to win, I will be happy.

[mdtd]

Players have to develop an get back on defense. I just want to see some progress. That's the goal in my eyes. It's winnable but not likely. Probably will be winning late to lose, I'm mentally preparing for it this time.

[bamahoya11]

I expect (surprise) a close game. Although it's an uphill battle, an upset is definitely possible. We have a longer period of time than normal to prepare for this game, and I imagine that Ewing will be on the guys pretty hard in practice. Generally, Ewing's teams have tended to look better after a few extra days to practice. It's not like we are on a strong run, so the team can reset.

This next stretch is brutal. St. John's will be trying to get back on track toward an NCAA bid. I'll be hoping for the best.

[thedragon]

Jan 22, 2019 11:18:15 GMT -5 hoyasaxa2003 said:

Jan 22, 2019 10:57:36 GMT -5 RockawayHoya said:

Conference RPI rank, BE 2018: #2
Conference RPI rank, BE 2019: #5

warrennolan.com/basketball/2019/conferencerpi

This year's teams ranked on KenPom: 27, 35, 40, 48, 53, 58, 60, 73, 101, 136.
Last year's teams ranked on KenPom: 1, 15, 20, 26, 30, 53, 63, 74, 94, 99.

The regression is pretty obvious if you just look at the numbers. Last year was a much stronger league.

8 of the 10 in the top 75 both years. The league isnt as top heavy but depth is about the same.

[hoyasaxa2003]

Jan 23, 2019 0:45:10 GMT -5 thedragon said:

Jan 22, 2019 11:18:15 GMT -5 hoyasaxa2003 said:

This year's teams ranked on KenPom: 27, 35, 40, 48, 53, 58, 60, 73, 101, 136.
Last year's teams ranked on KenPom: 1, 15, 20, 26, 30, 53, 63, 74, 94, 99.

The regression is pretty obvious if you just look at the numbers. Last year was a much stronger league.

8 of the 10 in the top 75 both years. The league isnt as top heavy but depth is about the same.

You are right that the league overall is still pretty good. There really are no awful teams, though DePaul is pushing it. But, that's part of the reason why it's weaker. Yes, there are 8 teams in the top 75 each year, but this year overall they're much closer to the bottom end of the 1-75 spectrum.

Another way to look at it: The "average" rank so far in 2018 is 63.1. The average rank last year was 47.5. I take two things from this: (1) Overall, the league is weaker, and (2) Given that the number of at large selections is somewhere in the 40s, having only three teams at or above 40 doesn't bode well for NCAA bids.

[jamaicahoya]

There was a telling statement from Patrick's post-game interview when he was asked why, given his defensive pedigree, his team's defense two years in is still shaky. He essentially said any successful defensive scheme need the horses, that is, players who can play lock-down defense. This team doesn't have those horses. That tells me that it will have to win games primarily on the offensive end. It has the offense to do it, but that is always going to be a crap shoot, because in order to win the team will almost always have to rely on making the last shot, instead of the last stop. That the last the shot, according to the team's offensive strategy, is to be taken by the open player and not the best player makes it more of a crap shoot.

[Bigs"R"Us]

I’m of the belief that you can’t mold a Gene Smith, Michael Graham or Jabril Trawick. These guys came is as dogs. Pat needs to recruit more dogs.

[mdtd]

Jan 23, 2019 11:17:47 GMT -5 hoyasaxa2003 said:

Jan 23, 2019 0:45:10 GMT -5 thedragon said:

8 of the 10 in the top 75 both years. The league isnt as top heavy but depth is about the same.

You are right that the league overall is still pretty good. There really are no awful teams, though DePaul is pushing it. But, that's part of the reason why it's weaker. Yes, there are 8 teams in the top 75 each year, but this year overall they're much closer to the bottom end of the 1-75 spectrum.

Another way to look at it: The "average" rank so far in 2018 is 63.1. The average rank last year was 47.5. I take two things from this: (1) Overall, the league is weaker, and (2) Given that the number of at large selections is somewhere in the 40s, having only three teams at or above 40 doesn't bode well for NCAA bids.

DePaul is solid this year. A Good squad who beat Seton Hall twice. Strus, Reed, Olujobi and Cain can play. They also have good guys coming in next year, they aren't a laughing stock anymore. 

[wponds]

Jan 23, 2019 0:45:10 GMT -5 thedragon said:

Jan 22, 2019 11:18:15 GMT -5 hoyasaxa2003 said:

This year's teams ranked on KenPom: 27, 35, 40, 48, 53, 58, 60, 73, 101, 136.
Last year's teams ranked on KenPom: 1, 15, 20, 26, 30, 53, 63, 74, 94, 99.

The regression is pretty obvious if you just look at the numbers. Last year was a much stronger league.

8 of the 10 in the top 75 both years. The league isnt as top heavy but depth is about the same.

I hear you, but half of the conference was in the top 30 last year. This year, one team is. Last year was a great and competitive conference. This year, just competitive