Largest Cause of Improvement?

[SFHoya99]

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[Deleted]

I voted depth - although that goes hand in hand with the frosh stepping up. Towards the end of the year (and even during games early in the year) you could see Green and BB tiring. Not for lack of conditioning, its just that EVERYONE needs a rest once in a while. If the frosh can play some, plus have Hibbs and DJ coming off the bench - which also allows us to run and press a bit more - we could be NASTY. Not just pretty good, but NASTY.

[Boz]

Stability.

OK, maybe not the biggest cause (I voted for depth) but -- even though we lost Ray and Cornelio -- this is the most stable offseason we've had in quite some time with players, recruiting and coaching.

[StPetersburgHoya (Inactive)]

I think Depth is sort of a catch-all term for everything else mentioned in this poll. If you've got more experience with the offense on the court and on the bench then you've got depth, if freshmen, sophomore, or seniors step up then that enhances your depth.

[doublehoya]

I agee with St. Pete -- Depth kind of covers it all. Easy vote. It is the key to success this year, by BET, and really beginning during the slump, you could see that the season was wearing physicially on Jeff, who played insane minutes all season. Being able to give Jeff and Brandon a rest every game will make it that much easier for us to be strong well in to March . . . .

[DrumsGoBang]

Why wasn't academics on the list? Remeber these are student-athletes. Student comes first. I think we need to bring those test scores up and beat the other team with knowledge. I've seen enough sports movies produced by Disney to know that the smarter team always wins even if they are smaller, less skilled, and don't even know how to play the game. All you need is a good montouge. Oh YA!!!

[prhoya]

I voted for depth, but with a big IF... Who knows how the freshmen will turn out! I haven't even seen them play.

[Bay99]

I've got to go with another year of the offense and defense (which I assumed meant a year of JTIII's system under the returning players' belts).

What was most surprising to me (at times) last season was how well a group of players who were not (except Wallace) recruited to play in Thompson's offense adapted to it. The freshmen were particularly impressive in that regard. It's definitely a system that is learned, so I think that having their baptism by fire out of the way will make a visible difference in the on-court results.

Most likely I think any significant improvement (NCAA Tournament bid, playing on the weekend of the BET, contending for BE regular season title) will be a combination of several of factors on this list. Depth will certainly be a big asset for JTIII. The progress of the sophomores will be exciting to monitor. I'm particularly interested to see how well Big Roy's game develops.

A combination of Green becoming one of the dominant players in the conference, Bowman realizing his full potential as a senior and a contributions in a variety of roles from a very deep roster could have us dizzy by mid-January. But if I've learned anything as a Hoya fan in recent years, it's that predicting the upcoming season is (although fun) often a head-pounding excercise in hindsight.

All that said, I would have liked an additional voting option:

"Jeff Green earns Big East Player of the Year."

[Nevada Hoya]

How does a year of experience with the Princetown system figure into the equation? I can't help think that the guys will feel more comfortable with the system from the start. And I don't think we will have to open with Temple again this year.

[prhoya]

With four incoming freshmen, "another year of offense and defense" is next year's largest cause of improvement, not this year's.

[Bay99]

nevadahoya3 said:

How does a year of experience with the Princetown system figure into the equation? I can't help think that the guys will feel more comfortable with the system from the start.

Not sure if this question is for me, but I'll answer it anyway:

That's exactly my point. The year of experience I'm talking about is last year, not the one upcoming. Given how well last season's group responded to an unfamiliar system that they weren't recruited for, my guess is that considerable progress within JTIII's gameplan will be visible from the get-go in 05-06.

[SaxaCD]

Also, that system is one that's best executed if taught not only by the coaches, but also the returning players to the newbies. That's why it's been stated before that it really takes about 3 years to judge any coach bringing in a new system, but I think especially so one that involves so much ballsharing and unselfish play. I voted for the year experience, too. I have a feeling we'll see some quicker decisions this year, and even prettier backdoor plays and quick trigger 3s. Last year the guys did pretty darn well even though they looked quite hesitant at times, trying to figure out when to pass, shoot, or reload. It should be a bit more second nature this year, and I think shooters like Owens, Cook and Thornton are really going to benefit from the sharper exchanges.