What does this winning style do for our future recruiting?

[dchoya72]

I think it should help. This team's play is demonstrative of the style of ball Coach Ewing wants to play. If I were a prospect I would like this.....of course that is not all there is to it!

[CTHoya08]

Plenty of minutes available.

[SaxaCD]

Plenty of minutes and a real fun style. I think the winning will haven to continue in order to make an impression, but the "story" of a team coming together and playing their best, unselfish ball with lots of running and touches will appeal

[Elvado]

I think this style appeals to anyone willing to work hard and share the ball. Kind of what you want, no? And does not ignore the post.

[vv83]

It really is amazing how much better they are playing. The offense had been a wreck outside of the NYC games until the transfers began. Then suddenly we are playing really sharp offensively. I would guess that this experience will likely impact Ewing's recruiting approach. He is seeing that guys who are smart, coachable, and consistent works better than having guys who are more talented but who want to do their own thing and who don't perform consistently. To some extent, Ewing has been recruiting talent above all else. But a lot of the talent hasn't worked out, in part because the players did not buy into what he was teaching fully enough. Now he is playing with 7 guys who are all fully bought in, with a smart vet PG running the show. That is the formula for success in college hoops. Talent is important, but only if the talent plays within the team design and ethic.

In some ways, there are some parallels to the Villanova experience. Wright had some big success, started bringing in 5 star guys who did not buy into the program, and the team fell apart, sinking to the low of a sub-.500 season. He changed his recruiting, started on focusing on guys who would buy into his team oriented approach - and they became one of the top programs in the country.

This mess we have experienced over the past two weeks has the potential to serve as the starting point for this kind of revitalization of our program. Ewing knows how he wants to play, and we are seeing that he can definitely teach kids how to play that way. Now he has to build his ability to identify the right mix of talent and buy-in to the team ethic.

Having Mac at the center of things now is really interesting. In some ways, he was the ultimate individual talent win high school. And he still plays an aggressive game that includes some forced play. But he clearly buys into the team approach Ewing is teaching and he is showing that the right mix of talent and teamwork can result in both individual and team success at a high level. Hopefully other highly talented players who understand that winning his about the team more than about them as individuals will see what is happening and realize that we are the right program for both their college experience and their long term basketball development. Many of us have often wondered why we can't do what Villanova is doing. These past two weeks may be showing is the path that can begin leading us towards this goal. I am really eager to see the players that Ewing recruits over the next few years. I think I would rather see him be selective, even if it leaves us a little short on talent for the next year or two. Don't bring in anyone unless you are highly confident that they buy into the team concept, no matter how talented they are.

[Deleted]

Dec 14, 2019 22:22:25 GMT -5 vv83 said:

It really is amazing how much better they are playing. The offense had been a wreck outside of the NYC games until the transfers began. Then suddenly we are playing really sharp offensively. I would guess that this experience will likely impact Ewing's recruiting approach. He is seeing that guys who are smart, coachable, and consistent works better than having guys who are more talented but who want to do their own thing and who don't perform consistently. To some extent, Ewing has been recruiting talent above all else. But a lot of the talent hasn't worked out, in part because the players did not buy into what he was teaching fully enough. Now he is playing with 7 guys who are all fully bought in, with a smart vet PG running the show. That is the formula for success in college hoops. Talent is important, but only if the talent plays within the team design and ethic.

In some ways, there are some parallels to the Villanova experience. Wright had some big success, started bringing in 5 star guys who did not buy into the program, and the team fell apart, sinking to the low of a sub-.500 season. He changed his recruiting, started on focusing on guys who would buy into his team oriented approach - and they became one of the top programs in the country.

This mess we have experienced over the past two weeks has the potential to serve as the starting point for this kind of revitalization of our program. Ewing knows how he wants to play, and we are seeing that he can definitely teach kids how to play that way. Now he has to build his ability to identify the right mix of talent and buy-in to the team ethic.

Having Mac at the center of things now is really interesting. In some ways, he was the ultimate individual talent win high school. And he still plays an aggressive game that includes some forced play. But he clearly buys into the team approach Ewing is teaching and he is showing that the right mix of talent and teamwork can result in both individual and team success at a high level. Hopefully other highly talented players who understand that winning his about the team more than about them as individuals will see what is happening and realize that we are the right program for both their college experience and their long term basketball development. Many of us have often wondered why we can't do what Villanova is doing. These past two weeks may be showing is the path that can begin leading us towards this goal. I am really eager to see the players that Ewing recruits over the next few years. I think I would rather see him be selective, even if it leaves us a little short on talent for the next year or two. Don't bring in anyone unless you are highly confident that they buy into the team concept, no matter how talented they are.

I actually brought up the Villanova style of play to colleagues after our road wins last week. Nova’s great teams passed the ball really really well and always created shots in rhythm for their guards/wings. We have been doing the same the past three games and it obviously benefits everyone. Just look at Blair as an example of how shooting in rhythm can affect a player/team’s results. Actually everyone is shooting at a higher percentage and we are in fewer situations that lead to turnovers.

[smokeyjack]

Ewing needs to pull two more 5th-year miracles for this team to be viable next year. He needs another Allen (as many have suggested, that was Ewing’s best move of his tenure and an insurance policy that absolutely saved this season). He also needs to pull a very solid 5th-year or JUCO big who is practically NBA caliber. Q is going to be very solid, but he won’t be ready to be close to Yurt’s productivity next season. Two 5th-year or JUCO studs might be enough to match this season’s very thin roster and compensate for the losses of Allen, Yurt and Jagan.

The real issue with the defections is more long term. We can’t afford a complete rebuilding year next year as well. Pat has proven to me he can get it done on the sideline. Now he needs to work a few minor miracles on the recruiting trail. Step one in my opinion would be to hire the hottest young DC-plugged assistant he can find. That needs to happen yesterday.

[MCIGuy]

We seem to ask this question after big wins, especially ones at home. I say we should just sit back and wait and see how the rest of the season unfolds. Ewing's teams had been pushing the pace the previous two seasons also. But not a lot of big time recruits have signed on.

[SirSaxa]

One win is not going to move the needle. But, if the team continues to play this way - this well, team ball - and gets its fair share of Ws? Then yes, it will def help.
T Allen said he saw a GU team on the rise and that was among the reasons he came.
One doesn't need a PhD in Psychology to know that kids want to play on winning teams, good programs, accomplished and credible coaches.
One win? Not so much.
Consistently playing as we have the last three? Yes - THAT will make a difference. Won't be enough by itself, but will def help

[the_way]

Winning cures everything. You keep winning, people take notice, media take notice. You land in the NCAA tournament. A lot of people take notice. Winning means visibility. Kids want to see themselves and their team showcased. It makes for a good selling point in recruiting. It is half the battle. The other half is landing the recruits.

[HOYAPLAYA]

Probably belongs in the 2020 recruiting thread but oh well...I'd take a grad transfer PG, a 3 pt shooting specialist transfer with a couple years eligibility and a big body PF freahman would be my top needs for next year and wouldn't stretch for anything besides that. I like Q's chances of being more than serviceable on the offensive side of the ball and I'll take a starting lineup of Grad PG, Mac, Blair, Pickett and Q. Need either Tim I or Wilson to be ready for 15 minutes a game and one of the two freshman currently verbalized to be ready for similar minutes. A mid major type 3 pt specialist can grab the other guard/forward minutes and the big body PF that can give us hustle and rebounds to backup a senior Pickett can grab some forward minutes. Mac is going to score a lot and Blair will add his as well but I think he will need to get back to the driving floaters to mix in with the 3 pt shots. I'd obviously take more talent if available but Allen and Jagan replacements with experienced guards is at the top of my wish list so this may mean we won't know for 5 to 6 months from now.

[calhoya]

Dec 15, 2019 11:48:51 GMT -5 SirSaxa said:

One win is not going to move the needle. But, if the team continues to play this way - this well, team ball - and gets its fair share of Ws? Then yes, it will def help.
T Allen said he saw a GU team on the rise and that was among the reasons he came.
One doesn't need a PhD in Psychology to know that kids want to play on winning teams, good programs, accomplished and credible coaches.
One win? Not so much.
Consistently playing as we have the last three? Yes - THAT will make a difference. Won't be enough by itself, but will def help

So true. 5th years want to win in their last season of eligibility. There may be some exceptions but for most situations a quality 5th will have options and is most likely going to consider the record and prospects of a team.

[jctnhoya4ever]

I think Ewing learned a lesson from this hopefully,you cannot play everyone you play 7-8 players and unless you have 9-10 players ,but if you can keep it to 7-8 players and you get chemistry and more fluid play. I hope he learned just because they are players whining about playing time,you cannot play everyone all the time.the duke and early on playing those 10 players was disaster and now it is looking like Akinjo was a problem,I thought that before but didn’t say anything he I think wanted all the spotlight on him,and wasn’t passing to mcclung a lot of time. I saw it that is why he left he isn’t coachable he is a selfish player. I wish him the best but he bailed on Hoyas Because he is selfish and has a lot to learn.big win I am happy for the team sticking together. Go Hoyas.

[drquigley]

Hey guys, we lose our two remaining pgs next year. We need to replace Allen and Mosley. A good power forward would be nice (Terrell Williams-ouch) but as we see this year, a quality pg is huge.

[hoyasaxa2003]

One of the things I wrestle with is that fact that many of the things we have done in the last three games are NOT what was planned at all:

- A lot more ball movement.

- A much tighter rotation (out of necessity, to a large extent).

- A good bit slower pace. (Pre-transfers we averaged 75.9 possessions per game, last three, 71.7.)

- Shooting a lot more threes.

So I guess my question is, what's the plan? If the plan is to recruit and go back to a blistering but inefficient pace (with wholesale substitutions) with a wide rotation, isn't that the opposite of what has been working the last three games?

It's really too early to say anything yet, other than the team has been significantly better the last three games. I definitely think Ewing deserves credit for that; I am just confused as to what the plan is given that we did not do that at the beginning of the year.

If the plan is to stick to what is working now (and why wouldn't we?), then I think that's a smart move.

[IDenj]

Showing development is important. When recruiting a player, explaining how things have changed off the court going forward I think is going to be a bigger battle.

[MCIGuy]

Newsflash: Last season's team had a potent offensive punch even with Akinjo handling the point guard duties. In fact Akinjo's play may have been the most praised by folks here of any guy on last season's team other than Leblanc's. People overall were pretty happy with it despite some imperfections in Akinjo's approach. So why the revisionism or the complaint from the usual suspects about pace being too fast last season?

The writer who tends to cover the Hoyas time to time from The Athletic made the point that in Ewing's first two seasons the Hoyas were around the very best in the nation in baskets that came off assists and how that style had been surprisingly absent in the first seven games of the season. For some reason Akinjo did not take the next step and improve on that front, the ball was "sticking" too much as folks now like to say. That's a shame because last season despite his dominance of the ball Georgetown still put out a squad that was scoring far more off the extra pass and the assist rather than the one-on-one hero-ball approach. Granted in this small sample of the last three games we have seen the Hoyas move it around better than we have in a lifetime, but can we not pretend as if the Hoyas' offense had been in a horrible rut the previous year?

Also, and I may be wrong about this, but the team has taken more threes over the past two weeks. The three-point shot is a weapon that typically needs more ball movement to be effective, unlike posting up and backing an opponent back into the paint or going one-on-one on drives to the hoop. As for the latter Gtown is lacking guys right now who can create effectively on their on for baskets off the dribble. The team has no choice but to pass the rock for better opportunities. Is that the style we want to go with in the future? Yes and no. Its always great when players work as a team and swing the ball around, taking the BEST SHOT regardless of the pace or how fast it comes within the shot clock. But you don't want to be reliant too much on that. You want guys who can break defenders off the dribble as well and get buckets or create other opportunities for teammates. The top recruits the teams pursue often want that type of freedom to play like that so long as it doesn't hurt the offense. So I think the trick going forward is to maintain some type of balance.

[hoyasaxa2003]

I do think it's notable that thus far, our offense is significantly better than it has been the last two years under Ewing. If you look at the KenPom offensive rankings, in 2018 we were ranked 84 and last year 90. As of this writing, our offense is ranked 15, in large part because of the exceptional shooting and efficiency of the last three games (though that does include all the games pre-transfer).

Akinjo is clearly a talented guy, and I do not intend to speak ill of him. We had some really effective games with him playing point guard, and he nailed a few shots last year that were crucial to our success (the USF game in Jamaica comes to mind, but there were others). That being said, there's no doubt the team this season is more efficient thus far without him. This is in part because of our better shooting and taking more threes. One area where I was critical of Akinjo was his two point shooting - last year in Big East play he shot 24.6% from two, this year he had shot 39.3%.

Thus, indirectly, losing Akinjo's two point shots is effectively a boost to our efficiency, since he was the worst two point shooter on the team, and yet he still took a fairly high volume of shots. His efficiency was always pretty good anyway because of his threes, free throws, etc., but the twos (especially long twos, or when he'd get stuffed at the basket) were a drag.

To do the math: we have definitely taken way more 3's post-transfer:

Pre-Transfer: 117 3PT Attempts/531 possessions = 22.03% threes
Post-Transfer: 75 3PT Attempts/215 possessions = 34.41% threes

While it's hard to say if you're trading Akinjo's twos for these threes, the fact that we are taking more threes as a percentage of our total shots is a crucial factor in our better play.

[HoyaRejuveNation85]

Dec 15, 2019 16:13:13 GMT -5 hoyasaxa2003 said:

One of the things I wrestle with is that fact that many of the things we have done in the last three games are NOT what was planned at all:

- A lot more ball movement.

- A much tighter rotation (out of necessity, to a large extent).

- A good bit slower pace. (Pre-transfers we averaged 75.9 possessions per game, last three, 71.7.)

- Shooting a lot more threes.

So I guess my question is, what's the plan? If the plan is to recruit and go back to a blistering but inefficient pace (with wholesale substitutions) with a wide rotation, isn't that the opposite of what has been working the last three games?

It's really too early to say anything yet, other than the team has been significantly better the last three games. I definitely think Ewing deserves credit for that; I am just confused as to what the plan is given that we did not do that at the beginning of the year.

If the plan is to stick to what is working now (and why wouldn't we?), then I think that's a smart move.

2003, I don't think that's quite fair. I would suggest that only the slower pace is a planned effect for the last 3 games (Ewing has said so in his post-game comments - we are playing with a "less frenetic pace"). I think he always wanted ball movement. He planned BEFORE the transfers, to have a tighter rotation and said so after the Duke game. The closer one is the number of 3 point shots taken. I always think he wanted us to take a lot of 3s. That's the NBA offense these days. He's an NBA product. I think more minutes to more confident shooters (like Mac) lead to more 3 point shots naturally, but the better ball movement is contributing to it too. Still, it's not like we aren't looking to push the ball up the court. We are doing that by pass (as opposed to dribble) much better in the last 3 games. Still, the increase could be by design.

[GIGAFAN99]

Dec 17, 2019 11:35:31 GMT -5 HoyaRejuveNation85 said:

Dec 15, 2019 16:13:13 GMT -5 hoyasaxa2003 said:

One of the things I wrestle with is that fact that many of the things we have done in the last three games are NOT what was planned at all:

- A lot more ball movement.

- A much tighter rotation (out of necessity, to a large extent).

- A good bit slower pace. (Pre-transfers we averaged 75.9 possessions per game, last three, 71.7.)

- Shooting a lot more threes.

So I guess my question is, what's the plan? If the plan is to recruit and go back to a blistering but inefficient pace (with wholesale substitutions) with a wide rotation, isn't that the opposite of what has been working the last three games?

It's really too early to say anything yet, other than the team has been significantly better the last three games. I definitely think Ewing deserves credit for that; I am just confused as to what the plan is given that we did not do that at the beginning of the year.

If the plan is to stick to what is working now (and why wouldn't we?), then I think that's a smart move.

2003, I don't think that's quite fair. I would suggest that only the slower pace is a planned effect for the last 3 games (Ewing has said so in his post-game comments - we are playing with a "less frenetic pace"). I think he always wanted ball movement. He planned BEFORE the transfers, to have a tighter rotation and said so after the Duke game. The closer one is the number of 3 point shots taken. I always think he wanted us to take a lot of 3s. That's the NBA offense these days. He's an NBA product. I think more minutes to more confident shooters (like Mac) lead to more 3 point shots naturally, but the better ball movement is contributing to it too. Still, it's not like we aren't looking to push the ball up the court. We are doing that by pass (as opposed to dribble) much better in the last 3 games. Still, the increase could be by design.

I will also call out that saying that ball movement was not planned makes no sense. Then why did Akinjo leave if his style was going to be the way going forward? And how did everyone get so good at ball movement on 48-hour notice that they had to "change styles"?

Seems more likely the team always practices that way and got bogged down by Akinjo's overdribbling in games.