Georgetown @ DePaul 2/27/21 Discussion

[DanMcQ]

Rebound and defend.

[Elvado]

And MOVE

[DanMcQ]

Coach Ewing needs to add "BOX OUT" to his repertoire.

[daveg023]

Really need to have this one to keep some semblance of momentum. Maybe I’ve blocked it out, but the last 4 years our final stretch of games has been more awful than I even remembered:

2020 - Lost final 7 games
2019 - Lost final 3 of 4 games
2018 - Lost final 5 games
2017 - Lost final 6 games

I get it’s a bit handpicked, but that’s 1-22 in those Late Feb / Early March finales.

With hungry teams in Xavier and Uconn left plus a BE game likely against a team that’s beaten us once (PC, Butler, or Marquette) losing the final 5 could certainly be in the mix if we don’t take care of a DePaul team who is better than their record indicates.

To avoid a similar end of season narrative, I’d love to see us get at least two more wins this year, and the most likely candidate for one of those will be this weekend.

[wponds]

Also, can we please clean up our transition offense? Feels like a fast break is never a sure thing for us

[hoyalove4ever]

Must have this one!

[jwp91]

Feb 24, 2021 8:06:44 GMT -5 wponds said:

Also, can we please clean up our transition offense? Feels like a fast break is never a sure thing for us

Just go watch some Riley highlights. it is coming.

[blueandgray]

Yeah....that was tough yesterday....we just could not finish. And our big men also need to finish on their dunks!!

[bostonfan]

Feb 24, 2021 9:36:38 GMT -5 blueandgray said:

Yeah....that was tough yesterday....we just could not finish. And our big men also need to finish on their dunks!!

Those missed dunks are frustrating. I understand kids want to "hammer" these dunks and end up on SportsCenter when they are near the rim, but the extra time it takes to cock the ball back for those dunks just gives the defense an extra second to contest the play. Just go up quick and strong and dunk it. No need to showboat on those.

[calhoya]

Feb 24, 2021 8:06:44 GMT -5 wponds said:

Also, can we please clean up our transition offense? Feels like a fast break is never a sure thing for us

Totally agree as we convert on about half of our layups. Crazy.

[RockawayHoya]

Feb 24, 2021 9:41:55 GMT -5 bostonfan said:

Feb 24, 2021 9:36:38 GMT -5 blueandgray said:

Yeah....that was tough yesterday....we just could not finish. And our big men also need to finish on their dunks!!

Those missed dunks are frustrating. I understand kids want to "hammer" these dunks and end up on SportsCenter when they are near the rim, but the extra time it takes to cock the ball back for those dunks just gives the defense an extra second to contest the play. Just go up quick and strong and dunk it. No need to showboat on those.

Missing dunks wasn't a last night thing, it's been going on all season. And you are absolutely right; why are our bigs double clutching, gathering, etc. when going up for dunks? It's a consistent problem.

For the year, Q and Tim are a combined 28-35 (80%) on dunks. As a 6'10+ big, if you are only hitting 80% of your dunks, that's just not good enough.

By comparison, the UConn frontline of Whaley, Sanogo and Carlton are 19-19 this year. Throw in Bouknight and they are 31-31.

Depaul's primary big, Ongenda, is 14-18 (78%) on dunks this year. One of the few that's worse than us.

[blueandgray]

Feb 24, 2021 10:49:39 GMT -5 RockawayHoya said:

Feb 24, 2021 9:41:55 GMT -5 bostonfan said:

Those missed dunks are frustrating. I understand kids want to "hammer" these dunks and end up on SportsCenter when they are near the rim, but the extra time it takes to cock the ball back for those dunks just gives the defense an extra second to contest the play. Just go up quick and strong and dunk it. No need to showboat on those.

Missing dunks wasn't a last night thing, it's been going on all season. And you are absolutely right; why are our bigs double clutching, gathering, etc. when going up for dunks? It's a consistent problem.

For the year, Q and Tim are a combined 28-35 (80%) on dunks. As a 6'10+ big, if you are only hitting 80% of your dunks, that's just not good enough.

By comparison, the UConn frontline of Whaley, Sanogo and Carlton are 19-19 this year. Throw in Bouknight and they are 31-31.

Depaul's primary big, Ongenda, is 14-18 (78%) on dunks this year. One of the few that's worse than us.

Incredible and somewhat shocking data!

[hoyalove4ever]

I do not get the missed dunks. Throw it down!!!

[rhw485]

Piggy-backing daveg023 post...man does this game feel particularly important in calling this season a relative success to expectations.

Win this one, even drop the last two to potential NCAA tourney teams and I think everyone would look at 6-10, with missing games against weaker teams like Marquette and Provy, maybe still finish 8th or 9th (i mean we're contractually obligated to be in the 8/9 game) and agree that was above the pre-season expectations.  Throw in the Dante progress as a pleasant surprise and you at least have two locked in returning starters to join the killer recruiting class.  We can live on that hope during the offseason.

But if we drop this one, and don't pull out either of the last two, it's just gonna feel hard to claim progress.  Maybe that's not fair, it's just one game in the big picture and I told myself I wouldn't judge this season on wins and losses.  But another end of season swoon and 10th instead of 11th is not going to feel like some super amazing coaching job.

Their statistical profile is downright weird.  The worst offense in the Big East...and the best defense?  DePaul's defense lets teams take a ton of 3s (nearly 40% of all shots), but holds opponents to only 31% on those attempts, 53rd best in country.  Now the stats won't tell us if that's actually good defense or are they just getting super lucky?  Are teams choosing to take 3s or forced to take 3s?  Combine with a really high block % and it does look like they wall off paint and force teams to beat them from the perimeter.  Held Creighton to 6-22 1st meeting, Provy 7-24, SH 8-26.  They also haven't played us or Nova, so maybe it's really fools gold but that feels like the swing stat, as it always does.

Can we downright smother a bad offense?  We did that to Butler.  DePaul is another team that crashes the offensive glass like UConn so if we struggle there again that would be a problem.  They turn it over a ton also but we struggle to force TO's.  Unstoppable force vs. immovable object type stuff.

Win this one and it feels like we'd be playing with house money a little bit, lets get it done.

[SFHoya99]

Feb 25, 2021 10:43:20 GMT -5 rhw485 said:

Piggy-backing daveg023 post...man does this game feel particularly important in calling this season a relative success to expectations.

Win this one, even drop the last two to potential NCAA tourney teams and I think everyone would look at 6-10, with missing games against weaker teams like Marquette and Provy, maybe still finish 8th or 9th (i mean we're contractually obligated to be in the 8/9 game) and agree that was above the pre-season expectations.  Throw in the Dante progress as a pleasant surprise and you at least have two locked in returning starters to join the killer recruiting class.  We can live on that hope during the offseason.

But if we drop this one, and don't pull out either of the last two, it's just gonna feel hard to claim progress.  Maybe that's not fair, it's just one game in the big picture and I told myself I wouldn't judge this season on wins and losses.  But another end of season swoon and 10th instead of 11th is not going to feel like some super amazing coaching job.

Their statistical profile is downright weird.  The worst offense in the Big East...and the best defense?  DePaul's defense lets teams take a ton of 3s (nearly 40% of all shots), but holds opponents to only 31% on those attempts, 53rd best in country.  Now the stats won't tell us if that's actually good defense or are they just getting super lucky?  Are teams choosing to take 3s or forced to take 3s?  Combine with a really high block % and it does look like they wall off paint and force teams to beat them from the perimeter.  Held Creighton to 6-22 1st meeting, Provy 7-24, SH 8-26.  They also haven't played us or Nova, so maybe it's really fools gold but that feels like the swing stat, as it always does.

Can we downright smother a bad offense?  We did that to Butler.  DePaul is another team that crashes the offensive glass like UConn so if we struggle there again that would be a problem.  They turn it over a ton also but we struggle to force TO's.  Unstoppable force vs. immovable object type stuff.

Win this one and it feels like we'd be playing with house money a little bit, lets get it done.

Lose out, and the change in play after the COVID break doesn't feel a change in play. It seems more likely a temporary bright spot driven by high 3pt % and opponents who were careless with the ball for a few games in a row.

Win at least two here, and the team had a credible case that it materially improved. This is basically must win for any optimism.

[bostonfan]

DePaul got beat pretty badly last night by a Creighton team that seems to have righted the ship after some inconsistent play. DePaul had no one in double figures last night and looks to be struggling to score. The Freeman Liberty kid did not play last night and he had been one of their most consistent offensive players. I am not sure what his injury is, but if he can't play for a while, DePaul will continue to struggle offensively.

Play good solid defense against them and force them to make contested shots and the Hoyas should be able to outscore them. the one thing that it looks like DePaul does well is attack the offensive glass, so the Georgetown rebounding will be tested again and hopefully they do better than against UConn. Similar to UConn, DePaul is athletic and active, but not nearly as skilled as UConn.

[professorhoya]

Feb 25, 2021 11:05:24 GMT -5 bostonfan said:

DePaul got beat pretty badly last night by a Creighton team that seems to have righted the ship after some inconsistent play. DePaul had no one in double figures last night and looks to be struggling to score. The Freeman Liberty kid did not play last night and he had been one of their most consistent offensive players. I am not sure what his injury is, but if he can't play for a while, DePaul will continue to struggle offensively.

Play good solid defense against them and force them to make contested shots and the Hoyas should be able to outscore them. the one thing that it looks like DePaul does well is attack the offensive glass, so the Georgetown rebounding will be tested again and hopefully they do better than against UConn. Similar to UConn, DePaul is athletic and active, but not nearly as skilled as UConn.

That’s Marcus Liberty’s nephew. Marcus was former high school player of the year went into the Fightin Illini and the NBA.

[vv83]

Feb 25, 2021 11:11:01 GMT -5 professorhoya said:

Feb 25, 2021 11:05:24 GMT -5 bostonfan said:

DePaul got beat pretty badly last night by a Creighton team that seems to have righted the ship after some inconsistent play. DePaul had no one in double figures last night and looks to be struggling to score. The Freeman Liberty kid did not play last night and he had been one of their most consistent offensive players. I am not sure what his injury is, but if he can't play for a while, DePaul will continue to struggle offensively.

Play good solid defense against them and force them to make contested shots and the Hoyas should be able to outscore them. the one thing that it looks like DePaul does well is attack the offensive glass, so the Georgetown rebounding will be tested again and hopefully they do better than against UConn. Similar to UConn, DePaul is athletic and active, but not nearly as skilled as UConn.

That’s Marcus Liberty’s nephew. Marcus was former high school player of the year went into the Fightin Illini and the NBA.

Just did some quick research - Freeman-Liberty is in the concussion protocol. His status is pretty much day-to-day.

[daveg023]

Feb 25, 2021 10:51:12 GMT -5 SFHoya99 said:

Feb 25, 2021 10:43:20 GMT -5 rhw485 said:

Piggy-backing daveg023 post...man does this game feel particularly important in calling this season a relative success to expectations.

Win this one, even drop the last two to potential NCAA tourney teams and I think everyone would look at 6-10, with missing games against weaker teams like Marquette and Provy, maybe still finish 8th or 9th (i mean we're contractually obligated to be in the 8/9 game) and agree that was above the pre-season expectations.  Throw in the Dante progress as a pleasant surprise and you at least have two locked in returning starters to join the killer recruiting class.  We can live on that hope during the offseason.

But if we drop this one, and don't pull out either of the last two, it's just gonna feel hard to claim progress.  Maybe that's not fair, it's just one game in the big picture and I told myself I wouldn't judge this season on wins and losses.  But another end of season swoon and 10th instead of 11th is not going to feel like some super amazing coaching job.

Their statistical profile is downright weird.  The worst offense in the Big East...and the best defense?  DePaul's defense lets teams take a ton of 3s (nearly 40% of all shots), but holds opponents to only 31% on those attempts, 53rd best in country.  Now the stats won't tell us if that's actually good defense or are they just getting super lucky?  Are teams choosing to take 3s or forced to take 3s?  Combine with a really high block % and it does look like they wall off paint and force teams to beat them from the perimeter.  Held Creighton to 6-22 1st meeting, Provy 7-24, SH 8-26.  They also haven't played us or Nova, so maybe it's really fools gold but that feels like the swing stat, as it always does.

Can we downright smother a bad offense?  We did that to Butler.  DePaul is another team that crashes the offensive glass like UConn so if we struggle there again that would be a problem.  They turn it over a ton also but we struggle to force TO's.  Unstoppable force vs. immovable object type stuff.

Win this one and it feels like we'd be playing with house money a little bit, lets get it done.

Lose out, and the change in play after the COVID break doesn't feel a change in play. It seems more likely a temporary bright spot driven by high 3pt % and opponents who were careless with the ball for a few games in a row.

Win at least two here, and the team had a credible case that it materially improved. This is basically must win for any optimism.

^^^ This

[mdtd]

Feb 25, 2021 11:16:45 GMT -5 vv83 said:

Feb 25, 2021 11:11:01 GMT -5 professorhoya said:

That’s Marcus Liberty’s nephew. Marcus was former high school player of the year went into the Fightin Illini and the NBA.

Just did some quick research - Freeman-Liberty is in the concussion protocol. His status is pretty much day-to-day.

If he doesn't play and we lose this one, the room for optimism will be low. He's their best player imo. I agree with this game feeling especially key, from an optimism standpoint. We've had some good shooting performances and beat Provy on a bad one, but let's make sure we can take care of business against teams we should beat before claiming the season to be an unbridled success.