tashoya
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Post by tashoya on Nov 27, 2021 22:49:23 GMT -5
I'm in the exact same boat. And at least the Giants were able to get rid of a woefully underperforming assistant (Garrett) recently. Remains to be seen if the Hoyas will have enough guts to shake up the staff if results don't improve in the near term. Guts? At this point IMO it is Pat trying to prove he can have a winning record with the same assistants. Try, try again… Agree. Patrick should be the one spearheading changes if things continue to not work. If he refuses to do that, there's only one choice left to make and he'll have forced that change. While I believe he's earned more slack than a typical hire, he needs to show improvement on team defense as that's less dependent on how talented players are. Yes, there are talented defenders individually. But, team defense can improve with the pieces this team has. If they hope to win games, they'd better get on that sooner than later. And, it's already kind of later.
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Post by michaelgrahmstylie on Nov 27, 2021 22:50:22 GMT -5
This board has high expectations for a team that plays so many new players/freshmen. Our alpha is a sophomore who really only figured it out end of last season. I for one feel like we need to be realistic in terms of the team we have and judge Ewing against it. Ewing has had good players (Pickett went to NBA, Wahab was a coveted transfer, Akinjo has led several good teams, Mac is at least putting up numbers in G league) and towards the end of several seasons we did see players like Pickett/Dante/Bile take steps forward. As a coach, the biggest things for me have been keeping the team / composition chemistry consistent (huge question mark for me so far, and whether you blame Ewing, luck or players probably factors into your grade), the coach's system and players adoption (the offense coordination seemed very low yesterday, a lot of trying to just make shots then get good shots), recruiting (I think he has at least gotten us some good pieces to work with), and defense/heart/effort (I think we have been better on the latter than the former). Throw in a inconsistent roster with a few overly inconsistent upperclassmen over the years, its been really frustrating to try to judge...between pandemic and transfers and being new to college coaching, Ewing is looking to coach his vision of a team still I imagine as well. I am interested in how he takes the pieces he has this year and what the result will be. I think we can agree being a .500 team with this team in a decent BE is actually both an accomplishment for this year and a disappointment overall and both can be true. Agree! I agree for the most part. The question I have is how would you like to be a college basketball coach in the atmosphere that is college basketball right now? I am not even sure how much control/influence the coaches have anymore. Players all believe they are ready for the NBA long before they actually are; there are several avenues to leave early and go pro somewhere to earn money to support self and family; players want to play somewhere where they are either a star or likely to become one. This is a crazy time in college basketball, period! Another question: Do you think we would have had Ewing the player at Georgetown for four years if he was playing today? What we need, in addition to what we are doing, is a system devised to keep players together for four years. I still believe in the team concept and experience. You cannot overstate the importance of experience. Every year it's like we are back to square one, mostly freshmen players. Not all of that is Ewing's fault. However, in my opinion, coming up with a system and encouraging players to buy into that system does have a lot to do with the coach. We need to see what happens this year. If we can keep this team together, we are primed for success. If we cannot, then we will have to evaluate everything.
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tashoya
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Post by tashoya on Nov 27, 2021 22:59:38 GMT -5
I agree for the most part. The question I have is how would you like to be a college basketball coach in the atmosphere that is college basketball right now? I am not even sure how much control/influence the coaches have anymore. Players all believe they are ready for the NBA long before they actually are; there are several avenues to leave early and go pro somewhere to earn money to support self and family; players want to play somewhere where they are either a star or likely to become one. This is a crazy time in college basketball, period! Another question: Do you think we would have had Ewing the player at Georgetown for four years if he was playing today? What we need, in addition to what we are doing, is a system devised to keep players together for four years. I still believe in the team concept and experience. You cannot overstate the importance of experience. Every year it's like we are back to square one, mostly freshmen players. Not all of that is Ewing's fault. However, in my opinion, coming up with a system and encouraging players to buy into that system does have a lot to do with the coach. We need to see what happens this year. If we can keep this team together, we are primed for success. If we cannot, then we will have to evaluate everything. It doesn't matter the climate. Patrick chose to take the job. Would Patrick have stayed 4 years as a player? Nearly absolutely not. There is no system that will entice players to stay 4 years if they have unrealistic expectations of their future prospects. You basically said that yourself in your post. Unless you can pay the players roughly what they expect to make professionally as a college player, they're leaving. Mac McClung thinks he's going to be in the NBA. And, he's got a better shot than most. But, he has no NBA future. Neither does Akinjo. And, you can go on and on. It's so ridiculous that people here continue to talk about Aminu leaving after one year. For where? It's certainly not the NBA. He's an excellent player. For a college freshman playing college ball. He's nowhere close to an NBA player right now. But, he could certainly play overseas right now. Which will he choose? Who knows? And, if he chooses to play overseas, how does one convince him to stay in college? If a guy doesn't care about the actual college part of college basketball, what argument is there to make to them?
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prhoya
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Post by prhoya on Nov 27, 2021 23:28:14 GMT -5
If we lose to Longwood without giving minutes to the underclassmen, then the voices around the program will get worse. There’s nowhere to hide with the social media culture.
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Bigs"R"Us
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Post by Bigs"R"Us on Nov 27, 2021 23:53:12 GMT -5
It’s like a disease, parents and handlers demanding more playing time for their meal ticket. Maybe, your kid isn’t ready for prime time yet. No patience or sense of team. If they were tearing it up in practice, they would see the court.
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biggmanu
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Post by biggmanu on Nov 27, 2021 23:58:28 GMT -5
Last year the Hoyas didn’t have a remarkably better roster and still won the BET with Ewing and staff. We need this freshman core to stick together and not get down after a tough start to the season. I look forward to better times ahead for sure. Let’s keep the vibe positive for this group of young men.
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tashoya
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Post by tashoya on Nov 28, 2021 0:25:55 GMT -5
If we lose to Longwood without giving minutes to the underclassmen, then the voices around the program will get worse. There’s nowhere to hide with the social media culture. I will say that, with what the upperclassmen have shown, Ryan should be the starting 5. Full stop.
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tashoya
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Post by tashoya on Nov 28, 2021 0:26:50 GMT -5
If we lose to Longwood without giving minutes to the underclassmen, then the voices around the program will get worse. There’s nowhere to hide with the social media culture. The underclassmen have been getting minutes. Helicopter parents should clip their rotors.
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Post by michaelgrahmstylie on Nov 28, 2021 1:19:27 GMT -5
I agree for the most part. The question I have is how would you like to be a college basketball coach in the atmosphere that is college basketball right now? I am not even sure how much control/influence the coaches have anymore. Players all believe they are ready for the NBA long before they actually are; there are several avenues to leave early and go pro somewhere to earn money to support self and family; players want to play somewhere where they are either a star or likely to become one. This is a crazy time in college basketball, period! Another question: Do you think we would have had Ewing the player at Georgetown for four years if he was playing today? What we need, in addition to what we are doing, is a system devised to keep players together for four years. I still believe in the team concept and experience. You cannot overstate the importance of experience. Every year it's like we are back to square one, mostly freshmen players. Not all of that is Ewing's fault. However, in my opinion, coming up with a system and encouraging players to buy into that system does have a lot to do with the coach. We need to see what happens this year. If we can keep this team together, we are primed for success. If we cannot, then we will have to evaluate everything. It doesn't matter the climate. Patrick chose to take the job. Would Patrick have stayed 4 years as a player? Nearly absolutely not. There is no system that will entice players to stay 4 years if they have unrealistic expectations of their future prospects. You basically said that yourself in your post. Unless you can pay the players roughly what they expect to make professionally as a college player, they're leaving. Mac McClung thinks he's going to be in the NBA. And, he's got a better shot than most. But, he has no NBA future. Neither does Akinjo. And, you can go on and on. It's so ridiculous that people here continue to talk about Aminu leaving after one year. For where? It's certainly not the NBA. He's an excellent player. For a college freshman playing college ball. He's nowhere close to an NBA player right now. But, he could certainly play overseas right now. Which will he choose? Who knows? And, if he chooses to play overseas, how does one convince him to stay in college? If a guy doesn't care about the actual college part of college basketball, what argument is there to make to them? Agree! That is the state we are in. Seriously, what are some of the solutions, in your opinion?
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thedragon
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Post by thedragon on Nov 28, 2021 2:12:25 GMT -5
If we lose to Longwood without giving minutes to the underclassmen, then the voices around the program will get worse. There’s nowhere to hide with the social media culture. I will say that, with what the upperclassmen have shown, Ryan should be the starting 5. Full stop. Pats got a quandary at the 5 spot. Tim is a much better rebounder and defender and screener - but Ryan has a much more versatile offensive game as was shown by his 3 vs St Joe's. It was a positive in my mind that Malcolm was taken out of the center rotation vs St Joe's- although much of that may have been Tim finally staying out of foul trouble.
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Post by professorhoya on Nov 28, 2021 7:15:36 GMT -5
My uncle has let it be known on twitter that I'm not happy that Double97 is taking up all of our bandwidth and hogging the ball. But this is just the uncle speaking and I am not saying such things.
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Post by professorhoya on Nov 28, 2021 7:34:37 GMT -5
I agree for the most part. The question I have is how would you like to be a college basketball coach in the atmosphere that is college basketball right now? I am not even sure how much control/influence the coaches have anymore. Players all believe they are ready for the NBA long before they actually are; there are several avenues to leave early and go pro somewhere to earn money to support self and family; players want to play somewhere where they are either a star or likely to become one. This is a crazy time in college basketball, period! It's difficult. That's why Coach K, Roy Williams and the old guard are high tailing out of college basketball. This also really hurts any system school that uses the Princeton, Pack Line, etc that takes years to master. It's not about whether a player wants to leave or their parents want them to leave it's about players always having that option now (one free transfer rule) That option creates uncertainty for the coaches and programs. It becomes hard to plan for the future (This is why college baseball has the 3 year draft eligible rule if they choose college over going pro/minor leagues) Coach, is actually well prepared for this rule change compared to most because he has had drastic roster changes and has adapted and gotten the most out of those roster changes. I think he's actually pretty good at it. Under the current system, I expect most teams will have whole sale roster changes year after year. The only way to maybe prevent it is for some sort of NIL deal keeping them in a certain location.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Nov 28, 2021 7:58:45 GMT -5
I am no fan of the short rotation preferring to get as many kids involved as possible. If you don't they can leave and you are starting over every year. However, in fairness, Ewing has had his most success the last two years with a very tight rotation. Given the mounting pressure it's his right and his risk to do what he thinks is necessary to win now. I hope to see more of the freshmen, but lack of playing time is not the only reason kids transfer. They also transfer to play on winning teams for programs that are consistently playing in the postseason. McClung, Akinjo, Wahab, and LeBlanc all played quite a bit in their time with the program. It's a struggle for any coach but particularly for one with little experience with this type of "free agency." I really want to see more of Riley, Beard and Ryan. Billingsley and Aminu have gotten their minutes. But I also want the Hoyas to start winning and if that means a short rotation then so be it. If the team loses and Ewing is pushed out, how many of these players stick around anyway?
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Post by hoyawoodhoops on Nov 28, 2021 10:57:03 GMT -5
I've finally choked down enough stomach acid after another night at courtside on Friday to add to this 26-page litany of misery. As a politician friend of mine likes to say (and as can be said about this St. Joe's game thread): "everything that needs to be said has been said, but not everyone's said it." In fact, despite the "better" quantitative result, the profound deficiencies in all aspects of the Georgetown game against SDSU were mirrored against St. Joe's on Friday night. While we didn't get killed on the P 'n R's and easy passes into the post against St. Joe's, our utter inability to mount an even passable three-point defense continued to metastasize. You'll be glad to know that Funk set a Wooden Classic record for made three's on Friday night, so we did get into the Tournament record books. We continue to be the team that couldn't pass straight, although this time it was less that we passed terribly (although we did), than we didn't pass at all. I continue to be amazed at this team's addiction to playing one-on-one basketball, and almost pathological avoidance of meaningful ball movement. I got back from Anaheim in time to watch most of the second half of the Gonzaga-Duke game, and seeing multiple passes and assists on baskets actually occurring seemed like an out-of-body experience.
There are some positives. Sitting literally a few feet from the players, it was impossible not to see that they all are playing hard, really hard, for Ewing. They just are not playing smart for him. As I said in an earlier post, some of that undoubtedly arises from the freshman (and even Dante) still trying to revert to what worked for them in the past. But Patrick has to see that this offensive approach even isn't close to working, even against what ought to be significantly out-manned competition. We don't move the ball, we don't move without it, and we select poor shots because poor shots are the only ones we end up in a position to take. All of this is (or should be) correctable. But that is on the Coach and his staff. I really think they're out of excuses. This year could end up being a train wreck, but I don't think it has to be. It's time to get back on track, though, and the clock is ticking rapidly.
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tashoya
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Post by tashoya on Nov 28, 2021 10:57:42 GMT -5
It doesn't matter the climate. Patrick chose to take the job. Would Patrick have stayed 4 years as a player? Nearly absolutely not. There is no system that will entice players to stay 4 years if they have unrealistic expectations of their future prospects. You basically said that yourself in your post. Unless you can pay the players roughly what they expect to make professionally as a college player, they're leaving. Mac McClung thinks he's going to be in the NBA. And, he's got a better shot than most. But, he has no NBA future. Neither does Akinjo. And, you can go on and on. It's so ridiculous that people here continue to talk about Aminu leaving after one year. For where? It's certainly not the NBA. He's an excellent player. For a college freshman playing college ball. He's nowhere close to an NBA player right now. But, he could certainly play overseas right now. Which will he choose? Who knows? And, if he chooses to play overseas, how does one convince him to stay in college? If a guy doesn't care about the actual college part of college basketball, what argument is there to make to them? Agree! That is the state we are in. Seriously, what are some of the solutions, in your opinion? Honestly? I haven't a clue. It's a brutal position in which to be. I don't know how you sell the value of an education to those that just want exposure. The odd part is that the idea of "exposure" is so different now, too. Mac had more exposure as a HS player than he, likely, does now. He's not been the "special" kind of player in college that he was in HS and that will only become more true at each level. As such, interest in him, necessarily, will diminish. That has nothing to do with what uniform he's wearing. He's just not going to be a unicorn at any level other than HS. He's not remotely interesting to watch at the pro level. With so many options for players, I'd imagine that, over time, fewer guys will go to college at all. Or, if they do, they'll leave after freshman year for a paying gig if they have that opportunity. If they're the type of player that is making good money off of NIL, that might make some consider staying an extra year. The best plan for moving forward is, likely, focusing on recruiting guys that want to go to school and aren't banking on making basketball their career. Or, at a minimum, are realistic about their chances of playing at the next level (in the US, at least). How the heck one finds those recruits is a whole other issue. It's what Villanova does but I have not one iota of an idea of how they're able to do it.
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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Nov 28, 2021 11:39:12 GMT -5
Agree! That is the state we are in. Seriously, what are some of the solutions, in your opinion? Honestly? I haven't a clue. It's a brutal position in which to be. I don't know how you sell the value of an education to those that just want exposure. The odd part is that the idea of "exposure" is so different now, too. Mac had more exposure as a HS player than he, likely, does now. He's not been the "special" kind of player in college that he was in HS and that will only become more true at each level. As such, interest in him, necessarily, will diminish. That has nothing to do with what uniform he's wearing. He's just not going to be a unicorn at any level other than HS. He's not remotely interesting to watch at the pro level. With so many options for players, I'd imagine that, over time, fewer guys will go to college at all. Or, if they do, they'll leave after freshman year for a paying gig if they have that opportunity. If they're the type of player that is making good money off of NIL, that might make some consider staying an extra year. The best plan for moving forward is, likely, focusing on recruiting guys that want to go to school and aren't banking on making basketball their career. Or, at a minimum, are realistic about their chances of playing at the next level (in the US, at least). How the heck one finds those recruits is a whole other issue. It's what Villanova does but I have not one iota of an idea of how they're able to do it. I think there are a few ways that teams do it. While I know Villanova is the most obvious example, I think that's a tough comparison. Villanova's situation is somewhat unique now because (a) when Wright took over, college basketball was different, (b) by the time the rules changed, Villanova was really good and that always draws/keeps players, and (c) Wright is a really excellent coach whose style fit well with the freedom of movement rules. Like you, I am not sure how to do it, but a few things come to mind: - Going forward, I think success in college basketball is going to require coaches who are truly inspirational, charismatic, and magnetic. These are the coaches who players love and adore, that get the maximum out of their players, and inspire loyalty. I get the sense that Jay Wright is this way, but we all know the idea - there are some coaches who just inspire loyalty and cohesion. I think this will be super important going forward, and unfortunately, the turnover our roster has seen over the last few years seems to indicate that Georgetown's current situation doesn't fall into this category. - We should definitely be recruiting guys who are the higher academic kids. To some extent, I think we already do this, but we are a natural fit for these type of kids. - We should be recruiting guys who are excellent college players, but not necessarily the type who are going to succeed in the NBA. We all know the type - sometimes these are undersized guys who are talented, but simply will not see the next level because of limitations. - If I were coaching, I would put a very heavy emphasis on high efficiency shooters. Ewing took a great step toward doing this in recruiting Anglin, and I am excited to see him play. But, otherwise, Ewing has seemed to focus more on athletic guys who may or may not be able to shoot. We all see how much three point shooting rules the game now, one simply cannot succeed without great shooters. And, these guys often fit into the category above - there are lots of guys in college basketball who shoot 40%+ from three point range who will never see an NBA roster (in this sense, Carey was a good find last year). Once you get all this in place, and can start winning, you can begin to land the 4 star+ recruits, and it builds on itself and can more easily recruit. Anyway, these are just some quick thoughts - I am not saying they are the right ones.
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tashoya
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Post by tashoya on Nov 28, 2021 12:57:39 GMT -5
Honestly? I haven't a clue. It's a brutal position in which to be. I don't know how you sell the value of an education to those that just want exposure. The odd part is that the idea of "exposure" is so different now, too. Mac had more exposure as a HS player than he, likely, does now. He's not been the "special" kind of player in college that he was in HS and that will only become more true at each level. As such, interest in him, necessarily, will diminish. That has nothing to do with what uniform he's wearing. He's just not going to be a unicorn at any level other than HS. He's not remotely interesting to watch at the pro level. With so many options for players, I'd imagine that, over time, fewer guys will go to college at all. Or, if they do, they'll leave after freshman year for a paying gig if they have that opportunity. If they're the type of player that is making good money off of NIL, that might make some consider staying an extra year. The best plan for moving forward is, likely, focusing on recruiting guys that want to go to school and aren't banking on making basketball their career. Or, at a minimum, are realistic about their chances of playing at the next level (in the US, at least). How the heck one finds those recruits is a whole other issue. It's what Villanova does but I have not one iota of an idea of how they're able to do it. I think there are a few ways that teams do it. While I know Villanova is the most obvious example, I think that's a tough comparison. Villanova's situation is somewhat unique now because (a) when Wright took over, college basketball was different, (b) by the time the rules changed, Villanova was really good and that always draws/keeps players, and (c) Wright is a really excellent coach whose style fit well with the freedom of movement rules. Like you, I am not sure how to do it, but a few things come to mind: - Going forward, I think success in college basketball is going to require coaches who are truly inspirational, charismatic, and magnetic. These are the coaches who players love and adore, that get the maximum out of their players, and inspire loyalty. I get the sense that Jay Wright is this way, but we all know the idea - there are some coaches who just inspire loyalty and cohesion. I think this will be super important going forward, and unfortunately, the turnover our roster has seen over the last few years seems to indicate that Georgetown's current situation doesn't fall into this category. - We should definitely be recruiting guys who are the higher academic kids. To some extent, I think we already do this, but we are a natural fit for these type of kids. - We should be recruiting guys who are excellent college players, but not necessarily the type who are going to succeed in the NBA. We all know the type - sometimes these are undersized guys who are talented, but simply will not see the next level because of limitations. - If I were coaching, I would put a very heavy emphasis on high efficiency shooters. Ewing took a great step toward doing this in recruiting Anglin, and I am excited to see him play. But, otherwise, Ewing has seemed to focus more on athletic guys who may or may not be able to shoot. We all see how much three point shooting rules the game now, one simply cannot succeed without great shooters. And, these guys often fit into the category above - there are lots of guys in college basketball who shoot 40%+ from three point range who will never see an NBA roster (in this sense, Carey was a good find last year). Once you get all this in place, and can start winning, you can begin to land the 4 star+ recruits, and it builds on itself and can more easily recruit. Anyway, these are just some quick thoughts - I am not saying they are the right ones. Excellent post. Thanks for taking the time.
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Post by michaelgrahmstylie on Nov 28, 2021 13:06:56 GMT -5
The above posters: No, you guys were great in your responses! First of all, I love the honesty: it is a tough world, the world of college basketball.
However, could we all just be overlooking one simple fact? Our guys just need time.
I am going to give Coach the benefit of the doubt, here and hope the team learns and grows from these experiences.
As you said—can’t believe you had court-side seat!—the guys are playing hard. To me this means that they all realize that things will get better.
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dchoya72
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Post by dchoya72 on Nov 28, 2021 15:03:06 GMT -5
When a team has this kind of turnover and such great loss, it becomes a significant rebuild. I think many have unfair expectations of Ewing. We need talent and continuity, and I get frustrated too, but we need better talent and some experienced power players. I think someone like King could have made a difference, but he's not here so we have to go with what we have. Little by little we will get better. It still won't be enough for some, until...who knows! Expecting Georgetown to beat Dartmouth and St. Joe’s is unfair? What about Longwood? Is expecting a win there aiming too high? Their top scorer was 8 for 10 from 3 pt line, how many time do you think that will happen in his career? We lost but put up a fight to get the end. This season will be tough, but if everyone stays and we pick up one or two super big guys next season who know. We need some recruits that can fill in our gaps. We're relatively small and largely inexperienced. Ewing needs some good fortune, like he was for Georgetown as a college player. This is a different era, but we need to turn the tide. We're going in the right direction but I think we need bigs who are better in every way.
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dchoya72
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Post by dchoya72 on Nov 28, 2021 15:03:46 GMT -5
My uncle has let it be known on twitter that I'm not happy that Double97 is taking up all of our bandwidth and hogging the ball. But this is just the uncle speaking and I am not saying such things. Ha ha!!
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