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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Feb 1, 2022 10:29:56 GMT -5
That is just false. While our defense was far from perfect, it showed drastic improvement from prior games. The core group of starters played solid D. We held Butler scoreless for a critical stretch in the second half. Things got shaky when second string came in, but they did not stay in for long. Still, we gave up fifty-six points for the game. It is hard to call that terrible defense. On paper, the defense was definitely better against Butler. But, all of these things are interrelated. Butler's offense is ranked 240. They just aren't going to put up a lot of points. One of our weaknesses is that we leave opposing teams shooters open, but against a slow, plodding team like Butler that also cannot shoot, our defensive weakness is not exploited as much against Butler (as it was against Connecticut, for example). However, on the flip side, our offense was also the worst it's been all season against Butler, scoring only .77 points per possession. Put differently, in Seton Hal's WORST game all season, they scored .83 points per possession. So, if our offense is that bad tonight (or really that bad against any Big East opponent) we are likely to lose. To totally change gears, Seton Hall's OOC schedule was a little weird. They played some really good games against highly ranked teams Texas (15), Ohio State (21), Michigan (32) (and went 2-1), yet they also scheduled Bethune Cookman (342) and Fairleigh Dickinson (343) and played Nyack, which isn't even Division 1. A few other tidbits: - On free throw defense, which is essentially a mostly random stat (since you cannot alter free throw shots on defense), Seton Hall is ranked 354 of 358. So that's a bit of bad luck. - Seton Hall is not a good shooting team from three (ranked 294) or two (270), but they make up for it by getting to the free throw line often, shooting free throws well. - Seton Hall's two point defense is excellent, and pretty good three point defense too. - Seton Hall doesn't take a lot of threes. So, really, the way we could potentially win this game would be for (a) Seton Hall to shoot horribly, (b) for our guys to shoot great from three, and (c) for us to not let Seton Hall manhandle us on the boards.
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Post by HometownHoya on Feb 1, 2022 10:31:12 GMT -5
GAMEDAY!!
For some reason I thought this game was Thursday not Tuesday so I'm not wearing my gameday attire. Oh well, I'll just have to tell my coworkers its a Gameday instead!
As far as the game goes, this is another one we may be able to win. SHU hasn't looked great this year and Willard's seat is also getting hot. As usual the key is defense but I want to see us win the battle on the boards. A hot shooting night would also go a long way towards a W but who knows which Rice we get tonight. Agreed with what others have said that we need to find ways to get our starters rest but not put an overmatched lineup out there. Hope that Dante stays in control and can see some shots go down earlier in the game.
Go Hoyas! Beat the Pirates!
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mfk24
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
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Post by mfk24 on Feb 1, 2022 10:42:39 GMT -5
GAMEDAY!! For some reason I thought this game was Thursday not Tuesday so I'm not wearing my gameday attire. Oh well, I'll just have to tell my coworkers its a Gameday instead! As far as the game goes, this is another one we may be able to win. SHU hasn't looked great this year and Willard's seat is also getting hot. As usual the key is defense but I want to see us win the battle on the boards. A hot shooting night would also go a long way towards a W but who knows which Rice we get tonight. Agreed with what others have said that we need to find ways to get our starters rest but not put an overmatched lineup out there. Hope that Dante stays in control and can see some shots go down earlier in the game. Go Hoyas! Beat the Pirates! Willard is an interesting coaching study. He had 5 really mediocre years at SHU making the NIT just once. Some might’ve been calling for his head after that run but in year 6, really turned it around, finishing 3rd or better in the BE for 5 straight years. He hasn’t been able to parlay that into any success in the NCAA tournament though. They had a ho-hum year last year, and have 6 BE losses already with games against Villanova, UConn, and Xavier x2 left on their schedule.
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hoya9797
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
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Post by hoya9797 on Feb 1, 2022 10:43:19 GMT -5
That is just false. While our defense was far from perfect, it showed drastic improvement from prior games. The core group of starters played solid D. We held Butler scoreless for a critical stretch in the second half. Things got shaky when second string came in, but they did not stay in for long. Still, we gave up fifty-six points for the game. It is hard to call that terrible defense. The defensive stats were 2 standard deviations from the mean which means it's an odd outlier. Either this terrible team suddenly had an extraordinary game or they ran into another terrible team that missed the wide open shots that other teams make. I saw the game so I know which one I'm pretty sure is true.
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Post by hoyalove4ever on Feb 1, 2022 10:48:46 GMT -5
I see- two standard deviations from the mean is more important than giving up only fifty-six points on the road to a conference opponent. That makes sense.
I watched the game as well. The defense was far from perfect, but far from awful, and certainly improved from previous games. I fail to see why there is a desire to attack and pile on at every front.
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prhoya
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Post by prhoya on Feb 1, 2022 12:35:48 GMT -5
That is just false. While our defense was far from perfect, it showed drastic improvement from prior games. The core group of starters played solid D. We held Butler scoreless for a critical stretch in the second half. Things got shaky when second string came in, but they did not stay in for long. Still, we gave up fifty-six points for the game. It is hard to call that terrible defense. This is not true. The defense left Butler’s perimeter shooters wide-open, but maybe that was the strategy because they are an awful shooting team, so I’ll give the staff that…
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hoyas212
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Post by hoyas212 on Feb 1, 2022 12:47:04 GMT -5
That is just false. While our defense was far from perfect, it showed drastic improvement from prior games. The core group of starters played solid D. We held Butler scoreless for a critical stretch in the second half. Things got shaky when second string came in, but they did not stay in for long. Still, we gave up fifty-six points for the game. It is hard to call that terrible defense. Curious what you saw that was a drastic improvement from prior games? And if it is sustainable? Giving up only 56 points seems to be much more likely a function of Butler being a completely inept offensive team. Butler's adjusted offensive efficiency is about as poor as Georgetown's adjusted defensive efficiency. Georgetown won't face an offense close to as bad as Butler's the rest of the way, even DePaul is significantly better.
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Post by hoyalove4ever on Feb 1, 2022 13:05:44 GMT -5
We made them look confused and showed them different looks that led to bad shots, quick shots, and turnovers. Lots of work to do...but we did show some progress.
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conshyhoya
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
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Post by conshyhoya on Feb 1, 2022 13:10:10 GMT -5
GAMEDAY!! For some reason I thought this game was Thursday not Tuesday so I'm not wearing my gameday attire. Oh well, I'll just have to tell my coworkers its a Gameday instead! As far as the game goes, this is another one we may be able to win. SHU hasn't looked great this year and Willard's seat is also getting hot. As usual the key is defense but I want to see us win the battle on the boards. A hot shooting night would also go a long way towards a W but who knows which Rice we get tonight. Agreed with what others have said that we need to find ways to get our starters rest but not put an overmatched lineup out there. Hope that Dante stays in control and can see some shots go down earlier in the game. Go Hoyas! Beat the Pirates! They mostly looked good until they got Covid. They played multiple games with 7 players with some starters missing. After they were all back they beat UConn but had a stretch of 3 games in 6 days were they looked fatigued and not very good. They had a decent break to recoup so I expect to see the good version of them.
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prhoya
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Post by prhoya on Feb 1, 2022 13:14:30 GMT -5
We made them look confused and showed them different looks that led to bad shots, quick shots, and turnovers. Lots of work to do...but we did show some progress. They were confused because they were so wide open and couldn’t believe it. Tell me if you see improvement tonight. Btw, we’re both at 7 posts for the 24-hr period. Check out until game time.
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iowa80
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Post by iowa80 on Feb 1, 2022 13:43:20 GMT -5
Guesses on big man minutes?
My rough guess, not necessarily my preference:
Tim 26 Ryan 9 Malcolm 3 Go small 2
SH is pretty tough underneath, so, even though I’d like to see more Ryan, not sure it will happen.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2022 14:09:02 GMT -5
Guesses on big man minutes? My rough guess, not necessarily my preference: Tim 26 Ryan 9 Malcolm 3 Go small 2 SH is pretty tough underneath, so, even though I’d like to see more Ryan, not sure it will happen. The problem is Yetna. Even if our center can deal with Obiagu on the defensive end (not much of a threat)... who's gonna guard AY? He might break our PFs in half. Samuel & Jackson aren't huge threats either, but they end up having 2 legit bigs on the court almost the whole game. No matter who we have at the 4, we're gonna be outmanned on both backboards. Hopefully this doesn't get 2nd-half-UConn ugly.
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Post by hoyalove4ever on Feb 1, 2022 14:15:15 GMT -5
We will need to pack it in and hope that they do not kill us from three. All five players must be fighting for boards.
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prhoya
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Post by prhoya on Feb 1, 2022 14:25:17 GMT -5
We will need to pack it in and hope that they do not kill us from three. All five players must be fighting for boards. The Hope Defense!!!
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Post by hoyalove4ever on Feb 1, 2022 14:42:46 GMT -5
Strategy involves taking calculated risks. I am not aware of some magical fix that will give us a strong defense overnight. Seton Hall does not seem to stroke the three well, but they seem poised to kill us from inside with high-percentage shots if we let them. But that is just me. Had I wanted to be a basketball coach, I could have taken that career path. I defer to those who did and who actually run the team, seem them at practice, study film for hours, etc.
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prhoya
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Post by prhoya on Feb 1, 2022 14:49:17 GMT -5
Strategy involves taking calculated risks. I am not aware of some magical fix that will give us a strong defense overnight. Seton Hall does not seem to stroke the three well, but they seem poised to kill us from inside with high-percentage shots if we let them. But that is just me. Had I wanted to be a basketball coach, I could have taken that career path. I defer to those who did and who actually run the team, seem them at practice, study film for hours, etc. Doesn’t mean that you would have been good at it, but I bet you couldn’t have been worse than the worst defensive GU (and BE) team in 50 years. It’s hard to be worse than that because there’s nowhere to go but up.
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hoyas212
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Post by hoyas212 on Feb 1, 2022 15:14:43 GMT -5
Strategy involves taking calculated risks. I am not aware of some magical fix that will give us a strong defense overnight. Seton Hall does not seem to stroke the three well, but they seem poised to kill us from inside with high-percentage shots if we let them. But that is just me. Had I wanted to be a basketball coach, I could have taken that career path. I defer to those who did and who actually run the team, seem them at practice, study film for hours, etc. I think fixing such a broken defense is not something that can happen in February. As you mentioned, there are physical limitations inside this season. A shortcoming of the defense that seems to not be related to any physical ability, and something I wish the media would ask Ewing about directly, is 3 point defense. Whether it be a poor scheme or scouting reports, opponents' 3 point shooters get great looks from 3, and they make a pretty high percentage. I think it's worthwhile to press and play a 2-3 zone, especially against a Seton Hall team missing Aiken. The shorter the shot clock an opponent has to work with and the simpler the assignment our players have, the less opportunity there is for things to go wrong. The zone in the St. John's game wasn't terrible.
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rhw485
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Post by rhw485 on Feb 1, 2022 16:26:42 GMT -5
I didnt get to post in Butler thread because it didn't make sense by the time I got to watch it. I would say that in the 2nd half it did seem like our first shot defense was fairly reasonable / solid. Grabbing a rebound with that lineup sometimes felt like a borderline miracle which I think gets to the broader point that's largely been highlighted by others...the lineup that had the most success (Holloway at center) is not playable against Seton Hall and probably UConn / Providence / DePaul as well.
To some extent, last game Ryan got punished in the 2nd half because of issues by Tim. Tim had a just brutal start to the half, he received a post entry below the block then spun baseline and dribbled it out of bounds. Then he got roasted on a perimeter drive from Golden which led to a timeout. That triggered Ewing to go small and then it was working so it was tough to go to Ryan. That's not going to be a problem tonight, the centers will play plenty. TBD if any real progress on defense is sustainable with the centers on the court.
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kettlehill
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Post by kettlehill on Feb 1, 2022 17:48:29 GMT -5
Maybe a combination of things are going to happen tonight: the guys just getting angry with all the losses leading to a more intense focus; maybe its Mo taking over the team's leadership (which he should), maybe its SH losing it, I don't know- I just think we win tonight and whether it precipitates a win streak, well we will see. Free Mutombo!
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Post by centercourt400s on Feb 1, 2022 18:15:41 GMT -5
Willard is an interesting coaching study. He had 5 really mediocre years at SHU making the NIT just once. Some might’ve been calling for his head after that run but in year 6, really turned it around, finishing 3rd or better in the BE for 5 straight years. He hasn’t been able to parlay that into any success in the NCAA tournament though. They had a ho-hum year last year, and have 6 BE losses already with games against Villanova, UConn, and Xavier x2 left on their schedule. Interesting that the start of Willard's successful years (per your reckoning) coincided with NCAA recruiting violations for which the team was placed on probation in 2019. www.si.com/college/2019/11/16/seton-hall-placed-on-probation-by-ncaa
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