bluegray79
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,100
|
Post by bluegray79 on May 24, 2022 21:07:05 GMT -5
Does the way recruiting was done reveal which coach(es) will have Ewing's ear in practice and on the bench during games?
I'm thinking that almost everyone seems to agree that this is a better collection of athletes/players than last year. We are loaded at guard position, look to have several options on the floor at any time who can shoot the 3, and have some length and strength at 4 and 5. We can't say how the pieces will fall together come November, but I'm guessing that Coach Ewing didn't strategize and recruit all by himself and without some sense as to how this team will play together. More specifically, how this team will improve in areas that lost us lots of games last season -- defense and consistently scoring more than the opponent in more games.
I'm also thinking that the coaches' job titles and roles points to AC Nickleberry as playing a/the key role in recruiting and how those pieces will fit together and play. I'm betting that he has a larger role than AC's in the past have had and has Ewing's ear in the X's & O's and overall guiding principles of how the team plays game to game. If I'm right, then I think it's fair to hope/expect that we see a different product, a better product come tipoff time.
Lastly, it's fair to say that PE should have been shown the door after last year, esp. as it was his 5th year. He wasn't & it's time to let it go so we can deal with the coaches and team in front of us and what's possible today and tomorrow. If kvetching about it is something you cannot help, start a separate thread and vent your spleen there. I really want to have some informed and insightful back and forth about our Hoyas. Hard to do with the ongoing loop of negativity and the snarky replies to it. Thank you.
|
|
DFW HOYA
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 5,777
|
Post by DFW HOYA on May 24, 2022 21:09:54 GMT -5
Does the way recruiting was done reveal which coach(es) will have Ewing's ear in practice and on the bench during games? During the games, Orr. In the office, Ronny. I don't see much change among the rest because Ewing isn't changing his style; a style that was frankly more adjustable in his first season than what it has become of late.
|
|
|
Post by daytonahoya31 on May 24, 2022 22:23:12 GMT -5
Brandon Murray and Jay Heath were not better offensive players than Carey was last year. Not close. Now Murray is more talented, and is a better defender for sure. But all this talk about a stacked roster is a pipe dream. We are still reaching on a lot of players, including a lot of our additions. We are rated the number two incoming class in the country. Obviously people who do this for a living think the staff did something right
|
|
hoyaboya
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 12,486
|
Post by hoyaboya on May 24, 2022 22:38:53 GMT -5
Brandon Murray and Jay Heath were not better offensive players than Carey was last year. Not close. Now Murray is more talented, and is a better defender for sure. But all this talk about a stacked roster is a pipe dream. We are still reaching on a lot of players, including a lot of our additions. We are rated the number two incoming class in the country. Obviously people who do this for a living think the staff did something right #2 class of transfers - not #2 class of recruits. A big reason we’re rated so highly is due to the volume of incoming transfers, not just the quality. We have a lot of chuckers and question marks, albeit some talent among those chuckers and question marks. Can’t wait to watch Ewing screw it up like he’s screwed up everything he’s touched as a coach, except for 4 fluke days out of 5 years.
|
|
|
Post by hoyasaxa2003 on May 24, 2022 23:10:33 GMT -5
Given the circumstances (0-20, Ewing likely on the hot seat, even if we kept him last year when we should not have), I think that Ewing and the staff did pretty well in the transfer market given the context. It would have been unrealistic to expect much better, because as much as I like Georgetown, we aren't the most obviously attractive destination at the moment. I feel like we need to give Nickelberry a lot of the credit, as he is one of the few changes we have actually made.
Do we have a better roster than last year? Probably. We certainly aren't any worse at PG. We probably are upgraded at SG, and maybe at SF. We are definitely upgraded at PF and C (Wahab is far, far, better than an center on our roster last season). So, I think the roster makeup is undoubtedly better. Obviously, there are still question marks, including whether Heath and Wahab can even play without sitting out a year. If no, then the roster is not nearly as good, but I have a feeling at least Wahab will get a waiver given the coaching change at Maryland. And Heath probably has a decent shot at a waiver, too.
I do think we have a roster than can win a single Big East game (even this past season, we had a few close losses, where if we had Wahab alone, we probably would have won). To me, the biggest issue is, what do we do different on defense? Do we actually guard the three point line? Do we defend closer to the basket better (we should, given Wahab and Akok, but we shall see). These are all questions that are up in he air. But, I don't think the roster upgrade, especially that we got Wahab back, is in doubt.
|
|
tashoya
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 12,330
|
Post by tashoya on May 24, 2022 23:15:12 GMT -5
I'm cool with Q coming back. But, honestly, I'm not excited about his return. Maybe he helps. Maybe he doesn't. Regardless, he bailed for what he, stupidly, thought was greener pastures for his misperception of his game. He has no mid-range. Never did. If Ewing makes him the suck hole he was without the ability to carry the offense like he did when he was last at Georgetown, it'll be another entirely lost year. I wish Q success but one should always be wary of taking back the ex that slept with someone up the street. Welcoming them back with open arms and no questions asked is pure insanity.
|
|
|
Post by hoyasaxa2003 on May 24, 2022 23:26:06 GMT -5
I'm cool with Q coming back. But, honestly, I'm not excited about his return. Maybe he helps. Maybe he doesn't. Regardless, he bailed for what he, stupidly, thought was greener pastures for his misperception of his game. He has no mid-range. Never did. If Ewing makes him the suck hole he was without the ability to carry the offense like he did when he was last at Georgetown, it'll be another entirely lost year. I wish Q success but one should always be wary of taking back the ex that slept with someone up the street. Welcoming them back with open arms and no questions asked is pure insanity.You raise valid concerns, but I see no evidence that he was welcomed back with "no questions asked," and at least back in March/April, it doesn't sound like Wahab was welcomed back with "open arms," at least at first. The staff was clearly trying to recruit other centers, and when they failed to land anybody, they turned to Wahab (or at least, it seems that way based on the sequence of events and the Hilltop Hoops reporting). This seems like a rare instance, where the move was mutually beneficial to both--and I am guessing on both sides that was part of the discussion. Ewing needed a center. Wahab thought he would be better off coming back than going pro in the G league. It works for both. But, I doubt it was with no questions asked (if it was, then I agree it'd be crazy).
|
|
|
Post by professorhoya on May 25, 2022 5:32:32 GMT -5
We are rated the number two incoming class in the country. Obviously people who do this for a living think the staff did something right #2 class of transfers - not #2 class of recruits. A big reason we’re rated so highly is due to the volume of incoming transfers, not just the quality. We have a lot of chuckers and question marks, albeit some talent among those chuckers and question marks. Can’t wait to watch Ewing screw it up like he’s screwed up everything he’s touched as a coach, except for 4 fluke days out of 5 years. The way you word this, you are admitting there is quality.
|
|
hoya9797
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 4,207
|
Post by hoya9797 on May 25, 2022 6:57:45 GMT -5
Brandon Murray and Jay Heath were not better offensive players than Carey was last year. Not close. Now Murray is more talented, and is a better defender for sure. But all this talk about a stacked roster is a pipe dream. We are still reaching on a lot of players, including a lot of our additions. We are rated the number two incoming class in the country. Obviously people who do this for a living think the staff did something right Maybe this group will turn out as well as the highly ranked and anticipated freshman class that came in last year.
|
|
biggmanu
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
Posts: 671
|
Post by biggmanu on May 25, 2022 7:50:19 GMT -5
Is the new normal that we make a deep run, UMD coach steps down mid season and Carey comes back for a final run the year after next due to special covid monkey pox variant waiver rules the league implemented on the fly.
|
|
bluegray79
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,100
|
Post by bluegray79 on May 25, 2022 8:09:47 GMT -5
Of course there's the chance this could all flop and suck. Sure, one could see Q leaving for greener pastures and returning like an ex coming back , etc., etc. But remember, while Q is the person making the decisions, he is a 22 year old with people whispering in his ear about what's best for him and his future. Yes, he is ultimately responsible, but I'm not going to pile on a kid who messed up a decision he thought was good for him but wasn't. (If you held me to account for every decision I made at 22, I'd be hard pressed to justify it all. Hell, I changed my major 3-4 times in sophomore year with all good advice from parents, counselors, teachers, etc. That doesn't include the dozens of really stupid decisions I made in other areas of my life that I'm lucky to laugh about now)
Do we know the whole story of what happened at UMD? Do we know who his handler is, what his family advised, or any of the many other considerations that made him leave or that made it fail? I'm just saying that we can assume all sorts of things to fit our version of what we think happened and how we should judge Qudus, but I don't want to do that. I'm a redemption guy. I believe in second chances and making up for mistakes. I like to think that he has had to swallow some pride to return here. If he made a mistake leaving, maybe he should be given some credit for making the decision to return. I also like to think he might have something to prove and will work hard to silence the naysayers -- and you know he will hear it from fans. Best way to fix that is to perform and help us win games.
I'm pulling for him and hoping he is ready to put in the time and work to prove the naysayers wrong and move his game to the next level while helping us win games. Welcome back, Q -- best of luck to you this year! Go Hoyas!
|
|
blueandgray
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 6,762
|
Post by blueandgray on May 25, 2022 8:42:46 GMT -5
Of course there's the chance this could all flop and suck. Sure, one could see Q leaving for greener pastures and returning like an ex coming back , etc., etc. But remember, while Q is the person making the decisions, he is a 22 year old with people whispering in his ear about what's best for him and his future. Yes, he is ultimately responsible, but I'm not going to pile on a kid who messed up a decision he thought was good for him but wasn't. (If you held me to account for every decision I made at 22, I'd be hard pressed to justify it all. Hell, I changed my major 3-4 times in sophomore year with all good advice from parents, counselors, teachers, etc. That doesn't include the dozens of really stupid decisions I made in other areas of my life that I'm lucky to laugh about now) Do we know the whole story of what happened at UMD? Do we know who his handler is, what his family advised, or any of the many other considerations that made him leave or that made it fail? I'm just saying that we can assume all sorts of things to fit our version of what we think happened and how we should judge Qudus, but I don't want to do that. I'm a redemption guy. I believe in second chances and making up for mistakes. I like to think that he has had to swallow some pride to return here. If he made a mistake leaving, maybe he should be given some credit for making the decision to return. I also like to think he might have something to prove and will work hard to silence the naysayers -- and you know he will hear it from fans. Best way to fix that is to perform and help us win games. I'm pulling for him and hoping he is ready to put in the time and work to prove the naysayers wrong and move his game to the next level while helping us win games. Welcome back, Q -- best of luck to you this year! Go Hoyas! Thank you for this!
|
|
78HOYA78
Bulldog (over 250 posts)
Posts: 398
|
Post by 78HOYA78 on May 25, 2022 9:35:47 GMT -5
I'm glad he is back and he is more experienced - can't teach height and his presence alone should be a positive one. Although some may have thought he had a down year at MD, he did go up against some stiff competition in the big ten and his movements/footwork seemed to be a little quicker than when he was at GU. My opinion of course.
|
|
TC
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 9,459
|
Post by TC on May 25, 2022 10:27:25 GMT -5
I'm cool with Q coming back. But, honestly, I'm not excited about his return. Maybe he helps. Maybe he doesn't. Regardless, he bailed for what he, stupidly, thought was greener pastures for his misperception of his game. He has no mid-range. Never did. If Ewing makes him the suck hole he was without the ability to carry the offense like he did when he was last at Georgetown, it'll be another entirely lost year. I wish Q success but one should always be wary of taking back the ex that slept with someone up the street. Welcoming them back with open arms and no questions asked is pure insanity. I cannot believe that people are not over the moon about this. I'm not because Ewing returning overshadows everything, but Wahab was the best interior player out there on the transfer portal - the alternative was looking like time to re-recruit Ighoefe or whoever the other person is that is being run off in order to make room for Wahab. You miss on Wahab, your season is over before it even starts - without him, this team is not well-balanced at all - it's a ton of outside shooters with no real interior threats to draw attention to open the outside threats up. In addition to Wahab being exactly what you need basketball-wise, the season last year was destroyed by Tre King getting booted out of school. In 2019 the season was destroyed by a giant scandal and a number of midseason "transfers", one by a guy who we recruited who got kicked out of LSU. Wahab was an All-Big East Academic choice in both 2020 AND 2021. Someone probably gets themselves booted out of school by midseason this year for academic or disciplinary reasons - this is a Ewing team that doesn't recruit on character and not a JT2 one with rigid disciplinary programs or a JT3 one where one of the hallmarks of recruiting is avoiding knuckleheads. I would bet money that the midseason disappearance is not going to be Qudus Wahab. Instead of "no questions asked" the program should be trying to fix the stuff Wahab was dissatisfied with his first time around. Arrogance gets in the way of this program doing a lot of things that could make it successful - it's a good thing that they were desperate enough that it didn't get in the way here.
|
|
trillesthoya
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,855
Member is Online
|
Post by trillesthoya on May 25, 2022 11:09:54 GMT -5
I cannot believe people here had to watch 25 mins a game of Tim fumbling the ball and committing unnecessarily aggressive fouls last season and aren’t losing their mind over the Wahab addition. Folks are either too hung up on the Colorado game (not many teams in the country have stretch bigs like they had that season) or need to move on from a mistake made by a college student who was given poor advice. By every measure Wahab is a great kid and student and we should be thrilled the two sides are willing to leave things in the past and let Wahab finish his career at Georgetown.
|
|
vv83
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,329
|
Post by vv83 on May 25, 2022 11:12:21 GMT -5
Wahab actually did not play any better/worse at Maryland last year than he did at Georgetown. If you look at all his numbers on a per minute basis - they were almost identical to his Georgetown per minute numbers. the only notable difference was fewer fouls per minute, and of course fewer minutes overall. I have no idea what kind of D he played at Maryland, and his defense will probably be the factor that defines how much impact he has this coming season as a Hoya. But in terms of offense/rebounds - his per minute numbers have been very similar throughout his three college seasons, so we probably should expect similar offense/rebound numbers in the coming season.
|
|
bostonfan
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 2,509
|
Post by bostonfan on May 25, 2022 11:16:55 GMT -5
Wahab is a better center, both offensively and defensively, than anyone that was on the roster last year, so he is an upgrade. I think the combination of an improved Ryan and Wahab should be a good rotation and give the Hoyas an advantage at the 5 spot in most games. How the staff integrates him into the offense and defense will ultimately decide how impactful he is this year, but he is a talent upgrade.
|
|
smokeyjack
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,300
|
Post by smokeyjack on May 25, 2022 11:59:30 GMT -5
I’m not worry about offense. Do you feel Wahab is a better defensive player than Ezewiro in your opinion? That's a really tough one. Qudus Wahab has started 63 NCAA games, was a rebounding leader and a blocked shot leader in the Big East in 2021, and basically our program collapsed last year without him. On the other hand, you have Ezewiro - his resume is three garbage time dunks. Gonna go with Wahab on this one. My fave HoyaTalk post ever. Classic. And my sentiments exactly. Tas put up a similarly laughable softball earlier in this thread when he questioned if adding Q was going to be "subtraction by addition" in terms of the growth of Pat's offense. To which I will say two things: 1)What offense? 2)I'm certain we all know how the Ewing Experiment ends, anything that gets us there in a less embarrassing fashion is a plus...which means Q is a major plus. And "an entirely lost year?" You mean like 0-20 lost? Are you really trying to compare the guy who helped us win a BET champ to the cast of spare parts we've had manning the post since his departure? Come on man! Yeah, Q is limited. But saying he's exponentially superior to what we had on the roster at C yesterday...and last year is an understatement.
|
|
Omega
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
Posts: 564
|
Post by Omega on May 25, 2022 12:05:24 GMT -5
That's a really tough one. Qudus Wahab has started 63 NCAA games, was a rebounding leader and a blocked shot leader in the Big East in 2021, and basically our program collapsed last year without him. On the other hand, you have Ezewiro - his resume is three garbage time dunks. Gonna go with Wahab on this one. My fave HoyaTalk post ever. Classic. And my sentiments exactly. Tas put up a similarly laughable softball earlier in this thread when he questioned if adding Q was going to be "subtraction by addition" in terms of the growth of Pat's offense. To which I will say two things: 1)What offense? 2)I'm certain we all know how the Ewing Experiment ends, anything that gets us there in a less embarrassing fashion is a plus...which means Q is a major plus. Just so I am clear. You are rooting for the team to fail, so the current coach can get fired?
|
|
smokeyjack
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,300
|
Post by smokeyjack on May 25, 2022 12:14:57 GMT -5
My fave HoyaTalk post ever. Classic. And my sentiments exactly. Tas put up a similarly laughable softball earlier in this thread when he questioned if adding Q was going to be "subtraction by addition" in terms of the growth of Pat's offense. To which I will say two things: 1)What offense? 2)I'm certain we all know how the Ewing Experiment ends, anything that gets us there in a less embarrassing fashion is a plus...which means Q is a major plus. Just so I am clear. You are rooting for the team to fail, so the current coach can get fired? Not at all. I don't THINK Pat's longterm success is in any question going forward, so I'm not expecting Pat to merge seamlessly into the 21st century with his forthcoming offenses. What I KNOW is that Pat has demonstrated some success as a coach playing old school dump-and-chase big man bball with Wahab. I'd rather watch a decent facsimile of a team playing that style go .500 than live through another 0-fer or even bottom quarter BE result. I'm not expecting beautiful, but I'd like to at least be able to watch without a trash can near at hand.
|
|