AltoSaxa
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Post by AltoSaxa on Nov 4, 2022 17:58:54 GMT -5
So sad someone who’s handle suggests they’re an “academic” resorts to name calling and allusions to Russian influence. Then again that is the maturity of our “academic elites” who hide in that white tower
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Post by professorhoya on Nov 4, 2022 18:27:27 GMT -5
So sad someone who’s handle suggests they’re an “academic” resorts to name calling and allusions to Russian influence. Then again that is the maturity of our “academic elites” who hide in that white tower Noting wrong with Russians who live here or Russian culture. Hoyaboya is my Russian Chicago homeboy. You shouldn’t discriminate.
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hoyainla
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Post by hoyainla on Nov 4, 2022 21:42:53 GMT -5
So can we deal and discuss Akok Akok as playing healthy. Were he to become injured discussion is over until recovery. Everyone goes to "injury prone" with any mention of him. Rather, it would be nice as to what he contributes uninjured as that is the only way he sees the floor for us. Limited times I saw him last year, I felt he was a force when in the game. That is what we need to deal with---in the game. Akok was pretty good when he played last year he was just behind someone who was better than he was. He wanted more time and seems like the situation between him and Hurley went south. He would have had the starting spot on a likely better Uconn team. Their loss is our gain. He will certainly be an upgrade over what we had at the 4 last year. If he goes down it would be a big blow.
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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Nov 6, 2022 13:42:34 GMT -5
So can we deal and discuss Akok Akok as playing healthy. Were he to become injured discussion is over until recovery. Everyone goes to "injury prone" with any mention of him. Rather, it would be nice as to what he contributes uninjured as that is the only way he sees the floor for us. Limited times I saw him last year, I felt he was a force when in the game. That is what we need to deal with---in the game. Akok was pretty good when he played last year he was just behind someone who was better than he was. He wanted more time and seems like the situation between him and Hurley went south. He would have had the starting spot on a likely better Uconn team. Their loss is our gain. He will certainly be an upgrade over what we had at the 4 last year. If he goes down it would be a big blow. Healthy Akok Akok and Wahab are massive improvements over the guys we had in those positions last year. And we really have no same-level replacements for either one, so their health is paramount to our success this year.
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hoyazeke
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Post by hoyazeke on Nov 6, 2022 14:51:51 GMT -5
Akok was pretty good when he played last year he was just behind someone who was better than he was. He wanted more time and seems like the situation between him and Hurley went south. He would have had the starting spot on a likely better Uconn team. Their loss is our gain. He will certainly be an upgrade over what we had at the 4 last year. If he goes down it would be a big blow. Healthy Akok Akok and Wahab are massive improvements over the guys we had in those positions last year. And we really have no same-level replacements for either one, so their health is paramount to our success this year. I think Bradley is going to surprise the fans. He is really athletic and can shoot. He'll be a really good backup
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bluegray79
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Post by bluegray79 on Nov 6, 2022 16:04:22 GMT -5
I agree. I also hope that Bass & Mozone get good minutes in OOC games. The quicker we can get them into the flow of play and learn what combinations work well, the sooner we'll have better subs and possible replacements for Akok and Ezewiro if need be.
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bluegray79
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Post by bluegray79 on Nov 6, 2022 20:47:51 GMT -5
Here's what I would love to see from Qudus this season:
rebound at both ends stay out of foul trouble don't try to do too much on offense. DO kick it out quickly to open teammates. DO nail down the pick and roll be alert and guard the perimeter (just remember how you felt during and after the Colorado NCAA game in '21)
If he can do these things on a consistent basis, we will have a good year.
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hoyaatheart55
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Post by hoyaatheart55 on Nov 6, 2022 21:02:37 GMT -5
One thing I’m confident about is that Qudus will have a very good season. It will be nice to have a guy we can go to for an easy basket here and there when we fall into a funk,
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smokeyjack
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Post by smokeyjack on Nov 7, 2022 9:54:04 GMT -5
Excitement to start the season muted by fact that primary backcourt subs look like Anglin (frosh), Riley (?) and Bristol. OK, so maybe it's unfair to judge the last two guys on Kenner, but wow, did they bring nothing offensively to the table this summer. Better hope Heath gets cleared or Anglin is an unusually ready freshman.
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RBHoya
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Post by RBHoya on Nov 7, 2022 10:59:18 GMT -5
Excitement to start the season muted by fact that primary backcourt subs look like Anglin (frosh), Riley (?) and Bristol. OK, so maybe it's unfair to judge the last two guys on Kenner, but wow, did they bring nothing offensively to the table this summer. Better hope Heath gets cleared or Anglin is an unusually ready freshman. I agree if Heath isn't playing it's a big loss, as he's probably one of the 3 most talented players in the program right now. That said, if he WAS playing and we were primarily going with Primo/Heath/Murray as our guard rotation, there'd be a ton of people on Hoyatalk wringing their hands about Anglin not getting enough minutes to develop and whether he'd want to stay around, or lamenting the lack of PT for Riley and Bristol. Almost like you can't win. All of these guys are scholarship players who were brought here to play, they're going to get their shot now and we need them to step up. Otherwise, we didn't recruit the right guys. Lots of successful high major teams have freshman guards in backup/supporting roles. Many of our own best teams the last 20 years have had that sort of setup, like Jessie Sapp as a freshman being the 3rd guard behind Cook/Wallace, or freshman Markel Starks being the backup PG behind Chris Wright (Anglin was a little higher rated recruit than Sapp or Starks too, IIRC). IMHO Anglin is good enough to be that kind of player. If we were counting on him to start and play 30-35 minutes a game like we did with Dante Harris a couple years ago, I agree that's pretty tough. But 15 minutes per game off the bench? Yes, I think he's good enough to do that. And if we struggle this season I think it will be because our top 3-5 players aren't quite good enough, not because Anglin couldn't cut it as the 7th or 8th man. If no Heath, by conference play I think you'll see something like PG: Spears (28), Anglin (12) SG: Murray (35), Bristol or Riley (5) 3g/SF: Mozone (25), Bristol, Riley, or Bass (15) And the biggest question marks for me there are how well Spears, Mozone, and Bristol handle a higher level rather than how Anglin will do as backup point guard. Still, really hoping the Heath thing works out, even if it's not on Day 1.
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Post by SoCal Hoya85 on Nov 7, 2022 20:00:05 GMT -5
Excitement to start the season muted by fact that primary backcourt subs look like Anglin (frosh), Riley (?) and Bristol. OK, so maybe it's unfair to judge the last two guys on Kenner, but wow, did they bring nothing offensively to the table this summer. Better hope Heath gets cleared or Anglin is an unusually ready freshman. I really hope Heath gets cleared because he is fun to watch and also with Dante out having Heath would put more of a check on Primo who can have the tendancy to jack up shots. For those types of players its helpful when they know the coach can credibly go to his bench if you're getting out of control. I think Anglin will be a day one ready freshman so not too worried there.
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thedragon
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Post by thedragon on Nov 14, 2022 13:06:31 GMT -5
Will be interesting to see how tomorrow looks. Heaths eligibility really gives the staff a lot more lineup options.
Does Heath slot into the starting 2 spot? Moving Murray to the 3 and Mozone to the bench?
Does Ewing keep the starters as is and make Heath the 6th man?
Will Ezewiro be available tomorrow as well? Is he the backup 5 man in the rotation?
We've basically seen a 7 man rotation through first 2 games (Primo, Murray, Mozone, Akok, Wahab, Riley, Bristol). Does Heath make 8? Ezewiro make 9? Or does 1 of Riley/Bristol become a rotation casualty?
Will be interesting to see starting tomorrow.
If it was me -
I would leave starters As Is for now. Bring Heath in as 6th man. And can determine second half/closing lineup based on matchups and game adjustments.
Primo - 30 Murray -30 Mozone - 20 Akok -30 Wahab - 30
Heath - 20 Ezewiro - 10 Riley - 15 Bristol - 15
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Post by ColumbiaHeightsHoya on Nov 14, 2022 13:32:20 GMT -5
Will be interesting to see how tomorrow looks. Heaths eligibility really gives the staff a lot more lineup options. Does Heath slot into the starting 2 spot? Moving Murray to the 3 and Mozone to the bench? Does Ewing keep the starters as is and make Heath the 6th man? Will Ezewiro be available tomorrow as well? Is he the backup 5 man in the rotation? We've basically seen a 7 man rotation through first 2 games (Primo, Murray, Mozone, Akok, Wahab, Riley, Bristol). Does Heath make 8? Ezewiro make 9? Or does 1 of Riley/Bristol become a rotation casualty? Will be interesting to see starting tomorrow. If it was me - I would leave starters As Is for now. Bring Heath in as 6th man. And can determine second half/closing lineup based on matchups and game adjustments. Primo - 30 Murray -30 Mozone - 20 Akok -30 Wahab - 30 Heath - 20 Ezewiro - 10 Riley - 15 Bristol - 15 He has been playing Primo & Murray too much. Those minutes should come down as should Wahab's. Keep the fluid switch everything line-ups in more of which Riley/Heath/Bristol/Akok/Mozone etc. fit that mold. Move away from the traditional big except against teams where we can easily press that advantage.
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Post by trotters10 on Nov 14, 2022 13:32:27 GMT -5
Will be interesting to see how tomorrow looks. Heaths eligibility really gives the staff a lot more lineup options. Does Heath slot into the starting 2 spot? Moving Murray to the 3 and Mozone to the bench? Does Ewing keep the starters as is and make Heath the 6th man? Will Ezewiro be available tomorrow as well? Is he the backup 5 man in the rotation? We've basically seen a 7 man rotation through first 2 games (Primo, Murray, Mozone, Akok, Wahab, Riley, Bristol). Does Heath make 8? Ezewiro make 9? Or does 1 of Riley/Bristol become a rotation casualty? Will be interesting to see starting tomorrow. If it was me - I would leave starters As Is for now. Bring Heath in as 6th man. And can determine second half/closing lineup based on matchups and game adjustments. Primo - 30 Murray -30 Mozone - 20 Akok -30 Wahab - 30 Heath - 20 Ezewiro - 10 Riley - 15 Bristol - 15 Personally, I think we'll see Ezewiro as the back up 5 in most cases. It pains me to say it, as I want Ryan to succeed, but my god does he ever look slow defending pick and rolls. You could see Pat pulled him off the one time to discuss his pick and roll defense, as his recovery was so slow it made Wahab look like Usain Bolt. He turned his head and literally ran back with his back to the play, whereas you want a guy to slide backward while keeping his eye on the play. I think Ezewiro will be the go-to guy off the bench in the big man rotation, because he's a much better natural athlete than Ryan.
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Post by centercourt400s on Nov 14, 2022 14:13:13 GMT -5
I'm guessing Heath will be the 1st guard off the bench, for either Primo or Murray.
Should also be interesting to see if it affects the amount of time they press. As others have pointed out a hard press isn't sustainable with the short rotation the team has used so far. Heath's additional minutes could change that.
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SFHoya99
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Post by SFHoya99 on Nov 14, 2022 15:26:59 GMT -5
I don't think we have that luxury. I think we will actually look quite a bit better against bigger teams without Wahab, but I'm not sure taking Spears off the floor is a good idea. The guy has been the reason we are 2-0.
Murray's a strange one for me. He has the worst defensive effort and stance I've seen in a while and he's a huge liability there. I'm not a big fan of his shot selection. But he has talent, and somehow, even though I never seem to actually see them, he has a massive assist rate. For a team that struggles to do much other than one on one, that would seem to be an asset. But man ... I swear, I can't remember a single Murray assist! But he has a ton!
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thedragon
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Post by thedragon on Nov 14, 2022 15:53:29 GMT -5
Not to harp on the talent upgrade or flaws of last year's roster. But I do think that the reality is startling.
Last year in game 3 (Siena) the 1st sub was a now team manager for the backup center at Cal Baptist. Tomorrow the likely 1st sub will be a double digit scorer from a Pac-12 team.
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smokeyjack
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Post by smokeyjack on Nov 14, 2022 16:28:20 GMT -5
I think Heath starts pretty quickly, though perhaps not right out of the gate. His eligibility changes GU's ceiling pretty substantially IMO, as he will instantly be the second best ballhandler and best or second best backcourt defender (Riley?) on the squad. You could now start a five (Primo-Heath-Murray-Akok-Q) that has two major + defenders who can also contribute offensively. It's been a minute since we could say that.
Prob biggest deal here is that Heath gives us a second legit PG. Primo has had the most exciting start of any GU PG not named Iverson (albeit against trash), but his minutes the way he plays were not sustainable. We are now cooking with gas.
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rhw485
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Post by rhw485 on Nov 14, 2022 17:43:07 GMT -5
For me, I'm less worried about "who starts" and more about how the lineups / rotations are managed. Two things I'd like to see: - Are two out of Spears, Murray, Heath on the court at all times?
- Are one of Akok and Wahab on the court at all times?
I will say this is where I've been frustrated by rotation management in the past but lets see how it looks on Tuesday
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Post by daveh2122 on Nov 14, 2022 17:47:50 GMT -5
Is everyone available tomorrow? I would assume yes
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