bluegray79
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Post by bluegray79 on Nov 9, 2022 21:22:34 GMT -5
Yikes - o.k. Well, let's see. I based my conjecture that Bristol is a "gifted player" on his being named Freshman of the Year 2 years ago. The MEAC is not the Big 10, the ACC, or even the Big East, but to be recognized as the best newcomer in a D1 league I figured has to mean that he has some exceptional skill, even if at a level that may be below what some might think of as authentic or valid. A look at his Howard MBB bio says: in 2019-20 Named 2019-20 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Rookie of the Year ... selected to the MEAC All-Rookie Team ... won MEAC Rookie of the Week three times (Dec. 10, Jan. 28, & Feb. 25) ... played all 33 games (28 starts) ... finished second on the team in scoring (12.6 ppg) ... ranked among the league leaders in multiple categories, including free throw percentage (83%), three-point percentage (43%) and three-pointers made per game (1.5) ... reached double figures in scoring 23 times. including five 20-point performances ... played 11 minutes in his collegiate debut against Washington Adventist (Nov. 5) ... had a season-best 28 points on 9-of-16 shooting at Coppin State (Jan. 27) ... netted 26 points on 9-of-14 shooting at North Carolina A&T State (Feb. 22). You decide if accomplishing any or all of this might indicate that one is 'gifted' in any way.
I don't want to use the fact that it was the very first game playing together for this group as a catch all for what went wrong or could have been better, but it is absolutely relevant when talking about how our team played, and has to figure in your conclusions about where our team is and what might lie ahead. If Bristol or any player shows little or no growth by midway or later in the season, then by all means he deserves to be called out and doubts about his play or role on the team should be taken seriously. For now I will take a 'wait and see' attitude toward Bristol, but I am betting that he shows us the talents ('gifts' if you will) that earned him the distinction of "Rookie of the year."
Some look down their noses at leagues like the MEAC. Then we deride our team when we almost lose to one of its weaker teams. Hmmm, maybe it's the first game of the year for this team and this player -- which it was -- and maybe it's that Coppin State (and, by extension, the other teams in the MEAC) are better than we are willing to acknowledge. Consider this: players on elite D1 teams now engage in NIL and have brighter prospects for playing basketball in the future. Therefore, they are more and more often likely to not finish college and/or to enter the transfer portal. Players on less elite teams are tending to stay in school and play with the same teammates for longer. As a result, those teams, while coming from weaker conferences, play more like teams. They develop together, know each other, and work as a team better & for longer than their elite counterparts. So, while a team like Georgetown on paper has better players and more 3, 4, & 5-star players than a Coppin State, Coppin State has team unity, cohesion, and more time together playing and growing, and thus are able to challenge us and almost beat us (even if they have played another game just 24 hours earlier).
What does all this mean exactly? Not totally sure, but I am less quick to jump to conclusions about our team and the world of college basketball in 2022. It's shifting and there are lots of moving parts. Don't be too quick to judge -- and keep your eye on the ball.
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hoyaboya
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
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Post by hoyaboya on Nov 9, 2022 21:39:55 GMT -5
A competent read of the box score will show that Murray had 5 turnovers and Bristol did not. I got the stat from the Casual article recapping the gene and providing grades on payers - apologies if incorrect.
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Post by professorhoya on Nov 9, 2022 22:30:15 GMT -5
A competent read of the box score will show that Murray had 5 turnovers and Bristol did not. I got the stat from the Casual article recapping the gene and providing grades on payers - apologies if incorrect. Not to be mean but did you watch the game? You would’ve known Bristol had no where near 5 turnovers in the game.
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kettlehill
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Post by kettlehill on Nov 10, 2022 9:29:35 GMT -5
My impressions from the first game of 22-23:
A lot of talent out there Murray was out of control early, seemed to be trying too hard to be the "man". He will settle in, a real talent. Worrying about his free throws; he will have the ball late in tight games... Primo was Prime in prime time. In fact the whole team played great late...they could have easily gagged Akok- so much energy and emotion- what any team needs. And obvious skill. From his 14 minutes- has Q regressed? He is a very good free throw shooter, still. Mozone- great stat line and leadership re Riley. Still lousy coaching, clearly coaching scared e.g. playing starters ( except Q ) 40 plus minutes in your first game against a supposed cupcake.Defense?
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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Nov 10, 2022 11:43:48 GMT -5
So I watched the game last night after not being able to watch Tuesday (as an aside, I watched using the Fire Stick Fox Sports App, and the picture quality was great). This was a rare game where I accidentally saw the result in advance, and so, I guess I was probably calmer during the game than I otherwise would have been.
The Good:
- We clearly have better talent than last year. I love what I see in Akok Akok, he is clearly a huge improvement over anybody who played last year. I hope he stays healthy. Murray looked really nice too, but a bit uncontrolled (in that sense, he reminded me bit of Aminu last year), and he turned it over 4 times. Wahab is largely the Wahab we knew 2 years ago, but still that's a big improvement on last year's roster.
- Akok Akok - I basically loved everything this guy did. He may be my new favorite Hoya.
- Spears looks like an improvement on Harris, too. He took a ton of shots, but made a lot of them, so it was okay. The 5 turnovers is a problem, and not something he can continue doing, though. (Spears did not turn it over a ton last year on a lot of usage, so I am hoping last night was just an outlier.)
- Mozone. I didn't really know what to expect of him, but he had a nice game. While he did not shoot threes well, he went 6-8 from two, and 5-5 from the line, enough to keep him pretty efficient.
The Less Good/Bad
- The pro-Ewing crowd can spin it any way they want, but tying Coppin State in regulation is a horrible result. People will forget it because we won, but if we lost, this would have probably been the worst loss in Georgetown history. And our season would have been over on Day 1, like last year. Luckily, it's not.
- We took too many long twos! Why does the coaching staff allow our guys to consistently take the worst shot in basketball?
- I'll give Bristol the benefit of the doubt, it was one game, but he played 29 minutes, didn't take a ton of shots and seems okay on defense, but not great. What is his role going to be? I have a feeling that if Spears, Murray, and Wahab take a lot of possesions, there won't be much left.
- The defense. 49 points in the second half against Coppin State in 40 possessions? That's giving up 1.23 points per possession, which is bad against any team, much less Coppin State. I mean, there's no way to spin that in a favorable way. It's just really bad. I didn't see any difference in scheme. The announcers said Ewing wants to play a solid man-to-man, guys staying in front of their man, etc. But, it's really not that, it's about the rotations, etc. and we are not good at that.
- Our press is horrible. If Coppin State can fairly easily break it and get guys open for threes, what will better teams do?
- 3 point defense remains nonexistent. If we cannot protect against the three, that'll be problematic.
Miscellaneous:
- Nice to see a coach (Ewing) in a suit for a change, though I don't mind the less formal wear as long as it's not sloppy (ahem...Huggins).
- I would have liked Anglin to get some of Bristol's 29 minutes. I am not sure why he couldn't get more than 4 minutes in a game against Coppin State, even it was closer than expected.
- Obviously, Heath hasn't gotten his waiver. I am not sure why people are so adamant about asking Ewing about it. Ewing isn't going to sit Heath if he's eligible, and he's not playing, so he doesn't have a waiver. As I've noted before, Heath already used his "free" no-sit transfer, so in that sense it's not surprising he isn't getting it quickly (or possibly at all), though others have.
In summary, I actually liked a lot of what I saw on offense. Akok is great on both ends, Murray has a lot of potential, Spears seems very athletic. Mozone has nice size, and had a nice quiet game. If he can get it going from three look out. But, the defense really seems no different despite a totally different cast of characters. That is one area where time can help, so let's see what happens? If Ewing truly does turn over defense to someone else, I think we could see improvement. But that's a big if.
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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Nov 10, 2022 11:59:51 GMT -5
As for the questions upthread about Ezeweiro, I remember Ewing saying (at the pregame presser? or could have also been in the broadcast) that he'd had 4 wisdom teeth extracted this week. hoyatalk2.proboards.com/post/993232/threadEwing stated in the post-game press conference that Ezeweiro was out because of the wisdom teeth situation. So I'd expect him to play relatively soon.
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Post by professorhoya on Nov 10, 2022 12:22:52 GMT -5
So I watched the game last night after not being able to watch Tuesday (as an aside, I watched using the Fire Stick Fox Sports App, and the picture quality was great). This was a rare game where I accidentally saw the result in advance, and so, I guess I was probably calmer during the game than I otherwise would have been. The Good: - We clearly have better talent than last year. I love what I see in Akok Akok, he is clearly a huge improvement over anybody who played last year. I hope he stays healthy. Murray looked really nice too, but a bit uncontrolled (in that sense, he reminded me bit of Aminu last year), and he turned it over 4 times. Wahab is largely the Wahab we knew 2 years ago, but still that's a big improvement on last year's roster. - Akok Akok - I basically loved everything this guy did. He may be my new favorite Hoya. - Spears looks like an improvement on Harris, too. He took a ton of shots, but made a lot of them, so it was okay. The 5 turnovers is a problem, and not something he can continue doing, though. (Spears did not turn it over a ton last year on a lot of usage, so I am hoping last night was just an outlier.) - Mozone. I didn't really know what to expect of him, but he had a nice game. While he did not shoot threes well, he went 6-8 from two, and 5-5 from the line, enough to keep him pretty efficient. The Less Good/Bad- The pro-Ewing crowd can spin it any way they want, but tying Coppin State in regulation is a horrible result. People will forget it because we won, but if we lost, this would have probably been the worst loss in Georgetown history. And our season would have been over on Day 1, like last year. Luckily, it's not. - We took too many long twos! Why does the coaching staff allow our guys to consistently take the worst shot in basketball? - I'll give Bristol the benefit of the doubt, it was one game, but he played 29 minutes, didn't take a ton of shots and seems okay on defense, but not great. What is his role going to be? I have a feeling that if Spears, Murray, and Wahab take a lot of possesions, there won't be much left. - The defense. 49 points in the second half against Coppin State in 40 possessions? That's giving up 1.23 points per possession, which is bad against any team, much less Coppin State. I mean, there's no way to spin that in a favorable way. It's just really bad. I didn't see any difference in scheme. The announcers said Ewing wants to play a solid man-to-man, guys staying in front of their man, etc. But, it's really not that, it's about the rotations, etc. and we are not good at that. - Our press is horrible. If Coppin State can fairly easily break it and get guys open for threes, what will better teams do? - 3 point defense remains nonexistent. If we cannot protect against the three, that'll be problematic. Miscellaneous:- Nice to see a coach (Ewing) in a suit for a change, though I don't mind the less formal wear as long as it's not sloppy (ahem...Huggins). - I would have liked Anglin to get some of Bristol's 29 minutes. I am not sure why he couldn't get more than 4 minutes in a game against Coppin State, even it was closer than expected. - Obviously, Heath hasn't gotten his waiver. I am not sure why people are so adamant about asking Ewing about it. Ewing isn't going to sit Heath if he's eligible, and he's not playing, so he doesn't have a waiver. As I've noted before, Heath already used his "free" no-sit transfer, so in that sense it's not surprising he isn't getting it quickly (or possibly at all), though others have. In summary, I actually liked a lot of what I saw on offense. Akok is great on both ends, Murray has a lot of potential, Spears seems very athletic. Mozone has nice size, and had a nice quiet game. If he can get it going from three look out. But, the defense really seems no different despite a totally different cast of characters. That is one area where time can help, so let's see what happens? If Ewing truly does turn over defense to someone else, I think we could see improvement. But that's a big if. Nice recap. I disagree however with win worse than loss belief. A win is a win. We did Not lose. A Bad win (whatever that is) is still much better than a good loss to a low ranked team. Just ask Louisville who lost by one to Bellarmine. I suppose that is a “good loss” under your logic. You also throw out hypotheticals like we tied at Regulation/went into OT. Guess what, that’s still not losing. And also you conveniently leave out that the game was basically over, all Murray had to do was hit 1-2 free throws (game over). Hes a career 68% ft Shooter before last Night, so if there was a win % Meter it’s at 99% win probability. He Misses Both, Players fail to foul then Coppin Hits miracle 3. All that and it’s still tied not a loss. Furthermore I would argue if you can get the win then These close games give you great practice for crunch time Battle Tested experience that down the road can pay dividends compared to a blow out. It also lets us know early who can step up in the clutch (Primo, Akok)
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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Nov 10, 2022 12:33:47 GMT -5
Nice recap. I disagree however with win worse than loss belief. A win is a win. We did Not lose. A Bad win (whatever that is) is still much better than a good loss to a low ranked team. Just ask Louisville who lost by one to Bellarmine. I suppose that is a “good loss” under your logic. You also throw out hypotheticals like we tied at Regulation/went into OT. Guess what, that’s still not losing. And also you conveniently leave out that the game was basically over, all Murray had to do was hit 1-2 free throws (game over). Hes a career 68% ft Shooter before last Night, so if there was a win % Meter it’s at 99% win probability. He Misses Both, Players fail to foul then Coppin Hits miracle 3. All that and it’s still tied not a loss. Furthermore I would argue if you can get the win then These close games give you great practice for crunch time Battle Tested experience that down the road can pay dividends compared to a blow out. It also lets us know early who can step up in the clutch (Primo, Akok) I am not sure what the "win worse than loss belief" even means. To be clear, a win is better than a loss. You will not get any dispute from me on that. I am not trying to say we "lost" the game by tying in regulation. Rather, I am saying, what does tying Coppin State in regulation mean about our team? Not in the sense of Win/Loss, but in the sense of quality/ability, etc. No, the Louisville loss to Bellarmine is horrible. I am not sure where you are going with that. The fact that we tied Coppin State in regulation is not a "hypothetical" - it happened. And yes, it happened because of the missed FTs, which is fine, but the fact is the game was very close throughout the whole game, and frankly, way too close for Coppin State. Simply, against a team as bad as Coppin State, a tie shouldn't even be on the map. I see your point on testing the guys, and I am glad that they stayed steadfast and won, but you'd prefer not to have battles against Coppin State. For the record, I do think our team is significantly better than Coppin State. Which is why the tie in regulation is not what you want to see.
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Post by ColumbiaHeightsHoya on Nov 10, 2022 12:41:42 GMT -5
Bellarmine at least has a very unique style that teams struggle with. Ball movement, no dribbling, many passes. They have an identity. I wish we had an identity. We seem to be trying the style that other teams with bigger and better horses are using and that is a tough route to go as you have to outrecruit to win.
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Post by professorhoya on Nov 10, 2022 12:52:55 GMT -5
Bellarmine at least has a very unique style that teams struggle with. Ball movement, no dribbling, many passes. They have an identity. I wish we had an identity. We seem to be trying the style that other teams with bigger and better horses are using and that is a tough route to go as you have to outrecruit to win. Isn’t that a similar philosophy to the Princeton Offense?
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kghoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
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Post by kghoya on Nov 10, 2022 12:58:05 GMT -5
It's a bad result for Louisville - no doubt - but far more easily explained in the first game for a first year head coach.
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78HOYA78
Bulldog (over 250 posts)
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Post by 78HOYA78 on Nov 10, 2022 13:24:39 GMT -5
Just for fun: After one game we are in the top ten in rebounds and blocks in D1 stats. Keep it going.
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prhoya
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Post by prhoya on Nov 10, 2022 13:31:54 GMT -5
Just for fun: After one game we are in the top ten in rebounds and blocks in D1 stats. Keep it going. Pace and a lot of bricks by the #317 team… Btw, Green Bay is #355, so expect more of the same.
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DanMcQ
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Post by DanMcQ on Nov 10, 2022 14:34:55 GMT -5
As for the questions upthread about Ezeweiro, I remember Ewing saying (at the pregame presser? or could have also been in the broadcast) that he'd had 4 wisdom teeth extracted this week. hoyatalk2.proboards.com/post/993232/threadEwing stated in the post-game press conference that Ezeweiro was out because of the wisdom teeth situation. So I'd expect him to play relatively soon. So either he stated it unprovoked, or one of the press asked. Not quite the angst-ridden scenario painted upthread...
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Post by ColumbiaHeightsHoya on Nov 10, 2022 15:59:59 GMT -5
Bellarmine at least has a very unique style that teams struggle with. Ball movement, no dribbling, many passes. They have an identity. I wish we had an identity. We seem to be trying the style that other teams with bigger and better horses are using and that is a tough route to go as you have to outrecruit to win. Isn’t that a similar philosophy to the Princeton Offense? It is. I didn't say that was the route we needed to go but we need something, anything, that resembles an offense vs. "actions".
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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Nov 10, 2022 16:11:57 GMT -5
Just for fun: After one game we are in the top ten in rebounds and blocks in D1 stats. Keep it going. Based on one game, we have the 37th highest pace, so absolute-number stats are just not all that useful. BUT, the blocks number is "real." We are 7th in block rate (adjusted for pace). Obviously, excellent if we keep that up. In rebounding, we are 23rd on offensive rebounds (also good), and 123rd on defensive rebounds. Obviously, the KenPom stats (and any stats/analysis) based on one game are meaningless, but fun anyway. For what it's worth, blocks were actually the one area where we were pretty decent on defense last year - 79th. While our roster is different, I do think that the size of Wahab and Akok, and even Mozone, Bristol, and Murray will likely keep us in good shape on blocks. (On the other side of the ball last year, our guys got blocked a LOT - 329th out of 358, hopefully our better size especially at guard, will help on that this year).
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seaweed
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Post by seaweed on Nov 10, 2022 17:01:02 GMT -5
About half of Coppin State’s made 3s were from more than 5 ft beyond the arc. Not sure who expects any team to close that shot out against very mobile guards who are more dangerous driving than spot of shooting from absurd range. Still a valid question about why so many shooters get hot against us, but there’s only so much we should even try to do against that shot. For the most part, you let the guy heave that up and worry more about the drive.
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iowa80
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Post by iowa80 on Nov 10, 2022 17:24:26 GMT -5
Ewing stated in the post-game press conference that Ezeweiro was out because of the wisdom teeth situation. So I'd expect him to play relatively soon. So either he stated it unprovoked, or one of the press asked. Not quite the angst-ridden scenario painted upthread... There was a direct question about Ezeweiro. I didn’t hear any question about Heath, although Ewing mentioned him when someone asked about bench play.
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hoyainla
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Post by hoyainla on Nov 10, 2022 17:55:19 GMT -5
Well any worry that we will not compete this year has surely been put to rest. We are primed and ready to battle the best that the MEAC has to offer. Yup, bring them on... A win is a win... So you would rather have an overtime win against Coppin State than a 1 point loss to UNC? Even if you take away what that means about the level of the team you realize efficiency stats play a big role in the committee decision now right? You don't get hardly any credit for Quad 4 wins either. I have no problem with scheduling a cupcake based on the scenario but we have to be real here.
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mapei
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Post by mapei on Nov 10, 2022 18:23:46 GMT -5
I don't get why anyone is getting worked up about whether there was a direct question or not. It's pretty obvious that he doesn't have a waiver right now, and that Georgetown wishes that he did. It's a fair assumption that, behind the scenes, we're doing whatever we can, which might not be much.
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