Who of these three was the most dominant Hoya?
Nov 19, 2023 19:39:09 GMT -5
AvantGuardHoya and sweetness like this
Post by HoyaChris on Nov 19, 2023 19:39:09 GMT -5
I wrote this 17 years ago, but there is a reasonable case that Reggie's 86-87 season was the best season ever for a Hoya.
2. Reggie Williams (1983-87) - If choosing a greatest Hoya is easy, sorting out numbers 2 through 5 is largely impossible. I lean to Reggie as #2 because of his big game impact and his sublime 1986-7 performance as the leader of "Reggie and the Miracles."
Reggie was the consensus #1 player in his high school class, one of four - Patrick, Reggie, Zo and Othella - to have signed with the Hoyas (A.I. probably would have also been #1 had he played his senior year in high school). Listed at 6-7, he played taller, with the wingspan of a 7 footer. As a player he arrived with his game fully formed, complete with the soft mid-range jump shots, the silky smooth drives, the sneaky-quick weak side rebounds and the dagger-like 3-pointers. As a freshman he was the MVP and best player on the floor in the 1984 championship game win. His scoring average rose year by year (9.1, 11.9, 17.6, 23.6) not because his game developed dramatically, but rather because he was asked to do progressively more.
Few players have been asked to do more and fewer have responded in as spectacular a fashion as in Reggie's 1986-87 senior season, the year of "Reggie and the Miracles." In what was supposed to be a rebuilding year, the Hoyas were Big East regular season and tournament champions and lost in the regional final to a Providence team that they had beaten twice earlier that season. By the end of the season, the line-up most often on the floor for the Hoyas was both very young and very short, featuring three guards (FR. Mark Tillmon, FR. Dwayne Bryant and SO. Charles Smith), a 6-4 center (JR. Perry McDonald), and Reggie.
Reggie's 1986-7 season ranks with Allen Iverson's 1995-96 season as the greatest in Thompson era history, as can be discerned by a review of the relevant statistics.
AI slightly outscored Reggie (25.0 - 23.6) while Reggie was responsible for a slightly higher percentage of his team's points (.303 to.300).
Overall, their shooting percentages were almost identical (Reggie .482, A.I. .480) with Reggie shooting better from beyond the arc (.386 to .366) and AI better from 2 point range (.546 to .532).
The entire difference in scoring average was accounted for at the free throw line where A. I. made 59 more free throws, but needed 123 more attempts to do so. Reggie had a far better percentage (.804 to .678).
A forward, Reggie outrebounded guard A. I. by more than 2 to 1 (294-141) while AI had almost twice as many assists as Reggie (173-92). Defensively, AI was the superior player, setting a single season record for steals (124 to Reggie's 71) and recording almost as many blocks (16 to Reggie's 19).
If an edge were to go to Reggie in choosing a greatest season it would be based on a category that is admittedly hard to measure - leadership. In addition to A.I. the 1996 team featured three frontcourt players (Othella, Jerome, and Jahidi White) who have gone on to have longish NBA careers and Victor Page, who certainly had NBA skills. That team finished with a somewhat disappointing 29-8 record, a close loss in the Big East Final and a 9-5 record against ranked teams. Like the 1996 team, the 1987 squad lost in a regional final. But playing with far less talent (only reserves Jaren Jackson and Ben Gillery ever played in the NBA) the 1987 team finished 29-5, won the Big East tournament and was a stunning 9-1 verses ranked teams that were in every case much bigger and generally much more experienced. The lasting memory from 1987 is Reggie gathering in his younger teammates for on-court huddles that seemed to take place after every whistle - and for that team to come out of those huddles and execute at a higher level than any Hoya team since.
2. Reggie Williams (1983-87) - If choosing a greatest Hoya is easy, sorting out numbers 2 through 5 is largely impossible. I lean to Reggie as #2 because of his big game impact and his sublime 1986-7 performance as the leader of "Reggie and the Miracles."
Reggie was the consensus #1 player in his high school class, one of four - Patrick, Reggie, Zo and Othella - to have signed with the Hoyas (A.I. probably would have also been #1 had he played his senior year in high school). Listed at 6-7, he played taller, with the wingspan of a 7 footer. As a player he arrived with his game fully formed, complete with the soft mid-range jump shots, the silky smooth drives, the sneaky-quick weak side rebounds and the dagger-like 3-pointers. As a freshman he was the MVP and best player on the floor in the 1984 championship game win. His scoring average rose year by year (9.1, 11.9, 17.6, 23.6) not because his game developed dramatically, but rather because he was asked to do progressively more.
Few players have been asked to do more and fewer have responded in as spectacular a fashion as in Reggie's 1986-87 senior season, the year of "Reggie and the Miracles." In what was supposed to be a rebuilding year, the Hoyas were Big East regular season and tournament champions and lost in the regional final to a Providence team that they had beaten twice earlier that season. By the end of the season, the line-up most often on the floor for the Hoyas was both very young and very short, featuring three guards (FR. Mark Tillmon, FR. Dwayne Bryant and SO. Charles Smith), a 6-4 center (JR. Perry McDonald), and Reggie.
Reggie's 1986-7 season ranks with Allen Iverson's 1995-96 season as the greatest in Thompson era history, as can be discerned by a review of the relevant statistics.
AI slightly outscored Reggie (25.0 - 23.6) while Reggie was responsible for a slightly higher percentage of his team's points (.303 to.300).
Overall, their shooting percentages were almost identical (Reggie .482, A.I. .480) with Reggie shooting better from beyond the arc (.386 to .366) and AI better from 2 point range (.546 to .532).
The entire difference in scoring average was accounted for at the free throw line where A. I. made 59 more free throws, but needed 123 more attempts to do so. Reggie had a far better percentage (.804 to .678).
A forward, Reggie outrebounded guard A. I. by more than 2 to 1 (294-141) while AI had almost twice as many assists as Reggie (173-92). Defensively, AI was the superior player, setting a single season record for steals (124 to Reggie's 71) and recording almost as many blocks (16 to Reggie's 19).
If an edge were to go to Reggie in choosing a greatest season it would be based on a category that is admittedly hard to measure - leadership. In addition to A.I. the 1996 team featured three frontcourt players (Othella, Jerome, and Jahidi White) who have gone on to have longish NBA careers and Victor Page, who certainly had NBA skills. That team finished with a somewhat disappointing 29-8 record, a close loss in the Big East Final and a 9-5 record against ranked teams. Like the 1996 team, the 1987 squad lost in a regional final. But playing with far less talent (only reserves Jaren Jackson and Ben Gillery ever played in the NBA) the 1987 team finished 29-5, won the Big East tournament and was a stunning 9-1 verses ranked teams that were in every case much bigger and generally much more experienced. The lasting memory from 1987 is Reggie gathering in his younger teammates for on-court huddles that seemed to take place after every whistle - and for that team to come out of those huddles and execute at a higher level than any Hoya team since.