kettlehill
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Post by kettlehill on Feb 10, 2024 17:59:41 GMT -5
Why is this coaching staff being excused for the defensive effort (or lack thereof) this team puts forth? A very good question. We are late enough in the season where the defensive scheme should be in place- but it is the same old thing: easy layups/dunks and open 3s.
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Post by hoya8 on Feb 10, 2024 18:05:43 GMT -5
It is only Cooley who is overreacting. Most of us on this blog are aware where we are, and are positive where we are going. Got to play Rowan and Fiedler. They are and will continue to improve. My guidance to both is 'when you have the shot take it' Passing up open looks will not help you develop. Also, did anyone see Ryan's move to the basket (ok against scrubs, but a move). You need to find out once and for all if he can play, play him. Coach, relax we are all on this journey together and no way off this boat this season. Build for the future.
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Post by hoya8 on Feb 10, 2024 18:07:06 GMT -5
Oh, Fielder puts on 15 lbs of muscle, and gains some swagger he will a player.
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saxagael
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Post by saxagael on Feb 10, 2024 18:10:43 GMT -5
I really wanted a game closer than 20, but feared it to be much worse. Fielder I don't think will be a 5, but with work with good coaching his covering smaller players can improve quite a bit. Hoyas now have good assistant coaches that have done well working with players at Providence and seen good progress on skills. But, Fielders strength is a stretch big and there isn't a lot of that in the BE and creates a miss match offensively (and he has good vision, good picks, good box outs), and with a solid big in the middle to cut off runs to the paint that will help where he is more deficient. I don't know that he will be All-BE, but he has a lot to offer. He has added size and strength and kept (and improved) his outside shot. It is the tough match-ups that Fielder provides outside and as he adjust to play inside with cutting as well. With work, Fielder could easily fit the NBA model the Celtics like of big shooting wings or a baby Markkanen. He is still adjusting to D1 and by Junior year may have adjusted his game to defend well against smaller players (it will be a lot of not so fun footwork and hip drills). On the right team Fielder could be very good as a 3/4 who can shoot the 3 and help on the boards. Unfortunately, I’m not convinced we are building that team. With Sorber coming that may help in another year. But, this is a type of player that Cooley likes and develops. What the Hoyas have now is piecing things together when the cupboard was mostly bare. Drew has decent straight line speed to get back on defense. He needs work on his lateral movement. There aren't many 4s in the BE, but a lot of 6'6" to 6'8" small forward wings who play in a bit. That would be a Drew cover in man. Offensively, Drew creates mismatches if playing with another big as he can PnR well, and shoots out side well. He hasn't fully adjusted his play to D1 yet. He has had some decent slashing to the basket against a big. I think he will be interesting to watch and grow. He has already transformed his body without losing his shot (actually seems to have improved) and both of those are tough in season. The BE mostly moved from the tradition PG to 5 roles to on ball, shooter / wings, and a big. Drew could be a tough cover for other teams. I agree with other he needs to work on lateral movment to defend smaller players in coverage or man match-ups.
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saxagael
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Post by saxagael on Feb 10, 2024 18:19:00 GMT -5
Cooley has to get guys who play hard due to internal motivation, who are not dependent on a coach to motivate them to play hard. A coach can only motivate a player so much -- the primary motivation has to be internal. We have not had a core of guys who are wired to play hard on this team in a long, long time. My favorite college player to watch this year, by far, is Devin Carter. That guy plays at full effort 100% of the time. He is talented, but it is his relentless effort that makes him a special player. Cooley clearly knows how to find and recruit the right competitive mindset, his Providence teams always had it. Hopefully this cultural shift starts to show on the court next year as we transition more Cooley players into the program and these guys gain some experience. For the rest of this year - as others have said, the best thing he can do is give Brumbaugh and Fielder lots of playing time. Not just because they are frosh with a potential future in the program, but because they appear to play hard consistently. Cook certainly gives full effort all the time, and Bristol seems to play hard. Beyond this - Epps and Styles are both talented, but both seem sloppy defensively, ,and Epps is certainly careless with the ball too often offensively. Epps and Styles will probably still be on the team next year, but I won't be surprised if they start to lose playing time to some of the incoming transfers/freshmen if they don't lock in with their intensity level far beyond what they have done much of the time this year. And I won't be completely shocked if one or both of them (Epps more likely than Styles) ends up transferring out if Cooley tells them that their minutes are at risk if they don't step up the effort and focus. And like others - moving Heath and Massoud to 10-15 minute per game roles seems entirely appropriate at this point. If we had any functional depth, it would be even better if we could fully bench both of them. But we probably need to keep them in the rotation since we only have walk-ons behind them on the bench. Agree with most of this, except Epps has the look of a guy who will NOT be on this roster next season. To say he mailed it in today would be an insult to the postal service. Agree with Epps today. He didn't seem to be playing with his heart in the game, but UConn was covering Epps tightly (they covered everybody well, but they have the players to do that). I somewhat worry about losing Epps next year. I think having Epps off ball will help him score and help get other Hoyas involved in the offense. Epps is mostly often looking at his defender when on ball and not looking for his open teammates. Epps is a really good scorer. Cooley has often said there are three players who need to be in sync to have a good game: The coach, the point guard, and the top scorer. When Cooley has asked about Epps having two of those roles his response has been it is something they need to work on to improve (I read into it Cooley meant it needed three people in three roles). Also not really sure Epps is fully healthy (I think I'd rather have less than healthy than heart not in it).
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Post by hoya8 on Feb 10, 2024 18:20:48 GMT -5
The real culprit on defense is the Massoud - Heath matchup. They continually lose their man on a drive who ends up with a layup. They just do not work well together.
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saxagael
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Post by saxagael on Feb 10, 2024 18:24:02 GMT -5
It is only Cooley who is overreacting. Most of us on this blog are aware where we are, and are positive where we are going. Got to play Rowan and Fiedler. They are and will continue to improve. My guidance to both is 'when you have the shot take it' Passing up open looks will not help you develop. Also, did anyone see Ryan's move to the basket (ok against scrubs, but a move). You need to find out once and for all if he can play, play him. Coach, relax we are all on this journey together and no way off this boat this season. Build for the future. I really like Cooley post game pressers. I don't know that he is overreacting, but I don't think we are fully the target of his messages. Cooley is trying to get the Hoyas to get more focus and passion into their game. He is trying to set what is expected from them. But, also setting expectation for supporters and future recruits to set what his expectations are for "normal". Hoyas are a bit thin, but should have a more wins in them if they can pull all the things they are working on as a team altogether. There was no Hoya expectation coming into this season and Cooley had one of his recruits follow. There were no top players for new players to look up to and learn the Cooley / Hoya way. Not having that makes things tough.
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hoyaroc
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Post by hoyaroc on Feb 10, 2024 18:36:05 GMT -5
I didn’t watch the game I see I didn’t miss anything. Ewing is laughing his a$$ off.
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AltoSaxa
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Post by AltoSaxa on Feb 10, 2024 20:46:54 GMT -5
Anyone know if Cooley has reimbursed the university any of his salary?
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prhoya
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Post by prhoya on Feb 10, 2024 22:05:33 GMT -5
Hoyas are a bit thin, but should have a more wins in them if they can pull all the things they are working on as a team altogether. There was no Hoya expectation coming into this season and Cooley had one of his recruits follow. There were no top players for new players to look up to and learn the Cooley / Hoya way. Not having that makes things tough. You keep saying this. I imagine you’re referring to Fielder. Well, Epps and Styles were previously recruited by Cooley at Providence. They were then recruited for GU and followed Cooley. So it's: Heath, Bristol and Ryan - stayed Rowan - he recruited GU Fielder - recruited in high school by Cooley for Providence and then followed Cooley to GU Epps - previously recruited by Cooley for Providence when he was in high school and then followed Cooley to GU as a transfer Styles - previously recruited by Cooley for Providence when he was in high school and then followed Cooley to GU as a transfer Cook - played for Fairfield vs. Cooley's Providence and recruited by Cooley for GU as a transfer Massoud - no idea if there was some previous connection to Cooley at Providence No one else is a BE player, whether they were gifted an unused scholarship or not after joining GU.
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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Feb 10, 2024 22:27:16 GMT -5
Hoyas are a bit thin, but should have a more wins in them if they can pull all the things they are working on as a team altogether. There was no Hoya expectation coming into this season and Cooley had one of his recruits follow. There were no top players for new players to look up to and learn the Cooley / Hoya way. Not having that makes things tough. You keep saying this. I imagine you’re referring to Fielder. Well, Epps and Styles were previously recruited by Cooley at Providence. They were then recruited for GU and followed Cooley. I think the bigger point is that we really had no roster to speak of when the portal recruiting was happening in March and early April. I don’t remember the sequence but even if we had Epps, Styles, and Fielder at the time that’s not much. I think Georgetown is a better sell when you can point to the four incoming freshman (including McKenna) and whoever else is there. Clearly, the portal recruiting must be better this offseason. We cannot repeat a season that is even close to as bad as this one.
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prhoya
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Post by prhoya on Feb 10, 2024 22:37:11 GMT -5
You keep saying this. I imagine you’re referring to Fielder. Well, Epps and Styles were previously recruited by Cooley at Providence. They were then recruited for GU and followed Cooley. I think the bigger point is that we really had no roster to speak of when the portal recruiting was happening in March and early April. I don’t remember the sequence but even if we had Epps, Styles, and Fielder at the time that’s not much. I think Georgetown is a better sell when you can point to the four incoming freshman (including McKenna) and whoever else is there. Clearly, the portal recruiting must be better this offseason. We cannot repeat a season that is even close to as bad as this one. My point is that Cooley and staff have used their Providence connection to feed the GU roster, and saxagael's post makes it sound like Cooley started from scratch with just Fielder. After signing on March 2Oth, Cooley used his Providence rolodex to build the new roster. Specifically, Drew decommitted from Providence on March 21 and signed March 29th. Epps committed on April 10th. Dontrez committed on April 9th. There's a reason they committed so early and that's their previous connection to Cooley and staff.
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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Feb 10, 2024 22:39:21 GMT -5
I think the bigger point is that we really had no roster to speak of when the portal recruiting was happening in March and early April. I don’t remember the sequence but even if we had Epps, Styles, and Fielder at the time that’s not much. I think Georgetown is a better sell when you can point to the four incoming freshman (including McKenna) and whoever else is there. Clearly, the portal recruiting must be better this offseason. We cannot repeat a season that is even close to as bad as this one. My point is that Cooley and staff have used their Providence connection to feed the GU roster, and saxagael's post makes it sound like Cooley started from scratch with just Fielder. After signing on March 2Oth, Cooley used his Providence rolodex to build the new roster. Specifically, Drew decommitted from Providence on March 21 and signed March 29th. Epps committed on April 10th. Dontrez committed on April 9th. There's a reason they committed so early and that's their previous connection to Cooley and staff. Got it. Let’s hope the Rolodex has a lot of good names in it this year.
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prhoya
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Post by prhoya on Feb 10, 2024 22:53:34 GMT -5
My point is that Cooley and staff have used their Providence connection to feed the GU roster, and saxagael's post makes it sound like Cooley started from scratch with just Fielder. After signing on March 2Oth, Cooley used his Providence rolodex to build the new roster. Specifically, Drew decommitted from Providence on March 21 and signed March 29th. Epps committed on April 10th. Dontrez committed on April 9th. There's a reason they committed so early and that's their previous connection to Cooley and staff. Got it. Let’s hope the Rolodex has a lot of good names in it this year. With the transfer portal "as is", that's not a bad idea. now, I don't claim to know what Cooley's recruiting strategy at Providence was, including number of players he recruited per year, but maybe it's time to revisit that Providence rolodex. I bet it has a lot of names of players who were recruited to play for Cooley, went somewhere else and might not be happy/looking for a transfer. I may have my numbers wrong, but counting grads, that could be three or four years of players and potential transfers. That's three or four years of data. One other item, our transfers came from UNC, Illinois, Texas, KS... and Fairfield. I would suggest that Cooley and staff don't become enamored by the university name, but what the player has done. Cook has been the most consistent of the bunch and hasn't looked out of place in his first BE season.
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Post by hoyasaxaphone on Feb 10, 2024 23:22:18 GMT -5
Don't get the Epps transfer speculation. On what possible basis would he get a waiver to play anywhere next year? And I agree with a lot of the comments above about investing in and developing Fielder. He has his issues, but he is young and arguably still learning to deal with his frame. He plays hard (he boxes out every time), can shoot the ball and creates mismatches. He is a 4 who may be able to play a few minutes at the 5 when needed (or appropriate given the offensive scheme). He is NOT going to guard the 3 on a full time basis, but perhaps he can improve enough to deal with 3s on switches.
Brumbaugh and Fielder need to get at least 20 minutes each per game going forward, maybe more. At this point in the year, Epps has shown what he is and Ish is not performing...whether it is his fault or not. Nothing is going to change. Give minutes to the team of the future.
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Post by TrueHoyaBlue on Feb 11, 2024 0:08:22 GMT -5
I think the bigger point is that we really had no roster to speak of when the portal recruiting was happening in March and early April. I don’t remember the sequence but even if we had Epps, Styles, and Fielder at the time that’s not much. I think Georgetown is a better sell when you can point to the four incoming freshman (including McKenna) and whoever else is there. Clearly, the portal recruiting must be better this offseason. We cannot repeat a season that is even close to as bad as this one. My point is that Cooley and staff have used their Providence connection to feed the GU roster, and saxagael's post makes it sound like Cooley started from scratch with just Fielder. After signing on March 2Oth, Cooley used his Providence rolodex to build the new roster. Specifically, Drew decommitted from Providence on March 21 and signed March 29th. Epps committed on April 10th. Dontrez committed on April 9th. There's a reason they committed so early and that's their previous connection to Cooley and staff. I’ll give you that. But it’s still not a group that had a single minute being on a Cooley team before this season, and that (along with a not very high talent baseline) has been the toughest part to overcome.
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prhoya
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Post by prhoya on Feb 11, 2024 0:17:00 GMT -5
My point is that Cooley and staff have used their Providence connection to feed the GU roster, and saxagael's post makes it sound like Cooley started from scratch with just Fielder. After signing on March 2Oth, Cooley used his Providence rolodex to build the new roster. Specifically, Drew decommitted from Providence on March 21 and signed March 29th. Epps committed on April 10th. Dontrez committed on April 9th. There's a reason they committed so early and that's their previous connection to Cooley and staff. I’ll give you that. But it’s still not a group that had a single minute being on a Cooley team before this season, and that (along with a not very high talent baseline) has been the toughest part to overcome. I think the toughest part to overcome has been the lack of options/scholarship players and that’s on Cooley.
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DanMcQ
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Post by DanMcQ on Feb 11, 2024 1:11:41 GMT -5
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Elvado
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Post by Elvado on Feb 11, 2024 6:49:29 GMT -5
The only item a player can always control is effort. The only item a coach can always control is repercussions for lack of effort.
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saxagael
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Post by saxagael on Feb 11, 2024 11:38:52 GMT -5
Hoyas are a bit thin, but should have a more wins in them if they can pull all the things they are working on as a team altogether. There was no Hoya expectation coming into this season and Cooley had one of his recruits follow. There were no top players for new players to look up to and learn the Cooley / Hoya way. Not having that makes things tough. You keep saying this. I imagine you’re referring to Fielder. Well, Epps and Styles were previously recruited by Cooley at Providence. They were then recruited for GU and followed Cooley. So it's: Heath, Bristol and Ryan - stayed Rowan - he recruited GU Fielder - recruited in high school by Cooley for Providence and then followed Cooley to GU Epps - previously recruited by Cooley for Providence when he was in high school and then followed Cooley to GU as a transfer Styles - previously recruited by Cooley for Providence when he was in high school and then followed Cooley to GU as a transfer Cook - played for Fairfield vs. Cooley's Providence and recruited by Cooley for GU as a transfer Massoud - no idea if there was some previous connection to Cooley at Providence No one else is a BE player, whether they were gifted an unused scholarship or not after joining GU. The point I'm makng is his freshman he recruited. He had one of the three follow him (tough when trying to get a follow in the same conference and not a step up in conference exposure). The bigger point is Cooley came into a program with next to nothing holding over, three players who weren't starters (Heath started some) under Ewing, but wouldn't start elsewhere. There is also no set "this is how we play" players, which makes it really hard. I've mentioned many times Fielder, Epps, Styles, and Cook were in Cooley's recruitment book. Rowan wasn't recruited by Cooley he has wanted to play for Georgetown since he was a kid, Ewing had no interest even though most of the Hoya players knew Rowan and have played with him quite a bit at or around Georgetown and really would have liked to have him as a teammate (this isn't just me, but is well reported on the board over the years). While Cooley had players in his book, no idea where they were in his rankings, but he had some relationship with them and they were available. It sounds like Epps and Sykes were high on his list. But, coaches start tracking players around 6th grade and may talk to their coaches. Coaches will often have 100 to 200 players they are tracking for a graduation year around 7th or 8th grade, and particularly as they enter freshman year (they can't talk with players directly until after high school basketball season ends for the freshman year. Most good players are playing up on top travel team tournaments so coaches have watched freshman play for a year or two already and have talked with their coaches. But, by junior year it is down to about 20 players whom coaches have interest and are talking to heavily (they may have 5 to 15 more for an upper mid-major or lower top conferences). I bring this up because that is pretty much how it works, but more importantly are the players on the Hoyas now players that were the top of Cooley's recruiting book? Other than Fielder and likely Epps and Styles likely not. Cook fits Cooley's tough inside player who is also rather athletic, but he also likes them to have a mid-range to 3 point shot if he can find that. When you look at programs who are doing decently they aren't bringing in six new players and only having three non-starters, whom a coach didn't bring in and aren't familiar with the Coach's approach. If looking at the top winning teams in D1 many have one transfer getting top 5 minutes, only a couple have 2, none with more than that and the teams are mostly made up of players recruited as freshman. This isn't every team, but it is the vast majority. Looking at the 4 recruits for next year (including McKenna) who are all Cooley recruits at the top of his recruiting book three of them are top 100 and Williams from Sidwell Friends is above 150. A pretty good incoming recruiting class, one of the best the Hoyas have had in a long time. Cooley recruits a "type" of player that fit with his approach. I think we are in some agreement.
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