CO_Hoya
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,109
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Post by CO_Hoya on Oct 28, 2005 7:56:28 GMT -5
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GUHoya07
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 4,083
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Post by GUHoya07 on Oct 28, 2005 9:19:41 GMT -5
Just shows how ridiculous these preseason polls are. WVU and Cuse 15 and 16? UMCP 21? And were only #38? Wow, this isnt even worth looking at. Total BS.
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Post by BeantownHoya on Oct 28, 2005 9:32:01 GMT -5
I think the most important fact to take out of this poll is Vanderbilt at 42. I think many on this board including myself are assuming in our pre-season predictions that Venderbilt is a "w" for the Hoyas. They obviously should not be over looked.
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Post by jerseyhoya34 on Oct 28, 2005 9:35:32 GMT -5
This poll only matches up with what the BE media said, which is that we're 6th preseason in the conference. That said, there is no way 6th place in the NBE is 38th in the country. I could see us in the upper 20's or lower 30's but not the upper 30's in a preseason poll.
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GUHoya07
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 4,083
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Post by GUHoya07 on Oct 28, 2005 9:45:49 GMT -5
I mean, I'm not that surprised, but I'm just really annoyed by the stupidity of these things, as usual.
If Uconn is the #2 team in the country and WVU and Cuse are 15 and 16 than we should be somewhere around 14.
Uconn is the ultimate hype machine with Rudy Gay being tabbed the greatest player in America although Jeff outplayed him almost all year. If Marcus Williams gets expelled they really don't scare me in any way. How has Josh Boone gotten so much hype? The guy is good but I still dont see him as the star people make him out to be.
And WVU? Pittsnogle and Gansey are good, but other than that late season run they're nothing that great. We handled them fairly easily last season and they lost a few key players.
CUSE??? Yeah, I can't wait to see Scranton's finest struggle without any post players to take the pressure off of him. Freshman Eric Devendorf better be ready to play big minutes from day 1. I'm sick of the lack of research in these polls.
That being said, let them disrespect us, and let Jeff be ignored. It will just show everyone how stupid they were to ignore us when they're getting their asses kicked.
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SoCalHoya
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
No es bueno
Posts: 1,313
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Post by SoCalHoya on Oct 28, 2005 9:53:40 GMT -5
Let them ignore us. So much the better.
Plus, these polls mean NOTHING. Even less than College Football, where they are routinely inaccurate 60% of the time but still have an impact on bowl games, etc. In College Basketball, it all gets played out on the court.
I would love to be the team to come out of the shadows this year and ambush a few ESPN-anointed titans.
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Post by BM-GW on Oct 28, 2005 9:57:51 GMT -5
From their board chatter, it seems like even Terp fans agree that they shouldn't be ranked. I also don't buy WVU at #15. They had a nice run in the tournament shooting the ball, but no way they are the 15th best team in the country.
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Post by jerseyhoya34 on Oct 28, 2005 10:01:51 GMT -5
007, I'm not justifying the rankings. The simple fact of the matter is that these preseason polls conform to the "conventional wisdom," and they encompass very little analysis. I agree with you on UCONN. They're #2 until we learn whether their players are being let off the hook. YMCA-Morgantown is not as good as people think for all of the reasons you state.
However, reporters only remember the end of the season, and the fact is that these teams were dancing, and we dropped off considerably. They don't care who your frosh are. Heck... SU was unranked in the preseason polls when Carmelo was a frosh.
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CO_Hoya
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,109
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Post by CO_Hoya on Oct 28, 2005 10:10:00 GMT -5
FYI, this is the coaches' poll, with 31 voters. Includes such luminaries as:
Jim Boeheim, Syracuse Bob McKillop, Davidson Doc Sadler, Texas-El Paso Dave Odom, South Carolina Gary Williams, Maryland and RDF's personal favorite, Dan Monson, Minnesota
Scroll to the bottom of the link for the full list
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GPHoya
Bulldog (over 250 posts)
Posts: 466
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Post by GPHoya on Oct 28, 2005 10:10:02 GMT -5
Rudy Gay is a terrific player who had a very different role for UConn last year than Jeff had for the Hoyas. If he is asked to move into a lead as opposed to a support role he will blossom much as Reggie Williams did at Georgetown over his four years. I love Jeff, but Rudy's talent should not be disparaged as media hype. If you saw him Storrs against the Hoyas, you would not question that he is the real deal.
Your memory of the West Virginia game is different from mine. It was a real battle throughout where we had trouble with their trapping zone and were fortunate to escape with a win at home. From that point forward in the season, the programs went in very different directions. They will be a well-coached team with some veteran players and some holes.
While our backcourt has more experience, it is an open question whether it has the talent to compete at the highest level. Our frontcourt has questionable depth and projecting enormous improvement from a center that objective observers consider to be a project is what fans do in the pre-season. Brandon, Ashanti and DJ need to play like seniors on a mission on a consistent basis for us to exceed the 6th place, 38th in the country projections. Further, one or more of the freshman has to contribute valuable and reliable minutes and we need to avoid any significant injuries to exceed ESPN's projections. It could happen and we all hope that it will, but if we drink too much kool-aid too soon we may be jumping off bridges when reality sets in.
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EasyEd
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 7,272
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Post by EasyEd on Oct 28, 2005 10:40:19 GMT -5
Well said, GP.
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Post by HoyaDestroya on Oct 28, 2005 10:56:51 GMT -5
am i the only one that thinks 38 is legit spot for us. we haven't proven anything to anyone yet... we were on a losing streak at the end of the regular season last year. yeah - we know we are better than that... but we still have to prove it to the rest of the country.
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SFHoya99
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 17,791
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Post by SFHoya99 on Oct 28, 2005 10:59:14 GMT -5
Three things:
1. Vandy. Vandy and Oregon are very similar to the Hoyas. Lots of young talent, came close to the NCAAs, big expectations. The difference between the two games is that Vandy has had Rutgers-like trouble on the road, and Oregon's MacArthur Court is like going into the RAC or Cameron. What scares me most about Vandy is that it is our first real game.
2. Gay. Gay has unbelievable physical talent and I can completely understand the hype. The issue I have with Gay is that he doesn't seem to be a take-charge kind of player. Will he ever be? People say that he didn't have to take charge last year are wrong -- UConn struggled all year because their wings provided very little and their PG was required to be their go-to guy. Anderson and Brown flopped and Calhoun talked repeatedly about the need for Gay to step up. We're still waiting. Reports from this year's practices have Denham Brown stepping up, not Gay. I think there is a chance Gay doesn't have the mentality to dominate. Of course, there's just a good a chance (or better) that he does.
3. #38 is probably just as accurate as any.
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prhoya
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 23,358
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Post by prhoya on Oct 28, 2005 11:18:55 GMT -5
This poll = BS
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nodak89
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Roy Roy Royyyyy!!!
Posts: 1,881
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Post by nodak89 on Oct 28, 2005 11:26:45 GMT -5
Anyone remember what we topped out at last year? I think we were in the "others receiving votes" a couple of times in the mid 30's.
I think it's reasonable to start us out at our zenith from last year. We sure ain't worse than last year.
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Post by fsohoya on Oct 28, 2005 11:49:23 GMT -5
I'm with all of you who aren't too worried about being placed 38th. The fact is we are an unknown quantity - as is just about every other team - until we actually start playing. We have to win games no matter where we are picked, so let's just worry about that. Heck, I'd actually rather assume that we are 38th or below just so I won't be too disappointed if we don't have as good a year as a lot of folks are expecting.
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GIGAFAN99
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 4,487
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Post by GIGAFAN99 on Oct 28, 2005 11:51:34 GMT -5
In 2001 I think we started #34.
We were top 25 by early December and never left the poll the rest of the season.
Then we lost four seniors and were ranked #15 in 2002.
We left the top 25 in January and never returned.
Preseason polls start you where you finished. They're obviously not a great predictor of success.
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Jack
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 3,411
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Post by Jack on Oct 28, 2005 12:04:14 GMT -5
In 2001 I think we started #34. We were top 25 by early December and never left the poll the rest of the season. Then we lost four seniors and were ranked #15 in 2002. We left the top 25 in January and never returned. Preseason polls start you where you finished. They're obviously not a great predictor of success. Well, except for the fact that 12 of the top 25 were not in the top 25 last year, including number 3 Texas. Which is not to say that the poll is anything to get worked up about- GU can and should prove it on the court.
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Post by AustinHoya03 on Oct 28, 2005 12:27:25 GMT -5
FYI, this is the coaches' poll, with 31 voters. Includes such luminaries as: Jim Boeheim, Syracuse Bob McKillop, Davidson Doc Sadler, Texas-El Paso Dave Odom, South Carolina Gary Williams, Maryland and RDF's personal favorite, Dan Monson, Minnesota Scroll to the bottom of the link for the full list I think there's some good news in this. Two of our opponents' coaches (Boeheim and Sadler) have votes. And there may be more, I haven't looked at the full list. Coaches tend to vote with their team's interest in mind, and they especially like to vote for the teams that beat their team. I think we can beat SU and UTEP. The votes are going to come, from these guys and others, when we take care of business.
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Post by HoyaDestroya on Oct 28, 2005 12:37:55 GMT -5
Dave Odom from South Carolina is on there too... he had nothing but nice things to say about JTIII after the NIT loss last year - "With all due respect to the other teams we've faced this year, Georgetown is as well-coached as any team we've seen this year. Coach Thompson has done a miraculous job of putting in his system in a short period of time. They were very good. We beat a very good and very well-coached team."
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