But Roy was guarded by short guys!

[hoyaboy1]

The argument that we need to wait until Roy does this against Josh Boone seems absurd to me for a few reasons.

First off, Roy played a lot of games last year against shorter competition. Did he ever score 20 points? Heck no! This isn't the same guy.

Next, Josh Boone and most of the other centers Roy will be playing against are much shorter than him too! It isn't as if he was playing against a 6'8 guy tonight and will play against 7 footers from here on out.

Now, I clearly don't expect this kind of offensive production every game. But it is clear to me that Roy has improved a lot. If he can give us half this many points along with his 7 boards and 2-3 blocks every game, he'll be one of the best centers in the league and we will be looking very, very good.

[Deleted]

I don't think the argument is simply short guys.

For me, I want to see Roy against legit competition. With all due respect to the Navy frontcourt, they aren't near the skill level Roy will be playing come the new year... or even over the next couple weeks for that matter. Roy has definitely progressed since last season, and even a bit since Kenner, it looks like. Nobody is doubting that. His 20 last night was a great start, and hopefully a harbinger of things to come.

But I couldn't care less how he plays over the summer or against a Patriot League team - until he plays well consistently against elite competition out of conference, in the Big East, and in March, he's merely a serviceable 7-footer.

[mapei]

I agree - it's defintely encouraging, but also expected from a Big East-caliber center against that competition.

[Jack]

Roy showed some things last night that he had not shown before, and those are reasons to be excited about his prospects for helping the team. The 15 footer, the dunks on putbacks, the confidence with the ball in his hands, the defensive presence, getting up and down the floor and playing a full 25 minutes with only 1 foul (and that was bs)- those are the things you can take from the game. Couple that with the universal praise and talk of improvement in preseason articles, and he could be a much more consistent force this year.

That said, I was the one who first started with the "hold your horses" line of thought, and I stand by it. It is not just about Roy being taller than Navy's frontcourt, it is also about their skill level. Not only did they have no hope of guarding him, they did nothing to make him have to guard them- every center in the Big East is both bigger and more athletic than any Mid forward. Roy will have an entirely different challenge against Kevin Pittsnoggle, or Lamont Hamilton, or even Randall Hanke. Heck, he even got stuffed in close one time last night when he did not go up strong.

So in short, as others have said, Roy did a great job doing what he is supposed to do, which is more than can be said for some of his teammates last night and more than we could have said about Roy himself after most games last year. He is young, he is big, he is improving, but he is not going to be first team all Big East anytime soon, and there will be nights when GU will play better with him on the bench, just not as often as last year.

[RBHoya]

When we played Fullerton last year, at home in a post-season game, their biggest guy was I believe 6'8 as well, and Roy just didn't look good at all. This year in the opening game he was going up against a team with comparable height, and he just played sooooo much better.

Im with Hoyaboy... it is obvious that Roy has improved, and thats really exciting. Why don't we focus on the fact that he looked more fluid running the floor and was hitting 15+ foot shots rather than who he was against. Why bring yourself down with negativity when there was so much to be positive about?

[Deleted]

Sweet lord, guys! Nobody is saying he didn't look improved! Just the opposite, I think most of us are saying he does look VERY improved.

All that people like Jack and myself are saying is that there's no reason to think of him as a "superstar" or anything else until he does it against elite competition. I don't care who beats up on Navy or James Madison... I want to see who takes it to UConn, Louisville, Villanova, etc. If Roy does it then, I'll be first in line to tip my hat and say he's arrived... but I'll reserve judgment until then.