Key Challenge for Next Year's Team

[HoyaSpirit]

A key challenge for JT3 with next year's team I think is going to be how do we work with more big men inside and fewer outside shooters to keep opponents from packing the defense.

They are somewhat separate yet related things:

MORE BIG MEN INSIDE:

This year, we had times where we had to sit Roy to clear out room inside for back door cuts and for Jeff to do his stuff. When Jeff and Roy were both in there, it many times got cluttered.

Now we have the same yet Bowman who could shoot well from outside is gone, and being replaced by PE who as far as I've heard doesn't have a lot of range on his shot - so it's going to make the existing problem even worse if we don't do something to fix that.

Btw, how is Macklin's outside shot and overall range? Because if it's limited, that makes it even more of a challenge for us. And how is Summers and Rivers range and shots?

LESS OUTSIDE SHOOTERS

Two of our best 3 point shooters, Owens and Cook are gone, and Cook was also one of the few guys who could create his own outside shot off the dribble.

How are we going to work with that. Is JT3 going to have to change his gameplan signficantly - and go more towards a post-up offense but mixed in with Princeton motion somehow?

This year, when Owens subbed for Hibbert, we had 5 guys who could all easily bury the 3. And even with Hib in there, we had 4 who could do that.

Next year I'm figuring on average we'll have only 3 guys in who can do that, (unless Hibbert and PE jr don't get a lot of time) and I'm guessing those 3 aren't going to bury them as well as Owens and Cook.

If we solve this in a big way, I think we're an elite 8 or final 4 level team, but if we don't then I think we finish the year between 12 and 20.

And if JT3 is not going to change the game plan, maybe he needs to make outside shooting a top priority in practices and tell the players (esp. PE Jr., and Macklin) to focus big-time on this in their off-season training and at Kenner games.

[GUHoya07]

Summers is a very capable outside shooter. He has nice form and at times can really stroke it from the outside. In general he has a very well rounded offensive game. He can definitely hit the high school/college 3 on a consistent basis.

I dont know all that much about Ewing Jr's outside shooting, but his form looked pretty solid at Midnight Madness and I think I heard that he was developing some range in Kenner last summer.

I wouldnt expect Macklin to ever be a real outside threat, nor is that a concern of mine. If he can develop a consistent shot out to about 15 feet that would be plenty for him. Expect him to bang down low, grab lots of offensive rebounds and score on alley-oops and tip ins.

[RockawayHoya]

I think it's an added advantage for us to not be so reliant on the 3 point shot for next year. It makes no difference if we have only 2 or 3 guys in there who can hit the 3 as opposed to 4 or 5 guys. Most teams don't have more than 3 options to hit perimeter shots on the floor at the same time anyways (see Florida tonight, it didn't hurt them that Horfford/Noah couldn't shoot from more than 12 feet away).

The key is that next year we're going to be an above average rebounding team, and far better than we were this year. That will mean more offensive possessions for us, and hopefully more trips to the line (and subsequently, more scoring to relieve some of the burden from our defense). If we have to sacrifice 3 point shooting for rebounding, I'd do it, because rebounding is a constant, while shooting (although some teams are excellent most of time) can go awry in any given game. That's not to say you don't need solid perimeter scoring to win, but I don't think we'll be in a position next year like LSU's squad this year where nobody can hit a jumper outside of 15 feet.

And yes, while the three point shot was a major factor in our offense this year, we still only ranked 129th in the country in 3PT%. That's not great anyways, even though we had multiple threats from deep in our top 6. I think the rebounding improvement is going to negate any disadvantage we might have from shooting a couple threes fewer per game.

[StPetersburgHoya (Inactive)]

Rockaway is on track with his analysis - also we will have a capable back up at center (Macklin) and the ability to put him in and run the court and press without giving up that much height.

If you thought we controlled pace and tempo this year wait until we start increasing our rebounding advantage.

If we win the tip against some of the RPI 250+ teams we have a real chance at a shut out.

[theEDGEfactor]

all of our bigs adn even roy can shoot the 15 footer and stretch out the D but I think at crunch time we should go down low-no1 has anything even close to us by how good the frontcourt is

[FrazierFanatic]

The problem as I see it is that as of today, we have only ONE guy who has PROVEN the ability to play at the D-1 level and hit the 3 consistently, and even Jon has a low, slow release. If we don't develop a representative outside game, good defensive teams are going to pack so tightly inside it will be very difficult to get the ball inside, to run backcuts, etc. We have to develop the balance. We may very well have guys here and/ or coming who can do this, but there are still very real questions about it.

[TrueHoyaBlue]

Bowman brought a lot of things to the team, but contrary to popular belief, outside shooting wasn't one of them...

Year 3pt%
05-06 28.6%
04-05 36.5%
03-04 32.3%
02-03 18.2%

So he had a decent pct. in his junior year, but even then, he was shooting a lower percentage than Owens, Cook, Green, and Wallace...

We will miss Ashanti and DJ's long-range shooting, but I for one won't miss BB's performance behind the arc., and I would be willing to bet that at least one out of Summers and Ewing is able to top the 33% mark from deep.

[YB]

OK, I think watching UCLA's stinker last night (yes, I was the one) shows you cannot win in D1 bball without the ability as a team to shoot the 3. Specifically, when playing a motion offense, you have to show the ability to take and make 3s within the flow of the offense- not rushed, but judicious. We can't simply say, we're throwing 3 tall players who are good out there and hope they all work out. We need at a minimum 3 players who can hit 3s consistently, plus one who can hit mid-range jumpers and one who could post up if no backdoors can be found.

The ability of next year's squad to hit 3s consistently within the offense will be possibly the biggest challenge we'll have, and we should hope they adapt to it. I hope guys like Thornton, Crawford, Wallace, Sapp and Ewing are working on this- it will be crucial to the team's success next year.

[GIGAFAN99]

One guy has to be able to shoot reasonably from three. Sapp has to develop a two-point shot. That's the hole created by Ashanti.

Everything else is fine. We don't want the team to be EXACTLY like this year's team. This team fell in love with the three occasionally and for that reason was inconsistent.

Ewing for Bowman is a wash. I'll take Summers, Macklin, and Spann over just Owens any day. Sapp will improve. The key will be finding that one shooter. Between Sapp, Crawford, Green, Summers, Spann, Egerson, and Thornton you'd think we could find one guy shooting 38%+ from three.

If we do, the extra depth and rebounding up front really puts this team in contention.

[prhoya]

gigafan99 said:

One guy has to be able to shoot reasonably from three. Sapp has to develop a two-point shot. That's the hole created by Ashanti.

Everything else is fine. We don't want the team to be EXACTLY like this year's team. This team fell in love with the three occasionally and for that reason was inconsistent.

Ewing for Bowman is a wash. I'll take Summers, Macklin, and Spann over just Owens any day. Sapp will improve. The key will be finding that one shooter. Between Sapp, Crawford, Green, Summers, Spann, Egerson, and Thornton you'd think we could find one guy shooting 38%+ from three.

If we do, the extra depth and rebounding up front really puts this team in contention.

Agree with Giga... Also, we will outrebound teams on both ends. The team will see more second opportunities for easy baskets or open looks after offensive rebounds. Here's where I think a guy like Thornton will come in handy. He can wait all alone for the pass after an offensive rebound and shoot on an open look.

[Deleted]

Here's my idea of a key challenge:

We all know G'Town is losing BB, Cook and Owens: three key contributors who will be missed, and who's contributions took this team to within one shot of a Regional Final. It is going to be difficult replacing their production.

But more importantly, is Hoya Blue or the student body losing any key contributors? Is there going to be diminished leadership in any way next season?

[prhoya]

I disagree with the notion that our team's hopes depend on finding a three-point shooter to cover the seniors' three-point production. Give me the inside domination that we will have next year over the less than occasional big games the seniors had this year any day.

Next year teams facing GU will fear the fact that our defense will be better than this year and that they will have one shot at the basket per possession.

BTW, I expect Wallace's three-point production to go up and for Summers and Eggerson (and hopefully Thornton) to surprise teams with their threes.

[YB]

I don't think we should match the outgoing seniors 3 point production... but it would be nice to get enough 3 point production to open space for backdoor cuts and post-ups. I think this offense needs that, it requires that there be good, consistent shooters on the floor- not just one, but at least 3 and likely 4.

[TBird41]

buffalohoya said:

Here's my idea of a key challenge:

We all know G'Town is losing BB, Cook and Owens: three key contributors who will be missed, and who's contributions took this team to within one shot of a Regional Final. It is going to be difficult replacing their production.

But more importantly, is Hoya Blue or the student body losing any key contributors? Is there going to be diminished leadership in any way next season?

Vice President, Treasurer (and Summer Architect) and Promotions. I think there are some quality underclassmen ready to step up though.

[SFHoya99]

prhoya said:

I disagree with the notion that our team's hopes depend on finding a three-point shooter to cover the seniors' three-point production. Give me the inside domination that we will have next year over the less than occasional big games the seniors had this year any day.

Next year teams facing GU will fear the fact that our defense will be better than this year and that they will have one shot at the basket per possession.

BTW, I expect Wallace's three-point production to go up and for Summers and Eggerson (and hopefully Thornton) to surprise teams with their threes.

If you don't have perimeter production, teams will simply collapse on your big men, as we saw all year. Neither Roy nor Jeff are good enough to consistently score versus double and triple teams.

[prhoya]

I think our ability to rebound will bring confidence to our shooters, thus increasing production.

(I cannot wait to see a pumped-up Ewing going after dunks and rebounds... wrong thread... sorry!... when does the KL start?)

[hoopsmccan]

I wonder who the go-to-person at the end of the game will be next year. Results notwithstanding, I didn't mind the ball in Cook's hands against Syracuse in the BET or Owens taking the three against Florida. Neither was truly a go to guy, but I was okay with them. Next year, I don't know who that person(s) will be. Its hard to have that end of the game player be an inside guy, because teams can somewhat successfully take that away (see every close game we lost with Sweetney in the middle).

hm

[SFHoya99]

It should be Jeff, even if he has to get the ball on the perimeter. But so far he hasn't really taken that role. Maybe Sapp or Ewing will?

[theEDGEfactor]

i think BB had a nice perimeter shot its just he had such as low release that it would hurt him at times, but jeff seems like he can really get something going with his shot and seems like summers, mack, and pe2 can knock down the 15-22 footers

[YB]

We need 3 good outside shooters, one mid-range shooter and a post man on the floor at all times. I think we could have those things but we won't know until some of the froshes and sophs grow into their roles. I'd like to see Sapp, Crawford, and Egerson work on their outside shots and Thornton work on his D.