JCAW - JT3

[ArtVandalay]

Spoke with JT3 for about 10 minutes after the Clinton Q & A session at the JCAW. He was very friendly and had some interesting things to say...

1. He seemed to downplay adding too many more "tough" ooc games. He said with games at vandy and duke, and a home game against oregon, that our schedule already had some tough matchups on it. He said that Ohio State has called about a game, but nothing has been done with it. He certainly made it sound like he thought that our schedule did not need any major improvements. He also added that we were invited to the Wooden Classic, but could not attend for scheduling conflicts.

2. Nothing new here, but Bowman was obviously frustrating to him all season. He said Bowman "could" be a pro, but would need a really solid Portsmouth Invitational to really have a shot at the draft.

3. I asked him if he was surprised that Florida played that good a defense against us. He said no, "we were just missing our shots." He went on to add that at the end they got the shot they wanted, so maybe D.O. was the go to guy at the end there. Also, he went on to say that the Jeff Green calls were ridiculous and he still seemed a bit dissapointed about the loss.

4. After the convo about florida coach then posed a question to us, semi-rhetorically. He asked how come UCLA is considered a "good defensive team" thus both teams scores are usually low, but that Georgetown just "holds the ball". He said both teams play good defense and try to get a shot late in the shot clock. It was an interesting point. He answered his own question by saying that he guesses his Princeton ties are the reason for that, but he seemed annoyed that UCLA, who he thinks plays a similar style to ours, is labeled a great defensive team and we are not.

5. The most interesting thing to me about the conversation. I asked him how he thought Macklin would fare on next years team. He said that many would be surprised at the "lack" of playing time he might receive. He said that Macklin is a huge talent, but very raw. He said that Macklin will need to be brought around slowly, and that he (coach) will have a tough time balancing out his playing time compared to the hype Macklin has received. He went on to add that he can't wait to get his hands on the recruits to see exactly what he's got there. He made Macklin sound very Hibbert-esque in the sense that he thought he had amazing upside but would need time to get there. Maybe with our talent, he wants to bring him along slowly unlike what he had to do with hibbert.

6. He said the fan support has been great, but said he realizes that it can change quickly if your not winning.

7. Finally, he said that his wife is doing ok, and that it is still a struggle, with its ups and downs. He came from a recruiting trip to be in Vegas and was going back on the recruiting trail afterwards.

Coach was great to talk to, per usual, and also mentioned that it was a very, very hard decision to leave Princeton, and he emphasized that greatly. Boy am I glad we got him.

[daytonahoya31]

Josh,
That's great stuff. How did you get all of that out of him?
Also, along the Macklin lines. I think the recruit who will get the most time is Rivers, the one recruit we as a board talk about the least. Your thoughts?

[nychoya3]

Best news there was number 7.

As for number 4...sorry, Coach, but UCLA really was better than us on defense after you adjust for pace. Their adjusted defensive efficiency was 84 while ours was 92. No doubt people don't understand how pace effects scoring, but even after correcting for it, we were a mediocre defensive team and UCLA was one of the best in the nation. We are only slightly slower than they are, pace wise.

The Macklin comment is interesting, and I'm actually not surprised. Vernon has looked pretty lost in both post season games thus far. He can run and he can jump, but I suspect his rebounding is the only skill that will stand out at this point. Summers could get more run.

A very forthright conversation, it would seem. JT3 is the man.

[ArtVandalay]

daytona,

i just asked questions. there were about 3 or 4 of us talking to him while everyone else was either trying to shake clinton's hand or talking to others about the speech. Personally, and I like Clinton, I would rather talk to JT3. He was being peppered with questions but did not seem to mind at all. He was very talkative and very receptive.

[Dhall]

Agreed Macklin has shown nothing in the McD and Nike games. Sorry to say it but it looks like he does not have great hands and is slow up and down the court. This was relative to the cream of the crop of players his age in a sample of only two guard-dominated games, so it's a little unfair. But I agree that we should not expect much from him. Basically, he will be taking Amadou's minutes and maybe some of Bowman's minutes. I'm guessing the rest of Bowman's minutes and Owens' minutes will be split among Ewing and Summers with the majority going to Ewing.

[RockawayHoya]

Great post, Josh. It's good to hear from III reflecting on the season as well as talk about next year. In particular, I'm glad to hear he's still Editeded about some of the calls in the Florida loss (makes me not feel so bad about still being mad myself). I also totally agree with him that our reputation of just holding the ball and not being a great defensive team are unwarranted. UCLA gets away with being far more physical than any other team in the Pac-10, IMHO, and it's all because of Howland's reputation. Hopefully we'll start getting a little more respect from the stripes too in the next few years.

And most importantly, it's good to hear his wife is doing OK. As always, best wishes for a speedy recovery.

[daytonahoya31]

That's good that he's so forthright. I wouldn't worry about Macklin. Those games are guard dominated, and his one obvious skill is the skill that we really need. Rebounding.
Other than that, I would tend to think that Macklin would be a huge upgrade over amadou.

[SaxaCD]

joshs2681 said:

daytona,

i just asked questions. there were about 3 or 4 of us talking to him while everyone else was either trying to shake clinton's hand or talking to others about the speech. Personally, and I like Clinton, I would rather talk to JT3. He was being peppered with questions but did not seem to mind at all. He was very talkative and very nice.

I certainly thought we played better D vs. Florida than UCLA did. UCLA looked more like Rutgers to me in that game.

[StPetersburgHoya (Inactive)]

Agreed 7 is the most important point in all of the conversation - I know its hard to bring something like that into the conversation with someone who is as closed about his personal like as III but I really appreciate you getting the update Josh. Stuggle is the a good word for what I'm sure Monica is going through - her strength is a credit to the entire family. I continue to wish her a speedy and full recovery.

[hoyarooter]

Clinton who? I can't imagine someone named Clinton getting higher billing than III.

[YB]

We are indeed very lucky to have a coach as classy and smart as III. I hope we all realize that fact. He can still use all the support he can get.

[jerseyhoya34]

I think the most important thing to remember about Macklin is that he's in a frontcourt with Jeff Green and Hibbert. Both Green and Hibbert will likely be on the preseason all-BE Team if such a thing exists (I forget). Although Macklin is talented, it is hard to rationalize how Green and Hibbert should not get 30+ minutes per game (assume Roy's conditioning improves). At this stage in the game, they are too valuable to sit.

[dds88hoya]

Too bad about the Wooden classic.. Ucla,Usc and G.W are already confirmed for it.

[SFHoya99]

Great info, Josh.

I imagine many of us on this board have been through a situation where a loved one (or ourselves) has had cancer. I'm glad you got a chance to tell III that we're all thinking of them.

As for the basketball stuff, I love that he is still annoyed at losing the Florida game. I found the Macklin comment interesting -- and I wonder what his frame of reference is. I expect Vernon to be anywhere between 10 and 20 minutes in any game. I wonder if he means less than that (10 minutes)? Or if he is just managing the expectation that as a McD's AA he will automatically start and dominate?

I also find it interesting that he mentions it is because he is raw. Seems like much of our PT has been determined by defensive ability. I wonder if he is referring to his D as well as his O?

[theEDGEfactor]

think there getting the chance with mack that they didnt have with roy

[MCIGuy]

There have been those of us, since Macklin committed, that have tried to tell the masses that Macklin would not come in and take away huge minutes from Hibbert and Ewing. Macklin has all the potential in the world. The posters who claim that he has bad hands or can't run the floor...well, lets just say I disagree. He has the hands, the length, the explosiveness, the stamina, the speed, etc to be a GREAT big man down the line if he works on his game and is instructed well by his coaches. Just look at Noah. But regardless of his abilities he is raw, folks. He doesn't come in with a half-court game like Sweetney or an impact presence like Zo. He needs work. It was interesting when Hibbert had bad games or games in which fans got mad about his shots being blocked. You would see all these posts about Macklin not getting here soon enough. It was as if Hoya fans thought Macklin was Greg Oden or Shaquille O'Neal and would replace Hibbert immediately. Vernon isn't ready for that yet. He knows it too. On HoyaReport in an interview a couple of weeks back he informed us that the Gtown coaches told him his main priority his forsh season would to supply help on the boards.

By the way don't worry about Vernon's showing in these contests. He has proven himself time and time again this past year in the summer camps, AAU games and high school tournaments. He just needs some polishing.

[williambraskyiii]

the kid is still a McDonalds all-american and a top 15 prospect. whether he is raw or not, he should be able to contribute immediately. But I guess in every annual Top 20 list there is a handful of guys who just don't show up as impact players to start off. VMack might be one of these players...i expect him to make a name for himself immediately however, just given the amt of buzz and his hs career.

[casualhoya]

We need a shooter. Macklin will help inside and has a nose for the ball, but we need a shooter.

And by 'we', I mean 'they.'

[StPetersburgHoya (Inactive)]

The real question that no one has asked yet - did Clinton come up and shake JTIII's hand and ask him sheepishly for a picture or not?

[hoyarooter]

"It was as if Hoya fans thought Macklin was Greg Oden or Shaquille O'Neal and would replace Hibbert immediately. "

This is incorrect. Many Hoya fans expect Macklin to be better than Oden and Shaq COMBINED. Or at least better than Ewing I and Zo combined. And if he does not live up to those expectations, he will be trashed. Beware the rage of the disappointed Hoya fan!