calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Dec 23, 2020 7:36:50 GMT -5
In the most recent game when after Ighoefe made his first basket he came down on the other end of the court in which he had to eventually rotate over to guard an opposing player who was about six feet from him on the baseline but well within the three-point line. Ighoefe's rotating over him was half-hearted because he didn't have his hands up and that opposing player made a jumpshot. Ewing immediately replaced him with Wilson. Ighoefe was only in the game for about a minute and was yanked despite having just successfully scored because he didn't go at it hard enough during the following instance on defense. And my immediate feeling on that was DO THAT TO EVERYONE FAR MORE OFTEN. It may be the one way to get his players to compete on the defensive side of the ball. And there is no better time to start implementing this standard requirement than this upcoming game today against Seton Hall. Agree completely. Big John was notorious for pulling players who were not making the effort or melting down. He was also known for sitting them briefly and then putting them back in. For the most part it worked. Seems that this is something that could benefit kids like J Harris and Bile--not as a punishment but rather to give them immediate feedback and settle them down. As for today's game if Pickett is really hobbled, it's truly not worth the risk. He cannot match up strength wise with Mamu on two good ankles.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Dec 22, 2020 9:07:55 GMT -5
Have seen every team other than Depaul and it looks like a down year for the BE. No one seems overwhelming. Could see very competitive games and lots of upheaval from week-to week. If the coaches can find a way to get the Hoyas to move the damn ball quickly on offense and play anything resembling passable defense against perimeter players there is no reason this team cannot compete. A strong incoming recruiting class has to see evidence that the needle is pointing up and one sure sign of that is for Ewing to put together a team that can compete within the conference on a weekly basis.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Dec 21, 2020 19:18:43 GMT -5
Congratulations to Coach Ewing on a major recruiting win. We now have 3/5ths of the 2024 Nigerian Olympic team.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Dec 21, 2020 9:21:36 GMT -5
If you’re the opposing coach just: 1) Double Wahab every time he gets it. He will not pass it. 2) Don’t let Carey, Blair or Pickett shoot set threes. Let Blair shoot floaters and Pickett turnaround jump shots and live with it. 3) Full court pressure on our primary ball handler. Agree with one addition.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Dec 21, 2020 7:41:13 GMT -5
Having Blair bring it up against pressure was a killer. He didn't lose it but it took him a while to get into the front court and then he had his back to the hoop trying to run PNR instead of moving it. StJ's ball pressure really disrupted us. Couldn't even get solid ball screens. It left us too often in a forced one on one situation with the shot clock winding down. Not a good place to be when we don't really have any players that can consistently best a good defender. We did have Berger open a few times, but we certainly didn't run anything for him. The D is bad. I think it's more individual D right now than schematic. Aside from Dante, no one can keep a player in front of them. Rotations look so much worse when, well, you always have to rotate. We can block shots but they lead to offensive boards. Spot on re: Blair bringing the ball up. Dante had a rough game, but he's the guy who should be bringing the ball up and getting us into the offense. Blair & Carey are the two guys who can consistently score from range if given clean looks -- our offense should be biased towards getting those guys clean looks. Hoping we can throw Berger on this list soon enough. Frustrating to not put Pickett on that list -- but unless he's completely set/squared/balanced, he's just not reliable. I feel like this team will go as Q goes. He has potential, and if he improves, we have a chance to steal a few BE games. He has made a difference protecting the rim, but needs to add power to his offensive game, and be able to pass out when it's not there. At this point, when he catches, he's taking the baby hook, period. He's not passing out, he's not going up strong. That's not gonna get it done against good competition. We'll be out-talented for the remainder of our games. I'm just looking for improvement & eventually, cohesiveness. Unfortunately, didn't see much today. But I'll keep tuning in. Unfortunately Blair has never been a consistent shooter from range though he can score. He is shooting worse than Pickett from 3 while launching 25 more 3's than his senior counterpart. I do not think that this team's problems are perimeter shooting, particularly with the emergence of Carey. We need to run an offense with plenty of ball movement to get to the open perimeter shooter. I'll take my chances with some combination of Pickett, Blair, Carey, Berger and perhaps D. Harris if they are getting open shots. Every team has inconsistencies from deep--watched Creighton continuously launch away and miss. Recall the last St. Johns game and Nova's first half against the Hoyas. It's just that the Hoyas seem incapable of maintaining ball movement for any length of time before we devolve into iso matchups. I know Ewing is in love with feeding the ball down low to Wahab or Tim, but these guys are doubled up often and shooting 58% and 50% from in close. The ball stops--no kick out to open shooters. It's one single power move usually well guarded by the opposition. It's happening enough that you begin to wonder if it is by design. If so, why? The major problem with this team is that in his 4th year of coaching (or 19th counting assistant coaching) and with his 4th set of players, Ewing has yet to figure out how to implement an effective defense against ball movement and perimeter oriented offenses. It has not happened and there is nothing to suggest so far that it will happen. Very discouraging that a team has to shoot well every night just to be in the game. There has to be cause for hope that this can improve.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Dec 20, 2020 21:29:22 GMT -5
Tonight was awful. Our three-point defense was nonexistent, our press was water and our offense got really lazy after the first like ten minutes. The Bile-Tim lineup completely changed this game. They went on their run with those guys in and the game was sealed. Everyone but Carey was bad. Dante looked like a freshman and tried to do too much tonight, Blair was awesome in garbage time where he probably put up 17 points, Wahab having four rebounds in this game is inexcusable. This game makes it clear that Bile and Tim being talked up was just coach speak. Tim made his hooks today but defensively was terrible. Our defense was about as good as if we threw out practice cones. I mean a St. John's team that cant shoot was open from deep every time they wanted. And we had no answer for Posh driving the lane. The defense is still just awful. Just one of those games you have to forget about as soon as possible. Carey was our offense. Dante needs to be more aggressive but also needs to play within the offense. Pickett needs to drive the lane. Wahab needs to pass out of a double team, not get blown by so easily, and crash the glass. Though he was blocking shots, he was also in no man's land so much defensively these last two games. Bile needs to stop forcing everything as if he's at Northwestern State. He's way too wild and was by far the worst player on the floor tonight. We had a week off and came out just awful. St John's wanted it more. They got every 50/50 ball and got in the lane and played smart. Terrible performance. A week for that is just bad. Onto the next one. Can’t disagree with any of this. Really not certain that this coaching staff will ever figure out how to improve the perimeter defense. Although players have changed the results have not. St. Johns is better than last year but nowhere near the offensive juggernaut we made them appear tonight. Really sad to say I switched away from the game several times figuring there was never a chance to come back, particularly with Blair and Pickett’s offense completely missing for the second straight game. Seton Hall will be even uglier I am afraid..
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Dec 19, 2020 8:16:50 GMT -5
Not certain what has happened with this program. While never a powerhouse in the BE, the collapse of this program has been dramatic and shocking for those of us who follow the women's team from the outside. More so than the men's program, which at least has had some moments of hope even in the chaos of last year. Time for the Administration to decide if it wants to field a competitive women's team and address whatever factors have caused this program to fall so far so fast.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Dec 18, 2020 8:05:23 GMT -5
Well there is nothing normal about this past year--mass transfers, late transfer of McClung, no summer ball, 9 new players, late start to practice, hardly any OOC games to prep team, empty arenas and the lowest level of expectation for the team in my memory. While I have doubts about many aspects of this program, I don't see how you can draw any final conclusions after 6 games about any players yet (other than the continued inability of team to play defense).
Bile needs to adapt to the team scheme and use his athleticism to provide needed rebounding. No forced shots or iso ball--this team has been there and done that for the last couple of years, J Harris needs to calm down, stop waving his arms after mistakes and use his speed and ballhandling ability to provide penetration. No team is worried about Harris sitting out there on the perimeter. Harris will have to share the point with D. Harris. Bile may have to give up some time to Clarke. Both Bile and Harris need to be much more focused on defense--something that would immediately benefit this team more than any points they score. Each of these kids is trying hard to make an impact and Ewing needs to get through to them as to how they can best do that while fitting within the team approach. He also needs to place them on the court in situations where there are other players who compensate for their shortcomings--no Bile and Tim I, no Harris without Blair and Carey. If nothing improves in the next few games then you sit them.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Dec 17, 2020 8:12:06 GMT -5
Not ready to worry about next year but with or without Carey the team will be very young and limited experience. Other than Wahab and Tim, whose still very much a project, everyone else (not counting Carey) will be a freshman or sophomore.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Dec 15, 2020 8:05:48 GMT -5
I really am looking forward to this game as a means of measuring Ewing's development as a coach and the players' development as a unit. Sunday revealed a lot about this team's potential which hopefully leads to further adjustments. How will D. Harris and Carey react to the increased attention they will surely get now that they were so pivotal in the first game. How will Ewing get Pickett and Blair back into the flow of the offense against the St. John's defense which focused on both. What will be done to limit the offensive rebounds for St. Johns? Will Berger and Sibley be part of the regular rotation now? What role for J Harris and Clark, assuming they are healthy? What role for Tim I or do the Hoyas go small without Wahab? Recall that a different set of officials could easily have called more fouls on Wahab and that would have changed the flow of the game completely. How do we get Bile to harness his athleticism and play within the offense and defense (assuming there really is a defense)? How will the Hoyas guards handle the pressure defense of St. Johns which caused numerous careless TOs. With a longer bench/rotation, what combinations will Ewing have on the floor? Suddenly having both Pickett and Blair out of the game for short times does not seem quite the death blow for the offense as it did 4 days ago. Finally, will the Hoyas start to show any signs of being able to play competent defense against a very athletic, but poor shooting team?
I really do not expect much change from St. Johns as their style of play is what it is. However, there is opportunity here for the Hoyas to show that their upside this year is much higher than many thought, particularly if D. Harris, Carey and Berger continue to shoot well.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Dec 14, 2020 15:27:32 GMT -5
I have seen where some people have said St John's is a bad team this year. I am not sure I agree with that. They do turn the ball over and can be undisciplined sometimes, but they play very hard and have some interesting athletes who are going to do well in the system they run. It doesn't appear they will do well in games when they need to run a lot of half court sets, but the way they play I am not sure how often they will end up in those games. They could use some more size to help on the boards also, but seem to overcome that with guys going aggressively to the glass for rebounding opportunities. The freshman point guard is a good player who is only going to get better as the year goes on. I am not sure what their record wile at the end of this year but they are going to give alton of teams trouble that are not comfortable playing at a fast pace. I would not be surprised at all to see them end up near .500 in the conference. I think that St. Johns is going to be a decent team this year but like the Hoyas they are still missing some pieces. They have lots of athletes but not a lot of shooters. I think that their coach hurts his team with his undying commitment to the frenzy approach. It works well for much of the game but if you are up 7-9 points late in the game you might consider taking more time off the clock when you have the ball. It's been a problem for them a few times this year. They gave the Hoyas chances to keep coming back in the second half--and this time the Hoyas did.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Dec 14, 2020 13:35:12 GMT -5
I think he can be a real positive for the team if he plays confidently and can avoid TOs. It gives us 3 perimeter shooters when J Harris is in the game and 4 when D Harris is playing. Also would enable the Hoyas to use Bile with either Wahab or Tim without surrendering too much offense.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Dec 14, 2020 10:35:26 GMT -5
There have been lots of comments about Qudus not passing out of the double-teams and how that has been costing the team. So, let's give credit when it is due. This Berger highlight starts with Q smartly passing out of the triple-team that is coming. Absolutely good catch. Wahab deserves much credit here for making the quick decision to kick out and the ball movement produced a wide open 3. This should become a routine part of the offense. Hoyas actually have enough shooters if given an open look and could be a very difficult team to defend.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Dec 14, 2020 8:56:01 GMT -5
Honestly happy with any win right now. Much to like and dislike about yesterday. After the Nova game wanted more D Harris and an opportunity for a pure shooter like Berger to get in the game when trailing. Got both and will happily take the growing pains. More opportunity for Sibley which will help in the later part of the season. Still see a significant role for J. Harris and now that minutes will be limited, maybe he can settle into a role that will help against pressure defense. Neither Blair nor Carey can provide adequate ball-handling against St. John's type pressure. Happy to see the team win when Pickett was largely taken out of the game and Blair had another very inconsistent performance. Also happy to see what Carey can bring to the table offensively and think that this will be a big boost in his confidence. Wahab making shots is critical if we are going to continue to force the ball inside as a central part of the offense. Finally, happy to see Ewing employ pressure defense at the end and also see that it worked against a decent ball-handling team. Also worked last year when Hoyas had no bench.
On the flip side--defense. If St. John's was a better shooting team this would have been a double digit loss. Although the in-bounds play with .9 seconds took years off my life, it is really only one more example of the failure of recent Hoya teams on the defensive side of the ball. Wahab's blocked shots are a very nice stat that really reflects his physical attributes and not some grasp of how to play defense. As he chased the blocks the team was left with undersized players like Bile and Carey trying to rebound. With Pickett playing further from the basket to try and defend against the 3, Wahab has to stay home more. Tim I is just not ready--and when coach has him paired with Bile there is literally no offense on the inside. Still have not given up on Bile as you can see that he is athletic and active, but if he cannot settle down and play within the system, rather than forcing shots, he needs to sit and let Sibley ad Clarke develop. Looking forward to a week off and seeing what the coach does next with what he has learned from the last few games.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Dec 13, 2020 21:44:26 GMT -5
What a shock—this team cannot defend an inbounds pass with under a second! What a disgrace the lack of defense has become.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Dec 13, 2020 8:38:24 GMT -5
Our Hoyas need to find a way to get some FT attempts. Hard to win when the opponent is getting 5-10 more free points at the FT line Hard to get to the line when you don’t have players who can drive to the basket and force contact. Mac was good at this and took it to the rim without fear of mixing it up. By the way, this also led to injuries. For example with Blair, you are not drawing fouls if you finish your drives with floaters and not at the rim. So true. This year's team is unlikely to see the FT line much at all unless it develops more of an attacking style. Perhaps the two Harris kids can do that, but thus far it seems the only players to draw fouls have been the two posts. Blair can expect more of the tight in your face defense he saw from Nova. Right now it is not hard to figure where the offense is coming from. Guard Blair closely, try to matchup with Pickett, double the post and take your chances with everyone else. Time for the senior transfers to step up. Carey needs to become a factor. More control from Harris and Bile or else use a very short leash and give freshmen the chance to learn. Wahab needs to become a more consistent threat and when doubled he needs to kick the ball out. Entry passes to either post seem to bring the flow of the offense to a complete halt as everyone watches while the posts tend to hold the ball while trying to make the same back to the basket move--a baby hook shot that goes in a little more than half the time. It was so much more enjoyable at the end of last year watching the ball movement on offense and seeing players functioning as if they were a coordinated unit. Cannot overstate the value of Mosley and Allen to that team. Expect the team to struggle mightily today on defense--what's new--particularly with the pace that St. Johns will try to impose.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Dec 12, 2020 16:04:21 GMT -5
Much better St. John’s than last year even without Figueroa. Tend to be inconsistent for stretches but still more depth and better suited to their coach’s style of play.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Dec 12, 2020 8:15:09 GMT -5
After another gut-wrenching loss, and the depression that comes with each, I am still struggling to focus on that silver lining that this team showed it can play a very good half against an overrated Nova team that was missing a couple of rotation players.
Happy with Pickett's play on both ends, though I fully expect some will find fault.
Wright showed his coaching skills in playing Blair tight throughout to make certain he had few, if any, open looks.
Senior transfers--two are often out of control and the third often invisible. Still have hope that Bile will adapt to the flow of the game and not force it, but Ewing needs a much shorter leash on Harris, who should not be allowed to have such long stretches of imploding before taken out and calmed down. When your PG cannot shoot and cannot play defense any ball distribution is of much less value. Other teams are already playing 5 on 4 when we are on offense. Carey--the stroke is there, but not enough open shots and the defense is spotty at best. Has to contribute more to justify his minutes. Still seems lost in this offense.
Freshmen--willing to take all the growing pains with D Harris and don't mind as much the mental errors if he is gaining experience. Hell we watched McClung and Akinjo kill the team with mistakes as they developed as Freshmen and never get pulled. Put D. Harris in at least as much as the senior Harris. He is short and not a great defender, but his confidence is growing and he is a threat to score--or at least shoot. Happy to see Sibley get some time against a quality opponent--he will get more comfortable out there. Need to see what Clarke can bring. Berger? Shooter on the bench cannot help in games when you are trying to catch up. Maybe try and see if he can help for short stretches and get a few open looks. This team needs shooters. If the freshmen don't play we are starting over again next year--I am sick of Groundhog Day seasons.
Posts--where is the development? Some growth on defense. Both have nice strokes at the FT line, but in the flow of the game each has exactly one move. Shooting around 50% from 3 feet is not going to cut it. Wahab with only 2 fouls but only 5 rebounds--same as Bile, half of Pickett. Playing for one of the greatest posts of all time (though he was much more athletic and mostly a defensive specialist to begin with), I expected more development by now.
Ewing--Same old mixed bag. First half--this guy can coach. Second half--can this guy coach? Not blaming him for lack of effort in trying to stem the collapse and certainly not yet ready to give up hope, but again question the use of the PG and the seeming inability to run plays to counter Nova and get some open shots for Blair and Pickett or to find a way to get Carey into the offense. Coach has to find a way to stop the bleeding--and no it does not matter that there is a lack of talent on the team. He recruited the team and there was enough talent to go head to head with WVU and Nova for 30 minutes, so that excuse needs to be forgotten.
Sunday against an improved St. Johns and memories of one of last season's collapses.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Dec 11, 2020 21:07:25 GMT -5
Damn, lost my computer feed. You missed nothing. It was a rerun of what you have seen before—many times. Very disappointing at every level. None of the 3 transfers is justifying the playing time. Trying to understand the coach’s choice at PG. Still not buying the hype about Wahab as he has a very limited game—very raw.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Dec 11, 2020 9:58:42 GMT -5
It's really difficult to follow Georgetown women's basketball with the comparatively little effort GU puts in to promoting them and the lack of fan base they engender. In no particular order: - The team had six transfers from last season, six. Not a single press release announced when any or all had left.
- There is no schedule posted on GUHoyas.com. Not even a list of games postponed. None: guhoyas.com/sports/womens-basketball/schedule
- Just five team-specific press releases have been posted since March.
- Georgetown is consistently last or next to last in the Big East in attendance in each of the last three seasons and games aren't well promoted. Last season's teams averaged 494 a game.
- If you think Patrick Ewing is keeping a low profile with his record, see James Howard. He's coming off a 5-25 season. His three year record is 40-57, no NCAA appearances.
Women's basketball is the second largest budget in the athletic department, $3.1 million, even above football. It deserves more coverage, but with coverage comes attention, and Georgetown is not a place that pushes for attention. Is that six confirmed transfers to other programs, or 6 players not on the roster that would have been expected? I heard from someone connected to the team that several team members decided to sit out the season do to COVID concerns. Yes the Women's team has been a disaster under Howard. Time for a reset.
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