b52legend
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Post by b52legend on Feb 19, 2010 8:10:53 GMT -5
JT3 has to pick it up on the recruiting front. Bronx is right. Starting three McDonald's all american's is simply not going to cut it these days. Unless we have multiple players destined to crack the NBA 50 best of all time, we have no shot in the Big East. In my opinion, we first need to work on the center position, perhaps trying to get someone like Shaq. Have you seen Blue Chips coach? Get on that. Next we need to attack the point guard position. JT3 should be in Vancouver as we speak trying to get Steve Nash's nephew to play for us. Inexcusable that he is not. Finally, we need some athletic scorers. I would prefer to find someone in the Kobe Bryant/ Lebron James mold, but preferably better than either is individually.
In sum - rustyshackleford - hit it on the head, truly. Our problem, if there is any, in recruiting has just been that we don't have 4 year type guys who can play minutes, and play them solidly. That has probably been the result of bad luck and some bad decisions. I liked what I saw out of Vee last night, great defense, and hopefully he gets a little more run. It did seem to allow chris to settle down a little bit.
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b52legend
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Posts: 453
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Post by b52legend on Feb 19, 2010 8:02:31 GMT -5
moral victories are for losers. this team is the absolute opposite of the hibbert, green, and wallace teams. more times than not, they collapse at the end of games. missed ft's, unforced TO's, bad shots, and not getting stops on defense. Did you watch the end of the game? We were 23 down in the second half and were a missed wide open Jason Clark 3 from being up 2 with 40 seconds left, and most likely going on to win the game. Clark missed that shot and we lost. Him missing that shot didn't have anything to do with us collapsing or whatever else you want to call it, it had to do with the ball not going through the hoop. We played like poop for about 25 minutes, but if you watched the last 12, we did nothing even close to collapsing. Our defense was outrageously good over the entire last 12 minutes of the game. Talk about an outcome driven analysis...sheesh.
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b52legend
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Post by b52legend on Feb 19, 2010 7:58:46 GMT -5
It was said in the game thread by someone else but Wright = Heart All game my friends and I watching the game commented on how you could just tell Wright wanted it soooo bad. He was so intense the entire game. I was proud of the kids at the end of the game. We fought through one of our worst shooting nights and some terrible refs to get it close.
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b52legend
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Post by b52legend on Feb 18, 2010 13:25:29 GMT -5
In being one of the poster's who spurred the discussion of Macklin and Rivers, it was all premised around "Coaching" as the thread's title would suggest, and how their transferring reflects, if at all on JT3's ability to retain players and/or recruit players who intend to stay all four years. Saying "good riddance", doesn't really do anything to add to the discussion. Clearly, with four transfers now in two years, this might be a problem which we as fans have a right to discuss, and I think it is best addressed by mentioning those players by name as opposed to "the unnamed transfers" or some symbol or something. As part of the discussion, it is certainly relevant to look at why they might have transferred and if their departure hurt this current years team in any way. No one is saying that Macklin and Rivers would be superstars, or even starters, but I think both could be contributing quality minutes off of the bench. Ultimately to be continuously successful we have to recruit guys who are able to play those type of roles. We simply have not recruited the type of players who come in and are content in being role players, absent PE Jr., or who are willing to ride the pine for two years and then really blossom as an upper classmen. There is no harm in discussing how all of this effects the team and whether or not it reflects poorly on the coach.
I personally love JT3 and think that, as you pointed out, there was really nothing that he could have done to remedy the decisions these players made to head elsewhere. I think what you are seeing as a result is a more targeted recruiting approach, with an eye towards building depth with some key role players, while at the same time recruiting a critical mass of star talent. Will Benimon or Vee transfer when they don't become starters, no, because they realize I think that if that opportunity ever presents itself it will be their senior year. Laying out a plan to have a full roster of scholarship players is very important, and I think there have been some lessons learned with all of the transfers.
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b52legend
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Post by b52legend on Feb 16, 2010 0:11:14 GMT -5
Part of the game-to-game inconsistency can be attributed to having no bench. Somebody mentioned ''no margin for error" the other day and I completely agree. In a perfect world, our McD All-Americans step up every game and give a consistent effort. Unfortunately, that's just not realistic with 18-21 year olds. Guys are going to pace themselves every now and then and not give 100% every night. There is no one on the bench to challenge most of our starters minutes. If the starters have an off night or get in foul trouble, we're in trouble. Those are two reasons why so many on this board think Vee and Sims should be given a few more looks every other game. Admittedly, the Sims experiment has produced disappointing results thus far. A third reason for it is to avoid additional transfers which would make this an ongoing topic/ problem again next year. I don't think minutes played has had much to do with our transfers. Macklin, Rivers, and Wattad all got minutes at GTown, with Rivers getting substantial minutes. Wattad clearly saw that he was not going to get minutes in the future, which may have driven his transfer, but as to Macklin and Rivers I am not sure what drove their moves. Rivers wanted to be a starter I suppose, which he was never going to be at Georgetown, and rightfully so. His transfer I have no problem with. If he wants to be a starter, what can JT3 do to keep him around? Pretty much nothing. Macklin may have had issues with what he perceived to be our offense, but he almost certainly would have played huge minutes last year and been starting or getting 20+ minutes a game this season. His transfer is more upsetting, because I feel like promises could have been made to Macklin by JT3 without them being explicit lies, as they would have been if made to Rivers.
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b52legend
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Post by b52legend on Feb 15, 2010 23:15:50 GMT -5
good points. Got the years mixed with the USF loss. That really was an interesting year, 2006. UF won as a 3 seed and we gave them their biggest scare as a 7. I honestly believe that in the tourney, we were one of the 4 best teams in the country at that point of the year. Still my favorite teams of recent memory because of those seniors and their redemption. I agree with the point, but let's be fair, the Final Four team was firing on all cylinders at this point of the season. And, that wasnt the team that lost to USF. The comparison for me is that we are a better version of the 2006 team in the same type of season. In other words, this is the type of year that a #3 seed (Florida) could win the whole thing, and instead of going in to the tourney as a #7 seed (as in 2006), I think we are more like a #3. Long story short, even though we arent as good as the Final Four team, I honestly dont think there are 8 teams better than us. Remember, there was a good Big East team that year (UConn), but they were taken down by Mason. I feel like this year is pretty wide open.
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b52legend
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Post by b52legend on Feb 15, 2010 23:07:45 GMT -5
Macklin and Rivers would be terrific role players -- except they thought they were far better than that and would not accept those roles. Ergo, this discussion is pointless. Macklin or Vaughan? No question. Vaughan hands down. Rebouding, D, presence inside, working the JT3 O smoothly with Greg, great attitude, great kid, team player. Not even close. Julian is our man. agreed. My point was that the players we lost would help this team immensly, but I can't sat we would have any different record right now with those guys on the squad. Maybe give or take 1 loss. As to Macklin v. Vaghan, clealry Vaughn. Vaughn has offensive moves, can dribble, and pass the ball well. I like Macklin and wish we had him, but I am not sure he can do any of these things.
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b52legend
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Post by b52legend on Feb 15, 2010 10:45:30 GMT -5
Lots of things being addressed in this discussion:
Development - Any criticism of JTIII's ability to develop players seems laughable. There are few coaches I have seen who can develop talent as well as JT3. This was apparent in his first two years with Bowman, Ashanti, and Cook's development. Next, PE Jr., Hibbert, and JWall all developed incredible. (Green was always a monster/predator). This season, I think you can see the steps forward that Austin, JV, and Clark have taken. Criticizing his ability to develop talent just doesn't make sense to me.
Recruiting - I think there is some valid criticism in this regard. He has recruited top talent, but has been unable to recruit/retain the type of depth we should have. If Rivers, Macklin, and Omar would all have stuck on campus, this would be a very deep and much more experienced squad. None of those three players would be difference makers, but there is no doubt in my mind that each would make contributions and likely receive minutes this season.
In Game Coaching - I think just like players, coaches have bad games as well. We have been on here many times this season saying that JT3 flat out coached the other team (Pitt, UConn, Duke, Nova) and other times saying he didn't make the proper adjustments. He is getting a lot of flak about not adjusting on the fly to adjust match-ups, but I think that is much easier said than done. The other team knows where they are weak at certain times and will compensate with rotations, double teams, etc. If you try to force an issue, then you are just as likely to take yourself out of running a good offense. That said, there were clearly times in the game when we should have used Monroe inside more, and he could have, probably should have, scored 30 points or had 5 more assists. He simply is a player that Rutgers can't stop, and I agree that it is frustrating to not see him being used when everyone in the arena knows he can't be stopped. Overall though, I think JT3 had done a good job in game coaching this season. Some games he has not been spot on, but in other games he has been a master tactician.
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b52legend
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Post by b52legend on Feb 15, 2010 10:33:39 GMT -5
The difference between this year and our Final Four year, was that the 2007 team was really starting to come into form after some early season poor play. However, even that team had an inexplicable road loss to USF, who was then the worst team in the Big East.
I agree with lic...clearly the sky is not falling, but it would be great to see this team keep the foot on the gas for every game. I just know that even if we lose some more games, we have a big ass engine that can make some noise in March.
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b52legend
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Post by b52legend on Feb 15, 2010 9:25:09 GMT -5
Really a tough loss last night, but I think we'll be ok.
The truth is, the Big East is brutal, and we can absorb up to 8 conference losses and still be decently ranked going into the NCAA tournament. Once we get to the tourney, this team has shown that when they get it rolling, we can beat anyone, so one loss does not overly concern me. As to if we can be consistent enough to make a run, that may be the most concerning part of the loss.
There are some very notable teams that finished Big East play with average league records. In 2007-2008 Pitt was 10-8 in conference and won the league tournament. West Virginia was 11-7 that year and had a great tournament and made the sweet 16. Villanova last year had 5 conference losses and made the Final Four. In 2005-2006 Georgetown had 6 conference losses and made the sweet sixteen, and should have beaten eventual champion Florida.
I don't mean to say there are not some worrisome things to come out of last nights game (and the USF home loss), but I think that this team has proven their potential on the court. The ultimate judge of this team's success will be its ability to make a run in the BE and NCAA tournament, and I am still optimistic that we can do both. Ultimately I would rather have a team like this one that is explosive enough to have a legitimate shot to win it all, as opposed to a team like Duke or West Virginia, who while I think both are good, have no realistic shot in my mind to win the tournament.
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b52legend
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Post by b52legend on Feb 14, 2010 17:43:26 GMT -5
Not watching the game...but Greg has another ridiculously loaded stat line. Lets hope it pays off with a W. Need to buckle down on D.
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b52legend
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Post by b52legend on Feb 11, 2010 8:02:57 GMT -5
Just look at Greg's game against Providence and think for a bit about how he projects in the NBA.....think.........yeah....Magic Johnson.
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b52legend
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Post by b52legend on Feb 11, 2010 7:56:13 GMT -5
As someone above mentioned, Julian's ability to finish around the rim is incredible. He, and perhaps Freeman, are our best guys around the rim in terms of being able to can the difficult 3 or 4 foot shot. The fast break move against Providence where he caught the ball at the free throw line, threw a fake drop step, and then wheeled back around for the layup was incredible. Incredible control and mobility for a big man. He has obviously put in work...and gotten coaching to make him a great player.
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b52legend
Bulldog (over 250 posts)
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Post by b52legend on Feb 9, 2010 22:13:13 GMT -5
Just notice the AP Recap has us as 8-5 in the Big East. Come on... how does crap like that get released. Also says Georgetown is the "worst" team Providence faces in the next two weeks as opposed to lowest ranked. Awful.
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b52legend
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Post by b52legend on Feb 9, 2010 21:09:39 GMT -5
STRONG win.
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b52legend
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Post by b52legend on Feb 9, 2010 20:57:42 GMT -5
Box score says 16 offensive rebounds for providence.
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b52legend
Bulldog (over 250 posts)
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Post by b52legend on Feb 9, 2010 20:55:17 GMT -5
Side Note - Providence has the worst looking mascot in the Big East.
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b52legend
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Post by b52legend on Feb 9, 2010 20:53:20 GMT -5
No doubt...Monroe has played like a monster this second half. Playing in total control on the offensive end.
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b52legend
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Post by b52legend on Feb 9, 2010 20:51:21 GMT -5
A couple of missed shots and it looks like Hollis is questioning himself.
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b52legend
Bulldog (over 250 posts)
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Post by b52legend on Feb 9, 2010 20:43:05 GMT -5
I hope this "guy" continues to think he is Scottie Reynolds circa 2007.
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