b52legend
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Post by b52legend on Dec 4, 2022 0:09:03 GMT -5
Gtown alum from about 20 years ago. Despite Esh for 3 years, I went to probably 60 games as a student. Then had season tickets for many years until moved away from area. Lived and died with the Hoyas. I watched every game through Ewing’s third year. Right now I have no idea when or who we are playing. I have lost all interest. It’s sad. Unbelievable they didn’t make a change last year. That’s the state of the program.
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b52legend
Bulldog (over 250 posts)
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Post by b52legend on Nov 9, 2022 13:14:37 GMT -5
Is there any reason to think we will have anything close to an average defense this year? After the game last night, and what I have seen the last 5 years, I’m not seeing it. We have the length and athletes to be good, I just don’t trust this staff to coach good defense. Without that, I sadly don’t think we will be competitive this year. It will be Ewing’s last.
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b52legend
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Post by b52legend on Nov 8, 2022 22:48:00 GMT -5
Is anyone surprised? We were 0-20 in the Big East last year and haven’t played solid D in the last 5 years. 83 points by Coppin St.
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b52legend
Bulldog (over 250 posts)
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Post by b52legend on Apr 13, 2022 12:15:07 GMT -5
Murray is the real deal and was probably the best player in the portal.A late bloomer who was always overshadowed at Poly by Justin Lewis- who is currently head and shoulders (IMHO) the best player in the BE (if he stays). Murray is a more than adequate replacement for Aminu. Now how about some Bigs? I like Murray and he was a big get, but let’s pump the breaks - he arguably wasn’t the best guy in the portal from his own team. If you had said top 20 I would be with you. He will need to show more than he did last year to be a legitimate lead man in the Big East. Maybe he can make that leap, but far from a sure thing.
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b52legend
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Post by b52legend on Apr 6, 2022 14:42:40 GMT -5
I am one of the most "rose colored glasses" fans there is. I have gone into every season since probably 2004 with irrational levels of hope and expectations. This is the first where I will expect us to be terrible and we likely will be. What is there to be hopeful about?
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b52legend
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Post by b52legend on Apr 4, 2022 12:27:23 GMT -5
Hindsight is 20/20 but knowing what we now do, I a believe we would have been better off not firing JT3. I say that having been supportive of his dismissal. He is the 3rd best coach in Georgetown history (IMHO) after his father and Elmer Ripley (Ripley took the Hoyas to championship game in 1943 and had a 623 winning percentage over 9 seasons). Ewing btw has the 3rd worst winning percentage among Hoya coaches, although he is 1 of 5 coaches to take a GU team to the NCAA tournament (and 1 of 6 to take his team to NIT or NCAA tourney) Let me say I had hoped the Ewing tenure have turned out much better. As a classmate of his, it breaks my heart that this has gone so badly. And while I would have supported him being replaced, he deserves our utmost respect and thanks. I would say firing JT3 was the right call, but hiring Ewing was a bad call. Yes, JT3 > Ewing. I agree with this assessment. My point was generally that Ewing has had five years, and we are worse in every respect than when he took over. Maybe our sticking with Ewing despite the fact that every other program in the country would have fired him and the ridiculous extension we gave him last year will help us attract a top coach when the inevitable parting of ways occurs. The new coach will know they have the longest leash in college basketball.
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b52legend
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Post by b52legend on Apr 4, 2022 11:11:33 GMT -5
It official for me - college basketball has lost it's luster. I have gravitated to rugby, lacrosse and soccer. Even Lebron has become a band wagoner by saying he would have played for UNC or Duke. Even the pros is becoming boring to me. I did see some three on three basketball that was a little exciting - $10 k for the team seemed a little to small unless it was for each player. I actually think that the college basketball product is becoming better. There is less blue blood dominance than perhaps at any point in recent history. Last year's final four had one blue blood (UCLA) along with Houston, Gonzaga and Butler. This years final four notwithstanding, there were lots of very good mid-major programs this year and teams that are not traditional blue bloods (Auburn, Purdue, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Texas, etc.). For me, the major improvement has been NIL allowing kids who are marginal pro prospects to stay in school instead of going to Europe or the G league. There are still, and will continue to be, plenty of one and done players, but NIL will provide some way for colleges to compete. If Georgetown wasn't a heaping pile right now, then I think we would all fee much different about the state of college basketball. Lastly, I think an easy analysis is to ask if there is one way in which the program is better off right now than on the day JT3 was fired. Talent, player development, coaching, fan support...all worse in my opinion.
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b52legend
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Post by b52legend on Mar 31, 2022 7:53:15 GMT -5
Just thought I would chime in to offer some hope (not for next year, but maybe for the not too distant future).
I'm a Hoya alum and huge Hoya fan, but I also follow the Arkansas Razorbacks. The team hadn't been really relevant since the mid-90s. They hired Mike Anderson in 2011, a former assistant under Nolan, in an effort to bring back the "glory days" (sound familiar?). After 8 years, Mike had made 3 NCCA tournaments, but wasn't able to take the next step and it was clear the program was not trending in the right direction. The Athletic Director made the tough decision to fire Anderson (after an 18-16 year, 8-10 in the SEC) and hire Eric Musselman, a complete outsider with no ties to the program. Three years later, Arkansas has made back to back Elite 8s and has the #2 ranked recruiting class in the country for next year.
What is the point of this story? Things can turn around fast, but they don't turn around through incremental change and band aids. Sometimes you have to sever ties with the past to move forward. We seem destined to have to live in the morass for at least one more season, but success can come quickly thereafter. Someone just has to be willing to step up and make a change that matters....
Edit: For added context, Eric Musselman makes only slightly more than Patrick Ewing. Don't tell me we couldn't get a good coach.
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b52legend
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Post by b52legend on Mar 24, 2022 12:25:25 GMT -5
This is basically the model we should follow. You get veteran players who have a man's body. They can't transfer freely anymore and you can assemble success quickly (add TCU and San Deigo State as teams that manhandled us in OCC) It's a receipt for success under the current rules. 49% Houston 46% Miami 36% Prov 31% Texas Tech 30% Iowa St 26% Arkansas I completely agree that the Hoyas need to take this approach. Once success starts to occur, then it can be supplemented with high level high school recruiting. Arkansas has the #2 recruiting class in the country next year, so their reliance on transfers has not been to the exclusion of recruiting high school players at a high level. In fact, it has accelerated it as the high school players are able to see that they can be successful under that particular coach and at that particular program.
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b52legend
Bulldog (over 250 posts)
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Post by b52legend on Mar 23, 2022 15:16:35 GMT -5
I chuckle every time I see “program” in the name of this thread. It’s tough to call what we have now a “program”. There is no realistic long term aim or any meaningful structure other than chaos and trying to survive and cash some more checks.
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b52legend
Bulldog (over 250 posts)
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Post by b52legend on Mar 10, 2022 14:23:28 GMT -5
I guess our only hope is the creation of a Coach Emeritus position for Ewing where he still has a role but accepts that he / the team need a whole reset with hands on coaching / asst coaching staff to handle game decisions and Xs / Os. It would be beyond ridiculous for him to have a “Coach Emeritus” position. Just another way to keep someone on the payroll I guess.
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b52legend
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Post by b52legend on Mar 9, 2022 16:54:04 GMT -5
That article is garbage.
Ewing still needs to be fired an there needs to be a house cleaning.
To be clear, pretty much all Hoya fans love Ryan and strongly support the players who continue to suit up and play ball. I think we will continue to do so regardless of who the coach is. Those kids deserve to be a part of the GTown community and supported by it.
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b52legend
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Post by b52legend on Mar 9, 2022 9:32:59 GMT -5
There is no reason to think this current group of coaches and players will ever have any success. You just don’t turn around 0-20, and Ewing has no track record of developing or holding on to talent. This is part of the problem right now - there is no reasonable glimmer of hope for fans to hold on to.
A new coach of course changes that equation. Instant hope. Instant excitement. Better days ahead…. It has never been easier to quickly turn around a college program because of the new transfer rules. If we got a good coach, I think .500 in conference next year would not be an unreasonable hope. Currently, anything more than a few wins is likely not realistic.
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b52legend
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Post by b52legend on Mar 8, 2022 10:38:38 GMT -5
The more I think about it, the more this extension is appalling (which is tough because it was initially outrageous). I know we are not a public university, and not obligated to disclose such arrangements, but the fact that it was kept out of public view, with no announcement, makes it feel akin to embezzlement. Unless there is transparency with the donor community, how can they expect people to continue to give. Folks deserve to know what their money is being spent on (and how it is being wasted). Hopefully, this is a lesson learned and gets fixed it the future. Doubtful.
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b52legend
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Post by b52legend on Mar 8, 2022 9:05:58 GMT -5
Ewing should agree to a buyout - say $10 million - and then donate the funds to GU to endow a scholarship for underprivileged youth. He would save his legacy in more ways than one and the University wouldn’t actively be lighting money on fire. A win win if ever there was one. Count me as someone who is a little uncomfortable that the default position for a fair amount of our fanbase is “the most successful person in the history of our program should give back money in a legally negotiated contract because the Georgetown administration is incompetent.” PE’s coaching record was what it was (the worst BE record for Georgetown, below average APR, an inability to keep players in the program) at the time the extension was negotiated. If the President/AD were negotiating with nostalgia goggles turned all the way up, that’s not PE’s fault, and it shouldn’t be on him to bail out the university. I don’t know why it would make you feel uncomfortable. Ewing can do whatever he wants. But fans will be well within their right to turn on him if he is cashing $4 million checks while leading the program towards irrelevance. And to be clear - I’m not placing all blame on Ewing (or any blame for taking the extension). That clearly is on the University and makes me wonder what the hell they are spending the rest of their budget on.
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b52legend
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Post by b52legend on Mar 8, 2022 7:39:21 GMT -5
Ewing should agree to a buyout - say $10 million - and then donate the funds to GU to endow a scholarship for underprivileged youth. He would save his legacy in more ways than one and the University wouldn’t actively be lighting money on fire. A win win if ever there was one.
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b52legend
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Post by b52legend on Mar 4, 2022 15:49:55 GMT -5
It seems that the only thing spinning out of control is your ongoing negative narrative...I hope he returns with the opportunity to "right the ship" and at a minimum get the program headed back in the right direction, with the caveat that he return the core of this year's team (I'm not going to name names) and that he add at a minimum one immediate impact power forward type with size that plays both ends of the floor...if those things happen I think we can be a competitive team next year...I'd also like to see a staff addition that is relatively young who is well schooled in the fundamentals and is an outstanding recruiter, especially locally...my pov Honest question - is there any precedent in major college coaching for having a season like this 4+ years into a coaching tenure and then being able to “right the ship”?
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b52legend
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Post by b52legend on Mar 4, 2022 15:25:36 GMT -5
If one combines this with Reed’s commitment statement, I don’t see a loophole for “stepping down.” Perhaps that’s naïveté, but, when both parties speak, the picture seems clear. Things are spinning out of Patrick's, Ronny's and Falk's control... One can only hope.
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b52legend
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Post by b52legend on Mar 4, 2022 14:12:06 GMT -5
I have been trying to sort through what the hell is going on with this dumpster fire. There is only one explanation that would made any sense, so I’ll hold out hope for the following:
- Ewing decided he needed to step down, but didn’t want it to be in the face of an eminent firing. Instead, he wants it to be “on his terms”.
- AD puts out statement of support, on understanding that Ewing will be stepping down at the end of the season.
- Season ends and Ewing resigns. Says he appreciates support of the school, etc., etc., but thinks it is best for the University if he steps aside. He saves face in that he isn’t canned and it doesn’t look like he was forced out.
Plausible?
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b52legend
Bulldog (over 250 posts)
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Post by b52legend on Mar 2, 2022 14:22:36 GMT -5
As I posted previously, it is inconceivable to me that at this point in Ewing’s coaching tenure he has a buyout that would prevent him from being fired. If after last year he got an extension or an increased buyout, that has to be laid at the feet of the AD. We had a losing season. There are no other realistic coaching options for Ewing. Why lock him up and lock us in?
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