beenaround
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Post by beenaround on Mar 27, 2016 22:17:21 GMT -5
UNC fix is in. Notre Dame team with Zack Auguste on the roster will not be allowed to play tonight. Notre Dame cannot beat Syracuse. We reluctantly have to root for Syracuse. The 2 programs deserve each other. Call it the Slimyfinal? The scummyfinal? I would not root for Syracuse against ISIS
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beenaround
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by beenaround on Mar 26, 2016 23:34:08 GMT -5
This is dependent only on the players whom have eligibility to return actually end up returning.... 1)Stop with the No Moral Victory Parade. For the last half dozen or so years it seems as if the Hoyas meet a few highly ranked and well regarded teams early in the season only to come away with one victory or maybe none at all. The games are close though which makes it all the more frustrating. Two seasons ago it was against the likes of Wisconsin and Kansas. This season it was against the likes of Maryland and Duke. I understand it isn't fair for Gtown to win all of these contests every year, but if the program wants to set a tone and raise the level of expectations (including possibly their own), the Hoyas will need years in which they actually win most if not all of these games. Next season if Maryland comes in as depleted as it looks like they will the Hoyas need to BEAT them....even if Verizon has more Terp fans. If the Hoyas play in another pre-season tournament then they are OVERDUE to actually have the stones to win one of those @#$% things. The Hoyas should be able to match up against Kansas no matter if the game is played in DC or in Lawrence. The Hoyas by all means better beat a UConn team at home that they should have beaten on the road this past season. And the Hoyas better be ready to take care of business at Syracuse. If the Hoyas lose one of these games so be it. That is still very good. But t lose more than one suggests more of the same. 2)The Hoyas won't start in any preseason Top 25s but they need to win enough games early in to get in the Top 25 as soon as possible. And then...stay there for the remainder of the @#$% season. Enough of this nonsense. Even in Porter's last season the team started off horribly enough that it took forever to get into the Top 25. Going on a win streak for over a month of games cemented our place in that Top 25. I realize some like to spend each early part of the season on this board dismissing the notion of the worthiness of the Top 25 ("we don't need it", "I'd rather we sneak up on teams", "let us be seen as the underdogs"). Once I was seven guilty of that. But it is clear that one important way of staying relevant in this new Big East era in which the media (local included) goes out of its way to ignore you, is to put yourself in a position in which the media has no choice but to cover you. Being ranked would do that for the Hoyas and provide more press. But since, as I pointed out already, the Hoyas won’t start off in any preseason Top 25s, they must go out and win the BIG games that I discussed in the previous paragraph while also avoiding the season-killing losses to the midmajors that plagued them this season. 3)A top two finish in the Big East, with an all-out effort to finish number one. Yeah, I said it. Or wrote it. I understand who Villanova is likely to return as well as Xavier. I get the fact that there is always a possibility of Whitehead returning for Seton Hall. And if Marquette gets their big man to return for one more year they have the potential to be as good as anyone. And I don’t care. There was to much talent on this Gtown roster this year to be that bad and next year, depending on my condition of all guys returning there will still be too much talent and now even more experience for this team NOT to challenge for the BE crown. We would need to rebound next season like Seton Hall did this season but unlike SH the players on next year’s Gtown squad will at least have the benefit of having gone to the tourney two years prior. If you don’t think Peak has the talent to be a First Team All Big East you weren’t paying attention. If you don’t think Copeland has the potential to be up there as well as long as he puts in the work then you’re being overly negative. If you don’t think a healthy Paul White can contribute positively then you are sleeping on that kid. Not to mention that Derrickson was further along as a frosh than Jennings was as freshman for Villanova. And also that Govan, depending on if the Marquette guy returns, would be the most talented big man in the conference. Then there are guys like Mourning and Johnson that I think very highly of who I feel can take the next step as well as the potential of the Louisville transfer whose name escapes me at this moment. Point is the team has talent on its roster to beat anyone like it did at Xavier this year. If the team needs another ballhandler or two then so be it. Its III’s job to take care of that. And I expect him to do so. 4)Sweep Providence. Good grief. To be owned by the Friars (four straight losses, five out of the last six) is inexcusable. Two seasons ago the Hoyas should have won both games and let them get away. This past season the Hoyas were competitive but again lost both. Enough of this. The team and program is going anywhere if III allows his squad to keep being owned by programs like the Friars. You can make an argument that in the three years of the BE-Fox era the three top programs have been Nova, Xavier and Providence. And the Hoyas have been dominated by all three. That must change. And that change should occur first at least with a Dunn-less Friars. But if the guys from Rhode Island sweep us again then III shouldn’t even get another year. 5)Make it to the @#$% championship of the Big East Tournament. Last time I checked Syracuse, UConn, Louisville, Pitt and even freakin’ Notre dame are not in the Big East anymore. That means the path to a championship game played on a Saturday night at MSG is a much easier one than previously. FOX/FS1 has been nice enough to give Gtown the opportunity of at least ten years of appearing in such a game and so fat the Hoyas have squandered three of those years. III was talking crap a few years ago when he told the media that the New Big East should be called the Georgetown conference considering how Gtown was leading the way and dictating terms to Fox. It rubbed some non Gtown fans the wrong way and even caught the negative attention of some media guys like Feinstein. And three years later our coach looks like a fool. It is time for him to earn his paycheck and live up to his own big expectations. We need to be playing on national TV at MSG next season in the championship game for the BE. Period. It’s a good tool for recruiting and it proves we are actually serious about a NCAA tourney run. 6)If the team is assured of an NCAA bid (sorry….WHEN the team is assured) please no more large celebration gathering of everyone on campus around the TV screens for the media to cover and the world to see. If III wants to be serious and change his fortunes, then he should consider changing his script and have a more private gathering with his team. He keeps wanting to put together this big party as if the main goal has been achieved. Isn’t he sick of that by now? Does he at least believe in bad luck by this point? 7)Last of all….make it to the second weekend of the NCAA tourney, particularly if the team ends up with a 4 seed or better. No excuses. Get it done. Sweet Sixteen or bust. I predict MCIGuy will be very unhappy next basketball season.
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beenaround
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Post by beenaround on Mar 26, 2016 15:05:27 GMT -5
Hey things could be worse. Read today's Wapo sports page. The twerps win 20+ games, go to the sweet 16 and are basically considered failures by their fans and D.C. sportswriters. Of course having all 5 starters possibly going to the NBA could raise expectations but still... I hope we never reach a point in our program where we would be so disappointed with such a season. It would be nice however to have a team with 5 NBA prospects... I don't know - being disappointed by "only" going to the Sweet Sixteen might be a nice feeling for a change! Frazier...agree with ya completely. We haven't been winning any recruiting battles with the Twerps lately either, have we?
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beenaround
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Post by beenaround on Mar 25, 2016 8:50:01 GMT -5
This is why I don't understand people pulling for Nova. I get the Big East needs to look good in the postseason, but when they have a more appealing style of play for guard recruits AND have post season success, we have exactly zero chance of winning any recruiting war with them. That would seem to affect much more than the public perception of the Big East (which does us no good anyways if we continue to flounder). I don't think the answer to "Villanova is going to beat us for recruits because they have a much more appealing style of play and are a more successful team" is to root hard against them--we need to find a way to make ourselves more appealing if thats the concern. I still think the biggest threat to our program right now is that our conference gets labelled as a "mid major", because if that happens it'll be hard for us to EVER recruit at a high level again. JT3 and staff are struggling right now, but as long as we're in a high major league and it says Georgetown across our jerseys, we'll get the recruiting and on-court stuff straightened out eventually, whether it's with JT3 or a different coach. Jay Wright outrecruiting JT3 is a short-term concern and a surmountable obstacle. The Big East getting the dreaded "mid-major" label is something that will do irreparable damage to our program and our ability to recruit forever. I think a team in our league doing well is great, and if that means that their recruiting gets a boost including in our traditional recruiting ground, that just means we need to work even harder to find talent that they overlooked or players outside the area or whatever it takes to unseat them. As a reminder, a few years back, right around the time we were winning the Big East and getting a 2 seed, Villanova was scouting and hitting the trail and they landed guys like Josh Hart and Kris Jennings who we passed on, and those guys are now key to their success. Who is to say that we couldn't do the same thing to them right now? Just because they're winning right now doesn't mean we can't get better players than them and turn the tables in the future. As far as Jenkins, it wouldn't be accurate to say he'd be "the savior" for us, but I don't think anyone has said that. But the guy is playing great right now and we could certainly use a player of his caliber on our team. Not bad for a guy who was panned for being "a fat tweener" by some around here, and basically overlooked by most of our fans (and our staff). Sometimes I think we overthink these things, trying to target players with a certain body type or who meet certain height minimums that conform to our preconceived notions of what a certain position should look like. Or even trying to recruit a certain skill set, maybe a skill set that our current team is lacking (which is a short-term type of thinking). In the end, just get guys who can play. Jenkins can play. So can Josh Hart. Good college players come in all sorts of different packages--there are great guards that are 6'4 who can jump through the roof and there are great guards who are 5'10 and stocky. There are great big guys who are 6'11 and jump like theyre on pogo sticks and great big guys who are 6'7 and thick. There's not a single recipe for putting together a great team. Just find guys who can play and adjust your strategy to take advantage of their strengths. Pragmatism. Agree on all points, especially on Nova doing well. The new Big East has to do well in the Dance and put players in the NBA. If not...the good players will not want to play here, and the tv money will eventually dry up. Sadly..at ;east at this point, we gotta root for the conference.
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beenaround
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Post by beenaround on Mar 22, 2016 21:51:50 GMT -5
You guys know this stuff way better than I. The more places he visits after leaving town...the less likely we get him?
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beenaround
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Post by beenaround on Mar 21, 2016 15:03:35 GMT -5
This is what I was thinking. I know we had awesomely-talented rosters throughout the 80's, but I didn't think the rosters were loaded with 5-star burger players. Our rosters were loaded. Not all five star players were McD's kids. We had a bunch of Parade All Americans not listed above. And Othella was pretty much tied with Jason Kidd as top HS kid in his class. So that was 1992, though I thought it was 1991. And he was MVP of the McD's game. We consistently landed huge recruits going up against blue bloods. It's a fact. I agree that we should return our emphasis to the best local kids available. Maybe we're doing that now and just missing, I don't know. But that's how the program was built, and it's the best way to rebuild it (though it was much easier done back then. JT3 has his work cut out for him). I am pretty sure Dwayne Bryant was a MCDAA and considered the top HS pg in the nation during this time period. Anthony Perry maybe a few years later, as well.
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beenaround
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Post by beenaround on Mar 21, 2016 12:36:17 GMT -5
I'm a Wiz season ticket holder (god help me) in addition to, of course a big Otto fan. I agree with you guys that he has improved every year, from frosh at GU to this season with the Wiz. However, he still has to take another step forward in his game, to hit the big money, when his rookie contract ends after next year. His handle needs to continue to improve along with his strength. Most important,however is his habit of becoming invisible for long stretches of games (on the offensive end, only.) Some of it is Wall not looking for him..but sometimes he literally just does not want the ball. Right now he is a 12 ppg, 5 reb and 1.5 steals guy..which is very valuable to plenty of NBA teams....but he has a ways to go before he is even borderline All-Star, as discussed above. The good news is that if anyone can take that next big step, it is Otto.
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beenaround
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by beenaround on Mar 20, 2016 15:25:12 GMT -5
BTW...Welcome to the Hilltop, Denzell. I'm sure we all truly wish you great success in athletics and education. We're just quite a bit frustrated after one of the worst year's in team history.
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beenaround
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Post by beenaround on Mar 20, 2016 15:18:31 GMT -5
On the bright side, He will definitely be too old for NBA GM's to draft..so we don't have to worry about him leaving school early.
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beenaround
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Post by beenaround on Mar 19, 2016 21:27:53 GMT -5
Hank finished 10 pts and 8 rebounds in 20 minutes!
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beenaround
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Post by beenaround on Mar 18, 2016 15:34:17 GMT -5
So will Maryland lose to South Dakota State in about 20 minutes or to Hawaii on Sunday?? And which defeat will be more crushing for them? With the way their season has gone(starting out with their highest ranking since the back-to-back Final 4's/National Championship Years in 2001/2002 and being ranked in the top 5 for the first half of the season to ending up as a 5 seed)they are going to lose one of these games, and Turgeon goes back on the hot seat. Please be right.
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beenaround
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Post by beenaround on Mar 18, 2016 15:21:07 GMT -5
So Cal has lost to a 13 seed. This does not help me with the many Twerp fans in my neighborhood, and makes their path to the Sweet 16 pretty dam easy.
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beenaround
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Post by beenaround on Mar 18, 2016 15:03:17 GMT -5
The "bull in a china shop" who could not pass once his mind was made up that he was going to penetrate and put the ball up? Well, he is in the top 15 all freaking time in Georgetown history in assists per game played. And I believe he is in the top 10 in assists to turnovers. Those are the sorts of things you look for in a point guard, no? Again, he wasn't perfect. He did make his mind up to shoot a bunch. But he WAS a pure point guard. And was recruited to be one. I'm not sure there can be any reasonable dispute on this point. I mean, do you really think JTIII sees a guy that can beat his man off the dribble, score with both hands, and pass and says "Nope. Can't help us at Georgetown" I think the issue is not necessarily that III doesn't want the highly rated PG's who can create. It is that they do not want to come to Gtown, because of the philosophy, real or imagined, that the offense is run by many people, including the big guys (which helps recruit some big guys, btw.) I would be shocked if that did not turn away point guards, just as we feel the Big Man U rep brings in good big guys who can also pass. Obviously, C Wright was a MCD AA Point guard and a great get by III. Markel was definitely a PG, with a great handle and shot. But he was not really a creator, at least in terms of breaking down the defense and finding open teammates. He could, of course create his own shot. Market was ranked around 75-80 by most services and should count as a solid pg recruit by III, in my opinion. As a matter of interest, I have a friend on the coaching staff of the Wizards. I recall they had Markel in for a workout, pre-draft. He told me that "Markel is a great kid with a lot of talent. Unfortunately, we are looking for a backup PG and Georgetown runs an offense that does not really utilize a real point guard. He probably could not fill that role for us" Now..you guys can debate the truth of that statement...but that is the perception of a pretty sharp basketball guy, who may just know a bit more about the game than most of us.
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beenaround
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Post by beenaround on Mar 16, 2016 14:43:04 GMT -5
I absolutely felt Mourning did not get enough PT this year. Agree he plays smart and with intensity...not sure how many of the "more talented" guys on the team played with more smarts or more intensity. He should play more, period.
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beenaround
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Post by beenaround on Mar 15, 2016 21:52:45 GMT -5
Brooklyn reportedly signing Henry to a 10 day. Great news; GO HENRY!!! YES!!. Best news on HT for quite awhile.
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beenaround
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LJ
Mar 15, 2016 13:48:29 GMT -5
Post by beenaround on Mar 15, 2016 13:48:29 GMT -5
I was kind of a skeptic of LJ until midway through the season. He reminded me a lot of Trawick in that he was clearly a good player, but he didn't seem to have a Plan B when his driving game was cut off or he had to finish in traffic. But he showed in the second half that he has a lot more in his bag of tricks than I realized, and his shooting is far ahead of where Jabril's was at this point in his career. He needs to cut down on the handcheck fouls so he can stay on the floor for 30+ minutes a game, but he had the look of a potential all league player next year IMO. Well said. I was not sold on him either coming in to the year. He was really outstanding, especially after becoming the sixth man and staying out of foul trouble. Great move by III, by the way. By the end of year, against some strong opposition, he became very adept at finishing around the hoop, as opposed to bulling his way in. Also hit his free throws and outside shots. If he improves this much next year,he may play in the league.
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beenaround
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Post by beenaround on Mar 13, 2016 17:29:06 GMT -5
I am really rooting for South Dakota State.
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beenaround
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Post by beenaround on Mar 12, 2016 21:40:35 GMT -5
Great to hear all of these reviews from you guys who have seen Jagen play. I have, admittedly, been a bit unenthusiastic, strictly based on his low rankings. Seems like the consensus on HT is the guy will be a good , all around talent, including defensively.
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beenaround
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Post by beenaround on Mar 12, 2016 17:58:54 GMT -5
do you have some sort of insider information or is this just speculation? I hate the offseason. hm Can't be worse than the season was!
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beenaround
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Post by beenaround on Mar 11, 2016 18:35:45 GMT -5
Might be wrong space, but we basically are getting three new players next year in Jagan, Agau and White. I also think/hope there is some addition by subtraction with DSR. Through no fault of his own, I think a lot of guys deferred to him too much. Ike did it all season and LJ stopped doing it and really exploded. Another year of coaching as a group and hopeful improved team execution on D could go a long way. This is quite true. However, that is assuming both guys return at full strength after serious injuries. It is also hoping both guys improve a lot,especially Agau. Finally it is not reasonable to assume there will be no injuries NEXT year, as well. In my opinion, this year's team was lucky in that only one starter missed time, namely Hayes missing the last 5 or 6 games.
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