mdtd
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Post by mdtd on Mar 12, 2021 13:13:21 GMT -5
I do not understand the reasoning behind Ewing using him today (versus Sibley, for example) after he largely rode the bench all year, and I liked what I saw on offense a few games ago in garbage time, but he was solid in the second half tonight, which is what he needed. It may just be a matter of game jitters, but to me he seemed more unsure on defense than offense. He was a better option yesterday than Tim. Tim was getting beat in every way and Malcolm wouldn't have been able to stick JRE either. Holloway wasn't great yesterday, but he was solid as you said and he gave us pretty good minutes. I don't think we see him much today, but he was our best non-Q matchup for JRE.
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mdtd
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by mdtd on Mar 11, 2021 14:29:08 GMT -5
Nobody better say a bad word about Dante Harris
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mdtd
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by mdtd on Mar 10, 2021 19:50:48 GMT -5
Mark Schmidt is an excellent coach and an even better talent developer. Osunniyi is an elite defender and he is a very tough player to score on. He's been a very good college player. Very good.
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mdtd
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by mdtd on Mar 10, 2021 17:56:20 GMT -5
Winning these games feels so much better. I forgot what it felt like. What a W.
The defense was stellar. You weren't getting inside and scoring easy buckets. Dante was very good on Carton. Carton has so much talent and we turned him over 8 times. That's as good as it gets. They had nothing going inside and our guys closed out on their shooters effectively. What a game defensively. That's as good as it gets. Can't be overstated. Blair was active defensively, Dante was an absolute pest to Carton, Bile was everywhere and you weren't scoring over Q or Tim. Just awesome on that end.
The offense wasn't great. It was much better with Blair in and I thought Carey made a couple big plays on that end. But that's really it. Pickett, Bile, and Dante were bad offensively and our first shot offense was just bad. All we made were Blair floaters and buckets off of the offensive glass. But man, we were relentless on the offensive glass. Hustle plays won this game. Activity on defense, killing them on the glass, winning the battle to loose balls, etc. our guys did it all today.
When you can win a game comfortably with an off day from Bile, Pickett, and Dante you are sitting pretty. LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
Keep it rolling. Go Hoyas. Beat Nova.
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mdtd
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by mdtd on Mar 10, 2021 17:42:47 GMT -5
Didn't think he played well, but then I look at the boxscore and he had 6 boards and 5 steals. Carton was the best player on the floor for Marquette and while he shot the ball efficiently we turned him over 8 times. Literally proof that if you play hard you can make things happen that contribute to team success. He can force 8 more TOs tomorrow too. If he's playing 94 feet of defense on Nova's ballhandlers, he can easily force those 8 TO's.
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mdtd
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by mdtd on Mar 10, 2021 13:15:31 GMT -5
You can firmly put me in the "people are forgetting how good Otto was" group
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mdtd
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by mdtd on Mar 10, 2021 13:10:59 GMT -5
I dont know if this is a misprint, but my goodness some bookmakers are far more bullish on the Hoyas chances to make a run then I am. I hope they're right! It's just a misprint. Our actually odds from them according to the article are "Georgetown (+6000)" which is pretty good value if you think we can win this game.
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mdtd
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by mdtd on Mar 7, 2021 13:37:51 GMT -5
Marquette is a talented team for sure, but I think this offers a good test for us.
They defend inside well, but they don't just about everywhere else. They have a very good PG in Carton and Garcia is an excellent prospect at the four, but the rest of their guys aren't special. McEwen has been very inconsistent and Greg Elliot isn't much more than an alright spot-up shooter. I think our vets are going to have to play strong and crash the glass well. Harris and Blair showing up can really help us take this one. Our backcourt is the key to winning this one. We can score with them. Just have to hit shots.
And I think we can take them. They're very beatable.
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mdtd
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by mdtd on Mar 7, 2021 13:33:04 GMT -5
Yeah, this post says it all. This game was all garbage time so stats don't say nearly as much. But Bouknight having 11 points in the first seven minutes (we were down 10 at this point and it felt like more) and us getting killed on the glass shows that Dante is probably the better matchup, just with this team. Next year, we will have much better matchups for guys like Bouknight. Bouknight was also incredibly efficient with 21 on 8/12 from the field vs 20 on 8/17 shooting last game. Dante matches up better, but that also wasn't changing this game. They killed us. They shot it well (a lot of open shots though) and we didn't start hitting shots until garbage time. It was a never in doubt loss for us. Hopefully this motivates our guys to come out stronger in the next one. This team is a terrible matchup for us and I hope that we can avoid them for as long as possible. There isn't much else to say. Nobody played well. The bright spot of this game was Holloway. Clark looked incredibly rusty and as did all the seniors. Blair turned it on in garbage time, but he also wasn't good in the first half. Him and Carey were burnt bad defensively consistently. And Pickett just got Bouknighted. Pickett is probably a better matchup for guys playing the 3-5 and Dante is better against the 1-2 positions. And yeah, against this team you will give up transition buckets. A unit that has Bouknight, Jackson and Martin is probably the most athletic unit in college hoops period. My main takeaway from this one is that the defensive minded assistant is still needed next year. The success defensively was good, but not enough to give me confidence for us on that end. It's improved, but I'm not sure it's enough. No coaching adjustment was changing that result, but I still think that the scheme needs to be better next year. This is our best defensive scheme, but I'm not sure it's good enough. I think Boknight might be gone after this year. Especially if UCONN makes a deep run in the NCAA tournament. Well yeah that's why I said guys like Bouknight. Like elite players at the 2/3 positions. I think he's a top 10 pick and he should leave. But out of curiosity, I don't think I've seen you spell an opposing player's name right all season. Why is this? Is it like your thing or just unintentional or what? I'm more curious than anything else.
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mdtd
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by mdtd on Mar 7, 2021 13:27:28 GMT -5
Dante missing all freshman team for Colby Jones and Adama Sanogo is an awful decision
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mdtd
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Post by mdtd on Mar 7, 2021 13:20:09 GMT -5
I would go: 1) Nova 2) Uconn 3) Creighton 4) Seton Hall 5) Marquette 6) St john's 7) Xavier 8) Providence 9) Georgetown 10) Butler 11) Depaul Tier 1: Nova clearly has the most guys. UConn has nice talent and depth plus a lotto pick. Creighton pretty much solid across the board, similar to UConn, but Zeg isn't Bouk. Tier 2: Seton Hall is the most talented in this group but Bryce not being Bryce hurts. They have really solid starting 5 and Samuels has played well this year. Marquette has some studs. Outside shooting has been a major issue but 2 top 50 kids and a solid Senior core says they should be better. St John's has arguably the best player/scorer in the league and the best Frosh. Supporting cast is solid (similar to Xavier) with many guys who are capable of getting hot and making plays but somewhat inconsistent. Xavier all league guard and big. Supporting staff is solid and you can argue with Johnson they have more talent than St John's but 3 point shooting is worse so I go edge Johnnies. Providence all league guard and big, similar to X, but supporting staff isn't as good. Tier 3: Georgetown is probably the best in this group. They have some nice guys, descent balance, but no all league performers. Butler's makeup is similar to Georgetown, balanced, but lacking in standout players. DePaul is DePaul. What do you guys think? Love this idea. I'd go: 1) Nova 2) Creighton 3) UConn (I think these two can go in either order, but I like Creighton's 2-5 better than UConn's) 4) Seton Hall 5) Xavier 6) Marquette (these last two can also be swapped) 7) DePaul (ok... let me explain down below) 8) Johnnies (Great top 2 in Posh and Champagnie and I like Dunn a lot, but the rest I'm not sold on like at all) 9) Providence 10) Hoyas 11) Butler (I'm not counting Scooby Johnson, but if I did they'd be a lot higher. That kid is gonna be a star) I think that DePaul team has NCAA tournament level talent. Solely talent, nothing else. Charlie Moore is an elite guard, I think Freeman-Liberty is awesome, I think Weems has NBA potential (if he was anywhere else), I think Salnave and McCauley are very good like 4/5 options, and I think David Jones is a borderline top 100 kid. Also, Pauly Paulicap has a great name is is a quality inside grad transfer. I just think they fit really poorly together as they don't have shooters and Leitao is an absolutely atrocious coach who needs to go. I think the Hoyas are pretty solidly at this mark. No elite guy, but some solid pieces.
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mdtd
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by mdtd on Mar 7, 2021 12:49:32 GMT -5
I always like posting the next day so don't get caught up in the moment and can kinda think more big picture about the game. That's definitely helpful after a frustrating performance like yesterday. There won't be nearly as many stats in this post because the stats look kinda meaningless with the entire 2nd half being garbage time - Lets get the obvious out of the way. No coaching decisions are changing the outcome of that game.
- Lets get the next obvious thing out of the way. This team can't reach its full potential (whatever that is) if Blair and Ewing aren't on the same page. They're still not, we'll never know what happened but it's disappointing to watch a senior finish his career this way.
- I warned against putting Pickett on Bouknight, and it kinda played out how I expected. There was no guarantee Pickett could do as good a job as Dante did (he didn't) and it all but guaranteed we'd continue to get abused on the boards. On the other hand, once you decide to start Carey over Blair, I get the logic. Carey basically had to be on Martin, so that forces Dante onto Cole and Pickett on Bouknight. Pickett is an improved defender, but it's never been guarding perimeter threats who run him through pnr and off ball screens. He got beat off the dribble early, so then went underneath too many screens and got beat from deep. I would've put Carey on Cole and lived with it but there's no guarantee that works any better. Needed Blair to have best chance and it didn't happen
- Does that one game undo 9 positive defensive performances? No, but I do think it makes you wonder if some of our defense has simply been fueled by playing a lot of our games in McDonough with teams not being able to shoot 3s well there. That's reductive and unfair to the legitimate strides we've seen but after getting lit up away from home, it has to be on the table. That was also the first time in a while we simply got beat in transition, which had been a problem the past few years but not one we'd seen this year.
- Ewing went back to his "selfish players" argument, but I personally didn't see that. I didn't see guys jacking up forced jumpers 5 seconds into the shot clock or going 1 on 3. I saw guys trying to run an offense where the first pass was taken away, and players who simply didn't have the ability to threaten the defense enough to let them take it off the dribble. Dante is quick enough, but UConn went under a lot. Carey can be blitzed. Blair is the only one with a chance and I'm not going to pretend he's a pick and roll maestro. They didn't try my short roll idea, UConn might've ended up just switching it. So we were left throwing it into Q on Sanogo which was never going to work.
- And I just hate the selfish players trope when we lose, but Ewing's the chef cooking up the gumbo when we win. It's the least of our problems but does feel like it's unfair to our players. He surely compliments them when we win but also makes sure people give him his due.
- Objectively, this does ultimately lead to a better BE draw. You can debate whether we would've rather played Marquette or Butler, the gut reaction is Butler just because we actually beat them but I don't know if it matters. Getting to potentially play Nova and avoid Creighton / UConn until finals is clearly the best outcome. None of that matters if you can't win on Wednesday
- Big picture, it's worth remembering our 4 cancelled games are against the BE teams that finished: 11th, 9th, 7th, 6th. All other teams playing Wednesday and we got the top 3 at full health. Any sort of strength of schedule weighted standings would've had our regular season performance closer to 5th or 6th best is my guess
Being in the 8/9 game is frustrating but hopefully this wakes them up and we see their best effort on Wednesday. Hoya Saxa
Yeah, this post says it all. This game was all garbage time so stats don't say nearly as much. But Bouknight having 11 points in the first seven minutes (we were down 10 at this point and it felt like more) and us getting killed on the glass shows that Dante is probably the better matchup, just with this team. Next year, we will have much better matchups for guys like Bouknight. Bouknight was also incredibly efficient with 21 on 8/12 from the field vs 20 on 8/17 shooting last game. Dante matches up better, but that also wasn't changing this game. They killed us. They shot it well (a lot of open shots though) and we didn't start hitting shots until garbage time. It was a never in doubt loss for us. Hopefully this motivates our guys to come out stronger in the next one. This team is a terrible matchup for us and I hope that we can avoid them for as long as possible. There isn't much else to say. Nobody played well. The bright spot of this game was Holloway. Clark looked incredibly rusty and as did all the seniors. Blair turned it on in garbage time, but he also wasn't good in the first half. Him and Carey were burnt bad defensively consistently. And Pickett just got Bouknighted. Pickett is probably a better matchup for guys playing the 3-5 and Dante is better against the 1-2 positions. And yeah, against this team you will give up transition buckets. A unit that has Bouknight, Jackson and Martin is probably the most athletic unit in college hoops period. My main takeaway from this one is that the defensive minded assistant is still needed next year. The success defensively was good, but not enough to give me confidence for us on that end. It's improved, but I'm not sure it's enough. No coaching adjustment was changing that result, but I still think that the scheme needs to be better next year. This is our best defensive scheme, but I'm not sure it's good enough.
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mdtd
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by mdtd on Mar 6, 2021 11:56:01 GMT -5
71-63 Huskies
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mdtd
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Post by mdtd on Mar 5, 2021 15:29:51 GMT -5
I think we are in violent agreement here. Bile has been really good for the last month or so. I am not sure how much credit anyone gets for his development as a player. He is a grad transfer who has been playing college ball for at least 4 years so I think his game was pretty developed when he arrived. I think the staff does deserve some credit for working with him, and the rest of the team, on finding a way to integrate the skills Bile has into the team concept and leveraging those skills to help the team win. I don't think Bile has really "improved" as a player as the year has gone on, I think it is more a case of the staff better defining his role on the team and then Bile accepting that role and flourishing in it. I think the player and the staff both deserve credit for that. I think another thing that needs to be mentioned is the players only meeting that Bile and others talked about after the covid break. The guys have all come out and been on the same page after that meeting. It's been beautiful team basketball. Whoever called for that meeting, whether that was Blair, Pickett, Carey, Bile or whoever else, deserves a ton of credit. That's leadership and putting the team first. Bile fits in so much better with this team when he's not forcing. And he hasn't forced much after this break. That's a credit to him and everyone around him.
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mdtd
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Post by mdtd on Mar 4, 2021 22:49:07 GMT -5
I'm waiting to see hoyaboya's reaction when XJ transfers to Providence. He’s used to not winning anything that matters, so would probably be a good fit with Cooley. I mean you set him up for this one hoyarooter. You just made it too easy for him.
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mdtd
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Post by mdtd on Mar 4, 2021 15:01:57 GMT -5
We need to win one at the BET and then we can worry about the 2nd round. I recall a barely pre-COVID choke job last year to the Johnnies and Ewing hasn't done well at the BET yet. You mean the game in which we went in with like 6.5 players and then, up by double digits, our point guard went down with an injury? That game? Because at that point not only had we exceeded our final margin of compensation for lack of available players, we had also managed to lose the guy who by that point was our most vital, most clutch and most reliable player. How does anyone view the Hoyas, an already fatigued and undermanned squad, falling apart like that after such a key personnel loss as choking ? Tough crowd I suppose. That game was embarrassing. If Wahab played late game we win by double digits. But, we're well past that. Moved on. Let's take a BET game this year and get Coach his first postseason win.
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mdtd
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Post by mdtd on Mar 4, 2021 14:59:54 GMT -5
Only two names I like from his list of replacements are Smart and Hurley. Could maybe get on board with Boynton as potential big-time recruiter. Yeah I don't need a Dukie coaching my Hoyas. That's a pass
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mdtd
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Post by mdtd on Mar 4, 2021 14:25:23 GMT -5
When breaking something like that it is a PIA to type. Not that I agree with everything he's said, but I think you have to give him some slack. And if we're back in the NCAAT convo next season, I bet he'll shut up about coaching. This season has been much better than expected. Our team post pause has been so much better. It's been awesome to see. I agree with all of this, although if we’re being honest folks had zero expectations so it wasn’t a big hill to climb... My main point is that if 9797 really wanted to troll now would be the best time to do it. Oh agreed this would be peak troll time. Everyone here is on their high horse, you can easily get right at everyone.
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mdtd
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Post by mdtd on Mar 4, 2021 12:30:41 GMT -5
Cole is a problem for the Hoyas, and everyone else in the Big East. He is a very crafty ball handler, excellent pick and roll player and just makes tough shots on a regular basis. Not sure Dante, or our other guards, can do much better on him than they did last game if the decision is to defend him one on one and not help. It might be a case that whenever Cole gets into the lane on a pick and roll situation, the defense needs to sag and help on him and make him give it up. The only shooter you can't help off of is Bouknight, who is a good three point shooter. The Pooley kid can really shoot it also, but he does not play as many minutes. After watching Cole light up the Hoyas last game, and other teams in recent games, I think you need to at least try to force him to pass the ball and make someone else on UConn make shots. That may, or may not work, but at a minimum I think you need to mix up the defensive scheme on Cole to keep him from getting in a rhythm. I don't see Georgetown stopping Cole, but if they can contain him to some degree and keep him to 10-12 points, instead of 20+, I think they give themselves a better chance. Cole's shooting is the key determining factor for Uconn in most games. he is very streaky. In the first half against us, he could not hit anything. In the second half, he didn't miss. We definitely have to play good D on Cole - but his performance is often fairly independent of the quality of defense he is facing. If he is hot, he can hit contested shots all over the court. If he is off, he misses wide open shots. He's a very interesting player. Talented and tough, but the streakiness of his shooting creates an inherent inconsistency in the offense for his team. He's very streaky indeed. But man he torched Blair that game. I'm not sure if I trust Blair on him, but he's either got Bouknight or Cole and I'd rather have Cole beat us again. Maybe you try a Sibley or a Clark on him and just go bigger, but what Blair can do offensively if he's on is what we will need this game so that's probably not an option. Blair just has to be awake defensively and not get caught. Sure a lot of Cole's looks were from mid range (a couple steps behind the free throw line for about all of them from what I remember), but they also were all wide open. Guys at this level will burn you if they are open from there. If he can get a hand up, I'm fine, but just stay active and don't get lost.
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mdtd
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by mdtd on Mar 4, 2021 12:19:25 GMT -5
If posters are going to dish it out...they have to be able to take it. Going MIA is weak when the team starts having success. A troll is a troll. If he were truly a troll he'd definitely be posting now while folks are giddy about getting to 7 BE wins... I take him at his word, that he's incapacitated right now... When breaking something like that it is a PIA to type. Not that I agree with everything he's said, but I think you have to give him some slack. And if we're back in the NCAAT convo next season, I bet he'll shut up about coaching. This season has been much better than expected. Our team post pause has been so much better. It's been awesome to see.
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