mdtd
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Post by mdtd on Dec 29, 2019 23:31:40 GMT -5
I’ve watched several PC games as my dad is an alum. Here’s my take on them from watching and/or what he has said: - Outside shooting has been a major problem (as well as missing way too many layups for a team at this level) - Bad free throw shooting plagues them (been a problem for a while with their team) - Best way to win is playing games in the 60s; won’t be able to win any shootouts in conference - Luwane Pipkins (UMass grad transfer) has affected the chemistry, and other than 2-3 games, he’s been a disappointment - AJ Reeves has never recovered his form prior to the injury last December (remember he started his freshman season with multiple 20 pt games) - Nate Watson missed time early this year and hasn’t hit his stride yet but has brief stretches where he can look dominant - Fanbase still supports Cooley but are growing weary of his offensive philosophy which has them go through some rough scoring droughts - Fans are hoping this team can be like Xavier last year where they overcome a tough OOC schedule and then be competitive in the BE Play at our pace and let Yurt work the post, seems to be the game plan. Play smart and play your game, Hoyas. I really only watched the Northwestern game and I have never seen more missed threes and missed wide open layups. It was incredibly embarrassing. I haven't seen a game of theirs since and I have held that their talent gives them enough strength to be able to make a run. Though despite saying that, I think Watson isn't an all BE player. I just don't think he does enough to get there. I didn't think so in the beginning of the season and I don't now. No free wins. Come in and don't give them hope.
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mdtd
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by mdtd on Dec 29, 2019 22:27:28 GMT -5
At this stage, if there is one opponent you are "okay" with him missing a game against, it's Providence. It's arguably the easiest opponent remaining. If he's hurt, sit him. If there is reinjury risk, sit him. Don't risk a player's health for the future in one game. It's a marathon, not a sprint. If he plays, watch his minutes. You can't let this last. He's really important and the end stretch will be very important.
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mdtd
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by mdtd on Dec 29, 2019 22:20:32 GMT -5
If this is the new unofficial 2020 NCAA Tournament Chances thread, I love it. The team has put itself in a position to get back to the dance after 4 straight misses. Given the drama and uncertainty the last month has brought, all the credit goes to the staff and the remaining players for not only helping to right the ship, but also for progressing towards becoming a team that may not have hit its peak yet this season. That's exciting stuff. As of Thursday, Bracket Matrix has us as the final 9 seed. bracketmatrix.com/ This first week (at Prov., at SHU) will go a long ways towards determining if this team will be playing to improve seeding in the upcoming weeks or fighting to stay above the cut line. 2019 Resume: NET: 82 RPI: 101 SOS: 79 Q1: 5-6 Q2: 6-5 Q3+Q4 losses: 3 2020 Resume: NET: 29 RPI: 42 SOS: 29 Q1: 1-2 Q2: 2-1 (@smu rises to Q1 if NET: 81-->75) Q3+Q4 losses: 0 (Cuse rises to Q2 if NET: 79-->75, and currently only Providence is the only remaining Q3 game left on the schedule) Just win the first Providence game, really. That could be considered a bad loss if in q3 which hurt us last year as LMU and SMU fell in q3. If it's q2, the committee looks to see how good your q2 record is, along with big wins and ours so far is decent. Providence could realistically rise to q2 and a win there would help. This year, I wouldn't say 9 is a key number, since this is a down year in CBB. Taking the first two would be a huge step, but I think the first one is important. Beat who you are supposed to and don't look past them. Not easy starting with two road games, but splitting them won't hurt. Winning both will help. Take down Provy to start, don't create another uphill climb early in conference play.
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mdtd
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by mdtd on Dec 20, 2019 16:43:12 GMT -5
Hoyas 97 Samford 79
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mdtd
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by mdtd on Dec 18, 2019 17:53:14 GMT -5
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mdtd
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by mdtd on Dec 17, 2019 23:59:37 GMT -5
UMBC was just outmatched. Credit to the Hoyas, but you have to look at their injuries. They were missing their leading scorer and two rotational players. The team played well, and there clearly seems to be some chemistry now. The guys were celebrating on the bench and happy the lesser played guys got in. I have to say that if this is the only minutes Tim I gets, it's a waste of a season if he can't get a redshirt. I hope he plays more and shows some progress throughout the season. That being said, I can't complain about tonight. Uh, yeah and we were missing our starting point guard, our staring power forward from last season and two rotational players. Not bad for a team that was left to rot. UMBC was still hurt and not the team that they really are. They seemed to be looking for something and just felt defeated. I thought that was partly due to their injuries. The team played well for what I expected after the Akinjo and LeBlanc transfers. Very well. As they have in the four games since. It's incredible. I'm not trying to say that's the only reason they lost, as it wasn't. The Hoyas were much better and deserved to win. I just thought UMBC came out to lose, much like the Hoyas could've after the transfers. Like comparing what could've been. The Hoyas came together, while UMBC separated and looked afraid and scared.
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mdtd
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by mdtd on Dec 17, 2019 22:42:37 GMT -5
Is this accurate though? I haven’t done a study, but it seems like red shirts are used a lot less often than in the past across basketball. Didn't want to derail the game thread... Compared to when B52? Gonzaga, UVA, Wisconsin have done very well using it recently... Purdue too
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mdtd
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by mdtd on Dec 17, 2019 22:41:55 GMT -5
UMBC was just outmatched. Credit to the Hoyas, but you have to look at their injuries. They were missing their leading scorer and two rotational players. The team played well, and there clearly seems to be some chemistry now. The guys were celebrating on the bench and happy the lesser played guys got in. I have to say that if this is the only minutes Tim I gets, it's a waste of a season if he can't get a redshirt. I hope he plays more and shows some progress throughout the season. That being said, I can't complain about tonight.
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mdtd
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by mdtd on Dec 16, 2019 13:20:17 GMT -5
I'm interested to see how the rotation works for this one... again. Does Ewing turn to the walk-ons again? How quickly does he if the Hoyas are up by quite a bit? Also, yes their best player is Darnell Rogers who is 5'2". It's pretty incredible to see.
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mdtd
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by mdtd on Dec 14, 2019 19:32:33 GMT -5
Purely from a resume standpoint, we have in my opinion the best non-conference resume of anyone in the BE. - Best or 2nd best (Marquette) SOS (depends on the site) - 2-1 vs ranked opponents (the entire rest of the BE only has 2 with Creighton over Texas Tech and Marquette over Purdue) - 2-0 record on the road (only DePaul at 3-0 has a better record) - Currently 14th nationally in Adjusted Offense on KenPom (only BE team higher is Villanova who are 2nd) - UNCG or PSU losses are relatively no worse than “bad losses” by others (Nova crushed by 25 by OSU, Marquette lost by 16 to a 5-5 Wisconsin team, SH crushed by 20 by Rutgers, Xavier losing to a 5-5 Wake Forest team, Creighton crushed by SDSU by 31, PC with multiple bad losses to Penn, LBSU, Charleston, Northwestern) Bottom line is if this conference is as tight as I think it may be, our OOC should give us a leg up on any team we might by competing with for a seed and/or spot in the tournament come March. Now let’s just get the conference wins to make this good work count down the road! I'd say Butler's resume is the best. Only loss is top 25 on the road, and won games @ole Miss (Tourney team), vs Florida (Top 5 preseason), Neutral to Stanford and Missouri and has Purdue a week from today. Butler is #16 in adjusted defense (Hoyas at 97, I see why you left that out) and #20 in adj. offense. Now, I'm one of those people who doesn't think kenpom means much until like January where it's all this season stats, but even so Butler is much better there. 13 overall to our 44. DePaul is up there too with wins over Texas Tech, @iowa, @bc and @minnesota. Road wins against high majors are tough to come by. And they have three and a tough schedule. Sure, they lost to Buffalo, but those wins are very impressive. Depaul is 44 in adjusted D on Kenpom, and 91 offensively. But yes, our OOC should help. A few wins and March is ours. No slip ups from now until Providence.
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mdtd
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by mdtd on Dec 14, 2019 11:06:13 GMT -5
It'll be interesting to see if he chooses Arizona. Given his issues at Georgetown, a smaller school would make more sense. While Mannion is expected to leave for the NBA Draft, they also have another PG named Brandon Williams who was ranked #32 overall the same year Akinjo came out, and had a pretty good freshman season. He had knee surgery this year so is sitting out, but should be back next season. Assuming he's fully healthy, there's no guarantees James would even start over him, or if they start both of them in the backcourt together, he would essentially be right back in the same situation he was with McClung. I think he ends up in the WCC at Gonzaga or St. Mary's. I believe both have wholes at the PG position that needs to be filled. Arizona campus and lifestyle can be quite tempting though. St. Mary's for him seems like a bad fit. They play a very slow style of play and are focused on defense. They do need a guard who can lead an offense, but they play super slow. Jordan Ford is that guy now, but his play style is super calm and methodical. Akinjo's just isn't. I don't see a good fit there.
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mdtd
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by mdtd on Dec 14, 2019 11:02:58 GMT -5
Time to destroy Cuse. No remorse. Beat them all the way through. Don't give them a chance. Go Hoyas!
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mdtd
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by mdtd on Dec 13, 2019 20:04:21 GMT -5
With the news today, you have to get on the Ivy league grad transfers immediately. You need players who can play.
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mdtd
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by mdtd on Dec 13, 2019 18:55:53 GMT -5
Hope he's ready to provide some minutes. Him and Chuma should be prepared. They both look like good dunkers, so there's that.
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mdtd
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by mdtd on Dec 13, 2019 18:51:43 GMT -5
Has a 2-3 zone ever seen a 4 center lineup against them? Might be the move.
But, in all seriousness, it's hard to imagine a rotation. I will be monitoring that and how the team defends with only 7 guys who were expected to play. This game is still one that the Hoyas can win and one I'm still looking forward too. I like Pickett in the high post more than Yurt, as I liked seeing Yurt run the baseline against zones and crash the O Glass against a team without a great big man. The ugly orange school is the same. Take advantage of Pickett's length and skill on the high post and let Yurt dominate inside and kill these bigs. Be effective in transition, and this game is a blowout.
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mdtd
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Post by mdtd on Dec 12, 2019 20:17:25 GMT -5
95-70 Hoyas. That would be fun.
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mdtd
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Post by mdtd on Dec 8, 2019 0:28:18 GMT -5
That was fun. Very fun. These games are more fun when we win. Blair was excellent as were Mac and Allen. The team never slowed down and played pretty solid defense, except for that brief period in the early second. Everybody looked to be crashing the glass and the team played as a unit. Very good game, very good win. Also, Mac apparently had 7 assists this game which really shocks me. 26 assists on 34 made shots is very good. Go Hoyas!!!
Road underdog streak continues. SMU couldn't respond after the initial run, much like typical teams with cupcake schedules. Man, this was fun.
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mdtd
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Post by mdtd on Dec 7, 2019 14:20:27 GMT -5
This actually really interests me too. The Hoyas are 3-0 ATS as underdogs and 0-5 ATS as favorites. That's drastic. Also, 0-5 ATS at home and 3-0 ATS neutral/on the road. So, one of these trends could break if the Hoyas are listed as favorites. But, the main thing that interests me as a Hoyas fan is the team is 2-1 straight up as underdogs and 3-2 straight up as favorites. So, the Hoyas have been better as underdogs in all aspects than as favorites. Hopefully they don't play down to opponents, especially solid teams like SMU like they did against a very talented UNCG team. This team hasn't responded well as favorites, but has responded well on the road. It's really bizarre. We are road underdogs!!! The chances we play as well as last game are pretty low. The question is can we be average and still beat a decent team. Especially without a third option, I completely agree that the team most likely won't be as good. Omer could be better, but Mac isn't putting up 33 on 21 shots often. However, with the Hoyas playing as road underdogs, they are on the right track. Also, one of my personal favorite things to attack are teams that look good because of bad schedules. SMU apparently has the worst schedule to date and even if they get out to an early lead, teams who haven't played talented teams don't respond well when eventually their opponent goes on a run. Much like the Cowboys in the NFL, Dallas could have another team like that.
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mdtd
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by mdtd on Dec 5, 2019 19:24:01 GMT -5
Interested to see what the opening line will be This actually really interests me too. The Hoyas are 3-0 ATS as underdogs and 0-5 ATS as favorites. That's drastic. Also, 0-5 ATS at home and 3-0 ATS neutral/on the road. So, one of these trends could break if the Hoyas are listed as favorites. But, the main thing that interests me as a Hoyas fan is the team is 2-1 straight up as underdogs and 3-2 straight up as favorites. So, the Hoyas have been better as underdogs in all aspects than as favorites. Hopefully they don't play down to opponents, especially solid teams like SMU like they did against a very talented UNCG team. This team hasn't responded well as favorites, but has responded well on the road. It's really bizarre.
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mdtd
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by mdtd on Dec 5, 2019 18:11:12 GMT -5
Allen was excellent. My favorite play of this game came when it was tied and he and Galen were both on the left side of the floor, with the ball in the middle. This was at the 9:50ish mark of the second half. It was bad spacing there, so I thought the possession was dead. Allen moves down to the corner and there still was no movement. It was back when Oklahoma State was in their zone and there wasn't much this possession. A bad shot could've lead to another Oklahoma State run. Instead, Allen tells Galen to move to the corner, which Galen did and called for the ball. Allen then drives through the middle of the zone towards the free throw line from the wing, drawing defenders and hitting Mac for an open three. That just about explains everything he meant for the offense yesterday. he hit Mac in rhythm and provided stability to give Mac better looks. PLays like these give me hope to what this team can be, as him and Mac clearly have some chemistry. Those two looked very good. The team still needs a third option in case Mac isn't playing like that. But the chemistry those two seemed to have and Allen's knack for making these plays gives me something to look forward too.
You can see the main part of this play at around the 1:00 mark of this video
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