OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on Mar 11, 2010 8:49:14 GMT -5
This game Monroe will be the barrometer. He has to play big on offense and defense. He has to not cry about uncalled fouls because there will be a lot of them. He has to play today like Ewing or Mourning. This is not a game for finess. If he brings it the others will follow. Did anyone else hear D. Burke say that Monroe is smaller this year than he was last year. I thought unlike Vaughn that he had not added any bulk, but I did not think that he was smaller. Come to play Big Fella. Dominate like we know you can.
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OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on Mar 10, 2010 14:58:48 GMT -5
Scheduling question. I seem to remember last year that a team that played the early game on Wednesday and won would play the evening games the next night and vice-versa, was that so? It would have given Hoyas a little more rest and would not have affected Cuse at all since they have not played a game.
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OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on Mar 10, 2010 14:44:06 GMT -5
Agree, Chris had an overall great game. My complaint goes to coaching, rather than Chris. Can we get rid of the out of bounds play, especially against Cuse, where Chris' man is screened and he at 6'0" gets ball underneath basket and he tries to put layup in over two 6'9" defensive players.
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OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on Mar 10, 2010 14:22:57 GMT -5
Good minutes from Henry when we needed him. Absolutely. I think we just saw when and how Henry can be effective. He needs to be in the middle of the zone D, and he needs to have our best guards around him so that we're not relying too heavily on him to run the offense. He doesn't have Greg's passing skill, but we know he can get a rebound or a put-back. And on D, he looked great taking up the paint. Those minutes were CRUCIAL. The score was still close enough for USF to make a run, but Henry didn't give up anything at all. Exactly. The experiment to make Henry convert from a center in high school to a big forward in college like Summers has gone on for about 2 years now. Lets call it a mistake and move on to using him where he can be productive, at center backing up Vaughn in a zone defense. If you still want to play man-to-man then bring in Benimon.
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OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on Mar 10, 2010 13:40:36 GMT -5
I like Henry in the middle of that zone SOOO much more than when he is on one of the wings. I second that Henry is a center. should have been playing behind Vaughn more. He staqys in his zone. Why are the guards closing out ontheir guards like they are Duke. just stay in front and make them shoot an outside shot.
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OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on Mar 10, 2010 13:16:15 GMT -5
where is Monroe going past the free throw line in a zone defense? Thety have an easy layup everytime a guard drives. He has to stay in his zone . Thats why they call it a zone defense.
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OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on Mar 3, 2010 9:25:25 GMT -5
Its just our style that leaves people confused. We aren't a fast, full-court team on either end. Never have been under JTIII. probably never will. We are a half-court team on both ends. Which still works, when you execute. Its just philosophy of style. We will never be the scrap bunch, physical type team. Thats okay. JTIII's style has been proven to work with the right pieces in place. JTIII's problem now is that he doesn't have the pieces to execute his philosophy and schemes I have to agree, when you look at tapes of the Hoyas from the Final Four year you see a team that plays great half court defense with each player switching to cover for each other. Hibbert(7'2"), Green(6'9"), Summers(6'8"), Wallace(6'1"), and Sapp(6'2") were not speed burners but they moved in unison like Syracuse does now in their zone. Vaughn(6'9"), Monroe(6'11"), Freeman(6'4"), Wright(6'0"), and Clark(6'3") are faster but obviously not as big. Hibbert clogging the middle made a big difference. Now the length at power forward and center have been reversed. our tallest player now plays power forward instead of center. and our center is not a guy who is quick off his feet with his jump. Hibbert was not either but he was over 7 feet so it was hard to get the ball over him even with him jumping only a foot off the floor. Monroe does not have the hops of Green also.
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OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on Mar 2, 2010 13:51:15 GMT -5
We are in the position we are because not only do we only go 7 deep, the 2 guys off the bench could not be more inexperienced. How does that have anything to do with OOC? Pick on something else, but our OOC, really? It is the biggest thing we have going for us now, and its not like we are playing Duke every night. I mentioned the OOC schedule because it was a tough one, but the committee doesn't reward teams simply for having a tough OOC schedule, you have to win some of the big ones. Add to that the fact that the Hoyas sank like the Titanic after the Duke game last year, and JT3 knew he had to win most of his tough OOC games to regain this teams self confidence. He could have played Hollis,Vee, Benimon, and Sims more minutes earlier maybe, but remember hewas trying to get the starting 5 believing in and playing with each other. Its nice to give lip service to togetherness, but you need to show it on the court with synchronized play and solid victories, so he sacrificed the major development of his bench for the sychronized play of his starters on defense and offense. He gambled and I think he is correct, that once he gets to NCAA the team will get its second wind and the little experience the bench has will not be a factor as long as there is no injury or major foul trouble.
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OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on Mar 2, 2010 9:13:50 GMT -5
I like what I have seen of Vee, he is a player, but he is not a point becuase just like Clark his dribble is too high and is proned to get stripped of ball by a pressing guard., Like others have said, he and Clark are very similar and I wish we could have seen him having been subbed for him earlier just to give Clark a rest on defense then bring Clark back and Chris out to give Chris a short blow. But if they are playing team like Nova, then Chris has to go most of the way.
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OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on Mar 2, 2010 8:56:28 GMT -5
Remember when many of us on this board lamented the cupcake schedule Big John annually played and Eshrick continued? Remember when we saw the Hoyas RPI stay high until Hoyas played conference games? Remember how many of us praised JT3 for schedulling tougher oponnents so that the Hoyas SOS could impress the NCAA tournament committee? Well, we have gotten what we wished for, but with that comes a price. Big John's phillosophy was to schedule cupcakes in the beginning of the year so that he, coaches and upperclassmen could round his young players into players in the Hoya's system(tenacious defense goal to goal and tenacious rebounding). His teams would start to peek around the end of February just in time for the BE tournament. He knew that if he did well in the tournament, because of his statue and the BE conference statue, the committee would not dare overlook his team. Unfortunately, JT3 has not gained the statue of Big John yet, and reality of the NCAA today says easy cupcake schedules with no impressive OC wins means you might not make tournamrnt (Syracuse despite coaches statue). In short, the Hoyas have played the toughest schedule in the nation and have some impressive wins. To get those wins and because of last years collapse, JT3 made the decision to give his starters an inordinate amount of minutes. Now his starters have hit the wall, and the subs as was obvious from last night have not gained the live conference game experience of playing offense and defense together to keep the Hoyas as efficient on offense and defense that they have been in the big wins. Now, that is not the end of the world, because the Hoyas have the resume to make the NCAA, even if they lose to Cinncy and have 1st or 2nd round loss in BE, because of the weak mid-major teams. The question is only seeding and placement in the regions. As JT3 says these are 18-20 year old kids who have amazing recupperative powers and just need to get their 2nd wind. If the Hoyas had gotten that 10th conference win in ND game then WV game and Cincy game could have been used to get starters some rest and subs some quality playing time, but Austin's illness changed that., Nevertheless, last night's game gave Vee some needed experience in BE game, and he responded well. Lets not give up hope yet the stretch run to Final Four has just begun.
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OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on Mar 1, 2010 14:48:44 GMT -5
Since the Hoyas lost to ND I have not been able to watch videos of the Hoyas wins this season on my DVR as I usaually do between games because I knew I would get PO'd that they had lost to another inferior team. So I got some old tape of the Hoyas Final Four season and watched that. I would recommend that as therapy for all who doubt that the Hoyas have a good system or great coach. As you watch that team which only had one consensus AA, Macklin, and he was a freshman coming off the bench, versus this team with three AA, you realize the difference in talent level in the starters and the bench. The bench had Egerson, same size as Benimon both more athletic and much better offensively, PE,Jr. 4 inches shorter than Sims but head and shoulders above Henry at this stage in Henry's development, Rivers who at 6'3" was a very good defender but not a good shooter but you did not need him to be. The point is that team though with less AA had twice as much all around talent than this team. Further more the use of the bench was very liberal in terms of minutes by JT3. The problem is a bad set of circumstances for reasons I think are not the coaches fault, have caused the Hoyas to be extremely short of athletic big men. I love Greg Monroe and could not be happier that he is a Hoya but a Hibbert or Green on this team instead of Monroe and this team does not lose 4 games to SF, OD, Rutgers and ND. Thank goodness for VHS. My perspective is back where it should be. Now lets go get Goodman and Abraham.,
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OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on Mar 1, 2010 8:10:14 GMT -5
Looks like another Y. Noah with a better shooting touch.
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OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on Feb 27, 2010 20:56:07 GMT -5
Did not see the game, but from the box score and the talk on this board, the Hoyas lost this game on the defensive end not the offensive end as has been the case in most if not all of there losses. When you have 4 of your starters in double figures and a fifth(Vaughn 8) two points shy of it, then good defense should win you the game. Many have said that this team does not have any margin for error from their starters on offense. This game proves that is not true. Between Hollis and Freeman at small forward the Hoyas got 17 pts today with Hollis getting 12 of that. Do not know what the man Hollis was guarding did today. Did he scorch Hollis? I think this team has no margin of error on the defensive end. When the starting five are not all playing lights out defense, there are no backups on the bench to come in and put the clamps on the hot man, like we had in the past with Pat,Jr. and Rivers. JT3 has asked a lot of Monroe this year. He has to be the defensive stopper of the opposing team's big man. He has to be the guy that gets most of the defensive rebounds. He has to be the shot blocker or defender of the basket from driving ballhandler. Doing all this while consistantly being in the top 3 in scoring each game. He can have a slight off night on offense and Freeman, Wright or sometimes Clark may take up the slack, but if he does not bring the defensive and rebounding tenacity, there really is no one else to take his place against good teams in the BE. If we did not know why JT2 and JT3 have camped out at Moses Abrahams games, this game should give us the answer. The Hoyas are in desperate need of an athletic rebounder and shot blocking center. Whether Monroe stays or leaves that need will be there next year. Lubick is slated to be a power forward not a center so he is not the answer. As admirably as he has tried, Vaughn just cannot and will not next year provide this presense. He should get all the credit in the world for working so hard this past summer to get bulkier to play the center position. Monroe is not superman, and today he probably played a less than average game on the defensive end and there was no one to take up the slack.
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OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on Feb 27, 2010 19:43:52 GMT -5
The purpose as noted, is to flatten out the drive of the dribbler so that he does not turn the corner for an easy layup. The problem has been the overcommitment by the big men especially Monroe who literally chases the dribbler almost to the half court line. Once the big man "shows" and stops the drive to the basket, the picked defensive guard should now have enough time to recover. Monroe goes way to far most of the times. You would only go as far as he goes if you were going to trap the dribbling guard on the sideline with the recovering defensive guard and we know the Hoyas never trap.
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OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on Feb 27, 2010 18:54:51 GMT -5
This kid could get major minutes if learns system as quick as Benimon did, because the Hoyas need an athletic big man to play the center position. Vaughn has tried admirably this year but as the BE season heated up he has been less and less a factor both on offense and defense. A shot blocker and rebounder is what this team really needs as a compliment to Monroe.
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OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on Feb 24, 2010 20:42:16 GMT -5
Great to see Vee in the game for extended minutes in this game. if anyone has it on DVR check out the hoyas last play of the 1st half when Greg puts up a shot underneath basket and misses. Vee from a standstill underneath basket tries to dunk rebound but throws it in to hard and ball comes out. The young man had his hand above the rim from a standstill position. This is major hops for a 6'4" guard. Also goes down court and steals the ball. Look forward to seeing more.
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OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on Feb 24, 2010 0:28:56 GMT -5
Uhh... 0/4 FG, 4 A, 4 TO is struggling. I think he'll turn it around, but saying that he didn't struggle tonight is some heavy, heavy spin. Yes, but I actually watched the game, and the stats far from tell the whole story. He created a lot of baskets that didn't count as assists and he was a one man press break for God's sake. Tonight he didn't struggle, he had a very good game. I have to agree here, Chris did not have a good 1st half with the TO's but he handled the team beautifully the 2nd half. he did not force any shots and setup the rest of the team
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OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on Feb 24, 2010 0:12:31 GMT -5
"We got outphysical-ed in the first half and went into half down. In the second half, we were by far the more aggressive team, and the rebounding advantage we had is a testament to that. Whatever JTIII said to the guys at halftime worked in terms of firing them up."
Great point. This game reminded me of the St John's game in New York. They tried to muscle the Hoyas around in the first half but the Hoyas came back in 2nd half and out toughed them.
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OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on Feb 23, 2010 23:50:55 GMT -5
"Coach Thompson Sr. made it a point to come see a lot of Moses’ games. That’s made a big impression. He’s just a big basketball fan. He really likes Moses because the way Moses plays reminds him of Patrick [Ewing], defense, intimidation, clogging up the middle,” Boncore said
Are you kidding me? If Big John really said that then forget Mo Walker, and sign this kid asap. Also article said that another 6'9" Nigerian wants to follow him next year. Can you say Mourning and Mutumbo?
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OldHoyafan
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Post by OldHoyafan on Feb 23, 2010 9:19:18 GMT -5
Yes, I think the fatigue factor has been there especially with Wright, but the long rest should give them enough energy coming into this game. Wright will need it because of their press.
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