OOC Opponents

[hoyatables]

It is going to be a long ten days until Memphis . . . .

[lichoya68]

go scarlet knights beat the tarheels at the RAC on sunday help the hoyas and the big east go hoyas beat the highlanders bring out the kilts studs bring out the kilts lets have some holidays fun fill the booth oops that fill mcdonough arena or gym or whatever no more va. upsets in OUR HOUSE

[afalcon10]

lol go rutgers beat UNC, wishful thinking but i likewhere your heads at lic

[vamosalaplaya]

Jook, I was referring to Big East, sorry. GU is 290 something in SOS right now and last in the Big East using RPI. Ratings like Sagarin and Pomeroy that are more nuanced have them slightly higher. Over the course of the season things tend to come together more.

Your assertion that a strong OOC schedule has nothing to do with RPI isn't an accurate at all. I am not sure if you meant to type that. RPI is a direct result of who you schedule and who you lose and beat; the issue with GU's schedule from a seeding standpoint is it hasn't given the team enough of a chance to showcase that they can beat good teams.

The Esh team got a 10 seed for a middling performance in the Big East and a weak out of conference set of victories. Syracuse was penalized last year for a middling to upper conference slate but no impressive OOC wins. It will absolutely shift around, which is why I am focusing on the likelihood of teams like ODU, Bama, or Michigan improving.

Anyway, DFW has posted some great stuff on RPI realities - and manipulation - in past years.

Last post on this subject until tourney time.

[DrumsGoBang]

We are number one is awsomeness!!!!!!

[Omega]

This schedule is weaker than last year's. This schedule was put together for one reason and one reason only: to accumlate Wrigt, Freeman and Macklin to the system. JTIII realized that in order for this team to be competitive, he is going to need big contributions from there three players. Macklin did not play much last year because he did not fully understand the system and both Freeman and Wright are new to the system. Yes playing tougher competition and being on TV more would be great, but the new comers would not be able to develop on the court. Instead, they would have to develop in practice.

As fond as we are of Hibbert, Wallace, and Ewing the strength of this team is in its Sophmore and Freshman classes. The Hoyas only go as far as Freeman, Wright, Summers, Macklin, and Rivers take them....

For those of you paying attention, the Hoyas are running two different systems. A slow down half court system and an uptempo system. In otder to implement this type of offense players have to play. A tougher schedule would limit the playing time of the new comers and slow their development. I would rather yarn through December and cheer my tail off come March...

[afalcon10]

macklins 15 minutes and 3. 4 points a game doing him real good so far aren't they omega?

[theexorcist]

Help! Really, help!

This thread has gone beyond all bounds of logic. We're talking about GU's schedule as though we're not going to make the NCAA tournament. Fine. If Vern hasn't made all-Big East and is well on his way to challenging Patrick Ewing for his career numbers at Georgetown, then the strategy hasn't worked. Fine.

I feel like I've been interrogated for seventy straight hours.

The schedule is awful. It's the worst any school has ever had. When the last touches were made on it, we doomed this season. Wait, no, we doomed Georgetown basketball for the foreseeable future. This schedule will result in Georgetown basketball being single-handedly destroyed, to the point where Rick Reilly will use us as a punchline to an unfunny joke in three years. Georgetown basketball fans will be mocked more than Philadelphia Eagles fans, Vanderbilt football fans, and Chicago Cubs fans combined.

There's no defending the schedule. Anyone - even Isiah Thomas - could have put together a better one. We should be playing at North Carolina today and at Hawaii tomorrow and should play Kansas while we're on the plane.

Georgetown is going to lose key games this season because our players never played a legitimate OOC opponent (except Memphis). Wait, no, they're going to lose EVERY game. We're going to finish last in the Big East and South Florida will dance on the Hoya logo and then our uniforms will become a horrid version of both white and orange to remind us how we have sinned. The improvement of our players will be forever retarded. DaJuan will never be "bomb". Patrick Ewing, Jr will lose all of his skill and energy. Jonathan Wallace will run for president in 2032, but will not receive a single vote.

Hoya Blue will become less respected than Georgetown Quiz Bowl and our fight song will switch to Zombie Nation because we will have become a school of zombies.

I agree. I agree with everything. Just stop hurting me. Stop the pain.

I love Big Roy.

[TrueHoyaBlue]

afalcon10 said:

macklins 15 minutes and 3. 4 points a game doing him real good so far aren't they omega?

Yup -- using KenPom's tempo-free stats, his rebounding has slightly improved, blocks have tripled, and he's cut down his turnovers by almost 70%.

On a more anecdotal level, the only times I feel uncomfortable having Mack in the game is at the free throw line, compared to last year, when he seemed like an uncontrolled ball of energy.

[prhoya]

Some posters here took Drama 101 at GU.

[afalcon10]

Granted, developing underclassmen and our bench is a crucial element of the OOC schedule. However, so is getting our starters, who mind you are on the court more than the bench, in tip top shape for the conference schedule. No matter how experienced and how talented your starting 5 are, 8 months will make you a lil rusty, just slightly, and a couple close games against tough opponents help tune things up and expose aspects of our game that we need to work on. Let me make it clear that I think accomplishing both goals is extremely important which is why a mixture of tough and easy OOC opponents is the best. Moderacy, I espouse!

[sleepy]

Its not like we are blowing out every team, no matter how inferior most here seem to think they are. We had close games against William and Mary, Ball State, Alabama, Fairfield, and the first half of Old Dominion. Those teams gave us all we could handle for 35 minutes. I consider that being challengedand having our weaknesses exposed. If your worried about seeding I think the reason we didn't get the one seed last year was because of all our 3 early season losses. It didn't matter that they were to good teams, they still hurt us in the end. That Memphis game at Memphis is a lot tougher than any of the other top 10 teams will be playing pre-season, and right now its impossible to tell whats going to be considered a good win come March.

[Bando]

In the schedule's defense, Alabama was supposed to be a lot better until their star got hurt for the season. Jacksonville's picked to win it's conference, and ODU is a quite good team. The only real stinkers thus far are Fairfield (don't get me started on that game), Radford, W&M, and Michigan.

I don't know if this is just my perception, but it seems the real deal with the OOC schedule this year is that we're playing less total games than normal. Does that ring true for anyone else?

[theexorcist]

Bando/Sleepy:

Really, just give it up. If we're quiet, the thread just dies.

[Bando]

Duly noted.

[Dhall]

omega said:

As fond as we are of Hibbert, Wallace, and Ewing the strength of this team is in its Sophmore and Freshman classes. The Hoyas only go as far as Freeman, Wright, Summers, Macklin, and Rivers take them....

I had to laugh when I read this. You are saying that the reserves are more important than an All-American/lottery pick and 4-year starter who is also preseason All Big East.

[afalcon10]

i too believe the importance of the bench has been grossly overstated in this thread. Theyre important. but not the sole focus of our "preseason".

[TrueHoyaBlue]

Certainly not the sole focus, but they have a lot more to gain (skills and experience-wise) in the preseason than four returning Final Four-tested starters and a fifth starter who averaged 15mpg as sixth man last year.