EasyEd
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 7,272
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Post by EasyEd on Jan 6, 2005 13:53:55 GMT -5
My thoughts: 1. We are a good shooting team and will continue to shoot well. 2. The Princeton-style offense, with the big man at the top of the key, almost guarantees that we will get few offensive rebounds. 3. Green needs to do more spin and drive from the top of the key and then shoot or dish off. 4. We will continue to surprise on occasion. 5. Our bench is very small and this will cost us in some games. 6. We are a good ball-handling team. 7. Better defense is the key to the future.
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Post by TrueHoyaBlue on Jan 6, 2005 13:56:13 GMT -5
What, you mean like the game against ND where Braswell had 4 different opportunities to win the game for us at the end of regulation and the first three OT's, only to have us choke in the 4th? That was super sweet. Ughhh, perhaps the most painful live game experience I've ever had.
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DanMcQ
Moderator
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Post by DanMcQ on Jan 6, 2005 13:59:10 GMT -5
7. Better defense is the key to the future. Truer words, as they say...
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KHoyaNYC
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,900
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Post by KHoyaNYC on Jan 6, 2005 14:02:09 GMT -5
"The Difference between Esherick and JTIII is gigantic. First, Esherick, nice guy and solid loyal assistant coach, was not a good head basketball coach for G'town."
Wait a minute, wait a minute. This cannot, I repeat, CANNOT be the real the_way writing this. I smell an imposter.
EDIT: Sorry, showcase, didn't see your post the first time.
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Post by uweblabisgod on Jan 6, 2005 15:49:54 GMT -5
The point about the assistant coaches helping Bowman is a good one. I always wondered about Mike Riley, he didn't seem to do much other than diagram a player's mistakes after they came off the court -- last year, at least, the players' body language told him where he could shove his clipboard.
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TBird41
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
"Roy! I Love All 7'2" of you Roy!"
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Post by TBird41 on Jan 6, 2005 17:58:29 GMT -5
Or, do you mean like the last 2 Syracuse games at MCI? Or maybe the Miami game 3 years ago? Or maybe the... *electric shock collar kicks in* Ahhh, sorry about that-I'm still in electroshock therapy to ward off negative thinking like that. JT3 and the Hoyas beating Pitt definately helps. ;D
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2005 21:53:31 GMT -5
YES! I knew I could count on the_way to bring up Esh at a time like this. My old man is a GU grad as well, and for years (read: The Esh Era) that the Hoyas were the worst team under 4 minutes or so. It was good to see that trend reversed on the road against a GOOD Pitt team.
GO HOYAS!!!
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Post by chinatownfanclub on Jan 6, 2005 22:24:19 GMT -5
glad someone mentioned that painful nd game... easily the worst live game experience ever. i agree with the_way esherick was a great guy, solid assistant, and i would go so far as to say decent recruiter (see green, hibbs, giubunda, crawford), but i never had the confidence in him when it came to the x's and o's. Alot of coaches are just system guys or great motivators who don't have that "thing" which makes them a good game day coach (or last 4 mins). I'm just glad that jtIII seems to have that "thing." I can honestly say i felt confident in the last two min that we would win the game... something i haven't felt in years
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FLHoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Proud Member of Generation Burton
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Post by FLHoya on Jan 7, 2005 1:16:00 GMT -5
What I liked about the final two baskets we scored was that they exemplified smart, observant basketball on the part of both players and coaches. Now there's something that was missing the last few years.
Here's what I mean: we're all talking about "X's and O's" stuff and how the prior Coach wasn't a great x's and o's guy and this one is, or something about "intangibles". But Brandon's bucket wasn't a great "X's and O's" coup or a contrived endgame play--Brandon does that very move all the time. It was in fact the result of an observant assistant coach--Robert Burke--recognizing a matchup advantage existed in our favor. He saw Brandon was matched against guys several inches shorter, and he set Brandon up to make the drive and the big play. Just a really intelligent coaching move there. Infinitely better than sending Kevin Braswell out there to chuck it no matter what the matchup.
Likewise, what a brilliant piece of basketball the Jeff-Darrell play was. Now clearly that was run out of JTIII's offense that he's been teaching the guys, so x's and o's get some credit here. But I can't imagine it was drawn exactly like that--so we knew that exact cut was the one and only option to get the basket.
This is where our end of game plays used to suffer. Let it not be said that Esherick never designed a good end of game play. He did once--for the end of last year's St. John's game, the one where Ashanti drove and dished back to Courtland for the dunk. Problem was, a month later we played Miami on the road and were in the same situation--and we ran the EXACT same play. And Miami saw it a mile away and blew it up and we got ZERO final shot. Cause once the play blew up at the start, we had nothing--our other three guys weren't even moving.
Contrast to now, where the motion of the offense, when run correctly as I've seen them doing it, in fact gives players several opportunities to make the correct smart decision. It was not only up to the players to run our offense on that possession, but to Darrell to see his opening for the cut and Jeff to recognize the passing lane. For every 1 of those that works as this play did, there's like 5 or more during a game that aren't there or just miss breaking open. And it's equally smart to recognize the play isn't there and look elsewhere. We just patiently wait out the best shot and often get it.
It's just great seeing so many more smart decisions on the court, backed up by an offense that lets everyone on the team make those decisions and coaches smart enough to lead the players to them sometimes. And the opening three-point parade aside, backdoor layups are still the sexiest thing in college basketball in my book.
And since it was brought up, clearly that Notre Dame game was disappointing, and I won't disagree with anyone who was there who finds it the most painful thing ever. But in retrospect I consider it a great game that I was privileged to attend despite the outcome. I can safely say I'll never see a game in person like that again. Now the Pitt game from that year, that's my most painful, and it still bothers me.
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Cambridge
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Canes Pugnaces
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Post by Cambridge on Jan 7, 2005 10:09:03 GMT -5
The UVA NIT game was the best game to attend...ever...perhaps the best college basketball game of all time.
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bmartin
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Post by bmartin on Jan 7, 2005 12:10:35 GMT -5
Looking at the play by play www.pittsburghpanthers.com/files/979.pdfyou notice how well Georgetown played coming out of timeouts down the stretch. Media timeout at 2:43 w/Pitt up 62-60: Green layup from Bowman at 2:12. Ran the offense, used up most of shot clock, did not panic, got a layup. After Pitt penetration - dish - dunk to go back up 2, they called timeout at 1:42: Owens baseline backdoor layup from Green to tie at 1:28. No doubt his earlier threes got the defender to overplay him in the corner. Classic Princeton offense read and play. After Pitt miss and Bowman rebound, Hoya timeout at 1:08: Green miss, Owens offensive rebound, another timeout at :24: Bowman layup to take lead. This became part of the offense under JTIII at Princeton, where he had Will Venable, who could take advantage of a mismatch. Having the center up high and the other players well-spaced the lane is open for a drive when a good slasher has a man he can take. Hoya timeout at :08 to set up defense. Pitt turnover, foul, Cook ft make, miss, Pitt turnover. Hoyas never rushed or panicked late in the game. Pitt did.
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Cambridge
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Post by Cambridge on Jan 7, 2005 12:17:02 GMT -5
True, very true BMartin...good analysis. Although I had a sense of it during the game, it is good to look at it on paper now, when my heart is no longer racing and I'm not pacing around the room like a maniac.
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Post by WilsonBlvdHoya on Jan 7, 2005 12:56:05 GMT -5
Quick question: when Pitt missed and Bowman skyed for the defensive rebound at 1:08, was that the Pitt offensive sequence (which was replayed on ESPN) in which Krauser drove the middle of lane (with Ashanti on him nicely but allowing the driving j), missed off the back rim, then Taft tried to tip it in from the right and also had the ball bounce off the rim into Bowman's outreached hands?!
If so, I thought that miss was just as big as Owens' offensive board since GU would have had to tie with the Brandon lay-in instead of take the lead...
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SaxaCD
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
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Post by SaxaCD on Jan 7, 2005 12:57:14 GMT -5
Yes, i"m pretty sure it was, WBH.
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