Hoyas-Memphis Pre-Game Discussion

[nathanhm]

We have a few streaks at play in this game:

Memphis currently has the nations longest road win streak at 18 games
Georgetown currently has the nations 5th long home win streak at 26

[I Bleed Hoya Gray]

Dec 9, 2008 10:11:57 GMT -5 nathanhm said:

We have a few streaks at play in this game:

Memphis currently has the nations longest road win streak at 18 games
Georgetown currently has the nations 5th long home win streak at 26

How do you find that out? I was wondering about our win streak and who's ahead of us.

[Hoya TMF]

i assume the zags and nd are ahead of us, but that's just from memory.

[nathanhm]

For those interested in streaks and statistics here is where I go:

www.warrennolan.com/basketball/2009/stats

Also of note:

We have the 10th stingiest defense in the nation at 55.7 pts allowed
Memphis has the 11th most prolific offense at 82.5 pts a game

In scoring margin were 11th at +20.9 and Memphis is is 16th at +18.2

[HoyaSinceBirth]

Wow check out the pomery rankings. thanks to last night's shellacking of savanna st. we are all the way up to #2 our offense is now #2 and our Defense is #8!

Memphis is 30th on offense and 23rd on defense last year when we played them they were 4th on defense. They were a much better defensive team last year. We should have an easier time than last year. They're actually producing more steals and blocks than last year but allow opponents to shoot more free throws. The percentages for what they allow from 2pt and 3pt aren't different from last year but rank worse than last year currently. So they're no slouch on defense.

On offense is where they're actually worse than last year. They shoot a worse percentage overall mostly due to a much worse 3pt% and slightly worse from 2. They're still a terrible free throw shooting team.

The thing that killed us last year was penetration and offensive rebounds. As others have noted this should be less of an issue due to personnel changes on both sides.

[I Bleed Hoya Gray]

Thanks nathan

[tlphoya]

This is in Jay Bilas's blog today on espn -

"Georgetown does not have a lot of depth, but the first five are dynamite. Chris Wright is developing into a great college point guard and Greg Monroe is a lefty big man who fits very well into the Georgetown fold because he can pass, make plays and he is very unselfish. The Hoyas are going to be a tough out in the Big East, which is a conference full of tough outs."

[rosslynhoya]

You can also view stats and streaks and such at the NCAA site, believe it or not:

web1.ncaa.org/stats/StatsSrv/rankings?sportCode=MBB&doWhat=showstreaks&division=1

BYU, ND, Tenn, and Kansas are ahead of us, in that order.

[jgalt]

Dec 9, 2008 6:21:51 GMT -5 paranoya said:

jgalt please make some sort of comment about Taggart, my nerdy humor thanks you.

haha, ill try to find a good place to slip one in ;D. it might depend on how the game goes, i talked alot of trash before last years game and that didnt turn out too well.

Dec 9, 2008 9:58:38 GMT -5 HoyasAreHungry said:

i know it's about exam time for the current students and some even have exams DURING the game so I hear....what can we expect in terms of turnout so that we can make this a hostile home crowd environment??? also for the rest of the crowd is this game sold out yet or not??

Regarding Students: a number of teachers have changed exam times/days to accommodate, which should help. Also, if you cant go, like me (i dont want to talk about it! ) then give your ticket to another student! then there is no net effect (but i probably dont have to tell you guys that)

[Cambridge]

Dec 9, 2008 10:10:46 GMT -5 Coast2CoastHoya said:

Memphis' numbers this season, per kenpom.

Metric	Offense	Defense
Raw Eff.:	108.9 (53)	85.5 (22)
Adj. Eff.:	114.3 (30)	86.2 (23)
eFG%:	49.3 (149)	43.4 (40)
Turnover%:	17.0 (18)	24.9 (45)
Off. RB%:	35.6 (111)	29.1 (59)
FT Rate:	31.2 (43)	40.0 (230)
3-Point FG%:	29.5 (278)	30.7 ( 75)
2-Point FG%:	51.7 (62)	42.0 (44)
FT%:	64.3 (254)	66.9 (140)
Block%:	5.8 (48)	19.5 (6)
Steal%:	8.2 (66)	15.0 (9)
3PA/FGA	32.0 (196)	33.5 (193)
A/FGM	57.6 (110)	53.8 (162)

They foul the shooter a lot. If we get inside and draw contact with our guards and our bigs, we walk away with this game.

[HoyaSinceBirth]

This has been one of our biggest improvements this year it's getting to the line. Last year we were terrible at getting to the line. This year we're great at it. Hopefully we can use that to memphis' detriment. I also hope out FT will dramatically improve this game.

[arlingtonhoya05]

If we end up being on any sort of bubble at the end of the season for the NCAA tourney, this game could speak volumes. As of now our non-conference, quality opponents, are Tenn (L), Memphis, and Duke. Let's prove that we belong with the nations top twenty by notching a win over a ranked, non-conference opponent this Saturday. I personally think Duke is vastly overrated, but winning there will be very, very difficult. This is our opportunity, lets not blow it. I don't want to be on the bubble with a potential 0-3 record vs ranked non conference opponents when all is said and done...

[FewFAC]

That 75 possessions per game from Memphis is pretty impressive as well, especially in comparison to our 66 per. I'd think Memphis pressing would work to our advantage by demonstrably slowing the pace of the game, but our team has yet to face that type of pressure, so the jury's still out.

Turnovers, rebounding and defense will continue to tell the story for us, and I would expect to see a great deal of zone daring Memphis to make some 3FGAs. I'd also like to see a lot fewer 3FGAs on our side.

Plus, we could stand to shoot the ball a little better than in recent outings.

[sleepyjackson21]

Memphis has used the 11 day layoff to work on zone defense. Calipari normally exclusively uses man to man but he said after the Xavier game that he didn't think he had the depth to play man to man from start to finish. They'll still use mostly man but Calipari also said that his teams length is tailor made for some zone.

[HoyasAreHungry]

Dec 9, 2008 14:58:20 GMT -5 FewFAC said:

That 75 possessions per game from Memphis is pretty impressive as well, especially in comparison to our 66 per. I'd think Memphis pressing would work to our advantage by demonstrably slowing the pace of the game, but our team has yet to face that type of pressure, so the jury's still out.

Turnovers, rebounding and defense will continue to tell the story for us, and I would expect to see a great deal of zone daring Memphis to make some 3FGAs. I'd also like to see a lot fewer 3FGAs on our side.

Plus, we could stand to shoot the ball a little better than in recent outings.

haha you mean better than the 60% we shot last game??

[royski]

Dec 9, 2008 15:20:06 GMT -5 HoyasAreHungry said:

Dec 9, 2008 14:58:20 GMT -5 FewFAC said:

That 75 possessions per game from Memphis is pretty impressive as well, especially in comparison to our 66 per. I'd think Memphis pressing would work to our advantage by demonstrably slowing the pace of the game, but our team has yet to face that type of pressure, so the jury's still out.

Turnovers, rebounding and defense will continue to tell the story for us, and I would expect to see a great deal of zone daring Memphis to make some 3FGAs. I'd also like to see a lot fewer 3FGAs on our side.

Plus, we could stand to shoot the ball a little better than in recent outings.

haha you mean better than the 60% we shot last game??

That would actually be 70%.

[HoyasAreHungry]

to even further my point... haha We've been shooting the ball well for the past three games so I am not worried about that. We just have to handle the pressure they will throw at us and hit the glass like we mean it. I could tell last night that there was a definite concentration on EVERYONE going for the rebounds....sometimes even battling with eachother to pull it down. I'm cautiously optimistic about Satuday. I really like our chances if we get a big pro gtown turnout....Hoya Blue make sure you're getting people to that game!!

[chep3]

Took a glance at the Memphis board. They're mostly of the same mindset that we are, that if their team plays up to their potential, they'll win the game, but that it should be a good one and an important test for a young team. One poster was hating on us. I mean, if he thinks we're no good, that's one thing, but check out the low blow at the end of the quote:

My comment was based on the simple fact that Georgetown is garbage this year, The Verizon Center is not as hostile of an environment as TBA in Knoxville also so this shouldn't be that hard of a road game for us. I don't know if yall have watched GT this year but that are pitiful and I don't see any advantage they have over us period. This would be a horribly embarrassing and demoralizing loss for our team and their ego if we get beat by this year's Georgetown team. I'm more afraid of the Orangemen at home than the Hoyas on the road by far.

[RDF]

A few things-about this game

1. Calipari is the same type of character guy as the Illinois Governor.
2. Sag off Tyreke Evans and watch that broke jumpshot shatter the backboard.
3. Ball pressure Wesley Witherspoon--who is a talented guy--but adjusting to point
4. TEAM rebound
5. If behind--foul the Tigers and let them re-live their GAG job--as Xavier did in the tournament Final earlier this season. Those Tigers shoot FT's like they did in NCAA Final

[sleepy]

Dec 9, 2008 15:37:24 GMT -5 chep3 said:

Took a glance at the Memphis board. They're mostly of the same mindset that we are, that if their team plays up to their potential, they'll win the game, but that it should be a good one and an important test for a young team. One poster was hating on us. I mean, if he thinks we're no good, that's one thing, but check out the low blow at the end of the quote:

My comment was based on the simple fact that Georgetown is garbage this year, The Verizon Center is not as hostile of an environment as TBA in Knoxville also so this shouldn't be that hard of a road game for us. I don't know if yall have watched GT this year but that are pitiful and I don't see any advantage they have over us period. This would be a horribly embarrassing and demoralizing loss for our team and their ego if we get beat by this year's Georgetown team. I'm more afraid of the Orangemen at home than the Hoyas on the road by far.

This actually seems to be a fairly common attitude to this years Gtown team from various fans of other teams. Now, most wouldn't see the loss as horribly embarrasing, but I have read a few comments on how bad we have played thus far and how overrated we are. Now not everyone, but I am sure there are more than a few people that feel the same as this guy does about out team. Albeit people that know very little about basketball.