We are being out-worked

[michaelgrahamfan]

Sorry, but that is the case. We scare no one and should not. I expected the loss to Pitt, but this is very difficult to swallow. We were out worked at Pitt on the boards, and in this game, all over the floor. If we expect to win without maximum hustle we are kidding ourselves and it will be an extremely long season. We better watch out for the Friars, that would just be fitting. Sims played well for the 2 minutes he was in. If we are not hustling enough to win we might as well season our bench to get ready for our second round exit from the dance.....

[GUJook97]

I dont think that was the case tonight. i thought we got plenty of boards, fought well, and scrapped on the perimeter. We just missed a ton of shots and they didnt.

[RockawayHoya]

Right, Jook. We didn't get out-worked tonight. The effort was there throughout. The execution was not.

[WilsonBlvdHoya]

I fully agree. Pitt and ND are some of the most talented teams in the country but the execution and hustle were not there (especially in the back-court). Fortunately it's January and III can make them run about a million windsprints this week before Providence.

A lot of this is inexperience too (other than onions).....

[NCHoya]

I have to disagree, we played hard all night. There was nothing left in our guy's tank. They are young coming off a day's rest against the most physical team they will play this season. ND runs you around with crisp passing and great shooters, we played pretty damn well on defense and forced TOs, especially to start the 2nd half. We actually outrebounded them which I keep getting told on this board means we are hustling and playing hard.

This was a case of dead legs on our shots and from the FT line.

ND is tough to beat at home, it seems like everyone is ignoring the 44 game winning streak they have in that building and the board seems to be treating them like we just lost to St Leos. This is not a bad loss, just tough because it is now 2 in a row and PU is not a bad team coming on Saturday.

[Bay99]

They didn't get outworked. They couldn't buy a shot. They were what, 21% from the perimeter? 59% from the line? Not going to get it done against a good team on the road.

I think the Harangody-Summers disparity sort of sums up the outcome. Both the most important guys for their team, both in foul trouble wire-to-wire, one ends up with 31 points and the other with 11. Not saying we should expect a 31-point game from Summers (or any Hoya in this system); just a key disparity when both guys were in major foul trouble for the entire game. One of them still managed to have a huge impact.

It seemed like Freeman was in the doghouse for much of the second half. Went to the bench visibly complaining, towel over the head, didn't come back until the very end ... clearly not hurt.

[GUJook97]

Agreed. To me, it was a game that talented, but inexperienced teams oftentimes will lose. Talented, inexperienced team will sometimes come out and knock the #2 team around with great energy, but then they will struggle in these types of methodical, ugly games.

Said it before, but we should all be prepared for some head scratchers this season. Wouldnt be surprised if we went to Syracuse and beat them, but lost to a St Johns. It just feels like that type of year to me.

[daytonahoya31]

I totally and completely disagree with the premise of this thread. We didn't get outworked. We're playing our second game in three days, playing on the road, with our leading scorer in foul trouble, against a team that's good to begin with and desperate for a win.

Sometimes the circumstances are against you. We played very hard in this game. If we didn't we wouldn't have cut that 11 point deficit with five minutes to go down to four by the end of the game.

Idiotic thread

[jester]

Per Freeman, several times he had position on his man 10 ft out and was looked away by our guards...don't know if that was a trust issue or just part of the offense that he didn't get the ball when he asked for it.

[98hoya]

I think we're just not that good. We'll play our way into being a sweet 16 team, but that's about what we are. We lost to a team that's a legitimate #10 or so team, and given our inexperience, the fact that the game was on the road, and that our play was off, this should be the expected result.

[royski]

I thought that we fought tonight, we just made fewer shots than they did. I think we'd win 6 out of 10 in Joyce, tonight just wasn't our night. We went 1-2 through the nasty stretch, as most of the more rational members of this board predicted. Lets beat Provy and get a split between Cuse/Duke, and we'll be very well set up for a great season.

[Filo]

Well, Austin's going to have to start hitting some outside shots if he wants to be trusted.

[FewFAC]

We're gonna look back at this stretch at the end of the season and think how we couldn't have gotten there if it hadn't of been for this.

[fsohoya]

Definitely not a hard work issue. In fact, I was impressed on how they kept fighting even after the got a tad rooked on a few calls at the end. Shooting and confidence are the keys, and if they come out playing as hard against Provy as they played tonight they should be able to get a confidence-boosting cushion early on just by taking it to the hole. That will take a little pressure off on the jumpers.

[98hoya]

Jan 5, 2009 21:42:20 GMT -5 FewFAC said:

We're gonna look back at this stretch at the end of the season and think how we couldn't have gotten there if it hadn't of been for this.

I think that's true. Look, let's be realistic - this isn't a team that's gonna win it all (either the BE or the NCAA). This is a team that'll have ups and downs and be fun to watch develop. The goal has to be the sweet 16. Next year, final 4 has to be the goal.

[guru]

Nope, it's not about hard work. We just lost to two very good teams - it's very early in the season, and the Hoyas are about to go on a nice little run here. Book it.

[FewFAC]

Jan 5, 2009 21:44:03 GMT -5 @98hoya said:

Jan 5, 2009 21:42:20 GMT -5 FewFAC said:

We're gonna look back at this stretch at the end of the season and think how we couldn't have gotten there if it hadn't of been for this.

I think that's true. Look, let's be realistic - this isn't a team that's gonna win it all (either the BE or the NCAA). This is a team that'll have ups and downs and be fun to watch develop. The goal has to be the sweet 16. Next year, final 4 has to be the goal.

I don't believe that for a second. The toughest part of our BE schedule is essentially over, and there are plenty of opportunities for the other top teams in the league to misstep. And with the consistent improvement we are seeing from the bench, come March a newly confident Chris/Jessie/Austin, a better Greg, a stone-cold assassin in DaJuan and solid contributions from Jason, Henry and Julian and this team could romp through the postseason. Will they? Who knows. Can they? Absolutely.

[daytonahoya31]

98hoya,

I don't know what team you're watching, but the team I see can be final four good this season. We lost to two very good teams. You're assertion that we're not that good will be proven quite wrong by the end of the year.

[DanMcQ]

Disagree. That may have been the case at times on Saturday, but I did not see that tonight.

[98hoya]

Jan 5, 2009 21:57:32 GMT -5 daytonahoya31 said:

98hoya,

I don't know what team you're watching, but the team I see can be final four good this season. We lost to two very good teams. You're assertion that we're not that good will be proven quite wrong by the end of the year.

I hope so, but I don't know what team YOU are watching if you think this is a final four team. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm not. You are.

See, it's fun to just sling assertions around with no support.