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Post by mikeylikesit on Jan 29, 2009 0:00:23 GMT -5
at this point, i have no idea what's going to happen in any given game, but from the look of it:
there's 5 very winnable games (rutgers, cincy, @usf, @sju, depaul)
there's 5 VERY losable games (marquette twice, @cuse, louisville, @nova) - if we don't win any of these games, 8-10, we're out...if we win 1, maybe 9-9, very questionable...realistically though, it looks like we'll have to win 2 or 3 out of that fivesome (given that i think we will AT LEAST blow one against the "easy" 5) to have tourney hopes.
then again, we could lose them all and i wouldn't be surprised.
bottom line, i wouldn't get my hopes up for the tourney right now.
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tal1286
Bulldog (over 250 posts)
Non-national Restaurant Chains!
Posts: 307
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Post by tal1286 on Jan 29, 2009 0:30:47 GMT -5
Did we have 1 back cut tonight? I think after all the forced cuts/passes over the past 3 games, we just decided to give up on it... through my limited basketball knowledge, it seems to me that it would be hard to make effective back cuts when you can't shoot since the defense can just sag off of you and not respect the 3. (probably wrong, didn't watch the game)
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chep3
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 2,314
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Post by chep3 on Jan 29, 2009 3:40:19 GMT -5
The fact is that none of us--me included, JTIII included, players included--seem to have any clue what is going on right now. This is the scariest thing for me. Look at the reasons for the loss people have thrown out there today: shooting slump, Freeman's weight gain, playing 3 guards, Chris not facilitating the offense, etc. We have a 4 game losing streak. There a whole host of things going wrong. No one knows what the issue is. Some people want to bench Omar and play Nikita. Some want to start Henry and bench Jessie. That's the issue. There are so many things wrong right now that no one knows how to fix it. We're just completely lost. tal's post is right--we need to hit 3's to open up our backdoors. But we have gone games without backdoors. We don't seem to do that that much this year. Maybe we did earlier in the year, but we don't really anymore. It looks like right now that we have a bunch of guys that want to run a conventional offense with a staff that wants them to run our offense. Something's gotta give. My hope is that the players give. And if not, then there's always next year. I'm a Redskins fan--I'm used to that mantra. I just thought that that sentiment would never bleed over into college basketball before mid-March.
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HoyaFanNY
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Never throw to the venus on a spider 3 Y banana!
Posts: 4,995
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Post by HoyaFanNY on Jan 29, 2009 7:03:47 GMT -5
this team just does not respond well to adversity. we were spoiled the last few years of jeff, roy, pat, jon, and tyler. they were leaders and mentally tough players that just would will us to a win more times than not. sapp fed off that and followed suit. now, he's completely lost just like the rest of the team. the entire team and bench look like robots. no life, no emotion.
it only gets worse from here. marquette is a very tough team. they hound you defensively, force turnovers, and have 3 very good guards that find ways for their team to win when shots aren't falling. with the state of the team right now, i think we're going to be lucky to break 50 with dajuan. without him, it's going to be a massacre.
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mrsixer123
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,283
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Post by mrsixer123 on Jan 29, 2009 7:30:28 GMT -5
"tal's post is right--we need to hit 3's to open up our backdoors. But we have gone games without backdoors. We don't seem to do that that much this year. Maybe we did earlier in the year, but we don't really anymore."
The reason you don't see any back door cuts is because teams are playing a lot of zone D against us. Our zone O was never great, and it is worse with the poor shooting. As long as we continue to shoot this poorly, a coach would be a fool to play man to man
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Post by hoyaheaven on Jan 29, 2009 7:42:04 GMT -5
It ain't the team that's dead...it's the ridiculous P offense. I knew Pete Carril...and believe me he was not married to the P...just that with Ivy League talent it was a doable winning strategy. Our BE Mantra: No bangers...but really elegant once or twice a game.
This is a prissy, kiss your sister offense that the kids need a PhD to run...thus the lack of smoothness and fluidity. They're thinking "Is III happy with the high post stc." and living for the shopworn likes ofback door cuts (about 1 per game) instead of just letting these McDs put the ball in the hoop.
Compare GU with Louisville/Wake Forest...the impact of Samuels or that of Aminu with that of Monroe high on the post...instead of where the action is going on behind his back and thus a-day-late and a-dollar-short for the offensive rebounds so abundant on the poor shooting Hoyas..
The movin' of the P offense ain't worth the fewness of the food.
Coaches: The writing is on the wall!!
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Dhall
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,679
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Post by Dhall on Jan 29, 2009 9:13:27 GMT -5
What drives me crazy is that for a Coach who seems to believe that the team shoots too many threes, he gives burn to Wattad and Nikita who contribute nothing other than the occasional three-point shot. He doesn't seem to have any consistent plan in the rotation, which is obviously a problem.
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GPHoya
Bulldog (over 250 posts)
Posts: 466
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Post by GPHoya on Jan 29, 2009 9:33:31 GMT -5
A basketball team that is playing well knows what it is doing on nearly every possession without thinking about it. It is how we played in the UConn and Syracuse games to a large extent.
Against Seton Hall, we neither knew what we were doing, nor did we appear to be thinking about it. The small measure of progress last night was that we appeared to be thinking on a large percentage of possessions. The bad news was that we appeared to be thinking which erodes confidence and sometimes slows judgment by a fatal split second. Still, it looked like progress to me which would have resulted in a victory if Greg had not played his worst game in a while.
Teams do not progress in a linear fashion and slumps happen to everyone. Young players are capable of playing very well, but are more fragile when things go badly. I think we will be playing quite a bit better by March, but we have a tough road. I still love our coach, because he is a teacher. Most our our players appear to be willing learners, though I perceive a couple of recalcitrants who occasionally disrupt the classroom for the other students.
Greg Monroe is clearly the brightest student and a willing learner. That said, it becomes increasingly apparent to me that he has a lot left to learn before he should complete his matriculation.
I know that Greg is supposed to be a four and not a five, but his physical skills should produce more intimidation on the defensive end. On too many possessions he drifts back on defense, watches play on the outside and is just not in the paint when the offensive player slashes inside or the missed shot is put back. Perhaps because I believe he is capable of so much more, I find myself screaming at him more than anyone to play with his feet, to stop reaching in and to explode to the ball. I don't think he has raised his intensity to the level of the competition and his passion at the end of games when things are slipping away needs to be evident from the tip.
To be clear, he is a beautiful player to watch on offense and clearly going to be highly successful at every level of the game. That said, he needs to consolidate the advantage he gains with his quick first step, by holding his ground, pump faking the pursuing defense and exploding to the goal. Too often, he beats his man but ends up shooting an off balance underpowered shot that either misses or is blocked by a shorter weak side defender.
In other words, a great talent who could use at least another year in college to hone his game and better realize his ultimate potential. Although self-interest plainly colors my view, I have convinced myself that it would be in his best long-term interest in developing his craft to return to Georgetown next year. The financial questions are another matter and, understandably, often dictate a different judgment.
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GUJook97
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 5,445
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Post by GUJook97 on Jan 29, 2009 9:35:41 GMT -5
It's funny, at a point during the Syracuse game, I really thought to myself, "Man, how can we be making all these 3's? It seems like we cant miss!" It's almost like we made a deal with the devil to win that game. We cant seem to buy a bucket these days. I agree that our defense has been a significant problem, but I expected that from this type of team. The trade off is I thought the offense would be there. It just disappeared after the Crushed Orange.
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3xhoya
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,171
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Post by 3xhoya on Jan 29, 2009 9:36:42 GMT -5
Austin Freeman needs to stop shooting three's and concentrate on going to the hoop. He can be a great force when he drives and score a lot of points because he is hard to contain. However, if you take away his performance from beyond the arc in the FIU and Cuse game (a combined 9 for 11) you are left with 9 for 46 for the season = 19.5%. That is horrendous and he should be told to not take anymore three's.
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KHoyaNYC
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,901
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Post by KHoyaNYC on Jan 29, 2009 9:38:24 GMT -5
What drives me crazy is that for a Coach who seems to believe that the team shoots too many threes, he gives burn to Wattad and Nikita who contribute nothing other than the occasional three-point shot. He doesn't seem to have any consistent plan in the rotation, which is obviously a problem. Agreed. This may sound extreme, but we need wins, which means we keep best players on the floor as much as possible. To me, that means a starting 5 of Monroe, Freeman, Sapp, Wright and Summers, with limited minutes only when necessary for Clark, Sims, Vaughn, Nikita and Wattad in that order. No more tinkering with rotations --- it is basically February now and we should know at this point what gives us the best chance of winning.
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Post by JohnJacquesLayup on Jan 29, 2009 9:38:54 GMT -5
At the beginning of the season I would have (and I think many on this board) said we'd win any game where we held the opponent to 65 points. A quick glance at our schedule so far shows that until SHU and Cinci, this has been true. Our offense has just regressed too much to still get wins when we hold the opponent to that 65 pt. range.
I know, nothing groundbreaking here. Just a thought.
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rosslynhoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 2,595
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Post by rosslynhoya on Jan 29, 2009 9:53:00 GMT -5
What drives me crazy is that for a Coach who seems to believe that the team shoots too many threes, he gives burn to Wattad and Nikita who contribute nothing other than the occasional three-point shot. He doesn't seem to have any consistent plan in the rotation, which is obviously a problem. Agreed. This may sound extreme, but we need wins, which means we keep best players on the floor as much as possible. To me, that means a starting 5 of Monroe, Freeman, Sapp, Wright and Summers, with limited minutes only when necessary for Clark, Sims, Vaughn, Nikita and Wattad in that order. No more tinkering with rotations --- it is basically February now and we should know at this point what gives us the best chance of winning. I don't mean to single your comments out, but I don't get what games some people here think they're watching, but our bench isn't losing these games. Our "best players" are the ones Editeding these games (WV, SHU, and now Cincy) away. JTIII isn't tinkering with rotations, he's got a teamful of stellar individuals who just aren't producing. Leave the guards alone for a second- Late in the SHU game, Monroe was held scoreless by a chubby 6'5" frosh walk-on from Long Island if you recall (not that their starting "big men" were much to speak of in the first place and they sure kept him in check). I don't know if our statistically inclined posters are so motivated, but I'd love to see some +/- numbers for the past three or eight games. Our bench is holding their own against their conference peers, it's our superstars that are failing to exploit the obvious mismatches in talent.
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NCHoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 2,927
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Post by NCHoya on Jan 29, 2009 9:56:51 GMT -5
I am completely puzzled by the player rotation right now. I know Summers injury threw us for a loop last night, but giving Wattad and Nikita more minutes and Sims and Vaughn less just puzzles me. It seems like JT3 still has no handle on his player's chemistry together, thus the need for these constant substitutions and shuffling of line-ups. My opinion, Just play the best five at this point and let them create some sort of on-court chemistry, constant shuffling is not helping anyone.
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bmartin
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 2,459
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Post by bmartin on Jan 29, 2009 10:03:20 GMT -5
Nikita did have 7 rebounds, a steal and an assist. He played well in the 1st half run after DaJuan was hurt, and that earned some more minutes in the 2nd half.
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KHoyaNYC
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,901
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Post by KHoyaNYC on Jan 29, 2009 10:20:53 GMT -5
Agreed. This may sound extreme, but we need wins, which means we keep best players on the floor as much as possible. To me, that means a starting 5 of Monroe, Freeman, Sapp, Wright and Summers, with limited minutes only when necessary for Clark, Sims, Vaughn, Nikita and Wattad in that order. No more tinkering with rotations --- it is basically February now and we should know at this point what gives us the best chance of winning. I don't mean to single your comments out, but I don't get what games some people here think they're watching, but our bench isn't losing these games. Our "best players" are the ones Editeding these games (WV, SHU, and now Cincy) away. JTIII isn't tinkering with rotations, he's got a teamful of stellar individuals who just aren't producing. Leave the guards alone for a second- Late in the SHU game, Monroe was held scoreless by a chubby 6'5" frosh walk-on from Long Island if you recall (not that their starting "big men" were much to speak of in the first place and they sure kept him in check). I don't know if our statistically inclined posters are so motivated, but I'd love to see some +/- numbers for the past three or eight games. Our bench is holding their own against their conference peers, it's our superstars that are failing to exploit the obvious mismatches in talent. It's ok my point is just because our starters aren't playing up to snuff, we shouldn't abandon ship and start giving our bench more burn right now, in particular Nikita and Wattad. I'd rather see our best talent find its way and get out of this funk. I realize the bench isn't losing the games for us, but relying on our bench more isn't going to get us any wins either because the drop off in talent is pretty signficant. Or at least it should be if our starters would get their acts together.
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3xhoya
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,171
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Post by 3xhoya on Jan 29, 2009 10:26:19 GMT -5
I think it is a matter of the starters not playing the way III wants them to. The bench is getting more time because they are playing within the system, something a lot of the other players haven't been doing. For example, I am sure better rebounding has been a focus in practice. Nikita came in and went after the ball and pulled down seven rebounds, and therefore earned more minutes. Once the players start listening to III and playing the way he wants them, he will let them work out of their slump.
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hoyatables
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 2,604
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Post by hoyatables on Jan 29, 2009 10:37:49 GMT -5
Any updates on the Summers injury? Was he injured because he wasn't smiling enough?
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Gold Hoya
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,578
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Post by Gold Hoya on Jan 29, 2009 10:54:45 GMT -5
To be clear, he is a beautiful player to watch on offense and clearly going to be highly successful at every level of the game. That said, he needs to consolidate the advantage he gains with his quick first step, by holding his ground, pump faking the pursuing defense and exploding to the goal. Too often, he beats his man but ends up shooting an off balance underpowered shot that either misses or is blocked by a shorter weak side defender. Agree with the entire post. In addition, Greg needs to improve his right hand (or perhaps just gain confidence in it); many of those off-balance underpowered shots happen when he shoots with his left hand to compensate for lack of confidence/ability in his right hand.
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lichoya68
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
OK YOUNGINS ARE HERE AND ARE VERY VERY GOOD cant wait GO HOYAS
Posts: 17,443
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Post by lichoya68 on Jan 29, 2009 11:24:43 GMT -5
TEN MISSED LAYUPS ....NUF SAID... go hoyasbeathequetteonsat .... NEED TO GET IT TOGETHER.... YUP WRIGHT NOW
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