Sims?

[hbone13]

Is it just me, or does Sims Rebound and defend? What two areas are we lacking in? I fully trust JTIII and Sim must not be practicing well, but he plays well. He also can get the ball into Monroe??? Also, if Monroe is doubled in the post, he can SCORE. Lastly, if it ain't broke don't fix it, but what if it is broke??? These line ups featuring Wattad and Nakita are not winning games down the stretch, shouldn't we try Sims Play King Sims!!!

[daytonahoya31]

I think its starting to become clear that Sims is out of the rotation. Him playing major minutes this season, barring injury, isn't going to happen this season.

[hoyatamale]

Henry is a good player, but he lacks the toughness that JT3 likes to see from post players, and alos prefers to pay out on the wing, where 6'11'' guys should not be anyway. Until he proves he can play inside, he will continue to sit and watch as Julian ruins the offense by simply being around the ball.

[hbone13]

Okay, I guess our post players are much tougher than Henry. I thought it should be more about production. I love seeing Omar and Nikita down in the post. That is a much better and tougher interior defense than having a 6'11 player with better skills and athleticism on the floor. We can just continue to rack up fouls and give up rebounds to guards like James. I guess production doesn't equate to PT.

[hbone13]

Henry probably has the second most dunks on the team after summers, but I guess that isn't being in the post. Also, I'm pretty sure Henry has blocked quite a few shots in limited minutes.

[RDF]

I love III but I completely disagree with Sims lack of playing time. He should be playing more and the fact he's not and team is getting their butt kicked doesn't make much sense.

[gujake]

I don't get it.

[Bay99]

I'm not sure what you've seen that would indicate productivity. It seems clear to me that in spite of a few flashes of his ability (eg Syracuse game) that Henry hasn't figured out the offense. He's a freshman who looks very much like a freshman. I think he has a lot of (cliche alert) upside but clearly isn't ready to contribute.

Also, I think it goes without saying that if Sims was showing in practice that he was willing to crash the boards and be a real presence in the defensive paint then he would absolutely play. It's not like JTIII isn't aware of the rebounding problem. I think it's safe to say that minutes are readily available to ANYONE who can get on the glass and play tough interior D.

[hoyaLS05]

Rebound, maybe. Defend, not so much.

[RDF]

Jan 31, 2009 18:21:26 GMT -5 Bay99 said:

I'm not sure what you've seen that would indicate productivity. It seems clear to me that in spite of a few flashes of his ability (eg Syracuse game) that Henry hasn't figured out the offense. He's a freshman who looks very much like a freshman. I think he has a lot of (cliche alert) upside but clearly isn't ready to contribute.

Also, I think it goes without saying that if Sims was showing in practice that he was willing to crash the boards and be a real presence in the defensive paint then he would absolutely play. It's not like JTIII isn't aware of the rebounding problem. I think it's safe to say that minutes are readily available to ANYONE who can get on the glass and play tough interior D.

Sims is type of player who can impact a game without scoring. How many guys on this year's team can do that? Without him playing against Providence--this team has another loss. The 3 FR are guys who fit the system and know how to play/impact games in various ways. I think Clark, Sims, and Monroe should be 3 that get heavy minutes--which 2 do--but Henry doesn't. Don't know why--because I see a lot of potential and with his weakness, it's correctible. Rather see a FR screw up then guys who have been around and ignore what is asked of them or are incapable.

[michaelgrahamfan]

How can you possibly use toughness and this team in the same sentence?

[OldHoyafan]

This is starting to get scary. I have always supported JT3 in his moves to motivate this team, but the lack of playing time for sims and the increased playing time for Nikita and Omar can only be explained in their 3pt shot profficiency is better than Sims. Its getting scary because when I think back to last year I convinced myself that PE,Jr. was not starting at big forward and Summers at the small forward because JT3 wanted some spark off the bench. Now it seems that it was done only because Freeman had a better 3pt shot than PE, Jr. PE,Jr. was a better rebounder and defender than either Summers or Freeman and could arguably had just as good a handle. Now don't get me wrong I think Summers was a better small forward than PE,Jr. and Freeman is a better 2 guard than JE,Jr. was a big forward. it now seems that the major reason PE,Jr. and Sims did and are not starting is their 3pt proffiency. The Princeton offense was devised in order for a team with few if any great athletes to be able to compete witha team of great athletes. What made it so intriguing for use at Georgetown was the availability of great athletes to run it. Now, I ask you what was it that these great athletes were going to do that the so called not so great athletes could not do? I think most of us anticipated a faster pace would be utilized and if the wide open layup or jump shot was not there the team would pull it back out and run the offense with very hard and quick cuts. I think most of us thought that these so called better atletes would be better rebounders and one-on-one defenders than the typical Princeton player. Now I ask, are we really seing the Princeton offense run at a quiker pace? Are we seeing better defense and rebounding? To me the intriguing thing about the Princeton offense being run by great athletes was the potential for diversity it presented to the team and its opponents defense. You had great Athletes who could operate a complex offense and backdoor you to death or they could run and go mano-u-mano with the opposing teams best if the defense stopped the princeton offense. JT3 seems to have settled for a team based solely on 3pt shooting that is run at the same pace as the teams he had at Princeton, and not really taking advantage of the great athletes he now has. As a Fan of his and the Hoyas I hope I am wrong.

[RBHoya]

I like Henry, have always maintained that he'll be a very good player at Georgetown, and would be happy to see him get some more run.

But, this strikes me as a textbook case of "the guy at the end of the bench is the answer to all of our problems!" syndrome. Very common among fans of teams that are struggling. In football (especially college) it's usually fans clamoring for the backup quarterback, but it happens a lot in hoops too. People see a guy in short spurts/garbage time and he looks alright, and then nobody can understand why he's not playing.

Henry has some ability, but he isn't a pitbull, nor is he a Marcus Camby type player despite the similar build. He has a little shotblocking ability but he isn't what I'd call a strong defensive player. And while he's probably one of the better rebounders we've got just by virtue of his length, he isn't a great rebounder as of yet either. Is that enough to overcome his lack of understanding of the nuances of the offense? I guess not, according to JTIII.

Overall I just don't think he'd be the difference maker. He will be very good in time but he's still very raw for now. It's not like we've got Alonzo Morning stashed down on the end of the bench. The overall success of this team is gonna be determined by how well our first unit plays. I am much more worried about the play of Chris, Jessie and Austin than I am about Henry right now.

[richfame]

sims reminds me of pascal flurrey sorry ....

[richfame]

Rbhoya i agree 100 percent with you especially the alonzo morning comment. Ps- well never have another Zo.

[Eurostar]

RB and the rest - nobody thinks Sims is Zo... the point is that going into this season we all thought Sims, Clark and Vaughn would be our guys off the bench getting the most minutes. Wattad and Nikita were afterthoughts. I dont want to bash them, but Sims and Clark were our blue chippers so youd think we would attempt to develop them as much as possible. Nikita getting 20 minutes vs marquette is seriously a JOKE. Was that a misprint? Is he a future starter in 1-2 years? I hope not. I came on here after the UConn game and praised JT3 for his great coaching - he clearly outcoached Calhoun. But since the 2nd half of the Duke game everythings been downhill.

[RBHoya]

Jan 31, 2009 21:05:45 GMT -5 Eurostar said:

RB and the rest - nobody thinks Sims is Zo... the point is that going into this season we all thought Sims, Clark and Vaughn would be our guys off the bench getting the most minutes. Wattad and Nikita were afterthoughts. I dont want to bash them, but Sims and Clark were our blue chippers so youd think we would attempt to develop them as much as possible. Nikita getting 20 minutes vs marquette is seriously a JOKE. Was that a misprint? Is he a future starter in 1-2 years? I hope not. I came on here after the UConn game and praised JT3 for his great coaching - he clearly outcoached Calhoun. But since the 2nd half of the Duke game everythings been downhill.

This is another thing wrong with message board thinking... Who cares who our "blue chippers" are and who will be starters in the future? How many stars a guy had next to his name coming out of high school means zilch. Need proof?--Vernon Macklin had lots, Jeff Green had far less, and Jon Wallace had none. Q.E.D.

And maybe you didn't see the game, but Nikita played very well on offense. He is one of the few guys on this team who can actually do the one thing everybody agrees we need to do--GET THE BALL TO GREG. Nikita makes great entry passes and gets the ball to Greg on the block--and while it seems simple most of our other players really struggle with this (and our team last year did too, see all the threads about how we were misusing Roy and self-internal jealousy etc. etc.). He's also got a nice outside shot and a little midrange game. Overall he's an efficient offensive player and is going to be a contributor for years to come.

I have to say I'm really sick of the that Omar and Nikita get. For all the talk about how recruiting rankings don't matter, the fact that these guys were not highly ranked recruits for sure tinges everyones perception of them. Too many people let dopes like Jerry Meyer or Dave Telep tell them what to think. Both Nikita and Omar bring something to the table. Are they flawed? Yes. But they both have things that they do well and I dont have any issue with the PT that either has gotten, especially given the inconsistent, lackadaisical and uninspired play of "blue chippers" like Wright, Sapp and Free through much of this losing streak.

Back on point... who cares who people thought were going to be contributors going into the year? What matters is who is playing well and who isn't. It's amazing to me that just 6 weeks ago we had tons of threads filled with people saying "Wtf is up with Sims, I thought he was sposta be a 4-star ?!?1?" and "HENRY STOP SHOOTING 3's?!?!?" he shows up and looks decent for a few minutes in a couple games and now all of a sudden he is the cure for all of our ills.

I like the guy, pulling for him and would not be at all upset to see him get some more run. But Coach is going to put the best players out there that he thinks can help him win games NOW. He is not worried about who is going to start 2 years from now and trying to bring along the players with higher ceilings. He is trying to win games, and the lineups he is putting out there reflect who he thinks gives us the best chance to win.

[tpk3]

i would love to see henry get more playing time along with nikita at the 4. i want to see dajuan primarily at the Sf position with henry/nikita rotating at 4. he has shown good things lately in his limited time. he was key to providence victory. he needs to get stronger and does not pull down man rebounds but he has length and gets his hands in there. i also think greg plays better with henry. henry is really the only other player on our team who played down low in high school and it shows. both he and nikita are also better passers than dajuan. i love the big man 2 man game we can play with greg/henry or greg/nikita.

[EtomicB]

Jan 31, 2009 21:31:58 GMT -5 RBHoya said:

Jan 31, 2009 21:05:45 GMT -5 Eurostar said:

RB and the rest - nobody thinks Sims is Zo... the point is that going into this season we all thought Sims, Clark and Vaughn would be our guys off the bench getting the most minutes. Wattad and Nikita were afterthoughts. I dont want to bash them, but Sims and Clark were our blue chippers so youd think we would attempt to develop them as much as possible. Nikita getting 20 minutes vs marquette is seriously a JOKE. Was that a misprint? Is he a future starter in 1-2 years? I hope not. I came on here after the UConn game and praised JT3 for his great coaching - he clearly outcoached Calhoun. But since the 2nd half of the Duke game everythings been downhill.

This is another thing wrong with message board thinking... Who cares who our "blue chippers" are and who will be starters in the future? How many stars a guy had next to his name coming out of high school means zilch. Need proof?--Vernon Macklin had lots, Jeff Green had far less, and Jon Wallace had none. Q.E.D.

And maybe you didn't see the game, but Nikita played very well on offense. He is one of the few guys on this team who can actually do the one thing everybody agrees we need to do--GET THE BALL TO GREG. Nikita makes great entry passes and gets the ball to Greg on the block--and while it seems simple most of our other players really struggle with this (and our team last year did too, see all the threads about how we were misusing Roy and self-internal jealousy etc. etc.). He's also got a nice outside shot and a little midrange game. Overall he's an efficient offensive player and is going to be a contributor for years to come.

I have to say I'm really sick of the Edited that Omar and Nikita get. For all the talk about how recruiting rankings don't matter, the fact that these guys were not highly ranked recruits for sure tinges everyones perception of them. Too many people let dopes like Jerry Meyer or Dave Telep tell them what to think. Both Nikita and Omar bring something to the table. Are they flawed? Yes. But they both have things that they do well and I dont have any issue with the PT that either has gotten, especially given the inconsistent, lackadaisical and uninspired play of "blue chippers" like Wright, Sapp and Free through much of this losing streak.

Back on point... who cares who people thought were going to be contributors going into the year? What matters is who is playing well and who isn't. It's amazing to me that just 6 weeks ago we had tons of threads filled with people saying "Wtf is up with Sims, I thought he was sposta be a 4-star ?!?1?" and "HENRY STOP SHOOTING 3's?!?!?" he shows up and looks decent for a few minutes in a couple games and now all of a sudden he is the cure for all of our ills.

That's the frustrating part RB, Henry was playing well. He had good minutes in two wins over Prov(14 mins) and Cuse(11 mins) and then he gets buried on the bench? Doesn't make sense to some of us. I don't expect him to play 25+ mins either but his play in those back to back games warrant more than what he's been getting in these 5 losses in my opinion.

[hoya137]

From the little we've seen of Sims, and given our recent struggles, I agree that it seems like he could help the team.

at the same time, if we agree that:
1) JTIII and our assistant coaches aren't oblivious
2) JTIII and our assistants don't play favorites

then it's reasonable to believe that the coaches have a rational reason why Sims isn't playing.
our coaches see these guys practice every day -- to me they've earned the benefit of the doubt with who gets PT.

One thing to put out there...III has always preached "run our stuff" on O, and fundamental, position defense. While I know this hasn't been producing results over the past 6 games, with the more mature teams of the past few years, we've seen it produce outstanding results. So maybe III knows he could change his style, and have a better shot of winning in the short term. But maybe he's more concerned about the long run -- about the team getting better the way he wants them to get better. And maybe III hasn't seen Henry show in practice that he can "run our stuff" and play fundamental position defense. The blocks and dunks get noticed by us (the fans), but good offense and great defense requires much more than that.