Nikita Mescheriakov to transfer

[gtowndynasty]

See my concern is not for Nikita. I understand his limitations and that his departure will not impact the on court performance one bit. But Nikita's departure is a microcosm of a bigger issue. Would you take that stance if it was Vee or Henry that decided to leave? No you wouldnt. But his reasoning for leaving could in fact be the same reasoning that either of them decided to leave. You have to play more players!!!!!!

We have a 6 man rotation right now. It could easily be 8 if Jerelle and Vee played. At some point, 3 minutes is not gonna be enough for guys that know they could go elsewhere and play. I mean seriously how do you think Vee feels watching Chris turn the ball over and take wild shots-when we are up by 15 points. I know how Id feel...

Bottom line 3 needs to utilize his bench or cats will continue to leave and the program will be a revolving door. It takes too long for a guy to come in and learn this system so when a guy finally does it and then leaves, it hurts us more than anything because he cant be immediately replaced. It will take his replacement a while before feeling comfortable within it.

[RusskyHoya]

Dec 22, 2009 12:51:20 GMT -5 gojeffgoroyunder7 said:

Guys,

this is great for both sides. Nikita had one good game here. Yea, he hustled, but that doesn't make you a good basketball player. We all kind of weren't so happy when he would check into the game because we would much rather see Hollis/Jerrelle or even Henry get in before him. He was also too aggressive in that he would always pick up stupid fouls. We can definitely use the scholarship--perhaps bring in another big for next year--Mo?

If we get Roscoe, Nikita would literally never play again. Good luck to him, it just wasn't the right fit. This scholarship could really help us down the line, however.

To be fair, it was two good games, the other being the win at Villanova: 11 points on 4 of 5 shooting, 3 rebounds (2 OREB), 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 TOs in 21 minutes. I'd take a stat line like that. Too bad it was a one-time occurrence.

[DFW HOYA]

"Mescheriakov becomes the ninth Hoya in the last five seasons to leave Georgetown before his eligibility expired." And it's 11 since the spring of 2005.

This kind of erosion is really hurting this program, whether the coaches want to say so or not. And when a team with nine scholarship players begins to falter this year, look no further.

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/22/AR2009122201508.html

[the_way]

Dec 22, 2009 13:08:24 GMT -5 gtowndynasty said:

See my concern is not for Nikita. I understand his limitations and that his departure will not impact the on court performance one bit. But Nikita's departure is a microcosm of a bigger issue. Would you take that stance if it was Vee or Henry that decided to leave? No you wouldnt. But his reasoning for leaving could in fact be the same reasoning that either of them decided to leave. You have to play more players!!!!!!

We have a 6 man rotation right now. It could easily be 8 if Jerelle and Vee played. At some point, 3 minutes is not gonna be enough for guys that know they could go elsewhere and play. I mean seriously how do you think Vee feels watching Chris turn the ball over and take wild shots-when we are up by 15 points. I know how Id feel...

Bottom line 3 needs to utilize his bench or cats will continue to leave and the program will be a revolving door. It takes too long for a guy to come in and learn this system so when a guy finally does it and then leaves, it hurts us more than anything because he cant be immediately replaced. It will take his replacement a while before feeling comfortable within it.

III utilizes players who can be utilized.

Are you saying that if Jeff Green was on the bench today, he would not get in the game because III likes a 6 to 7 man rotation?

cmon.

Maybe III isn't playing Henry, Jerelle and Vee that much for a reason.

I mean Hollis gets playing time, does he not?

What is the difference between Hollis and Henry, Jerelle and Vee?

Is it because Hollis and III share the same last name?

[lichoya68]

ouch need bodies had hoped hed step up OUCH good luck to him best of luck to him and we do need bodies yup go hoyas beat harvard will he play wed or does he have to be gone first or second semester ouch

[JohnJacquesLayup]

In a telephone interview, Thompson dismissed any concern about depth. "Nikita has been part of what we've done here, and we'll miss him," Thompson said. "But at the same time, I'm extremely confident in the group that we have here and that wants to be here."

I feel like the "wants to be here" comment has come from JTIII before. Just a guess, but perhaps when players express concerns over playing time, and inform coach that they would consider leaving for more playing time, his attitude is basically "Alright, good luck to you." Not that I agree or disagree with the approach, but this seems to be a common theme with our transfers.

[DanMcQ]

To be fair, 2 of the 9 (Jeff Green, DaJuan Summers) left early to go to the NBA.

Another interesting quote in the Liz Clarke article linked above (especially the bolded part):

In a telephone interview, Thompson dismissed any concern about depth. "Nikita has been part of what we've done here, and we'll miss him," Thompson said. "But at the same time, I'm extremely confident in the group that we have here and that wants to be here."

[SFHoya99]

So, wait, now we're worried about hypothetical transfers?

I'll go on the record as being very upset if Austin Freeman decides to transfer.

Seriously, I agree with some of the PT discussion, especially in blowouts, but you need to weight that against winning games as well.

[tjm62]

Hmm...

I don't think Nikita's transfer really hurts us on the court, so that shouldn't be a problem. I do hope we use the extra scholarship soon though to fill the depth.

The only problem I have with this is that I think it hurts Georgetown's reputation, both because we are not graduating players (on a more generalized level) and because it will be fodder used against Georgetown in the recruiting process ("look how many people are unhappy there"). Obviously, the latter line of reasoning doesn't tell the whole story, but anything that might hurt our ability to bring in depth, such as a perception (however spurious) that JTIII doesn't give bench players/underclassmen enough playing time, is a blow to the program.

At the end of the day, running a slower-paced, more deliberate offense means that it is somewhat less necessary to reach deep into the bench. We will have to contend moving forward about how this affects the guys 9th, 10th, or lower on the depth charts.

And here's crossing fingers that Nikita knows something we don't about Roscoe.

[HoyaFanNY]

depth isn't a problem. i'm actually much more comfortable with vee and jerelle on the floor than i was with nikita. nothing personal against him, it's just that he was too weak defensively and on the boards. i love this team and our bench, even after the train wreck last saturday.

[theexorcist]

I wanted Nikita to do well, but he had moved into "Macklin shooting free throws" territory - any time he showed any sort of burst of competency, everyone overcompensated. He was not doing well playing basketball at Georgetown, so maybe he needs a new fit.

I'm cool with losing players in mid-semester because, if they're not on the rotation and get annoyed that they're not, they become a potential problem for chemistry. Given the uniqueness of the system, you want to make sure that the staff is recruiting good players for it, but sometimes recruiters miss.

[DFW HOYA]

It's a coach's job (particualrly in recruiting) to make players want to be there, and comments like that are unnecessary in a public forum. The coach ought to know better.

This board would have gone ballistic if Thompson's predecessor had made such statements, and rightly so.

Dec 22, 2009 13:25:03 GMT -5 DanMcQ said:

In a telephone interview, Thompson dismissed any concern about depth. "Nikita has been part of what we've done here, and we'll miss him," Thompson said. "But at the same time, I'm extremely confident in the group that we have here and that wants to be here."

[the_way]

Plus, it looks like the number of players "who want to be here", especially the ones with talent, is getting smaller and smaller

[tjm62]

Dec 22, 2009 13:35:24 GMT -5 DFW HOYA said:

It's a coach's job (particualrly in recruiting) to make players want to be there, and comments like that are unnecessary in a public forum. The coach ought to know better.

This board would have gone ballistic if Thompson's predecessor had made such statements, and rightly so.

Dec 22, 2009 13:25:03 GMT -5 DanMcQ said:

I agree that the remark sounds a little snarky/passive aggressive, but it's also possible that JTIII was just sort of plainly referring to the fact that any player who transfers pretty clearly simply does 'not want to be there'.

[gtowndynasty]

Dec 22, 2009 13:22:04 GMT -5 the_way said:

Dec 22, 2009 13:08:24 GMT -5 gtowndynasty said:

See my concern is not for Nikita. I understand his limitations and that his departure will not impact the on court performance one bit. But Nikita's departure is a microcosm of a bigger issue. Would you take that stance if it was Vee or Henry that decided to leave? No you wouldnt. But his reasoning for leaving could in fact be the same reasoning that either of them decided to leave. You have to play more players!!!!!!

We have a 6 man rotation right now. It could easily be 8 if Jerelle and Vee played. At some point, 3 minutes is not gonna be enough for guys that know they could go elsewhere and play. I mean seriously how do you think Vee feels watching Chris turn the ball over and take wild shots-when we are up by 15 points. I know how Id feel...

Bottom line 3 needs to utilize his bench or cats will continue to leave and the program will be a revolving door. It takes too long for a guy to come in and learn this system so when a guy finally does it and then leaves, it hurts us more than anything because he cant be immediately replaced. It will take his replacement a while before feeling comfortable within it.

III utilizes players who can be utilized.

Are you saying that if Jeff Green was on the bench today, he would not get in the game because III likes a 6 to 7 man rotation?

cmon.

Maybe III isn't playing Henry, Jerelle and Vee that much for a reason.

I mean Hollis gets playing time, does he not?

What is the difference between Hollis and Henry, Jerelle and Vee?

Is it because Hollis and III share the same last name?

So Vee, Jerelle, henry cant be utilized? Bottom line is that when Vee and even Jerelle are in the game they do fine. It is not like when Henry is in the game and he is turning the ball over b/c he is overthinking things. Any decent recruiter can get guys in, but it is something different pertaining to keeping guys there. You have to throw these kids a bone and make them feel a part of things.

So to further expound on my initial point, more guys need pt ESPECIALLY IN GAMES WHERE THE OUTCOME HAS BEEN DETERMINED. Otherwise, dont be shocked to hear that guys wanna leave to programs where they can get in the game.

Besides that, for the greater good of the program, do you honestly think that a team can compete at the highest level playing 6 guys? I dont.

[FrazierFanatic]

I have another concern that may be tangential, but may be relevant. I would think that practice would be more beneficial if we have enough healthy bodies who understand the offense and can run it with some competence. As the season goes on and players get nagging injuries, this becomes more of an issue. Similarly, improvement comes when you have a solid bench that can push the regulars in practice and help them improve. When you have 9 scholarship players(including 2 freshman who have seen very little time) and 2 walk-ons, that all becomes a problem, especially with a team that still has some glaring deficiencies. I'm not thinking specifically about Nikita or Omar, but these are added concerns to those already mentioned about our transfer pattern.

[DanMcQ]

DFW, don't you think this case could be as simple as the player going to the coach and asking for/demanding more playing time, the Coach saying that's not how we do it here, and the player then saying he wants to go elsewhere in that case? What is the Coach supposed to do in that case?

[the_way]

III would love to play guys more if they could play more.

Problem is, they can't at this point in time.

When III had a greater number of talented players on his roster, he played more people.

When doesn't, he plays a short rotation (his 1st year here).

[JohnJacquesLayup]

Think transfers contribute to the low number of guys that can play well enough that III would put them in the game? Kinda hard to have enough quality players when they all leave before their 21st birthday.

[FrazierFanatic]

Dynasty - part of the problem may be tha with our relative youth and the mess that last season became, III may feel a need to get the starters as much game experience as possible, which can become a dangerous tightrope to walk when you need more contributions from the bench down the road due to foul trouble, injury, stamina, etc.