On the Floor

[michaelgrahamfan]

I was the guest at the MU game last night and was 2 rows off the floor. A few observations.

1. Greg was outworked by Hayward all night long. He seemed to assume that if he touched the ball first he was going to maintain possession. That is not the way it works with a team as motivated as MU.

2. MU has very few upper classmen but appeared to have much more team leadership on the floor. I honestly do not know whose team this is since Jeff left.

3. Why why why would you take a shot with 7.5 secs left when you are only down 1? That was very troubling.

4. If Clark really has a great motor why was he pulled so often? He was very rarely involved in the offense as was Chris.

5. The MU fans that took me to the game were laughing about the lack of passing inside to Greg. At the beginning of the game they thought that we would go right at Hayward and he would be out by half with no answer from their thin bench.

Without a change in team chemistry, which is unlikely, a first round exist is around the most one can hope for at the Dance. We were beaten by a team that wanted it more and had less talent and a lack of depth equal to ours.

[Boz]

I honestly can't believe you just mentioned the words "team chemistry" with this squad.

I'm also glad that six straight games in double figures by Monroe have been completely washed out by a poor game last night and this result has sealed our fate to a first round exit. My winter and spring are now free and I don't have to watch basketball anymore. What a relief.

[guru]

Jan 7, 2010 10:35:00 GMT -5 michaelgrahamfan said:

I was the guest at the MU game last night and was 2 rows off the floor. A few observations.

1. Greg was outworked by Hayward all night long. He seemed to assume that if he touched the ball first he was going to maintain possession. That is not the way it works with a team as motivated as MU.

2. MU has very few upper classmen but appeared to have much more team leadership on the floor. I honestly do not know whose team this is since Jeff left.

3. Why why why would you take a shot with 7.5 secs left when you are only down 1? That was very troubling.

4. If Clark really has a great motor why was he pulled so often? He was very rarely involved in the offense as was Chris.

5. The MU fans that took me to the game were laughing about the lack of passing inside to Greg. At the beginning of the game they thought that we would go right at Hayward and he would be out by half with no answer from their thin bench.

Without a change in team chemistry, which is unlikely, a first round exist is around the most one can hope for at the Dance. We were beaten by a team that wanted it more and had less talent and a lack of depth equal to ours.

You were the guest? What an honor. Your anaysis of the game and of this team's prospects are is laughable.

[tashoya]

No to number 3 and no to what should be number six. And, if I read this correctly, Greg wasn't involved, Jason wasn't involved and Chris wasn't involved. So it was MU playing just Austin and Julian or did Hollis and Jerrelle run all of the offense?

[JohnnyJones]

Jan 7, 2010 10:35:00 GMT -5 michaelgrahamfan said:

3. Why why why would you take a shot with 7.5 secs left when you are only down 1? That was very troubling.

I don't think it is troubling at all. In fact, it made perfect sense to me. You take that shot then because there is a greater than 50% chance that it is not going to go in - so you extend the game. If you miss you have a chance for a rebound or, more likely/importantly, a quick foul. Down only one, even if they hit both free throws, it is still a one possession game and 7.5 seconds, which is a lot of time.

If, on the other hand, you make it, then you have to defend for the last 7.5 seconds and hope they don't make a shot to win the game at the buzzer. I would rather take that chance than hold for a last shot that if you miss results in a loss with no 2nd chance.

I thought our end game strategy, from a timing perspective, was just fine.

[lichoya68]

IT HURTS but i think michael graham fan has some valid points GREGS GOTTA BE TOUGHER ESPECIALLY FOR UCONN ON SAT GOTTA BE ADN WE GOTTA PROTECT THE BALL AND MOVE and hustle and hit the board not his or our best game come on hoyas lets get it going NOW

[gsurus1]

Also:

2) Of the 7 Marquette players getting virtually all of their minutes, three are seniors, three are juniors and 1 is a sophomore. I believe that they start only juniors and seniors. Marquette has a huge % of upperclassmen on the floor at all times. We, on the other hand, as you know, have only three upperclassmen in our first seven, none of whom are seniors. This point is completely off base.

4) Jason Clark played 36 minutes last night. When exactly was he "pulled so often".

No question some of the other points are valid. Monroe's lack of aggression/motor has been very noticeable, and harmful to the team, beginning with the ODU game, Clark has regressed noticeably in all facets of his game since being the best player on the team for the first half of the season, the lack of perimeter close-outs on defense against a team with no real inside presence, or even penetrating guards, is concerning, and the bench continues to give us next to nothing. However, despite all of this and despite the fact that every important Marquette shot seemed to fall all game, even the tough, contested ones, that we missed a couple of layups that might have changed the game, and that we were called for several off-ball fouls that seemed questionable, it was anyone's game at the end against a good team playing at home - one that could easily be ranked if one or 2 shots vs WV and Villanova had gone the other way. I think that a "good loss" comes along only once every few years, and this wasn't one of them, but on the spectrum of losses this wasn't a bad one. Disapponting , yes, somewhat concerning for the reasons noted above, yes, but if you had said before the game that they'd hit threes the way that they did, outrebound us, and that Monroe and Wright would score in single figures I'd have predicted far worse.

[Filo]

I think most of those points were pretty much shown to be lame based on the responses below. As for:

Jan 7, 2010 10:35:00 GMT -5 michaelgrahamfan said:

1. Greg was outworked by Hayward all night long. He seemed to assume that if he touched the ball first he was going to maintain possession. That is not the way it works with a team
as motivated as MU.

Greg generally had a bad game. As has been discussed ad nauseam here, Greg needs to work on his strength and he needs to stop putting the ball on the floor when he is under the basket. I guess others disagree, but I don't think it has much to do with getting outworked, which implies motivation / desire.

Jan 7, 2010 10:35:00 GMT -5 michaelgrahamfan said:

5. The MU fans that took me to the game were laughing about the lack of passing inside to Greg. At the beginning of the game they thought that we would go right at Hayward and he would be out by half with no answer from their thin bench.

Were they laughing when Vaugh went on his extended dunking spree because Greg was able to draw the defense out? It would be nice to get Greg the ball more, but he was drawing double teams all night. I really don't think this team has the same issues getting Greg the ball that past teams had in getting Roy the ball.

[michaelgrahamfan]

I appreciate the lively responses. Why is team chemistry such a joke? I do not understand that response. If that is not the goal you should take the spring off. As regards the 7.5 second comment I would refer you to the Nova and WV games. Granted their shots fell and ours did not, however I would have like to have seen an all or nothing shot at the end of the game which we would have "stolen" if we had won. Many thanks to guru for his constructive comment to clarify I was the guest of a group of MU fans which held the seats. Clearly the most relevant comment regarding our team and its future.

[KHoyaNYC]

Reynolds hit his shot for Villanova with 18.1 seconds left. Not sure I follow.

The shot was fine.

Monroe needs to take more shots. Period.

[SirSaxa]

Jan 7, 2010 15:43:17 GMT -5 KHoyaNYC said:

Monroe needs to take more shots. Period.

That is the most important point of this entire thread.

[daytonahoya31]

I disagree vehemently with that.

Of our starting five, Greg just may be the worst finisher we have. Maybe he's a better finisher than Clark. But he misses the easiest bunnies a 6-11 kid of his talent can miss. And he's done it every game this season. It cost us yesterday.

Chris and Austin are our two best offensive players.

Greg is our best passer and best rebounder.

Right now, offensively? Greg is a Robin. He's not a Batman. He's not Jeff.
We have the best backcourt in the league. That's who should be taking the shots until Greg can consistently make lay-ups.

That weak stuff he puts up is going to get ate up by UConn's bigs unless he starts to bring it.

[Boz]

Jan 7, 2010 15:26:13 GMT -5 michaelgrahamfan said:

I appreciate the lively responses. Why is team chemistry such a joke? I do not understand that response. If that is not the goal you should take the spring off.

Please provide the tiniest shred of evidence, a single iota of proof, that there are team chemistry issues with the 2009-10 Hoyas.

Until you can do that, I will continue to laugh derisively at such comments and whoever posts them.

If you mean team composition, say that. (But I'll laugh at that one too because I like the composition of this team, with the exception of lack of depth.)

[prhoya]

Greg's finishing around the basket should improve with one more year of college hoops under his belt.

[Cambridge]

I think the henry sims trending topic on twitter was definitive proof that this team, if nothing else, has genuine team chemistry.

[robbyt]

Jan 7, 2010 16:03:29 GMT -5 daytonahoya31 said:

I disagree vehemently with that.

Of our starting five, Greg just may be the worst finisher we have. Maybe he's a better finisher than Clark. But he misses the easiest bunnies a 6-11 kid of his talent can miss. And he's done it every game this season. It cost us yesterday.

Chris and Austin are our two best offensive players.

Greg is our best passer and best rebounder.

Right now, offensively? Greg is a Robin. He's not a Batman. He's not Jeff.
We have the best backcourt in the league. That's who should be taking the shots until Greg can consistently make lay-ups.

That weak stuff he puts up is going to get ate up by UConn's bigs unless he starts to bring it.

When I first read this I thought it was a joke. Greg is our worst finisher? Dude, the guy has made go-to shots look easy time and again, Gasol-like baseline spin moves etc., even last year he flushed crunch-time dunks. If there is an issue down the stretch

a) not getting him enough shots
b) in crunch time locking in on one option and not passing out of the double team (as in Freeman last night, although he did make some other great shots) and/or reversing the ball to the weak side

Overall, they
1) got off to a slow start, again, a chronic problem
2) bizarrely chose to play the final minutes with one real post player, shooting themselves in the foot against a team intent on team-rebounding out of its mind
3) still are not shutting down enough of the threes, as has been a problem in other games

When you start and finish this way it is a recipe for problems. The rest of the game was generally good enough for a W, Vaughan was super.

[richfame]

Graham is correct about one thing and thats his number 5 is one of the biggest problems we face. Why dont we give the ball to Greg in the post?? I understand the offense starts with him at the top of the key with his back to the basket. But I dont know whos fault it is. Is it greg thats too passive or is it the guards fault for not pump faking and throwing him a strong bounce pass?? Last night they did this and greg scored. Seems pretty stright forwad no? Greg is falling down the draft board cause of this very problem. He better get mean and better get the ball sooner rather than later...

[SFHoya99]

The play I'd like to see Greg master is something Roy was great at -- when they are fronting and you go over the top, put it right in.

Don't put the ball on the floor. That strip has happened a lot and it is because Greg takes too long. Roy would basically catch and shoot -- Greg needs to learn that.

[chep3]

Jan 7, 2010 15:26:13 GMT -5 michaelgrahamfan said:

I appreciate the lively responses. Why is team chemistry such a joke? I do not understand that response. If that is not the goal you should take the spring off. As regards the 7.5 second comment I would refer you to the Nova and WV games. Granted their shots fell and ours did not, however I would have like to have seen an all or nothing shot at the end of the game which we would have "stolen" if we had won.

JohnnyJones is 100% right. You take that shot early and not at the buzzer so you get a chance to get an OReb, or you get to foul. Plus, its the way we do it. Against Vandy, they still had time for a desperation heave. And against UNC, they still had time to bring the ball up and get a solid look from Ellington (I think). Or should Jon have waited?

Frankly most of your assertions don't stand up to scrutiny. I will give you that Greg got outplayed to a surprising extent. But SF is 100% right. He should not have put the ball on the floor against Hayward on that key steal, but just shot right over him. He's going to have to learn that if he wants to cut down on his TOs.

[AvantGuardHoya]

Jan 7, 2010 16:03:29 GMT -5 daytonahoya31 said:

I disagree vehemently with that.

Of our starting five, Greg just may be the worst finisher we have. Maybe he's a better finisher than Clark. But he misses the easiest bunnies a 6-11 kid of his talent can miss. And he's done it every game this season. It cost us yesterday.

Chris and Austin are our two best offensive players.

Greg is our best passer and best rebounder.

Right now, offensively? Greg is a Robin. He's not a Batman. He's not Jeff.
We have the best backcourt in the league. That's who should be taking the shots until Greg can consistently make lay-ups.

That weak stuff he puts up is going to get ate up by UConn's bigs unless he starts to bring it.

GM's game has annoyed me from time to time, but as I recall he had an outstanding performance versus UConn and Hasheem Thabeet last year. Are this year's UConn bigs more fearsome?