FLHoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Proud Member of Generation Burton
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Post by FLHoya on Jan 28, 2012 22:32:11 GMT -5
Cutting to do the basket at less than full speed is an utter waste of time in the Princeton offense. And that's what this team did for almost the entire the first half. The player with the ball makes no effort to beat his man off the dribble and those without the ball jog around the court. It wasn't Pitt's defense, it was putrid offensive sets. Again. There's a quote I keep thinking about every time our offense stagnates this season--and that's been a depressingly frequent occurrence in the last two months. It's from one of the pre-season videos, very likely the China documentary. Coach Thompson's instructing players during a practice, and he explains somewhat forcefully that even if you aren't sure what you're doing when you cut, CUT HARD. In general, there's a lack of aggressiveness to the whole thing. I don't buy the notion that the Princeton offense is inherently more deliberate or less aggressive. It's all in the execution and the mentality. We can get Henry or Hollis in the low post quite easily through a normal Princeton set, but that's no good if both are going away from the hoop for running hooks and fade-aways. We can also readily clear the lane for drives, but need to be more consistent attacking off high screens. We keep having to re-define who exactly in the Big East plays the kind of "aggressive" defense that "always gives us trouble". First it's WVU after that loss...and oh btw Cincy does the same stuff. Then it's hack-tacular Rutgers. And well, Jamie Dixon's teams always mess us up... ...at a certain point, it's probably just us not being aggressive enough to overcome it. That's a mentality/execution thing more than coaching, IMO. Besides, who in the Big East doesn't do at least something aggressive on D? Shoot, Cuse is probably the most aggressive team in the conference and they play zone. If we get to 12-6 that would be spectacular, but our trajectory has flattened. Without a good bounce back against You Con we are approaching 10-8. I believe we can do it. Which part. After the SJU game I pegged 12-6 as something to shoot for. We were 4-2 after SJU (the one-third mark), and are now 6-3 halfway through...so on that same pace. Little bit tougher after today to hit 4-2 in the middle third, as we'll need 2 of 3 from UConn, USF, and Cuse...although this was always the hardest third. Seems like a year when 12-6 will get a double-bye, which would be a tremendous accomplishment: By tomorrow night, there will be a maximum of 3 teams tied for third in the conference with three losses--GU, the winner of ND-UConn, and USF* if they beat Providence. At least four teams behind at 4 losses. The question becomes: does a WVU, Cincy, UL, ND type have a 7-2 second half in them? (*USF's schedule has been kind of unbalanced. Their last five: at Pitt, at Cuse, Cincy, at Louisville, WVU ) Of course, the pertinent question right now is: what kind of second half do we have in us? The last few weeks haven't exactly given off the warm fuzzies... ...but the good news is, poor offensive showings aside and whatever that defensive abomination was today, you can't UN-win those games. 6-3 with questions is still 6-3.
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hoyazeke
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
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Post by hoyazeke on Jan 28, 2012 22:36:57 GMT -5
This was a very winnable game. I cant believe that Patterson and Robinson went for almost 40pts and at around 90%. A few things that bothered me while watching the game........ 1.) If JT3 calls another TO when we have momentum to try and make sure we dont have a bad series, I will blow a gasket. Seriously, am I the only one that hate those momentum killing TOs? 2') We miss too many bunnies. Henry, Gregg, and Hollis are killing our O by missing easy put backs. Hollis gets to the rim and misses a uncontested finger roll, Gregg always misses putbacks and Henry leaves too many shots short. 3.) Nate gave us nothing today. He was all over the place in the zone but where he was suppose to be. His J is worst and he seems to be losing confidence in his postup game. 4.) What happened to Jason's J? He hasnt shot well since OT against Missouri. Im exaggerating. I know there was the Quette game but he has not been able to put games together. 5.) We really need someone that can create easy buckets for this team when the Princeton isnt working and Js arent falling. Rysheed come on down...............
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calhoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 4,381
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Post by calhoya on Jan 28, 2012 22:38:27 GMT -5
Today's game was a continuation of recent very inconsistent play by this game. For those who are disappointed--- where have you been? We have been barely getting by some weak teams because of inconsistent play, particularly by the three upper class players. Hollis has been disappearing for long stretches of time, not contributing on defense and playing inconsistently on offense. Henry has been good and bad in every game, with a definite fall-off in overall performance. Jason has been the best of the three, but still not providing the leadership needed. As for the freshmen and Nate, well it is a roller coaster ride.
This team goes nowhere without Nate. Ditto for it's chances without Hollis.
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skyhoya
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 2,496
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Post by skyhoya on Jan 28, 2012 22:42:17 GMT -5
will Hollywood be ready for UCONN? It's in four days
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richfame
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 3,266
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Post by richfame on Jan 28, 2012 23:11:19 GMT -5
Wow, Just watched the game on DVR. What a disaster. Here are my thoughts(I appoligize if any of these points have been expressed in previous pages of this thread)
1. I dont understad JT3'S substution patterns. Markel didnt play much in teh first half. Hollis didnt play much in the second half. Also I was surprised to see Whit get so many minutes.
2. Ive been on this Hollis thing from early on this season. Ive called him a floater, now hes just playing aweful and hurting us. Hollis is a poor defensive player and now hes a poor offensive player. He gets his token three in the first half and then you dont see him again! Hes brutal.
3. The first half was just a continuation of Rutgers. Markel was on the bench/no show, Hollis was a no show, Henry was in passive long jump shot mode and we were getting little from Lubic.
4. Jason, is a player I really respect the problem Is he has the slowest jumpshot and he cannot get it off unless our passing is fast and crisp.
Overall disspaointing. Good news is at least Hollis will be back next yer and maybe he can tweak his game and have a monster year next year.
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Post by professorhoya on Jan 28, 2012 23:15:44 GMT -5
Wow, Just watched the game on DVR. What a disaster. Here are my thoughts(I appoligize if any of these points have been expressed in previous pages of this thread) 1. I dont understad JT3'S substution patterns. Markel didnt play much in teh first half. Hollis didnt play much in the second half. Also I was surprised to see Whit get so many minutes. 2. Ive been on this Hollis thing from early on this season. Ive called him a floater, now hes just playing aweful and hurting us. Hollis is a poor defensive player and now hes a poor offensive player. He gets his token three in the first half and then you dont see him again! Hes brutal. 3. The first half was just a continuation of Rutgers. Markel was on the bench/no show, Hollis was a no show, Henry was in passive long jump shot mode and we were getting little from Lubic. 4. Jason, is a player I really respect the problem Is he has the slowest jumpshot and he cannot get it off unless our passing is fast and crisp. Overall disspaointing. Good news is at least Hollis will be back next yer and maybe he can tweak his game and have a monster year next year. 1. Markel picked up 2 early fouls. That's why he was on the bench in the first half. 2. Hollis is hurt. Groin and leg injury. 4. Jason's a streak shooter because he doesn't have enough arc on his shot. He has less of a margin of error because he's not using the whole basket due to his low arc. Hollis will be gone at the end of the year. He will be in the NBA as a 6-8 3pt specialist.
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Post by daytonahoya31 on Jan 28, 2012 23:24:34 GMT -5
Hollis being gone opens up time for Greg and Jabril and Aaron Bowen. I would be fine with that. For the record, I do think he's gone. But he's so far from an NBA guy right now, it's laughable. And the groin thing is just an excuse. He felt well enough to play hard in the last two minutes. If he's THAT hurt, don't play at all. The injury excuse goes out the window when you lace em up
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richfame
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 3,266
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Post by richfame on Jan 28, 2012 23:34:04 GMT -5
Wow, Just watched the game on DVR. What a disaster. Here are my thoughts(I appoligize if any of these points have been expressed in previous pages of this thread) 1. I dont understad JT3'S substution patterns. Markel didnt play much in teh first half. Hollis didnt play much in the second half. Also I was surprised to see Whit get so many minutes. 2. Ive been on this Hollis thing from early on this season. Ive called him a floater, now hes just playing aweful and hurting us. Hollis is a poor defensive player and now hes a poor offensive player. He gets his token three in the first half and then you dont see him again! Hes brutal. 3. The first half was just a continuation of Rutgers. Markel was on the bench/no show, Hollis was a no show, Henry was in passive long jump shot mode and we were getting little from Lubic. 4. Jason, is a player I really respect the problem Is he has the slowest jumpshot and he cannot get it off unless our passing is fast and crisp. Overall disspaointing. Good news is at least Hollis will be back next yer and maybe he can tweak his game and have a monster year next year. 1. Markel picked up 2 early fouls. That's why he was on the bench in the first half. 2. Hollis is hurt. Groin and leg injury. 4. Jason's a streak shooter because he doesn't have enough arc on his shot. He has less of a margin of error because he's not using the whole basket due to his low arc. Hollis will be gone at the end of the year. He will be in the NBA as a 6-8 3pt specialist. Honestly Im not going to give Hollis a pass. First of all before he supposedly got hurt he was floating through games. Secondly If Hollis is well enough to drill a three early in the game, and hes well enough to sprint up and down the floor and if hes well enough to jump around out there hes not that hurt. Hes either in a huge mid season slump or hes overrated. Further more how is he going to be a 3 point specialist in NBA when hes struggling getting his shot off in the NCAA??!!
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Post by professorhoya on Jan 28, 2012 23:53:02 GMT -5
Honestly Im not going to give Hollis a pass. First of all before he supposedly got hurt he was floating through games. Secondly If Hollis is well enough to drill a three early in the game, and hes well enough to sprint up and down the floor and if hes well enough to jump around out there hes not that hurt. Hes either in a huge mid season slump or hes overrated. Further more how is he going to be a 3 point specialist in NBA when hes struggling getting his shot off in the NCAA??!! If you have a point or combo guard who can dribble penetrate and kick it out like (Chris Wright, Johnny Flynn, Steve Nash, Chris Paul, Rubio, even a Peyton Siva etc, etc) then yeah he will be open and get his shot off. We do not have that this year. Clark is the only guy who can dribble penetrate but Clark doesn't pass the ball he goes right to the basket. Other than that it's just pass it around the perimeter and that's not going to create space for anybody.
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Post by bicentennial on Jan 29, 2012 0:22:40 GMT -5
When we started out down against Memphis and Alabama we used the PRess. What happened to our press???
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Post by professorhoya on Jan 29, 2012 0:30:40 GMT -5
When we started out down against Memphis and Alabama we used the PRess. What happened to our press??? You have to be able to score to press. Also I think Gibbs and Woodall's handles and speed are too good to effectively press them.
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Post by berrypatch26 on Jan 29, 2012 7:50:48 GMT -5
Just finished reading a story about the Orlando Magic, who lost several recent games unexpectedly too. Dwight Howard, had these words for his teammates: “The team we played tonight, they’ve been playing hard all season. They just haven’t won. And then they played hard tonight and they killed us. They killed us because they just played hard and they wanted it. Everybody on that team wanted to win tonight. That’s the only thing that matters,” he said.
“We are winning. You can’t just go out every night and expect a team to just fold because you’re winning, because you’re having a good record.”
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NCHoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 2,927
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Post by NCHoya on Jan 29, 2012 8:25:39 GMT -5
Wow, Just watched the game on DVR. What a disaster. Here are my thoughts(I appoligize if any of these points have been expressed in previous pages of this thread) 1. I dont understad JT3'S substution patterns. Markel didnt play much in teh first half. Hollis didnt play much in the second half. Also I was surprised to see Whit get so many minutes. 2. Ive been on this Hollis thing from early on this season. Ive called him a floater, now hes just playing aweful and hurting us. Hollis is a poor defensive player and now hes a poor offensive player. He gets his token three in the first half and then you dont see him again! Hes brutal. 3. The first half was just a continuation of Rutgers. Markel was on the bench/no show, Hollis was a no show, Henry was in passive long jump shot mode and we were getting little from Lubic. 4. Jason, is a player I really respect the problem Is he has the slowest jumpshot and he cannot get it off unless our passing is fast and crisp. Overall disspaointing. Good news is at least Hollis will be back next yer and maybe he can tweak his game and have a monster year next year. Markel got 2 quick fouls so that is why he sat the first half. I was disappointed because I was hoping Markel would be the aggressive player we need on offense. I agree with your comments about Hollis, he has struggled and is proving himself to be simply a spot-up shooter, who is not willing (not unable) to create his own shot. Perhaps his confidence is down, but he needs to just keep taking the shots that are there. He may leave at the end of this year, but it will not be to the NBA.
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skyhoya
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 2,496
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Post by skyhoya on Jan 29, 2012 8:41:31 GMT -5
I think Hollis can graduate this spring, if he doesn't go to the league, he has one year of eligibility left.
As far as him playing the whole game, the team doesn't pass him the ball for long stretches, therefore he disappears. PITT had him locked down and he wasn't open.
I think there is a chemistry issue like there was with Jessie and Chris
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guru
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 6,652
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Post by guru on Jan 29, 2012 9:01:28 GMT -5
I think there is a chemistry issue like there was with Jessie and Chris Huh? Where in the world did you come up with this?
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sleepy
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 6,079
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Post by sleepy on Jan 29, 2012 9:49:56 GMT -5
We pressed yesterday, and they attacked it and scored very easily off it. Its the same press we have used all year without any adjustments everyone has seen it and for the most part handled it very easily.
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richfame
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 3,266
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Post by richfame on Jan 29, 2012 10:00:40 GMT -5
I think there is a chemistry issue like there was with Jessie and Chris Huh? Where in the world did you come up with this? I dont understand this chemestry comment. First of all we are not in the lockeroom and second of all I think this teams biggest strength has been its chemestry. All weve been talking about is how these kids have meshed together well and just want to win. I think the bigger problem is how our offense lacks aggression at times. We arent attacking on offense. We need to drive and kick more. Clark and Hollis need open threes to thrive. Unfort. Clark seems to me the only guy that will take it to the whole(maybe trawick) But he cant kick it to himself. That passive weave at the top of the key sometime just doesnt get out shooters open with enough space to shoot.
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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, 2012 10:04:25 GMT -5
UGLY game as henry said it "wasn't good " no rebbies no d no hitting shots MOVE MOVE MOVE and move on Uconn next with Boatright yup they just get tougher gotta WRIGHT the ship NOW. tempus fugit IT REALLY IS FEBRUARY NOW AND THIS COUNTS.. go hoyas get your mojo back..MUST WIN
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skyhoya
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 2,496
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Post by skyhoya on Jan 29, 2012 10:17:42 GMT -5
chemistry? when was the last time Jason or Hollis drove to the basket and passed? on the other hand, Otto looks first to get the ball to Henry, the kid understands the game.
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Post by HoyaSinceBirth on Jan 29, 2012 10:41:16 GMT -5
I wouldn't call it chemistry, at least not in the traditional sense that people are thinking. I don't think it's that people on the team don't like each other or are out for themselves. But I do think there's something slightly off. Many times on offense yesterday I'd notice that things would get out of sorts and the person with the ball would try and direct people and tell them where to go and it seemed like the other player either disagreed or was just confused. They seemed to be arguing at points while running the offense.
Again people let's take a step back to the beginning of the season. We're 16-4 6-3 in the BE and Going to be in the top 15 of the Polls. Let's all take a deep breath. Didn't we all say this would be an up and down year? I'm sure plenty have gotten in the trap of re-evaluating this team based on early success and got greedy and wanted more. We knew the team would be inconsistent. We knew we'd win some games we arguably shouldn't and lose some games we arguably shouldn't.
Pitt really isn't that bad. Especially when they are at full strength, at home, and motivated.
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