Georgetown @ Syracuse Game Discussion

[NCHoya]

I know I am in the minority, but as New York Gaints football fan, I have learned there are moral victories and this is one for sure. The Hoyas now know their potential is unlimited. They went to the #2 team's court and outplayed them. I think the guys, especially the frosh can learn a ton from this game. From here on out they should be confident and know they will not be playing in front of a hostile crowd that large again this season. If they could stare that in face and not blink, then they should know they can beat anyone. No more excuses the Hoyas should expect to win going forward.

Also, I thought the offense was very good last night, with the exception of the shot execution. As a coach, all you can do is put the players in a position to make a good play. That happened repeatedly. Many of Henry's and Hopkin's looks were very good and they simply needed to go down. So I do not agree with any criticism that says the offense was a problem last night. It will never be perfect so pick apart a few plays, whatever, but it was pretty damn solid against what is supposed to be Cuse's best zone since 2003.

[adlai]

Feb 9, 2012 11:28:07 GMT -5 NCHoya said:

I know I am in the minority, but as New York Gaints football fan, I have learned there are moral victories and this is one for sure. The Hoyas now know their potential is unlimited. They went to the #2 team's court and outplayed them. I think the guys, especially the frosh can learn a ton from this game. From here on out they should be confident and know they will not be playing in front of a hostile crowd that large again this season. If they could stare that in face and not blink, then they should know they can beat anyone. No more excuses the Hoyas should expect to win going forward.

Also, I thought the offense was very good last night, with the exception of the shot execution. As a coach, all you can do is put the players in a position to make a good play. That happened repeatedly. Many of Henry's and Hopkin's looks were very good and they simply needed to go down. So I do not agree with any criticism that says the offense was a problem last night. It will never be perfect so pick apart a few plays, whatever, but it was pretty damn solid against what is supposed to be Cuse's best zone since 2003.

+1

[Deleted]

Feb 9, 2012 11:31:39 GMT -5 adlai said:

Feb 9, 2012 11:28:07 GMT -5 NCHoya said:

I know I am in the minority, but as New York Gaints football fan, I have learned there are moral victories and this is one for sure. The Hoyas now know their potential is unlimited. They went to the #2 team's court and outplayed them. I think the guys, especially the frosh can learn a ton from this game. From here on out they should be confident and know they will not be playing in front of a hostile crowd that large again this season. If they could stare that in face and not blink, then they should know they can beat anyone. No more excuses the Hoyas should expect to win going forward.

Also, I thought the offense was very good last night, with the exception of the shot execution. As a coach, all you can do is put the players in a position to make a good play. That happened repeatedly. Many of Henry's and Hopkin's looks were very good and they simply needed to go down. So I do not agree with any criticism that says the offense was a problem last night. It will never be perfect so pick apart a few plays, whatever, but it was pretty damn solid against what is supposed to be Cuse's best zone since 2003.

+1

+2

[whipple]

I have no problem with the way Sims and Hopkins shot. When there is a foul, there is no field goal attempt. In my mind they were 2-2. Outisde of the Carrier Dome, the Hoya Bigs get those calls and Melo and Fair ride the pine.

Gotta keep shooting even if it is just to keep the defense from cheating off.

[Coast2CoastHoya]

I'm really proud of how the guys played last night. Sure, the loss hurts, and we could go back and forth about the home cookin', but I think we saw some really good things that are going to carry us far in March, especially the emergence of Mikael (once he gets some legs under himself and starts finishing better) as a solid front court player. Oh, and the fact that we have a 6'8'' shooting guard (but we already knew that).

SO many things could have broken our way that didn't, and we still went to OT and barely lost. Definitely no head hanging today (though my esteemed colleagues - the ones who dressed up my workspace in orange yesterday - had the heart to take it all down before I got in today! Good folks, those).

As a few of us at BlackFinn were saying last night, next year could be really, really exciting. If this freshman class stays together all four years, imagine what they could accomplish?

[757hoyafan]

Too bad Whit didn't make both freebies @ the end of regulation.. I'm surprised that Nate only played 7 mins.. He was ballin while he was in there.

[Hoyaholic]

Feb 9, 2012 11:59:35 GMT -5 757hoyafan said:

Too bad Whit didn't make both freebies @ the end of regulation.. I'm surprised that Nate only played 7 mins.. He was ballin while he was in there.

Ballin' is in the eye of the beholder I guess.

[guru]

Couple things: We played very well last night, but whoever wrote that it was the best our offense has ever looked against a Syracuse zone needs to go back and watch the BET game from 2010, when they were the 1 seed and we beat them as the 8. THAT was a clinic against the Cuse 2-3. Last night was good, but we can be even better, and I hope we get the chance to prove it in March.

Also, and not that rankings matter much at this (or any) stage of the season but there's no way we move up in the polls on the strength of this loss, as has been suggested by a few on this thread. I suppose if some teams ahead of us lose hideously or multiple times, we could. But voters don't pay enough attention to individual games to look much past the box score. With a loss, I think the best we can hope for is to stand pat.

Lastly, yes, this was a moral victory. We now know we can play with anyone in the country. Who knows what the postseason holds, but we should all be very optimistic about the potential for a nice run. We're due.

[EasyEd]

This is a special Hoya team.

[SFHoya99]

Feb 9, 2012 12:11:40 GMT -5 guru said:

Couple things: We played very well last night, but whoever wrote that it was the best our offense has ever looked against a Syracuse zone needs to go back and watch the BET game from 2010, when they were the 1 seed and we beat them as the 8. THAT was a clinic against the Cuse 2-3. Last night was good, but we can be even better, and I hope we get the chance to prove it in March.

Also, and not that rankings matter much at this (or any) stage of the season but there's no way we move up in the polls on the strength of this loss, as has been suggested by a few on this thread. I suppose if some teams ahead of us lose hideously or multiple times, we could. But voters don't pay enough attention to individual games to look much past the box score. With a loss, I think the best we can hope for is to stand pat.

Lastly, yes, this was a moral victory. We now know we can play with anyone in the country. Who knows what the postseason holds, but we should all be very optimistic about the potential for a nice run. We're due.

We almost always have a good gameplan against the Syracuse zone.

Last night it was mostly true as well -- I know what the poster was saying.

The team (Markel) took too many long, half-contested threes. The team (Sims and Hopkins) couldn't finish down low. The team had its best players (Hollis and Jason) assert themselves less than as much as you'd want.

And we still probably should have won.

If this team can improve it's execution on offense, it can be really dangerous. If not, we're going to have a lot of these close games.

[cusefaninvt]

Feb 9, 2012 10:56:29 GMT -5 sead43 said:

Feb 9, 2012 8:05:00 GMT -5 RockawayHoya said:

So was anyone able to find out if JTIII addressed the Hollis substitution disaster anywhere after the game?

curious about this too. why doesn't SID post the post-game presser videos on youtube after losses??

You can find the presser here.

www.suathletics.com/index.aspx?tab=basketball&path=mbasket

Under the video tab, middle right of the page.

Hope all that orange doesn't hurt your eyes too badly.

[GUJook97]

Feb 9, 2012 12:17:23 GMT -5 EasyEd said:

This is a special Hoya team.

I am beginning to believe that myself. I wouldnt be surprised if we went on an incredible tear. I dont remember ever seeing a Gtown team with so many contributing pieces. I think our downfall has been to rely t0o heavily on 1 or 2 guys in clutch times or when we get behind. Now, I see guys like Porter taking 15 footers in 2 point games with 5 minutes left.

[prhoya]

12-6, Jook? Do you believe?

[GUJook97]

Feb 9, 2012 13:11:21 GMT -5 prhoya said:

12-6, Jook? Do you believe?

We should be favored in every game but Marquette at this point. I think the game of the year may be the ND game. Who would have thought that?

[prhoya]

I did. 12-6. BTW, I hope I'm wrong and we win out. We'll be battling those two for the double byes.

[DanMcQ]

Hoya Post-Game Press Conference: www.suathletics.com/index.aspx?tab=basketball&path=mbasket

Coach Thompson "I shouldn't comment on Hollis not being able to get into the game."

[prhoya]

Hmm... Could be interpreted several ways...

[RDF]

OT a bit--but I'm sick and tired of hearing media say "It's a travesty that this rivalry will end....", Why? What makes it a travesty? If you want to call this out--then mention your part and by "your" I am referring to the greedy, ACC loving SOB's at ESPN who pushed for this move and got their wish. These people benefitted from Big East--it made their network's coverage of CBB and basically helped make them into what they grew into and Georgetown happened to be one of the programs who was on top at time. The reward to BE? We'll "F" them and help our "Darlings" at UNC/Duke have a better package to sell as a league since the ACC has been exposed as a 2 team league where anyone else is seen as fodder and nobody takes serious. ACC football doesn't matter to ESPN-because it's a laughable joke. Big East has actually done well in Bowl games and far better then ACC--of course I think Georgetown would win a BCS bowl more consistently then the crap ACC puts on field, but with addition of Tino Sunseri to ACC--crap is what they'll get plenty of from Big East.

Watching Boeheim address the media after the game, my favorite answer he gave was to SU student reporter who asked him to "rank" the game last night--and from tone you could tell the kid thought he just witnessed a classic game. Boeheim basically laid it out to him--"About 28, 30.....there were 20-30 games better then this before you were even born". His tone was not as much condescending as it was a quit trying to make something special that wasn't--or in other words--dont' be like ESPN.

I could care less about playing Syracuse in future--because Cuse as an ACC team isn't what they were/are as a BE team. They will NEVER be Duke/Carolina--their arrogant fanbase will think they can/will but soon learn what worked and was applauded overall in BE is frowned upon in ACC. So if that's what they wanted, goodbye.

[lurkerhoya]

Feb 9, 2012 11:01:55 GMT -5 kchoya said:

Feb 9, 2012 9:27:57 GMT -5 lurkerhoya said:

1. This team needs to learn from that last possession. It's not the first time this season we've gotten killed by missing the obvious defensive assignment in a big situation. JT3 calls them communication breakdowns or whatever, but the fact is, whoever missed that assignment (and yes I know who it was...) needs to remember how they felt after that game and NEVER let it happen again. I was watching it happen and I was screaming at the TV as Joseph drifted out to the wing. It was obvious to anyone what was going on and it simply can't be repeated. If you're going to win BETs, and major NCAA games, you're going to need to execute that one extra possession on offense or defense even in games where you've outplayed the other team for the bulk of the game. The toughest part of last night was that I think I can safely say everyone on this board saw that play developing before Joseph even had the ball and wished we could hit pause, call the Carrier Dome and tell JT3, "Make sure they know the only play that's going to happen is Joseph trying to slip out to the wing. It's the only play they've run all night." Alas, it don't work like that. I'd have loved anyone on the court to have realized you wanted Dion Waiters hoisting that shot 11 out of 10 times...

Easy to say when you're at home watching from the couch. In the spur of the moment in the middle of 29,500 morons with the clock running down is a lot different. The frosh screwed up. It wasn't the first time (see Whit losing track of Joesph in the 1st half for a wide open three on the break) and it won't be the last.

The thing is it has to be the last time though. If Dion Waiters is going to beat you with a three after going 1-6 in the game, you live with it. If some is going to beat you off the dribble and get to the hoop, you live with it. But one of two things happened:

1. JT3 did not fully explain to them that under no circumstances could the only shooter on their team with more than 3 FGs be allowed to be left open irregardless of the zone defense. Or,

2. The defensive assignment was known and was simply blown.

I get the heat of the moment, but losing a game because the other team's unquestioned hottest shooter got an uncontested three is a growing pain that can't be repeated. Granted, it's situational awareness that comes with experience, and last night that experience was gained. If Clark was the guy who blew the assignment after four years and 7 SUcks games, it would be inexcusable. If the first option is what happened, again, it can't be repeated. So, like I said, Whit gets a pass on the assumption that he's going to see the film and add a few more points to his basketball IQ.

[DFW HOYA]

Feb 9, 2012 13:38:52 GMT -5 RDF said:

OT a bit--but I'm sick and tired of hearing media say "It's a travesty that this rivalry will end....", Why? What makes it a travesty? If you want to call this out--then mention your part and by "your" I am referring to the greedy, ACC loving SOB's at ESPN who pushed for this move and got their wish.

Easy for us to say, but ESPN takes a dim view of talent that stray off the party line (Keith Olbermann) or who bring the Worldwide Leader bad press (Ron Franklin, Harold Reynolds, many others). For a pair of 70+ announcers, you don't bite the hand that feeds you.