BET Semis 3/14/15: Georgetown - Xavier Discussion

[DanMcQ]

Let's start over and act like adults. That is not a request.

[mfk24]

I also really like White as the point-forward running the offense a bit. He and Copeland played really well together. I think he assisted on 3 or 4 of Ike's shots. Too bad DSR disappeared tonight. Too much effort exerted yesterday?

[HometownHoya]

Take the last 8 minutes, stretch it over 40 and do it 6 more times.

[Massholya]

Damn. If that alley oop had connected....

[sleepy]

I know we lost BUT I think getting Copeland and White some confidence was probably more important going forward than a win. Hopefully they can carry it over to next week and get their buddy LJ going too. I would have liked one more game and the BET championship against Nova would have been nice, but at least there are some positives to pull from this game. Wasn't looking like there would be until the 7 minute mark.

[deacon]

Anyone who says this team doesn't play with fire and just started to play with emotion after the technical on Reynolds needs to just log off for the rest of the season and come back when you have a lick of sense.

Proud of the way they fought back. Actually looking forward to next week.

BTW, Providence is lucky to have someone like Ed Cooley leading their program. That's how you lead men.

[Big Dog]

Mar 13, 2015 23:17:34 GMT -5 DanMcQ said:

Let's start over and act like adults. That is not a request.

Dan it calmed down there after the comeback when the wallflowers with torches for JTIII quieted down.

[NCHoya]

I cannot see how this game hurts us emotionally, the team has to be encouraged to know, down 21 we could still come back and be within a lob pass of probably running away with it. Cope and White stepping up could pay HUGE dividends next week.

Proud of the response after a ridiculously cold shooting spell. Nothing wrong with the tactics or schemes, everything was fixed when the shots started to fall. The only thing, I wish we had started the press a little earlier, but really when you are down 21, hard to say what is appropriate.

And to those who were questioning the effort? Wow, you should all be embarrassed.

[Big Dog]

People when your shots go in and their's don't everybody looks like a genius. When it is the other way around--disaster. We are due for having the shots go in for a full NCAA weekend.

[beenaround]

Some poster said this game will be long forgotten in a week. Not by me. Copeland's magic down the stretch performance , Trawick's intensity and effort and PW for three, will stick with me for awhile.

[SaxaCD]

If Ike and White can bottle the confidence they showed in the last 6 or 7 minutes of that game and bring it to the NCAAs, this team is gonna be very tough, much tougher than what we saw at the BET prior to that time. My very favorite part of the whole game was the replay of Isaac screaming for the ball, receiving it and calmly nailing the big three pointer. THAT'S the Copeland we need, and Xavier had absolutely NO answer for it. I don't think many teams do. Biggest missed play in my opinion was the slightly too high pass on the alley-oop, but it was a really great play, and was right there for the taking. I think if we get that one, Xavier would have just wilted. Gutsy try and about an inch or two off on the execution.

[HometownHoya]

Anyone that was criticizing the team in the middle of the game, now's your chance. Let's hear your arguments! Now's the time for discussion.

[justsaying]

the last two games late we are down and then we start attacking out of desperation and then we start clicking; that it's what it takes in tourney ball. attacking from the start as if there is two minutes left and you are down. the whole game play as if you are desperate for points

[hoyajinx]

Admittedly, I was incredibly frustrated when we were down 20. I actually changed the channel for less than a minute, but flipped back. I think the fact that White had the confidence to take that corner three is going to be huge going forward. That, and Copeland just playing like a beast in the second half.

[Big Dog]

I think it was something about the program lacking urgency. Maybe the program adjusted during those last 8 minutes.

[hoyainla]

So was it the tech or the press that was the difference?

[Highsmith]

Proud of these guys. Yes they fell a little short but a lot of teams would have quit on this game.....they never did and almost pulled off an incredible win. Hopefully this game got Ike and Paul to see what they are capable of and will bring them confidence going into the tournament.

[Massholya]

Good thing three saved his timeouts. He needed them at the end and still didn't have enough. He really shouldn't be wasting those.

[SFHoya99]

Here's what just happened, and amazingly it can all be explained without discussion of effort, #want, bad coaching, etc. In fact, I wager if you took every possession and removed whether the shot went in, it'd be hard to tell which one was from which part of the game.

• We start off dominating behind a very active and effective Josh Smith. I didn't think he could do it. He did.
• After that, we miss every single open shot we take. Open threes, yes, but also several layups by people not named Josh. It's clear to Xavier that both Trawick and DSR are off early. They collapse their zone on Smith (who also goes out with foul trouble). We get plenty of open shots. We miss basically all of them, even our All BE POY. Trawick tries to force it, but know he can't hit from outside, so he's easy pickings.
• On the other side of the ball, Stainbrook and their outside shooters make their shots. This isn't luck -- all credit to them, but they aren't better shots than what we were getting. But they sink them. The early effectiveness from three keeps us from helping down in Stianbrook, who is sinking tough shots left and right.
• This basically continues until after there are less than 10 minutes left.
• Suddenly, we start making shots. And just like that, things open up. Because it's a lot harder to defend when you have to defend past the circle.
• On the other side of the ball, they begin to help us, not only with the tech but with missing a bunch of FTs. Which only seems fair because some of those calls were really ticky tack.
• At the end of the game, if we had executed on the wide open DSR three or the alley oop, I think we end up winning. After missing a bunch of FTs, they finally start making all of them. We come up just short, even with a bad game from DSR.

Streaky shooting teams like us do this. Any team is easy to defend when you don't have to defend the perimeter. And we're hard to defend when we make shots. It's not rocket science and there's no need to dig into people's character.

If there was a coaching mistake to my mind it was probably too much time with teams that had no chance of scoring, but I understand the thought -- when you can't make a shot try to generate turnovers. I just disagree.

This team will go entirely on shooting. It doesn't get a ton of great shots, like some of our teams, but it gets enough to be a Sweet Sixteen team. We just miss too many open shots and we really don't make a lot of difficult shots (DSR excluded). When you make 'em, the whole offense opens up. When you don't, people stop defending whole parts of the court.

[Big Dog]

I assume everyone realizes that isn't a Roy Hibbert or Otto Porter-like Top 10 team and that a few misses or makes here or there are going to be the difference in the tourney. It isn't going to be much deeper than that. I'm going to take the oxygen mask off, enjoy the next 6-7 days, and look forward to being in the Dance again. I know this group will bring their best effort. Let's see where the chips fall.