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Post by GaithersburgHoya on May 16, 2024 7:20:56 GMT -5
Not landing a 5 man has been very frustrating. Mack and Peavy were great additions. Williams and Burks are guys with lots of potential.
But yes, there has been A LOT of talk this off-season, with not as much action.
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78HOYA78
Bulldog (over 250 posts)
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Post by 78HOYA78 on May 16, 2024 7:24:26 GMT -5
Pains me that we don't have a quality/dominate/physical center or two. We are in the Big East and without one it will be like last season - drive the middle on Georgetown and you will have no problems. Let's face it - I have played a little basketball and knowing that you have a big guy behind you is a mental boost.
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hoyariv71
Century (over 100 posts)
Posts: 164
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Post by hoyariv71 on May 16, 2024 7:28:50 GMT -5
Like it or not SORBER IS OUR STARTING CENTER and we should be praising Cooley for getting him, he’s big time !!!!!! ...I don't really think that is the argument though...I don't think there is a single person on here that is not thrilled about Sorber...I think he's going to be a beast... The problem is when Sorber and Fielder are in foul trouble, or one of them tweaks an ankle, or they miss a game for an illness...whatever scenario you want to play out...they have to have someone capable behind them to play the 5 and they don't... It's May 16th and not April 16th and there is nothing out there in the Portal that we seem to be on... You can do both...praise Cooley for Sorber and question him on how we have not been able to secure a backup Center by now... I agree, I’m as worried as everyone but I still think the Centers out there are still looking for spots they can start, we aren’t. We have our starting 5 plus good backups at every position, this is the last piece and confident we will get. On a side note, watch clips of Alex sobel , he’s from NY shoots 3s rebounds big boy, would love as a backup for 15 minutes a game. Again, don’t watch highlights looking for an all big East staring but a guy who can contribute, 8 pts 6 rebound a game |
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SSHoya
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
"Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown."
Posts: 19,374
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Post by SSHoya on May 16, 2024 7:38:17 GMT -5
Don't give up yet! There's still time!
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hoyaboya
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 12,750
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Post by hoyaboya on May 16, 2024 8:47:13 GMT -5
Like it or not SORBER IS OUR STARTING CENTER and we should be praising Cooley for getting him, he’s big time !!!!!! Seems like Cooley doesn't like it since he's been telling potential NIL donors that he still needs a starting center and he had Cliff O. on campus for an official visit within the last month. Cliff would not have been sitting behind Sorber. |
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conshyhoya
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
Posts: 857
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Post by conshyhoya on May 16, 2024 9:03:03 GMT -5
Who is it on? It’s May 16 and we don’t have a starting center next year., Despite it being the number one need going into the program. And cool telling people directly at fundraising events that we’re getting a big. My check will wait until we get that big Blueandgray is going to blame it on twitter accounts or something - but if your poaching attempt can't survive the program the player is signed to catching wind and upping their bid, what are you even doing? If you want to avoid that program catching wind, what are you doing in California telling people your first priority is a defensive Center and you are going after that defensive Center, much less leaking the name of that player to people like blueandgray (who then posted it on the board along with status reports)? I'm happy with virtually everything else done this offseason but madge is absolutely right - they knew in February that Center was the biggest need, they knew from last year when they whiffed on the 5 market on Hunter Dickinson that this is the toughest and most expensive position in the portal - and yet we had 0 strategy going into this other than throw money at the top of the market, just like last year with Dickinson. Same result. It's May 16th and we're scrambling with 0 targets, just like last year. They had an entire season where games didn't really matter and they could have scouted mid-majors or low-majors for any sort of defensive big - and I don't think they even considered that. Last year, we signed Supreme Cook on June 2. Supreme Cook is still out there, but part of the Hoops Club pitch was that they were going to improve on the defense in the middle, and Supreme went into the portal at the same time as the Omoruyi visit - if you had done absolutely nothing, he may have stayed. Cooley has backed himself into a corner here - they went in front of the Hoop Club in March promising a C. He's publicly acknowledged he needs a center in California. He can't punt on this one because he did that the previous year or point fingers. He needs to deliver a C for next year. But you need a Big East quality C, the only one out there is Onyenso, and UNC is about to smoke us in that recruitment. I thought it was reported that both sides are open to Cook possibly returning even before we whiffed on multiple other Cs. I prefer not to have that scenario and we already have seen that these insiders don't really know anything or nothing is working out so that may not even be the case. There are still some good 4s that can easily play both like Brazile, Hawkins, Mitchell or Toppin. I haven't seen much about Brazile or Toppin recruiting but I don't follow it closely. Overall my point is there are still some options but he needs to make something happen soon. |
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playtyler
Century (over 100 posts)
Posts: 249
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Post by playtyler on May 16, 2024 9:11:35 GMT -5
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jwp91
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 6,252
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Post by jwp91 on May 16, 2024 9:18:25 GMT -5
I am also disappointed not getting Dainja. Not sure everyone realizes that Memphis has FedEx money committed for NIL. Best I can tell, Memphis and Arkansas currently have the deepest pockets in the game. It is disappointing we couldn’t peel Dainja away.
I am conflicted - on one hand I understand the degree of difficulty given supply and demand and threading the needle and getting a sufficiently strong center to fill the need while also leaving some space for Fielder and Sorber. On the other hand, GU pays Cooley $6M to get this done. He had NIL resources as well. One of the risks with Cooley was that he could talk the talk but couldn’t walk the walk.
There is a chance that Fielder and Sorber are (mostly) ready. There is also an equally large chance that we won’t have enough fouls or that we will have an injury and find ourselves in a world a hurt. I guess Burks could play a small ball 5.
At some point, we are going to have to ask ourselves the most undesireable question I can imagine: Everything else being equal and with no other bigs signed, are we a better squad with or without Cook. Being so atrocious defensively last year was upsetting, but I think we are a better team with him.
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SDHoya
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by SDHoya on May 16, 2024 9:22:23 GMT -5
Blueandgray is going to blame it on twitter accounts or something - but if your poaching attempt can't survive the program the player is signed to catching wind and upping their bid, what are you even doing? If you want to avoid that program catching wind, what are you doing in California telling people your first priority is a defensive Center and you are going after that defensive Center, much less leaking the name of that player to people like blueandgray (who then posted it on the board along with status reports)? I'm happy with virtually everything else done this offseason but madge is absolutely right - they knew in February that Center was the biggest need, they knew from last year when they whiffed on the 5 market on Hunter Dickinson that this is the toughest and most expensive position in the portal - and yet we had 0 strategy going into this other than throw money at the top of the market, just like last year with Dickinson. Same result. It's May 16th and we're scrambling with 0 targets, just like last year. They had an entire season where games didn't really matter and they could have scouted mid-majors or low-majors for any sort of defensive big - and I don't think they even considered that. Last year, we signed Supreme Cook on June 2. Supreme Cook is still out there, but part of the Hoops Club pitch was that they were going to improve on the defense in the middle, and Supreme went into the portal at the same time as the Omoruyi visit - if you had done absolutely nothing, he may have stayed. Cooley has backed himself into a corner here - they went in front of the Hoop Club in March promising a C. He's publicly acknowledged he needs a center in California. He can't punt on this one because he did that the previous year or point fingers. He needs to deliver a C for next year. But you need a Big East quality C, the only one out there is Onyenso, and UNC is about to smoke us in that recruitment. I thought it was reported that both sides are open to Cook possibly returning even before we whiffed on multiple other Cs. I prefer not to have that scenario and we already have seen that these insiders don't really know anything or nothing is working out so that may not even be the case. There are still some good 4s that can easily play both like Brazile, Hawkins, Mitchell or Toppin. I haven't seen much about Brazile or Toppin recruiting but I don't follow it closely. Overall my point is there are still some options but he needs to make something happen soon. Toppin would be perfect, he’s an outstanding player on both ends and blocks a ton of shots. He’s also expected to play somewhere in Texas unfortunately. I could also see him staying in the draft—he’s that level a talent. |
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hoyaboya
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 12,750
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Post by hoyaboya on May 16, 2024 9:28:41 GMT -5
Interesting comments about Onyenso's "mentor". That's code for the kid gets paid and the mentor gets paid. I don't envy the coaches having to deal with this stuff - but then again, they get paid the big bucks and have all the glory coming their way when they win, so they know what they're getting into. |
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playtyler
Century (over 100 posts)
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Post by playtyler on May 16, 2024 9:49:39 GMT -5
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hoyariv71
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Post by hoyariv71 on May 16, 2024 9:51:50 GMT -5
Like it or not SORBER IS OUR STARTING CENTER and we should be praising Cooley for getting him, he’s big time !!!!!! Seems like Cooley doesn't like it since he's been telling potential NIL donors that he still needs a starting center and he had Cliff O. on campus for an official visit within the last month. Cliff would not have been sitting behind Sorber. My thinking, hope, was that Cliff would be paired with Sorber in the starting lineup, which if that happened, we wouldn’t have taken Burks |
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Post by HometownHoya on May 16, 2024 10:52:19 GMT -5
While classic Cs are pretty rare in the NBA, a great C is a game changer in college basketball. Since it's rare to have a skilled and productive big in the college ranks, they're going to command the big bucks. I won't be surprised to look back and see that many HM teams have the C be their highest paid NIL player. Gotta pull out the big bucks if we want to round out this roster at his point.
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Post by suicideslushpuppie on May 16, 2024 11:21:15 GMT -5
Don't give up yet! There's still time! Perhaps, but pickins are pretty slim at this point. |
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Post by HoyasAreHungry on May 16, 2024 11:58:36 GMT -5
You can't actually be serious saying that Big O is the one leading his recruitment right?  |
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playtyler
Century (over 100 posts)
Posts: 249
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Post by playtyler on May 16, 2024 12:02:55 GMT -5
You can't actually be serious saying that Big O is the one leading his recruitment right? Just saying that "Big O" is the "Mentor" referred to in the article. And the assumption that Boya made was wrong, at best. |
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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on May 16, 2024 12:12:37 GMT -5
While classic Cs are pretty rare in the NBA, a great C is a game changer in college basketball. Since it's rare to have a skilled and productive big in the college ranks, they're going to command the big bucks. I won't be surprised to look back and see that many HM teams have the C be their highest paid NIL player. Gotta pull out the big bucks if we want to round out this roster at his point. Not only that, but simply by definition, there are fewer taller players, so the supply of centers is always going to be less supply--even with more of them staying in college longer because of NIL and because many of them will never see significant NBA minutes. As those of you who have read my posts know, I generally support Cooley and I am of the mind that we need him to turn around the program or we may be doomed long-term (for multiple reasons I won't get into here, but Georgetown's incompetence on these things is a major factor), but I am very disappointed with the search for a center. Given how much of a priority it was, and how crucial it is to our success, it is a very bad look to get nobody. I realize that ultimately Cooley will likely get SOMEONE, but we don't need SOMEONE, we need a skill good defensive big whose name is not Supreme Cook. Of course, if the only option is Cook, I'd happily take him back, as I like the guy, but he just cannot get it done on defense. Without a solid center transfer, we are basically back to hoping that Sorber is more game-ready than he should be reasonably expected to be and/or Fielder having a nice jump and also staying out of foul trouble (which he did not do last year). Will that yield better defense than Supreme Cook? Yes, it should. Will it be good enough to make us as competitive as I'd like to be? Probably not unless the individual players perform higher than expected. I still support Cooley, but at some point he needs to deliver instead of just talking about success and climbing mountains. |
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calhoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 4,389
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Post by calhoya on May 16, 2024 12:20:27 GMT -5
I thought it was reported that both sides are open to Cook possibly returning even before we whiffed on multiple other Cs. I prefer not to have that scenario and we already have seen that these insiders don't really know anything or nothing is working out so that may not even be the case. There are still some good 4s that can easily play both like Brazile, Hawkins, Mitchell or Toppin. I haven't seen much about Brazile or Toppin recruiting but I don't follow it closely. Overall my point is there are still some options but he needs to make something happen soon. Toppin would be perfect, he’s an outstanding player on both ends and blocks a ton of shots. He’s also expected to play somewhere in Texas unfortunately. I could also see him staying in the draft—he’s that level a talent. JT Toppin has done very well this week at the NBA combine. A friend of mine with close connections to the New Mexico program says Toppin is either staying in the draft or going to Texas or Texas Tech to be closer to home. |
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Omega
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
Posts: 566
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Post by Omega on May 16, 2024 14:51:02 GMT -5
Is Cooley supposed to build the center of y'alls dreams.
Cooley knows what need to be done and being a reasonable man, I'm sure his is doing the best he can. Can he magically snap his fingers and oh look, said center appears...or the last three years disappears...
Disappointment, not me. Cooley kept his freshman class together ... Isn't that worth something?
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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on May 16, 2024 15:46:30 GMT -5
Is Cooley supposed to build the center of y'alls dreams. Cooley knows what need to be done and being a reasonable man, I'm sure his is doing the best he can. Can he magically snap his fingers and oh look, said center appears...or the last three years disappears... Disappointment, not me. Cooley kept his freshman class together ... Isn't that worth something? There is a big difference between knowing what needs to be done and achieving it. I am also confident that Cooley and his staff are trying very hard. But I fear that in trying to make a big splash initially (which was a logical thing to do), we did not have a good enough backup plan for if those guys (like Cliff O.) did not commit. I assume you mean Cooley keeping the incoming freshman together. Sure, I'll give Cooley credit for that. Sorber is a great player and I am very excited to see him play in a Hoyas uniform. But Cooley himself said recently we need a center and we don't have one. That's the reason for the disappointment so far. I am hoping I am wrong and we will make some sort of unexpected play and get someone great (we also need a high percentage shooter too). But for now, we don't have anyone for center other than Sorber and Fielder. If Cooley thinks that needs to be supplemented with a transfer, then I certainly do. To be clear, the "center of y'alls dreams" is not walking through the door (though it could be Sorber in a year or two). I am not looking for Roy Hibbert to walk through the door. Just someone who can play really solid defense and not be a net negative on offense. |
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