prhoya
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Post by prhoya on Jan 18, 2020 17:47:48 GMT -5
I've been schooled on the hedge, mostly by asking guys I know who played at top level and now are coaching and they have included me in film training. There are often 2, if not 5 rings (on one occasion) but adding pro play they have a lot of different coaching schemes they've played and learned under and now pass it on. There are some here who jump on the hard hedge who don't like Ewing nor any Thompson related coach and grab the hedge argument and think that helps their trashing Patrick. I don't really keep track of who says what. The hard hedge does get burned on a few occasions each game, but it protects a lot more points. It can also save energy and hard contact from the other team setting picks. With such a short roster other teams are going to set one heck of a lot of picks to wear down (if not hurt) Hoyas to get advantage late in the game. The hard hedge helps cut down on this, which is needed. This year Hoyas are running it better than when Govan ran it, which meant he needed help defense in the middle (which he did none-the-less as defense is something he never quite mastered) and that made for wide open 3 point wing or corner shots (when Derrickson was here, it was often his helping cover for Govan that had his player hitting and Derrickson was getting blamed, not the requirement to help Jesse (Derrickson was better on his own in the middle and didn't need to pull help, but that left Govan as a liablility elsewhere, but when Jesse on the bench it worked). With a lack of long athletic wings, which greatly help mute the need to hard hedge (but also gives bodies to make those setting pick pay over time) the Hoyas have been leaning on it more than ever this year. It's saving energy and hard contact for our guards who would need to fight around the picks, but isn't it causing our bigs to expend more energy to come out and recover? I too think it can be useful in spurts, but it can't be every single possession against every personnel combination against every opponent. We really need to start deciding what/who we want to try to take away first and focus on employing a defensive scheme/gameplan designed to do that. We are just entirely too predictable on defense right now. Exactly.
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saxagael
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 6,895
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Post by saxagael on Jan 18, 2020 17:57:03 GMT -5
I've been schooled on the hedge, mostly by asking guys I know who played at top level and now are coaching and they have included me in film training. There are often 2, if not 5 rings (on one occasion) but adding pro play they have a lot of different coaching schemes they've played and learned under and now pass it on. There are some here who jump on the hard hedge who don't like Ewing nor any Thompson related coach and grab the hedge argument and think that helps their trashing Patrick. I don't really keep track of who says what. The hard hedge does get burned on a few occasions each game, but it protects a lot more points. It can also save energy and hard contact from the other team setting picks. With such a short roster other teams are going to set one heck of a lot of picks to wear down (if not hurt) Hoyas to get advantage late in the game. The hard hedge helps cut down on this, which is needed. This year Hoyas are running it better than when Govan ran it, which meant he needed help defense in the middle (which he did none-the-less as defense is something he never quite mastered) and that made for wide open 3 point wing or corner shots (when Derrickson was here, it was often his helping cover for Govan that had his player hitting and Derrickson was getting blamed, not the requirement to help Jesse (Derrickson was better on his own in the middle and didn't need to pull help, but that left Govan as a liablility elsewhere, but when Jesse on the bench it worked). With a lack of long athletic wings, which greatly help mute the need to hard hedge (but also gives bodies to make those setting pick pay over time) the Hoyas have been leaning on it more than ever this year. It's saving energy and hard contact for our guards who would need to fight around the picks, but isn't it causing our bigs to expend more energy to come out and recover? I too think it can be useful in spurts, but it can't be every single possession against every personnel combination against every opponent. We really need to start deciding what/who we want to try to take away first and focus on employing a defensive scheme/gameplan designed to do that. We are just entirely too predictable on defense right now. The hard hedge doesn't have bigs running hard to get back, if they don't get caught out too high on the hedge it is usually two quick steps with arms raised that denies the entry pass and gets them back into good position low and inside. Watch the ease with which Wahab and Yurtseven get back into position on plays they don't get burned, which is most of them. It is relatively low effort. What saves the effort is arms up high and being in perfect line between the guard up top and the big that rolled (hands too tight it fails, hands to wide the pass over or allyoop is made). Getting bigs to run it well takes a bit or work, but Patrick has taught his players really well. The hard hedge has been only run when a pick up top is set. With Georgetown with a short bench other teams are going to run pick with a big up top an awful lot, not so much because it works, but to try and beat down the Hoyas who can't really rest much. The hard hedge is one of the better options to counter the pick and still protect the middle fairly well (if you've got a good big and Georgetown has 3 good bigs who can run the hard hedge). If you aren't running hard hedge it opens up open three shots from the player with the ball. The Big East is pretty stacked with guards who can run pick and roll and nail threes with not much daylight.
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Post by RockawayHoya on Jan 18, 2020 18:11:54 GMT -5
It's saving energy and hard contact for our guards who would need to fight around the picks, but isn't it causing our bigs to expend more energy to come out and recover? I too think it can be useful in spurts, but it can't be every single possession against every personnel combination against every opponent. We really need to start deciding what/who we want to try to take away first and focus on employing a defensive scheme/gameplan designed to do that. We are just entirely too predictable on defense right now. The hard hedge doesn't have bigs running hard to get back, if they don't get caught out too high on the hedge it is usually two quick steps with arms raised that denies the entry pass and gets them back into good position low and inside. Watch the ease with which Wahab and Yurtseven get back into position on plays they don't get burned, which is most of them. It is relatively low effort. What saves the effort is arms up high and being in perfect line between the guard up top and the big that rolled (hands too tight it fails, hands to wide the pass over or allyoop is made). Getting bigs to run it well takes a bit or work, but Patrick has taught his players really well. The hard hedge has been only run when a pick up top is set. With Georgetown with a short bench other teams are going to run pick with a big up top an awful lot, not so much because it works, but to try and beat down the Hoyas who can't really rest much. The hard hedge is one of the better options to counter the pick and still protect the middle fairly well (if you've got a good big and Georgetown has 3 good bigs who can run the hard hedge). If you aren't running hard hedge it opens up open three shots from the player with the ball. The Big East is pretty stacked with guards who can run pick and roll and nail threes with not much daylight. Hard to say where the breakdowns occurred, but I do think the bigs got caught out too high on the hedge far too often today. None of those guys setting screens (John, Johnson) are 3 point or even rim-running threats, so we shouldn't have allowed Howard so many opportunities to split the hedge. It was a good adjustment by Wojo to recognize it as a weakness he could exploit; but we needed to do a better job recognizing and countering it. While I think Yurt has done a better job of late avoiding the dumb hedge fouls, I don't thing Q is there yet. He gets caught out of position (or gets a foul) far more than we'd like for relatively how few defensive possessions he is in for.
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saxagael
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 6,895
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Post by saxagael on Jan 18, 2020 18:16:54 GMT -5
Lots of positives to take away from this game: I really liked what I saw from Yurt on offense today. I'm very impressed with how quickly Wahab is improving. I feel like Mac has barely scratched his potential. We can compete with anyone in the conference. It took an all world performance from Howard for Marquette to beat us today. Just like it took an all-world performance from Bey. Starting to worry about a trend. The tough thing with the Big East is most teams have one or two players who are really good. But, it isn't just the really good / great player that is the issue, but teams running plays and picks to get them open. Those plays cause Hoyas extra work and beatings getting through picks and around screens. With a short bench having a great defensive effort, and the Hoyas have really good defenders in their Hoya 7, but there isn't a lot of relief. Pickett's defense today and last game was really good, which is a nice addition. Mac's defense has improved greatly over last year, and Mosely has become one of the best defenders in a few years for the Hoyas. The middle is fairly good and Allen has been rather good. Blair and Allen are about the same and good. But, other teams can rest and rotate their teams and can push to get Hoyas in foul trouble, which has been utterly amazing how little that has been a problem (Patrick continually barking about fouls and still having good coverage is working). Patrick's deficiency as a coach is the inability to manufacture more players out of thin air as he is a horrible magician.
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SDHoya
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by SDHoya on Jan 18, 2020 18:18:08 GMT -5
Some thoughts just back from the game:
Marquette is basically a one player team. Unfortunately, their one player is Markus Howard. We threw different looks, different defenders, etc. at him--none of it seemed to make a difference. Can't really fault the game plan or the effort on him. Sometimes you just have to tip your hat. Also didn't help that the refs were treating him like Jordan.
Even with Howard being Howard, we stuck in it the entire way through. We had a few moments where it looked like we might wrest control of the game---but then Howard stopped the run.
Our worst stretch in the game was the 5 minutes that Howard was on the bench with foul trouble at the end of the first half. Would have hoped that we would have used that as an opportunity to take control, but the opposite happened. Seemed like we had prepared for Howard--but we didn't have a game plan for when he was out. Fortunately we kept things relatively close, and were right back in it soon after the second half began.
Mostly solid game from Yurt, and good minutes from Q. If Q can progress in his general awareness and bball instincts, he is going to be a beast in the coming seasons.
Shame that Mac missed that free throw late, but it may not have made a difference. With the way Howard was playing, good chance he hits a game winner. Mac had a few moments hero ball moments during the game, but over all played well and was vital in keeping us in the game late.
No moral victories, but nothing to be ashamed of either. Things bounce a little differently and we'll beat them in Milwaukee again. This season is still very much alive.
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calhoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
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Post by calhoya on Jan 18, 2020 18:23:31 GMT -5
Another blow to the gut, but it never felt that the Hoyas would win this game. Face it, this group of kids are wearing down. Look at the number of shots that were short, missed free throws, failure to get to loose balls, being out-rebounded by smaller players, and simply being a step too late. This team is not losing from a lack of effort. It is losing because it has no bench and therefore no room for an off game, illness, or foul trouble. The loss of three players, all but Akinjo, really is being felt by the team.
I am not looking for excuses as this is the hand that has been dealt. However, I admire these kids for trying. There may be blame for what happened this year and while you can focus on the players who left, the media reaction to the allegations, and even the coaches for their recruiting decisions and the manner in which they used and didn't use the team they assembled, you cannot blame any of the 7 who are doing everything and more than anyone could reasonably expect.
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saxagael
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
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Post by saxagael on Jan 18, 2020 18:38:08 GMT -5
The hard hedge doesn't have bigs running hard to get back, if they don't get caught out too high on the hedge it is usually two quick steps with arms raised that denies the entry pass and gets them back into good position low and inside. Watch the ease with which Wahab and Yurtseven get back into position on plays they don't get burned, which is most of them. It is relatively low effort. What saves the effort is arms up high and being in perfect line between the guard up top and the big that rolled (hands too tight it fails, hands to wide the pass over or allyoop is made). Getting bigs to run it well takes a bit or work, but Patrick has taught his players really well. The hard hedge has been only run when a pick up top is set. With Georgetown with a short bench other teams are going to run pick with a big up top an awful lot, not so much because it works, but to try and beat down the Hoyas who can't really rest much. The hard hedge is one of the better options to counter the pick and still protect the middle fairly well (if you've got a good big and Georgetown has 3 good bigs who can run the hard hedge). If you aren't running hard hedge it opens up open three shots from the player with the ball. The Big East is pretty stacked with guards who can run pick and roll and nail threes with not much daylight. Hard to say where the breakdowns occurred, but I do think the bigs got caught out too high on the hedge far too often today. None of those guys setting screens (John, Johnson) are 3 point or even rim-running threats, so we shouldn't have allowed Howard so many opportunities to split the hedge. It was a good adjustment by Wojo to recognize it as a weakness he could exploit; but we needed to do a better job recognizing and countering it. While I think Yurt has done a better job of late avoiding the dumb hedge fouls, I don't thing Q is there yet. He gets caught out of position (or gets a foul) far more than we'd like for relatively how few defensive possessions he is in for. I saw two plays were Hoyas got burned on the hedge and 8 where it saved them, but I didn't see everything today. Yurt did a great job with fouls until after half where he had one foul then two back to back-ish on the hedge that earned him and earful from Patrick. The hard hedge isn't perfect but it more than serves its purpose much of the time. Most of the time when the hard hedge fails is when the big has mental lapses and covers above the guard not just below the pick on the basket side (this is where the guard has an easy drive to the bucket, Yurt committed this a lot in the first few games of the year but is much better now), the big isn't on the same side as the other team's big (easy basket for the big), or doesn't get the line to disrupt the pass to the big (easy pass to the big, but often the Hoya big should be able to defend the shot). There may have been 3 to 5 times today where the Hoyas were burned (it seems to roughly be about 3 a game), but most often is it 10 to 15 plays it more than does its job and can and does lead to an empty position for the other team. Having 3 or even 5 buckets off blown hard hedge isn't bad when 10 to 15 or more work well. But, if the other 80% of the plays could run as well as the hard hedge helps (the use of the hard hedge is a defense for usually one of three or four plays each possession, if they Hoyas stop the second response too. Folks on the board complain about it as it isn't something that others run much, but when a lot of pick and rolls are run and have a short bench it is a decent option to use. You don't hear Syracuse fans complain about zone when other teams get 3 to 5 baskets against it (or more accurately 30+ baskets or more on average). Running hard hedge takes having long athletic-ish bigs which Georgetown has and is back recruiting again. Early this year I was on the hating the hard hedge as it was getting run really poorly, but after the third game the bigs started running it a lot better.
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saxagael
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
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Post by saxagael on Jan 18, 2020 19:03:35 GMT -5
Looking at final boxscore Hoyas were 50% for all fieldgoals and 50% for 3s. What? Need to jack up more 3s? Marquette was 37% for 3s and 46% for all field goals. Hoyas in single digit turnovers, had 16 assists to MU's 13, and had a much better 2nd half on rebounds ending just 3 short of MU's 36 rebounds and having 9 offensive rebounds with would mean 6 or 7 of them were second half.
The biggest difference was the number of shots put up with Marquette putting up 64 shots and 27 of them 3s. Hoyas had 59 shots with 18 of them 3s. Given the Hoyas decent shooting percentage the shot attempt differential in simple boxscore look is where the big difference was.
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HoyaDr
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
Posts: 616
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Post by HoyaDr on Jan 18, 2020 19:05:07 GMT -5
The missed FTs throughout the game were heartbreaking. I watched the game here and there on my phone while I was watching the Caps game live in Long Island so can't really say much more. Hard to win when Howard has 42pts no matter how well you play. We have the capability to win a few on the road- esp against SJU and Xavier and maybe DePaul. Keep working at it.
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Post by gatormcclusky on Jan 18, 2020 19:30:19 GMT -5
Mac is an excellent player and a good guy, but no one wants to hear this kind of evangelizing, dude, especially after a tough loss. It's extremely weird how every post of yours focuses exclusively on hero worshipping a college kid, even to the extent of routinely trashing his teammates - why would you expect that kind of thing to receive a positive response on a board where everyone roots for the Hoyas as a team? He got caught with a burner account on here. He’s trolling. Unless you are trying to throw off the scent 😂 ha, yeah you got me there Clouseau
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dchoya72
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 3,488
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Post by dchoya72 on Jan 18, 2020 19:51:06 GMT -5
He got caught with a burner account on here. He’s trolling. Unless you are trying to throw off the scent 😂 ha, yeah you got me there Clouseau What's the goal?
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mdtd
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,567
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Post by mdtd on Jan 18, 2020 20:06:31 GMT -5
The hard hedge was the reason this team lost. They exposed it early with the Anim three-point attempts and exposed it every play with Markus Howard. Howard beat it every time. He either got around the big, hit the big or split it and was open. That's the only reason. Howard got hot because of the hard hedge. They ran the same dribble handoff into ball screen action for at least 8 plays in a row. You either soft hedge and force Howard to shoot over you or you commit to the double and force the others to beat you. The hard hedge has to go.
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OldHoyafan
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by OldHoyafan on Jan 18, 2020 20:20:22 GMT -5
As a Hoya fan this was an enjoyable game. Someone said that it was their second most offensive game other than SMU game, and I agree. They just came up against a great player who was on and unstoppable. When he is hitting shots like today, your only hope is that your defense makes him work so hard to get open that he tires down the stretch and starts to miss a few. To have that type of defense on him you need one starter and his replacement off the bench to dog him everywhere he goes on the court. The Hoyas being shorthanded did not have the horses to do that. Yet they fought the whole game and it was only Howards ability to get to the foul line at the end that was the difference. That effort by the team would have defeated most if not all BE teams without a Howard or Powell. There are those who have said that Marquette did not play its best game offensively and I agree but that was due to the Hoya defense on all players not named Howard. Great effort by the team. It took everyone of Howard's 40+ points to get them the win.
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EtomicB
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 14,881
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Post by EtomicB on Jan 18, 2020 21:39:00 GMT -5
As a Hoya fan this was an enjoyable game. Someone said that it was their second most offensive game other than SMU game, and I agree. They just came up against a great player who was on and unstoppable. When he is hitting shots like today, your only hope is that your defense makes him work so hard to get open that he tires down the stretch and starts to miss a few. To have that type of defense on him you need one starter and his replacement off the bench to dog him everywhere he goes on the court. The Hoyas being shorthanded did not have the horses to do that. Yet they fought the whole game and it was only Howards ability to get to the foul line at the end that was the difference. That effort by the team would have defeated most if not all BE teams without a Howard or Powell. There are those who have said that Marquette did not play its best game offensively and I agree but that was due to the Hoya defense on all players not named Howard. Great effort by the team. It took everyone of Howard's 40+ points to get them the win. Obviously I have to give Howard his due but to me any team that has one player taking 23+ shots a game will have a hard time going very far but I digress... Having said that, I thought one of the biggest stretches of the game was late in the 1st half when Anim went off for about 10 points while Howard was out with foul trouble. Gtown went from up 1 to down 6 at the half...
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SaxaCD
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 4,401
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Post by SaxaCD on Jan 18, 2020 22:53:32 GMT -5
As a Hoya fan this was an enjoyable game. Someone said that it was their second most offensive game other than SMU game, and I agree. They just came up against a great player who was on and unstoppable. When he is hitting shots like today, your only hope is that your defense makes him work so hard to get open that he tires down the stretch and starts to miss a few. To have that type of defense on him you need one starter and his replacement off the bench to dog him everywhere he goes on the court. The Hoyas being shorthanded did not have the horses to do that. Yet they fought the whole game and it was only Howards ability to get to the foul line at the end that was the difference. That effort by the team would have defeated most if not all BE teams without a Howard or Powell. There are those who have said that Marquette did not play its best game offensively and I agree but that was due to the Hoya defense on all players not named Howard. Great effort by the team. It took everyone of Howard's 40+ points to get them the win. Obviously I have to give Howard his due but to me any team that has one player taking 23+ shots a game will have a hard time going very far but I digress... Having said that, I thought one of the biggest stretches of the game was late in the 1st half when Anim went off for about 10 points while Howard was out with foul trouble. Gtown went from up 1 to down 6 at the half... Yeah, agreed, that part of the game really hurt. Looked to me like guys relaxed a little on D knowing Howard was out, and that really hurt.
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Post by gatormcclusky on Jan 18, 2020 23:28:38 GMT -5
ha, yeah you got me there Clouseau What's the goal? may need to reboot your sarcasm detector, brother
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hoyaboya
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 12,317
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Post by hoyaboya on Jan 18, 2020 23:53:00 GMT -5
Just like it took an all-world performance from Bey. Starting to worry about a trend. The tough thing with the Big East is most teams have one or two players who are really good. But, it isn't just the really good / great player that is the issue, but teams running plays and picks to get them open. Those plays cause Hoyas extra work and beatings getting through picks and around screens. With a short bench having a great defensive effort, and the Hoyas have really good defenders in their Hoya 7, but there isn't a lot of relief. Pickett's defense today and last game was really good, which is a nice addition. Mac's defense has improved greatly over last year, and Mosely has become one of the best defenders in a few years for the Hoyas. The middle is fairly good and Allen has been rather good. Blair and Allen are about the same and good. But, other teams can rest and rotate their teams and can push to get Hoyas in foul trouble, which has been utterly amazing how little that has been a problem (Patrick continually barking about fouls and still having good coverage is working). Patrick's deficiency as a coach is the inability to manufacture more players out of thin air as he is a horrible magician. What do you mean Ewing’s a horrible magician? He certainly made 4 players disappear...
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SaxaCD
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 4,401
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Post by SaxaCD on Jan 19, 2020 0:41:21 GMT -5
The tough thing with the Big East is most teams have one or two players who are really good. But, it isn't just the really good / great player that is the issue, but teams running plays and picks to get them open. Those plays cause Hoyas extra work and beatings getting through picks and around screens. With a short bench having a great defensive effort, and the Hoyas have really good defenders in their Hoya 7, but there isn't a lot of relief. Pickett's defense today and last game was really good, which is a nice addition. Mac's defense has improved greatly over last year, and Mosely has become one of the best defenders in a few years for the Hoyas. The middle is fairly good and Allen has been rather good. Blair and Allen are about the same and good. But, other teams can rest and rotate their teams and can push to get Hoyas in foul trouble, which has been utterly amazing how little that has been a problem (Patrick continually barking about fouls and still having good coverage is working). Patrick's deficiency as a coach is the inability to manufacture more players out of thin air as he is a horrible magician. What do you mean Ewing’s a horrible magician? He certainly made 4 players disappear... I that case, I'd say the rest of the faculty are the Sorcerers Supreme, a lot more than Pat!
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Post by gatormcclusky on Jan 19, 2020 0:43:38 GMT -5
Some thoughts just back from the game: Marquette is basically a one player team. Unfortunately, their one player is Markus Howard. We threw different looks, different defenders, etc. at him--none of it seemed to make a difference. Can't really fault the game plan or the effort on him. Sometimes you just have to tip your hat. Also didn't help that the refs were treating him like Jordan. Even with Howard being Howard, we stuck in it the entire way through. We had a few moments where it looked like we might wrest control of the game---but then Howard stopped the run. Our worst stretch in the game was the 5 minutes that Howard was on the bench with foul trouble at the end of the first half. Would have hoped that we would have used that as an opportunity to take control, but the opposite happened. Seemed like we had prepared for Howard--but we didn't have a game plan for when he was out. Fortunately we kept things relatively close, and were right back in it soon after the second half began. Mostly solid game from Yurt, and good minutes from Q. If Q can progress in his general awareness and bball instincts, he is going to be a beast in the coming seasons. Shame that Mac missed that free throw late, but it may not have made a difference. With the way Howard was playing, good chance he hits a game winner. Mac had a few moments hero ball moments during the game, but over all played well and was vital in keeping us in the game late. No moral victories, but nothing to be ashamed of either. Things bounce a little differently and we'll beat them in Milwaukee again. This season is still very much alive. agree with all of this, especially your last sentence. This team has shown a lot of fight and the ability to play at an extremely high level when they're clicking, and it's a long season. There's still plenty of time for them to hit their stride again.
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mdtd
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,567
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Post by mdtd on Jan 19, 2020 2:19:37 GMT -5
Some thoughts just back from the game: Marquette is basically a one player team. Unfortunately, their one player is Markus Howard. We threw different looks, different defenders, etc. at him--none of it seemed to make a difference. Can't really fault the game plan or the effort on him. Sometimes you just have to tip your hat. Also didn't help that the refs were treating him like Jordan. Even with Howard being Howard, we stuck in it the entire way through. We had a few moments where it looked like we might wrest control of the game---but then Howard stopped the run. Our worst stretch in the game was the 5 minutes that Howard was on the bench with foul trouble at the end of the first half. Would have hoped that we would have used that as an opportunity to take control, but the opposite happened. Seemed like we had prepared for Howard--but we didn't have a game plan for when he was out. Fortunately we kept things relatively close, and were right back in it soon after the second half began. Mostly solid game from Yurt, and good minutes from Q. If Q can progress in his general awareness and bball instincts, he is going to be a beast in the coming seasons. Shame that Mac missed that free throw late, but it may not have made a difference. With the way Howard was playing, good chance he hits a game winner. Mac had a few moments hero ball moments during the game, but over all played well and was vital in keeping us in the game late. No moral victories, but nothing to be ashamed of either. Things bounce a little differently and we'll beat them in Milwaukee again. This season is still very much alive. I'd agree with just about everything, but the part about throwing him different looks. He had the same look every time. The ball screen was defended the same way, with the same interior defense every time. That's why he exploited it as well as he did. Mosely guarded him for about 90% of the game and that was really it. He didn't have anything other than a hard hedge and a defender up top and he beat it the same few ways every time. Got around the big for a three or created opening for another player, split the hedge for a floater/mid range jumper or he made a pass that led to/threw a skip pass to an open man for a jumper. It was the same look. He was absolutely excellent, but he had the same look just about the entire game, and the entire second half. Especially since Marquette ran the exact same set at least 8 times straight. Howard would dribble up and hand it to a ball handler who dribbled across the three point arc and handed it to another guy who dribbled it across and gave it to Howard cutting towards the middle who had a high ball screen set and the entire side to work with. It was the exact same thing. A guy like that having everything slow down and being able to analyze how to beat the same defense will kill you. No matter how well it may be run, he's going to score. He's too talented. Yurt and Qudus played really well offensively. Qudus hit some shots where I remember saying "why did you shoot that... ok never mind excellent play" and the offense flowed very well. Everyone was moving, Omer got his guy out of the paint sometimes and beat him inside at other times and created problems. Just, the other end of the floor was not so much.
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