Why have we backed off a series with Notre Dame?

[hoya59er]

Anyone know why? A few years ago, we backed away from Kansas. We backed away from a good early season tournament. Come on, let's get tough, play tough!

[ColumbiaHeightsHoya]

It might be because we have a tough early schedule and we aren't really going to be good and Pat needs to show improvement but likely doesn't think he has a tourney team on his hands. That is all I can think of. If we have any sort of significant transfers with this current group, the writing on the current era will be complete. I hope this group gels with coach and vice versa.

[hoya73]

How sure are we that it was a one-sided backoff from GU? Is it just coincidence that ND will be starting a series with Kentucky, announced yesterday?

[TrueHoyaBlue]

My best guess is once Cuse was renewed and UConn came back to the Big East, there was less “need” to schedule an old rival. But that’s a guess (and not to say it’s justified, though we’ll have a strong SOS This season).

[hoyasaxa2003]

May 29, 2020 13:20:44 GMT -5 ColumbiaHeightsHoya said:

It might be because we have a tough early schedule and we aren't really going to be good and Pat needs to show improvement but likely doesn't think he has a tourney team on his hands. That is all I can think of. If we have any sort of significant transfers with this current group, the writing on the current era will be complete. I hope this group gels with coach and vice versa.

This could be right but Georgetown can’t hide behind SWAC to “show improvement.” Nobody is going to be impressed if we beat up horrible teams and then finish at the bottom of the Big East again.

[hoyazeke]

May 29, 2020 17:51:38 GMT -5 hoyasaxa2003 said:

May 29, 2020 13:20:44 GMT -5 ColumbiaHeightsHoya said:

It might be because we have a tough early schedule and we aren't really going to be good and Pat needs to show improvement but likely doesn't think he has a tourney team on his hands. That is all I can think of. If we have any sort of significant transfers with this current group, the writing on the current era will be complete. I hope this group gels with coach and vice versa.

This could be right but Georgetown can’t hide behind SWAC to “show improvement.” Nobody is going to be impressed if we beat up horrible teams and then finish at the bottom of the Big East again.

Is ND supposed to be good next year? To me ND is a game that can do more harm than good. After they get beat up in the ACC how good will the victory look and how bad would the possible loss look? Texas only helped us last year because they started to get some wins late. I don't see ND recovering late next year....

[FromTheBeginning]

Could also be a “We want to play Kentucky instead of GU so can we move the game back a year or change the tentative date” and we said no.

[Hoyas4Ever]

It could simply be the proposed addition of the BIGEAST vs. PAC 12 event at MSG & Vegas reportedly starting in 2021-2022 season along with the Gavitt Games & BIG EAST/Big 12 Battle, Cuse, plus an early season MTE, & the 20 game Conference schedule making it hard to secure an added OOC series with Notre Dame.

Scheduling games is harder then fans realize. Scheduling a home & home series is even harder. Kentucky has a lot more freedom because Car Salesman Cal doesn't schedule/play in MTE's which gives him more freedom to schedule home & home series (He usually does a 3 game series) and one off events. Also, Georgetown as the third tenant at Cap 1 doesn't make it any easier.

I wouldn't be surprised if the two programs take a look at this again in next year for the start of the 2021-2022 or 2022-2023 season. Once the Hoyas staff gets a feel for the 20 game BIG EAST Conference games plus all the conference challenges. MTE's are usually scheduled 2-3 years out so the staff should already have those planned out.

Also scheduling an OOC this year in December is going to be a lot trickier. Multiple reports that the conference will play at least a pair of conference games before Christmas, plus Cuse and the fact that if fans are allowed to attend games, you don't want to schedule a big OOC game when students are gone. Those are money makers. You want the big gate, the excited/screaming student section to help sell the event on t.v. and to potential recruits attending the game. A lot of schools have announced they are closing their doors around Thanksgiving and having students take their finals remotely. Without the student body on campus, you begin to question are you getting everything out of this new series that you need to off the court. If I was Georgetown & Notre Dame, I would pause/punt until at least the 2021-2022 season....

[seaweed]

Ghuck Norte Dame

[hoya59er]

I guess I am frustrated that there is so little good news. I did enjoy last year's team, the great effort, though we clearly did not have many scorers and our defense seemed so poor. I am told that defense is a good part attitude. Then in our last game, the first of BE tourney, we are up by 10 in second half and Wahab playing very well and aggressively. Yurt replaces Wahab and we lose by 21. Also, very discouraged by such poor attendance, like 7,000 per game (which is clearly overstated). We gotta win some recruiting battles and we cannot finish last in the BE, as has been predicted.

[Bigs"R"Us]

Agree that Wahab had the hot hand. Not at all uncommon for a coach to go with an upperclassman who is playing perhaps his last game over a freshman. Yurtseven was the starter.

[hsaxon]

May 30, 2020 20:47:05 GMT -5 Bigs"R"Us said:

Agree that Wahab had the hot hand. Not at all uncommon for a coach to go with an upperclassman who is playing perhaps his last game over a freshman. Yurtseven was the starter.

I think a fair amount of fans thought it was wrong to keep Qudus on the bench for that entire stretch - did not make sense.

[hsaxon]

May 30, 2020 19:17:37 GMT -5 hoya59er said:

I guess I am frustrated that there is so little good news. I did enjoy last year's team, the great effort, though we clearly did not have many scorers and our defense seemed so poor. I am told that defense is a good part attitude. Then in our last game, the first of BE tourney, we are up by 10 in second half and Wahab playing very well and aggressively. Yurt replaces Wahab and we lose by 21. Also, very discouraged by such poor attendance, like 7,000 per game (which is clearly overstated). We gotta win some recruiting battles and we cannot finish last in the BE, as has been predicted.

I can't imagine that attendance will improve in any meaningful manner this coming season.

[Bigs"R"Us]

Jun 5, 2020 20:11:32 GMT -5 hsaxon said:

May 30, 2020 19:17:37 GMT -5 hoya59er said:

I guess I am frustrated that there is so little good news. I did enjoy last year's team, the great effort, though we clearly did not have many scorers and our defense seemed so poor. I am told that defense is a good part attitude. Then in our last game, the first of BE tourney, we are up by 10 in second half and Wahab playing very well and aggressively. Yurt replaces Wahab and we lose by 21. Also, very discouraged by such poor attendance, like 7,000 per game (which is clearly overstated). We gotta win some recruiting battles and we cannot finish last in the BE, as has been predicted.

I can't imagine that attendance will improve in any meaningful manner this coming season.

It will be empty. No Mac show.

[mdtd]

Jun 5, 2020 20:11:32 GMT -5 hsaxon said:

May 30, 2020 19:17:37 GMT -5 hoya59er said:

I guess I am frustrated that there is so little good news. I did enjoy last year's team, the great effort, though we clearly did not have many scorers and our defense seemed so poor. I am told that defense is a good part attitude. Then in our last game, the first of BE tourney, we are up by 10 in second half and Wahab playing very well and aggressively. Yurt replaces Wahab and we lose by 21. Also, very discouraged by such poor attendance, like 7,000 per game (which is clearly overstated). We gotta win some recruiting battles and we cannot finish last in the BE, as has been predicted.

I can't imagine that attendance will improve in any meaningful manner this coming season.

Yeah, I don't see it going up at all. I think it drops. The expectations are pretty low and we just lost our most exciting player. I don't think people will really start coming unless our opponent has an excellent DC presence or the team really outperforms expectations. 

[BigmanU]

Who cares. How does ND benefit us. Brey would loves another quasi-home game in his recruiting ground.

[mdtd]

Jun 7, 2020 21:52:35 GMT -5 BigmanU said:

Who cares. How does ND benefit us. Brey would loves another quasi-home game in his recruiting ground.

Playing good teams in college basketball in the non-conference is always a good thing. Especially a beatable one. It helps develop talent, it prepares our guys for Big East play, plus if we beat them it could prove something to recruits we frequently lose to them in this area. Either a home game that would actually get people in the arena or an away game in a tough environment preparing our guys for that, especially with a younger team. It's how you get to postseason play. ND is a good team and you lose nothing by playing them. Worst case we'd lose, but our guys would get better by playing better teams, and our NCSOS would go up, which makes us look better to the NCAA/NIT Selection Committee. I'm not saying you have to have all high quality teams on the schedule, but a good balance of tough opponents with test games/ego boosters is necessary. Playing good teams has no downside. It's a no brainer.

Look, I hate Notre Dame as much as the next guy. Their football program is overrated every single year. I hate Jack Cooley and Ben Hansbrough as much as the next guy. But there is no downside to playing them. If we fill this game with a cupcake on a road to 8 cupcakes, it's going to hurt this team. It's unlikely to get a win against the three top 25 teams in the Wooden Classic. West Virginia is another top 25 team (that was so horrible offensively last season). Get someone on that a schedule who's closer to our level and let our guys get better against good talented, well-coached teams. There should be at least one new home and home (not incl. Cuse) on the schedule next season. Even a team like Richmond (they're borderline top 25, but the best I came with off the top) or VCU would work.

Is ND supposed to be good next year? To me ND is a game that can do more harm than good. After they get beat up in the ACC how good will the victory look and how bad would the possible loss look? Texas only helped us last year because they started to get some wins late. I don't see ND recovering late next year....

They could say the exact same thing about us. Literally. We're expected to be a bottom tier (second to last or last) Big East team and have very low expectations. They could say the exact same thing. Would that be the type of team you would want to test your guys with similar expectations? But as I said earlier, scheduling good teams (NET top 100) and boosting that NCSOS is always a good thing. Also having our young guys face against talented guys will help their development. I don't see downside, just based on my understanding of the schedule. Also, Texas only helping us by their late season success isn't true. If I remember correctly, that was the game where Wahab really showed up. I think that really helped his development. It showed us what he could do (even without scoring a ton) and built some momentum for him. There could be more takeaways from that game, if last season was even a little less crazy. 

[Bigs"R"Us]

Pat seems to schedule somewhat to the level of talent and experience of our team. That’s why we backed out of the Nike tournament for Phil Knight. We now have UConn on our BE schedule. I’m indifferent about ND, but it would be a televised game and would draw fans from both sides.

[daveg023]

Jun 8, 2020 3:17:30 GMT -5 Bigs"R"Us said:

Pat seems to schedule somewhat to the level of talent and experience of our team. That’s why we backed out of the Nike tournament for Phil Knight. We now have UConn on our BE schedule. I’m indifferent about ND, but it would be a televised game and would draw fans from both sides.

I think ND is/was the perfect OOC opponent for metric purposes. It is a winnable game against a P5 conference team who will be somewhere in 50-75 in the NET ratings. That coupled with the casual interest from fans and possible attendance boost, and I’m disappointed we aren’t playing this series. The Syracuse, WVU and B10 games are of a similar ilk, so I won’t lose sleep over this but more concerned about the optics and/or motivation in us dismissing this game for a slot on a MEAC opponent.

[SSHoya]

Speaking of Notre Dame, ESPNU is replaying the 4 OT game from February 2002.