SFHoya99
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
Posts: 17,781
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Post by SFHoya99 on Nov 7, 2023 23:56:50 GMT -5
How many wide open corner threes did we give up? Not many. What a change.
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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Nov 8, 2023 0:05:42 GMT -5
I will likely write more tomorrow, but I was very pleased. Others have said it, but it was truly night and day from last year. On defense, we were significantly better than last year and it is only game 1. Very few open threes and some nice rotations and help defense. And on offense we actually ran sets and moved the ball a lot.
And sure, it was LeMoyne, but we trounced them which is exactly what we should have done. The last two seasons began with losses to Dartmouth and OT win against Coppin State. So, already a huge improvement.
We are going to have our challenges this year, no doubt, but as a fan, this game gave me a lot of reasons to smile. More tomorrow.
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Post by hoyaatheart55 on Nov 8, 2023 0:54:03 GMT -5
Was at the game and also just watched the postgame presser and I just want to say one thing. I love Ed Cooley and am so happy to have him leading us forward.
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Post by HometownHoya on Nov 8, 2023 2:04:50 GMT -5
Watched the first half in the airport and the second half once I landed back home. Obviously the competition was low but they were hustling. Glad to see us put them away and everyone play with energy, toughness, and some sort of offense. We'll likely struggle on the boards and inside against bigger teams but I'll take it! Go Hoyas!
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Post by madmike on Nov 8, 2023 2:48:56 GMT -5
Nice start. Last year we would have been down in the second half and won by seven
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HoyaFanNY
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Never throw to the venus on a spider 3 Y banana!
Posts: 4,991
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Post by HoyaFanNY on Nov 8, 2023 5:37:27 GMT -5
Great start to the season. There were some flat spots and too many TO's but these are all things for the team to work on before league play. Very happy with the rebounding numbers. Bench play was really solid.
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jwp91
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 6,035
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Post by jwp91 on Nov 8, 2023 7:03:26 GMT -5
I remember when someone on here was saying that Epps scoring 46 was a bad sign .... it's not. Epps playing absolutely within the offense and getting everyone involved. I'm super impressed with him and Fielder. We're going to struggle scoring in the paint though. Imagine a guy scoring 46 one night and playing unselfishly the next. Sweet. He was extremely impressive, but I we may have also seen his tragic flaw - immaturity. Hopefully, his mental game can get to the level of his basketball game.
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jwp91
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 6,035
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Post by jwp91 on Nov 8, 2023 7:23:03 GMT -5
A couple of things I loved about the game:
Drew Fielder making a statement with the first shot of his career. He is going to be a good one.
Bristol hustling his ass off on multiple plays
Multiple primary ball handlers
Epps having 11 assists and knowing exactly how to get others involved while also being a scoring threat
Cook overcoming a rough first half.
That I only saw that God damn 'horns' set once.
I noticed 0 highly ineffective screen attempts
Wide open 3s were far, far fewer than in the past.
The ball moved.
That we never let a weaker team think they could play with us on the scoreboard.
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calhoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 4,358
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Post by calhoya on Nov 8, 2023 8:23:19 GMT -5
To me the clear highlight of the game was the 9,000+ fans who chose to come see the Hoyas play a Division 1 newbie on a Tuesday night. That has not happened in a hell of a long time. Cooley engaged with the crowd is another highlight.
Still hoping to see more time for Ryan as this front-court cannot sustain any type of foul trouble. Heath will be a star this year and Bristol is going to be an energizer off the bench.
Most impressive player of the game last night would be hard to pick but I was pleasantly surprised with Styles and very happy with what I saw from Rowan.
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Post by TrueHoyaBlue on Nov 8, 2023 8:42:57 GMT -5
To me the clear highlight of the game was the 9,000+ fans who chose to come see the Hoyas play a Division 1 newbie on a Tuesday night. That has not happened in a hell of a long time. Cooley engaged with the crowd is another highlight. Still hoping to see more time for Ryan as this front-court cannot sustain any type of foul trouble. Heath will be a star this year and Bristol is going to be an energizer off the bench. Most impressive player of the game last night would be hard to pick but I was pleasantly surprised with Styles and very happy with what I saw from Rowan. That 9,335 figure is the 5th-highest home game attendance in the last three seasons. (Damning with faint praise? Perhaps, but I prefer to think about it as progress). I can say that the arena felt better than it has in a long time. It was, dare I say, fun to watch these Hoyas play, and they appeared to be fully into it as well!
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Post by ColumbiaHeightsHoya on Nov 8, 2023 8:47:04 GMT -5
I also didn't see a lot of long 2's last year. That is definitely coaching. Brumbaugh had one where the guy bit on a fake and he calmly took a dribble to get to about 18 feet and shot. Nothing but net. Little things like this, the D hustle, proper D rotations are all going to add up to wins.
We definitely don't have the bodies up front. What we did to Le Moyne on the boards won't happen in BE play against the top half of the conference but Fielder will figure it out a bit. I hope Massoud can get back soon and get some boards. Guys like Bristol & Styles coming back to rebound as a team will be key.
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dense
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 5,014
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Post by dense on Nov 8, 2023 8:48:34 GMT -5
Im.very excited to see a Rowan, Jayden, Jay, Ish and Drew lineup in terms of how we could spread teams.
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TC
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 9,457
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Post by TC on Nov 8, 2023 8:52:29 GMT -5
I also didn't see a lot of long 2's last year. That is definitely coaching. Brumbaugh had one where the guy bit on a fake and he calmly took a dribble to get to about 18 feet and shot. Nothing but net. Little things like this, the D hustle, proper D rotations are all going to add up to wins. We definitely don't have the bodies up front. What we did to Le Moyne on the boards won't happen in BE play against the top half of the conference but Fielder will figure it out a bit. I hope Massoud can get back soon and get some boards. Guys like Bristol & Styles coming back to rebound as a team will be key. Massoud isn't a big rebounder - I think we probably need to wait till next year for the real help inside. The bright side is that this team is scrappy and is capable of shooting from the perimeter and hopefully can stay in games by leveraging the three. The 27 attempts from three they took last night is way over the historical average of the teams that Cooley has coached. Massoud will really help there with the shooting and providing more options and bringing bigs out onto the perimeter to clear space in the middle and the mid-range.
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bostonfan
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
Posts: 2,508
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Post by bostonfan on Nov 8, 2023 9:08:37 GMT -5
A good way to start a new season. Lemoyne is not a good team and some things that worked last night against them, wont work as well against better competition, but overall a very positive start. A couple of things that stood out to me:
The Hoyas took very few "bad" or "selfish" shots for the entire game. The sets they ran and the ball movement allowed them to take good shots and their shooters made those shots.
The floor spacing was good all night and allowed them to create open looks for teammates. I think that will only improve when Ish comes back and teams need to respect his range.
The defense was not great all night, but it was consistently good for the game. They got beat on a few plays (Drew struggled guarding players on the perimeter) but overall they competed hard and did not allow very many easy, open shots. I think the defense will only improve as the year goes on and this staff continues to work with the team and individual players.
I was impressed by how committed the entire team was to the game plan/system. It looked like they knew what they wanted to do last night and what was working and they just stayed with it all night. For the last few years it would drive me crazy to see the team get away from what was working for them and for individual players to freelance and allow other teams back into the game. The Hoyas just ground out the game and never allowed Lemoyne a chance to gain any confidence.
I had some initial worries that Cook's skills might not translate well into this higher level, especially in the first half, but I think it was some first game jitters and once he settled in he was just very solid. He will not often have the size and strength advantage he had last night the rest of this year, but he took advantage and played his role very well. I think he will have a really solid year for the Hoyas this season.
I am excited to see how the rest of the season plays out and how this team improves. I have a lot more confidence in this staff's ability to continue to coach the players up and for the team and individual players to show improvement than I have for a few years now. I am still not sure what the year end record will be, but I think the program is going in the right direction.
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iowa80
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 2,402
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Post by iowa80 on Nov 8, 2023 9:14:59 GMT -5
The crowd was outstanding.
LeMoyne was too physically overmatched, particularly on the interior, to make much in the way of judgments, but we worked hard.
Styles and Heath can and will score some points.
Bristol looks like your proverbial “glue guy.”
Brumbaugh has a nice shot.
Dribble penetration from the point?
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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Nov 8, 2023 9:17:18 GMT -5
To highlight just how different our offense looked last night compared to last year, here is the % of shots we took last night in each area of the Court, compared to last season's averages:
Last Night-At the Rim: 31.3% Last Season-At the Rim: 24.5%
Last Night-Paint: 17.2% Last Season-Paint: 19.8%
Last Night-Mid/Long Twos: 9.4% Last Season-Mid/Long Twos: 24.8%
Last Night-Corner 3's: 18.8% Last Season-Corner 3's: 8.7%
Last Night-Other Threes: 23.4% Last Season-Other Threes: 21.9%
And I highlight my hobby horse from last year--not taking long twos. We did not do that often last night (and I know one of those 6 attempts was an attempt at a three but one of our guys had his toe on the line). I hope that continues.
For those interested in shooting percentages, last night--obviously this is a tiny sample so take it for what it's worth:
Rim: 90% Paint: 63.6% Mid/Long Range Twos: 33.3% Corner 3's: 25% Other Threes: 46.7%
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TC
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 9,457
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Post by TC on Nov 8, 2023 9:22:29 GMT -5
The defense was not great all night, but it was consistently good for the game. They got beat on a few plays (Drew struggled guarding players on the perimeter) but overall they competed hard and did not allow very many easy, open shots. I actually thought Fielder did a pretty good job on the perimeter - I think he altered a couple of shots in the first half and he had a couple of steals (I think at least one of them was on the perimeter) and was good about staying in front of smaller players in the first half. When he had the four fouls, there was the one play where his man got by him, but in the context of having four fouls and being up 30, that's understandable I think.
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hoyajmw
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,031
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Post by hoyajmw on Nov 8, 2023 9:33:23 GMT -5
To me the clear highlight of the game was the 9,000+ fans who chose to come see the Hoyas play a Division 1 newbie on a Tuesday night. That has not happened in a hell of a long time. Cooley engaged with the crowd is another highlight. Still hoping to see more time for Ryan as this front-court cannot sustain any type of foul trouble. Heath will be a star this year and Bristol is going to be an energizer off the bench. Most impressive player of the game last night would be hard to pick but I was pleasantly surprised with Styles and very happy with what I saw from Rowan. That 9,335 figure is the 5th-highest home game attendance in the last three seasons. (Damning with faint praise? Perhaps, but I prefer to think about it as progress). I can say that the arena felt better than it has in a long time. It was, dare I say, fun to watch these Hoyas play, and they appeared to be fully into it as well! The announced # was clearly an exaggeration, as they always are, compared to actual fans in the seats — BUT (a very important “but”) the # there was easily twice what a game like that would draw over the past several years and the level of joy in being there (vs desultory feeling of dread/obligation) a totally refreshing experience. I think we may well sell out the Syracuse game (and maybe TCU) and have a real 17,000 + in the stands🤞🏻
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Post by HometownHoya on Nov 8, 2023 9:39:53 GMT -5
We made the extra pass!!!
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skunk
Century (over 100 posts)
Posts: 169
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Post by skunk on Nov 8, 2023 9:50:30 GMT -5
Great to see improved passing and defensive effort. It was night and day.
There are going to be a lot of minutes for young guys that will set us up well for next year and years following. Everyone except health and massoud should be back next year. We have a strong recruiting class coming in. We have a few extra slots that we can aim high for transfers. I think Epps and Rowan will be a very good duo for years to come. Very exciting game and it was nice not to be heated all game against an inferior opponent.
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