1427hoya
Bulldog (over 250 posts)
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Post by 1427hoya on Feb 14, 2024 8:20:35 GMT -5
3-49 in our last 52 big east games. unfathomable. That stat is 2 games old 3-51 in the last 54 Big East games. I can’t wrap my head around that. Most people on here know a lot more about basketball than I do, but I can’t recall a 3 season stretch as bad as that in major conference history. Winning the BET in 2021 was indeed one of the worst things that happened to the program. What’s happened since then has been shocking
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EtomicB
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
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Post by EtomicB on Feb 14, 2024 8:40:22 GMT -5
The defense is a function of the talent. Cooley inherited three Ewing holdovers (Heath, Bristol, Mutombo) who have very limited defensive skills. Heath is continually out of position and was no match for Alexander. Cooley's three major portal pickups (Epps, Styles, Massoud) cannot guard the perimeter--Styles was run ragged by Schieierman. Rowan Brumbaugh (7.3 ppg) has gone as far as a freshman would probably go under Cooley as a freshman but he lacks big-game experience and his ball handling is suspect. Fielder, even more so. For a seventh year player who started a season at Western Carolina, Bacote seems to be very limited, else he would see more time. Cook is the only player reaching his his potential right now, because if you thing things were bad in these games, imagine Cook sitting with three fouls eight minutes into the first half. To date, the two surprises have been how poorly Epps has played on defense and Massoud's diminishing returns versus what he did at K-State. Epps is now the worst scorer by percentage on the team in Big East play (.258) and Massoud is just ahead of him at .283. All that said, Villanova is not Creighton and St. John's is not Marquette. Georgetown can compete with any of the four opponents remaining, including Xavier (a one point loss in Cincinnati), a home game with PC (outside the huge home court advantage they normally enjoy), and DePaul. Bristol is the best defensive player on the team, granted that's not a high bar but I wouldn't lump him in with Heath & Ryan. Folks were too enamored with the NCAA game Massoud had, his career stats show that the more he plays the worse his numbers get, as pointed out by others on the board Tang told the world he didn't think Massoud was good enough to play more minutes. There were warning signs for Epps as well but he's young so they were easier to excuse. The staff should be held into account too, however. The players aren't nearly as bad as the product they're putting out defensively. Depaul is 36 spots better than Gtown & they're ranked 277th.
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hoyaboya
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
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Post by hoyaboya on Feb 14, 2024 8:42:01 GMT -5
Ed basically confirmed that McDermott won’t be coming back next year I assume Michigan for McDermott. Would be a major loss for the Big East.
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Post by ColumbiaHeightsHoya on Feb 14, 2024 8:42:49 GMT -5
Despite stinking this year, I don't hate this team as much as last year. Maybe it was because we clearly needed to cut the chord. Maybe it was because the lazy & poor body language of Murray just drove me insane. Styles & Cook play hard. Brumbaugh & Fielder are learning. Epps really needs to take a deep look at what he wants to be because his play has been really discouraging.
The other players are who we thought they were. Bristol plays hard but is a good MEAC player. Heath doesn't play a smart game and Mutombo must not be bringing it in the off season as two separate coaching staffs have spoken. Massoud is a long ball shooter who needs to be set-up and despite his height, isn't capable of defending inside. That's on the coaches evaluation, not Massoud. Kenner & free agency can't get here soon enough so I can hear about how our marquee transfer is a sure fire pro and how all of our freshman are one and done.
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TC
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Posts: 9,459
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Post by TC on Feb 14, 2024 8:44:03 GMT -5
You really can't compare halves when 1 team is up 20pts starting the 2nd. There just isn't enough urgency for the team that is up. You can say that the guys didn't quit but at that point Creighton is thinking "let's get out of here healthy"... Of course you can’t, but there are some on here who will grasp at anything for signs of “progress.” I wish there were good signs too. There just aren’t. Whatever, Eeyore. I'm not looking for positives, but I think you should nail down the negatives. You play pretty competitively for the first ten minutes. Brumbaugh and Massoud come in, Massoud gets absolutely abused on the perimeter, turns the ball over twice, Heath and Epps take some awful shots, you go down 20. Massoud against Kalkbrenner down low was just comedy. For the rest of the game, you play them about even. I'm not saying that you play them well - I'm not saying you win the game if you remove the stretch from the ten minute mark to the end of the first half. That was the stretch that absolutely killed you, and it was mainly one person who was victimized. Massoud was -26 in 12 minutes of play. Drew Fielder isn't strong enough for this level of play, Kalkbrenner would abuse him, he's not fast enough to guard Alexander or Scheierman. He'll probably foul out if you leave him out there for 22 minutes. He's not going to change the results. But watching him would be a lot more palatable than watching a guy who isn't offering you anything at all and won't be here next year.
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TC
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
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Post by TC on Feb 14, 2024 8:45:17 GMT -5
Ed basically confirmed that McDermott won’t be coming back next year He said the same exact thing about Kim English and Shaheen Holloway. What he said about Holloway was almost word for word that quote. It's a standard line.
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prhoya
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Post by prhoya on Feb 14, 2024 8:52:39 GMT -5
LOL! Alexander was taken off early; their bench came in around the 5 min mark; etc… You cannot compare both halves. Not making a proclamation about the second half being better with disparate teams on the floor. Just looking for remotely positive in the the boxscore, as there wasn't much. Hoyas do have a tendency to play much better in the second half then have been down big in the 1st. Most often closing the gap (except when playing against a ranked team). I'm glad you find humor where there isn't any. If you’re looking for a silver lining, Cook played well against one of the best in the BE who was a lot taller. That’s it.
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hoyaboya
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
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Post by hoyaboya on Feb 14, 2024 8:53:59 GMT -5
Ed basically confirmed that McDermott won’t be coming back next year He said the same exact thing about Kim English and Shaheen Holloway. What he said about Holloway was almost word for word that quote. It's a standard line. Good point. If we’ve learned anything about Cooley this year, it’s that he says the same self-serving things over and over again.
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saxagael
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
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Post by saxagael on Feb 14, 2024 8:58:01 GMT -5
Not making a proclamation about the second half being better with disparate teams on the floor. Just looking for remotely positive in the the boxscore, as there wasn't much. Hoyas do have a tendency to play much better in the second half then have been down big in the 1st. Most often closing the gap (except when playing against a ranked team). I'm glad you find humor where there isn't any. If you’re looking for a silver lining, Cook played well against one of the best in the BE who was a lot taller. That’s it. Agreed. I missed that. Cook struggled a ton early and looked foolish thinking about putting anything up inside (I don't have it in front of my but Hoyas were 3 of 14 for layups in the first half). But, Cook started it goind in the second half and it worked well. He also showed he has a decent mid-range jumper (it was a no no no... okay moment).
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saxagael
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
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Post by saxagael on Feb 14, 2024 8:59:35 GMT -5
Ed basically confirmed that McDermott won’t be coming back next year He said the same exact thing about Kim English and Shaheen Holloway. What he said about Holloway was almost word for word that quote. It's a standard line. Yep, it is common line for pretty much all coaches. Always praise the other coach (pretty much rule number one) so they have nothing to build reason to go after you and seriously focus.
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hoyajmw
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by hoyajmw on Feb 14, 2024 9:04:04 GMT -5
3-49 in our last 52 big east games. unfathomable. That stat is 2 games old 3-51 in the last 54 Big East games. I can’t wrap my head around that. Most people on here know a lot more about basketball than I do, but I can’t recall a 3 season stretch as bad as that in major conference history. … Won’t make anyone feel any better (to the contrary), but DePaul was 2-52 in conference across the three seasons starting in 2008…
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saxagael
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Post by saxagael on Feb 14, 2024 9:04:11 GMT -5
Of course you can’t, but there are some on here who will grasp at anything for signs of “progress.” I wish there were good signs too. There just aren’t. Whatever, Eeyore. I'm not looking for positives, but I think you should nail down the negatives. You play pretty competitively for the first ten minutes. Brumbaugh and Massoud come in, Massoud gets absolutely abused on the perimeter, turns the ball over twice, Heath and Epps take some awful shots, you go down 20. Massoud against Kalkbrenner down low was just comedy. For the rest of the game, you play them about even. I'm not saying that you play them well - I'm not saying you win the game if you remove the stretch from the ten minute mark to the end of the first half. That was the stretch that absolutely killed you, and it was mainly one person who was victimized. Massoud was -26 in 12 minutes of play. Drew Fielder isn't strong enough for this level of play, Kalkbrenner would abuse him, he's not fast enough to guard Alexander or Scheierman. He'll probably foul out if you leave him out there for 22 minutes. He's not going to change the results. But watching him would be a lot more palatable than watching a guy who isn't offering you anything at all and won't be here next year. One thing I loved seeing from Fielder was his sprinting down court, baseline to baseline, when he was in during the second half. Granted he was fresh, but he beat the guards going 3 point line to 3 point line.
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jwp91
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Post by jwp91 on Feb 14, 2024 9:05:32 GMT -5
Yea, that was disappointing and a frustrating loss.
A couple of observations that have not been pointed out.
We had only 8 turnovers vs. Creighton's 9.
We were -3 on rebounding.
Cook was 8 of 13 with 11 rebounds against arguably the best (defensive) center in the conference. The team had a good game plan to draw Ryan over and then dump it to Cook with a bounce pass. I would like to see a lot more of that in general.
We averaged 1.1 points per possession....and still lost by 22.
It is a bit hard to fathom that we gave up 1.45 points per possession. I am shocked that by this point with all these defensive lapses we haven't dissected the defensive breakdowns on film and excised the biggest problems.
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jwp91
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
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Post by jwp91 on Feb 14, 2024 9:06:54 GMT -5
Whatever, Eeyore. I'm not looking for positives, but I think you should nail down the negatives. You play pretty competitively for the first ten minutes. Brumbaugh and Massoud come in, Massoud gets absolutely abused on the perimeter, turns the ball over twice, Heath and Epps take some awful shots, you go down 20. Massoud against Kalkbrenner down low was just comedy. For the rest of the game, you play them about even. I'm not saying that you play them well - I'm not saying you win the game if you remove the stretch from the ten minute mark to the end of the first half. That was the stretch that absolutely killed you, and it was mainly one person who was victimized. Massoud was -26 in 12 minutes of play. Drew Fielder isn't strong enough for this level of play, Kalkbrenner would abuse him, he's not fast enough to guard Alexander or Scheierman. He'll probably foul out if you leave him out there for 22 minutes. He's not going to change the results. But watching him would be a lot more palatable than watching a guy who isn't offering you anything at all and won't be here next year. One thing I loved seeing from Fielder was his sprinting down court, baseline to baseline, when he was in during the second half. Granted he was fresh, but he beat the guards going 3 point line to 3 point line. Yea, he moves north and south really, really well. If he could improve his east to west, it would help him so much.
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saxagael
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
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Post by saxagael on Feb 14, 2024 9:19:20 GMT -5
One thing I loved seeing from Fielder was his sprinting down court, baseline to baseline, when he was in during the second half. Granted he was fresh, but he beat the guards going 3 point line to 3 point line. Yea, he moves north and south really, really well. If he could improve his east to west, it would help him so much. Hopefully that will come with work over summer. Watching how he uses his hips down low with the ball he is flexible, which is a good part of getting lateral movement improving. There are some good trainers in the DMV that are really good for this and work with other big players in college and NBA. The sprinting comment was mostly a comment on effort and counter to the jogging back and head hanging.
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guru
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
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Post by guru on Feb 14, 2024 9:22:15 GMT -5
Of course you can’t, but there are some on here who will grasp at anything for signs of “progress.” I wish there were good signs too. There just aren’t. Whatever, Eeyore. I'm not looking for positives, but I think you should nail down the negatives. You play pretty competitively for the first ten minutes. Brumbaugh and Massoud come in, Massoud gets absolutely abused on the perimeter, turns the ball over twice, Heath and Epps take some awful shots, you go down 20. Massoud against Kalkbrenner down low was just comedy. For the rest of the game, you play them about even. I'm not saying that you play them well - I'm not saying you win the game if you remove the stretch from the ten minute mark to the end of the first half. That was the stretch that absolutely killed you, and it was mainly one person who was victimized. Massoud was -26 in 12 minutes of play. Drew Fielder isn't strong enough for this level of play, Kalkbrenner would abuse him, he's not fast enough to guard Alexander or Scheierman. He'll probably foul out if you leave him out there for 22 minutes. He's not going to change the results. But watching him would be a lot more palatable than watching a guy who isn't offering you anything at all and won't be here next year. LOL. Eeyore! Pot calling kettle black a bit after your last few years of posting on here? We are 1-12 in conference and we have one of the worst defenses in the history of high major college basketball. But keep gasping at the double rainbows of playing “about even” after going down by 20. Glad you’re setting the bar so high for your man Cooley.
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hoyaboya
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
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Post by hoyaboya on Feb 14, 2024 9:38:55 GMT -5
McDermott > Cooley: “I think that’s just generally how we like to play defense,” Kalkbrenner said. “You know that you’re never going to be able to take away every single shot so making them take the shots we want them to take is what we tried to do, and we did a good job of doing that today. We ran them off the line when they had catch-and-shoot three opportunities and we just sent them my way. I did what I normally do and cleaned most of that stuff up. We did a good job of taking away the shots we didn’t want them taking.” whiteandbluereview.com/baylor-scheiermans-historic-night-headlines-creightons-94-72-win-over-georgetown/
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Post by centercourt400s on Feb 14, 2024 10:43:35 GMT -5
I am shocked that by this point with all these defensive lapses we haven't dissected the defensive breakdowns on film and excised the biggest problems. The biggest problems happen to be that two of our sometime-starters are seniors with no upside who often try hard but who nevertheless play terrible defense. Excising them would leave the team with only six serviceable players, the majority of whom are also lacking on defense for various other (hopefully correctible) reasons. This issue can't be solved this season. The only fix is going to be time and personnel upgrades.
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jwp91
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
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Post by jwp91 on Feb 14, 2024 11:16:27 GMT -5
I am shocked that by this point with all these defensive lapses we haven't dissected the defensive breakdowns on film and excised the biggest problems. The biggest problems happen to be that two of our sometime-starters are seniors with no upside who often try hard but who nevertheless play terrible defense. Excising them would leave the team with only six serviceable players, the majority of whom are also lacking on defense for various other (hopefully correctible) reasons. This issue can't be solved this season. The only fix is going to be time and personnel upgrades. Well, hopefully Cooley learned something with his Massoud experience. That Kaiden Rice/Ish Massoud long distance 3 is fools' gold. We need 2 way players not Steph Curry half court shot wannabes. I am always a bit skeptical of highlight reels in general and particularly ones that only show offense. I want the player who includes defensive highlights. Show me you locking someone down.....not just dunking the ball or splashing it from deep.
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DanMcQ
Moderator
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Post by DanMcQ on Feb 14, 2024 11:42:50 GMT -5
Creighton can hit an unlimited amount of threes if you don't actually guard them. This. I had high hopes at the beginning of the season. Yes it was LeMoyne, but sitting down at courtside there was a ton of talking and connectedness on defense. Unfortunately that connectedness has vanished as the competition level increased. You can't win in this league if you can't reliably get stops. You can cobble together enough offense to do it if you do get stops.
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